[vc_row][vc_column][vc_video link=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f57bUojx1-s”][vc_column_text]Wayne Lee is an Entertainer and Performance coach from Edmonton Alberta – whose stage history and empowering performances as a Keynote Speaker have made him a household name in Canada as ‘That Hypnotist’ and speaker from colleges and convention centres across the country.
Listen to Wayne’s thoughts on technology – and how he integrates it in his business, life, and performances.
See more of Wayne at:
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Transcript of Interview with Wayne Lee:
So I’m Wayne Lee, from Wayne Lee Enterprises, and I’ve been at this for about 23 years. I help companies, organizations, individuals boost their performance while having a blast. So a lot of companies and associations will use me for their conferences and their events, doing the keynote kickoff, the closing, or evening entertainment. What technologies are important to you? Well, I will start by saying that wow, it has been, like, accelerated beyond measure in terms of how fast it’s come. I used to employ a couple people to do things for me that were really—because the technology wasn’t there and now having the technology on my iPhone in regards to, say, I use a service called eSpeakers. And eSpeakers is really specifically focused on the calendar and marketing for speakers or professional speakers and entertainers. And having that on my phone, everything, you know, I can look at my calendar, I can plug in notes, I can plug in confirmed. So that is just one example of how it’s just completely taken—it’s been really effective in the sense of I don’t need somebody in the office, and everything just comes to me. So if I’m on the road, I just look at the calendar. The other thing is, is just everything pushing towards my phone. And again, I consider myself very, very low on the totem pole when it comes to technology, so it’s great to have people that have helped me out with it, but if you know how it works, and you know the effectiveness of say, “Hey, all my emails come to me on that phone, wow!”, the booking process as well as the communication process is completely at the touch of my fingers, which is cool. So that’s one of the things. The other thing is on the road, I’ve been an entertainer and a speaker for twenty-some years, and it was more like a rock and roll show, where I’d have two guys on the road, one guy doing sound, one guy doing lights, and I would be with the motorhome and a trailer. And I’ve gotten rid of all that, and it’s because more I’m focused on the corporate market. But now, I have a little unit that’s called an iJet NAV (and I actually have it here), where it’s so cool that it goes into an iPod or an old iPod, and I use my set lists from there on a remote in the presentation and the show. In fact I just came back from CASE, a big showcase that I just did, and people were saying, “How did you do that music? Who was doing the music?” And because it was Velcroed onto my microphone, hand-held stick, I’m doing it, and on the fly I know exactly the timing and where everything is, so it actually has replaced any need to have anybody doing that for me. And it’s freeing in the sense that I get to go and fly anywhere, and then all my stuff is on that iPod, and I don’t use slides. [laughs] Talking about technology, when people say, “Do you have any PowerPoint or slides?”, my response is “What’s that?” [laughs] So it’s very freeing to know I don’t have that because most people are using that, but mine is really a keynote performance. So when I do the music it’s very important and I got it at the touch of my fingertips, right there. So those are just a couple examples, two prime examples, of how technology has really, really changed the game for me. And it’s made it easier, more effective, with the booking process and the admin, as well as the on-the-fly presentations and performances with my music. That’s a great question and I think it’s probably even out there. [laughs] Like it’s out there and I just don’t even know it. I think the other day I was going through some Instagram and I’m thinking, “I’d like to know how to do these videos and edit these videos.” And sure enough, I meet up with my good buddy, Martin Latulippe, and I didn’t even mention to him, and he goes, “Here’s a really good app for editing for your Instagram stuff.” And so those types of things are all out there. So my advice, if people want to hear it, is find somebody that knows all of the technology stuff that you may want, like an expert, and more than likely it’s out there. I think it can be very overwhelming, because there are so many things to do nowadays with social media platforms, with getting your own content out there, and so it can be overwhelming in regards to that. I found, and it was thanks to you, using Buffer. In terms of loading up Buffer and on all the platforms in terms of my LinkedIn, my twitter (which I haven’t really used a lot, but I did when I loaded it up with Buffer), and then Facebook. What were some of the other ones? Instagram. So loading that up and having lots of content go out on that in a timed way, although I didn’t stop doing my live posts, it was just such a great addition, as well as the consistency was there throughout that time period. So Buffer is another one that I use, and it’s been great. I think another challenge is it’s overwhelming because there are so many apps. There are so many technology gadgets and things out there; it’s about being clear what you need it for and then confide in an expert. This is my experience. I spent lots of money along the way before it was ready, and then have to change things and change things. So right now the website is a site that has got some information. It’s got an opt-in for people to download my free hypnosis program, so it’s there. Getting