For most people, it's scarier than dying.

Of course, we're talking about public speaking, the most dreaded of all workplace activities.

Despite the fear, public speaking is an incredibly useful skill for employees - and not just executives. It's an efficient way to communicate essential information, and it helps bring a company together. Most of us want to get better, but few know where to start.

That's what this episode of Awesome Office is all about - how to become a better public speaker at work.

In it, you will learn:

• Why public speaking is important, even if you aren’t your company’s CEO.
• The elements that make an effective speech or presentation.
• Why the words you say are only the third most important part of a good presentation - and what the one and two most important factors are.
• The importance of storytelling, and how to tell a compelling one.
• Why vulnerability and confidence are equally important, plus specific tactics for projecting a sense of vulnerability to your audience.
• The most common mistakes people make while speaking at work, and how to fix them.
• Ways to get more employees to practice public speaking at work.

Quick Reference - Sean's Tips for Crafting a Masterful Presentation

• Passion - you have to believe that what you are saying is important to your audience.
• Stories - we connect and learn about the world through stories, so integrating storytelling is essential.
• Teach - people want to be taught, so focus on one or two takeaways.
• Conversation - don't talk at people, talk to them. 
• Surprise - the element of surprise makes for a more memorable and more effective speech.
• Humor - there's no better way to endear yourself to your audience. 

Links

• Master public speaker Richard Greene
• SnackNation’s Crush it Call (video)
• The original Awesome Office interview with Hank Fortener on public speaking.

Radical Candor is de rigeur in business these days.

It's a concept that pops up again and again - in business books, conference keynotes, and even, dare I say, podcasts.

But what is Radical Candor? And how do you pull it off with alienating people? (I.e. making people think you are a giant, insensitive weirdo.)

In this episode, SnackNation CEO Sean kelly breaks down the theory behind the practice, describes how it will benefit your business, and tells you exactly how to implement it at your organization at every level.

You will learn:

• What Radical Candor is and how it will make your company better.
• How to integrate Radical Candor in company-wide communications - risks and benefits.
• How Candor and Culture intersect.
• How Radical Candor extends to your brand.

Radical Candor Quick Reference Guide:

1. Radical Candor is all about respect.
2. It requires that you connect with people personally.
3. Make sure you get permission to use Radical Candor - especially with your boss.
4. If you're a leader, set the example - show your team you can handle the ugly truth.
5. Express feelings and fears - people want connection, growth, and authenticity.

Links

• Radical Candor by Kim Scott
• 15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership by Dehtmer, Chapman, and Klemp
• Self Determination Theory

Have you ever wondered where the word 'company' comes from?

Most of us use it interchangeably with 'business,' but it's not quite the same thing. It's actually a lot simpler than that. The etymology tells us that company is a military term that simply means a body of people.

Company = people. Literally.

It's not a coincidence. Your product, brand, customer care, all that valuable IP - that's all created and managed by people. That makes people your most valuable asset.

So if people are everything in business, then it's absolutely critical that you hire well. In this episode, Sean gives you the hiring secrets that have served him over the last ten years-plus. You will learn:

• The importance of hiring, and how it impacts culture.
• How to break down the formality of interviews and get authentic answers instead of canned ones.
• The single best question to ask in an interview.
• One question you should get rid of.
• The most important traits to look for when making a new hire.
• How to recognize a hiring mistake, and how to quickly correct it.

This week we’ve got something a little different. We’re debuting a brand new podcast called Brand Builder, and we’re giving Awesome Office listeners an exclusive first listen.

Brand Builder is a new podcast from the folks behind Awesome Office that brings you the people, stories, and lessons learned from the most innovative brands in the world.

What can you expect on Brand Builder? Fascinating entrepreneur stories, tactics you can use to grow your business and solve your biggest problems… and a few bad puns thrown in for good measure.

To kick things off, we’re sharing this episode with Caue Suplicy, the CEO and co-founder of Barnana.

Barnana is a Santa Monica-based company that has taken the snack world by storm with their bite-sized bags of banana deliciousness. Caue and Barnana proved that you can improve on perfection, all while promoting values like sustainability and healthier living. But it wasn’t always an easy road - far from it. Caue tells the story of Barnana’s beginnings, and how he kept things together when things got tough.

If you like this, subscribe to Brand Builder in the Apple podcast app, or where ever you get your podcasts.

Links

• Brand Builder show notes.
• Brand Builder on iTunes.
• Brand Builder on Stitcher.

These days, CEOs are kind of the new rockstars.

Our collective obsession with entrepreneurship and innovation has transformed the Zuckerbergs, Musks, and Bezos’ of the world into pop culture icons.

It can be easy to forget that Chief Executive Officer is a job - and a hard job at that. The role requires supreme efficiency, intense focus, and resolve. Every decision can have big consequences, and you need to be decisive in the face of uncertainty, criticism, and even self doubt.

So no matter where you are in your career, you can learn a lot by the way CEOs approach their work. But what does a typical day look like for a CEO?

Luckily, we happen to know one. In this episode producer Jeff Murphy talks with Awesome Office host and SnackNation CEO Sean Kelly to learn how he approaches his typical work day.

As you’ll hear, Sean breaks down how he approaches a typical day, shares the framework he uses to break up his week, and provides strategies for maximizing your effectiveness from when you wake up until your head hits the pillow. He also tells us his most important activities and responsibilities, and how those have altered as the business has scaled from less than 30 people to 150.