Segment:- Listening Is Your Superpower: The Skill Nobody Teaches But Everyone Needs, Consuming Information Without Application Is Useless.

Summary

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Podcast Summary: Konnected Minds Podcast

Episode: Listening Is Your Superpower: The Skill Nobody Teaches But Everyone Needs, Consuming Information Without Application Is Useless

Host: Derrick Abaitey
Date: December 9, 2025

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Overview

In this vibrant and insightful episode of the Konnected Minds Podcast, host Derrick Abaitey and his guest dive into the transformative power of listening—a skill often overlooked yet essential for personal and professional success. They explore why merely consuming information is futile without actionable application and discuss practical strategies for maintaining relevance, achieving results, and building confidence in today's noisy, information-saturated world.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Real Value in Public Speaking

• Substance over Hype (00:00-01:48)

  • The guest argues that while motivational speaking has its place, sustainable value comes from solving real problems—like protecting children online, not just offering inspiration.
  • Quote: "It's not just about the speaking. This is why substance matters...let's talk about protection first." (A, 00:48)

• Niche Expertise Pays

  • Speakers who become subject-matter experts in high-demand areas naturally create lucrative opportunities for themselves.

2. The Importance of Adaptability and Blue Ocean Thinking

• Following Industry Evolution (01:48-03:18)

  • The guest recalls early days of digital marketing, staying ahead by learning new platforms and skills before markets became saturated.
  • Quote: "Always elevate above the noise places in an industry. Everybody's doing a podcast. Elevate." (A, 02:54)

• Reference to 'Blue Ocean Strategy'

  • Derrick mentions the influential book and its lesson to seek uncontested market spaces, reinforcing the idea of innovation over imitation.

3. From Knowledge to Results: The Cycle of Application

• Test, Get Results, Share (03:44-04:36)

  • The approach: try out knowledge, document outcomes, then offer those results to others (via courses, mentorship, etc.).
  • Quote: "Apply yourself to it. Try it. Get your results, document the results, sell it to the next person." (A, 03:53)

• Mentorship & Paying for Experience

  • The guest discusses why people invest in mentorship—to avoid costly mistakes and fast-track their own journey.
  • Quote: "The money I will pay you is far more cheaper than the money I will lose experimenting my way through mentorship." (A, 04:53)

4. The Critical Skill of Listening (The Episode’s Core Theme)

• Listening = Superpower (05:32-08:22)

  • Listening is identified as the most underrated but impactful skill in public speaking and communication.
  • Discusses Julian Treasure’s TED Talks on speaking vs. listening and how the demand to be heard far outweighs the willingness to listen.
  • Quote: "People 10x want to be listened to more than they want to listen." (A, 06:26)

• Vocal Awareness

  • Practical breakdown of the voice’s four registers (whistle, falsetto, head, chest) and their effects on audience trust and perception.
  • Body language, tone, and vocal mastery are emphasized as teachable elements.

• Lifelong Learning & Systematic Information Gathering

  • The guest maintains Google Alerts for all topics of interest and reviews dozens of articles nightly.
  • Quote: "I still do two hours of practice in front of the mirror. I still do two vocabulary pickups a day so that I can have a plethora of words when I need to use them." (A, 07:45)
  • Quote: "If it's AI, every single AI information that has popped up anywhere on the Internet is living in my email waiting for me before I go to bed." (A, 08:09)

5. Education’s Blind Spot: Teaching Listening and Speaking

• Skill Deficiency in Schools (08:28-09:07)
  • Derrick remarks on educational systems prioritizing reading and writing, but not listening or public speaking, leading to communication breakdowns in society.
  • Quote: "We've churned out hundreds of thousands of students out of our education system who can [neither] speak or listen." (A, 08:55)

6. From Information to Transformation: The Necessity of Application

• Why Listening Isn’t Enough (09:44-10:16)

  • Consuming information does not equal transformation; action and implementation are key.
  • Quote: "We love the idea of listening. Pause this bloody video...go and apply. Implementation. Execute." (A, 10:02)

• Execution as a Contagious Habit

  • Derrick describes how his own fast-paced execution creates a productive environment for his team.
  • Quote: "By the time I get to the end of that project, I'm looking for the next thing to work on...it sort of have an effect on everybody else I work with." (B, 10:38)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On finding the right lane:
  "Elevate above the noise places in an industry." – (A, 02:54)

• On applying knowledge:
  "Apply yourself to it. Try it. Get your results, document the results, sell it to the next person." – (A, 03:53)

• On the real reason people pay for mentorship:
  "The money I will pay you is far more cheaper than the money I will lose experimenting my way through mentorship." – (A, 04:53)

• On listening versus speaking:
  "People 10x want to be listened to more than they want to listen." – (A, 06:26)

• On education’s neglect of speaking/listening:
  "We've churned out hundreds of thousands of students out of our education system who can [neither] speak or listen." – (A, 08:55)

• On the application gap:
  "Pause this bloody video. All the notes you've written...go and apply. Implementation. Execute." – (A, 10:02)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Public Speaking that Pays: 00:00–02:00
• Blue Ocean Strategy, Staying Ahead of the Curve: 02:47–03:26
• Results-Based Learning & Mentorship: 03:44–05:03
• Listening: The Hidden Superpower: 05:32–08:22
• The Application Gap & Power of Execution: 09:44–10:53

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Takeaway

This episode powerfully reframes the idea of success and communication: Listening is a cultivated superpower, and true progress only happens when knowledge is put into action. Derrick Abaitey and his guest break down actionable strategies for standing out, building expertise, and leveraging mentorship—all with conversational energy and practical wisdom anyone seeking growth will appreciate.

