Turn Your Fear of Public Speaking into Your Pharmacy Superpower With Brenden Kumarasamy

Brenden Kumarasamy:
0:00

Like a podcast, if the first two minutes of a podcast are really boring. But come on the show and I go yeah, it's good to be here tomorrow. Everyone's gonna be like I don't listen to this. Like what in the world is this? So it's the same thing with the conclusion. If you do such a great job but the last two minutes people don't leave with a clear takeaway. They won't really know what to do after the presentation.

Dr. Tamar:
0:21

Welcome to Pivoting Pharmacy with Nutrigenomics. Part of the Pharmacy Podcast Network, a must-have resource for pharmacists, entrepreneurs seeking to enhance patient care while enjoying career and life. Join us as we pivot into Nutrigenomics, using pharmacy and nutrition for true patient-focused care. Explore how to improve chronic conditions rather than just manage them. Celebrate entrepreneurial triumphs and receive priceless advice. Align your values with a career that profoundly impacts patients. Together, we'll raise the script on health and pivot into a brighter future. Hello and welcome to Pivoting Pharmacy with Nutrigenomics. I'm Dr Tamar Lawful Dr or Pharmacy and Certified Nutritional Genomics Specialist.

Dr. Tamar:
1:11

How many of you remember having to do a presentation in front of your class in college? Were you nervous? I don't know about you, but I sure was. And then I recall when I interviewed for my PGY1 Pharmacy Residency and had to do a presentation in front of my potential future preceptors. I mean, it had been nine years since I had graduated from pharmacy college and I had been working as a pharmacist already. So why in the world was I sweating from every pore of my body during this presentation? Well, if you're tired of feeling nervous and unprepared when speaking to patients or colleagues and want to become a more confident and effective communicator in your pharmacy practice. You're going to love this episode.

Dr. Tamar:
1:55

Join me as I speak with Brenden on how to transform your public speaking skills. Brenden is the founder of MasterTalk. He coaches ambitious executives and entrepreneurs to become top 1% communicators in their industry. He also has a popular YouTube channel called MasterTalk, with the goal of providing free access to Brenden.. Brenden believes, and I quote" that quote. The next Elon Musk is a seven-year-old girl who can't afford a communication coach, so it's my duty to help her succeed with my free resources. End of quote. So are you ready to discover proven techniques to quickly boost your communication confidence and learn easy ways to prepare for patient questions and relate better to any audience? Then listen in, Brenden. Thank you for joining us on Pivoting Pharmacy with Nutrigenomics. I want to dive just right in with learning a little bit about you and how you got to where you are today.

Brenden Kumarasamy:
2:56

For sure, Tamar, thanks for having me on the show. It's great to be here. So, yeah, the short story on me is all started in college. Funny enough, I studied in accounting which has nothing to do with what I do today because I thought I was going to be a numbers guy. And then, while I'm studying this degree in accounting, Tamar, I start competing in these things called case competitions. Think of it like professional sports, but for nerds. So while other guys my age are playing rugby or football or soccer or some other sport, you probably wouldn't see me playing I did case competitions, which is like presentations competitively. And then, as I got older, I was coaching a lot of the students in college and how to speak, and I realized that everything I'm sharing with them wasn't really available on the internet. So I started making videos on social media. I called it master talk and then a few years later turned into what it is today.

Dr. Tamar:
3:44

So why did you focus on communication coaching for professionals per se?

Brenden Kumarasamy:
3:50

The reason I focused on communication. I was just really good at it. I think that was the main idea. Well, actually I was terrible at it when I was younger. I have a physical disability in my left arm.

