Leading with Laughter: Insights from Comedian Mike Goodwin

Picture this – a soldier turned comedian and leadership trainer who brings laughter in boardrooms and classrooms alike. Join me, Amy Flanagan, as I sit down with the wonderful Mike Goodwin on the Savvy Communicator podcast, where we dance on the fine line of humor, leadership, and building connections. Discover how this military man turned his life's direction, inspired by a colleague at church, and ventured into comedy, seamlessly integrating it into his leadership training. 

We all know the power of a good laugh, but Mike takes it a notch higher. He takes us on a journey of how he uses humor to bridge gaps and form bonds, transcending the barriers of profession and age. Through his narrative, we explore how comedy can be adapted to different contexts, making communication an enjoyable experience. Navigating through his comedy journey, Mike gives us a peep into the highs and lows, the laughter, and the silent rooms, emphasizing the significance of preparation and diligence. 

But it's not all smooth sailing. Imagine performing for an Amish crowd or standing under the spotlight of America's Got Talent. Sounds nerve-wracking, right? Hear straight from Mike how he braved these uncertain speaking situations, armed with self-confidence, trust, and a well-prepared presentation. Tune in for an episode that promises not just fits of laughter but a wealth of wisdom on communication, leadership, and making the most of humor. Be ready to charge your day with chuckles and insights.

You can find out more about Mike at www.mikegoodwin.com

This is a show where ideas come together. The guest statements expressed on The Savvy Communicator Podcast are their own and not necessarily the views of The Savvy Communicator.

Thanks for joining us! Become part of the conversation at www.savvycommunicator.com, and follow me on social media: my handle is @savvycommunicator.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Hi and welcome to the Savvy Communicator podcast. I'm your host, amy Flanagan. Today's question is another good one how do you bring laughter into leadership? This is a place where we discuss all things communication, facial expressions, body language and, most importantly, how to talk when you're not sure what to say. Our expert guest today is Mr Mike Goodwin. He is a comedian and a leadership trainer. He has worked for several years and everything from keynote speeches to teaching businesses how to improve their leadership qualities. Mike, thank you so much for being here today.

Speaker 2: 0:41

Thanks for the invitation.

Speaker 1: 0:43

Absolutely so. When I saw your post on the podcast forum, I just jumped because I knew that I had to talk to you and find out all of this. So, did you start with comedy or?

Speaker 2: 0:59

did you start with leadership training? I started probably with the greatest leadership training ever. I joined the army right out of high school. So I went into the United States military at the tender age of 18 years old.

Speaker 1: 1:14

Oh my gosh.

Speaker 2: 1:16

And this was many, many years ago. So I did that was fill artillery, so basically working in the field with cannons, munitions. From there I got out of the military. Well, didn't get out totally, but got out of active duty, went to college, attended college for four years and then there I kind of continued, continued developing my leadership ability and skill, went and got a masters in higher ed administration and all along the way still was in the serving and then got married right after college. So I've been a husband for 23 years and a father for 16 of the 23.

Speaker 2: 2:02

And I found comedy, or comedy found me, as I was working at a independent school as the college counselor. A little bit of a transition from one job. I was working at the University of South Carolina in student affairs.

Speaker 1: 2:19

I took this other position.

Speaker 2: 2:21

But that was the kind of the genesis of my comedy career around that time of my life.

Speaker 1: 2:28

So that's wonderful, so really. I was looking at your website and you've really worked in all levels of education, from primary school all the way through college, right.

Speaker 2: 2:38

So yeah, what was that?

Speaker 1: 2:40

like for you. How did you go from one to the other?

Speaker 2: 2:42

Well, my goal was to be a college senior administrator. That's what I desired to be. I always wanted to attend college. College changed the trajectory of my life. I was raised in a kind of a low middle class family. No one in attended college in my immediate family, and so I realized that I wanted to pursue a college degree. I think that was, you know kind of the American dream get a degree and get a job and have a house with 2.5 children. And when I got to college and I just spent four years in the military so I dove into everything, I was actively involved in student government, student orientation, I was joined the fraternity, I was a resident assistant, I was a tour guide.