it out there on a larger scale in terms of SEO, like, yeah—that’s yet to be coming in terms of how to implement that. But what I’ve done, and I think this is really important in anybody looking at where they want to go with their website, I’ve looked at some of the people that are the keynote presenters that are making X, and that are really playing a high level game, and I’m looking at their sites. And I’m seeing, “Oh, this is where I need to go with it.” So I need some really good video, some good promotional video which I just got this weekend, which is awesome, but it’s only a piece of it. Because we’re going to need probably about three more events before I clip that up and put it in there. So one, I think the website’s always a work in progress, always. And if you go, “I’m going to do this, and then it’s done,” it never is done. It’s always a work in progress. So my site is kind of like a hybrid from years ago into this WordPress site, which is doing the trick, because people are going—they say, “Hey. Great. Great look, great video on that.” And here’s the “but”: The next step is to focus in on making it look like the guys that are getting 15 to 20,000 for those keynotes, as well as the functionality of it, and I’m still not 100% clear of all that. So the next step is to confide in somebody like yourself, some experts that can offer me some advice in that. I think you have to play the whole game. So when somebody says, “Hey,” videos it—I think, you know, when you’re playing a particular game and you’re at a certain level, you have to make sure that it’s elevated in all areas. If somebody has great videoing but somebody does go to the website, and it’s like, “Oh my goodness,” it’s not a representation of who they are or who they want to be or the perception they want to give out. So I think you have to make sure that the bases are covered. With that being said, if there is one thing that would sell me: People looking at my video. And the reason why, is because a picture is great, the good look—but what I do is something that people experience. And if I’m at a live event? Like this live event, there was 400 people there. I had people coming up that said, “I’ve never seen that before. That was amazing. I get it. Hypnosis—never thought it would work for a keynote breakfast thing. But I get it!” That’s what sold them. So the next best thing would be video that takes people through and shows some chunks, or some big chunks, to really express that so people go, “Ah.” So the video is important. And I just had seen a really great blog post or a post from Gary V. the other day, and he says, “Don’t be so caught up in creating things. Document everything.” And I’m like, “Wow.” Like, it was, I think, in 2004, we came out with a documentary when people weren’t doing this necessarily, and my good buddy, Jeremy Podlog, said, “Wayne, let’s document your thing.” And he went on the road for, you know, off and on, for about six months. We produced a documentary called “The Deeper You Go.” And the title is a little misleading, but it is all about me on the road, hypnosis shows, going into my first—putting on my first live event as a motivational presenter. And it was amazing, because at the time I kind of knew, like, “We’re documenting this process.” All the words, all the things that we are messing up on, all the challenges, and there it was. And now there’s no greater opportunity to do that, and that’s what people want to see: Behind the scenes of the process. You know, information sometimes is futile in terms of “Do this. Here’s a tip. Here’s a tip.” I mean, I put that information out, and I think it’s part of the process, but what people really want to see is how are you doing that behind the scenes. So I think that video is super important. Now we have these platforms that are more accessible to do that with Instagram, Facebook. And they’re making it so the incentives of going live to do that blows my mind. It’s like marketing, free marketing. With that being said, on the video side of what I do as a keynote presenter and an entertainer, that video is so important. So me going into a nightclub, and if that’s the video that’s out there, that’s what I’m represented as. But if I say I’m a corporate mainstage presenter, and I’m in front of this audience where they have 400 to a thousand people in that audience, and I am just shooting off my message, I’m doing what I do best and that’s captured—that is the next best thing to a live event. So I think it’s super important. Besides the live event stuff, the content creation. I mean, we have this ability to create content. I had to take a picture of the actual video or the camera that I have, but it’s a Canon [S]X30, but somebody said to get this video. So that tells you how much I know about the technology, but I knew that if they were using it, and I’d seen it, great. So I got the camera, set it up in my home studio (it’s just a home office), and put some lights up and shot video. And then I’m getting it out there. I use Final Cut Pro, and if I can edit this stuff, anyone can edit this stuff. I upload it to my YouTube channel. I’ll also put it out to my e-mail list, and it’s just figuring it out. I got AWeber, which really is my contact management to send out my e-mails of broadcast. But again, I feel, like, so freed. I can write my own ticket, because I can put whatever I want on that video, on that content, and then get it out, and it happens right from my home. Use technology to your advantage. Make it your friend, not your foe. And if you feel like, “Oh my goodness, it’s overwhelming,” reach out to somebody that really knows about technology. That is my advice, because there is always—there is more solutions out there with technology nowadays, and sometimes you just don’t even know, so ask an expert.
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