Brenden Kumarasamy:
4:00

I spoke my whole life in a second language because I'm from Montreal and you need to know how to speak French. And there's a great quote from Gay Hendricks who says like always follow your zone of excellence Right, focus on something that you're really talented in that brings you joy. And coaching was always in my blood, Tamar. I just never knew it was a profession. So when I was in college I wasn't charging anyone for coaching, I was just helping them speak. So I said, okay, no one's helping them. Then, when I started master talk which is mostly just a hobby at the beginning, because I got a great job at IBM in their consulting division. So I worked there for a few years before I went full time. And it was nine months into the business I met my business partner Vomsi, and he's the one who said hey, you know, executives would pay you a bunch of money to work with you. And I said, really, and that's what started the business. And I never looked back ever since.

Dr. Tamar:
4:47

Awesome. So, in your experience, what do you find is the biggest challenge when it comes to public speaking?

Brenden Kumarasamy:
4:53

A lot of people tomorrow answer with fear. I think there's a bigger challenge than fear and its consistency. A lot of us, when we think about going to the gym, when thinking about working on any skills, the reason we get better is not because we're experts in the topic, it's because we're consistent with it. So we'll go to the workout twice a week, we'll have a personal trainer work with us, we'll go to yoga classes, and it's that consistency that breeds results. But in our case, with communication one, it's really hard and we'll solve that today.

Brenden Kumarasamy:
5:24

It's really hard to figure out like, what are we actually practicing on a weekly basis? What can we actually work towards? And the second piece, especially with healthcare professionals, if they have a really busy life, either they're doing the residency while they're still in college or when they're on the job. They have so many different patients to deal with. How do you make the time to even work on speaking? So there's no easy set of steps to actually get this. Well, there is, but I mean, like in general, most people don't really know what those things are and I feel that's the biggest challenge to overcome. It's gaining that consistency in our communication practice.

Dr. Tamar:
5:58

I can see that, because the more consistent you are, you get more comfortable with it. It's not something you really have to think that much about, you just do it. But before you even get to that consistency, I'm sure there are certain fears that people might have. I know, for me it's like oh, what are people? Am I gonna say this right? Or what are people gonna think about this message that I have? Have you noticed anything like that with the clients you've worked with?

Brenden Kumarasamy:
6:21

Absolutely Tamar, and you know the solution to that fear that I take, the remedy that I follow, is I always get the student to take a step back and think about a skill that they were really bad at initially, that they work towards. So a great example in the healthcare space whether people listening are registered nurses, whether they're doctors, whether they're physiotherapists, whether they're dentists is the first time you worked with a patient when you got started. So I'm sure there's a lot of imposters in it. Hey, you know there's doctors that have been in this space for 25 years. What in the world do I know about operating a patient? So what advice does faculty give to its students?

Brenden Kumarasamy:
7:01

Well, it's very simple. They say you know what the first patient? You're not going to be super amazing at it. But if you're seeing the same patient, different patients, rather every single day, and it's the same diagnosis over and over again, my gut tells me that after 100 diagnosis, diagnosis, rather, you'll be pretty confident at dealing with that patient, even if it's a new person. So I like to use that analogy to communication. So the first time you're speaking, whether it's on a stage, whether it's on a podcast, whether it's in a meeting, you're thinking, oh my God, I'm not really sure. I'm really uncomfortable with this, but if we practice the same exercise a few extra times, we drill a couple of the questions that patients might ask us a few more times. My guess is, in the same way we can be proficient as healthcare professionals, we'll do the same thing in our communication skills as well.

Dr. Tamar:
7:53

That makes so much sense, Brenden. So talking about the communication, I'm sure there's different communication strategies. Do those strategies change in their context depending on who that professional is talking to? Like we're pharmacists mainly here, or they're a physician or a dentist. Would their communication strategy change in how so?

Brenden Kumarasamy:
8:16

So you know the way I always like to simplify this Communication is like juggling 18 balls at the same time. So in the same way that, let's say, we take a pharmacist, the specific medicines that you might recommend might depend on the types of allergies that person has, how they might be prone to different side effects based on that medication. So it's really important to understand the medical history of the specific patient that you're prescribing medicine to. So we all know and obviously you all know that a lot better than I do but in the context of communication it can also be very nuanced, like communication tips could change from being a physicist versus being a doctor, but there's some general pointers that work across industry.

