
Terry was recently interviewed on Dr. Andrea Wojnicki's podcast, Talk About Talk. Andrea is an executive communications coach. She helps executives improve their communication skills and elevate…
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Terry O'Reilly
Hi, it's Terry O'Reilly. Our 2025 season starts in January. It's our 20th anniversary on CBC, so it's a big year for us, but until then, we thought we would drop an interesting podcast for you to listen to. I recently did an interview with Dr. Andrea Voynitsky. She's an executive communication coach and she coaches executives to improve their communication skills, elevate their confidence levels, etc. So we had an interesting talk about communication, and we thought you might enjoy it. So here is Dr. Andrea's podcast, titled Talk about Talk. Andrea, it's interesting you say the the power of Threes. I was known to be a. I was a humor director, so if you had humorous scripts, you would bring them to me. I, I could do drama, but there were directors that were better at that than me. But humor was always my thing, and I used to call them bingo bangle bongo moments that when things happen in threes, like, you know, two knocks at a door is one thing, but three knocks is funny, and it's hard to articulate why that is. Or if something falls off a, let's say a glass falls off a table, if it fall in a sequence of three sounds, it's funny. And if it falls in two, it isn't, right? So even the power of three is a. Is a powerful rule within audio.
Dr. Andrea Vojnitsky
That fabulous voice belongs to Terry O'Reilly, host of the popular under the Influence podcast. I've been listening to under the Influence for years, and I've always enjoyed Terry's sense of humor and his skill as an exceptional storyteller. And I knew that we're both Canadian and we're both podcasters, but I had absolutely no idea that he's also a huge fan of the Power of Three. Did you hear what he said? Bingo, bango bongo. Let's do this.
Gold Belly Host
Let's do this. Let's talk about talk.
Dr. Andrea Vojnitsky
Welcome to Talk About Talk podcast episode number 173, under the Influence, with storyteller Terry O'Reilly. In this episode, you're going to learn the ingredients that are necessary to create compelling stories, how and why to peel back the onion and think hard about what business you're really in, and a lot more. In case we haven't met, My name is Dr. Andrea Vojnitsky. Please just call me Andrea. And I'm your executive communication coach. I coach ambitious executives just like you to improve your communication skills so you can communicate with confidence and clarity, establish credibility, and ultimately achieve your career goals. Sound good? To learn more about me and what I do, just head over to the talkabouttalk.com website and you can read all about the coaching and the workshops that I run. Plus, there are a bunch of free resources for you at the bottom of the homepage. You can also sign up for the Talk About Talking email newsletter where you can get free coaching from me in your inbox. Head over to talkabouttalk.com and sign up now. All right, let's Shift gears. I can't wait for you to hear my conversation with Terry O'Reilly. If you've ever heard his under the Influence podcast, then you know that Terry is like an encyclopedia of stories and insights. And as you're about to hear, he's exactly the same in real time without a script. He's also very gracious. Let me introduce Terry and then we'll get right into the interview. And at the end, as always, I'm going to summarize with three learnings that I want to reinforce for you. Sound good?
Interviewee
Okay.
Dr. Andrea Vojnitsky
Long before he had a radio show, Terry was an award winning writer at Canada's top advertising agencies, creating campaigns for top brands such as Labatt Bell, Nissan and Hudson's Bay. In 1990, Terry Co founded pirate radio and television with eight recording studios in Toronto and New York City. In 2005, he became the host of the CBC Radio One and WBEZ Chicago radio show called under the Influence. With over 1 million listeners a week, his podcast has been downloaded over 75 million times. Terry was awarded with a lifetime achievement award by the Advertising and Design Club of Canada, and he's been granted honorary degrees from three Canadian universities. Ah, the power of three again. He's also written three books, the latest being My Best Mistake, about people who make catastrophic career decisions. But it ended up being the best thing that could have happened to them. Terry has a wonderful wife and three lovely daughters, and he says they sometimes like some of his work. All right, here we go.
Interviewee
Thank you so much, Terry, for being here today to talk to me and the talk about talk listeners.
Terry O'Reilly
Well, it's great to be here. Thanks for inviting me.
Interviewee
There's so many directions that we could go in this conversation, you know, advertising, branding, personal branding. But I thought something that really stands out about you that I appreciate very, very much is your fantastic ability to tell stories. So I thought we would start there. And I'm curious, as a master storyteller, what do you think makes for a great story? Is there an ingredient list that's necessary?
Terry O'Reilly
That's a very good question. When I think about that, I think two things. I think structure. I think that's always been one of my strengths, for whatever reason. Who knows is story structure. That may have come from almost 40 years in the advertising business where you have to, you know, structure mini stories inside 30 and 60 seconds, which is, you know, a Herculean feat at best. So I think. And even you see a lot of movie directors start out in the advertising business and they learn storytelling because you have to you have to have a beginning, a middle, and an end inside 30 or 60 seconds. And I think that's a real discipline that you have to. To develop. So structure is the key for me because as a director, so I directed commercials for three quarters of my career. I think I directed, my staff told me at one time something like 14,000 commercials in my career.
