Stone Cold Steve Austin is going to help you bag your next job.
Not by necking beers and beating up your boss.
Not by hitting the gym.
Not by proving shaving your head when you’re receding is a smart move,
Stone Cold Steve Austin, along with every other great wrestler that’s ever lived are going to help you bag your next job – by teaching you how to talk like a boss.
Professional wrestlers are ranked by fans in three attributes: Looks, in-ring work, and how they come across on the microphone. Week in, week out they have to give long monologues in front of live crowds – chanting and baying for blood.
One slip up, one curse word, one blunder: your career is toast.
On the flip side, one good three minute talk can make you the top star. Isn’t that right Stone Cold?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQhlaWxMbTg
So if there’s one profession to nab tips from on building your confidence and nailing how to talk in public, it’s the spandex clad heroes in the squared circle. Nail that job interview, get more money off shops and blag your way through anything with these cool pointers from the men and women of the WWE and beyond.
1) Stand out with your entrance
You don’t necessarily have to make an entrance to your own theme song with fireworks and smoke in the background, but it always pays to make your presence felt when you enter a room.
Think of the bizarre way Vince McMahon walks.
Think of how that’s stuck in your mind for the best part of a decade. That’s the walk of an (over)confident person. Stand up straight, walk across a room with purpose, use your arms a bit. Look like you came into a function with a particular thing in mind, and start walking for it.
If it’s good enough for Conor McGregor…
2) Pause when speaking to make your points clear
Here’s a weird thing: back in the early 2000s, Stone Cold started doing this annoying thing where he’d interrupt people by shouting “WHAT?” when they tried talking. Fans loved it, and continue doing it to this day, shouting “what” whenever there’s a pause during a wrestler’s speech.
It’s a weird little quirk that helps punctuate every speech. It’s also a really good demonstration on how nearly every speech works better with pauses.
Think of how many times Ric Flair would go “woo!” – that was him bullet pointing everything he wanted to say. Being able to talk eloquently for 2-3 minutes is a skill rarely seen out of Oscar films, so don’t even try. Try to talk in bullet points.
3) Get all the important things you want to say out in the first 30 seconds
Wrestlers have a lot to get through in their promos. Previous episode recaps, who they’re currently feuding with, when the next big fight is. The trick is to get all of the important information out as quickly as possible.
A lot of promos start with “On *event* on *date* I was *important event* when *important person* got involved in my business.”
Look how Jake “The Snake” Roberts spins a yarn about his Wrestlemania VI match with Ted diBiase.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzE9UgLGjWs
Memorable as all heck, but he remembered to front load it with all the important facts, you knew who he was fighting, you knew where, THEN he spun a yarn about why.
Be like Jake – info dump quickly and early when chatting, THEN get into all the interesting stuff.
4) Always be enthusiastic
If you are reading this then you a are a human being, therefore you must love The Rock.
What made The Rock an outstanding wrestler was how he sold everything, no matter how stupid, with incredible enthusiasm. No one sassed harder, no one had that many quips, that often, with so many hitting the mark.
Most wrestlers were lucky enough to have one catchphrase attached to them – The Rock had half a dozen. He would layeth the smackdown. He’d turn things sideways and stick it up your candyass. He’d call you a jabroni. He’d ask you to smell what he was cooking. He’d tell you to know your role, and shut your mouth. He’d ask you what your name is… and then tell you IT DOESN’T MATTER WHAT YOUR NAME IS.
Think of how many of those sayings sound silly, but worked when coming out of The Rock’s mouth. That’s only (partly) because the Dwayne looks like he was carved out of granite.
When The Rock first debuted, he was an unconfident good guy, timidly proclaiming his virtues. Fans HATED him, chanting “DIE ROCKY DIE!” When he started speaking – he wasn’t true to himself, so everything he said sounded iffy. When he stopped trying to please and started speaking his own mind, the man became a rock star (excellent pun intended).
The trick to good confidence when speaking is just to amplify bits about yourself you love, be enthusiastic about your likes and your quirks and watch people respond in kind.
5) Pay attention to crowd reaction and react accordingly
Crowd getting a bit flat? Make a note to increase the energy of what you’re saying.
Eyes glazing over? How about you ask your crowd to stand up.
Get in, get it, get out.
6) End on a high note
There’s a lot of mic drops in wrestling promos. Often literally. So always make sure you go out on a high, with your audience right there with you.
Just look at Ric Flair go here…
So go out there and nail your talk.
“And that’s the bottom line… BECAUSE THE TEAM AT JOE SAID SO”.