Brenden Kumarasamy:
8:59

It doesn't really matter who you are, where you come from, the tips will matter throughout, and that's what I'll teach you right now, which is the three easiest balls R, q, v. So I'll pause after every single one, so I'm not monologuing for 10 minutes here, ok, so the first one is R, the random word. So all you have to do tomorrow is pick any word that you want A leaf flower, building wife, light bulb, it doesn't really matter and create a 60 second presentation out of thin air. So if you can do this, when you go back to your expertise, it's going to be really easy for you to talk about what you already know, which is pharmacy. So I'd encourage people if they have kids, do this with their kids, but really do this a few times a day and you'll get a lot better at speaking without preparation. Wow.

Dr. Tamar:
9:46

Just one word and do a presentation. How long presentation?

Brenden Kumarasamy:
9:50

The key is not to overthink it, but 60 seconds is a guideline, but it's really just about doing it, because a lot of us tomorrow, we tend to overthink this exercise. We go, ok, what is the exact length, if I make a mistake on this, and that's OK, because we're taught to think that we as health care professionals Because if you get one detail wrong it could jeopardize the health's patient. So we're trained to be detail oriented. But in the context of communication, we have to take an opposite approach, because every nuance of communication is never always going to be black and white, it's always gray. So doing the random word exercise pushes us out of our comfort zone because we can't take a structured approach to it anymore.

Dr. Tamar:
10:29

Oh, my goodness, because as pharmacists, we are very meticulous perfectionists. We want to get it right. So, like me, my and this is something I'm trying to walk away from I will write everything I'm going to say down and I'm going to use that script, you know. And so I'm walking. I'm trying to walk away more from not being so scripted and just speaking freely. So I think this random word exercise would definitely be helpful for me personally. Just to think of that word, the word that came to my mind was microphone. Speak of a microphone, right? So to just speak about a microphone for 60 seconds without having it prewritten and just off the top of my head, that doesn't seem that difficult. I think that's a great first step. I love that.

Brenden Kumarasamy:
11:13

And you're setting the example for people, because a lot of people tomorrow when they hear that exercise they're scared out of their wits to even do it. So I love the energy you brought towards that exercise and what I tell clients and people can write this down is we don't get points for doing the exercise well, we get points for doing the exercise a lot. So just get to 100 and you'll see a complete shift in your game.

Dr. Tamar:
11:37

Consistency Exactly.

Brenden Kumarasamy:
11:40

Going back to the biggest challenge. So that's R. Now let's go to the second step of RQV Q, which is the question drill. So I'll tell you so around this tomorrow. So a few years ago and I started guessing on podcasts I'm a lot more articulate these days, but I think anyways. But a few years ago, when I had started, I sucked horrible Because I started guessing on shows. I think when I was 22 or 23 years old, it was probably five years ago.

Brenden Kumarasamy:
12:02

At this point and I'm getting on these shows and some guy asks me so, Brenden, where does the fear of communication come from? And I started panicking. I was like I don't really know. So I said Toronto, new York City, tokyo, you tell me, man, I don't know what the fear comes from. I was really confused. I didn't really know how to do this, but I never wanted to make a mistake again in an interview. So how did I fix this? Tomorrow, every single day, for five minutes, I answered one question that I thought the world would ask me about my expertise. So the first day was and I didn't know the answer 95% of these questions.

Brenden Kumarasamy:
12:41

Six years now. You do a really good job at like figuring out the audience and like customizing it to the specific show, but, like back then, it was okay. Day one what's the vision for master talk? Day two is hey, I'm introverted. What tips do you have for me? The day three is how do you overcome your fear of communication? But here's the secret tomorrow, you do this every single day for five minutes for a year and you'll have answered 365 questions about industry. You'll be unstoppable. And the last part to this exercise is how do we apply this to pharmacists? Really simple make a list of the top 10 to 20 questions You're getting asked from patients every week. Sit down on a Sunday morning while you drink your favorite coffee and just go. How can I answer these questions better? And if you just do that, you'll be way better at dealing with patients.