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Transcript

[A]

Future proof. Societies and businesses and churches and all of that. That's what I do. So we are not all motivational speakers. Not that motivational speaking is bad, but people give it a bad rap. I don't know why though, but that's another conversation for another day. So one of the ways you need to understand public speaking is that it pays based on what you're speaking about.

[B]

Right?

[A]

For instance, every single parent, if they are not already worried, I give you the next 12 to 24 months, would be worried about how their children are interacting with tech. The person that becomes the leading public speaker on how to protect kids online because what will happen is that you know what, not just the speaking. This is why substance matters. When I'm done telling you all of the risk. Hey Ma. Here's our entire toolkit that I can bring to your home, plug into your Netflix, make sure they cannot access any kind of 18 plus content. I can plug this into the game so that I can install this software on their phone when they go to bed. Let's do it. So you can have 24 hours access to the things. Oh, let's talk about privacy. No, let's talk about protection first. Let's talk about safety first. So if you are in that kind of domain and people come very needful, then your public speaking starts making a lot of money. If you're in an inspirational speaker and a motivational speaker in a market where the people don't need motivation. Ugope. This is why I knew I couldn't be a motivational Sweet. When I was coming up, I saw Tony Robbins. Tony Robbins used to charge €2,200 on his European tour and the least he will fill in a room is 9,000 people, arenas and stadium. And I'll see him with two drumsticks hitting it and saying jump and say, you are amazing. You are amazing. I'm a champion. I said.

So immediately Facebook had come knowledge asymmetry. Everybody was confused. I said, I'm a Facebook. I'm a. I'm a digital marketing guy. I'll teach you how to market on Facebook and how to build. People were struggling to get friends. Okay. Yes. That's why I started before digital marketing was a name because we only had one platform. We had High5, we had MySpace, then went to Facebook. People have forgotten that in between there was tag, there was, there was bbo. Thank you. So we only had Facebook. So we didn't have digital marketing. We didn't have digital marketing tools. No, no, no. So that's why I started Knowledge asymmetry. Nobody knows what to do with this Facebook thing. Let me sit down. So I watch that broful say the English they are speaking, contextualize it to my space. Take time by God's grace. I have the grace of breaking things down. It's a grace. So I took that, I brought it in. I'll teach people. This is what you can do. When your results, hey, go and tell them, call me. Show me. This one will recommend me. This one will call me. This one call me. Good. And boom, the next platform came. So now we have two platforms. Okay, no problem. Let me connect. Boom, the next one. So now we have Instagram, we have Facebook, we have Twitter. Oh, now there's something called digital marketing. I was a guy teaching you Facebook, remember? Now I can teach you all three. Okay, then. Now people are starting to catch up. I said, oh, these people. This place will be noisy. I'm gone. Always elevate above the noise places. In an industry. Everybody's doing a podcast. Elevate. And you have. It shows in the type of content, the roundtable stuff, the way you're pivoting towards the community that you're building above. Yeah, where the noise is in an industry.

[B]

Oh, there's a book called the Blue Ocean Strategy.

[A]

Yes, sir.

[B]

Right. It talks about this a lot. I read it very many years ago before I even registered my.

[A]

If you are a wise person, you know what to do with what he just said. I'm gonna read that. Yeah, yeah, I know what to do. So that's. It doesn't make money. It can make money when you're selling knowledge. It can make money when you are the go to person. It can make money when you're the one who teaches people how to do it better.

[B]

And then you also went into content writing a bit. Yes, I was speaking to one of my friends in the past who said you guys used to work together. Yes, very many years ago.

[A]

Yes. Vincent, sir. For me, when it comes, apply yourself to it. Try it. Get your results, document the results, sell it to the next person.

[B]

That's how you maintain your relevance.

[A]

Sir, today, if you did a how to start a podcast masterclass and charge a thousand dollars, I will pay. People don't understand results, speak God's commands, price. That's why you don't see a Lamborghini ad.

[B]

The problem you see, you have the habit of seeing my plans before.

[A]

It's a little bit out of prophetic.

[B]

How have I gotten to module? I think I'm on module. What module? 3 or 4.

[A]

I will pay for it.

[B]

My goodness.

[A]

I saw you build a podcast from scratch to 100,000 subscribers in a country where people complain about data. Our episode fully watched. Cannot wait for the next one. I want to sit with you. I don't care how much it cost. The money I will pay you is far more cheaper than the money I will lose experimenting my way through mentorship.

[B]

Mentorship. And that's why people come to you.

