“If you have that idea, the only encouragement I have left to give is to share it. Because what else do you have to lose? If you know one person needs it? And everyone did that? Then life would be better.” Brenden Kumarasamy is the founder of Master Talk. It’s a YouTube channel that he started to help the world master the art of public speaking and communication. He coaches purpose-driven entrepreneurs on how to master their message and share their ideas with the world.
Watch the episode here:
Listen to the podcast here:
Mastering The Art Of Communication With Brenden Kumarasamy
Brett:
I’m excited about our next guest. He’s the founder of MasterTalk. It’s a YouTube channel that he started to help the world master the art of public speaking and communication. He coaches purpose-driven entrepreneurs on how to master their message and share their ideas with the world. Please welcome to the show with me, Brendan, and I’m gonna let you pronounce your last name because I pronounce it correctly. So Brendan, welcome to the show.
Brenden:
Thanks for having me, Brett. Good to be here.
Brett:
Excellent. How do you pronounce your last name?
Brenden:
It’s Kumarasamy. But trust me that there’s a reason why I didn’t call the YouTube channel my name or else no one would find me.
Brett:
Absolutely. Kumarasamy, but that’s not so hard if you actually just slow down and just say it right Kumarasamy. That’s a cool last name. And you’re out of the Montreal area in Canada. Is that correct?
Brenden:
That’s correct.
Brett:
Beautiful. Well, let’s start a little bit with your story and then talk a little bit about your current books.
Brenden:
I guess the journey started when I was five years old, my parents looked at me because I lived in Montreal, and they said, you got to learn French buddy. So they sent me to a French school. And much like in the context of presentations, a lot of us are uncomfortable with those to give, you know, presentations, the boardroom, it all starts in that school setting. I grew up presenting a language I didn’t even know when I was in grade one or to look at the crowd and say bonjour, and that was my life. Parents are from middle to lower-income families. So when I joined the business when I went to business school in the university, and I was an accounting major of all things, I guess it’s pretty related to your podcast. I remember going to my first Price Waterhouse information session, I thought it was a Water Bottling Company, a loss I was. And then I was lucky. I was fortunate I got an internship there. I started working there as an auditor. And then after that, I decided to switch tracks and got a job in consulting at IBM. And in that process, I did these things called Case Competition. So think about professional sports, but for nerds. So other guys my age were playing sports, football or soccer, baseball, I use that same competitive spirit, and I competed in business competitions. And it was from that experience that when I graduated, I started working at IBM as a consultant that I realized through a series of serendipitous events, that I was one of the youngest professional speech coaches in the world. So I started coaching CEOs when I was 23, I started a YouTube channel called master to talk to democratize the world’s information about public speaking communication in my mother’s basement. And here we are today.
Brett:
That’s fascinating. And interesting on so many levels. Before we dive into that, though, I want to take a step back, and I want the listeners and I also want to get to know you a little bit more. I want to go back to the committee grade school, right? It could be junior high. I believe we’ll all be given certain gifts in this life. And these gifts are given to us to be able to be a blessing and help to others. So ladies, is that one or two gifts that you believe you were given? And how do those help how you help people today?
Brenden:
Absolutely. So there’s a discrepancy between the gifts I thought I had versus the gifts I did have. So for example, when I was 12. So once again, you’ll appreciate this. I decided to be an accountant very thoughtfully. I looked at all of my report card grades, and I noticed I had diabetes and mathematics and everything else was a 50 or 60 or 70. I just said look, it’s either Science or read accounting. And then I read the job description for actors. And let’s just say I didn’t want to do anything with my life. So anyway, I kept going, I kept studying hard. I thought maths was the path for me. But when I got to university, I realized what my real gift was. And there are two forms. One was to be a teacher, how do you take something very complex, and disseminate that knowledge in a way that anybody can understand. And the second part of it was helping people with not just corporations or their businesses, but rather their lives, I want it to be a lot more than just somebody just working on a day job or doing something at the source, I would say the biggest gifts that I’ve realized was the one for communication, how do you convey an idea? And the second part of that is, how do you convey it in a way that is so simple, that even a six-year-old can understand what you’re saying? So I was able to use those gifts to make, too, I guess, take the public speaking puzzle and make it as simple as possible in the channel?
Brett:
Well, this is gonna be fun, because we certainly have an idea that we believe could change the world in regards to transformational exit planning and acts have happened to tie into accounting. And I had no idea you had that background. All that being said, sometimes it can be a little complex, right? And folks needed to be simpler. So what is the first step to taking something a little more complex and making it simple?