Dr. Tamar:
13:28

I love that every day for five minutes now. When you threw in a year, at first I was like oh, that's excessive. But no, it makes sense because, like you said, you're gonna have all these questions that you are gonna be well versed in the answers for and you're not gonna stumble over Answer those questions when they were asked for you because you know the answers are ready. You've already thought that through. Genius, genius.

Brenden Kumarasamy:
13:50

Thanks, thanks for and I love that you said that, because that feedback is really important, because whatever you're thinking, your audience is thinking too, which is why do we need this for a year? So let me give a different approach to it. You actually don't have to. There's a different approach, which is and pharmacists will probably implement this because there are a lot more Intense, there's a lot more education that goes into being a pharmacist, so you might be able to do this which is I actually don't practice this once a day.

Brenden Kumarasamy:
14:14

The way that I do this is I'm practicing it right now because you're asking me a bunch of questions right now about speaking. So that's how I practice it indirectly. But the other piece is okay, you don't have to do it once a day, but book out ten days of your life and do it 30 times a day. So if you do it that way, you get all your coaching done in ten days and then you could do it once a quarter. But you already get the skill because you've already learned it. So now it's just maintenance at that point.

Brenden Kumarasamy:
14:41

So the key is just pick the workflow that gets you to do it. So for most people, when I'm talking to a general audience. It's going to be five minutes a day. It gets all. It's five minutes. Today I'll do it, it's fine, whereas for somebody like a pharmacist I'd recommend something a little bit different. I changed the nuance to okay, let's commit for the next 30 days to do this, just 30 days. Do 10 questions a day, and then you'll be really good in a month and you don't have to do it anymore.

Dr. Tamar:
15:05

I like that, I like that and again, and that theme again is consistency. That repetition, that consistency and when my mind went to with with the first to the random word and the question drill that we just went over, there's a lot of my listeners are entrepreneurs, right, they're doing non-traditional things in pharmacy. They're not at the traditional pharmacy the way that we think of things. They've kind of went outside the box and Now they're in the position where they need to tell their patients or their clients, explain to them what I'm doing, why I'm doing it this way versus a traditional pharmacy way. These are great exercises to use so that they're comfortable and explaining that to their clients and also Becoming very comfortable with their content and what they're doing as well. Love it.

Brenden Kumarasamy:
15:48

I totally agree tomorrow and I'm glad you brought that up, because there's two other use cases for entrepreneurs as well for the question drill and the random word exercise. Random word exercise is going to be hey. When you're pitching to investors, potentially, if you're an entrepreneur, when you're Signing up new customers and you're teaching them a new Healthcare workflow that they hadn't really seen before because you're creating a brand new experience, then the question drill becomes one of the ten questions that people are asking when they're considering my service. And how do? A? I answer those questions perfectly as the CEO and B Delegate those answers to my team. Who's managing those calls right now? Because if they're not explaining this experience as good as I am, I am leaking cash through the bucket.

Dr. Tamar:
16:32

Me man, so true. So what is the third?

Brenden Kumarasamy:
16:35

one. The final step of our QV is the video message tomorrow. So I'll tell you story around video and I know this scares the holy bejeebies out of healthcare professionals, but let me give the frame. So the frame is really simple for the entrepreneurs, the sale is actually pretty easy, which is this what I do every year is I take a list of a hundred, my top Hundred, two hundred clients tomorrow, give or take business partners they could be family, friends and my Google calendar, which is actually just on my other screen here, is they'll tell me whose birthday it is.