Interviewee
Wow.
Terry O'Reilly
So I got to see a lot of really great storytelling and a lot of really bad storytelling. And where most stories fell down, Andrea was in the end, there was great beginnings, wonderful middles and terr. Terrible ends. They just never wrapped up. They never had a. They never had a destination in mind. It didn't come to this. Wonderful, satisfying. It's like seeing a great movie and you think God loved everything but the way it ended. You know that because the ending is the toughest thing for a writer to write. So structure to me is critical that you have a beautiful, teasing opening and then you have this really sumptuous middle and then you have this inevitable end that's just so satisfying.
Interviewee
Right.
Terry O'Reilly
I think the other little thing beyond story structure is the element of surprise, where you don't really know where a story is going or you think you know where it's going, and then the writer just yanks you to the left or to. Or to the right. And I think those unexpected moments add impact.
Interviewee
My brain is immediately going to personal branding when you say that. But I'm going to stick with advertising for a couple of minutes here. So beginning, middle and end. Consistent with my love of the power of three. I'm thinking about my, My self introduction framework. Start with who you are, what you do, what your passion is, what your expertise is. Ground yourself in the present, then go past to establish credibility. And most people end there, right. They're like. And that's me, right? Going around the table or around the screen. Step three is the icing on the cake. And you said similarly that many people or many stories are missing kind of that last. That part three or the ending of the story.
Terry O'Reilly
Act three.
Interviewee
Yeah, yeah, act three. So that's.
Terry O'Reilly
That's interesting that, that analogy, you know, even in sound. Andrea, it's interesting you say the, the power of threes. I was known to be a, I was a humor director. So if you had humorous scripts, you would bring them to me. I, I could do drama, but there were directors that were better at that than me. But humor was always my thing. And I used to call them bingo bangle bongo moments that when things happen in threes like, you know, two Knocks at a door is one thing, but three knocks is funny. And it's hard to articulate why that is. Or if something falls off a. Let's say a glass falls off a table. If it falls in a sequence of three sound, it's funny. And if it falls in two, it isn't.
Advertiser
Right.
Terry O'Reilly
So even the power of three is a. Is a powerful rule within our audio.
Interviewee
I had no idea, but I'm not surprised.
Terry O'Reilly
Yeah. That's the power of three. Three is this. This amazing number in our lives. Although they say the world's favorite number is 7 and the world's favorite color is blue. But I say three is really. It is that key, secret ingredient.
Interviewee
Yeah. I think 7 is like the maximum. There's something like. That's why phone numbers are.
Terry O'Reilly
That's right.
Interviewee
Four, right?
Terry O'Reilly
Yeah.
Interviewee
Yeah. I'm a fan of threes. You have three daughters, right?
Terry O'Reilly
I have three daughters. That's right.
Interviewee
I did my reading, Terry. You did, you did. So back to the storytelling. I would love to hear what your take is on what brands are the best storytellers, maybe past and present.
Terry O'Reilly
My favorite brand for storytelling of all time is Volkswagen in the 60s. So Doyle Dane Birnbach, which I think was the greatest advertising agency of all time, led by Bill Burn back, probably the greatest creative director of all time. What they did with that brand, to me is amazing because if you put it in Context, the early 60s automobile advertising was all the same. It was, you know, see the USA in your Chevrolet and the VW brought humor to advertising for the first time. And then they brought incredible honesty. They would talk about how ugly the car was, and they talk about how underpowered the car was. And they didn't make. They would make all its faults, strong points. And you know that even though it's underpowered, it doesn't. It. It doesn't take much gas. And just because it's ugly doesn't mean you can't love it. And it became the most beloved car.
Interviewee
Yeah.
Terry O'Reilly
In North America, I think. And it was all due to the storytelling. You know, they. The. One of the first ads, they headline was lemon. And I don't think I could sell that ad today. There's no way a car manufacturer is going to allow me to say lemon as a headline. But if you read the story underneath that headline, it was basically saying that the car you were looking at in that ad had a blemish on the chrome of the glove compartment, so it can't go out yet. So it really was a story about incredible quality.
Interviewee
Right.
Terry O'Reilly
Under a headline. That is the most toxic word in automobile advertising. So the storytelling made that car an icon. And I think they were the best storytellers in advertising for all time. A little more recently, I would say Nike is a great storyteller. You know, just do it. And every Nike ad you see is a story about a team or a person achieving something amazing. Yet no Nike ad looks like the other Nike ad. Like, they almost feel like they have nothing in common. But it's the storytelling that makes it campaignable.
Interviewee
Right.
Terry O'Reilly
Apple's the same thing. I think Apple does incredible advertising. It's always. They hearken back to Steve Jobs, which is so interesting to me. They've really been so consistent that virtually every Apple ad is about one person achieving something. It's not a business, it's not a company. It's always one person achieving something with the power of a computer, which was Steve Jobs vision of taking the computing power out of IBM and giving it to the individual. So they've hewn to that strategy for all these years, and I love their storytelling.
Interviewee
Yeah.
Terry O'Reilly
You asked me who the best storyteller is today, right now at this moment, I would say Heinz.