Mastering The Art Of Communication: “Wise men speak because they have something to say; Fools because they have to say something.” – Plato
Brenden:
Right. So the first exercise is like to run on the off chance that it works is the following. If you don’t explain your entire idea, meeting, thought process, a conversation that you have, and one sentence, what would the sentence be? So if you think about me, sure, I can talk about 75 different communication tips, today’s conversation, but if there’s one thing that you take away from me, is that I want to convince you that you can master it because if I convince you, that you can master communication, you’ll do everything else, you’ll watch the videos, you’ll watch more podcasts, you’ll try to read books about public speaking. But if I don’t convince you, if I don’t prove that it’s something anybody can master, then I haven’t accomplished the goal. So for everyone who’s listening, depending on what conversation or what business meeting, or boardroom, or anything that you’re doing, can you summarize that whole idea in a sentence. And if you can’t do it, a good process or scenario starting with is the following. So let’s say you’re the CEO of a company, and it’s your last presentation ever. And then that last presentation that you get to give, you get to talk for as long as you want. Five minutes, 15 minutes, five hours, you get to choose the time, but unfortunately for you, nobody’s going to remember your name. Nobody’s going to remember your title. And Heck, no one is even going to remember your content, but they’re going to remember one sentence, what do you want the sentence to be? That’s the first path to getting to clarity.
Brett:
Okay, so is it that one big Domino, that one big belief that you need someone to believe, to get knocked over the fence and say that in one sentence? And if you can knock that over or deliver that MMA, am I on the right track here, then the rest of it will follow? Is that a fair summary?
Brenden:
Yeah, for sure. And I’m happy to use your business as an example. So since I have the accounting background, as well, you could say, hey, we provide these services, these taxes, and these gains, and look at all the Canadian tax laws in the USA, and you can just like lose pretty much everybody, including people who are accounting majors like myself as well, I am not encountered anymore. But if you were to summarize one sentence, what your whole business is the following. We help get rid of the headaches that you might have about accounting and make it easier for you to achieve your goals with the least amount of stress. That’s it. From there, you can make it simpler.
Brett:
Yeah, so this is ours, I’m gonna throw it. I think we call it the one-liner, you know, and it’s, we, behind the Donald Miller story brand. We help high net worth individuals escape feeling trapped by capital gains tax so that they can create and preserve more wealth.
Brenden:
That’s an excellent example of how to summarize in a sense, and you spent a lot of time on that sentence. So that’s the key. And I want that for everybody, right? How if you can clearly articulate what you do, who you are, and who you want to be in this world, not just your business, it’s going to be easy to communicate, not just with your business partners and your customers, but also your family, your friends, and everyone around you.
Brett:
So now I want to touch on though when the listener wants to make it more complex, or in our scenario, it seems as they go It can’t be that simple. Like, you know and I don’t know, you’re just selling your assets to the trust and then the funds are going in there and you’re not taking receipt of the cash, therefore you’re in a tax deferral state and it’s this idea of like, wow, but that provides so much transformation, it’s got to be too good to be true. Like at times, I’ve got to hold back the features and benefits and maybe just tell them the one too. So talk about that idea of not only communicating well but slowly, I guess allowing people to decide just because I get so excited, I guess I’m gonna tell him this, I want to tell him this until this. And sometimes it’s like, Whoa, that’s too much. So walk through the art of delivering in a way that is digestible.
Brenden:
Right. So the key is the order in which you say is going to be different depending on what that specific person you’re talking to, or the group of people you’re talking to, is prioritizing. So let’s say you’re speaking to a group of teenagers, the goal is to get them to invest something, to spend a little money outside of their paycheck, and to show them the power of financial freedom. Hey, kids, if you start at this age, how much money you’ll have for retirement, imagine what you could buy with those things. But that’s very different. When we’re talking to a 55-year-old executive at a company, you might say something like this, Bob, or Julia, you’ve spent decades of your life honing this expertise working on your craft, and losing most of your money to capital gains tax you aren’t aware of. But what if I told you what if I allowed you to use that same idea, that same career, and transform the way that you and your family can be protected for the next decade, that’s something that they prioritize. So it’s always about thinking about the psychology of the person you’re speaking to and emphasizing, and you leveraging that very psychology to make what you say more appealing to that individual.
