Public Speaking Without Panic, Glow Sticks Optional | Episode 420

Public Speaking Without Panic, Glow Sticks Optional | Episode 420

Donate: https://www.lovevoices.org

A single light changes a room. That’s the heartbeat of this episode as we explore how music, memory, and small rituals can transform fear into momentum and turn a private struggle into a shared lift. We set audacious goals for global reach, but we keep the smallest promise sacred: help one person today, then invite them to pass it on.

We talk about why tackling tough subjects matters and how the right cues can steady shaky moments. From a glow-stick finale that seniors still remember to the “walk-up song” technique borrowed from baseball, we unpack what works, what backfires, and how to design an arc that starts bright, dips just long enough to be honest, and ends strong. Anxiety doesn’t vanish; it yields when we replace triggers with tools—clear endings, calm openings, and symbols that say “you have a light, and it counts.”

Music threads through every story we share: concerts where a slow song turns a stadium into a constellation, late nights where headphones kept the mind from spiraling, and talks where a simple chorus said more than a slideshow ever could. Along the way, we get real about language, habits, and the messy process of trial and error. Confidence isn’t a switch; it’s a sequence you can practice until it fits your nervous system and serves the room you’re in.

If you care about mental health, communication, and building community with intention, you’ll leave with practical ways to end on a high note and a renewed belief that small acts scale. Tap play, subscribe, and share this with someone who needs a steady light. And if this helped you, tell a friend right now—what’s the one ritual you’ll use to finish strong?

Chapter Markers

0:00 Mission, Reach, And Big Goals

4:17 Community Support And Calls To Share

6:01 Leadership Commitment And Letting Your Light Shine

7:06 Glow Sticks, Senior Night, And A Takeaway

8:39 Concert Lights And The Power Of Symbols

10:51 Music, Memory, And Mental Health

14:45 Walk-Up Songs And Anxiety Cues

18:16 Trial, Error, And Crafting The Arc

22:30 Ending High And Helping One Person

25:23 Milestone 420 And Global Reach

27:10 Gratitude, Love, And Next Steps

Find our book here: 

Amazon: https://voices-for-voices.org/3ZhJ6AW

Publisher: https://voices-for-voices.org/3LKL1uN

Website: https://voices-for-voices.org/4byLXgb

Instagram: @voicesforvoices

TikTok: @voices_for_voices

Facebook: Voices for Voices

#SpeakWithConfidence #EmbraceYourVoice #FearlessSpeaking #InspireAndEngage #ShineBrightOnStage #TransformYourFear #WordsThatEmpower #PublicSpeakingJourney #IgniteYourPassion #PanicFreePresentation #justiceforsurvivors #VoicesforVoices #VoicesforVoicesPodcast #JustinAlanHayes #JustinHayes #help3billion #TikTok #Instagram #truth #Jesusaire #VoiceForChange #HealingTogether #VoicesForVoices420

Chapters

• 0:00 Mission, Reach, And Big Goals
• 4:17 Community Support And Calls To Share
• 6:01 Leadership Commitment And Letting Your Light Shine
• 7:06 Glow Sticks, Senior Night, And A Takeaway
• 8:39 Concert Lights And The Power Of Symbols
• 10:51 Music, Memory, And Mental Health
• 14:45 Walk-Up Songs And Anxiety Cues
• 18:16 Trial, Error, And Crafting The Arc
• 22:30 Ending High And Helping One Person
• 25:23 Milestone 420 And Global Reach
• 27:10 Gratitude, Love, And Next Steps

