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Even with the growt of podcasts, the fear of public speaking affects approximately 25% of the population.

This is difficult for anyon who wants to share their story to a large audience.

Tonight, we have a transformational speaker to help us practice our storytelling techniques so we can touch people's hearts and minds.

I'm so happy you're joining us.

From Los Angeles.

This is KLCS PBS.

Welcome to everybody with Angela Williamson and innovation, Arts, education and public affairs program.

Everybody with Angela Williamson is made possible by viewers like you.

Thank you.

And now your host, doctor Angela Williamson.

Laurel is here to help us with our storytelling techniques.

But before, let's get to know Laurel.

Laurel, thank you so much for being here.

Oh, thank you so much for inviting me.

It's such an honor and privilege.

It is such an honor.

I mean, we've been needing someone to com and talk about public speaking, so you're perfect.

Especially because you are a transformational speaker.

But before we get to that, I want our audience to get t know a little bit about Laurel, because I'm sure it's part of your journey is a reason that you're her doing what you're doing today.

It is.

Thank you.

My journey as a public speaker was unique in a way that I never though that I would become a teacher.

I was, wanted to be a teacher since I was five years old, but that kind of got waylaid.

And then when I eventually went to college, I was studying business marketing, and I took a communication minor.

So I did, worked in industr for a number of years after that and then got so frustrated with the conflict that was going on in organizations that I wanted to figure out a way to, harness the destructive conflict and then turn it into productive conflict.

We need conflict because it's really critical and, for helping us grow, but it gets destructive.

So I went to graduate school to learn that.

And then from that, I, when I was in the graduate program, the chair of the department asked if I would like to be, a teaching intern.

And so I, I didn't think that that was ever going to be possible, but I thought, wow, you know, I actually can do this.

And so, the first course that I was hired to do was public speaking, and I was afraid of it, to be truthful.

And I still don't like public speaking for, say, most people don't.

But, I knew that, when I stepped across the threshold, I thought, this is thi is what I meant to do in life.

So I became a teacher after that, and it was public speaking to start, and then I moved into other courses.

Once I graduated with my Masters.

Well, it's important especially when you decided that you wanted to make changes within organizations.

So learning those techniques is very important.

So how does Laurel become a transformational speaker?

Well, i took years, I have to tell you.

It took absolutely years to do that, and I my.

But what I needed to do was help the undergraduate students just learn how to do public speaking, period.

Yes.

So and the transformational part of it is much different toda than, than what I was teaching.

So there are certain guidelines that you do, you know.

So yes, in public speaking.

You have.

Action a body conclusion and you tie together things like that.

Yes.

You have all of that.

Okay.

Today though, when you want people to be transformed, what you need to do is look at the storytelling aspect of it.

And so I taught basic public speaking skills.

So as I moved through conflict, I looked at what is going on inside of each of us.

You're teaching public speaking.

How did you make that change based on what you were teaching students.

Through the transitions that were going on and through my life, I had a number of things that were a number of crises that were going on in my life.

Trying to overcome those was quite difficult for me.

So transformational.

What I ended up doing was looking at the, challenges that I had to overcome to motivate other people to change.

And so I started doing some consulting work, and I do strategic, tutoring.

It's a concept I work with people that are going throug serious change or difficulties, and I can do that because I've been through so many changes myself and worked through the program myself that it enabled me to, have empathy with other individuals so I could bring it out of them.

So with Strategic Future, we look at, individuals that are going through a significant change.

It could be if they are divorced or if they, lost a loved one, like working with veteran who have come back, are trying to get back into civilian life, but they've just come out of, you know war war zones for, for example.

And, they've lost their community of their team and they don't feel like they have a future going forward.

I help people fin where their vision is in life, you know, so they work on their vision, and then we give them the goals and the strategies to get there, to let them know that we all are here on this planet, to do something that we're gifted with.

And we oftentime don't know what those gifts are.

So I help people find those gifts.

And that' where the transformation comes.

