James Swanwick is an Australian-American entrepreneur, speaker, investor, and former SportsCenter anchor.
He has a podcast, “The James Swanwick Podcast,” and is the author of “The 30-Day No Alcohol Challenge.”
As a result of all this work, Forbes has listed him as one of the top 25 professionals to watch.
On the podcast, James provides some tips on how to become the best influencer you can be.
Above anything else, James believes that being open and loving is the best route for being a positive influencer. This is because whether you’re on television or at the grocery store, kindness scales to any situation.
This kindness should replace the usual feelings that rise up when in conversation, such as “what can this person do for me,” which most of us are guilty of. Selfish thoughts like this are especially common in business relationships.
To make it simple, James suggests flipping that question around. Instead of immediately wondering what you can take from someone, try thinking about what you can give.
For James, this is the key to being a positive influencer.
For James, he doesn’t prepare. He simply waits for the negative thoughts to enter his head, then immediately drowns them out with positive thoughts.
He tells himself that everyone is worth his attention and everyone has a story. If he doesn’t find them interesting or worthy of his time, then the fault is on his end, not theirs.
It’s a reactionary positivity that stimulate curiosity in others, as opposed to a premeditated positivity. This is important because being in the moment helps when connecting with someone. If you’re trying to remember a thought from a week ago, the conversation could risk falling apart.
When James was first starting out in his twenties, he made his decisions based on fame. In other words, it was all about serving himself.
In this thirties, it changed a bit, in that he began to actually want to have an impact on other people. However, this was still coming from a selfish place.
Now that he’s in his forties, James is still looking to make an impact on people, but he’s no longer doing it solely for himself. He’s doing it for his family, as well as his legacy.
In other words, everyone has to make a career somehow, so you might as well do it by having a positive impact on people.
James’ three main sources of income are from helping people sleep better, helping people quit alcohol, and helping entrepreneurs build businesses. This way, James can sleep well at night knowing that he and his family are provided for, and in a way they can be proud of.
James believes that everyone has unbelievable power within themselves that goes untapped.
However, most people walk around in a constant state of debilitation because they are scared of failure and, sometimes, even success. Success brings with it change, and the fear of change can steer people away from their potential.
With his speeches, books, and podcasts, James hopes to tap into this unrealized power and help people see how much they can actually achieve.
When James first comes out, he wants to make an immediate connection, so he cracks a joke. This also helps him get a feel for the room and what kind of approach he should take.
After that, his process is fairly simple. He delivers all the information he was planning to deliver, then when he’s done, he reminds them of everything he said. That’s his larger framework.
Within that, James focuses on the most universal aspects of the human condition, such as pain and reward. Those are topics that everyone can relate to. He does this partially through the telling of his own story, which allows people to see themselves in him.
The idea is that if James can do it, maybe I can too.
Then, he likes to add a call-to-action. This gets the audience involved and immediately taking steps in the right direction.
If you like what James Swanwick has to say and would like to hear more, you can check him out on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and LinkedIn.
For help on how to sleep better or quit alcohol, visit the websites for Swanwick Sleep and the 30 Day No Alcohol Challenge.
You can also find James at his official website, JamesSwanwick.com.