Interviewee
Okay, Heinz.
Terry O'Reilly
Heinz is doing this. This catch up is doing the best work I've seen in years. And most of it's done out of Canada. It's got done out of Rethink in Vancouver. They are winning every award. They are being written up in Ad Age and Ad News every week. They are doing things like, I wrote them things down. They do. They did a big puzzle with 5,700 pieces or something. It's all red. You know, one of those crazy puzzles they did. They asked kids to draw just ketchup. They just said, draw ketchup. And kids, all the kids drew Hines labels.
Interviewee
Wow.
Terry O'Reilly
They asked AI to do to. They said. They asked AI draw a ketchup bottle and AI drew Hines, like, yeah, great ways. They did a tweet, which was the slowest tweet in the world, 57 letters. The message was 57 letters, Andrew. But it took 57 hours to complete. So standing there watching this tweet slowly appear, all of that is storytelling, right? Because the richer a ketchup is, the slower it pours, which has always been Heinz raison d'etre. Right. And all these fun ways of getting across how unique and how loved the brand is in that category is just incredible storytelling.
Interviewee
It's almost like they've gone meta. They're reinforcing their equity and creating new equity with it. Right? Like, yeah.
Terry O'Reilly
Right.
Interviewee
Wow.
Terry O'Reilly
In that old sleepy brand.
Interviewee
Right.
Terry O'Reilly
Like it's not a dot com. Like it's, it's been around forever.
Interviewee
So where are you seeing these ads? I mean, I know you're, you're, I shouldn't ask you personally, but where.
Terry O'Reilly
Because where can people see them?
Interviewee
Yeah, where can people see them? So we used to, you know, tune in when we got home from work and we'd watch the evening news and everything. So, and, and now the media landscape has become so fragmented and I'm, I'm, I see as many as, as the average person, but I have not seen that. So I'm wondering if they're on certain meet that, you know, maybe they are on television or streaming platforms that I'm not.
Terry O'Reilly
I would say most of it's probably online.
Interviewee
Yeah.
Terry O'Reilly
In the form of videos, YouTube videos or whatever. Just they're great at creating press. All those Heinz ideas create press. And I always say the best advertising creates press because suddenly your budget feels like it's quadrupled if the press gets hold of it. Right. And rethink. Our masters at that.
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Terry O'Reilly
My dad works in B2B marketing. He came by my school for career.
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Terry O'Reilly
Then he told everyone how much he.
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Terry O'Reilly
My friends still laugh at me to this day.
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Terry O'Reilly
To be.
Interviewee
Yeah. So my next question I was going to ask you is related to the point that you just made there. So over time, other than becoming more fragmented and going into new media, obviously with the Internet especially, and video, what else has changed in terms of advertising and storytelling?
Terry O'Reilly
I think this. I think you sort of touched on it. I think storytelling is spilled out of traditional media, for sure. But even online, it spilled out. So, for example, sticking with Heinz, they put out on. At New York's Fashion Week, which just happened, they put out a line of clothes. Heinz, a ketchup. Put out a line of clothes that had just a little ketchup drip, and it became the talk of Fashion Week.
Interviewee
I did. I did read about that.
Terry O'Reilly
So here's a ketchup. Finding a way to worm their way into New York's Fashion Week with this. With just the ongoingness of their strategy and. And their storytelling ability. Yeah.
Interviewee
You know what I would say there? The medium is the message. Right. That's absolutely brilliant.
Terry O'Reilly
I love that. And everything they do is. Is tailored to that specific medium, which is so great. Which I think is a sign of a great marketer. It's not the same thing in every medium. It's the same tone. It's the same overall strategy. But Instagram looks different than Facebook, and Facebook looks different than YouTube video. Like, everything's tailored to that medium.
Interviewee
Right. Brilliant. So I'd love to switch over into personal branding. And you were talking about the Volkswagen lemon ad and how they turned that into a pot. So it's drew the reader in. You know What. What do you mean? You're calling yourself a lemon? I better read what they're talking about here. Right. And they basically turned. I've heard this term a lot recently. It's not a bug, it's a feature. Yeah, right, right. And that also relates to humans. So when I'm coaching executives on their personal brand or their professional identity, they'll admit to me that there's some part of their identity that they try to hide. Right. It could be, for example, their sense of humor. Like, I don't want people to think I'm unprofessional, so I hide my sense of humor. Or. Or I hide my. My. You know, my upbringing where I was brought up, or my accent. Or they tried to somehow hide their identity. And then. And then I talk to them about how we can create a narrative where what they're perceiving as a bug may actually be a feature. So that's my segue into asking you, Terry, whether you consciously and. Or strategically develop your personal brand.
Terry O'Reilly
You know, I did an episode on Personal branding a couple of years back.
Interviewee
Okay.
Terry O'Reilly
And it was the most popular episode of that season, which surprised me, because I thought. I just never would have guessed that.
Interviewee
Yeah.