Brett:
So be emphasizing for even when you were saying that I was trying to glean how you inflected your voice. And you talked about the history, you essentially emotionally try to connect with them, from where they’ve been, you spent the past decade 20 3040, blood, sweat and tears, building this paying numerous taxes over the years. Now you’re going to be selling this asset, and you’re faced with 50% 30% 40% being gone. But there’s a can you imagine, given that kind of vision statement, right? Deferring all of that, and keeping that wealth in your family? What would that do for you? What do you think? How does that sound?
Brenden:
You’re pretty good at what to do, Brett. And I think it’s great to roleplay this, and I completely agree. And once again, this applies to everything, even outside of the business. If you want to get your kid to do something, think of it from the kid’s perspective. right? What can you do about that, right? You know, if you eat your broccoli, Dylan, I’ll let you play outside for 10 more minutes. What do you think, right? Right, and it works. And it works for you too, because the kid exercises 10 more minutes and gets healthier anyways. So it’s always about finding that win-win incentive for both parties.
Brett:
Excellent. So what’s the biggest misconception for entrepreneurs or consultants in sales, that in today’s I guess fast-paced what I call the attention market, right? It’s a longer information market information is readily available anywhere you want to look, good information is harder to find. But attention is where the intention is. So what’s the best-kept secret right now for communicating in this attention age?
Brenden:
Most people make the mistake of trying to speak to everyone, they got this podcast, they got this YouTube channel, but they have no clear intention behind it. So that way, they can’t grow a following. If you take my YouTube channel, yeah, sure. It started small. But I think the reason it’s had the success it’s had today, it’s because I’ve been focused on the individuals and people who I know will benefit tremendously from that content. And for me, it ends up being podcast hosts like yourself, right? Who wants to get better at communication, and who also wants to share that value to the audience that they speak to. So it’s a perfect fit. Because if every podcast hosts in the world, and that’s not everybody, there’s only probably what maybe 50 100,000 podcast hosts in the world may be a bit more. Well, if everyone just listened to the YouTube channel, and we’re fans of my free content, I would have 100,000 subscribers. That’s huge. That’s amazing, right? So you don’t need to speak to everyone, you want to focus on who is the person who needs you the most? And the question you can ask yourself to figure that out, so you can make better content for those people is the following. What does the world need you most to do right now? And why? And by answering that question, it’s going to be easier for you to go. Well, I like bagels, but I’m not that great at making that maybe I should make videos about something else that will be a lot more useful to people and then getting clear on who that person is.
Brett:
What does the world need you to do right now and why? And then just like a laser continuing to niche and focus on that particular segment. I can’t help but try to try because I had two degrees in a minor and played college sports and I’m what’s the word? I want to say? multitaskers. That’s not the right word for it. Like I find something I love. And I go deep into that. But I add another thing. I love it. I go deep into that, too. So it’s kind of a thing there. But yeah, I look at our strategy. I’m like, well, it’ll work for you. And yeah, and it would work for you. And because it works for primary homes, it works for businesses, it works for cryptocurrency sellers, it works for, you know, high investment real estate. It also works for the baby boomer, I think it works best for the baby boomer because they’ve owned something for a very long time, and they have the highest. So that’s definitely like if I had to say what is my perfect avatar, or who’s the person I can help the most. It is that person who’s in their 50s or 60s or 70s. And they’ve built three to $10 million of wealth, and they’re ready to retire from the toilet, trash, and liability. But there’s also the other ones. But what I found is correct, if I’m wrong, what you’re saying is still focused on that one avatar, the other ones will come if it’s a good fit. But if you try to be all things to all people, you’re probably not going to grow. Is that a fair summary?
Brenden:
Absolutely. And that applies from a content creation perspective as well. So if you think about me, like you, I have different niches as well of people I target for, for my videos and content. But the big psychographic that I’m talking about is anyone who wants to share an idea that matters to someone who wants to hear it. If you’re a seven-year-old girl or girl in Cambodia, or you’re a 70-year-old retiree who wants to talk about something important in life, maybe the lessons that you’ve learned throughout, I want a master lock to be the hub for all of those individuals. But at the same time, there’s going to be niches in the world who are going to be a lot more interested as a group and what you have to say, than as individuals. So podcasts, this is an example. Technology executives and CEOs are another and then you can gradually build on different niches until you become mainstream.
Brett:
Beautiful. So that’s secret number one, trying to be everything that everyone is speaking to everyone not good. So what’s secret number two, and this new attention age?