Brenden Kumarasamy:
17:09

So I don't remember any of these birthdays because there's too many at this point. And then what I do is I put a funky birthday head on that I bought for 15 bucks on Amazon. It's really useful, actually. You put on my head, I open my phone and I send them a video message a few days leading up to the birthday. On the birthday, the details don't really matter that much. I've even said birthday messages two weeks late. Hey, guess whose birthday was two weeks ago? People still love it.

Brenden Kumarasamy:
17:31

And what happens? The video isn't perfect, I'm making a ton of mistakes, it doesn't look super great and I get a ton of referrals from that. But, most importantly, I get a ton of goodwill. Wow, I get so many texts on my birthday. I've never received a birthday video message in my life. So if you're an entrepreneur listening to this and I know in this industry people don't want to do these videos Let me spin it differently. If you're, the only person on this podcast is an entrepreneur and who decides to do that with your patients though there might be confidential and show you things that I wouldn't know of, so that's a separate issue. But, assuming this is possible, you'd be the only practitioner doing this and you would stand out and get so much loyalty from your clients.

Dr. Tamar:
18:10

That is so true. That is so true. No one knows that. Well, you do that, but I've never gotten a video message. So, yeah, you'll definitely be memorable and Relatable, likeable, what for whatever specialty you're in, they're gonna remember oh doctor so and so, a pharmacist so and so Set me that birthday message. And they have a pretty cool service. Why don't you check them out, friend? Ding ding right, exactly.

Dr. Tamar:
18:36

I love that and you mentioned something that I absolutely love. You said that even your birthday video messages. It's not perfect. You might mess up, you might stumble over words. It's okay. And I think sometimes, especially when it comes to video, we get so caught up with having no mistakes and perfection. That's okay. Communication doesn't have to be perfect. It's communication, and that video message brings another touch of familiarity and personableness, if that's a word, to those that we're speaking to.

Brenden Kumarasamy:
19:07

Absolutely. That's really the key tomorrow. And the most important point that I'll say on this podcast has nothing to do with our QV. It's more about are we scheduling our QV in our calendar? So what does that look like? So, for the next 30 days, if you want to get the ROI from listening to, this podcast states hey, did I book five minutes? However, you want to play this. If it's five minutes a day, it's five minutes a day. If it's 30 minutes a week, where you just block 30 minutes on a Sunday and do it, that's fine too. But where are you implementing our QV in your week? And if you're even doing it a little bit, let's put it another way tomorrow, I have yet to meet somebody, especially in healthcare. I've yet to meet somebody who has DM'd me on social media and said you know, Brenden, I actually implemented our QV and I got such great results from doing this because most of us are afraid to do it. But if you just start, then you'll be fine. I think that's the key.

Dr. Tamar:
19:59

Let's do it, just do it Now. I want to bring it down a little bit. I feel like right now we're talking broad, right, you're talking to maybe a larger audience, or when we're coming to communication or the setting. I want to bring it into my presentations. As pharmacists, we do a lot of presentations. How can we effectively present our ideas when we have these presentations and be comfortable doing it?

Brenden Kumarasamy:
20:22

So, building on our QV, these exercises will really help you get better, especially Q when you're being asked questions. If you practice that question drill and you start to reflect huh, what kind of questions are they going to ask me about this presentation? What if they asked me before about this presentation and you start to reflect on this answer, you're going to be way better in Q&A. But now let's talk about the actual presentation. Let's keep it really simple. Today there's a lot of different frameworks we can go into, like tree and whatnot that I'm happy to go into, but the easiest one to implement is puzzle. So communication is a lot like jigsaw puzzle. You know those toys we used to play as kids. Or you got like a thousand pieces. You put them all together right. So if I asked you tomorrow it's a very simple question If you're working on this puzzle, which pieces do you start with first and why?

Dr. Tamar:
21:10

the big pieces, because they're easy, or the ones that have the same colors, because it's clear that they go together.