Because if you feel that you don't have a vision or you don't have a purpose in life, or there's nothing out there for you that you can actually do, what I help them do is uncover their capabilities and their strengths and then help them do that transformation.

So for me, it's not just something that necessarily a skill that I can just go in and teach people.

I have to get them to uneart what's actually inside of them.

And in order to do that, because when we come back from the break, before we do that, you're going to help us go through this process.

But how did you how were you able to unearth what was happening in Laurel's life?

So I had a colleague when I stopped teaching at, university, I had a colleague that asked me if I would be her guinea pig to learn this new process of strategic tutoring, and it excited me.

So I said yes.

So as I was going through her process, helping her get certified, I had to do all the homework.

I had to go through the process myself.

Once I did that, I realized that the power within it, I wanted to learn how to teach it.

So in answer to your question, when I left teaching, I didn't have a visio for where I was going with life.

Yeah, I didn't have anything.

I knew I had a story inside of me and it was based on the conflict between myself and my daughter.

I found the morsel, all of the conflict.

So in interpersonal communication, as well as what goes on in organizations, so.

Because I was teaching and that was where my heart was with public speaking, I did not go back into conflict for organizations.

I ended up, working with, leadership, leadership development.

And then from there, I once I left teaching, I found this strategic tutoring and decided to work with that with other individuals that were going through difficulties.

So you really helped us understand how strategic featuring can work within organizations to bring out our stories.

Now, I want to talk about your stories.

All right.

You have used your life to to write several international bestselling books.

Why did you think that was important for you?

That was part of my vision, for one thing.

And one with strategic tutoring.

I didn't realize that at the time that I would actually end up writing some books, but I went through, my family went through a horrific family tragedy.

And, right after that, it took us a number of months just to get through the first portion of it.

So we'r still kind of going through it a little bit right now.

But then Covid hit.

And, so with Covid, I mean the whole planet actually got, locked in with that.

And so I did a little bit of, I had to morph a little bit and change, and I foun I was taking an online program from the Jack Canfield organization.

It was called Reignite Your Life Coaching Club.

And I thought, I definitely need to do this because I've got to reignite my life, you know, my life.

It just seemed to come to a standstill.

So in that, I found Kate Butler and, from Kate Butler.

I knew I had a story inside of me, and it was based on the tragedy that we went through.

I thought, I have to do this.

And that ties us bac to the conflict that I went into in graduate school.

Stop right there.

Because when we come back, you're going to talk about how you use that conflict to write these books, okay?

And, and that journey there.

So stay right there when you come back and you're going to walk us through those stories, right?

You know, you're welcome.

Thank you.

Wonderful.

And come back as Laurel gives u some tips of how she developed her own story and several books that she's written, and an upcoming book as well.

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Thank you for watching.

Kelsey often.

I was okay.

Younger.

You sure said I'm fine.

Oh.

Since I was little, it was only like me and my peers.

You think you created family out of characters?

Yeah, and I want to take that into account.

Only to be.

See you in a month with the first eat to woman's body.

Wasn't honest.

And we lost these away.

And they make you an only way.

Makes.

So if I even got to spend a large.

More meals are served in Lo Angeles Unified every single day than in all fast food restaurants in our community.

We are that big.

The question is, are we that good?

And I'm here to tell you, based on their experience, which they will revea for all of us in a little bit, we are that good.

You're here today at the annual student Food tasting event, which we host every year, and we have a group of, I think, 19 students to want them to taste the food and tell us what they think about it, because whatever is approved will go on the menu in the coming year.

I was like, my citations over here is pretty low but trying some of these foods kind of made my expectations pretty high.

I felt aliv as much as food can be prepared.

Yeah, it fel it felt more like a real meal.

Instead of filling up a product of a of a machine.

I have the taste in food.

You can kind of really tell that it's well done and they put a lot of light into it.

I really.

Wish to light you see, it is on this close to nice.

All the meats are.

My first grade teacher ended u putting a dunce cap on my head, and from that I was labeled, stupid.

And dumb.

