From Meeting Room Anxiety to Media Stardom:
Client Spotlight Interview with Matt Thompson
Victoria:
My guest today is Matt Thompson. As Matt describes himself, he is a creator of ridiculous, clever, and over the top inventions you never knew you needed. What started as a fun woodworking project grew into a massive hobby slash side hustle with more than a million followers on social media and attention from some of the world's biggest media outlets and companies.
Matt joined my Brilliant Speakers Academy program a couple of years ago when he realized that his fear of public speaking was stopping him from taking advantage of his visibility. He shares a story of his journey from struggling to speak up in work meetings, to giving interviews to major TV and paper outlets, speaking on podcasts, and recording promo videos for companies. Please welcome Matt Thompson to the show.
Victoria:
How are you doing?
Matt:
I'm doing great, and I'm happy to be here. Thanks for the invite.
Victoria:
Absolutely. Thank you for saying yes. So, tell us why you felt you needed help with speaking in public.
Matt:
Well, I had the fear for years. You know, even when I was younger, I was very outgoing. I was a class clown, but something happened in life, and I can't pinpoint it. I've tried to [speak publicly], thinking that that was the fix for it, but I couldn't even tell you why. Probably something that happened to me similar to you, but not as tragic as your public speaking incident.
I saw your ad had popped up. I had recently been getting opportunities to do podcasts and interviews and things like that, and I had just had enough of it. You know, it's not only the fear of public speaking, but it looms over you like a cloud in every aspect of life. I mean, is someone going to ask me to speak up here? Is someone going to ask me to say something in this meeting? It always hovered there, day after day. So, I saw your program and I said, “You know, it costs a few dollars, but I'll bet it pays off.”
And I was right.
Victoria:
Tell us why all those opportunities started coming up for you, because it's actually a very cool story.
Matt:
Well, it started in 2017. I had been doing some woodworking back then. I'm just a regular working-class guy, and I came up with this crazy invention. I called it the Michigan Bear Chair. It was an Adirondack chair in the shape of Michigan's lower peninsula, but up above was Michigan's upper peninsula. I also created this cooler that held a six pack of drink cans in there, and you could hold ice in it.
I made a short 30-second video, and it just went crazy viral. Most people didn't even understand that that was the shape of my home state of Michigan. They just liked the idea that you could, you know, just drop a beer down to your chair. So, I had a handful of interviews for that, and I did okay. Although I had to pace around - and these were just newspaper interviews, I wasn't on camera - to get through those even. And those were all edited and everything else.
After that I started making even crazier, more over the top inventions. So, I started getting more and more attention, and there were opportunities to be interviewed and be on podcasts. I had declined some podcasts just because that fear of - What if I clench up? What if I'd say something stupid? What if? You know, all those fears that are so common amongst so many people.
I'm getting more and more opportunities as I go, and I wanted to capitalize on that. I had a lot to lose if I didn't do this. So, I stepped out of my comfort zone.
Victoria:
I remember when you joined, I had a survey, some sort of a questionnaire. I remember your reply. You said, “I have trouble speaking in meetings, and I absolutely cannot do an interview live on a podcast.”
It just so happened that the first or second week after you joined the program, you had your podcast interview. I remember, I walked you through, but you just joined the program. You still didn't have anything. But I did my best to kind of walk you through a little bit, and I remember you reported back to us saying that it was so terrifying. You said, “I walked the whole time. I couldn't stop. I was just walking from room to room doing that interview.”
Then you got into the program, and as you were going through the program, more and more opportunities came up. Until one day, I remember - and you were already huge, you had gigantic following - all of a sudden you blew up. It had to do with October 31st, with Halloween. Do you want to share that story?
Matt:
Sure but going back to what you said about the meeting, I had a difficult time in my regular job just doing introductions. I mean, something as simple as saying your name and what you do or what role you play in this. I would always warm up into the meeting, but [there was] this overpowering panic. It was just crazy.
That first podcast, I was not prepared for it. I knew what my responses should be. I know how to talk to people, but that panic of the unknown, [it was like] this this looming thing that's going to drop on me. But I got through it, and I'm glad I did it. It was painful. But you got to take steps, and it never even got close to as painful as that first time since then. So, I'm glad I did it. I knew you were in my corner, and I thought, I can't back out of this because Victoria's going to ask me about this, and I don't want to look like a coward. So, I did it.
