[00:00:00] Nathan: This is the most unique episode I’ve ever done on this podcast. I brought in my speaking coach, Mike Paquione, back on the show to roast the keynote that I gave at Craft & Commerce.

[00:00:09] Mike: Wait, why did you have that big pause at the

[00:00:11] Nathan: end? I’m not sure. Okay. Okay.

[00:00:12] Mike: A lot of people fall into the trap of both hands have to do the same thing.

[00:00:18] Nathan: In this episode, Mike doesn’t hold back.

[00:00:21] Mike: This is actually a little bit of a miss. It doesn’t end up mattering, but

[00:00:27] Nathan: Seeing a talk critiqued in real time with commentary from an expert coach will help you learn what makes a great talk in a whole new way.

[00:00:34] Mike: Your instinct is to make a story here too, but it’s like you can only have so many stories.

[00:00:37] I want the audience to forget that it’s a speech.

[00:00:40] Nathan: Little things like the Stephen Colbert move, where you show the joke on the slide, but you don’t say it out loud. The moment I was like, “Oh, maybe this will get a laugh,” and then it didn’t. You also get to hear about some of the chaos happening backstage that nobody knows about.

[00:00:52] They have their hand out, and they are stopping me from going on stage. So join me for this behind-the-scenes look at the biggest keynote I’ve ever delivered

[00:01:03] Mike: It is usually the Nathan Barry Show, and that is where you find this on your podcast feed. However, we changed this up a little bit this time. Nathan just yesterday did his annual keynote releasing products at Craft and Commerce, and we’re gonna break this down.

[00:01:18] But whereas it’s always the Nathan Barry Show, today It’s the Mike Pacchione Show. That’s right. So we’re gonna talk about what was good, what looked good to other people and secretly was less good.

[00:01:30] Nathan: A little chaos.

[00:01:30] Mike: Yeah. A little chaos. I’ve had the privilege of coaching Nathan. This is the eighth time- Yeah

[00:01:36] for these keynotes, and I’ve just seen such an improvement, so

[00:01:39] Nathan: we’re gonna break it down.

[00:01:40] Mike: Let’s, uh, let’s start right here. Of our very special announcement. Got Haley on the screen. You’re, I don’t know, 10 seconds from coming out. And we have never done anything quite like this before, so please welcome to the stage my friend, our CEO, Nathan Barry.

[00:01:57] Nathan: So there’s applause. There’s Nathan. No me.

[00:02:00] Mike: We’re just like- Oh, there we go You notice Haley’s, like, little, like…

[00:02:04] Nathan: Good luck. Did you hear her “Good luck”?

[00:02:07] Mike: Yeah. So there’s- Amazing, because as an audience member, everybody thought she was being funny. Secretly, she’s… Or are you telling me actually she’s like, “Good luck”?

[00:02:16] Nathan: Well, I think there’s a couple things. She got, I mean, she managed to get an audience laugh even before I come out, which is great for setting the tone. Um, but the chaos is going b- on behind the scenes. The reason is she intros me, and I don’t come out. Which is, as an emcee, that has to be your worst nightmare.

[00:02:31] Mike: Again, uh, um, uh, also, oh, something I should have mentioned earlier.

[00:02:35] Nathan: Yeah. Yeah, exactly. So we’re doing a live stream of the event. And so there’s, like, 3,000 people registered to watch the live stream of this keynote. But the previous speaker ends, like, eight minutes early- … without people realizing. Like, there’s just this chaos.

[00:02:52] Like, we- he’s about 90 seconds from ending when people realize, “Oh, he is about to end.” And it’s way early, and we’re, we’re ahead of schedule, and we’re never, like-

[00:03:01] Mike: Nobody in any event is ahe- ahead of schedule ever

[00:03:05] Nathan: But we are. So what happens is two things happen at the same time. First, we’re ahead of schedule, and then second, right as we’re trying to, about to go live, the internet and the live stream start to go out.

[00:03:17] And so everybody, they’re all in their headsets, the whole AV crew. Our AV crew is incredible for this event. But they, they’re all like, “Stall, stall.” And so on the speaker monitors in front of Haley, they put in the notes, like, below her intro, like, “Stall.”

[00:03:30] Mike: Oh my gosh, stop.

[00:03:31] Nathan: Which she does, I think, kind of. Maybe she adds 45 seconds.

[00:03:36] And so then I’m backstage, and there’s someone right there who’s, like, helping with the curtain, being like, “Okay, wait, yeah, now you go.” And they’re like, they have their hand out, and they are stopping me from going on stage. And it’s this really nice woman who I don’t wanna, like, just push past, you know?

[00:03:52] And they’re like, “You gotta stall. Like, you can’t go out yet,” and all that. And I’m like, “I’m not gonna leave Haley, like, just hanging out on the stage waiting.” You know, I’m like, “This is way better if I go out.” Anyway, so I go out. No music right? Which we rehearsed- Oh

[00:04:06] Mike: my gosh, that is why. ‘Cause we did a whole th- the night before you’re like, “Hey- Can you come up with a joke for me?

[00:04:12] Nathan: Yep.

[00:04:13] Mike: Which I outsourced to Katie Day, and I think she came up with something good. And

[00:04:17] Nathan: I think it would’ve done well. I was gonna do a slightly different versi…