Rob Clark - Mastering Cybersecurity and the Art of Public Speaking
May 17, 2024
Alimond Studio
Ever found yourself scratching your head over cybersecurity measures, or frozen on stage with a speech to deliver? Rob Clark Jr. — master of ceremonies, leadership coach, and your new cybersecurity best friend — joins us to break down the barriers of cyber protection and public speaking. With anecdotes that range from laugh-out-loud funny to truly transformative, Rob's journey from the rink to the podium will not only entertain but also educate. He shares how a career-altering injury led him to discover his talents in leadership and speaking, all while imparting wisdom on how to turn personal setbacks into opportunities for growth.
But it's not all just stories — Rob provides actionable advice for those looking to master the art of communication, whether you're addressing a boardroom or an auditorium. He explains the significance of cybersecurity from his expert perspective, stressing that it's a subject that touches every industry and individual. For those aspiring to make their mark as speakers, Rob offers gems on how to engage an audience, the power of humor, and why service to others is the true path to success. So, buckle up for a masterclass in turning vulnerabilities into strengths, both in the digital world and on the stage, with a side of laughter to keep things light.
Ever found yourself scratching your head over cybersecurity measures, or frozen on stage with a speech to deliver? Rob Clark Jr. — master of ceremonies, leadership coach, and your new cybersecurity best friend — joins us to break down the barriers of cyber protection and public speaking. With anecdotes that range from laugh-out-loud funny to truly transformative, Rob's journey from the rink to the podium will not only entertain but also educate. He shares how a career-altering injury led him to discover his talents in leadership and speaking, all while imparting wisdom on how to turn personal setbacks into opportunities for growth.
But it's not all just stories — Rob provides actionable advice for those looking to master the art of communication, whether you're addressing a boardroom or an auditorium. He explains the significance of cybersecurity from his expert perspective, stressing that it's a subject that touches every industry and individual. For those aspiring to make their mark as speakers, Rob offers gems on how to engage an audience, the power of humor, and why service to others is the true path to success. So, buckle up for a masterclass in turning vulnerabilities into strengths, both in the digital world and on the stage, with a side of laughter to keep things light.
Speaker 1:
Rob Clark Jr. My business is robclarkjrcom. That's my website, and I am in the public speaking keynote speaking business as a master of ceremonies, as a leadership coach and helping to inspire people to demystify cybersecurity and to allow people to be able to understand how to manage and mitigate those risks in their businesses and in their personal lives.
Speaker 2:
Wow. So what kind of public is this?
Speaker 1:
At conferences, At conferences different associations bring me in when they are dealing with. Let's face it, every business deals with cybersecurity issues and concerns, and most people think that you need to have a computer science degree in order to try to manage and mitigate some of these risks. What I do is I help to demystify that and help people to be able to understand that everyone who uses a computer can operate more effectively online and to make sure that the data is secure and that they're taking some basic steps. Most people don't know what to do. They just think, oh, they throw up their hands, oh, I'm not a geek, so I don't know what to do.
Speaker 2:
Because it's such a frustrating world it is.
Speaker 1:
It is, and the risks are ever increasing. So what we do is really help people to understand the practical things that they can do in order to try to better protect themselves.
Speaker 2:
And how did you get into this industry?
Speaker 1:
I have been in the audit and compliance and IT audit space for I can't even believe I'm old enough to say this for 37 years.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, and you don't look a day over 37. So you must have started when you were really young.
Speaker 1:
Well, I was explaining, just before we go on.
Speaker 1:
I just turned 62 a couple weeks ago, and so if you do the math on that thank you, but if you do the math on that, that means that for over half of my life I've been eating lunch alone. Because no one wants to hang out with an audit and compliance guy, right? Because people, ooh, you meet people at a party. What do you do? Oh, I'm in audit and compliance. Oh, I'm going to death. I was in my late 20s and I knew that I was going to be speaking in front of people that had far more experience than I did, so I got myself involved in Toastmasters.
Speaker 2:
Okay, what's Toastmasters?
Speaker 1:
Toastmasters is the largest non-for-profit professional development organization in the world. Okay, and it helps people to develop public speaking skills and to learn on how to better communicate and to allow people to work on their extemporaneous speaking. And I just thought I need to get involved in helping to make sure that I don't make a fool of myself in front of people. And I really learned and developed the skill and the experience of being able to give presentations in an engaging manner. That very first presentation that I ever did. I wanted to look good and feel good, feel confident. I found out it was going to be the largest attended session of the entire conference.