That's another great thing about your program, I know that you're paying attention to your students, and you want them to succeed. It's kind of like that teacher thing. You want to make your teacher proud; you want to follow through, and that had a lot to do with it. No joking.
So covid hit, and I was making all kinds of crazy inventions. Then someone had posted this video, I think it was on the news. This family put a shoot on a piece of tubing on their porch so that they can put candy down for the kids in anticipation of Halloween. And I said, I can one up them on that. So, I created the zip line that went about 30 feet from my porch to the sidewalk where the trick or treaters would walk up. I made a space for two beers in there for the parents and also to attach candy.
I had my niece and my and her kids play a role in the video. So, once I would send that down, they would take the candy and the parents would take the beer. Then I had a fishing reel hooked to a drill that would retrieve that zip line. But man, oh man, that took off - hundreds of millions of views and hundreds of thousands of shares. I was interviewed by a big BBC guy. I did NPR interviews locally and nationally. I did all kinds of podcasts. It was just a trial by fire. That really got me the most comfortable, and I know everybody doesn't have those type of opportunities, but I think that can sometimes be scarier than the one-offs.
Victoria:
I remember that crazy thing because I remember how every couple of days you would post in the group saying that, oh, I just got NBC. Oh, I just got CNN. It was one after another. I remember the big names calling you, wanting an interview with you about that. It ran on TV and it was just some crazy amount of publicity. And even wasn't Bud Light interested?
Matt:
I used their beer deliberately to see if I could get their attention, and I did. So they said, “Can we send you some beer? We'll send you a bunch of costumes and other stuff. Can you recreate that video with just adults so that we can repost it?” And so, I did. There wasn't money in it, but it was kind of cool to get the attention of a big name like that and get some attention from them.
But the biggest thing is my name was on the front page of the Wall Street Journal, and because they did an article, the interviewer called me a few days later. She goes, “They're going to put this on the front page.” They didn't have a picture of me. That was pretty cool, so I got quite a scrapbook going.
Victoria:
I am so proud of you. When we got on this call before we started recording, that was the first thing I wanted to tell you. I am so proud of you, of how far you've come. This is not something that is easy to overcome. Everybody knows that. It's not news to anybody. If you are struggling with a fear of public speaking, it is not something that's easy to overcome for good. Maybe do one interview and think okay, I did that, great, but to actually continue going, to actually start feeling comfortable.
Tell us, how are you feeling right now when you get requests for interviews, when you have to speak, when you record videos? By the way, let me tell everyone, when we just started working together, Matt recorded videos of his inventions, but he never, ever was speaking on camera or was on camera. He absolutely refused because of the fear of the spotlight. So how do you feel now?
Matt:
Yeah, even when I started to do the voiceovers, I had to rerecord them a hundred times. Even the video interviews where I would prerecord my answers to questions with a lot of these big companies like Yahoo and all that, they were doing a story on me. It's a process, but overcoming this is twofold. My objective in the beginning was to not have that fear looming. That would've been well worth it, but I wasn't even thinking about enjoying doing it and what it could lead to, and the tool that it is for me and the weapon that it could be for me. Not to mention how important it is in life. It’s just so exciting.
But even with the zip line interviews, there was a sense of relief when they were over. There was some nervousness leading up to them, but I knew that nervousness would pass, and I learned it's okay to be nervous. It's like you said, it's okay. Everybody understands that. I haven't done a lot since then, but now I've had some podcast opportunities that I've taken. Two weeks ago, I did an in-person podcast. That was different because I had to wear headphones, and it was a little weird. I think I was a little bit too calm because I was laid back in my chair away from the mic.
I never would've guessed that I would be in this situation. But I think the key thing is, is to be at peace with yourself and to like yourself. What I speak upon is just myself and my invention. I'm not going to be super polished, and I don't think people expect me to be. I don't think that would go with what I do. I just want to be myself, and I've decided that I'm interesting. So, I'm going to approach every interview whether people think I am or not. I'm going to approach every interview with that kind of attitude, but not in a cocky manner. Even today, I was not nervous in the slightest bit. And, you know, I was actually excited. I enjoy this now.
