An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis
Understand that it’s not about you. It’s all about your audience — their issues, their concerns, their questions, and their needs. Too many presenters make it about them and showing what they can do. Show your audience they can do. Years ago I attended a knife fighting seminar where the instructor showed off a flurry of very impressive ninja-like moves. Despite his skill, he was unwilling or unable to pass along anything of value. The students walked out no better than when they walked in, which was a missed opportunity for everyone.
At some point in our lives, many of us will have to give a talk to a large group of people. What does it take to be a highly effective public speaker? How can you improve your public speaking skills? How can you overcome a fear of speaking in public? What does it take to give a very interesting and engaging public talk? In this interview series called “5 Things You Need To Be A Highly Effective Public Speaker” we are talking to successful and effective public speakers to share insights and stories from their experience. As a part of this series, we had the pleasure of interviewing Dan Fraser.
Dan Fraser is a presentation maven. He coaches speakers and trainers to captivate audiences and hold their attention. With over 20 years as a police officer, tactics instructor and owner of Fraser Training Solutions, Dan takes his expertise in training and consulting across North America. Based in Alberta, Canada, Dan helps instructors hone their ability to deliver unforgettable training. Hi book, Kickass Presentations, just launched. Learn more about Dan at frasertrainingsolutions.com.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Our readers would love to get to know you a bit better. Can you tell us the story of how you grew up?
I was lucky to have what some like to call a wonderful “Leave it to Beaver” childhood. My father was in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police so we moved around a lot. I loved the outdoors and spent many years in Scouts. I don’t have a place that I would call a home town, but I do have friends all over Western Canada. My Dad’s time as a police trainer had a big influence on me and he encouraged me to gain expertise in dealing with people.
Can you share a story with us about what brought you to this specific career path?
I started speaking when I entered a French public speaking competition at my school when I was 8 years old. I wore a camouflage outfit (hard to find in the early 1980s!) and I talked about how I played with my little plastic army soldiers. I later joined the military and then the police where I became a part time instructor in a few subjects. I was eventually selected to teach tactics full time in my department’s academy, which I did for six years. When I left that teaching job some other instructors asked if I would put together a course on how to “actually teach”. Obviously, I had done something right and this set me on a path to create a presentation workshop and eventually to write a book. I retired in 2020 to pursue speaking full time.
Can you tell us the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?
I’ve always been an enormous fan of standup comedy and with prodding from my wife, I finally decided on my 40th birthday that I’d give it a go. I signed up for a standup class, but when the class was cancelled the organizer asked me to compete in a comedy competition. I thought, “What? A competition? I’ve never even done this before!” I was too naïve to understand what I was getting myself in to and I agreed.
I wrote 8 minutes of jokes and showed up to a hotel ballroom to take the stage. I also invited a bunch of friends and family — no pressure! There I was, a clean-cut cop, surrounded by a bunch of pot smoking twentysomethings who were all seasoned amateur comics. During the pre-show meeting they dropped the set time down to 7 minutes and I was freaking out! I was so scared that I would just completely blank up there. I didn’t die and this started me on a path that would lead me to perform in three countries, at dive bars, night clubs, coffee shops and bowling alleys.
Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
I was a new tactics instructor in our academy, and I was teaching a group of recruits about ground fighting in a padded room. As I was imparting some piece of sage (in my mind!) advice, my ringtone, Katy Perry’s “I Kissed A Girl And I Liked It” blared at full volume from my pocket. Everyone laughed and my face went lobster red. The lesson — don’t take yourself too seriously…and put your phone on silent!
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
When I was in university I was lucky to have a professor who helped his students define what their life’s purpose was. Mine was that I was a dedicated wisdom seeker who used that wisdom to empower others. This helped me to make decisions about what types of jobs I chose as a police officer, which lead me to become a trainer. His name is Terry D. Anderson and several decades later he even wrote a testimonial for my book.
You have been blessed with great success in a career path that can be challenging and intimidating. Do you have any words of advice for others who may want to embark on this career path, but seem daunted by the prospect of failure?
