Lynn Mason-Pattnosh of ConciergeQ Media On The 5 Things You Need To Be A Highly Effective Public Speaker
An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis
Smile. Even if you are being interviewed on the phone or for a podcast, think of something happy, sensual or funny and break into a big smile. When you smile, your body releases endorphins, dopamine, and serotonin — all of these magnificent chemicals saturate your brain, elevate your mood, reduce stress, and relax your body. Smiling will give you a positive emotional and physical lift before you even begin speaking.
At some point in our lives, many of us will have to give a talk to a large group of people. What does it take to be a highly effective public speaker? How can you improve your public speaking skills? How can you overcome a fear of speaking in public? What does it take to give a very interesting and engaging public talk? In this interview series called “5 Things You Need To Be A Highly Effective Public Speaker” we are talking to successful and effective public speakers to share insights and stories from their experience. As a part of this series, we had the pleasure of interviewing Lynn Mason-Pattnosh.
Lynn Mason-Pattnosh is the executive producer and host of ConciergeQ Media. She is also a casting director and performance expert, who has worked on Emmy-winning TV (including casting the pilot of “Arrested Development”), film, and media. ConciergeQ Media is a recognized and respected travel and entertainment brand, delivering award-winning URHere Travel all-access festival and event coverage from such events as the Sundance Film Festival, Sun Valley Wine Auction, Dent Conference, The Mother’s Ball, and elrow. Lynn recently spoke at SATW’s 2020 Virtual Convention and is slated to speak such events as, Women’s Travel Fest, Visual Storytelling Conference, TBEX North America and Europe, and Podfest Multimedia Expo.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Our readers would love to get to know you a bit better. Can you tell us the story of how you grew up?
My family owned and operated the Goldman Hotel in Pleasantdale (now West Orange), New Jersey. The resort was the social hotspot to see and be seen at during those years. Although my family no longer owned it, I grew up hanging out by the pool and starting my lifelong love of hotels and hospitality. The hotel is now The Wilshire Grand, if you watch The Real Housewives of New Jersey, you are familiar with the property.
Can you share a story with us about what brought you to this specific career path?
My company, ConciergeQ Media, focus is covering festival and events with a luxury travel point of view. Primarily, I executive produce and host travel and entertainment content. We were even a Top 100 Influencer and Brand at the Rio 2016 Olympics, according to data from Onalytica, a company that specializes in influencer marketing software and helps brands scale influencer programs. At some point, after watching and interviewing many, many speakers at these events, I thought, I can do that!
Can you tell us the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?
Well, that has to be interviewing the beyond talented, philanthropic-minded, Broadway legend Brian Stokes Mitchell. I’m not someone who gets starstruck easily, but I love Broadway and respect his work as chairman of The Actors Fund, which offers a huge variety of programs to support the unique needs performers. I also interviewed the equally as talented Sutton Foster that day.
They were performing together later that week at Sun Valley Resort in Sun Valley, Idaho. The show — a serotonin-fest of Broadway favorites from Cole Porter to Stephen Sondheim, including Stokes belting out “The Impossible Dream” from “Man of La Mancha” — was amazing, too. But interviewing someone on-camera who I deeply admire as an artist and compassionate patron of the arts and artists — well, that was a great day.
Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
With my extensive experience as a casting director, I don’t often make mistakes casting on-camera hosts. However, for one event — and out of total embarrassment, I won’t mention the name — none of my usual go-to hosts were available. So I decided to hire someone I was unsure about, although she had excellent credits. Let’s just say my initial instincts were correct. This event was pretty much a “one-take” situation — get the interview and move on. Unfortunately, she was extremely nervous. Despite my coaching — deep breaths, relax, focus, even some wine — she didn’t get any better. The shoot was pretty much finessed in editing, but it still haunts me, as it is not to my level of professionalism.
My takeaway from that incident is always listen to your instincts and don’t be afraid to get out of your comfort zone. I should have stepped into the role of host and producer that day, and that is what I often do now. However, at the time, both producing and hosting at the same time wasn’t something I was comfortable with. But I have quickly learned to jump from host to producer, bounce back and forth, and now it’s second nature to me, and a lot of fun.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
Deborah Barylski, the Emmy-Award winning casting director, not only taught me so much about casting and performance, but also how to run a business. The business part of running a casting office was something Deb always focused on, and this definitely got her work over other casting directors. Deb was also the person who recognized my talents and after I had been an assistant for a few years in other offices, made me her casting associate.
The entertainment industry is an odd entity, because there isn’t one path to create a career and the industry is always changing. Having someone like Deb believe in me was everything. My first day as her casting associate was the day we moved into our offices on the Walt Disney Studios lot in Burbank. There is nothing like working on the Disney lot for Disney, an experience I treasure. It’s a magical place, as well as a company to be admired.