Brenden Kumarasamy:
21:16

I love that. I love that tomorrow they're the big pieces, the ones with color. A lot of people answer the edges Because they're easier to find to. So all of these are great answers, but the key that we're driving from your answer is you'll start with the obvious thing first, right, so let's go with the edges. Let's say that's the obvious thing, so edges. Then you work your way around.

Brenden Kumarasamy:
21:36

Why am I bringing that up? Because, unfortunately, in communication tomorrow, we don't start with the obvious, we start with the unobvious, we start the middle, we shove a bunch of content in our presentation. We get to the presentation, then we ramble throughout the whole thing and then the last slide sounds like this Uh yeah, so thanks. Not really the right approach. So instead, what you want to do is apply puzzle, start with the edges first, meaning the next time you have a presentation, just practice the first two minutes of your speech 20 times, 10 times, 15 times I don't know what all of your thinking right now. Oh my God, 20 times. That sounds like so much work. Not really. If your introduction is two minutes, this is a 30 minute exercise. Same thing with the conclusion, the last two minutes. What's a great movie with the terrible ending. Last time I checked a terrible movie. So same thing for the close. Do your close your conclusion 10, 20 times and then tackle the middle, whereas the issue right now, tomorrow, is a lot of us.

Brenden Kumarasamy:
22:46

Let's say we have a 40 minute presentation to give to a company or to employees. We might practice it once. We'll get lazy, we won't like what we presented, we'll have lunch, we'll forget about it and then present it the day after. We won't really practice it that much. Whereas with puzzle, what's nice is that same 40 minutes. You've already mastered your intro and then you build that momentum. You go, wow, this is the best intro I've ever delivered in my life and that's what creates energy for you to practice. So just use puzzle the next time you give and deliver a presentation and you'll be way better at speaking.

Dr. Tamar:
23:18

So I have a question about that. So are you saying that what is most memorable and correct me if I'm wrong, this is what I'm getting is what's most memorable is, to the audience would be how we started and how we ended, or is it just a matter of us practicing it so well and fine-tuning it that we do build up momentum for the meat of the presentation? Excellent?

Brenden Kumarasamy:
23:38

And the answer tomorrow is actually both Okay. So you're correct on both of those statements. So let's dig in deeper here. So the first statement that you mentioned is hey, like people remember the beginning of the end. This is absolutely true. Let me emphasize that even more.

Brenden Kumarasamy:
23:52

If you're beginning sounds like this Hi everybody, I hope you all. Yeah, there's coffee in the back and you can go get some coffee. We're just going to get started. Yeah, people are going to pretend to listen to you. Let's face it, everyone's going to be on their phones, not really going to listen to what you have to say. They're not going to pay attention, whereas if you start with hi everyone, it's great to be here.

Brenden Kumarasamy:
24:09

You know, I want to tell you a quick story about how we came here today and you start talking about something, some patient situation or something that's aligned with whatever you're presenting, people say, wow, okay, I need to pay attention to the rest of this. Like a podcast, if the first two minutes of a podcast are really boring. But come on the show and I go yeah, it's good to be here. Tomorrow, everyone's going to be like I don't listen to this. Like what in the world is this? So it's the same thing with the conclusion If you do such a great job but the last two minutes you don't leave with something memorable. People don't leave with a clear takeaway. They won't really know what to do after the presentation. And the second piece that you tackled as well momentum. And the same way with patients. If we do the same diagnosis 10 different times, we feel that momentum. Now I really know what I'm doing here. It's the same thing with presentations. The two minutes at the start is a quick way to gain momentum as well in speaking.

Dr. Tamar:
25:01

Awesome. Thank you for clarifying that. I love it. Now I want to talk about because you mentioned a little bit earlier about introverted professionals. So someone who's introvert, they might have a more difficult time when it comes to public speaking. So what advice, Brenden, do you have to help them communicate more effectively?

