The Digital Bosses Podcast | How To Show Up Authentic Leader On Camera with Gerry Sandusky

Show Notes

On this week’s episode Joseph is having a powerful conversation with Gerry Sandusky  covering all things camera confidence and leadership.

How bring your excellence to the room, the zoom and the camera
The difference interaction between mainstream media and social media
The difference between leadership and management
The shift from perfection to connection.
The reason why you hate watching yourself back on videos


WHERE CAN YOU HANG OUT AFTER THE SHOW?
You can join the conversation  over on Instagram @thedigitalbosses
Check out www.thedigitalbosses.com and start to build your brand today 

Creators & Guests

Host

Claire Chen

Claire Chen is an image consultant, brand stylist and visual strategist. Over 16 years of international experiences working in the corporate of retail fashion and beauty industry as a stylist, and buyer, she has always loved the process of building a brand from scratch. She has combined her passion in merchandising, marketing and design to help small businesses owners and entrepreneurs build a strong, digital brand image and visibility.

Host

Joseph Rubelli

Joseph Rubelli has spent his career building brands, helping businesses grow, and telling stories that resonate with audiences. After years of working in sales, marketing, and business across Europe and EMEA in the beauty & fashion industry for global brands like Lancer, Sephora, and LVMH Group, he combined his experience in corporate with a passion for storytelling and communication to found Rubelli Digital in 2020. He brings his expertise in digital marketing and PR to help business owners and service providers transform their businesses into strong digital brands.

Guest

Gerry Sandusky

Thirty-five years working in TV, 25 years of coaching clients, and 16 years as the play-by-play voice of the Baltimore Ravens has equipped me with the insight, experience, and strategies to help you move from frustration to fantastic in less time than you would think. Expand your influence Look, feel, and sound confident Feel the power of real influence Gain a competitive advantage Grow your brand Look like a natural See an audience and a camera as an opportunity not a problem

What is The Digital Bosses Podcast ?

The Digital Bosses podcast is a biweekly snackable action-based training where you will discover the strategies and action steps to building a profitable business. Joseph and Claire explore topics from growing your brand, to building a successful online presence as a leader and beyond. Snack on these bite-sized business tips that can be implemented in your business right away!

Transcript
• 0:00 - 0:33
Hey there, Claire here. A quick question for you. How will you rate your communication skills? Communicating in the right way online as well as in person can be the most powerful secret for your business. In today's episode, Joseph and our guest Jerry, are sharing fight tips on communication skills you'd need as a leader online. At the end of the day, people do business with people. So if you are looking to step up your communication game as a leader, sit back relax and let's get started.

• 0:33 - 0:35
Welcome to the Digital Bosses podcast with

• 0:35 - 0:45
Joe and and Claire. Our definition will be your own boss means showing up for yourself so you can show up for everyone and everything personally and professionally. So

• 0:45 - 0:55
Congratulations on showing up, boss. We created the Digital Buses podcast to give you simple, actionable step, step strategies to help you start, grow and build a purposeful online business. If

• 0:55 - 1:03
You are a business owner creator, looking to build an impactful brand that makes a difference, you are indirect place. God

• 1:03 - 1:06
Bless it in and hello Jerry. How are you?

• 1:06 - 1:09
Doing great, Joseph. Great to kick off a new year with

• 1:09 - 1:16
You. I know. So exciting. I am so happy to have you on the show. Welcome to the Digital Bosses Podcast. I am really happy to have you here.

• 1:16 - 1:20
Thank you. I'm a big listener so I'm, I'm honored to be on cuz it's a fun show to listen to.

• 1:20 - 1:55
Thank you. And I just wanna give a little behind the scene how me and Jerry met. Of course that happens on Instagram. He appeared on my explorer page I think back in the summer and I was really intrigued by Jerry's style of being on camera. And I do follow a lot of people that create great content, but I wouldn't say I always find somebody that is captivating on camera and I think that's what I found with Jerry. Uh, Jerry was, it was great to connect with and then we started talking and then we did a collaboration of Reels before Christmas and it was fantastic.

