Matthew Cossolotto (aka “The Podium Pro”) is an author, guest speaker, and creator of Personal Empowerment Programs (PEPTalks) designed to help people reach their peak potential, on and off the podium.

Matthew’s leadership communications career spans the corridors of power and influence on both sides of the Atlantic—from NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, to the Speaker's Office in the U.S. House of Representatives. A former aide to Congressman Leon Panetta, Cossolotto has coached and penned speeches for senior executives in a wide range of organizations, including UCLA, PepsiCo, MasterCard, IBM, and other Fortune 100 corporations.

Matthew is the author of several books, most recently The Joy of Public Speaking. As a guest speaker and workshop leader, he has shared his personal empowerment ideas with a wide range of domestic and international audiences, including corporations, associations, government agencies, conferences, schools, community groups, and nonprofits/NGOs.

This one-on-one interview shares Matthew Cossolotto’s background and experience in writing The Joy of Public Speaking: Find Your Voice and Reach Your Peak Potential.

Tell us about The Joy of Public Speaking.

Let’s start with the big picture. The ability to speak confidently and comfortably to audiences of all types is a widely recognized leadership and success skill. Yet, opinion surveys confirm that most people rank public speaking as one of their top fears, along with spiders, snakes, and death itself.

The Joy of Public Speaking embraces a simple proposition: People who learn to enjoy public speaking tend to be better at it than those hobbled by anxiety, trepidation, or outright terror. In the book—and in my speech coaching and speaking programs—I help readers and clients recognize self-defeating attitudes, feelings, and habits, and replace them with empowering mindsets to fast-track their success, on the podium and beyond.

The encouraging fact is most of us actually enjoy talking with others—friends, relatives, colleagues, and even complete strangers. This brings me to a key insight in the book and in my various programs: there’s no such thing as public speaking—there’s just speaking. That realization is where the “joy” of speaking comes from. It’s an important step on the seven-step path to the joy of public speaking that I unveil in my book. I urge readers and clients to employ what I call “the gentle art of mental joyjitsu” to make powerful mindset shifts that will propel them on a life-changing journey to joy.

Readers of The Joy of Public Speaking will learn about powerful concepts, including:

• The Six Axioms of Personal Empowerment 
• The Seven Steps to Joy
• The Secrets of Whole Brain Speaking
• The Power of SPEECH: The Six-point Checklist for Powerful Presentations 
• The Wizard of Oz Formula and the Rule of Three 
• Twenty Terrific Tips for Top-Notch Talks

And much more!

What inspired you to write The Joy of Public Speaking: Find Your Voice and Reach Your Peak Potential?

It all started when I made a promise to my mother on her deathbed that I would finish writing a book she had been encouraging me to write, and dedicate it to her memory. She looked up at me with tears in her eyes and said: "You do that, Matthew. You do that. This makes me very happy." I’m proud to say I kept that promise.

Making that promise put me on my current path as a personal empowerment author, speaker, workshop leader, and coach. It also helped to shape my overriding mission: to help millions of people around the world replace negative, disempowering habits of thought with positive, empowering mindsets. The Joy of Public Speaking will play a key role in enabling me to fulfill that mission.

How did your background and experience influence your writing?

Early in my speechwriting and speech coaching career, I began to explore ways to empower my clients to enhance what I call their PodiumPower! I soon created The Power of SPEECH—The Six-Point Checklist for Powerful Presentations. I used that checklist in my executive speech coaching services and workshops.

In the years that followed, I continued to expand my ideas and expertise as a speechwriter and coach. I discovered along the way that effective, authentic public speaking is more than a leadership and success skill—it’s also a potent tool for personal empowerment. My focus on the connection between speaking and personal empowerment distinguishes my approach from most other speech coaches. This has led to my current focus: teaching leaders and aspiring leaders how to become more authentic, compelling speakers and adopt empowering success habits so they can advance their careers, enhance their leadership skills, and make a positive difference in the world.

What is one message you would like readers to remember?

I would boil it down to one succinct sentence: success is an inside job, both on and off the podium. What goes on between your ears—your habitual internal dialog—will determine your level of success as a speaker, and in life. I believe the most powerful motivational speech in the world is what you say to yourself. Your consistent, habitual self-talk will determine whether you succeed or fail, whether you reach your peak potential in life or fall short.

That’s why I focus my books, coaching, and speaking programs on the tools needed for empowering mindset shifts. This approach applies to all three power tools in my Triad Empowerment System—Habits / Speaking / Promises—and my trilogy of books on these topics.

The Joy of Public Speaking is the first book in my personal empowerment trilogy. The next two books in the series are: Harness Your HabitForce, which spotlights the seven habits of FAILURE and SUCCESS, and Embrace Your Promise Power, featuring an extensive foreword written by Jack Canfield, co-creator of the Chicken Soup for the Soul® series.

Purchasing the Book

With years of wisdom distilled into an accessible, profound, and engaging book, Cossolotto presents a revolutionary way of moving beyond your limitations to achieve both speaking success and personal empowerment. The Joy of Public Speaking: Find Your Voice and Reach Your Peak Potential is available for sale on Amazon. Readers are encouraged to purchase their copy today: https://www.amazon.com/Joy-Public-Speaking-Voice-Potential/dp/1736697609

Connect with Matthew Cossolotto:

https://www.matthewcossolotto.com

linkedin.com/in/matthew-cossolotto-the-podium-pro

https://twitter.com/powerofapromise

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