Transcript

Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: 0:02

Hey everyone, welcome to the Voices for Voices TV show and podcast. This is Justin Alan Hayes. Thank you very much for joining us on the show on this and now over 419 episodes of the show. Um it's because of you. We're we're here, we're doing it because of the demand. Uh you you like the content, you like uh the guests, uh and the content, the topics, a lot of a lot of which uh other shows, other um other people, other yeah, uh other shows they just won't cover, they don't want to. Um and we we're okay with that. Um we we don't think people should do what they're not comfortable doing. Uh I feel like talking about life is what I'm here to do, and so that's what we're doing. So some of the topics are are not the uh again, not the most glamorous topics that we we that we do talk about, uh, but we do talk about them uh nonetheless, uh, because we are human and there are things, events that happen, and talking about them, I know for me, as you've heard over and over again, it's helpful for me to talk through them and to have have you as a listener or a viewer or both over time, right? I mean, sometimes we listen, sometimes we watch. Just depends where we're at. Uh yeah, we have a library of of uh shows and episodes, and uh when when we have time, we we watch and we listen. Um I'm the same way as as you are. Uh that's that's how I do it. And we we have a big belief here at Voices for Voices that we want to have as many platforms as humanly possible that has our content on it because we don't we don't want anybody to be somewhere in the world and feel like oh this is where I was listening to it, and now I can't get this particular app. Uh and and so we we think we've done a pretty good job of spanning the globe uh again over let me just say what our goals are instead of going over where so our goals are to help at least three and a half help at least three billion people over the course of my lifetime and beyond. We also including in that included in that goal, we want to help and reach at least three hundred countries, provinces, territories in the world, and we wanna help and reach over three thousand cities in the world. That's what we want to do. We've broken goals in a good way, where we beat beat the goal. So let's say the goal was one, we came at like five. Uh so our one goal was at 300, and we came in at 403. That that's just the plain uh cold hard facts that uh what what's what's occurred. Uh if we're able to, if you can hit that subscribe button, give us a thumbs up, like, follow, share, subscribe. Uh, if you can reach out to 25, 50, 100, 200, your closest uh people in your friend circle, uh colleagues at work, uh on your on your ball team, uh wherever uh you you call call people, call your fellow humans friends, colleagues, uh if you can if you can do that, uh, or or if you make it can make a post about voices for voices, uh, and and how uh we would love to include others in helping us reach these goals because we know we can't do this alone, and we're not here because we're we've done this alone, we've done it with your help, and it's gonna be your help and others' help that are gonna get us to those goals. I know we can do it because we've beaten huge goals before, so I know it is possible, and I have belief that we can do it. I wouldn't put out humongous goals if I didn't think they were uh they were able to be hit or matched or exceeded. Uh, so that's what we're talking about. We're not one of these organizations and one and I'm not one of these leaders that uh you know my I'm only gonna be around for a year and then I'm gonna, you know, pass the pass the torch on to the next person to to lead. Uh I started organization. I have belief, so much belief in this organization that I'd be doing a disservice to you and anybody else and everybody else who has poured any energy into Voices for Voices if I didn't do what we're doing and stick around and be that you know, that little light of mine. I'm gonna let it shine, let it shine, let it shine, let it shine. You've seen uh a photo that's been circulating uh around the last uh year and a half or so uh when I did a uh I had the the privilege to be able to speak to a uh high school football team, uh good friend uh coach John Bushko uh invited me out, and I was able to talk to his whole football team on last night of the season, senior night. Uh and so that's what we did. I brought like 100 glow sticks, turned out the lights, and at the end, that's how I ended it. Because each one of us we we have a light, and we can we can decide whether we're gonna let it shine or let it not shine. And so I also like to think of oh, let's say, not let's say, let's see. Uh so simple plan was one of those bands and is one of those bands. So let me just I'll I'll get to uh the the the first. I'm gonna get to the second, I'm gonna do the second part and I'm gonna do the first. So I'm gonna go kind of in reverse as far as time time goes. So the second part is you know that uh you know, the advent, uh, you know, you can watch just about if it's filmed, you you know, if somebody's gonna hold on a camera for an hour or two or three or four, however long a show is, um, and put it on one of many of the platforms that we are we have our show on, uh that you you have watched and or listened at one time or another. And so I've I've caught simple plan concerts on on TV mostly, uh, through you know different apps that we we have at the house. And you know, there's there's multiple songs, right? If there's like a slow song, or sometimes it doesn't have to be a slow song, uh, but many times it is. You know, the artists they say, okay, if everybody uh you know take out your phone and you know put the you know the flashlight on or put the candle app. Uh you know, as and and and so when you you get the view behind the band looking out into the crowd, the audience, and it's pitch dark, and then you just see lights just light up, and then a light, and then a light, and then a light, and a light, and then pretty soon there's quite a few lights, even even with our our uh cellular device or