Speaker 2: 3:35

I mean, I just did all the things that they were for you to do. And I had aspirations of becoming a litigator, a lawyer. I was in political science, going to go to law school, get a degree and fight for the little man. And I started looking at what I was doing on campus. It's like man, I really enjoy working on campus. And I remember thinking about the dean of students. I was like I wonder how he got that job. That seems like an interesting job. So I went to the dean of students and said, hey, how did you get to where you were? And he told me about the field of student affairs, student personnel services, and so he took me to a conference and I was hooked. That kind of led me on my educational journey. So when I was working, I worked at the University of South Carolina in multicultural student affairs leadership programs, the visitor center.

Speaker 2: 4:39

Well, there was a gentleman I was in graduate school with that worked at an independent school in town and they were looking for a college counselor. And we met and he told me the job description. I went in, visited campus and I was like man, I could really see myself here because I was the liaison for the school to colleges and I wanted to stay connected with colleges and I saw a way to do that and so I accepted their position. And yeah, at Heathwood Hall Episcopal School that's where I was working they were K4 through 12.

Speaker 2: 5:18

And you were able to see the little ones. My daughter actually started school there when I was working, so that was my connection from every phase of the educational system.

Speaker 1: 5:33

Wow, that's wonderful. Just let the audience know, mike and I are from the same hometown, so, as he's talking about USC or Heathwood Hall or everything, I'm going, yes, and I was an RA too. So I was like, yes, so tell me, because I think there's so much mystery kind of about how to connect with students. You know it's something that is very much in the students' hands and they decide if they've been connected with or not. But how did you face that particular challenge?

Speaker 2: 6:06

I think that the way I connected, I think the reason I was interested in working on a campus is because I'm a first generation college student, so I knew that there were some unique challenges for folks that were in my position and I wanted to be a representation of an administrator that has walked similar paths. I joined the Army and then went to college. So those students I wanted to be a resource for students that were prior service and I think that's why I led with my connection. I wanted to connect with students that I saw a bit of myself inside of and I think that was my first way to connect.

Speaker 2: 6:55

And when I started working, especially at the university level, I was not that far from their age, which presented a little bit of challenge with my supervisor. If you were to talk to my supervisor at the time, he would have felt that I was too connected, that the students felt like I was too much of an advocate or a person that they could hang out with and I really had to set up some boundaries professionally to make it look as though it was wild, because it wasn't. It was a benefit, but in the professional world it looked like a fraternizing. It didn't look to be. I was just making real, authentic connections, but it just looked like, hey man, you just hanging out with the students all the time. So that presented an interesting challenge for me.

Speaker 1: 7:53

Oh yeah, that's so tough because you know, in my opinion, that's what kids need. They need somebody that is there, sometimes in the background and sometimes in the foreground, but somebody that's there that they know they can go to wherever. And it's unfortunate that they started to look at it that way, because I know I'm sure you were doing a lot of good there with.

Speaker 2: 8:21

Yeah, and one of the things that happened and I didn't realize it too much later I started dressing older, so I was always in suits and I'm a guy that is very cognizant of my appearance and I want to display a real dapper appearance. But I think I sped up what I would have been traditional, where I was always in suits, because I was trying to create some type of separation from me and students. So if you looked out and you saw a guy in a suit and then everyone else were co-ed, you would say oh oh, that he's different from those guys. So that's the way that I think I tried to fit into whatever my supervisor was communicating to me about professionalism.

Speaker 1: 9:17

Sure, and that's just one way of communication. Sometimes we don't go and just verbally say all the things. Sometimes it's through a symbol, like wearing a suit, or wearing a particular name tags or a big one. A lot of times Name tags designate. I'm here in this place and you have to know my name, so I'm wearing it in front of everybody. So comedy found you, huh.

Speaker 2: 9:49

Yeah, it did.

Speaker 1: 9:50

Yeah, well, tell me about that.