• 1:55 - 2:09
And I thought, well Jerry, it's the person to come on the show and talk about leadership and this is what we are covering today. Um, yeah. So I will lobby to start a little bit. Peace, Jerry Voice Jerry Superpower. And how did you get into the online space and to do what you do?

• 2:09 - 2:30
So my background is in broadcasting. I've worked in television and radio for 35, almost 40 years now. And I came up as a sportscaster, but I really, what I love was television. And when I got out of college, believe it or not, I was a finance and economics major and started an interview for jobs and I noticed two things. One, I wasn't getting offered any, and two, I didn't like any of that. Were out there anyway,

• 2:30 - 2:30
.

• 2:31 - 2:39
So a career coach said to me, Hey, if you could do anything in the world and you couldn't fail, what would you do? And without blinking I said, I'd host the Tonight Show.

• 2:39 - 2:40
Wow. And

• 2:40 - 3:13
She, and she said, well you know what? Finance and economics might not be the I ideal path for you right now. Have you thought of working in tv? So I went to its television station in Miami. My parents lived in South Florida. Right. And essentially, even though I'm 61, I was America's first millennial. I had a college degree, I had no job. I lived at home and I borrowed gas money from my dad. And I drove to the television station and I did an internship for a year and a half, Joseph. I just hung out at a TV station and I learned how television worked. And then after about a year and a half I started to pick up part-time jobs, a little bit of editing here, a little producing there.

• 3:13 - 3:21
And then one day a reporter didn't show up and they sent me out to do a story and I put together a story and the news director said, Hey, that was really good.

• 3:22 - 3:57
Do another one tomorrow. That's great. And I've been doing another one tomorrow for three and a half decades. So that's how I got into television. And you know, in television you learn how to interact with the camera, you learn to have presence. So as you know, the years go by all of a sudden social media's born didn't even, wasn't even on the horizon when I first started. Suddenly social media is born and like anybody else, I'm kind of playing around with it, starting to look at it. And then finally I realized, man, this is nothing more than just at the core people talking to people. And the mistake most people make is they get hung up on the technology and they start talking to a camera.

• 3:57 - 4:17
You're not talking to technology, you're talking through technology, you're always talking to people. And if you keep that one thing in mind, it doesn't matter what the platform is. Television in the eighties, Instagram in the 2020s or whatever comes next in the 2040s, it's always about people communicating with people.

• 4:17 - 4:38
Totally. And it's all about connection. And I love how you explain, it's really interesting to me because you come coming from television and you know the medium is different, but the strategy and the style is the same. It is all about people. What would you say is the biggest difference between social media being on camera, social media, being on camera, on tv? I'm very curious about that.

• 4:38 - 5:12
So the big difference is the interactivity. If you're on television at TV studio, it's you. It's a camera. It's a big piece of glass. And you have to, in your mind's eye, you have to mentally imagine the audience on Instagram. It's highly interactive. You can't DM somebody on television while they're on the broadcast. But on an Instagram live, you can be interacting with people and that's the power. That's why social media has gone next level from the media. The media controlled the message, the media controlled the platform, social media, it's, it's not about big corporations, it's about individuals.

• 5:12 - 5:14
And that's changed the game entire.

• 5:14 - 5:36
I totally love how you explained that and the fact that everybody is allowed to put a message of that. I think that's a superpower. And during Covid you did a big shift. I know you go into coaching and I would love you to kind of dive into a little bit more what you do now as well as, I know you still do television, but I would love you to kind of dive into more the, your line side of it. So I,

• 5:36 - 6:03
I wear three hats. I do the television, I'm also the radio play by play voice of the NFL's Baltimore Ravens. So that keeps me busy. And then I have my own coaching company that started many, many years ago, probably a quarter of a century ago, when a friend of mine asked me to help a group of doctors appear on television because they were nervous. And over the years that's evolved to where I coach people how to what I say, how to be, how to bring their excellence to the room, the zoom and the camera.