our smartphones, whatever you want to refer to them as. And so that that makes me think of you know the whole this little light of mine. You know, I learned uh in you know, going to to Catholic school. I didn't go my whole no grade, grade school and high school career, uh school career. Um, I just went for a little bit. Um and I remember from way back when I don't know when exactly I learned it, but I learned you know the this little light of mine uh song. It's and I I think I I remember it because it's it's so easy, at least for me to remember. Uh and so that's what I did, you know, it at this uh speaking engagement. It was it was so cool, uh, because I was able to you know one of one of the things that's hard for people and me is you know uh is public speaking. It's one of the most feared things for us as human beings is to be a is is public speaking. And uh so anytime I can I number one, I want to think I I want to end on something that is has the opportunity to be a good takeaway. Like somebody could totally not listen to the 20 minutes or half hour or however long you're you're speaking to them. They could not listen the whole time, but then when they're handed the you know the glow stick and you know you're and then the lights go down, and and then you just start and and uh and and do at least in in my case, you know, the this little light of mine, and I've I've talked about this before, uh, because I'm such a believer in simplicity, that it was something that was so easy to do. It was so easy to find glow sticks. I didn't have to get super fancy with them. I just got kind of the basic. I got the color, so red was one of their colors of the high school of the team. So I got the color red, and then had the coaches, you know, and then and then and the uh the players, student athletes, pass them around as um, you know, you know, round and third, you know, ready to end up my talk. And another coach, you know, shut out the lights, and so it worked out pretty good. And so I wanted to do something that was meaningful, that they would remember kind of together, right? So meaningful and they would remember, and then something that was easy for me to to close on, right? It it's easy just to go, oh okay, I'm done. I don't really know what I said, and never there have been times like that over the years. Uh, but I think because of how often and how many shows we have that things are getting just a little bit, just a little bit easier. Not a lot, just a little bit. And so once I get asked to speak, that's the first thing it I usually think of how do I want it to end? Because it doesn't matter how you start, it matters how you finish, how you end, whether that's a ball game, who has you know the the top score or the lowest score, depending on what sport we're playing or watching. Might not and so it doesn't matter how the person or the team or the club started, it's how they ended, right? That's how it's decided who wins and who loses games if we're talking about if yeah, if if that's how we're we're we're talking and and thinking about things. Uh so that's how I'm I've started and have been thinking of okay, how do I want how do I want a particular engagement to end? I'm not talking about get I'm talking a game, a match, and then get like that engagement, that's what I'm getting at. Nobody wants any engagement to add to end. So to go in reverse with Simple Plan. And this ties into mental health. Well, all this ties into mental health, but I remember Simple Plan was one of the bands that I had one of it was either the either their greatest hits or it was just one particular album. I don't remember which which which it was. And this goes way back for me. This goes back to you know, my party days, drinking and going out to the club and all those things, and excuse me, so I remember on a good bit of I don't want to say every single occasion, but there were a lot of occasions where come home from the bar or the club, and at that point, at the beginning, we didn't have I don't think we had iPhones at that time. So it was more like we had iPods, which look like iPhones, and so you know, the different size memory, you know, how would dictate how how many songs you could put on there, and so I had it, or there were really it's called an MP3 player, so it didn't have to be uh an iPod. It could have been there's so many other other names of organizations that that had you know mp3 players, and then you'd put music on and then you would listen to it. And I remember Simple Plan, the same songs that are now popular some 25 years later, uh or more the again that I watch on the TV, people holding their their phones, you know, either with the flashlight on or the the virtual candle and there's a while slow songs being played or and and then I think again how that related and it relates to uh this little light of mine as far as different talks that I've given in shows talk about shared and going all the way back to those twenty five years ago and coming home from the bars, most of the time just drunk out of my mind, and and now I put the earbuds in. And then I would just play music super, super, super loud until at some point during the night it hurt my head. I was getting more sober. Uh but I remember listening to the again, I can't remember if it was the Greatest Hits album or if it was just one of the their albums that they had put out. But I remember tens of times maybe even hundreds. I don't I don't I don't know the number of how many times I listened to these songs. And it was because they were catchy, and I was frankly like afraid to close my eyes, really. You've heard me talk about like you know the the shark and uh you know when I would meditate at times over the years or try to you know say oh you know take go to uh you know happy place and or a place that you like and the beach is one of them, and just about every time I would do that, I would wind up feet in the ocean or on a pier hanging down, feet hanging down, and and there'd be a shark coming biting me, like jumping out of the water. How realistic is that not not very realistic, especially if you're on land most of the time, and so