Speaker 2: 9:52

Interesting enough, I've always had a great sense of humor and my unfortunately unfortunately my sense of humor came. It comes from a very dark place. I grew up in a very dysfunctional home and my parents would often argue and get into physical and verbal disagreements. And I remember being about eight and my parents had gotten into this altercation and after everything had calmed down, I just remembered thinking now I need to do something to make my mother laugh. I just really needed to break the tension. See my mother with a smile on her face. I think that would solve some of the issues. I mean, this is what my eight year old mind is telling me and I did it. I did something and it made my mother laugh. So I knew that whenever my parents would have disagreements, I would just go into my act, so to speak.

Speaker 2: 10:53

So I wasn't the class clown. I wasn't a person that people were like oh, he was always the spotlight, he was the star of the drama team or any of those things. I just had a very difficult scenario that I figured out how to use humor to help break the tension, which has led me to working with folks and organizations to use humor as a leadership tool to break tension, have difficult conversations, to help people feel more comfortable and dynamic in their presentation and communication on stage. So I've taken that comedy piece and it's been throughout the course of my life. It's sort of like I've always been interested in leadership. I've always been interested in laughter. So I'm kind of like the Reese's Pieces where you got the chocolate and the peanut butter.

Speaker 1: 11:49

And I've tried.

Speaker 2: 11:49

I've tried to just be comedy and I've tried to just be leadership and it doesn't fit me. I need to have those both merged together.

Speaker 1: 11:59

Yeah Well, it seems like a great combination and it seems like something that you know I don't know that anybody else is doing is putting these things together, which I think really makes you unique. You know, you've been on BET, you've been on Peacock and you've been all over the US and beyond doing this skill. So even from a young age, you found that you were already calculating jokes. Okay, this one hit, this one didn't. This one is gonna work. File this one away for a different circumstance, kind of thing Is that would you say that's what it was like.

Speaker 2: 12:34

Yeah, it was what's been very. It's always been an interesting journey at every stage of it. But I think the most eye-opening part about humor in my life humor was once a liability and then it automatically became an asset, like I just. I can remember it's like pre-high school, post-high, like high school, post-high school. Comedy was something different. In high school and below it was hey, you can't sit. Still, you always got something to say. You think everything's funny, like it just was a negative connotation.

Speaker 2: 13:16

And then, once I became an adult, I could remember sitting in interviews, even for internships or opportunities, and folks would say, oh my goodness, you have such a charismatic personality, your humor's so great. It was like what happened, Like the thing that was the most negative thing is now the most positive. And it took me and I still think I have some mindset to work with because all the negative messages that I've received about humor over the course of my life- yeah, yeah, that is so basically, one of your huge gifts was coming out at such a young age and you were being told just to ignore it.

Speaker 2: 14:07

Right, it's like being a superhero. You're a mutant. You're a mutant right, yes.

Speaker 2: 14:12

You're strong, you're too fast, but oh, you can stop this meteor from hitting the earth. You're the best of all, and I also had to learn how to handle the superpower. I had to learn how to operate with it, because there is a such thing as appropriate humor. I talk to schools. I go to talk to students and one of the first things I'll say especially I think there was a middle school that brought me in and one of the first things I said is that, hey, man, I understand your teachers lie to you all the time and people like whoa, what is it? Huh.

Speaker 2: 14:47

It's like yeah it's kinda difficult, and so I would, and the teachers would look in it's like everybody have everybody attention. And I said imagine this scenario something funny happens in class, everyone laughs. And what does your teacher say?

Speaker 1: 15:02

That's not funny, not funny.

Speaker 2: 15:04

Then their teacher leave the same classroom, walk down the hall and will tell a colleague you won't believe the most hilarious thing that just happened.

Speaker 2: 15:13

And so it's not that it's not funny, it's not appropriate at this particular time. So I think that was the piece that I had to kind of get some clarity around, and I often in my presentations I say comedy is neutral, comedy is like money. The issue is is what you decide to do with it. You can take comedy and you can be belittling, you can be insulting, you can be negative. Or you can take comedy and you can be inspiring, motivating and build community. And that's what I try to do with my humor is to bridge gaps and not put up barriers.

Speaker 1: 15:50

Oh, that's so true. I love that example that you gave. I was a teacher for a while too and, yes, the first thing somebody says something or does something you have to be like stop, yeah, we're paying attention to something, and I would. I would go right down the hall and I was like you will never believe what just happens, but it wasn't appropriate.