Speaker 2:
How many people?
Speaker 1:
It was about 500 people and I thought, okay, I need to go out and make sure that I look good and feel good. So I went out and bought a new suit. Now this is back in the days when, before PowerPoint and LCD projectors this is, if you remember, the overhead transparency with the arm that you had to flip and actually put the I'm that old right. So I did this for an hour and 15 minutes and had this new suit. I'm feeling really good. At the end of the session, people came up and said, rob, you look really good, information was great and you look good too. Is that a new suit? I said, as a matter of fact, it is. And they said, well, next time you might want to remove the tag.
Speaker 2:
Oh no.
Speaker 1:
For an hour and 50 minutes I had a tag still hanging on my armpit. So now, 30 years later, every time I go to this association, the first thing that people say is hey, Rob, new suit.
Speaker 2:
But from that you know what I've learned, like, when you do something like that, you've probably never done it again. Right, you probably double check to make all the tags are off.
Speaker 1:
But seriously, when a guy tries on a suit, how many times do you actually say well, how do I look?
Speaker 2:
You never lift your hands over your head.
Speaker 1:
So that got me involved in Toastmasters and I continued to do that and then people thought, well, you did such a good job with that, would you speak at next year's conference?
Speaker 1:
And then next year's conference, and then other conferences and other associations started hearing of this and inviting me to go and speak and I really learned the business of actually doing public speaking. And I really learned the business of actually doing public speaking and not speaking just to be heard, but speaking because I've got a passion for the message of wanting people to be operating from, in which people can better prepare themselves to operate online with their cybersecurity, but also talking about how you can apply those same principles of identifying risks, managing those things that are most important to you In business. It's your data In your life, it's your personal values, and how I was able to actually use that same principle to my own life, and I share very transparently that a number of years ago, I was a former ice hockey player growing up in Boston Diehard Sox Bruins fan. Yeah, I was a former ice hockey player growing up in.
Speaker 1:
Boston. Yeah, die hard socks.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, I was going to say where's Zach's at? Yeah, it comes up, it comes up.
Speaker 1:
But I actually played ice hockey and played all the way up until I was almost 50 and then had somebody hit me and blew out both my knees.
Speaker 2:
Oh, wow.
Speaker 1:
So I had to have two total titanium knee replacements Wow so airport security Did you have, so I had to have two total titanium knee replacements, so airport security.
Speaker 2:
Did you have to do them at?
Speaker 1:
the same time. I did them a year apart, yeah, so airport security knows me very well.
Speaker 2:
Yes.
Speaker 1:
I have to go through. That led to a point of just depression and I put on a bunch of weight because I couldn't exercise and I didn't adjust my speeding and and I was just, it was a really low point.
Speaker 1:
And, uh, quite frankly, I just I self-medicated with alcohol to a point that it just got its claws in me and it owned me and that ended up destroying relationships, led to a very painful divorce, and I was at just such a low point in my life. And then somebody put their hand on my shoulder at that time and said Rob, you are so good at helping businesses to navigate out of difficult situations. You've helped these organizations navigate through a ransomware attack. You've helped organizations navigate back through high-profile fraud investigations. Why don't you audit your life and try to apply these things to your life? And the light bulb went off and I took myself on as a project and just said, okay, I'm going to audit my life and I'm going to apply these same principles to my life, and went through that process and over the next year and a half I had lost the 70 pounds that I had put on.
Speaker 2:
Wow, congrats. I know how hard that is.
Speaker 1:
Have kept that off now for over nine years. Today is day number 4,111 of sobriety.
Speaker 2:
Wow, how does that feel?
Speaker 1:
I'm a new person. I'm absolutely transformed and the experiences that I went through are not for me. They're for the benefit of those who are going through those types of struggles that I can now help and encourage. So I've got several men that I'm mentoring and helping them along their journeys and that hand that came on my shoulder, that is now my wife of now 10 plus years.
Speaker 2:
I was just going to ask who was the person who said that to you and where does the relationship stand today?