Victoria:
I'm just laughing over here because right before we started recording, I said, “Matt, let me tell you what we're going to talk about, just so there are no surprises.”
And you said, “No, don't worry about it. We'll just wing it.” I'm thinking, oh my gosh, Matt from two years ago saying, oh, Victoria, don't worry, we’re just going to wing the podcast. It would never, ever have happened.
Matt:
I'm a different person, I'll tell you. It's amazing.
Victoria:
I'm so glad you also touched on the fact that you are not trying to be somebody else. You didn't go into those interviews or even this interview as trying to show up as somebody so polished and so great, thinking I'm just going to pretend to be somebody. Because you realized - and that was, I think, really the key to my program - that the key is not trying to appear confident. The key is to feel confident on the inside. The key is to truly believe I'm interesting. I have something interesting to say.
Matt:
Absolutely, I think a lot of people can listen to those words and think it makes sense. But until you put it into action, you just don't really realize. Then once you've had the ability to be yourself and think on the fly like you would with a conversation with a friend, and you're able to do that in a public setting… I'm almost resentful of that fear or angry towards that fear that I used to have just because it was such nonsense. I never want to go back to that. It takes so much energy and so much of your life that I never want to go back to that.
Victoria:
Yeah. And you won't because the truth is, even if you don't give interviews for a couple of years, even if you live like a hermit and don't talk to anybody, it's not going to go away. You already have it. Once you have that power to speak with confidence, with freedom, with belief in yourself, it's not going away. Nobody can take it away from you. It's yours forever.
Matt:
That’s great, what a relief. I mean thank God I do have a situation that could turn into something even bigger, where I am going to have to speak. I want to be prepared for that. You know, I think of all the missed opportunities that I've had in the past because I avoided that situation.
Anybody that's listening to your podcast right now, they're probably thinking, how can they speak like that? How can they just talk like they're having a conversation? I'd be in panic mode. Believe me, a few years ago, I would've been shaking, my voice would've been shaking. I would've just been spitting out the shortest answer you could possibly think of and ask that you don't ask me to expand on that answer.
Victoria:
You are a different man.
Matt:
Yeah, no doubt.
Victoria:
So, what are you planning to do? What are your plans in terms of growing your hobby? Because it started as a hobby. I don't know if it is slowly becoming a business if you're monetizing it, but it's a gigantic hobby. Gigantic!
Matt:
Collectively, across YouTube and Facebook, Instagram and TikTok. I have over a million followers. I do monetize some of those pages, but this thing has taken me in so many different directions that I'm not sure what I want to pursue. That's half the fun of what I'm doing right now. Different things are happening that I would've never expected. I have a day job, I have the bills paid, this is all gravy. I don't want to turn money down necessarily, but I don't want to lock myself into one thing. It could take a turn, and I don't want to invest too much effort into one thing when something else could happen.
It's a really weird position I'm in, but it’s an exciting position. I love it. This could be the sweet spot right now. Just no responsibility to anybody. I do make videos for companies, and very rarely do they send the video back asking me to make changes. They just love it. A lot of times, I get them tens of millions of views, and I look back and say, “I wish I would've charged them a lot more than that.”
Victoria:
You will in the future. Let me ask you one more thing. What was your favorite part about working with me and through the program?
Matt:
Your program was right on every step for me. I didn't know if I didn't trust it, or if I was just afraid. Either way, I decided that I was going to follow it. I had never even heard the term imposter syndrome prior to your course, and that resonated with me so much, and I had no idea. So many people felt that, because that's a feeling I had like somebody just found me out.
The biggest thing was knowing that you are in our corner, someone that has overcome it and teaches it, and just genuinely wants to see us succeed. I know you want to see your program succeed, but I think you just genuinely care about people and want to see them overcome this fear. So, knowing that I would have to answer to you, I felt like I had to answer to you. Even now, I'll email you and say, “Hey, I just did this and I'm really proud of it. I'll send you a link.” Just knowing that someone's in your corner, that really wants you to do well. That's a big component of this.
Victoria:
Thank you so much, Matt.
Matt:
Thank you for all that you've done for me. If you're listening to this and you have this fear and you want to overcome it, get this program. Trust me.
This is not a paid advertisement either.
Victoria:
Thank you so much, Matt. Really appreciate it.
