Media Training Question #39 – How Can I Make It Rainn?

Nov. 8, 2010 - PRLog -- There are many definitions of the euphemism “make it rain”, I am taking some license here and am adapting it two fold.  First, from the more traditional use of the phrase, to make money or riches. The second to introduce you to the topic today and our “teacher”, actor Rainn Wilson, the beloved dork on the hit television show The Office.

Today I’m going to bring you a bit inside the Media Training process that I use.  For me it is not just about your topic and how to best position it.  That would be easy to do and many do it that way.  For me, developing a message is about more than just words, although words are the critical component to a message, understanding your message and its origin matter to me.  Part of the process involves understanding why you are here at this point and time.  I work very hard at assisting people in finding their voice and making sure the message they deliver is a whole part of who they are.

Why would that matter? Why isn’t just a well polished phrase good enough?  This is my take on that, and I’m sure other Media Trainers take a different approach and that is their right, but for me the authenticity of your message very much means wearing that message and in order to do that you have to start at the core of why you are here and what you want to accomplish.  I do not see than as being separate from the process.

While doing some reading this weekend I ran across this story on Rainn Wilson and a new website he has founded and funds called SoulPancake.com.   They describe themselves this way:

“SoulPancake is more of a mission than a Web site. It's a MOVEMENT to wrestle with and chew on LIFE'S BIG QUESTIONS. It's a way to EXPLORE why we believe the things that we believe. It's a place for you to TALK about your soul and the existence of God. It's a space to ENGAGE in art, philosophy, creativity, truth, and beauty. And ultimately, SoulPancake is a community of people who are digging DEEPER to figure out what it means to be human and to experience this rich, strange, difficult, and awesome journey called life.”

After spending a little time there last evening and my plan is to spend more time there this evening, it fits neatly in my philosophy for my clients and I plan to share this with all of them.  I see the work I do with my clients as a transcendence of sorts.  Walking away from their time with me I expect my clients to be enriched to an understanding they did not have previous to working with me.  And I do that because to transform you into an expert or messenger takes courage, knowledge and understanding.  Understanding is the key and Soulpancake.com just makes sense to me on many levels.

When I meet a new client I without exception I ask them about their journey; about how they got to where they are today.  I listen intently as they begin to unfold the process of who they are and how they got here.  I listen as they struggle to put words to a life lived.  It is an amazing gift for both of us and it is a process that can be difficult and empowering.  I feel it is a necessary process to take someone to the next level and I have never lost a client because of my process.

Many people want something that seems just out of reach and in the process of discovery they find themselves asking questions they had previously not thought of before.  I often have clients tell me after our first session that as a result of our discussion they found themselves seeing things more clearly or more thoughtfully.  Many of them have the experience that required them to actually stop and think about what moves them and motivates them.  Many are so busy that they never realized that what they are on the precipice of has more power to help them and heal them than the really understood before.  

Writing a book, giving a speech, being an expert is all a journey and that journey is filled with stories and trials, with happiness and disappointment, and in the ingredients that form our lives and place us on the path we are on we should pause every so often and regard ourselves with respect and admiration for that which we have accomplished.

None of us are complete and we are all broken at some level, but the discovery of one’s voice is a miracle to witness as I have been blessed to do many, many times.  It is empowering as a professional to know that during the course of my time with someone I aided them in finding a path not known before, or for those who were certain they could never articulate their greater good and somehow find that they can is a gift that keeps on giving.

What Rainn Wilson is doing is not much different than what I hopefully have created on a micro level.  If you want to be a thought leader you have to actually think hard.  The tough questions in life are great lessons to the other parts of our lives and if we are paying attention what that exercise does for us gives back to us many times over.

To want excellence means to want knowledge.  To lift yourself above the message and become the messenger takes an uncommon commitment to who you are and to honor where you have been.  The work it takes to get there can be painless but it is never meaningless, of that I can promise you.

If you are ready to make it rain, let me know because I actually know the dance already and I’d love to teach it to you one step at a time.

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Tony has spent the better part of the past two decades in and around the media. As the host of his own nationally syndicated radio programs for 15 years, Tony has interviewed over 25,000 guests and appeared as a guest on over 800 radio and national television shows. He founded of his own public relations firm and he went on to author two books and became a “go to” authority on a myriad of issues from weight loss to self empowerment; from politics to pop culture. Tony’s list of media training clients number over 2000, many of them well known celebrities and authors. He often works under confidentially agreements and enjoys of the challenge of helping people discover their voice.
Tony is respected and well known for his honesty and willingness to do what it takes to get to a core message. He works tirelessly with his clients and advocates for his clients in finding the most passionate and profound tenets of their message and then giving them the tools to deliver that message.