Speaker 2: 16:12

It was funny, right, it wasn't appropriate, and there's an appropriateness to humor. Often this is the other thing that I talk about in corporate settings, because we're not very skilled in humor, we bring that same sense of humor to everything. Like we are, who we are, and what happens in the workplace is you bring inside jokes to an outside relationship, and so now the way that you're engaging with humor is how you would engage with your friends and your family.

Speaker 2: 16:40

But those people know you, they love you, they've been in your life for years. These people at your job, they don't know you, they know the word version of you, and so you're bringing in your college sense of humor and it's like no, let's cultivate a relationship, then we can start bringing in humor. But if you, if you start, and then that's when you find yourself saying like, well, I wasn't trying to hurt anyone, you know you're doing all this apologizing and what you should lead with is relationship and not with jokes.

Speaker 1: 17:15

Oh, that's just fascinating, that's. I love that explanation. It makes so much sense and one of the things that I teach when I teach communication is talking about how. A lot of times and I'd love to hear your opinion on this a lot of times communication is a trial and error process. We try one thing and if it hits that's great, and but it can also be frightening because we're not sure what we did that got it to hit. And if it doesn't work, it's very frightening because then we don't know what to do again, and I would imagine that that is, you know, a skill that you're balancing all the time.

Speaker 2: 17:56

That's the essence of stand-up comedy, and it's also not just performing it but writing it. Unlike music, I can't play a song in a room and like, oh, that's a good song. Like the only way that I know that comedy is good is if I say it in front of people. There's no other way, there's no other barometer, there's no other measure. Then, if I open my mouth in front of a group of people and someone laughs like that's it.

Speaker 1: 18:25

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 18:26

And that's very daunting. And then, much like you were saying, it's trial and error and the more you do it, the more you understand the danger or the more you're better able to recover.

Speaker 1: 18:41

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 18:42

And then the more sensitive you are. But yeah, you're absolutely correct and the benefit that we have with communication is we always are doing it. Yes, we're always communicating. We may not know that or have formalized that in our brain.

Speaker 1: 19:00

Yeah, I think you're so right, because we have to communicate everything every day and, like you talked about wearing the suit, that's a type of communication it might be. I work with a lot of medical students and I tell them that people will have an emotional reaction to everything that you do, said the way you come into the room, the way you hang up your coat, the way you sit down. That may not be fair, but that's what's happening and I'm sure when you step out on that stage you must be feeling that as well.

Speaker 2: 19:35

That's interesting because I think about this as it relates to comedy, but I just saw it as you were explaining it about the medical field. Like people come to an appointment with subjective thoughts of doctors, like they already feel the way that they feel about doctors, and either you have to work through that or that serves as a benefit for you. Comedy is the same way. If I say comedy in your brain you're always thinking something you don't come to comedy with a blank slate you already have.

Speaker 2: 20:07

And that's another challenge in the workplace because when you say comedy, people think nightclub eclairs, alcohol, you think the Vegas. You know I'm a wild and crazy guy. You're not thinking this guy is a keynote speaker and he builds community, you know, you just it's very subjective and comedy much like the ability to select your physician, you control that so the whole entire room could be laughing. You're like I don't think that's funny and you're absolutely right, like you're the judge and jewelry of how you feel. And that's very insightful for doctors because people just have. We've watched television shows with doctors, we've had experience with doctors over the years. We come into that relationship already with a set of expectations or already knowing oh this is how this is going to be.

Speaker 1: 21:02

Yeah, yeah, you're so right and that's flipping through Netflix. If you look at the comedy and you look at the photo and you're like, oh, I don't know, that doesn't seem funny, you know? Oh well, he uses language, or.

Speaker 2: 21:17

OK, this is what I could do this.

Speaker 1: 21:19

one looks funny.

Speaker 2: 21:20

I saw something on Facebook recently. I'm sorry that was just infuriating. And it was the question and I get it, it was the engagement. I saw the comments, but the question was what comedian do you not find funny? And I was like why are y'all doing this? Like. I was like come on, man, that's not funny. Yeah, but these folks are the expert. If I say that's not funny to me, you're absolutely correct.