• 6:03 - 6:25
I love that. And today I would love you to share a little bit about leadership. Leadership. It's something we did, a collaboration together where we give leadership hacks. If anyone listening follow me or Jerry on Instagram, you're more than welcome to check the reels out. It was really good. We had a really message out there that we shared. And I would love to ask you, what does leadership mean to you?

• 6:25 - 6:59
So leadership is about being a lighthouse. And if you think about a lighthouse, a lighthouse has its greatest value when it's darkest and when there's a storm, a lighthouse is not a lifeboat, it doesn't go out into the harbor and save the ships. It stands tall no matter what the conditions are, it shines its light bright, fully so that others have a sense of direction. That to me is leadership management is showing them how to row the boat, how to tie the knots, how to do all that production is being the sailor and, and going out and actually sailing the boat.

• 6:59 - 7:08
But leadership is giving people a bright light, an authentic bright light that gives them a direction. And that is to me the soul of leadership.

• 7:08 - 7:27
I loved that and I love the analogy. It is really clear, you explained it really well. Thank you. And you know, you work with business owners as you work we mid level executive, what do you think is the biggest mistake that they do on leadership, if you will, but also on camera when it comes to speaking on camera and engaging with the audience, whether it is on TV or social media?

• 7:27 - 8:00
The biggest, the number one most common mistake is they step out of their own skin. They get away from their authentic self. They think, well that's not who you know, people don't wanna see that. I won't do that. They wanna see this. I should act like somebody who has a degree from fill in your favorite university. Yeah. And that's not the case. Everybody brings their own magical qualities from their background. I mean, Joseph, you and I are born in different countries. Our native tongues are different. And so exactly it be ridiculous for me to pretend that I'm from Italy and that I am multilingual.

• 8:00 - 8:11
It will be equally ridiculous for you to pretend you're the play-by-play voice of the rating . But that's what so many managers and leaders do. They get in the front of the room and they want, they wanna project, ah, I shouldn't speak like this.

• 8:11 - 8:41
I'd like, like what are you just bring your authentic stealth to the front of the room. And when that happens, I always like to remind people the 20 60 20 equation, when you have the courage to bring yourself to the front of the room, the zoom or the camera, 20% of the people will love you automatically because you remind them of their favorite uncle. You have the same color hair as their brother. Your voice sounds like the, the, the actor that they once loved, you know, 10 years ago. So no matter what you do, they're gonna love you.

• 8:41 - 9:02
20% aren't gonna like you no matter what you do. Because their spouse and them got into an argument that day. They had to put their dog down, they ran into too many headaches at work and they just showed up in a rotten mood. And there's nothing you're gonna do. It's the, the 60% in the middle if you can win them over and you only win them over by daring to be yourself. If you win them over, you win

• 9:02 - 9:41
The, I loved that. And what is coming up for me is relatability. This is what people connect the most with. And I think there is definitely a mistake when people are going on camera and they think they kind of have to put on an act, a facade. And you know, there is this narrative that, I don't know overall back in the day, that you have to be, be showing up in a certain way to be perceived in a certain way. But that works. Uh, if it's only a different side of yourself, it's if that's a different person, that would never work because sooner or later people will tell that's not real and people do not resonate with that.

• 9:41 - 10:12
And I think that's the biggest takeaway about leadership. It's about being able to project yourself outta your real self on camera, in front of an audience, on a zoom call, just like you said at the beginning. But at the same time also showcase your skill in the best way. Do you think often the fat people are not comfortable to speak in front of an audience or in front of the camera is also affecting their outcome with, when it comes to their skills, they might be very skilled, but that might not come across in the right way, would you say so

• 10:12 - 10:45
Entirely and, and I, and I call it the shift from perfection to connection. Too often people get in front of a room and they think I have to be perfect, I have to look perfect, I have to sound perfect, I have to ev everything. Ha nobody wants perfect. Cuz you can't u use the word you can't relate, you can't relate to per exactly. If somebody were actually perfect, they would freak us out because we'd be so intimidated, we'd wanna run away from them. What you'd want is relatability. What you want is connection, not perfection. You want somebody who, if they make a mistake, they don't freak out about it because we all make mistakes.