Brenden:
I would say secret number two is most people especially those who are getting started don’t have enough one on one long conversations that people are listening to them. I see so many content creators, Brett, who have seven people watching them. And I always ask them. So out of those seven people, how many of them? Have you met personally one on one, they always answer one or two. And I was like, why isn’t the answer seven. If there’s It seems this applies to business or anything, or even family or friends. If there are only seven people who are supporting you, you need to speak time to talk to all seven people. That’s the best way to understand their psychology and understand how to best serve them. Because as you serve a small group of people, the world will eventually permit you to serve everyone else. That’s what I put a food master talk. When I was in when I was younger. And I started I think I started YouTube channel 22 nobody took me seriously besides the people who were younger than me, right? So let’s say that people are getting started. Universities want more student tips, who want to get better at presentations, and then eventually the brand increased. And now I coach people double my age, right? But I didn’t start that way. It’s about finding that people, those groups of people who you know, will immediately resonate with your ideas. And then eventually, when you have a brand, people will just respect you for the work and the results you output. And then after that, you just scale from there.
Brett:
That’s beautiful. And I love the way you said that as you serve a small number of people, the world would permit you to serve more, right? And he’s certain, but a better way would be you serve them, really, really well. Right, as you add an amazing amount of value provides that transformation for them. It’s like it can’t help but spread the news and grow. Is that a fair summary?
Brenden:
Absolutely.
Brett:
Amazing. This is so this is so good. What would be secret number three?
Brenden:
Sure. Secret number three is a bit more controversial. But it’s something I live by. It’s this idea that you’re always a slave to your audience. If you’re someone who’s very committed to building a very successful business, or even a successful media company and following, you need to always understand that your audience always has the leverage. What do I mean by that? The best person in this space, Gary Vaynerchuk, I think is a great example of this, who has the fastest growing marketing agency in the world. VaynerMedia even at this level, like he is just killing it. But even there, he’s still spending time after his keynotes that he gets paid $150,000 to give to still talk to the general public for two hours to still sign some books to still talk to people around him. Right before he misses his flight. He still takes that time. Why does he have to bother? He’s a multi-centimillionaire. He doesn’t need to do any of those things. The reason he does is that to stay at the top of that game, you need to always be your audience’s slave. I know that’s extreme. But it’s that insight that 90% of content creators don’t do. Hence why there’s a huge gap between the ones who win in this game. And the ones who don’t. It’s like accounting. I mean, that’s a great analogy. The top 1% of accountants in the world get paid a lot more than the top 10% of the partners that the Big Four accounting firms get paid a lot more than the people who get started in accounting, right? There’s a reason for that, right? It’s a power law, the people who are the best at what they do that people are the most obsessive, get paid x more dividends, make more impact, make more influence and create a bigger legacy for other people to follow and, and strive for.
Brett:
Spot on. I mean, it makes perfect sense. And I can’t help but think of the sports analogy, right? Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan are the LeBron James, the Steph Curry those who are like so committed to their craft, to the training to Tom Brady’s right going on the football ones, even a guy like Tom Brady, it’s like, you look at him coming out of college. And if you have seen the picture like he’s a skinny, white guy, you’re like, there’s no way this guy’s playing football like, and he goes on to his book and TV, TV 12 with reading his books, amazing book. And he talks about not only the level of commitment and the obsession, right? But also the ability to be humble and get outside help with trainers and be innovative with new tech, new techniques for he’s called playability, which has changed the way I approach health and fitness. And it’s like, oh, my gosh, I wish I would have learned this when I was in, high school. And you look at that he’s become an icon, right? And arguably the greatest quarterback ever. And he’s in his late 20s, in his early 30s, in his mid-40s. Now, it’s crazy, right? And now there may be the top team right now, as of this year, he just not only, it’s not just his ability, but he can lead and be and be a transformational type of icon, even like LeBron, like LeBron goes to get to championships, he’s got championships, you go to Miami, one over here in Cleveland, and then one in LA, three different teams, I guess a better way to put it. But there’s something to that when you’re so devoted, and so in love with what you do. So is that a fair summary?
Mastering The Art Of Communication: “Communication – the human connection is the key to personal and career success.” – Paul J. Meyer
Brenden:
Absolutely. Couldn’t agree more.
Brett:
Okay, I’m gonna go secret number four, because you’ve delivered on every single one of these and we’re jam. And so is there here? Is there a secret number four? Is there more, Brenden?
