601: Former CNN and NBC News Anchor Lynn Smith on Building Authentic Presence and Excellent Communication

601: Former CNN and NBC News Anchor Lynn Smith on Building Authentic Presence and Excellent Communication

Lynn Smith, former national news anchor for NBC News, MSNBC, and CNN Headline New, and now executive communication coach, reframes public speaking as an internal leadership skill, not a performance. She identifies the recurring obstacle as the "brain bully", the inner critic that turns preparation into paralysis, and shows leaders how to retrain it so that clarity, calm, and connection become repeatable outcomes.

This episode translates decades of live television experience into actionable communication tools for high-stakes settings—from boardrooms to keynotes to broadcast media.

Key takeaways:

  • Name and neutralize the "brain bully." "It's that inner saboteur saying, 'You're not good enough' or 'What if you say the wrong thing?'" Smith explains. She traces these patterns back to early experiences and teaches clients to "control–alt–delete our prehistoric code" so fear no longer drives performance.

  • People don't want perfection, they want resiliency. Recalling a keynote where she froze on stage, Smith says, "I had to stop and tell the audience, 'I'm so sorry, I'm failing at this.'" That failure became the basis for her coaching framework. "People don't want perfection, they want resiliency. They want to see people overcome."

  • Replace over-scripting with intentional structure. "Executives spend hours memorizing, but the result is robotic. The big revelation is… it has nothing to do with your prep; it has everything to do with your mental game." Instead, she recommends bullet-pointing key ideas for authenticity and flow.

  • Drill down, don't dumb down. Smith's "Goldilocks effect" balances preparation, "not too much, not too little", so communication stays sharp and digestible: "If you communicate everything, you communicate nothing."

  • Make voice and presence technical. Drawing from broadcast training, Smith advises projecting "from your diaphragm, not your chest," and using "the power of enunciation" and pauses to improve recall and connection.

  • Manage energy deliberately. "Everything is energy," she notes. High-frequency energy, calm, clear, positive, creates magnetism. "When you're vibrating at the level you want others to meet you at, people lean in."

  • Model resilience for the next generation. Her children's book Just Keep Going distills the same mindset for young readers: that fear and failure are not endpoints, but steps toward growth.

For executives preparing keynotes, investor meetings, or media appearances, this conversation provides a research-informed playbook to quiet the inner critic, align mindset and message, and lead with authentic, repeatable presence.

Get Lynn's book, Just Keep Going, here: https://tinyurl.com/ymt4jvtv

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163: Is it a good time now or should I wait until I become more senior? Author Program Q&A 2.

163: Is it a good time now or should I wait until I become more senior? Author Program Q&A 2.

Learn more and see the application guidelines: https://www.firmsconsulting.com/experts-published-author-program/ Apply: email team@firmsconsulting.com This is the 1st of a 10 episode program to help our clients and customers measurably, radically transform their careers through The Author Program. How would your career, reputation, and earnings change as a published author? Imagine your client interactions when potential and current clients saw your thinking in a published book before they met you? Imagine the time you would save not having to explain your ideas and the value you could add to them? Imagine the fee premium you could earn? Imagine avoiding awkward meetings trying to establish your credibility? Imagine how many potential clients would find you and reach out to you? Enjoying our podcast? Get access to sample advanced training episodes here: www.firmsconsulting.com/promo

24 Juli 20217min

162: Is this good for my career at this point in time? Author Program Q&A 1.

162: Is this good for my career at this point in time? Author Program Q&A 1.

Learn more and see the application guidelines: https://www.firmsconsulting.com/experts-published-author-program/ Apply: email team@firmsconsulting.com This is the 1st of a 10 episode program to help our clients and customers measurably, radically transform their careers through The Author Program. How would your career, reputation, and earnings change as a published author? Imagine your client interactions when potential and current clients saw your thinking in a published book before they met you? Imagine the time you would save not having to explain your ideas and the value you could add to them? Imagine the fee premium you could earn? Imagine avoiding awkward meetings trying to establish your credibility? Imagine how many potential clients would find you and reach out to you? Enjoying our podcast? Get access to sample advanced training episodes here: www.firmsconsulting.com/promo

22 Juli 20217min

161: How publishing a book fast-tracked me to partnership

161: How publishing a book fast-tracked me to partnership

Learn more and see the application guidelines: https://www.firmsconsulting.com/experts-published-author-program/ Apply: email team@firmsconsulting.com This is the 1st of a 10 episode program to help our clients and customers measurably, radically transform their careers through The Author Program. How would your career, reputation, and earnings change as a published author? Imagine your client interactions when potential and current clients saw your thinking in a published book before they met you? Imagine the time you would save not having to explain your ideas and the value you could add to them? Imagine the fee premium you could earn? Imagine avoiding awkward meetings trying to establish your credibility? Imagine how many potential clients would find you and reach out to you? Enjoying our podcast? Get access to sample advanced training episodes here: www.firmsconsulting.com/promo

22 Juli 202127min

160: Rob Barnett, Increase your hire-ability

160: Rob Barnett, Increase your hire-ability

Welcome to. Strategy Skills episode 160, an episode with Rob Barnett. Get Rob's new book here: https://amzn.to/3i9rMbo Rob Barnett is a headhunter, management executive, podcaster, entrepreneur and author of NEXT JOB, BEST JOB: A Headhunter's 11 Strategies to Getting Hired Now (Citadel, June 29, 2021. He founded Rob Barnett Media in 2018, an inclusive platform for thousands of job-seeking professionals and industry leaders, placing the right people in the best jobs. Rob has discovered, hired, and led hundreds of talented creators and executives in senior management roles at MTV, VH1, and Audible/Amazon. He was President of Programming at CBS Radio. A digital pioneer, he founded My Damn Channel, one of the first original online studios and networks. Representing diverse careers, companies, and opportunities, Rob's multi-platform content and no-nonsense approach inspires people to define and sell their best professional brand. Visit RobBarnettMedia.com.  NEXT JOB, BEST JOB. Rob Barnett: https://amzn.to/3i9rMbo Enjoying our podcast? Get access to sample advanced training episodes here: www.firmsconsulting.com/promo We use affiliate links whenever possible (if you purchase items listed above using our affiliate links, we will get a bonus).