Terry O'Reilly
And that's why in the book that's sitting behind you there, there is a chapter on personal branding. I read it, that even though that book is for marketers, I really thought, you know, there's. Everybody, even within marketing has a brand. So I think, like any great brand, a personal brand has to share so many things in common with. If you look to Nike or Apple or Heinz or whatever is that first of all, they figure out what their uniqueness is in the category. And then everything they do kind of centers around that uniqueness. And there's a consistency, then there's a tone. There's a kind of language that a great brand uses. There are guardrails, too, I think. But I don't think they can be super, super narrow. Because as you were saying, you know, if someone's really funny or, you know, if someone had a really tough upbringing but achieved a lot of success, that's a great story. Like, that can really be. It's not a bug. It's a feature. Like, it can be a really great part of your. Of your personal brand about how you overcame obstacles or overcame speed bumps to achieve. So for me, a great brand is what makes you different. And then how can I express that in creative ways? And that means you have to look around the category, see what your competitors are doing, because you don't want to strike a similar tone to somebody else. You want to find your own piece of real estate that you can own. Even my radio show on CBC is different in one big way, because I look when. When I pitched the show to cbc, never thinking for a moment that they would ever buy it. Andrea, you know the advertising Free CBC taking on a show about advertising.
Interviewee
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Terry O'Reilly
Irony.
Interviewee
Love it.
Terry O'Reilly
I know it is.
Interviewee
Yeah.
Terry O'Reilly
I looked at all the shows on. On cbc, and I thought, okay, I'm gonna zig. Everybody's saying, I'm gonna zig. And what that was is I didn't do interviews. Like, I may be the only narrative show on cbc. Maybe there's one more out there. But I chose to go narrative storytelling instead of interviewing.
Interviewee
Yeah. I wouldn't say that's the only thing that distinguish. I mean, it is.
Terry O'Reilly
No, it's one of them. Yeah.
Interviewee
So you also have a beautiful voice. You also have incredible knowledge. You're also a beautiful storyteller. Right. I could go on.
Terry O'Reilly
So that was the starting point, though. Andrea. Was that beyond all of that lovely stuff, the starting point was how can I stand out on the air just sonically?
Interviewee
Right.
Terry O'Reilly
So I thought, okay, I'm not going to do interviews. That was a big decision because there's a lot of great advertising people I could interview.
Interviewee
I'm sure. And it's fun.
Terry O'Reilly
Yeah, it's fun, right? Yeah.
Interviewee
So I was. Maybe you've answered this next question with what you just said. But so what's your product category or your cat or personal category? I guess, I mean, you're saying other radio shows, you know, the first chapter.
Terry O'Reilly
Of that book is what business are you really in?
Interviewee
Yeah.
Terry O'Reilly
And that, that you think that's so easy to answer and it's. And I give some examples in there that Molson's not in the beer business or in the party business and Michelin is not in the tire business. They're in the safety business. I mean, you really have to know what people are buying from you in order to be relevant. Yeah.
Interviewee
You see, I'm just showing, I'm opening the book to show you. As I was reading that chapter in particular, I took my marker out, I started writing like talk. Talk about talk is in the business of. Right?
Terry O'Reilly
Yes. Right. But that, I mean that, that gets to the heart of your question. You know, you have to know what it is people want from you. Because as I say in the book, if you're, if someone's shopping for tires because they want to make sure their family's safe, if you're selling speed as a tire feature and the place across the street selling safety, they're going to cross the street. Even though you're both selling tires, Right?
Interviewee
Yeah.
Terry O'Reilly
I think you have to really. And it's so hard to, you know, peel the onion to figure out what it is that you offer. Even my show, it started out as a show about creativity and then it very quickly morphed into a show about strategy. And that has been my ongoingness. And I'm a creative guy. I was really always dealt with strategy, but I wasn't a strategic account director. I was a writer.
Interviewee
Right.
Terry O'Reilly
But here I am evolving into strategy. So. So my show is really a look. I take people on a look behind the closed doors of advertisement. Like everybody's got. Should have an elevator pitch. That's how you get to the nub of who you are and what you offer is try coming up with a one sentence elevator pitch of what you.
Interviewee
Do, whether you're a brand or a person.
Terry O'Reilly
Yeah. And what you do and what makes you unusual yeah. You know, I have a chapter in that, in that book, which I find such a great exercise. It's really hard to do well, that exercise. But, you know, I always say, you know, Dirty Harry, that great Clint Eastwood film, series of films that made him famous. Really, you know, what was it about, about Dirty Harry that made him so compelling? And it was that it wasn't that he was a rogue cop. It wasn't that he was tough. It wasn't that he broke the rules, which is what everybody answers. The true answer to that is he was more violent than the criminals he chased.
Interviewee
That's right. I just read that. I just read that.
Terry O'Reilly
Like when you, when it's articulated, you go, yes, that's exactly why he was so mesmerizing and why he created so much, that character created so much controversy.
Interviewee
Yeah.
Terry O'Reilly
And, and Ticket Buy was seen before.
Interviewee
Yeah.
Terry O'Reilly
And even Wired magazine, which is my favorite elevator pitch of all time, they, you know, it's about entertainment technology trends and their elevator pitch, when they were looking for funding from investors was, we want to feel like we've been mailed back from the future.