Speaker 1: 21:47

Yes, yeah, you're 100% correct. You're listening to the Savvy Communicator podcast. Our guest is Mike Goodwin, comedian and leadership trainer. We'll be right back. Yeah, welcome back to the Savvy Communicator. Again, we're talking with Mike Goodwin, comedian and leadership trainer. So, mike, I really am dying to know what was your initial foray into comedy. How did that start?

Speaker 2: 22:22

Great question. What happened is very. I guess everybody's story is always interesting. So I wasn't a kid that people are like, oh, you should do comedy. I wasn't the kid that saw a famous comedian on television. I was like I'm going to be that guy. That's just what. That wouldn't how it happened for me. I always had a great sense of humor. I thought I was a more improv type guy. I didn't think I had content. Just get on stage and talk and people. That just seemed wild to me. But I loved comedy. I'm like a comedy fan, I'm like the hair club for me, and not only am I a client, I'm the president.

Speaker 2: 22:59

I don't know how I'm going to be president, but I am a user so I enjoy like I laugh. Even if you one of the most to know me to see me in a comedy setting, you would think that the comedians was paying me the way that I laugh. I always say when I go on stage one of the things I hate is that I'm not in the audience laughing, because I'm a very engaged laugher.

Speaker 1: 23:26

But what?

Speaker 2: 23:26

happened for me. It happened at my church. So I was working in the media ministry at my church and this comedian joined our church. He was a guy that was doing comedy, but he was doing secular comedy and really wanted to not be who he was on stage. At the time I wanted to stop, clean up his acts, so to speak. So he joined our church and we were serving together in the media ministry and I would just run ideas by him. I would say, hey, man, what do you think about this, what do you think about that? And we would laugh and he kind of allowed me to do this for about 30 days and then finally one day he said look, man, you have some really good content that you were telling me. He said I'm going to give you two options. He said I can do this material that you are sharing with me and I'm going on stage and do it.

Speaker 2: 24:16

And I'm not going to give you any money.

Speaker 2: 24:18

He said you can go on stage and do this material and you can get the money, and so I was like I guess I'm going on stage Pretty much got debolded onto stage, bullied me on the stage and that's how I got started. And I started at a New Year's Eve service at my church and I was surprised and people didn't know I was going to be doing it and I went up and I did the most wonderful seven minutes standing ovation. It was a Hollywood story type of event. Then I went on the road doing it and I bombed for the next two years and I got to the place where I knew I could be good. I knew I had the ability, but it just wasn't happening.

Speaker 2: 25:10

And I realized that there were some things that I was doing that wasn't causing my performances to work. And I remember after one event I just was like I got to, I got to do better. And I remember having a conversation with God. I was like hey, this is not working out like this, like I know I'm supposed to be doing this. And what I heard and felt was you're not doing this for the audience, you're doing it for yourself. Like I was on stage for my good one and it clicked. Like you're not talking to people, you're not looking people in there, you're on a big, big stage, there's peacocking around, and so I made the change. I made, like this shift in OK, I need to start making connections with the audience. And I also knew that all these leadership principles, like I knew, all of these things that I had employed in my personal and professional life, so why don't I use these principles to improve my comedy performance.

Speaker 2: 26:27

So I started looking at leadership principles, like one of the first ones that I adopted was the idea of being diligent. I just wasn't as diligent as I should have been in my comedy. I thought I looked at comedy sort of like a hobby, looked at it like, oh, if nothing else is going on, I'll get over there to it. I thought about what you know. One of my favorite Movies was the karate kid and I kind of had the same. I had the same attitude the Daniel's son had when he wanted to learn karate, like he wanted to fight and he wanted to punch and kick but he didn't want to learn how to wax on.

Speaker 2: 27:10

Wax off, wax on and wax off. So that was the component that I was missing in my comedy pressure preparation. I wasn't Preparing, I wasn't being diligent, I wasn't researching, I wasn't thinking about the audience. And who were these people that I'm gonna be speaking to? What? What are their needs, what are their concerns? What is their life like? I'll just would jump on stage and Do some warmed-up version of what I thought a Comedy set was yeah so once I started implementing those principles, you know I was being diligent.