Just do it. When I started I thought, “Why would anyone want to listen to me?” This is just imposter syndrome telling you that you’re not enough. Here’s the thing — everyone feels like this! The reality is that you will learn a ton along the way and through the process of striving to be your best you’ll grow into the person you need to be.
What drives you to get up everyday and give your talks? What is the main empowering message that you aim to share with the world?
Getting up everyday is easy when you love what you do. My mission is to empower others to succeed, which often involves being able to communicate an important message effectively. When I can help others to deliver their message in a way that is clear, memorable and entertaining, then we all win.
You have such impressive work. What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now? Where do you see yourself heading from here?
My book, Kickass Presentations, was just published at the end of March 2022. That project was a marathon! Now I continue to deliver instructor development training to great people in both government and the private sector. My goal is to expand my reach by building a cadre of talented instructors who will spread this training far and wide.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
“We are most powerfully positioned to help the person we once were” — Roy Vaden. I wrote the book I wished I had when I was a trainer. All I wanted to do was to be a police officer, and I later found myself in a teaching role in that same career. This is happens to professionals in nearly every industry. I’m now able to leverage my skills to raise the bar for trainers and presenters everywhere.
Ok, thank you for all that. Here is the main question of our interview. What are your “5 Things You Need To Be A Highly Effective Public Speaker?” Please share a story or example for each.
- Know your objective. If you don’t know where you’re going with your presentation, you’ll never get the audience there. I’ve made this mistake many times. I sit down to develop a presentation and the first thing I do is open PowerPoint and start making slides. It’s fun, but not very effective. Creating clear objectives isn’t sexy, but it is the foundation to any good presentation.
- Understand that it’s not about you. It’s all about your audience — their issues, their concerns, their questions, and their needs. Too many presenters make it about them and showing what they can do. Show your audience they can do. Years ago I attended a knife fighting seminar where the instructor showed off a flurry of very impressive ninja-like moves. Despite his skill, he was unwilling or unable to pass along anything of value. The students walked out no better than when they walked in, which was a missed opportunity for everyone.
- Master your content. You need to know your subject matter at deeper level than you’re speaking about. This means working to gain that knowledge and experience by reading books, taking courses, listening to podcasts, and studying those who have also mastered what you’re speaking about. The time and effort you put in will set you apart from your peers.
- Be the speaker you would want to see. Image that you were walking into a one-hour presentation (you can choose any topic you like). At the door you have the choice of two identical presentations. In one, you’ll laugh a couple of times and in the other you won’t. Which will you chose? You’d choose the one where you’d laugh, and so would your audience! The same goes for using stories, memorable analogies and impactful images. The trick now is to build those things into your presentation with purpose.
- It’s hard to read the label when you’re inside the bottle — so seek feedback from everyone you can. This includes your audience and from presenters who are better than you. After every presentation take stock of what went well and what didn’t so that you can be better next time.
As you know, many people are terrified of speaking in public. Can you give some of your advice about how to overcome this fear?
There’s a saying in comedy that there’s no substitute for stage time. Like playing the bagpipes, decorating a cake or operating a backhoe, speaking is a physical skill. You can’t get good by reading about it or watching a video. Just like golf, if you want to get to the Masters, you’ve got to get out there and hit the ball. The best way to overcome your fear is to practice and rehearse. A lot. When you get up in front of an audience you’ll still be nervous, but it should feel like you’re walking in to write a test that you’ve studied for.
You are a person of huge influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be?
I would inspire people to just be kind to one another. Everyone is going through stressors in their life that few others are aware of.
Is there a person in the world whom you would love to have lunch with, and why? Maybe we can tag them and see what happens!
As both a hunter and a reader, I’m a huge fan of Steven Rinella from Meat Eater. He’s built an immense following by sharing his love of the outdoors and teaching his audience along the way. He’s very well read and highly articulate. He tells stories through highly engaging video, books and podcasts.
Are you on social media? How can our readers follow you online?
Yes! They’ll find some helpful tips and videos on my Instagram page @kickass_presentations. Readers can also book me to bring my workshops to their organizations through my website: frasertrainingsolutions.com
This was so informative, thank you so much! We wish you continued success!
Dan Fraser On The 5 Things You Need To Be A Highly Effective Public Speaker was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