Brenden:
There’s more but I think I think the last thing that I would say it’s probably the most important, especially with content creation, is if you’re not playing a decade-long game, don’t bother playing at all. And the reason I say that is because building a following takes a lot of time but yields significant dividends if you play long enough. And if you’re depending on how good you are, that journey can be a lot less than 10. So I’m probably a year or two into this, and I’m probably seeing the results that I would like to see. But for a lot of people out there, especially if there’s a lot of competition and there is content creation, you need to play that game, because it will tell you a couple of things. One, if you’re grimacing, and you’re crying, and you just don’t want to do it for 10, you probably shouldn’t do it at all, you’re just wasting your time, right? But for the people like me who go wait a second, no, no, no, nobody is democratizing the world’s information on communication or free for somebody else. It’s, hey, nobody’s sharing these cupcake recipes that I just need to share with me, it doesn’t matter what the thing is. But if you’re so passionate, or rather obsessed about it, that you’re willing to do it for a decade, those are the people that end up winning, in the end, so I highly recommend you think about the 10-year vision for your podcast or YouTube telling your blog. And if you don’t have one, or you’re too, it’s too daunting for you. Chances are you’re gonna you’re going to give up before you get to the 10 years.
Brett:
So well said, I can help me think about that with real estate investments. So before I started creating content on YouTube, and having a podcast, I was a commercial real estate broker. And what we would tell voters is, if you’re not willing to invest for five to seven or 10 years, then you probably shouldn’t buy this deal. right? If you’re looking for just the quick, the quick, fix and flip or the quick, high returns, you might be able to do that. But this is probably not the deal for you, right? This is probably not the rule for you to jump into. Let’s go buy that first deal. Or that third-year fifth deal is to a five to 10-year old and let’s add value. And then you might be able to be good enough or and I guess another way to put it, you might earn you might be able to the real estate investment world might give you a deal to fix and flip on a shorter-term, because you’ve already earned it so much more on the knowledge over here trying to connect those two dots on your other secret. But that makes a whole lot of sense, right? And also, I think just the passion that’s involved with it. I guess when I started my podcast and my YouTube channel I couldn’t help it get the message out like I couldn’t help but share what I had learned and the transformation I’ve seen with my clients and by the way, it was the most awkward thing. Getting on a camera for the first time with poor lighting. And like I glasses it’s like the yellow lights. I’m even like the white lights. And it’s like, oh, this is bad. And those old videos I’ve deleted. My virtual assistants go on to those are the worst videos they had made on me, I hired them just a couple of years ago, this is like even further back. All that being said, speak to those who are, Brendan, you know that content creation is for all you millennials, and those young people, you know, what give us like if you don’t do this, kind of give them the shock and awe like, if you don’t do this, like, you’re left behind like you are this time, right? Give us that feedback.
Brenden:
I’ll tell you the one question that made me start a YouTube channel. Because to be honest, I had no intention. I know it’s coming from a millennial and everything. I had no intention of being a YouTuber, that wasn’t my thing. I wanted to be a partner at PwC, I wanted to be a senior executive at IBM, I was a corporate guy, clean like I that’s why I went to university. So I can be one of the top case conferences and get a job. But one of these big companies and being a senior executive in my early 30s, make a lot of money and then die with an amazing family. I didn’t want to make many of us listen, right? It’s not that I was, even if I’m younger, I started the same ambition. Until my friend came up to me one day, and he asked me this question. He said, you know, you’ve been doing this public speaking thing for a while, you know, with your friends and family. Why don’t you start a YouTube channel? I looked at him and said, Why would I ever do that? This is not profitable for me, I’d rather just keep working my 80 hour weeks at that price or, or at IBM it just gets to the top? And then he said, Well, do you have enough time to coach everybody on communication? What about the people in Cambodia? What about the people in India? Do you have time for that? And I said, No. And he said exactly. Even if they paid you $1,000 an hour, you still wouldn’t have enough time. This means if you truly want to make an impact. Well, if that’s something you care about Brenden. And if you don’t, that’s fine. But if that’s something that you do, you need to get on video, a video is no longer an option becomes a necessity, becomes an obligation, a duty, a responsibility. And then I said, Okay, so I started the master talk, not to build a business, I was not an entrepreneur by any means. I was an executive and was the number two kind of guy. And then, Master talking to golf, I guess my content resonated with some people. And I was able to build a practice out of it. But that wasn’t the intention, which I started with. So I think the only thing that matters to everyone who’s listening, is to think about all the ideas that you have in the world. And if there’s one that nobody else is sharing, understand the consequence of not sharing it, the people who need it, the people who need to hear it, the people whose lives will be changed by that idea. Every day you make the decision not to share it is a bad decision because somebody out there is not taking advantage of it.
