The School of Greatness - 795 Find Your Poker Face with Todrick Hall

Episode Date: May 10, 2019

Nerves are important. It’s ok to be nervous when you’re up against something big.It means that you’re passionate.But you have to understand that the world is a game.You have to act like you’re confident and that you know what you’re doing. Then others will want to invest in you.After all, everyone who has the power to make decisions about you and your work is also just human.For this Five Minute Friday, I revisited a conversation I had with Todrick Hall where he shared how he is able to take on huge projects that usually take teams of at least 50 and do them with only four people.From original written and choreographed music videos, such as Virgin America’s safety video, the opening number to The 2014 Kids Choice Awards, and upcoming Target spots, Todrick Hall has mastered the art of blending live experiences with social media. Todrick is rapidly becoming one of the next great powerhouses in entertainment.Learn how to conquer your fears and achieve your dreams in Episode 795. In this episode, you will learn: What Todrick does right before he goes on stage (1:50) How to handle high-pressure situations (3:13 )How Todrick’s mom helps him stay grounded (4:21 ) Why it’s important to have friends who are honest with you (5:01) Plus much more... Follow me on: Instagram @LewisHowes Twitter @LewisHowes

This is 5-Minute Friday! Welcome everyone to the podcast. Very excited about our guest. His name is Todrick Hall and he's kind of incredible. This guy is a phenom. If you guys don't know who he is, he became well- known when he auditioned for the ninth season of American Idol, where he made it to the semifinals. Since then, he's been performing on Broadway. He's a superstar. He's got a huge YouTube channel with some incredibly talented videos that he's produced. He's also featured in Forbes' Top 30 Under 30 in the Hollywood category in 2014. So you've been on Broadway, American Idol,

you got your own TV show, you've done a lot of other performances in between, opening up for Kids' Choice Awards and a lot of other stuff. What is the mantra or process before a performance, a big moment that you do for yourself? Is there something you say to yourself? Is there a ritual? Do you do something weird or do you ground yourself? Do you pray? What's something you do for yourself? Is there something you say to yourself? Is there a ritual? Do you do something weird or do you ground yourself? Do you pray? What's something you do? Usually our life is so crazy and we're trying to do something that should take a normal team of people that is like a 50 man army. We will be doing with four people and we're doing something that it would take that 50 man army two months to do we're doing it in literally two days two to three days so usually there's not a moment we are literally rushing until that moment but right before i go on stage i always just bow my head and pray i'm not the most crazy like

overly religious person but i do believe that there's no way i could be here without somebody much bigger than i watching over me and guiding my footsteps and making sure that I was in the in the room with the right people at the right time and so I just like have to pray and like ground myself to get myself prepared because otherwise I will I will go crazy and it's like a I always get this calming feeling like 30 seconds before I go on I'm a nervous wreck until 30 seconds before I go on and then I I get calm and I'm like, okay, you can do this. And then we make magic. Well, I love that. What would you say to someone who feels like overwhelmed and anxious and has a lot of pressure on themselves when they want to perform, whether it be a business pitch meeting or singing or dancing, whatever it may be, some type of performance going on their first date. What would advice would you give to someone to overcome pressure?

I would just say that this whole world is like a big game, you know, and you have to walk into a room and at least have a great poker face. You can be nervous and that's normal. I think a lot of people think that nerves are not normal. And then that means that they're second guessing themselves or doubting the talent that they know that they have. But I don't think that's what it means. I think if you're not nervous, then you're way too confident and, and, and you're probably not going to get the things that you are looking for. I think anybody who's an artist or really passionate about anything that they're going in for a good amount of nerves is important. I think put on a good poker face and go in there and remember that every single person that is in a position to make decisions, to guide your career

or change your career are also just people and people are attracted to confidence. And if an idea is great or if the talent is truly there, then I think ultimately in the end that will always prevail. What keeps you grounded with all the success you're getting and the recognition and the YouTube crazies? What keeps me grounded is I have the most amazing mom in the world. Not to go on a 20-minute tangent about my mom, but there was no dance studio where I lived. My mom got a new job so she could drive me an hour and a half to dance class every day and an hour and a half home. She never let me miss class.

She never let me be late. And I don't think without her telling me, even though she had no idea what to do with a child like me because she had never seen anybody like this and for me to be her child. I think she really jumped on the bandwagon and just tried to learn as much as she could about getting me out there. And also I have amazing, amazing friends who not only are there to support me at any day, any time, but they also tell me when I'm wrong. And I think that's the most important thing to keep someone humble. Yeah. And you're receptive to it probably. It sounds like,

yeah, because I know that they wouldn't lead me astray. And even if sometimes I don't want to hear it, I'm always, always, always so grateful that I have friends that will be like, Todrick, I love you,

but you're being ridiculous right now. This is not a good move or this would be better. You know? Sure. Sure. Yeah.