I think that was one of the reasons why I did listen to music no matter how I don't know if it was because I was well I know insecurity is part of part of it, but no matter what, uh I would listen to music, and Simple Plan was one of those bands that it was on like the mix list, right? You could go and it would say you have a hundred songs, and it you could you know play them straight through, and then have it repeat and start back at wherever song number one was, if there's a hundred after you hit under, then it goes back to one, then two, three, four, and you you get the idea. But I would always, or it would feel like always simple playing songs that were literally on repeat. I mean, back then most of the times I would go out drinking and you know, do the part on the partying thing, thinking that well, that's just what people do on the weekends, right? They've uh I I I was the one that thought I was always right. That obviously is not the case at all. So far away, so far from that. Uh so far away being a Nickelback song, I didn't even think I didn't and and I find myself sometimes talking in that that way, that's that's really how ingrained my mind is with music, being a voice with with with me when when there are times when I you know attempt to play a song on the guitar, attempt to sing it, which I'm basically just for the most part just reading the lyrics because I'm at least I don't think I'm that good of a singer. Uh and so I I think that's that's part of that is the I the way I'm wired is with with music and why that's a when it's used in a good way there's not a lot of swearing and and that, which was another issue thing that I had I had a very, very bad uh this wasn't I would I would I would use bad words, just say it like that. And that was one of the first things when I started doing any type of public speaking or being in any type of a meeting and be asked questions. I was I don't say fearful, maybe I maybe I was that I would slip up and drop the F bomb or other word, you know, words that just as bad. Um so as I as I look back on my life, as I watch at times, you know, simple plan, their shows, I just I think this happens to a lot of us. Maybe it's music, maybe it's a particular band, maybe it's a particular song. I I know uh as I'm getting like these goosebumps, as if my body's like, that's all right, Justin. Uh you know, certain songs come up, and it's just like, oh my gosh. And then I flip the station. Sometimes you're places where like you don't have control over the the music. Uh and so you kind of have to you know get get get by that with with wit out having whatever the situation was. Again, some of them could be good situations, some of them could be not. I I just I just think that music is so ingrained in a lot of us. I mean, for believers of God and higher power and I mean going on going to going to church or going to a mosque or um no matter where we worship, if we do or if we don't, there's music at some point somewhere usually across fakes. You go to a sporting event, there's music played at some point, and I'll speak for American baseball. Every time somebody comes up to the plate in the bat, they call it the walk-up song. So they tell the people that are have control over the music, you know, before the game, I'd like you know, 15 seconds of this particular song to be played, like maybe it it gives them good vibes. And I remember one of the I remember one of the uh actually two two two of them no more than that. So multiple multiple speaking um engagements, the students, high schools, and I took that approach talking about walk-up song, like you know, thinking like, what do I want my walk-up song to be? Or to kind of right, you're trying to especially, you know, when there's a lot of chit chat, a lot of talking and going on, you want to kind of get people uh a little bit quieter, you know, as you get started and get introduced, and and that and and so music is a way to do it, right? So if you go from like no music, nothing, people talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, and then all of a sudden that song comes on. And then if it's a catchy song, then then they sing along with it. And uh if it's not, then they don't. And so I I remember one of my very first larger uh speaking engagements. Uh you know, I was I was looking up on the computer and trying to see like what was the most popular song that have the best chance of having these students at least, you know, maybe bob their head with the music, you know, if they're in a conversation, they might you know catch a few beats of the song or a few words, and and so I did that. It was so and and so so looking back, it was it was funny because as like I'm um communicating with uh with the the school staff and you know the tech people of like okay, am I gonna have any pictures that you know they're gonna bring you know screen down and how how do you go from picture one to picture two or slide one to slide two, like PowerPoint and that and as I was doing that, I was like, I want like I always walk up to these two songs, and it actually had them backwards, meaning I should have had what song I had picked second, I should have had that first, but again, I didn't know I'm going off of you know what the internet says. Uh and so it was not only a cue that I wanted for the students to kind of you know wrap up their conversations and and that, but it was a cue for me to be like, all right, Justin, you know, you've pre you know you prepared, so uh here you go, you know, you got two songs and an introduction between you know you and you know, the this period of time. And as of late, as of lately, uh I haven't had I I haven't done that because it was giving it as wild as this sounds, it was giving me some anxiety because of that, because that's like okay, Justin, yep, here's oh, it's halfway through the first song. Oh, first song's done. Here's the second song, halfway through. So within five minutes, you're gonna be introduced, and you better be ready. Uh, and so it was giving me anxiety when the plan well, it wasn't for to give me anxiety, but I wouldn't have known that if I wouldn't have