Brett:
So amazing. My mind is blown. Are you ready for the lightning round? Because we will, we will dive into that right now.
Brenden:
As long as they’re not counting related. I’m happy to answer.
Brett:
It’s not yeah, it’s not.
Brenden:
So don’t try to forget all of that stuff.
Brett:
It’s not these are just general questions. So knowing what you know, now, if you can go back to your 25-year-old self, what’s the one Golden Nugget you would make? Sure you would do.
Brenden:
I would say be insane or be the same?
Brett:
What do you mean by that?
Brenden:
Be insane or be the same beans. If you want to be like everyone else, that’s fine. But if you want to make a change in the world, if you want to do something important with your life, the only way to move forward is to be insane. Don’t you find it odd that at the age of 22, I started a YouTube channel in my mother’s basement when I had a six-figure job waiting for me at IBM to make videos not on comedy skits, not on blood and pranks that would have been normal behavior because that’s what every kid does? But I did it on executive communication tips. But at the same time, I still live in my mother’s basement. I karaoke in eight different languages. I dance alone in my basement an hour a day, I don’t own a car, I don’t plan on moving out of my mother’s basement Despite the success I’ve had. Why is that? Why do any of those decisions make any sense at all? And that, my friends, is the point when all of the decisions that you make in your life makes sense to the only person that matters, which is you? You’ll probably become extremely successful through life.
Brett:
That’s amazing. I’m ready for that book. when it’s released. Let me know by a second question, what’s the one book you’ve recommended or give us the most in the past year?
Brenden:
The number one book I get the most is Thirst by Scott Harrison. Scott’s a personal hero of mine. He’s the CEO of Charity Water, which is a nonprofit that helps people gain access to clean drinking water. I think he’s a savant and storytelling, marketing, and branding. And if you’re someone out there who wants to get better at communication, branding, messaging, he’s not just a guy who talks theory he applies it and he’s done an incredible job with Charity Water and the brand. He’s built. He’s raised hundreds of millions of dollars since he started. Really smart guy, I highly recommend this New York Times bestseller book.
Brett:
You mentioned you speak multiple languages. How to speak in multiple languages helps you to communicate in English.
Brenden:
Oh, that’s good. So the way that I think about this, and this is something I learned from karaoke, and eight different languages that I didn’t do it initially for that, but ended up being a thing later, is I speak through but I don’t speak a language and karaoke and a by speak through so I speak English, French and Tamil. So what this does is when you learn to pronounce words, you don’t understand a language you can’t speak, it improves your overall pronunciation for everything or anything that you say, don’t contradict Alphonse. Notice when I switch to French, there’s no accent, right? Like zero, so you don’t see it either. Maybe the doctor said French is totally fine. But I could do that in Korean and Japanese. So when doing that in different languages, it improves your pronunciation in the English language and every other language that you speak. And it’s a fun way to practice pronunciation, by the way, because you don’t want to wake up every day and just go. I like apples, I like oranges, he’ll just give up after a couple of days. So that’s why I recommend singing songs, languages are just songs you like in languages you don’t understand.
Brett:
That’s so beautiful. And I can’t help but think about the body, right? And when you work out certain ways, let’s say you just do like, heavy lifting, and you’re just bench pressing. But when you like bands, or you do like you know balanced training, or you’re getting the air muscles, so I can’t help but think of the inflection of your voice and your tone. When you’re going into these different languages. It’s almost taking you out, taking your tongue, let’s say outside of its comfort zone. Therefore, you’re strengthening it in ways in which you maybe had never used before. Therefore, it’s making it overall stronger. Is that a fair summary?
Brenden:
Absolutely. Yeah.
Brett:
That’s pretty cool. That’s fascinating. Cool. Next question, give me mobile or digital resource you recommend for your business?