• 10:45 - 10:53
You want somebody who says, you know what, I was on the wrong path. I made 10 mistakes and then somebody showed me a better way. And that changed my life.

• 10:53 - 11:25
Because we can relate to that. We can relate to, there's a couple things. All people have, they have problems, they have desires, they have dreams, they have challenges. And so when you bring that to the front of the room, the zoom or the camera, all of a sudden people see that person, they say, wait a second, they're not perfect. No, the perfection thing goes way back to early days in television when the TV studios wanted everybody to look perfect. 1 1, 1 of the things people say to me who, who see me on television, then they meet me, they always say, wow, you're a lot taller than I expected.

• 11:25 - 11:34
Because on tv everybody's literally the same height. If somebody's shorter than you, they put, they put them on a box. So everybody's literally the same. Right? That's not how the world

• 11:34 - 11:55
Works. Yeah, they all the same. That's true actually. I never thought about that. But it's true. The height is something, this is one of the thing I will say in general, but that happens on social media as well. I'm not that tall. I'm like 5.6. Okay? Like, I'm not that tall, but there is this perception of height. It is that one thing that you can never tell a liner on tv. I find that fascinating.

• 11:55 - 12:27
But you can tell in person, which is why I say as a leader, you wanna be trilingual, you wanna be able to bring your excellence in front of a live audience in a room. You wanna have that same brand when you are in a zoom call in a, in a virtual meeting. And then you wanna make it so that you can take that brand to video. So that whether you're using those videos on social media, distributing them in internally in your, in your company, in the marketplace, whatever the case is, if you give people the ability to experience you in those three ways and they have the same experience, that's brand power.

• 12:27 - 12:58
I loved that and it's totally something I resonate with as well. I always talk about, you know, the point that you share before connection over perfection is, I think it's one of the, we're gonna make a quote out of this for this happy episode. I love that. I wanna go back to one of your posts that you share on your page. And it's something that I thought was really insightful, but at the same time, really relatable. You share something that says it first, show up on camera, whether you are on social media or tv, whatever, you have three steps. It's, you start, you suck and you keep going.

• 12:58 - 13:03
Can you dive into this for anyone listening and explain what you mean by that?

• 13:03 - 13:34
So nobody is born talking to a camera. I mean, it's an unusual thing. You're, it's you talking to a piece of glass. It takes a while to learn the skills. And there are skills. So for example, Joseph, if you and I are having a, we're having a coffee to Starbucks in New York City, and then, oh, we're sitting there, we're talking, we make up maybe one 2% of the entire room. Yes. Second, we get on camera in this virtual space, all of a sudden notice there's a frame around me. There's a frame around you. It's like sitting in a coffee shop with a picture frame around your head.

• 13:35 - 13:49
And what that does is it takes all of your facial reactions and that becomes your body language. And so you have to, I mean, it's a learned skill, how to relate through a camera to people. Nobody shows up at as great at it the first time.

• 13:49 - 14:21
Some people are more natural than others, some have a little more talent than others. Nobody is good. And so what happens is people show up the first time they see the recording of what they look like. They don't like the way they look, they sure don't like the way they sound. And so they never go back to the medium. And that's the mistake. The more you go back, the more skills you get, the more you learn how to relate to a camera, how to bring your body language, how to marry that to your tone of voice, how to make that all a part of the message. It's only through repetition. I heard this phrase many years ago.

• 14:21 - 14:39
You have to have the pluck to suck. You just have to be willing to not be very good at it for a little while. And once you do, you'll get better. And here's the great part for leaders who wanna stand out from the field knowing that 90% of the people won't show up again. If you just keep showing up, you'll leave the competition behind.