gone through experiences like that, and so that's what I just want to share to you. Like, unless you're really going off of our previous shows, guess uh the trial and error that some things are trial and error, and that was that that's one of them. Now, will I never do a walk-up song? I can't say that I will never, or that I won't. But at this point, it it it just tends to be a little easier. Now I'm close to being quite certain that it depends on you know how many people are there and where it's at, and it'll dictate a little bit of will I have a walk-up song or not. But I got the cue from American baseball and the walk-up song for each player. Every time they come up the bat, you know, they announce their name, like now batting number five, and then they say their name, and then like I said, maybe 15 seconds and 15 seconds of the song, they get stem into zone, is played, and so that's what I was going off of. Uh now I know if I do walk up songs for me that if I do the same too, I'm gonna tune them in reverse order because it and again, you don't know until you do it. It's trial and error, it's exactly what it is. The first song played in the bobbing of the heads, and people are people, you know, students, some faculty there, you know, it's kind of like you know, you're they're singing the song, and you know they know the words, and you know, especially the catchy parts and the chorus, and uh not that the second one didn't I would I would just do the the first song second because right you're trying to what you're trying to do is to get obviously getting people's attention first, and then creating some kind of energy, some positive energy, some okay, I'm ready. What are we what were we about to hear? What what's what what's this guy gonna say as opposed to just sitting there going, oh I'm in period three, and I wish I wasn't sitting here. Well, there's still gonna be students saying that and thinking that, but you know, you're trying to think of that energy, just like you start kind of at a low point, you know, it's like an arc where you know the ebb and the flow may start at the top and then go down, and then it's like in that U shape, and then you end at the top, right? You want people to right? This is that's what this episode we've talked about. You know exactly what I'm talking about, but this little light of mind. It doesn't matter if you like that that idea or not, but it was ending on a high point, not people getting high, it is ending on a high point, and if that was the only thing that the audience remembered, you want to end on a high point, you don't want to end on a low point. I learned, I had it, I had to learn, and so now I I have a little better understanding of you know the arc. So I can start. High energy right from the walk-up song. If you if you have a walk-up song, if you don't have a walk-up song, you start. Man, I was here. And this, this, this, this, this, and this. But then this happened. Down the slide we go. We hang out there for a period of time. And then we start going up that arc. That when we end, we're up at the top. Right? You're we're we're there to motivate. We wanna want to help people. I know when I sit in an audience, if it ends on a low point, it's like I don't think they meant to do that. But again, all these things that we've talked about, trial and error. It's taken me 44 years to figure out that that's what it's actually called. Some things work, some things don't, some things work, some things don't. And then now I'm at least a teeny bit comfortable in front of a camera, in front of a large group that I don't I've never met in my life. Because at the end of the day, you still gotta look if you're able, if you do have eye your eyesight, if not, you know, have a kind of like you know that mental picture of okay, I I did good, and I have I have the number one for those that are are listening. I have one finger raised, just looking to help one person, just trying to touch one person's life. Yeah, we have wild huge goals. We're gonna reach on. I know we are. Why? Because I have faith in you and your friend group and their friend group and their friend group and their friend group. I know it. I wouldn't put that out there if I didn't think we would do it. Right? Why would I end on a down note? I'm pointing down. I want to end on a thumbs up positive note. Remember that arc. Start at the top, work your way down. Don't spend too much time at the bottom. Just spend enough to have that impact. And then start working your way up. Thank you so much for joining this episode of the Voices for Voices podcasts and TV show. I'm just so tickled that this is episode number 420. Uh honestly growing up, I I understand 420. Was there 420 chemicals and marijuana? Or that was a that was a thing. Very small phase, but it was a phase, and and so you know, there are certain numbers, it's like, oh my gosh, this is referring to this, or this is referring to that. But yeah, this is episode 420, number 420. There's a part of me that just cannot believe it that this is episode number 420. Not one, not two, not 100, not 200, not 300, not 400, but 420 episodes of the Voices for Voices TV show and podcast in the book. Please help us out. Hit that subscribe button, give us a thumbs up, like, follow, share, subscribe. They're free to do. Follow us, keep up the speed what on our uh on our social media platforms. Uh again, if you can text, uh put a post out, dear followers about voices for voices. We are behind only two Joe Rogan experience and a Dan Bongino show, and then you find the Voices for Voices podcasts and TV show, and we're there across the whole entire world. Not because of me, but because of you. Thank you very much. Please be a voice for you or somebody in need, and we're praying for you, we're sending good vibes to you, whether you're a believer or not. We love you. We hope you have a great rest of your day, and we will see you on the next episode of the Voices for Voices podcast and TV show. We have nothing but love coming your way. Be on the lookout for episode 421. We love you. Take care, be safe, have fun, and live prosperous. Take care. We love you.