Speaker 1:
Yes, that is my beautiful bride and actually, as you were pointing out, beforehand.
Speaker 2:
I have her shared on my cufflinks here. I noticed them immediately. That's so sweet.
Speaker 1:
What's her?
Speaker 2:
name. Give her a shout out.
Speaker 1:
Her name was Mauve.
Speaker 2:
Yeah.
Speaker 1:
And so when you hear people talk about they wear their heart in their sleeves. Well, I literally do.
Speaker 1:
You literally wear it on your sleeves, exactly. So that's a part of the message that I share. And when I have an opportunity to speak with audiences, and people think that they're going to be hearing just about cybersecurity, right. But when I'm able to share the personal side of this and share this from a perspective of how you can employ these audit practices to your life, to your business, to your relationships, to your work, to your personal physical health, your mental health, your spiritual health, your emotional health, it helps to bring things more into holistic balance.
Speaker 1:
Yeah the whole package, it is so it's really rewarding and the feedback that I hear from people is inspiring. What?
Speaker 2:
is some of the feedback you hear from people.
Speaker 1:
Most of the time it's very surprised. People are not expecting to have been moved as much as they were, and I don't make it sappy and emotional. I'm not trying to shine the flashlight on myself of, hey, look what I did. That's not the message at all. It's like if I can do this, you can too, and not just you can.
Speaker 1:
But here is the five-step process that I went through. Here are the specific steps, here's the framework, and that's a part of what I cover in my keynote is to walk people through so that they feel like they've got a plan, they've got an action plan, they've got the tools and strategies and they've got hope. And so when people walk away and literally just wiping- the tears out of their eyes and saying.
Speaker 1:
you have no idea how badly I needed to hear that, because everyone in their life, everyone has some hurt, some habit or some hang up that they're dealing with.
Speaker 2:
Absolutely.
Speaker 1:
Everybody.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, I mean, life wouldn't be life if we didn't have challenges right. It's kind of part why we're here is to learn and to grow and to change and figure out what's working and audit our life as you said when things aren't working and try to get it going in the right direction.
Speaker 1:
That's right.
Speaker 2:
What do you find most rewarding about speaking in front of an audience? You said you were a lot nervous on your first time. Oh, I was petrified.
Speaker 2:
And I always look at public speakers with such admiration because I mean I can sit in this room and behind the cameras and do this, but if I had to, I mean I literally black out if I have to get up in front of people. And I've always admired that because it's a true talent, I feel like, and it's a true gift when I've seen a really good public speaker that can just stand up and demand a crowd's attention. It's just a really unique thing. So what do you find rewarding about that?
Speaker 1:
Well, I want to pick up on something and I want to challenge the thought that it's not necessarily a gift.
Speaker 1:
It's a skill and like any skill, it can be learned and it's the idea of actually having that level of ability and confidence is something that is a skill that you just learn and develop and, with intentional focus, everyone can do that, and that's part of what I do as a part of my leadership coaching is have one-on-one sessions with people to actually help them through that process of gaining that confidence to be able to give a presentation or a speech and maybe they're not even preparing to give a speech, maybe they just need to be that much more confident in being able to convey their perspective as a part of meetings that they're in or even going into like an interview, because you help somebody like that Exactly.
Speaker 2:
Yes, that's what.
Speaker 1:
I do. I help people on their interview, coaching and it's just really rewarding when you see the impact that you can have on people's lives and realizing that everything that I have been through in my life the good, the bad, the peaks, the valleys Realizing that everything that I have been through in my life the good, the bad, the peaks, the valleys being able to share that and inspire and encourage others to follow, there's no more satisfying experience.
Speaker 2:
That's amazing. Do you have any challenges with it? What are some challenges that you have and how do you overcome them?
Speaker 1:
Oh, there's challenges all the time.
Speaker 2:
Like when you are feeling nervous of those butterflies. You're not sleeping good before a big speech.
Speaker 1:
How do you get through that. The idea is to take those butterflies and have them fly in formation. There's butterflies every single time I go on stage, every single time that I'm going in front of a camera, every single time I'm doing a virtual presentation time, that I'm going in front of a camera, every single time I'm doing a virtual presentation and what I do is obviously there's some practical things you can do with breathing techniques to try to calm your heart rate down and to center yourself, but the focus, if it's just on me and oh, I hope I always ask the question why am I nervous? Am I nervous because I'm concerned about how people are going to view me? Then the motivation is entirely in the wrong place.