• 14:40 - 14:40
Hey,

• 14:41 - 15:03
It's Claire here. How's it going? Are you enjoying the episode today? And what is your biggest takeaway? If you like what you're listening and make sure that you go over to Apple Podcasts and leave us a review. We value your feedback and let us know how we can improve. And now back to the show.

• 15:04 - 15:15
That's such a powerful quote, thank you for sharing that. And do you remember your first time when you've been asked to replace somebody? How was your first time on camera? How did you feel?

• 15:16 - 15:40
I remember it vividly. It was the, it was the, uh, or mid 1980s. And I was in South Florida, Miami Beach. And I was doing a, what's called a live shot, a live broadcast outside of the boxing match. And I don't remember who was in the boxing match, but I do remember, I felt like I was in the boxing match because all of a sudden when you're on live TV for the first time, my heart, it was, it was like Roger Rabbit, this kind coming through my chest, you know, was like, boom,

• 15:40 - 15:41
, I'm sweating.

• 15:42 - 15:57
I got cotton mouth, my eyes are big. I'm, I'm, I'm like, I'll have a heart time breathing and I'm getting through it. I'm doing okay. And then midway through about a minute in all of a sudden the thought hits hits my mind, oh my God, on on live tv. What in the hell am I doing on live tv ?

• 15:58 - 15:58
And it was like,

• 15:59 - 16:32
We're going now. It was just kind of fell apart from that point. But, you know, that, that's the experience. Because what I learned from that very first time is you need to learn how to control adrenaline. Clear my Instagram live, whether you're on live tv, whether you're doing a podcast, you're always gonna have this adrenaline rush. And once you learn to manage the adrenaline, you can use that to get you just enough up to get your message across without it completely controlling you and making you jittery and jumping all over the place. Because when people look uncomfortable, the audience wants to get away.

• 16:32 - 17:07
100%. That is the mirror. I always mention this to my tribe, you are the mirror who is watching. If you're nervous, they will feel nervous. If you're excited, they will feel excited too. And this is the big, uh, difference. I always mention this and you know, whenever I go live, whenever I jump on a live, even with Claire, we jump on live together. We always try to bring really good energy because energy is what people will remember about the live, the content will be the main part they're coming back for. But the energy is what they will make them feel and what they make them become loyal to that particular segment on, on social media.

• 17:07 - 17:19
And they will go, oh, I love your live, I love your energy. Sort of adjusted based on, you know, I cannot bring the same amount of excitement on, on a podcast because otherwise the person on the other side, they probably, I'm going, I'm gonna break their ears.

• 17:19 - 17:50
But , you know, it's too much excitement for an audio segment. But I do remember, I mean, I did a little bit of TV in Italy. I did radio when I was 18, but the first time on tv I remember I, I was like in a regional show because I, I was promoting a book at the time and I'd been asked to go on tv. They interview me and I remember I was sweating so much during the commercial break and then the presenter did not do anything to make me feel comfortable. Like he was like, oh, this is what you have to say.

• 17:50 - 18:02
You have one minute and 20 and 27 seconds to say that. And I was so worried because I was like, oh my God, I did not realize, I, I mean, I knew I needed a time and I had a timeframe, but I just didn't think.

• 18:02 - 18:34
I was like, wow, one minute 27, what the hell am I gonna say? One minute, 27. I was just trying, you know, you have like three minutes of commercial. And I remember being like, oh my God, I need to be concise and need to be concise and need to be concise. And that didn't really matter because at the end the interview went okay. And you know, I came across when I watch myself back, which by the way, if you're listening to this and you hate watching yourself back, the cringe is real. I hate doing that too. And you know, I hate also listening to myself back and considering I edited this podcast.

• 18:34 - 18:35
I listen to my voice a lot

• 18:37 - 18:52
, so I can help you with that. Okay. That's super common. Yeah. And nobody, nobody likes the way they look on camera and nobody likes the way they sound. And here's why you don't like the way you sound. It's because you literally hear your voice differently than the rest of the world.