Brenden:
Mobile digital resource. I don’t think people take enough notes on their thought process in their day today. So I would probably recommend Google Keep or if you have an iPhone I note. And the reason I say this is because let’s say somebody’s listening to this podcast right now, they might be doing this in a car, or while they’re working out. But I think what most people are missing is not the information, but rather the reflection of that information. So when I listen to a podcast, right, let’s say I’m on a strategy call with you, or I’m talking to different people. I’m always taking notes specifically about things that I think are brand new insights, that not many people have said, so I can bank that somewhere. Whether it’s a future video idea or a discussion I want to have with somebody. So for example, here’s something I came up with a week ago. Often what I found is that the questions that we’re interested in answering that most people aren’t interested in, knowing more about are the ones we should be following. So for example, one of the questions I asked myself that nobody asked is what is the world’s easiest problem to solve? So that led me down a whole different rabbit hole of ideas and thoughts. So for you, what is the question that you’re interested in answering that you think most people aren’t interested in? And those are the ones you fall under? Those are just some weird insights to come up with as I read and reflect on different things. But you want to write that down somewhere that does that’s not just if you want to be a thought leader. That’s just anything you know, business tricks, somebody gives you a strategy like, hey, Brett, did you try this? And you’re like, oh, well, I got to take a note on that. Always keep that log going.
Brett:
Beautiful. Love that. Give me your favorite leadership quote, or theme that you strive to live by?
Brenden:
I’ll use one of Scott’s quotes. And Scott’s quote is probably the one that’s marked my life the most besides the whole insane thing, which is the following. The goal is not to live forever, but rather create something that will. So from that quote, what I learned, personally, is life was about legacy. And I’m glad I learned that very early on in life. So I didn’t have to waste my time chasing things that were ultimately useless in the grand scheme of things. So really focusing on making a legacy and doing something that matters to people who need it the most.
Brett:
Beautiful. Love that. Next question, what are you curious about right now?
Brenden:
Lots of things I’m curious about everything in life, the way that why did you unbutton one shirt or not two? Or why did you end button shirts at all? Why do you have that logo? I’m always asking questions all the time. So I think one way of summarizing my thoughts, there’s the quality of your life is solely determined by the quality of the questions you’re willing to ask yourself. That’s why my habit is to recommend people to ask themselves hard questions about life every day. What are you pretending not to know? If you had all the money in the world, how would you spend your time and if you died tomorrow? What would your funeral speech says about you leads to a lot of clarity?
Brett:
It’s beautiful. I love it. Brothers and sisters growing up curious what was the household like?
Brenden:
Yep. Father, Mother, and younger sister.
Brett:
She’s an English teacher.
Brenden:
You know this is something I’ve learned on my journey is don’t enforce change on people who don’t necessarily want it right now. But my sister’s amazing though I just she’s not as crazy as I am. And that’s great. Trust me.
Brett:
Beautiful. No, I love it. So last question here, Brenden. And it’s my favorite question because it helps encapsulate a little bit of what we’ve talked about so far, and in your journey, and your story and your successes. So after all your successes, and all the things you’ve overcome, I’m curious, how do you stay centered in your values? And how do you stay encouraged to charge forward to reach new goals?
Brenden:
That’s an interesting double part of the question that I would say the big thing, the underlying thread, is I’m very aware of my mortality rate. I always like using comparison as a tool. So what do I mean by this? Most people compare the wrong things, Brett, they go, oh, this person has a BMW, I should probably get one, oh, this person has this. But they don’t make that list for what brings them joy. And for me, what I’ve learned through the series of questions I’ve asked myself is the only thing I care about is to do great things. I don’t care if I have to live in a basement, although I’m financially successful, I just want to do great things to keep my burn rate low. So from that insight, I’m always comparing myself to people who are way ahead of me and thinking, how can I circumvent that success and half the time and 75% of the time, or in that range. And the other part of that is once again, going back to mortality, if I know the game is going to be over and 50 years, it gives me that push that incentive to go. You might as well play to the fullest because you don’t know if that is 50 years, 25 years, or even five years.
Brett:
That’s beautiful. And that makes sense. I have one of my kind of virtual mentors if you will. He’s a fellow podcaster; he was running the number one real estate podcast called the best real estate podcast, Joe Fairless. He has a debt clock. oh, I love death claws. And he has it there. And it’s there that they go. He takes what is ages, what’s the average, this, you can add a little bit minus a little bit, whatever you want to do. And it’s there. And every day he’s looking at going okay, this is reminding me that I’ve only got so much time and this life and opportunity, and we’re not promised it. But at least if you know, it helps him to keep in touch with his mortality. I think that is wise. And I think that’s smart to number our days and to live life to the fullest. With that, any thoughts on that?
