An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis
Effective communication is about the effect you leave on your audience but where is the message coming from? It comes from you as the speaker, so it is key that you cultivate your mindset and manage your emotions accordingly to have the intended impact during your talk or presentation.
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 Jose Ucar.
Jose Ucar is a global TEDx speaker, NLP coach, international business, marketing specialist and founder of Jose Ucar Ltd. Jose has spent the last 10 years travelling the world, successfully growing and promoting different businesses by working alongside them to bring about transformational change through the power of advanced communication skills. His goal is to give you the confidence to present the best version of yourself when communicating with others and speaking in public. “My motto is, learn to communicate with yourself first, then with others, and finally broadcast your message to the world.”
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 grew up surrounded by love from my family. The first 5 years of my life I mainly spent with my grandparents before we moved away from Caracas — Venezuela, the city where I was born. Inspired by my granddad and my dad, I decided to start my first business at the age of 6, selling pens and rubbers at school. It was a profitable business for around a month until the school shut me down. I was selling cooler pens and rubbers for the same price as my competitors, so it was a no-brainer for my schoolmates to buy from me. Through my first side hustle, I learned how important it was to be authentic, to listen and pay attention to people’s needs, and to provide value, always provide value.
After this, many business attempts followed with no major success until I finally finished high school and went to Sweden as an exchange student, where my international presenting career would begin without even knowing it.
Can you share a story with us about what brought you to this specific career path?
I was 12 years old and I remember this as if it was yesterday. Ucar, this is what my teacher Marcos Subero used to call me, I’m going to share with you the 2 things you need to do to succeed in life…
- Read the news every day (Something I failed at miserably).
- Learn how to speak in public (hmm, this is interesting and terrifying at the same time).
Back then he only planted a seed in my brain which would grow unconsciously until my trip to Sweden.
In the same way my teacher inspired me and transformed my life, I decided to do the same through my coaching, training and speaking. But as I said, he only planted a seed, a little plant grew from that seed in Sweden and after that it began to grow stronger roots and grew higher and higher.
Can you tell us the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?
Maybe not the most interesting but definitely one of the most challenging ones. This is the story that could have stopped me from ever speaking again, especially in a foreign language. I landed my first job in the UK back in 2007 and in my first week with the company I was given the opportunity to mind the phones. A bit of context first, it was an engineering company, I didn’t know the product yet, I thought I knew English…
The phone rang, I picked it up, and at that moment I realized I couldn’t understand a word they were saying. I received calls from different places in the UK for about 3 hours. They all hung up on me and because they were frustrated, they called me names, told me I was useless and made fun of my accent.
After those 3 hours my confidence was shattered and all I could think about was giving up. This is the kind of story that can break or make a human being.
I’m grateful because it made me a better person in the long run, but the process was painful. That story also inspired one of my coaching frameworks — FOC it!
This is the process I use (for myself and clients) to conquer the mind, the first element of impactful communication.
It enabled me to move from being the victim to being the hero of my own story. The creator, the captain of my ship, the driver of the bus, the pilot of my destiny.
Flexibility — How can I see this event as an opportunity? How can I grow from this? Where is the learning?
Ownership — It’s not them, it’s me. I’m in charge. People made fun of me and said I was useless, what am I going to do? I’m going to own it and do something about it.
Consistency — What actions will I take making sure I don’t stop until I see the change I want.
“Our behavior is a response to what we make an experience mean… and so is our communication”.
A few years later, I was able to land a meeting with one of the Top 10 aerospace manufacturers in the world. Yes, the useless guy on the phone managed to present the engineering company in such as way, that they gave us a chance. Last time I checked, it had turned into a multi-million pounds business.
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?
Hmm. Never drink before your talk. This may work for some people but definitely didn’t work for me.
I’m always working on my storytelling by the way but back then, as I was getting started, I’d go to London looking for storytelling events. I remember it was summer and believe or not, it was quite sunny in the UK. As I walked toward the place where the event was held, you can imagine in London, everyone was out, it was 6 pm in the afternoon, and what can I say, the energy was contagious, but I abstained. I abstained from indulging in a cold brew until I arrived at the place where they would give you a FREE one, ok I said, it’s only one.
It gave me the driest mouth ever, made me dizzy like no other beer before and combined with nerves, I’m not going to tell you what it did to my belly, yes, emergency time.