[A]

This is why people pay top dollar to come to me to learn public speaking. Yeah. Because it's like, yeah, we know. I even know my friend who is very eloquent. Gray. Has he been flown into 15 countries to speak? Is he a subject matter expert on anything? Does his name come up in conversations? Who is demanding for them to come and distill knowledge to them? Those are the things I need to sit you down and teach you. You're a public speaker. How do you get 10 conferences to book you every year? $2,000 per head. Yeah. Those are the things you come and learn.

[B]

But how are you able to consume information that fast? Apart from the fact that you're going to tell me His Grace.

There must be a system.

[A]

I study like crazy. I study like in crazy. Everything you've heard about public speaking, tell me if you've heard about this. The greatest. One of the greatest skills in public speaking that nobody talks about in public speaking is the skill of listening. Some of the reasons why I respect you, you listen. Because of an overload of information, our attention capacities have shrunk to nothing. People tune out seven seconds later. Julian Treasure has one of the most viewed tech talks of all time. How to speak. So people listen. 46 million views as at the time of this recording. He has a counter video. Another tech talk, all 7 minutes long. How to listen to people. It has 4.6 million views. 46 to 4.6 people. 10x want to be listened to more than they want to listen. Yep. Any effective public speaker, for instance. And I'm saying this to say to you that I learn a lot. I'm giving this example because the generic public speaking class you go, you won't hear this. When was the last time you went to a public speaking class and they told you the most important tool in your toolkit as a public speaker is voice. Do you know about registers? Do you know about timber? Do you know cadence? Are you using volume? Do you know your register? There are four registers in every single voice. The highest, the whistle register. Maria Kare has it. I can try it. The Faucetto register is the One that sounds like chipmunks.

Our head register is the one I'm talking to you with. Right here is where decisions are made. Chest register. We found out, people. Do you realize all of a sudden when I started speaking like this, all the moods, everything has changed. People vote for politicians more with deeper voices. It exudes trust and confidence. All of a sudden what I'm saying now sounds more serious. You can see my body language. My fists are thumping the table. I'm looking at you deeply. Those are the things we teach. I learn every day. I'm an award winning public speaker, spoken in more than 15 countries across the world, flown there, paid for. I still do two hours of practice in front of the mirror. I still do two vocabulary pickups a day so that I can have a plethora of words when I need to use them. How do I consume? I sit down and I learn and I learn and I learn. I have Google alerts turned on for every major topic that I'm concerned about. So if it's AI, every single AI information that has popped up anywhere on the Internet is living in my email waiting for me before I go to bed. Every night I scroll through at least 30 articles. Wow.

[B]

And for this I would want a special discount link.

[A]

Right.

[B]

For my audience.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

I say this, right? So anytime my kids go to a new class, Right. I, I meet their teacher and I say, hey, miss, whatever.

[A]

Right.

[B]

Wow. You know, academic performance is very important. Important for me as a father.

[A]

Right.

[B]

What I'm majorly concerned with is his interpersonal skills.

[A]

Yes, sir.

[B]

His speaking skills. Yes. His presentation skills. Communication.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

And basically kill the fear.

[A]

Isn't it interesting that if a kid completed education and couldn't read or write, will freak out. But we've churned out hundreds of thousands of students out of our education system who can speak or listen.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

The four fundamental pillars of every proper life. Read, write, speak, listen. The other two we're very focused on, the one that's at the cross of our society. We don't pay attention to it. That's why we can't agree. Sometimes even our parliament communication breaks and there's feud. Yeah.

[B]

So I would want a special link.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

Discounted link.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

For my audience. And I'm going to put that in the description. So anyone that is, that wants to, you know, get trained in public speaking.

[A]

Right.

[B]

You're at the right place. I'm going to put the description. Put it in the description so you can click on it.

[A]

Right.

[B]

But I don't want to want us to go through this whole thing about motivation and discipline again.

[A]

Right.

[B]

But the question I have for you. Is there anything we could have spoken about that we still haven't? In other words, give me a question to ask you.

[A]

Why do people keep consuming information over and over again and yet there's no transformation?

[B]

Yes. What's the answer?

[A]

There's a lack of application.

[B]

Right.

[A]

We love the idea of listening. Pause this bloody video. All the notes you've written from the conferences, from all the other podcast guests that have come, go and apply implementation. Execute.

[B]

Yep, Yep.

One of my assistants posted this on. He's my. He's one of my content writers. He posted on Twitter that it just so happens that when you are with people who work so fast, it ignites something in you as a person. And then I replied and I said, well, you've started feeling that. Right?

[A]

Right.

[B]

I'm one of those people that executes very fast.

[A]

Yes, sir.

[B]

And by the time I get to the end of that project, I'm looking for the next thing to work on.

[A]

Yes, sir.

[B]

Right. So it's. It's. It sort of have an effect on everybody else I work with. So usually when they walk into the office, you know, I'm like, okay, call this person. Do that person. Have we done this? It never stops.

[A]

Absolutely.

[B]

So my soul that sometimes we can get to a point where I've worked for eight hours and I haven't even thought about food.

[A]

Yes, sir. Connected Minds Podcast.