You have been blessed with great success in a career path that can be challenging and intimidating. Do you have any words of advice for others who may want to embark on this career path, but seem daunted by the prospect of failure?
First of all, if you want to be a performer, ask yourself: “Is there any other career that would make me happy?” If there is, do it! Even in this world being shaped by TikTok, Instagram and YouTube with seemingly overnight sensations, influencers, and stars, making a living as a performer is not easy.
As a public speaker, the same lesson applies as with any performer: Don’t be afraid to be rejected. If you don’t ask for the opportunity, there won’t be an opportunity. If you never ask, the answer will always be no. You simply need to take risks and not be afraid of rejection.
What drives you to get up everyday and give your talks? What is the main empowering message that you aim to share with the world?
I love public speaking and enjoy helping people. My main empowering message is my message itself — it’s all a bit meta. Whatever performance topic I am addressing, the goal is the same, which is to give my audience the tools to be more confident, and better performers — whether on-camera or behind a mic, in a meeting, or simply in their daily lives.
You have such impressive work. What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now? Where do you see yourself heading from here?
I’m actually casting a truly innovative project. It’s a feature film, From Our Mind to Yours, which will feature only TikTok influencers. Professionally, I love that it combines my expertise as a casting director and performance, and my work with influencers and as an influencer.
It’s a ton of fun, too. I’d love to work on more projects like this. I am definitely adding “How to Cast Influencers for Your Project” to my public speaking offerings.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
I often share Billie Jean King’s sentiment that “pressure is a privilege — it only comes to those who earn it.” I’m about to address this idea during my list: “On The 5 Things You Need To Be A Highly Effective Public Speaker.” Hang on to that thought!
Ok, thank you for all that. Here is the main question of our interview. What are your “5 Things You Need To Be A Highly Effective Public Speaker?” Please share a story or example for each.
- Public Speaking as Performance. Think about public speaking as performance. It doesn’t matter if you are speaking to an auditorium or virtual event of thousands of people or doing a PowerPoint presentation for ten. Elevate your presentation to performance.
- Smile. Even if you are being interviewed on the phone or for a podcast, think of something happy, sensual or funny and break into a big smile. When you smile, your body releases endorphins, dopamine, and serotonin — all of these magnificent chemicals saturate your brain, elevate your mood, reduce stress, and relax your body. Smiling will give you a positive emotional and physical lift before you even begin speaking.
- Breathe. There is a lot to be said about breathing, how it helps with insomnia, stress management, and is essential daily emotional balance. I highly recommend James Nestor’s New York Times Bestseller, “Breath,” in which he argues all of this and more. When it comes to public speaking and performance, breath is everything. Start with the basics: Where are you breathing from? If you are a singer, you will understand this more easily. Proper breathing starts in the nose and then moves to the stomach as your diaphragm contracts. Where is your diaphragm? Put your hand just below your ribs and take a breath. Moreover, breathing from your diaphragm will not only help your overall performance but it will also decrease stage fright.
- Audience. Please don’t picture the audience in their underwear. That’s an outdated trope. Again, think of public speaking as performance. A good public speaker understands how to engage and can even alter the audience’s energy. Personally, I love to make my audience laugh. Nothing brings an audience together like laughter and almost assures a successful speech, presentation or even phone call.
- Pressure is a Privilege. Billie Jean King’s quote is a favorite of mine, especially when it comes to the pressures of public speaking. If you are fortunate enough to be in the position of being interviewed by the BBC, lecture to a class of UCLA graduate students or speak at CES in Las Vegas, please expect to be nervous. It is normal to be nervous. I recommend acknowledging that feeling, even say, “I am nervous and that’s okay” aloud to yourself and then let that feeling go (see #3 Breathe to help those nerves). Remember: If you weren’t worthy, you wouldn’t have been invited to share your expertise.
As you know, many people are terrified of speaking in public. Can you give some of your advice about how to overcome this fear?
Preparation is the best tactic for stage fright, which is a focus I share in my public speaking. And, the truth is, the more experience you have speaking in public, the better you will become and the better you will be at handling your nerves. But also remember that if you are terrified, it simply means that you care — caring is a good thing.
You are a person of huge influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be?
I hope one day we can all treat people the way we ourselves would like to be treated. It is a maxim found in most religions and cultures that thrive on the planet today. I am, of course, talking about equal rights, but general kindness and compassion as well.
Is there a person in the world whom you would love to have lunch with, and why? Maybe we can tag them and see what happens!
Richard Branson. I’m ready to launch with Virgin Galactic. I challenge you to a game of tennis on Necker Island, Richard!
Are you on social media? How can our readers follow you online?
Please follow me on Twitter @ConciergeQ
This was so informative, thank you so much! We wish you continued success!
