Show Notes
Phil M Jones may be a bestselling author and sales and marketing specialist, but it’s his knowledge of stationery that seems to blow people away most often.
With his signature story about a humble pen, Phil is living proof that good storytelling comes from delivery, context, and simplicity – not from bright lights and overproduction.
Phil’s journey is like something out of a movie. Since cutting his teeth in business at just 14, washing cars and hiring a fleet of his friends to become something of a local legend, Phil has gone on to work for Premier League soccer clubs and grow a £240m property business.
It’s no surprise, then, that Phil has a lot of stories to tell and an incredible knack for telling them.
I’ve been listening to Phil speak for several years now and I’m always amazed at how well he can change up his story depending on where and to whom he is speaking. That’s not what I love most about Phil, though. Phil’s dedication to helping people see their worth and understand the value they bring – whether it’s to a relationship, a room, or an entire business – can be quite literally life-changing.
I hope you’ll agree, Clappers, after hearing his advice in this episode of Standing Ovation.
Find out about:
- How Phil’s signature story came from a story he hated
- Why adaptability and creativity are the foundations of the best stories and speakers
- What comedic timing can do to maximize your impact
- How being unpolished is more important than being perfect
- Why giving yourself permission to play will improve your talk
- How to work out your worth (and subsequently, your fee)
- Why you should embrace being the bread, not the filling
Quotes from the episode:
“What makes my story land best is when I’m enjoying delivering it. When the audience can feel that I’m having fun, they come with me. I’m not ranting at them, I’m communicating through them and with them.”
“Give yourself permission to play in your speech – there is no version that’s perfect.”
“Decide whether you are a speaker or you have a speaking business. If you’re a speaker, you can accept any fee and be happy to get your message out there. If you run a speaking business, you need a wholesale price and your fee is a margin on top of that.”
Connect with Phil M Jones
2 Key Questions
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given about the speaking business?
“That if I wanted more international business, I had to be open for international business. So, not having a UK only telephone number on my website, giving examples of countries I was open to do business in, listing prices in multiple currencies. It’s evolved, over all the years, to be: what can I do to remove friction from the path I would like to travel quicker?”
Who is your dream guest for Standing Ovation?
“Kindra Hall – as a speaker who is doing the reps right now, as a speaker who is teaching people the art of how to tell stories, I’d love to hear how her stories have evolved over time. Slightly more left field would be… Well, I think holograms can be incredible and I would pay good money to see a hologram performance of someone like Prince, who I never got to see. So, along those lines, is there any way you can dig into the archives and speak to the people who knew someone like Zig Ziglar really well? Let’s have Dr Nido Qubein telling the stories of great storytellers’ stories!”