You’ll be happy to know that I successfully delivered my 5-minute story, but I learned the lesson. A beer before a presentation is not a good idea, at all!
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?
There have been many people along the way, and there is usually one that makes the greatest impact at a certain given time. I can mention mentors, coaches, friends and family…
The following lines are dedicated to my brother German for his support, patience, company and compassion. He is the kind of human that silently, without making any noise can positively impact your life.
The pandemic had started and like many business owners, my business dropped to minus zero, and I spent a few days in shock due to the sudden changes that had taken place overnight.
Back then my brother was living with me in the UK, Surbiton to be precise. He is a very talented videographer who also had plenty of time to spare.
That’s the day when the world-class communicator online course was born. Today it’s impacted more than 40.000 lives worldwide and during COVID we gave it away for FREE to help people improve their mindset and communication.
I would never have been able to create the course without him. I didn’t have the resources to afford his services and yet he stood by me, waking up at 5 am almost every day for 3 months in a row, filming, filming and re-filming until we were done with the content. After that he spent 3 more months editing and creating a masterpiece.
Who else would have done that for me? No one, only him, my brother, German Ucar. My success is his success and the success of all the people who have made me a better man.
I appreciate you and love brother. Thank you very much again.
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?
Failure is part of the process. Rejection is a fact. You won’t be liked and accepted by everyone, so get ready for it.
- Say yes to opportunities.
- Learn something new every day.
- Build relationships.
- Be humble and vulnerable.
- Always bring your 200%
- Be flexible.
- Own and commit to the process.
- Be consistent
- Be open to feedback and avoid the 3 most dangerous words, I Know That!
- Have some fun.
If you really want it, you will make.
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?
Short answer — I want people to be free and share their excellence with the world.
I also want to share that I have bad days, I don’t wake up every day fully motivated, I’m a human being after all. But, I’ve developed thinking strategies and routines that get me back on my feet and in alignment with my purpose which is to help people overcome their own limitations and to shine through the power of their voice.
I want people to embrace and respect that we are all uniquely different and that we also have growing commonalities that bring us together.
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?
I’m always looking to impact more people with my message and I’m currently building relationships with influencers and key decision makers in larger organizations and countries to expand my reach. I want to get my message across the world, especially in those countries that need it the most. I want to have a greater impact throughout Latin America, Africa and Asia. My international reach started with the World-Class Communicator course and now I want more stages from which to broadcast the beauty and importance of a respectful and accepting multi-cultural world.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
I’ll give you two. Success is on the other side of fear.
FEAR — False expectations appearing real.
I experience fear often because I’m always looking to stretch myself by putting myself through uncomfortable situations. The above quote and acronym also works as a mantra, that helps me to keep a FAB attitude towards what I do.
Focused
Active and aware
Believing in myself and my work
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.
Video — https://youtu.be/cUrXCK1Rl3g
- Communication starts within
Effective communication is about the effect you leave on your audience but where is the message coming from? It comes from you as the speaker, so it is key that you cultivate your mindset and manage your emotions accordingly to have the intended impact during your talk or presentation.
Remember that when you speak you are broadcasting a message that is charged with emotions and this is what the audience will initially connect with. If you are feeling nervous or insecure, guess what the audience will feel?
They will still receive what you say (your words) but the intended impact will be lost.
Successful speakers cultivate their mindset by:
- Connecting with their purpose — Why do you speak? Generally, the answer revolves around the impact they want to make on people’s lives. It has to be greater than you.
- Bringing their passion for the topic they are about to present.
- Believing in their message and themselves as speakers.
- Practicing until they feel not just comfortable but excited.
Your ability to build a strong emotional connection with the audience and to keep it throughout your presentation will depend on your ability to connect with your own emotions.
“The quality of your thinking will determine the quality of your speaking.”
- Always keep your audience in mind.
Without an audience we wouldn’t be called public speakers, agreed? And what would be the point of speaking if our audience doesn’t benefit from what we have to say?
Whenever I get invited to speak, I always ask event organizers (or the person inviting me to speak) the following:
- Who is the audience?
- What do you want them to take away at the end of my session?
Then I dive into how long you want me to speak for, the tone they would like me to use, etc… When I get booked, they have already seen my showreel, so they know what to expect in terms of content, style and delivery.