Speaker 2: 27:47

The next one was I was being present and Showing up there wherever my feet were, as opposed to being on stage thinking about why am I not on bigger stages or why didn't I get the opportunity that other people got, and Just not it being distracted, just not honking in in the moment, being grateful, being appreciative, serving right where I was. And so that really Changed. Because what was interesting? Once I became more diligent, I got better. But then, when I got, better I got more entitled.

Speaker 2: 28:23

Yeah, I started not Thinking about them, I started thinking about me. Then I had to. I had to reel that in and become present, and then the principle I talk about a lot is being generous. That also helped me in terms of stand up, because it's not a very generous environment. Entertainment is not a place where Folks are wrapping their arms around you and showing you the way. It's a yeah, dog world type of scenario and I wanted to go against the grain and then be and be generous.

Speaker 2: 28:57

So I implemented leadership principles To help me become a world-class communicator. And I was bad like I did. I'm you know. People see me now Like, oh it's so funny. I was bad, I was very bad. I'm not being humble, I'm not being modest. I was not good and I worked and developed and grew to become better and so I feel very confident, not only if I if it works for me, it can work for others.

Speaker 1: 29:27

Yes, I think so, so I was just taking notes while you were speaking about being diligent and then being present. I like what you said about being where your feet were, yeah, and just in that place time and then being generous. You know, which is, like you said, is so Uncommon in the performance world? I was an actor for 15 years, so I know exactly what you're talking about on that. You know people will just, you know, leave you in the dust and walk on by.

Speaker 2: 29:54

You know, can you do for me? What have you done for me lately? I mean, yeah, I had it too often.

Speaker 1: 30:03

So I want to ask this next question, and I'm not sure how to ask it, so it might not come across correctly. The first time when you Are working and doing your comedy in leadership training, do you ever encounter resistance?

Speaker 2: 30:20

All the time people.

Speaker 1: 30:21

You know how do you deal with that all the time.

Speaker 2: 30:24

Comedy is resistance, even if, if, even if people are there to laugh, there's still a resistance of I don't know this person. Is he really funny like? And to see me, you're not thinking funny. That's not the first thing. You know I am is a very scholarly looking gentlemen. I don't have the and I don't know what a comedian looks like, but it doesn't look like me, like I don't look like when I show up. You're not thinking, oh man, this might be a good time. You're thinking like, oh, I'm about to get my taxes done. This guy's about to give me a great lecture on On World War two, like I just don't have that initial. Hey, this is a wild and crazy time, guy Mm-hmm, I think the resistance is always present.

Speaker 2: 31:17

I think, as a communicator and it's a comedian, that this is one of the tips or tricks, that, but you have to be careful. But self deprecation, I think that's one of the things that I would do. And it could be man, I'm a little overdressed here tonight. And then people like, oh okay, mm-hmm, he's acknowledged that he's a suit and everybody else is maybe more business casual. I don't take myself so seriously. You know, take shots at yourself, so speak, but not to undermine your authority and your, your Expertise. But there's ways to just say, man, you know I don't have it all together.

Speaker 2: 31:57

Yeah and when you communicate that People immediately, I don't like this guy. I mean it's immediate. I, oh, I can connect with that. How many folks got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning Like, ok, everybody didn't, but there's some people that did.

Speaker 1: 32:16

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 32:17

Like that you said that you feel. You know, I think honesty is something that you do to make connection and you have to be measured. You know, I just got an argument with my wife. You be like whoa guy, we don't even know you like, wait a minute, that's a little too much. But a level of transparency always alleviates resistance. For me I make people laugh. Like if I make you laugh in that first 60 seconds I'm able to eliminate much of that resistance because, and especially by the end of five minutes, you have a good gauge of what's going to happen.