Brenden:
I’m happy to just because you mentioned that I’m happy to add this as a final value add since people are still listening. For those of you who are, I have a more extreme version of the death clock. I call it the admirer timer. But essentially what you do is pick someone that you admire in life that died at a very young age, and assume you’re going to die at that age. So for me to be personal here, the person I chose is Kobe Bryant, Kobe Bryan was supposed to do a lot of amazing things with his life, he was just started, he was in the first inning after his basketball career was over, essentially. But nope, not many people knew that he was gonna start this huge media company and just make a dent. That was much more significant than all of his years in basketball, unfortunately, he passed. So the way that I think about life is the reason this is more effective than a death clock, is because you admire the individual, that person you admire, made the same mistake that they don’t want you to make, which was they thought they were going to live until the average life expectancy in the same way your friend does things, they think they’re going to live until 80. Or somebody oh, yeah, meeting all my avocados, I’m gonna make it. But the admirer timer is an extreme version of that because it reminds you that the person that you admire personally died at half the time. So assume you’re going to die at that point. And then if you get to that age, hopefully, you can pick somebody else and continue that exercise until it’s your turn to go.
If you have that idea, the only encouragement I have left to give is to share it. Because what else do you have to lose? If you know one person needs it? And everyone did that? Then life would be better. Click To TweetBrett:
I think that’s beautiful. And you might want to copyright that book, right? Thank you for sharing. Any last thoughts for our listeners? And then and then also remind them where they can find you?
Brenden:
I think if there’s one thing I’d love to leave people with is the following. If you have an idea worth sharing, it doesn’t need to be a YouTube channel. It doesn’t need to be a podcast, all it needs to be is an idea that somebody else cares about. And spoiler alert, we all have them within us can be one gesture that we make to the person or our family. It could be that recipe that seven people have been asking you for. That’s just, you’re just too nervous or worried about writing as a blog. If you have that idea, the only encouragement I have left to give is to share it. Because what else do you have to lose? If you know one person needs it? And everyone did that? Then life would be better.
Brett:
Beautiful and where can they find you if they want to connect with you?
Brenden:
So if you want to check out the YouTube channel, it’s mastered talk in one word, and if you want to message me directly on Instagram if you want to get in touch it’s sorry the handle is master your talk on and I just kind of got a little bump there but yeah, you can message me if you have any questions.
Brett:
Brendon Kumarasamy, oh my gosh amazing. My mind is blown and I’m gonna subscribe. And I’m so thrilled and so honored to have you on the show I feel better for it and I want to carry you to keep using the gifts you’ve been given to make a difference in this world and help people to grow and to lead and to communicate, admired timer, I got to pick somebody man, I gotta pick somebody now, and I thank you for being on the show. And with that, I also want to thank our listeners for listening to another episode of the capital gains tax solutions podcast. As always, we believe the highest net worth individuals and those who help them struggle with clarifying their capital gains tax deferral options, not having a clear plan is the enemy, and using a proven tax referral strategy such as the deferred sales trust and or building your online presence building your content right building your communication skills is the best way for you to grow your wealth because that’s gonna help you grow your business and make a bigger impact in this world. So with that, if you have anything you’re selling you can go to capital gains taxes, calm, and clarify your capital gains tax for options. Thank you so much for listening, please rate review, and subscribe. We appreciate everyone there out there listening and goodbye.
Important Links:
About Brenden Kumarasamy
If there’s one word that describes me best, it would be impacted.
I’m passionate about helping others achieve rocket-level success, whether it’s helping others overcome their fear of public speaking, helping startups with their pitch decks to raise capital, or my current role at IBM, helping clients transition to better technology HR solutions to help them do business better.
I’m also an avid learner, listening on average to 10 hours of podcasts a week and watching many different educational shows on YouTube in my free time. I’ve linked up to my top 50 videos for you to enjoy and learn from in a playlist called “Inspiring Talks”.
Please feel free to reach out if you’re interested in helping others succeed. I love chatting with like-minded individuals who are equally passionate about making an impact on other people’s lives.
Accomplishments and Personal Skills/Attributes
• Coached 100+ individuals on mastering the art of public speaking having spoken at organizations such as Next AI, Technovation Montreal (@Microsoft’s Montreal offices), UpstartED and Front Row Ventures
• Sold 100+ copies of consumer pre-orders for Scott Harrison’s Thirst (New York Times Best Seller) as part of the book launch team
• Led a construction SaaS deal during time in venture capital leading to an investment of 25,000$
• Languages: English (Spoken & Written), French (Spoken & Written), Tamil (Spoken)
• Competed in 40+ case competitions across Canada