Speaker 1:
The whole focus is on the message that I want to bring to the people that are sitting there, knowing that there are people in that audience whose lives are going to be impacted and positively changed. It's not about me. The message is for them. I've been given this gift of the message and the inspiration and the hope, and my job is to convey that to other people. It ain't about me, yeah, so it's. It's just, I'm just the messenger.
Speaker 1:
I'm just the vessel, I'm the conduit through which I'm trying to pass that blessing on to other people. So you know, my prayer every time I go on the stage is Lord, let me get out of the way and use me as a vessel to pass on the message that you want this audience to hear. You know you brought the people here who specifically need to hear this message.
Speaker 2:
You need to hear that.
Speaker 1:
Use me to carry that message of hope to them.
Speaker 2:
I need to hear that. Use me to carry that message of hope to them, Speaking of your audience and the people that you touch. You mentioned you're doing some international travel as well and speaking engagements.
Speaker 1:
Tell me a little bit about that. That's the fun thing that when you get approached from organizations that say, hey, would you come and speak to our group and we'd love to have you be able to carry your message to those of us at our conference and it might be in industries that I've never been a part of before, but people always need to know the message of how they can better protect themselves online with their cybersecurity posture and when they learn of the other part of the message that I bring, that's applicable to everyone in every organization. So just over the next several months, I'm going to be speaking at conferences in Chicago, to Texas, to Kentucky, to California, to Saudi Arabia, and that was not something that I had necessarily tried to market myself for. I don't have advertisements in the local Saudi Arabian newspaper like, hey, hire me for your. But word travels and people say, hey, I saw you at this conference and I know you spoke here. Hey, would you come over and speak to us at our group?
Speaker 2:
You talked a little bit about industry. What is your target kind of industry? You said some of these are a little bit off what you normally do, might not be an industry that you normally speak at, but they're reaching out to you.
Speaker 1:
Tell me a little bit about what companies not specific companies of my background in audit and compliance and risk management and cybersecurity, you would imagine that there would naturally be organizations that operate in those fields that would be interested in having somebody come in and speak to their audiences. But, quite frankly, I've spoken at organizations that are in the fast food arena, people in the public service.
Speaker 2:
But these still need cybersecurity protection.
Speaker 1:
If they have a computer, if they go online, they need to know how to.
Speaker 2:
So it's pretty across the board. It is right, I mean, it's really not.
Speaker 1:
that type of topic is not isolated to just those who are in the cybersecurity space. Yeah, so it's. You know, a lot of organizations bring in after there has been, you know, for companies that have had a breach, cybersecurity breach, and there's nothing that gets people's attention more than having an all-out cybersecurity breach where your data has been compromised and you are now scrambling and the first thing they do is oh, we need additional training on this. Okay, well, the horse has already left the barn.
Speaker 2:
Yes, it just happened to my sister's company and it was a week of a lot of hectic problems. Yes, and it's not just that week, for lack of a better word. Well put, I realize we're on camera.
Speaker 1:
But it's not just that week that you're responding, but it's the months, and in some cases years, that it takes to fully recover and try to rebuild that sense of trust. What happens to your market share, your public reputation? The reputational damage can be even more daunting and impactful than financial impact impact.
Speaker 1:
So, anyway, just businesses wanting to try to make sure that they're helping to demystify this, because most people, most organizations, when they have cybersecurity training, it is people look forward to that as much as they look forward to go, you know, getting their root canal.
Speaker 2:
I was going to say teeth cleaned, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:
It's like, oh really. So I try to make it fun, I try to make it engaging and impactful, telling real-life stories of situations that I've encountered and giving people strategies that make them walk away saying, oh, okay, yeah, I can do that, I can do that. That's not as hard as I thought it was going to be.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, when you get up on stage, how long are you speaking for on a typical?
Speaker 1:
It really depends on what the organization calls for. If I'm doing a typical keynote at a conference, that might be 45, 60 minutes. If I'm also doing a keynote in a breakout work session besides that, that might be an hour and a half an hour and 50 minutes. But I have organizations that also bring me in to do a two or three day course for them. You know where they really want to do a deep dive on this and actually get into more of the technical guts of it, as it were.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, do you have a story that impacted you a lot, or like a favorite situation, speaking engagement where there was just a different energy, something that kind of there was just a different energy, something that kind of stuck with you?