Speaker 2: 33:00

Like even if you were like I wasn't prepared to laugh. Is this going to be appropriate and inappropriate? But in the five minutes you're like oh man, this is a husband, this you know. I've said something to my children. I'm like I'm from South Carolina. We use I say I'm from the South with an F and not a T H, and now people laugh and it is just oh man, it's my good, it's my guy, it's my honey. So yeah, that's the kind of way that I win folks over and try to eliminate resistance.

Speaker 1: 33:33

That's great. That's great. Transparency alleviates resistance. I really like that. I think that is an exceptionally clear way to do it, which would clear, would also be transparent, right, and it's something that we all can do.

Speaker 2: 33:48

Here's another tip, because folks that are listening to your podcasts are communicators. You don't have to be a stand up comedian to be funny. Like the level in which we judge, comedians and speakers are not even on the same strategy, sure. So just to add one or two bits of humor into your presentation is gold. Like, most folks come to presentations like this is going to be good information, but they're not going to think, oh, this is going to be an awesome experience. Like, oh, I'm going to learn something new. Ok, now you've taught them something new and they laugh. They're like wait a minute, this was. This is pretty good yeah.

Speaker 2: 34:29

So, I think there's a communicator. When you hear humor or comedy in your presentation, don't think you got to do an HBO special or a Netflix special. Just think, man, I need three times through the course of an hour where people smile or laugh Like that's a very low bar to a couple, ok.

Speaker 1: 34:50

Yeah, that feels doable because I know there are times. You know, I think, like most people, I enjoy being funny and I think, like many people, I'm not very good at it. And it's funny in my house. We grew up with very dry sense of humor.

Speaker 2: 35:04

Right right.

Speaker 1: 35:05

And then you go tell somebody a joke with that dry sense of humor and they can just be taken aback and be like wow, that sounds really scary. Instead of being funny. Right, right, but that's a good goal because it's just when you say something just off the cuff and everybody laughs. It's one of the most wonderful feelings it's gold in the world.

Speaker 2: 35:27

One of the things I do, because comedy is a surprise, right? So one of the things I do is very, very low, low entry when you check into a. You check into a hotel and they're doing their deal.

Speaker 2: 35:39

They're telling you about continental breakfast and they're saying have you stayed here before in the gyms, on the first floor, all that stuff. They'll say, hey, how many? You know how many keys would you want me to make? I'll say some outlandish number like 73. And so number one, it takes them off their script because they can't. You can't hear 73 and say, oh, parking, is you like what? Yeah. And so once I have them, I say yeah, you know, I'm just going to pass them out downtown, so it just, but it's that I didn't write. That wasn't a very oh, I spent time right. It's surprise is the element of surprise. People did not see that coming. So there's ways that you can do that. And I also look at it like if you're looking at a program, it's like a commercial break, like the laugh is a commercial break.

Speaker 2: 36:28

So you're watching 10 minutes of an episode. Put a laugh in there, watch another 10 minutes, put another laugh and then you're you're done. So it doesn't have to be this. Oh my goodness, they were slapping the table and passed out in the aisles during your presentation. But we always walk away from presentations that are humorous, feeling much better yes, initially, and even even me like I'm funnier in a corporate setting than I am in a club, because people did not expect to laugh, maybe a little bit, because they say we got a comedian doing a keynote. So they kind of like, oh, it's going to be funny. But most times folks are like, oh, that was incredible.

Speaker 2: 37:12

And it was good, but I was like I'm not doing anything. It's like oh, my goodness, he's the next Tony Robbins.

Speaker 1: 37:21

It sounds like you're on your way. It sounds like you are on your way, so that's great. So the last question I want to ask you is we wrap up. You know, our tagline at the show is how to speak when you're not sure what to say. And I wanted to ask you have you ever been stuck in a situation where you had no idea what to say, whether it's on stage, whether it's working with someone, and how did you deal with it?

Speaker 2: 37:50

So many. I have so many examples. I wanted to just jump to mine. I recently this probably has been as recent as this past Christmas, but it's pretty, it's pretty recent.