14 Juli 202154min

159: Ash Fontana, The AI-first company

159: Ash Fontana, The AI-first company

Welcome to. Strategy Skills episode 159, an episode with Ash Fontana on the future of AI. Ash just published a great book on AI, THE AI-FIRST COMPANY, please see a link below. THE AI-FIRST COMPANY: https://amzn.to/3zRYW7o Among other insights, Fontana shows readers how to: Make AI your company's first priority. Identify the most valuable data. Build AI teams. Create AI budgets. Integrate AI with existing processes. Measure its effectiveness. Reinvest the profits from automation to build a competitive advantage. About the Author Ash Fontana became one of the most recognized startup investors in the world after launching online investing at AngelList. He then became a Managing Director of Zetta Venture Partners, the first investment fund that focused on AI. The firm was the lead investor in category-defining AI companies such as Kaggle, Domino, Tractable, Lilt and Invenia. Enjoying our podcast? Get access to sample advanced training episodes here: www.firmsconsulting.com/promo We use affiliate links whenever possible (if you purchase items listed above using our affiliate links, we will get a bonus).

23 Juni 20211h 3min

158: Location is leverage or proximity is leverage (Monday Morning 8 a.m. #29, part 3)

158: Location is leverage or proximity is leverage (Monday Morning 8 a.m. #29, part 3)

Hello everyone! This is Monday Morning 8 a.m., a weekly newsletter where we distill the insights from all of the distractions, articles, and emails that you receive in your inbox every day. In this newsletter, we're going to focus on four major themes from last week's news. To listen to the audio version of this newsletter, search for "Strategy Skills" in any podcast app. To get a written copy with links to mentioned articles sign up here: www.firmsconsulting.com/promo To get a copy of some of the previous issues you might have missed, get the Strategy Insights book. If you love Strategy Insights and support it with reviews on Goodreads and Google Play (and support on Amazon is very much appreciated) by May 30th 2021, please email support@firmsconsulting.com as we will be sending 1-month access to the accompanying course as a gift to members who loved and supported the book with reviews. P.S. If you want to support the Monday Morning 8 a.m. and our other work, there are many ways you can do that, including reviews on iTunes / Amazon / Goodreads / app, purchasing our memberships / books, applying to join our prelaunch team, or just spreading the word. Some links above are affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases.

26 Maj 202115min

157: Google, Apple, Microsoft, Amazon and Facebook's AI advantage (Monday Morning 8 a.m. #29, part 2)

157: Google, Apple, Microsoft, Amazon and Facebook's AI advantage (Monday Morning 8 a.m. #29, part 2)

Hello everyone! This is Monday Morning 8 a.m., a weekly newsletter where we distill the insights from all of the distractions, articles, and emails that you receive in your inbox every day. In this newsletter, we're going to focus on four major themes from last week's news. To listen to the audio version of this newsletter, search for "Strategy Skills" in any podcast app. To get a written copy with links to mentioned articles sign up here: www.firmsconsulting.com/promo To get a copy of some of the previous issues you might have missed, get the Strategy Insights book. If you love Strategy Insights and support it with reviews on Goodreads and Google Play (and support on Amazon is very much appreciated) by May 30th 2021, please email support@firmsconsulting.com as we will be sending 1-month access to the accompanying course as a gift to members who loved and supported the book with reviews. P.S. If you want to support the Monday Morning 8 a.m. and our other work, there are many ways you can do that, including reviews on iTunes / Amazon / Goodreads / app, purchasing our memberships / books, applying to join our prelaunch team, or just spreading the word. Some links above are affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases.

25 Maj 20219min

156: 7-Eleven's inconvenient truth about convenience (Monday Morning 8 a.m. #29, part 1)

156: 7-Eleven's inconvenient truth about convenience (Monday Morning 8 a.m. #29, part 1)

Hello everyone! This is Monday Morning 8 a.m., a weekly newsletter where we distill the insights from all of the distractions, articles, and emails that you receive in your inbox every day. In this newsletter, we're going to focus on four major themes from last week's news. To listen to the audio version of this newsletter, search for "Strategy Skills" in any podcast app. To get a written copy with links to mentioned articles sign up here: www.firmsconsulting.com/promo To get a copy of some of the previous issues you might have missed, get the Strategy Insights book. If you love Strategy Insights and support it with reviews on Goodreads and Google Play (and support on Amazon is very much appreciated) by May 30th 2021, please email support@firmsconsulting.com as we will be sending 1-month access to the accompanying course as a gift to members who loved and supported the book with reviews. P.S. If you want to support the Monday Morning 8 a.m. and our other work, there are many ways you can do that, including reviews on iTunes / Amazon / Goodreads / app, purchasing our memberships / books, applying to join our prelaunch team, or just spreading the word. Some links above are affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases.

24 Maj 202110min

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