Speaker 1:
Is there like From a conference or from a speaking engagement.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, oh gosh Like one that kind of sticks out in your mind, that kind of made it all worth it.
Speaker 1:
I would say there was one that happened early on where I really wasn't even prepared. It was before, I think, I kind of formulated what my current message is that I speak on because I've spoken on a lot of different subjects, but it was one of those moments that, in the middle of what was actually an hour and 50-minute breakout session that I was doing at a conference, an hour and 50 minute breakout session that I was doing at a conference, and I just had a moment of authenticity where I thought, you know what, this might be an opportunity for me to share something transparently that I've never shared before, because I was always afraid of, if I share all of the stuff, about some of the things that I've struggled with, people might view me negatively or they might view me differently and my pride was getting in the way.
Speaker 2:
I could see that.
Speaker 1:
And I just finally got to the point where I realized wait a minute, I've been given a gift. Why would I want to hold back on giving people hope that they can go through something, that they can navigate through that? And it was in that moment that I said I'm going to take a chance. I've never talked about this before. I'm going to talk about it now.
Speaker 1:
But something happened that made you feel like, and I can't even put my finger on what that was. That was the trigger. I just responded to that prompting. It was something in my spirit that just said.
Speaker 2:
I'm going to go there.
Speaker 1:
I'm going to go there. I'm going to go there, and once I did, the response in the room was palpable. It was one of these moments I will never oof. I get goosebumps when I think about it, because everyone just stopped. They leaned in and, in an audience of 200 plus people, there was not a single person on their phone, there was no one. I mean, everyone was just locked in laser, focused on wanting to hear this story. And then seeing people wiping tears out of their eyes and I'm watching something that was as much of a gift for me as it was for the people hearing that, because then that gave me the confidence and the license to feel like I don't need to be holding this back anymore and giving people hope. And the number of people that came up to me afterwards and said that was the most impactful session I've ever heard in my life, and the people at the end of the conference were contacting me afterwards saying like your reviews for this were the highest of anyone at the conference.
Speaker 2:
Wow, did you feel laid off of your shoulders?
Speaker 1:
sharing what you had shared. It was scary and I'm like, oh, what's going to happen? What are they going to say?
Speaker 2:
But it was at that point that I realized.
Speaker 1:
You know what. We are allowed to be able to go through situations for the betterment of those who are going to follow us in our shoes.
Speaker 2:
I like that.
Speaker 1:
So that we can actually help to pass this on to the next generation.
Speaker 2:
Speaking of passing it on to the next generation, what advice would you have for somebody trying to get into this industry?
Speaker 1:
Into the speaking industry. Yes, I would say, get yourself involved in the National Speakers Association.
Speaker 2:
Okay.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, and I had the pleasure to actually be on the board and the president-elect of the Washington DC chapter of the National Speakers Association, and it's an organization that really helps people to not only learn and develop and practice the craft, but really learning more about the business of public speaking and how to actually create that business model and to make it about how you can identify those whom you want to serve. It's not about, hey, how can I be a hotshot on stage. It's hey, how can I refine my skills and learn the model such that I'm going to have the opportunity to impact as many lives as possible?
Speaker 2:
Yeah, I love that. Are there any last parting words you'd like to leave us with today? It can be business related a mantra that you live by I'm sure you have a few.
Speaker 1:
There are a few, I think one that I would say is if they're laughing, they're listening and learning to develop that sense of humor and learning to incorporate that as a part of your speaking is something that's absolutely critical. And to not take yourself so seriously and to really have a heart for service, that's a good one. So seriously, and to really have a heart for service and in everything that we do, make it about those that are put in our path and ask the question what can I do to serve these people better? Today, and by having that it is going to, the doors will open to be able to put you in the right positions to be able to do things sacrificially and doing those things with a heart for service.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, huge believer in service and giving back and you get what you give.
Speaker 1:
Exactly Right, it all comes back.
Speaker 2:
Well, thank you for coming in today.
Speaker 1:
It's been such a pleasure. I've enjoyed the conversation, loved our conversation.