Interviewee
I. Yeah, I love that too.
Terry O'Reilly
Maybe the best elevator pitch of all time.
Interviewee
My favorite elevator pitch of all time is, you know, the Sigourney Weaver Aliens movie. Do you know what the elevator pitch was for it?
Terry O'Reilly
Jaws in Space.
Dr. Andrea Vojnitsky
Yes.
Interviewee
Yeah, I probably learned that from you, Terry.
Terry O'Reilly
You may have. Yeah. Once you can articulate a really great elevator pitch. And that means, I mean, look at the language in the three we've talked about there. It isn't like I am a marketing communications expert. Like, that's not an elevator pitch. That's a, that's just a statement. That's not an elevator pitch. An elevator pitch should make people lean right in. So when, when Wired magazine said to their investors, we want our magazine to feel like it's been mailed back from the future, all the investors around the table instantly were interested in that magazine.
Interviewee
That unexpected element that you said always is so important. And even if a story is one sentence right, if it has something unexpected.
Terry O'Reilly
In it, then, yeah, a little surprise or an incredibly interesting collection of words that sums up what is the essence of you that makes you so different.
Interviewee
Okay, so I want to have time for the rapid fire questions at the end. But before we do that, I want to shift to your most recent book, My Best Mistake.
Terry O'Reilly
Yeah.
Interviewee
Can you share with the listeners what the basic premise of the book is and then also share with us maybe one or two of your best mistakes?
Terry O'Reilly
The premise of that book was people who more than I have a couple of additional little stories in there. But the overall arc of that book is people who made catastrophic career decisions where they lost their jobs, their credibility, their livelihood. They lost everything and it ended up being the best thing that ever happened to them. So I thought that as an exploration was interesting because when that happens to most people, they usually disappear. They disappear into the ether or they just completely change careers or vocations and just like wipe the slate clean. But I thought, yeah, and I thought people who actually muscle through that are more interesting. So the first chapter of that book is about Jaws. Steven Spielberg. It's such a well told story except for one detail, right? So everybody knows he was out on location in Martha's Vineyard. He's got three mechanical sharks that he's had built to scale which ate up most of his budget by the way. He's a first time film director, really done some television. This is his first time at the big leagues. I think he's only 28 or something. He gets out to Martha's Vineyard, they put the sharks in the water, he's got his cast, his crew, everything out there. And the sharks immediately malfunction and he's paralyzed because the main beast of this film doesn't work. And he goes into his hotel room one night thinking he's going to lose it all. He's going to lose his chances being a director. He's going to, he's going to be pulled back to Hollywood, he's going to be fired. He's sitting in the dark, panicking. And then he asks himself the most interesting question. He says, what would Hitchcock do?
Interviewee
Oh, wow.
Terry O'Reilly
And in that moment he knew the answer. And the answer was what you can't see is the most terrifying thing of all. So then he, you know, he figures out a way to imply the shark, the fin through the water or the pulling the big yellow barrels through the water to show it's. Or the music, the great score, right? Don't, don't. Yeah, but the mistake he made, which is really why I decided to retell that well told story because everybody knows those details is he, when he tried the sharks out in Hollywood, he tried them in freshwater tanks. His mistake was he didn't try them in salt water. The saltwater corroded all the mechanics. I thought that I never knew that detail. And that's why I love the story and that's why I loved how he. I mean that huge mistake he made in the filmmaking led to the best part of that film. And Launched him on his career, like, ended up being the best thing that ever happened to him.
Interviewee
Yeah. And the. So it's really interesting that that story is your lead in this book, Terry, because as an audio storyteller, you're leaving just in the same way that he left the moviegoers image of the. Of the shark up. Up to the moviegoers. Right. When you're telling your stories on your podcast and your radio show, you're leaving it up to us to kind of fill in the blanks in our minds about what everything looked like.
Terry O'Reilly
That's the joy of audio. Your listener becomes your art director. And I always thought that was so incredibly powerful. I mean, a lot of writers and advertising don't like Audi, don't like Raid. Let's call it radio. Don't like radio. They're afraid of it. They much rather do television or print or film, because at first glance, it looks like audio doesn't have all the same toolbox. You don't have casts. Like, you don't have faces. You don't have wardrobe. You don't have locations. Yeah, I always thought that was way more freeing because I could be on the moon in a radio commercial if I've done it correctly. You're with me as a listener. I could be at the bottom of the ocean, and all of that I couldn't do on television because it was too expensive.
Interviewee
Yeah, that's really interesting.
Terry O'Reilly
Right?
Interviewee
And, yeah, it's the power of audio. I wonder if these art directors or creatives are also thinking that it's just less tangible. Right. Like it's an audio file. I can't actually open something, or.
Terry O'Reilly
That's why it's also the hardest to present, Andrea, because you can show a print layout, you can show a TV storyboard, but with radio, you have to actually get up in a boardroom and perform it for your client. Which gets to your great question. Are you an introvert or an extrovert? I am. I love this question. I was so glad that it's on your list.
Interviewee
Okay, let's do it. Are you an introvert or an extrovert, Terry?