Speaker 2: 38:02

So I do a lot of corporate event and oftentimes folks will have me in for their holiday banquet dinner event and I was doing this event in Indiana and it was kind of rural Indiana and you know, we talked to the person and this company in that they forgot the particular business. And I got to the venue and it was an Amish community, like it was. Like I pulled up and they were like horse and buggies in the parking lot and I walked in in the room Like, and they had mentioned that they were Amish people you know some folks that the Amish work for them and it was, but they didn't. When I walked in it was like I was the only non-Amish person there, like it was not. Oh, there's gonna be.

Speaker 2: 38:58

No, it's like Amish and my good one. And so just by the look of it was just like stark contrast to kind of what I had put in my head, like I was gonna be some folks here. But I forgot even what the Amish called the. Just like everyday person might be American, like they may just say that we're.

Speaker 1: 39:21

Yeah, something like that.

Speaker 2: 39:22

Yeah, it's like a standard. And even in the write-up they were like so the audience is full of American Amish. And I was like it didn't really resented Like yeah, we're in America, why wouldn't Americans be? But when I got there it was just like I was like what, in what kind of jokes am I? I don't have any Amish jokes, right and so you could tell I met the president of the organization. I think he had saw me and it's like oh man, you'd be great and they would love you. And so I had like this thought and I think I've had this thought a lot of times when I get in front of different audiences, the folks know what I do and they were expecting me to do that.

Speaker 2: 40:09

I think oftentimes what happens when we lose our train of thought or we find ourselves in a position where we feel like we don't know what to do. We know what to do, we just don't believe that what we typically do is gonna connect. And I just kind of remembered okay, this guy watched video like he didn't just throw a dart at a picture on the wall I was like let's get this guy and bring him in. So I just found comfort in I do what I do. They know what I do and I'm just gonna get up on the stage and do it.

Speaker 2: 40:45

So but I acknowledge the awkwardness of the moment, like hey, when they said this was an Amish community, I didn't know the whole community was gonna be at the dinner tonight and so people were like, oh okay, and after once you get two or three laughs, you're feeling super comfortable. But I think oftentimes and another thing that I deal with, especially as a comedian, or even speakers probably have the same thing. If you've been to a place before, you're kind of in your head about oh, I don't wanna say the same thing, I don't wanna be a copy of the last time I was here and most times they don't even remember some of the things that you said.

Speaker 2: 41:28

So, if you have a prepared presentation, you're gonna be fine. Just do the thing that you do and you'll be fine. Yeah, I just find comfort in falling back on your training, so to speak.

Speaker 1: 41:44

Yeah, and I think what's another thing that's coming through is just the idea of trusting yourself and trusting that you have that structure, that you've built that structure.

Speaker 2: 41:55

Right.

Speaker 1: 41:55

You know through all your years of training and working and experiencing and that everybody can build that structure, and then that's gonna be there for you.

Speaker 2: 42:06

Right and yeah. And you, just you, just in that moment of apprehension and anxiety, just remember, oh, I've done this a thousand times. I mean, I was on America's Got Talent and there's a moment where they ask you questions and it's like all right, mike, do your thing. And it's like okay, I've been doing standup for seven years this is nothing new Like I'm here.

Speaker 2: 42:33

I'm just in front of Simon Howe, like I'm just Simon Howe or Howie. You know that's a little disorienting, but I've talked into a microphone in front of a group of people before. Let's do.

Speaker 1: 42:49

Oh, that's fantastic. That's fantastic. Did they laugh?

Speaker 2: 42:52

They did. I got the four yeses.

Speaker 1: 42:56

Ah, congratulations.

Speaker 2: 42:59

Yeah, it was quite the experience.

Speaker 1: 43:00

Yeah, I bet it was. Listen, not many people get that.

Speaker 2: 43:04

Right.

Speaker 1: 43:04

Mike Goodwin, comedian and leadership trainer. It has been an absolute pleasure to have you on the Savvy Communicator today.

Speaker 2: 43:11

I've had a wonderful time.

Speaker 1: 43:13

Me too. Thanks so much for joining us today. Our guest has been Mike Goodwin. You can reach him at MikeGoodwin G-O-O-D-W-I-Ncom. Definitely check him out, see everywhere that he's been, and thanks for spending time with us today. We'll see you next time.