And that carried with me throughout my life.

I struggled with having a voice for, all those years.

And I still, even now, today, I still have difficulty, when I get into a situation that is unknown to me.

So.

So during the time when I.

Was going through.

This strategic being the guinea.

Pig for the strategic.

Future and.

Process, I was, I was, questioning, why are you giving to my professor friend?

Why are you asking me so many personal questions?

I don't understand this.

And she said.

Just go, you know, g with the process, stay with it.

And midway through, I had an epiphany.

I thought, this is so powerful that I want to, This is my direction.

This is where I need to go.

So from that experience I found out what my purpose is.

And I realized that I don't need to go back into.

Academe where my heart is.

Welcome back.

Now we get to hear how Laurel turned her stories into international bestselling books.

Laurel, that was so interesting because a lot of people don't realize about how strategic filtering can change your outlook, and really strengthen your story, not only personally because you talked about that personal tragedy, but you also talked about how we can use that within organizations to resolve conflict and move forward.

So in this case, tell us, how did you start writing books based on your own story?

I, as I mentioned, I went through a significant tragedy that, almost white male.

So yeah, it was very, very difficult.

And, then Covid hit, as I mentioned, and, in that I decided that I wanted to write a book.

Let me just start with that.

I wanted to write my own book, but I couldn't get over the inertia to do that.

And then I thought, well, okay.

Butler, has coauthored books.

I might be able to do a chapter in it.

And tell us about Kate Butler for our audience, who doesn't know?

Kate Butler is a, a phenomenal publisher is published.

I don't know how many international and just selling books I can't count.

And yeah, you can't count them.

She's just a wonderful, wonderful person.

And when I reached out to her, I said, I have the story to tell.

And I was very broken at the time, and I shared a little bit of my story with Kate, and I said, this is what I think.

I would like to write my story.

But I don't know if it's the right fit here.

And she said, it absolutely is.

I ultimately got i out on paper, and then it turned into a number one, internationally bestselling book.

I mean, what Was the name of the.

Book again?

Women who in power.

Thank you.

Yes.

Oh, how and I mean, that experience in itself was phenomenal.

So that got us through Covid.

And then I thought, you know what?

No, I want to go back and to do the strategic filtering.

And then another crisis occurred.

And so it just seemed like month after month after month, something was happening in my family.

And I thought, why is this happening to me?

What is this?

And, it occurred to me from all the programs that I'm takin that life doesn't happen to us.

It happens for us.

What does that mean?

It means that any time that we're looking at something that, event that happens in our lives, sometimes our reaction is to not look at it as an obstacle.

That's that's in front of us.

But I believe so strongly in a biblical verse, which is Isaiah 61 three, tha there will be beauty for ashes.

And so with tha concept in mind, that no matter what happens or what occurrence happens to us in life, something beautiful will emerge from it, and we don't know what it is when it's going to happen.

But I believe that it's God's promise to us that there will be something beautiful that emerges, in the trials that w have and there to strengthen us.

And so I knew that something beautiful would happen.

And it has, because Kate reached back out to me.

She said that she looked at her community, and she said that readers wanted to hear more from me because they were inspired by my story.

And so she said, I would like you to consider writing, another chapter for an upcoming book.

And it's, she said, I can see you because you bounce back.

You're resilient.

You bounce back so easily, it seems.

And I thought, well, I'd my own thinking was, it' because I, I know that there's going to be something beautiful that comes from it.

But she said, I see you writing something on the street of Hope.

And so the next book that' going to be actually published next week, I think on the 26th, is going to be leading with legacy.

October 26th.

October 26th.

Yes.

And that book will be out.

And my story on that is based on another segment of the tragedy that we happen, some revealing it little by little.

And, it's scary to do that.

It's scared scary to be so vulnerable.

But you need I think, writing that chapter was especially hard.

And, for me because I brought forth, one of the instances.

So.

Yeah, well.

In I mean, you're opening yourself up.

Yeah.

But by opening yourself up your healing, other people that.

I'm healing other people.