Terry O'Reilly
Complete introvert.
Dr. Andrea Vojnitsky
Really?
Terry O'Reilly
Oh, complete introvert. So they say the definition of an. Of a introvert versus an extrovert is do you get recharged by being alone or recharged by being around a lot of people? So I recharge, not by being alone. I'm not a hermit. I mean. But away from the crowd is where I recharge. Right. So that was. That was a big hindrance to Me when I started my career, because I learned quite quickly that you had to learn how to present in a boardroom. You had to get up, you had to be able to perform, you had to be able to field questions. You had to be able to really own the room. And there's a lot of money riding on those meetings. Right. You could spend, you know, a million dollars on it. You're trying to convince someone to spend a million dollars on your idea. It's. There's a lot of pressure going on. And I hated it. It was my white knuckle fear. I would beg people to present my work for me because I just. It was just the. It was the thing I feared most. And then I realized that by letting other people present my work, most of it wasn't getting sold. So I thought, okay, I have to learn how to do this. So I was very fortunate because I had a great mentor, a creative director. I had early in my career was a magnificent presenter. He was just, oh, my goodness, he could just thrill you with the work. He just. It was something about him. And I just watched him constantly at work. And I slowly, by osmosis, learned how to do it. And then I actually got over the hump of fearing it. So by. I would volunteer a lot. So, you know, creative director say, okay, who's going to present the work tomorrow? And I go put out my hand and go, okay, Riley's going to present the work. Who's going to present the strategy? Jill's good. And I would go home and just rock in the dark because I've now put myself in a situation where I have to do it. But I did it so many times that I actually got over the hump of fearing it to actually looking forward to it. Amazing introvert like me. That is a big journey.
Interviewee
Yeah.
Terry O'Reilly
So I can be situationally specific extrovert.
Interviewee
Oh, wow.
Terry O'Reilly
Wow.
Interviewee
You just came in with the zinger. So the most common answer that I get is like, I'm a recovered introvert. That's I some version of that. Right. Like, I was an introvert, but I overcame it and I'm like, introverts are the best listeners. Yes.
Terry O'Reilly
The world needs introverts.
Interviewee
The world needs.
Terry O'Reilly
Yes.
Interviewee
But your story, I'm sure, will inspire a lot of people, whether they're an introvert or an extrovert or not. Okay, so that wasn't so rapid fire, but it was a very valuable story for everyone to hear. The second rapid fire question is, what are your communication pet peeves?
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Terry O'Reilly
First of all, I think you touched on it too. I think people don't listen. I think listening is a big part of communicating. Like two monologues don't make a dialogue, right?
Interviewee
Yeah, very well put. You are going to be quoted on that, Terry.
Terry O'Reilly
Yeah, I've seen, you know, I, I've been in so many meetings where somebody will ask A client a question and then answer it before the clients had a chance to like again, it's just a monologue then. I think listening is a very underrated. Huge part of a great communicator is listening and know thy audience. The golden rule, you know, putting yourself in the shoes of who you're talking to or imagining it's a funny thing. You know, if I'll write an episode of our show and I'll send, you know, I'll record my part and the engineer puts it together and we'll talk about it and I'll make a list of revisions, sometimes 20 or 30 revisions long because I'm, I'm in the weeds on it. And then I'll listen to it, you know, over the course of that process, like six times. And then I'll. Then it'll air on cbc and it feels completely different to me because I know a million people are listening to it. Like I'll pick out little mistakes in it where I thought, how could I have missed that when I listened to it six times in a row?
Interviewee
So I just wanted to share with you that over the past several years, people ask me all the time, what do you think communication superpowers are? What are the things we need to work on? And I would come up with a list of three, depending on the person. The three most important things probably are confidence, listening, and storytelling. If you don't have confidence, actually you have nothing because you're paralyzed to your point. And then being a good listener is a great next step. And then the icing on the cake is becoming an eloquent or effective storytelling.
Terry O'Reilly
You know, Theodore Levitt has that great line that I've stolen for decades, which is, people don't buy three quarter inch drill bits, they buy three quarter inch holes. And you have to understand, even not just brand advertising, but as a personal brand or in a meeting or an exchange, you have to understand what it is people are buying. Right. You have to listen to them and know what they want and not just make it myopic in one way.
Interviewee
Yeah. So this is what I hand wrote in the front of the book when, when you, you did that, you shared what the story in the first chapter that you just shared here. And I, so I, you know, I put the book down and I thought, what is talk about? Talk selling? Is it communication skills, coaching? No, it's actually selling confidence.
Terry O'Reilly
That's what it is. Exactly. Right. Takes a long time to get to that though, doesn't it? To peel that onion to get to that, that Word.
Interviewee
I love the metaphor. Peeling the onion. I've been dancing around that idea of confidence for years.
Terry O'Reilly
Yeah, yeah.
Interviewee
So, okay, the final rapid fire question. Rapid fire question. Is there a podcast or a book that you've been recommending lately? Not, not your books, not your podcast, not my podcast. Something else out there.
Terry O'Reilly
I read so much. Oh, my goodness.