Brenden Kumarasamy:
25:21

So the same tips still apply. Our QV is still the advice, but let's add a little bit more nuance to that. So there's two parts to that nuance. The first part is video messages. Okay, if you're scared of sending this to like a stranger, just send it to your mom, send it to your dad, send it to your brother, send it to your best friend. That's the best way to start. Or if you're super shy, you're saying you don't need friends, which I don't think is a possibility. So what it is, send videos to yourself. Okay, just send videos. No one's there, no one's gonna judge you, no one's gonna see these videos.

Brenden Kumarasamy:
25:53

Q. What's nice about the question drill? You don't have to do this with a group. It's literally. You're on your computer. You type up a question, you write out the answer. You open your phone, you get a voice recorder app, you say the answer, that's it, you're done. Nobody saw you even do the exercise. And R random word exercise. Best part do this alone, in front of the mirror when nobody's home. Okay, you don't have to do this in front of 10 people. That's the nuance.

Brenden Kumarasamy:
26:18

The second piece is understanding why introverts in some cases are actually better communicators, cause a lot of introverts like coach, don't really realize that they're actually very talented in things that I had to spend years to get better at, cause I'm not an introvert, obviously. I'm obviously an extrovert. So there's three things. One, introverts are a lot better at pausing. So because they speak less on average tomorrow, it's very easy for them to take a breath and communicate a thought. Res me, as you can tell, that's what you know. When I used to teach RQV, I actually would go on a ramble for 15 minutes and then I'd go oh my God, like if I speak for 15 minutes tomorrow's not going to be able to say anything. So I changed my cause.

Brenden Kumarasamy:
26:58

I talk a lot, so that's why I guest on podcasts and I don't host them, cause I would suck at being a podcast host. So that's number one is pausing. Number two is introverts are really good at relating to their audience. So if you take somebody like Gary Vaynerchuk for those who don't know, this is a pharmacy audience. He's like a big business entrepreneur. He's got millions of followers on social media. He runs a marketing agency. It's very successful. He's a very loud person. So you either really like him or you don't. But nobody says that about Brene Brown. When you hear Brene Brown give a talk, no one's going to say I really hate this person. No, everybody loves Brene Brown, and that's really the key differences. And they're better listeners as well, obviously.

Dr. Tamar:
27:37

Interesting, so better at pausing, relating to the audience and better listeners. So if you feel that you are introvert, use those features, those skills or qualities as your superpowers to fuel you when it comes to public speaking and communicating with others. This is a very useful information and practical, so I love it, Brenden. Now are there any books that you would recommend for the audience to focus on to improve their communication and speaking skills?

Brenden Kumarasamy:
28:08

Yeah, for sure, tamara, I would say. The one that comes to mind that a lot of people don't recommend in my space like because they just don't know of it, it's just a different approach to speaking is called Thirst by Scott Harrison. So Scott Harrison in the book is called Thirst T-H-I-R-S-T. And the background behind Scott is he's the founder of Charity Water, so non-profit, he started to help the world gain access to clean drinking water. He's one of my heroes. But mostly what I really like about the book and why people should read it is it's a practical case study of someone who used communication and public speaking as a vehicle to grow a multi-nine figure brand. I think what he's done with Charity Water is really impressive from a storytelling perspective and it's definitely a read for anyone who wants to really take their communication gain to the next level.

Dr. Tamar:
28:58

Awesome, thank you, we can check out Thirst by Scott Harrison. Guys, and with that, Brenden, thank you so much for being our guest today, and we can all definitely benefit from these tips that you've shared with us, from the QVR to the puzzle, and I absolutely love the puzzle analogy with just starting working around the edges first. It makes so much sense when it comes to presentations. Is there anything else that you would like to draw? Any pearls you wanna drop with us before you go?