In, is that wh we should be telling our story?

That's absolutely why we should be telling our stories.

Because, and the pain that I had to go through, with other family members and, that's given me the strength.

My ultimate goal with all o this is to write the solo book that I'm going for, and as a result of this story that's coming out and the next one that's coming out, I'm going to be writing another story.

Oh my goodness, you're not slowing down, are you?

Yeah.

I'm not.

And then, this will be another coauthored book with Kate Butler.

Once I get that one out, then she will help me do my, solo book.

And then once that's out, then I plan to do a movie.

So, and that's that's my vision.

And that's wha the strategic future comes in.

Well, and I lov that you have shared what your what your vision is and how you're using this strategic featuring because it really helps our audience understand too.

But how is that something that we could take and use in our daily lives?

Because you've used it from your for your personal tragedies but how can we use that as well?

So I have three strategie to help, people overcome them.

So in my first story in Women Healing Power, I outline that for individuals.

So it's just so you help us.

Yes.

To help you figure out what it is.

So the first one would be, yo know, to pull people through it.

And then the second method would be to understand what the rules are.

So if the first method doesn't work, then get a clear handle on the, the, the rules of the, the what you're working with.

Okay.

And this becomes important with organizations.

And then third with method is that if there doesn't seem to be any way to, stop a situation, then you have to sever the you have to sever the relationship that can be difficul because if you're working with I had an example, I had examples in each one of these, a personal example, as when I was a child, why, I never could.

I never thought I would be able to become a teacher to begin with.

The second one was trying to, get out of a situation.

I, a harassment situation at work.

And then, the third method was, that couldn't be resolved, and so I had to.

I had to step away to sever that relationship.

Once you recognize that that's the the core issue in organizations.

Yes.

It all starts in a personal.

So it does.

Yeah.

It' a, it's an an a personal thing.

Yes.

What you what happens goes on at home.

Something could trigger you at home.

And then you carry that into the organization.

So that's, that's where my, my research went.

Yes.

Okay.

And so I stayed in, in teaching.

I didn't go back into organizations at that point.

But so as I said, I just you keep morphing and morphing and morphing.

But each, each, difficulty that we have, each obstacle that we have to overcome, we have to lean into it.

And it's really difficult because.

I was going to ask you that question.

So explain that, because i sounds like it's difficult.

Yes.

Every, every time we're, we're we, have an obstacle put in front of us.

Our mental mindset wants us to stay in our comfort zone.

Yes.

Okay.

So, with, again, with strategic filtering, I look at individuals, their reaction to life on an everyday situation.

So we teach you that, how you can respond to those things, you know, change your mindset, overcome some of those obstacles, lean in.

Because we want to pull back.

Yes.

Even as you're saying, leaning in.

I'm moving back.

Yeah.

We want to stay in our comfort zone.

And you don't.

If you're going to move forward and transition and grow and become the person that yo were designed and meant to be, that's where that transformation comes in.

You have to lean in, do the difficult things, you know, keep your hands on the wheel and just keep pushing through whatever storm it is.

And on the other side, ther will be beauty out of the ashes.

So it all just kind of comes around, you know, together.

Laurel, thank you so much.

Believe it or not, our time together has gone by so fast.

But you have given us so muc information of how to strengthen our interpersonal relationships and how they impact not only just the personal side, but the organizational side as well, so that we can start to generate our own stories.

And I know that you said, yo know, I teach public speaking, but in a way, you've helped us with our public speaking skills as well, because you've taken some of that anxiety away from it, like giving us a focus.

So thank you so much.

So wome who empower leading with legacy.

And what's the third book?

The third one is dear younger self.

Dear Younger self.

Well, we have to make sure people follow you so when that book comes out, because that sounds like that's going to be a lot of words of wisdom in that book.

Thank you, thank you thank you so much for for coming and spending some time with us.

Thank you.

And thank you for joining us on everybody with Angela Williamson.

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Hi, I'm Angela Williamson, host of.

Everybody with Angela Williamson.

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