Interviewee
Do you?
Advertiser
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Interviewee
You have a book club?
Terry O'Reilly
Yeah, yeah. And you can see. I don't know if you can see behind me. I can't see myself on the thing. But I mean, that's just marketing books back there, right? Yeah, yeah, let me think of that for one second. One podcast. It's got nothing to do with marketing per se. That I love is the Plot Thickens from classic movies. So Ben Mankiewicz, who I love, I just love his intro, if you ever watch that channel, he always does these really wonderful interviews and. Or he'll do great introductions to movies, old movies, telling you what happened, what happened behind the scenes, etc. Etc. He has this great podcast called the Plot Thickens where every season is about a different filmmaker or actor or actress. And it is absolutely rivetingly fascinating.
Interviewee
Oh, excellent. I will check it out and I'll put a link to it in the, in the show notes.
Terry O'Reilly
It's really good. There's one more I'll say, I'll talk to you about just very quickly. There's a podcast series called, I think it's called the Bank Robber Diaries. I may have that name wrong, but they enter this whole series, they interview a real life modern day bank robber. Oh, who robbed. I want to say I may have my numbers wrong because I listened to the series a year or two ago. He may have robbed like 20 banks in California. Now, not some like now. And he tells, he talks about how he does it, about how it was just a fascinating look into a, into a criminal mind that you would never normally get. Like, here's how I case a bank. Here's how I make my getaway. Here's where I parked my car because I had to run out with all the money and I had to like, it was like just mind blowing to get inside the mind of someone like that. And then he's, he's now, you know, re beyond that. He's. He. Eventually an FBI guy caught him. He went to jail. Now he's on the other side of that and he's just. It's a fascinating story.
Interviewee
I was curious whether they were interviewing him in jail.
Terry O'Reilly
No, he'd already done his time.
Interviewee
He done his time. So is There anything else you want to. You want to leave with me and the Talk About Talk listeners in terms of storytelling or personal branding or advertising.
Terry O'Reilly
To be a wonderful storyteller, in my humble opinion, I just, I think it's. You have to have an enormous sense of curiosity. I think you have to be curious about people and things and why people do the things they do and influences in the culture. And, you know, again, that's about listening or asking the right questions. And I think really wonderful writers have this ability, Andrea, to be in a situation, then hover above it at the same time. So, you know, you're having an exchange with your car mechanic, but you're also watching it from above in the ceiling because you're watching the dynamics.
Interviewee
Yeah, that.
Terry O'Reilly
I remember I was getting my car fixed and I looked at the bill and I had a heart attack. And my mechanic said to me, you know what? It was really difficult. But, you know, I. I didn't even bill you for all our hours. It's. You lose, I lose. And I thought what a great way to sell a high, a high bill was to use the term you lose. I lose.
Interviewee
And.
Terry O'Reilly
And then I, as a writer, I hovered above that moment, you know, and I grabbed that moment to use elsewhere. And. And I'm always making notes by the way of things people tell me, or I make copious notes on every book I read. And, And I collect them all. And the great thing about being digitized is you can search anything. But I may not. I may find a wonderful story that someone's told me, Andrea. And I. I may not use that story for five years, but when I use that story, it is the perfect story for that moment.
Interviewee
Oh, gosh.
Terry O'Reilly
As a writer, I collect stories.
Interviewee
So where do you put them?
Terry O'Reilly
It's on my computer. It's on a hard drive in case my computer, you know, dies. But yeah, I've got even just book notes. I have probably 1600 pages of book notes so far.
Interviewee
Wow. Incredible.
Terry O'Reilly
Just pulling out little moments, little stories, little turns of phrase that I can attribute back to somebody. But like, you know, you don't buy three quarter inch drill bits. You buy three quarter inch holes, like all those little nuggets that just clarify.
Interviewee
Okay, I'm going to sneak one last question in because, like, you're basically serving this one to me. Have you created a language model for AI based on all of your books and all of your podcast episodes? Because I feel like people would pay money to ask Terry.
Terry O'Reilly
I haven't done anything like that.
Interviewee
Well, there's an Opportunity for you.
Terry O'Reilly
AI is kind of. I've been stepping back from that just to see it unfold because it's so new to all of us.
Interviewee
Yeah.
Terry O'Reilly
Yeah. Well, who knows?
Interviewee
All right, well, I want to thank you so much, Terry, for sharing your stories and your advice, very much. I learned a lot, and I have learned so much over the years, and now I'm thrilled to share that with the Talk About Talk listeners. So thank you.
Terry O'Reilly
Well, this has been a terrific conversation. I really enjoyed it. Thanks for having me. Okay.
Dr. Andrea Vojnitsky
Isn't Terry great? If you want to hear more of his fantastic voice, check out his under the Influence podcast. And I want to say thank you, Terry, for so graciously sharing your insights with us. As you could probably tell, I had a lot of fun in that interview. Did you catch where I realized I was telling Terry a story that I actually learned from him?
Interviewee
My favorite elevator pitch of all time is, you know, the Sigourney Weaver Aliens movie. Do you know what the elevator pitch was for it?