Remember that impactful speakers are those who change lives through the power of their words, are there for the audience and not themselves. They are looking to serve, positively influence and elevate people.
“Public speaking is not about you, it’s about the audience.”
- Build a pathway.
When was the last time you heard a successful speaker say, wow, I had to wing it today?
I can answer for you, NEVER!
One thing is to be able to improvise because we can’t predict what’s going to happen, but we can certainly learn how to manage the unexpected. But there is always plenty of preparation.
Building a pathway is all about the science of your presentation. Simply put, how are you going to lead the audience to achieve the expected results, and leave them with what you’ve intended for them.
Here you will think about the points you want to make, and the stories you will use to illustrate them. The balance between logical, emotional content and earning the right to build an airtight persuasive case.
The number of slides (if you want to use them) and how they will help you to enhance your message. And don’t kill your audience with Bullet Points.
The more intentional and prepared you are, the greater the impact you will have on your listeners.
- Whole-self delivery.
“We are always communicating, even when we don’t speak.”
Whole-self delivery is all about the art of your presentation. This is where you will plan how to bring your presentation to life using your full body and voice.
The secret here is that whatever you do, do it with purpose.
Body language used correctly will help you to clearly paint your message, stories and learning points in the minds of your audience.
Fail to do so and you will very likely bore your audience after a couple of minutes, they will disconnect, their minds will wander off and your incredible message won’t land as it could have otherwise.
I’m not saying that you need to turn into a hummingbird on stage but please avoid being a sloth. Moving between the two, is where the impact is. and
“People will always remember how you made them feel and not necessarily what you said.”
- Strive for progress not perfection.
The best way to improve your speaking and achieve excellence is by practicing and saying yes to stage time. This is what I mean by progress. The more you speak, the more you expose yourself, and the more you learn, the more you will develop your speaking skills.
If on the contrary, you want to be perfect in terms of yourself as a speaker and your presentation, you are likely to wait and delay any speaking opportunities, which will impact your exposure and the much-needed practice so important on your journey to becoming a highly effective speaker.
The key point here is, it’s ok for you to challenge yourself if you set realistic challenges and expectations around your public speaking. I always invite my coaches to stretch themselves as long as the level of pressure doesn’t negatively impact their performance.
Another way to make incredible progress is by being open to feedback and avoiding the 3 most dangerous words — I Know That.
Keep on speaking your greatness.
As you know, many people are terrified of speaking in public. Can you give some of your advice about how to overcome this fear?
The very short answer is SPEAKING! How did you learn how to ride a bike or how to swim? By doing it.
There are different avenues to overcoming the fear of speaking but none of them will work unless you put yourself out there and speak.
I always recommend that people rationalize their fear. Most of the time the reason will be fear of losing control and fear of not being accepted. The sooner you realize that anything can happen while you are speaking and that there are only a few things you can control, the more resourceful you will become in terms of what you can do about it. You can only control your thinking, your knowledge of the topic, and the preparation you put into it. You can influence people and your environment but can’t control it.
Another question I ask is WHY? Why do you want to speak? A strong why can overcome many fears.
Practice and always ask for feedback. Feedback is the breakfast of successful speakers.
And remember that Success is always on the other side of Fear!
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?
It would be a movement to set people FREE from their own mindset limitations. The world needs our excellence which can only emerge when we learn and support each other to unleash it.
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!
I grew up watching the movie Rocky. I’d love to meet Sylvester Stallone. Rocky has always inspired me to move forward in life, I love his quotes and also the underdog story that somehow, I can relate to. I also admire Sylvester because while he was rejected over a thousand times when auditioning for movie roles, he took a step back and used his failures as lessons, he then decided to create his own roles to star in.
As a Public Speaker, I like to see failures as learning opportunities. And like Rocky says, life is not about how hard you can hit, it’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward.
Keep moving forward towards your dreams and always speak your greatness.
Are you on social media? How can our readers follow you online?
Instagram — https://www.instagram.com/jose_ucar_/channel/
LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/jose-luis-ucar/
Facebook — https://www.facebook.com/JoseUcarPublicSpeakingCoach
Website — https://joseucar.com/
This was so informative, thank you so much! We wish you continued success!
Jose Ucar 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.