• 18:52 - 18:53
That is so true.

• 18:53 - 19:27
When you hear your voice, you hear it within the acoustics of your head. There's these little bones in your head called obstacles. Mm-hmm. and they vibrate. And that's how you hear your voice outside of your body. However, we hear your voice based on how the airwaves coming out of your mouth make the air move. And there are literally two different sounds. And so what you have to do, and that's why I say step one, get out there and do it. Step two sucked. Step three, show up and do it some more. The more you hear your voice recorded, the more you'll start to hear that voice inside of your head instead of the voice you serve, you currently hear.

• 19:27 - 19:37
That's why you don't like the sound of your voice because it's, when you hear it play back the first time you think, that's not how I sound. It's exactly how you sound everybody else. It's just not how you sound to yourself.

• 19:37 - 20:08
I loved that and I never thought about it this way. And I have to agree because when I started doing podcasts back in 2018, I did not sound, I did not like the way I sounded in English. I was not comfortable to hear myself back in English because I was used to do radio in Italian. And it's a very different dynamic because the language is different, the speed is different, everything is different. It took me time to get familiar and now I'm okay with it, but I completely agree with you the way you sound to yourself and it's very different. So thank you for sharing that.

• 20:08 - 20:21
And I want to jump to the next question, which is for any business owner leader out there, executive looking to show up as the leader they that they are on camera three hacks for them.

• 20:22 - 20:55
One, start with a story. Use a story that relates to a struggle that you've had that your audience is having, whatever that might be. You know, when I told you my background, I didn't tell you I'm a television personality. I told you about my struggle to get started because we've all had that struggle and that creates a sense of relatability. So first and foremost, use more stories. They will do the heavy lifting for you. Second, if you're in front, in front of a live audience, find the faces that light up when you talk again, 20 60, 20, find that 20% that likes you no matter what.

• 20:55 - 21:15
And in the beginning of your program, focus your attention on them. It will buoy your confidence. As your confidence grows, then you can start working the room. And third, we're at wherever you go with your attention. Stay there. And when you move, move smo smoothly and slowly and wherever you go, stay there.

• 21:15 - 21:43
The average American breaks eye contact every 1.2 seconds. If you learn to hold eye contact for five, seven seconds. And even on Zoom, let's say I look down, let's say I, I have some notes and I won't look down. If I look out smoothly, stay here, get what I need. If I come back smoothly, see how comfortable that makes you feel. That works in front of a room, in front of a zoom and on camera. Those are the three hacks I would give. And it will elevate the perception the audience has of that leader right out of the gate.

• 21:43 - 21:51
Thank you Jerry. And where can anyone of the listener find you if they wanna dive into this more or if they wanna

• 21:51 - 22:00
Work with you? So on Instagram, I'm at g Sandusky, S A N D U S K Y. And then at on online you'll find [e-mail].

• 22:00 - 22:13
Amazing. Thank you for sharing. And I will put all the links and the handles in the show notes for anyone listening that want to kind of connect with you more. And thank you for being my guest. I really enjoyed it. I was listening, you being a powerhouse of information. Thank you so much.

• 22:13 - 22:14
What a pleasure. Thank you buddy.

• 22:15 - 22:49
All right, that is it for the day. Now that was a jam-packed episode full of value just for you. But let me tell you secret, the best conversations actually happened after the show over at the Digital Bosses page on Biases page on Instagram. You're more than welcome to join the tribe there. We have incredible conversations at a spool of action. Take care. Business owners just like you. So we can't wait to see you there. Plus, if you are looking to support us and you would like to let us know what are your thoughts about today's show, take a screenshot of the episode, tag us on your Instagram story and let us know your feedback.

• 22:49 - 23:00
We share each and and everyone or our listeners and we cannot wait to share yours too. Thank you so much for listening, and I will see you with Claire same time in place next week.