Terry O'Reilly
Jaws in Space.
Dr. Andrea Vojnitsky
Yes.
Interviewee
Yeah, I probably learned that from you, Tara.
Terry O'Reilly
You may have. Yeah.
Dr. Andrea Vojnitsky
Pretty funny. But probably the best implicit compliment ever, right? Repeating a story back to someone that first shared it with you.
Interviewee
Hmm.
Dr. Andrea Vojnitsky
Anyway, now, as promised, I'd like to summarize three main points from our conversation. One, the necessary ingredients for a great story. Two, the power of overcoming obstacles or speed bumps to achieve success. And three, this idea of peeling back the onion. Okay, so first, storytelling. Terry says that there are two great things that make for a great story. First, its structure. You have to have a beginning, a middle, and an end. And he says a teasing opening, a sumptuous middle, and an inevitable end. It's just so satisfying. And second, he says we need the element of surprise. As Terry says, unexpected moments add impact. And to be a wonderful storyteller, Terry also says you have to have an enormous sense of curiosity. Curiosity about people and about things.
Interviewee
Things.
Dr. Andrea Vojnitsky
It's about listening and asking questions. The second point I want to reinforce here is the power of overcoming obstacles. This is the point of Terry's latest book, My Best Mistake. Terry talked about the example of how Steven Spielberg's Jaws mishap, that is the mechanical shark resting in the saltwater, turned that movie into a long lasting cultural icon. He also specifically mentioned how weaknesses or obstacles or bugs of ours can become an integral and compelling part of our own personal brand. It really is about what makes us unique. The third thing I want to reinforce is this idea of peeling back the onion. It could be for your product brand or for your personal brand, but thinking deeply Peeling back the onion regarding what business you're in. So for example, Molson is not in the beer business, rather it's in the party business. And Michelin is not in the tire business, rather they're in the safety business. And talk about talk is not in the business of communication coaching, rather it's in the business of elevating your confidence. Now ask yourself, what business are you really in? Okay, there are so many more rich points, but if I have to limit myself to three from this conversation, it's the ingredients for a great story, the power of overcoming obstacles, and this idea of peeling back the onion to determine what business you're really in. And that's it. I hope you enjoyed this episode as much as I did. I put links to Terry's podcast and his books in the show notes, so please check them out. And I want to say thank you again, Terry. It was wonderful to meet you and I loved our conversation. Thank you so much for listening. Please let me know what you thought of this episode, connect with me on LinkedIn and send me a DM. Talk soon.
Terry O'Reilly
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Podcast Summary: Terry O'Reilly on Talk About Talk
Podcast Information:
Introduction In this special episode of Talk About Talk, Dr. Andrea Vojnitsky hosts Terry O’Reilly, the renowned host of Under the Influence. Celebrating his 20th anniversary on CBC, Terry shares his extensive experience in advertising, storytelling, and personal branding. The conversation delves into the essentials of effective storytelling, the evolution of advertising, and the nuances of personal branding.
The Essence of Great Storytelling Terry begins by exploring what makes a great story, emphasizing structure and the element of surprise.
Structure:
Element of Surprise:
Andrea adds her perspective, aligning storytelling with personal branding frameworks, reinforcing the power of threes in narrative construction.
Mastering Storytelling in Advertising Terry shares his admiration for brands that excel in storytelling, citing examples like Volkswagen, Nike, and Apple.
Volkswagen in the 1960s:
Nike and Apple:
Heinz as the Best Contemporary Storyteller:
Evolution of Advertising and Media The discussion shifts to how advertising has transformed with the advent of digital media.
Personal Branding Insights Transitioning to personal branding, Terry emphasizes the importance of authenticity and uniqueness.
Defining Your Unique Value:
Peeling Back the Onion:
Overcoming Personal Challenges:
Terry’s Latest Book: "My Best Mistake" Terry introduces his book, My Best Mistake, which chronicles stories of individuals who turned career catastrophes into successes.
Example - Steven Spielberg and Jaws:
The Power of Unseen Elements in Storytelling:
Communication Skills and Pet Peeves Andrea and Terry discuss essential communication skills, with Andrea sharing her top three communication superpowers: confidence, listening, and storytelling.
Listening as a Critical Skill:
Communication Pet Peeves:
Rapid Fire Questions In the rapid-fire segment, Terry shares his favorite podcasts and books, recommending diverse titles like The Plot Thickens and Bank Robber Diaries for their engaging content and unique storytelling approaches.
Closing Thoughts Terry concludes with advice for aspiring storytellers and brand builders:
Curiosity and Continuous Learning:
Collecting Stories:
Conclusion The episode wraps up with Andrea summarizing the key takeaways:
Listeners are encouraged to explore Terry’s Under the Influence podcast and his books for more insights into effective storytelling and branding.
Notable Quotes:
Further Resources:
This episode provides a deep dive into the art of storytelling within advertising and personal branding, offering valuable lessons from one of the industry's most experienced storytellers. Whether you're a marketer, a personal brand builder, or simply someone interested in the mechanics of storytelling, Terry O’Reilly’s insights are both practical and inspiring.