Brenden Kumarasamy:
29:30

Yeah, I would say. The last piece tomorrow is just a question I'd leave your audience with, which is how would your life change if you're an exceptional communicator? You know a lot of people. When we think of comms, we always think of it from a negative perspective. Oh, like I really need to get rid of my fear. Oh, my God, this is so scary. And when we bring that energy to anything we do it could be communication or anything else, like for me it's cooking, right, Like I hate cooking, so I'm really bad at it, naturally Whereas if you bring positive energy to that skill like hey, what if I was an exceptional communicator? What if I was the best pharmacist communicator in my city how would my life be different? And just reflecting on it changes our energy around, speaking from it being really negative to something that's really fun and exciting. And if we can develop that energy, like kids do when you give them the random word exercise, that I feel is more than enough to set us up on the path of becoming great speakers.

Dr. Tamar:
30:25

I love that. Thank you, Brenden. You know when you actually. Another question pops in my mind, because I'm going back to thinking about the pharmacists that I've worked with and starting there, working with them and starting their own health and wellness practices. An underlying theme that I get from them is how to be authentic. So when they're speaking, especially if they have to be on social media a lot of them have they don't want to be on social media because it's like the sphere of being on camera and you know what do I say, how do I say it, kind of thing. But then there's this authenticity Am I being authentic? Are people really gonna see me? So what advice do you have for those who struggle with that?

Brenden Kumarasamy:
31:05

Here's the way I would spin it. Authenticity is something that you develop over time. So at the beginning, authenticity will look really bad, like for me in 2019, it's like I'm a kid and my mom's like literally I'm a kid in my mother's basement taking a phone out, not really having any clients, not just doing this for fun for my college buddies. That's how it starts. That's what authenticity means to me in 2019. And then, as the years progress and that's been five years now it's more okay. Now I'm tailoring.

Brenden Kumarasamy:
31:35

Authenticity means tailoring what I know to people and then making jokes so that I don't appear like I'm above everybody else, but that I'm on the same page as everyone else and I'm more relatable in that way. And then, when you become even more advanced, it becomes adding small nuances in your communication to make you more relatable. So I did that a lot today in my communication, where sometimes I'll make a self-deprecating comment about myself. I'll say like, oh, you know, when I was doing when I was in college, I used to do these things called case competencies, like professional sports for nerds. So that language is intentionally used to develop relatability for me. But this is the stuff that you've figured out over time, I think at the beginning tomorrow, the game, like when you started this podcast, it's more binary, it's should I do this or should I not do this? And I think the answer is really to just start the process and you figure it out over time.

Dr. Tamar:
32:24

You start it, you just do it. You adjust, you pivot if you need to pivot if you need to. Well, thank you, Brenden, it's been a pleasure having you on and I'm looking forward to hearing the feedback from the listeners and seeing who applies what you've taught us today. Thank you.

Brenden Kumarasamy:
32:41

Thank you to Marz's script.

Dr. Tamar:
32:43

Wow, what a journey we've just been on together. I hope your spirits are buzzing with excitement and your mind is flowing with new ideas on how to elevate your communication game. Remember, every word you share has the power to heal, inspire and transform. Whether you're speaking to a patient, a colleague or a room full of future professionals, your voice matters. Brendan Kumurstami showed us that with the right tools and a dash of courage, we can all become master communicators.

Dr. Tamar:
33:13

Now it's your turn to take these lessons and run with them. Keep practicing, keep pushing and, most importantly, keep believing in yourself, because, guess what? You have everything it takes to make a real difference in the lives of those you serve. So go ahead, step up to that microphone and the camera with confidence and let the world hear what you have to say. If today's discussion sparked a question or if there is a particular topic you love for us to cover, please reach out. This platform thrives on your feedback and curiosity, or it's together that will shape the future of health care. Your five star review and comments can guide others on a similar journey. Subscribe, rate and download this episode to ensure you're always in the loop. I'll talk to you next Friday. Until then, always remember in your journey as a health care professional always raise a script on health, because together we can bring health care to higher levels. Have a good day.