Leader Conversations and Interviews

Carmine has interviewed some of the business world’s most successful and inspiring leaders.

Susan Cain has been named one of the top 10 influencers in the world by LinkedIn. Cain’s TED Talk on the power of introverts has been viewed more than 40 million times and her book, Quiet, spent 7 years on the NYT bestseller list. In this conversation, Cain acknowledges a terrifying fear of public speaking and reveals the steps she took to conquer it. She also talks about her new bestseller, Bittersweet, and how true leaders turn their sadness and sorrow into compassion and creativity.

Dr. Sian Beilock is a cognitive scientist, popular TED speaker, and president of Barnard College. Beilock wrote “Choke,” a book that reveals her research into helping athletes and professionals achieve peak performance. In this conversation, Beilock explains how practicing a presentation under a mild amount of stress (like in front of a friend or two), is one of the best ways to gain public-speaking confidence.

Jason Goldsmith is a performance coach for champion athletes including the world’s top golfers like Jason Day and former world #1, Justin Rose. In this conversation,  Jason offers advice from his new book, Take Charge of You. Jason tells Carmine how to reframe negative thoughts into empowering visions of success. Jason’s advice applies to athletes, entrepreneurs, and leaders who want to take charge of their lives and turbo-charge their success.

What mindsets and skills distinguish the world’s best-performing CEOs and business leaders? McKinsey, the prestigious consulting firm, led a major research effort to find out. In this conversation, McKinsey senior partner Carolyn Dewar reveals the firm’s findings. Specifically, Carmine and Carolyn discuss the role of communication and storytelling skills that today’s leaders must have to inspire, motivate, and align teams around a bold vision.

Kevin Goetz knows Hollywood and storytelling. He knows what moviegoers like—and what they don’t. The LA Times Magazine named Goetz one of the 100 most powerful and influential people in Southern California. From La La Land to Titanic, and from Thelma & Louise to Mission Impossible, movies are tweaked, opening and final scenes are changed, and scripts undergo extensive changes based on how research audiences react emotionally to the first cuts.

Learn strategies to train your brain for public-speaking success. Watch and listen to communication coach Carmine Gallo interview Dr. Sein Beilock, a cognitive scientist, popular TED speaker, and president of Barnard College. Beilock is the author of “Choke,” based on her ground-breaking research on how to perform your best when the pressure is on. Beilock’s TED talk on the subject has been viewed nearly 3 million times. 

Tom Golisano, the billionaire founder of Paychex, explains to Carmine Gallo how he turned $3,000 and a maxed-out credit card into a $44 billion company and achieved the American dream.  In this conversation, Tom tells Carmine what he looks for in entrepreneurs who he invests in and why everyone should be taking public speaking classes beginning in high school. Golisano and Gallo also bond over their shared Italian roots

In this video, billionaire investor and Kleiner Perkins chair, John Doerr (Google, Amazon, Twitter, Spotify), talks to communication coach Carmine Gallo about climate change and his plan to solve it. Doerr is joined by Kleiner Perkins technical advisor, Ryan Panchadsaram. They co-authored the bestselling book, “Speed & Scale,” an action plan for solving the climate crisis.

Kim Perell was broke at the age of 23 and started a company at her kitchen table. Perell sold her business ten years later for $235 million. Kim Perell has appeared on the Drew Barrymore Show, Good Morning America, and People Magazine. Now, In this conversation with Carmine Gallo, Kim Perell, talks about her book, “Jump: Dare to Do What Scares You in Business and Life.” 

Ann Hiatt worked three feet away from Jeff Bezos who hired her at Amazon. She then worked side-by-side with Google’s Marissa Mayer and CEO Eric Schmidt. In his conversation with Carmine Gallo, Hiatt reveals the leadership lessons she learned from the world’s most visionary CEOs. “The greatest gift in my life has been sitting next to the smartest CEOs in the world and learning step-by-step how they think, act, motivate, and make decisions.” Hiatt’s book is Bet on Yourself (Harper Collins Leadership).use)

Bestselling author and business school instructor Dorie Clark tells Carmine Gallo that the ability to persuade people to buy into your ideas is a skill that’s only becoming more important every day. In this video, Carmine and Dorie talk about her new book, The Long Game. In addition to learning about persuasion, you’ll learn new communication skills, how to find your true passion and the three types of professional networking that will elevate your career success.

Canadian astronaut Col. Chris Hadfield is well-known for singing a cover of David Bowie’s Space Oddity while commanding the International Space Station. The video went viral and has attracted more than 50 million views. Back on Earth, Hadfield gave a now-famous TED Talk and recently published his first novel, The Apollo Murders.

Carmine and award-winning neuroscientist, Dr. Ethan Kross talk about turning your inner critic into an inner coach who motivates you to perform your best under pressure. Kross is a psychology professor at the University of Michigan and author of the bestselling book, Chatter: The voice in our head, why it matters, and how to harness it (Penguin Random House)

Carmine speaks with Deloitte consultant Geoff Tuff about five cognitive biases that could derail your success. You’ll also learn tools to recognize and manage these biases. Tuff co-wrote a book with Steven Goldbach titled Provoke: How Leaders Shape the Future by Overcoming Fatal Human Flaws (Wiley)

Mastercard Chief Marketing and Communications Officer, Raja Rajamannar, talks to Carmine about exciting innovative marketing tactics that help brands cut through the noise and engage with customers on a deeper level. The two authors discuss multi-sensory marketing and offer career advice for anyone pursuing professional careers. Raja’s new book is “Quantum Marketing: Mastering the New Marketing Mindset for Tomorrow’s Consumers.”

Sukhinder Singh Cassidy is a Silicon Valley leader, CEO, entrepreneur and investor. In this conversation with Carmine Gallo, she talks about her new book, “Choose Possibility.” Sukhinder started three companies including one that she took public (Yodlee). She served as president of StubHub when it was sold for $4 billion, and has advised some of the world’s largest tech companies including Google and Amazon.

Emmy award-winning filmmakers Cristina Costantini and Darren Foster talk to Carmine Gallo about their new documentary, “Own the Room,” which premiered on Disney Plus. They call it a “love letter” to entrepreneurs and small business owners.

Carmine and Golf Channel analyst, Brandel Chamblee, share a passion for the spoken and written word. In this fascinating conversation, Chamblee explains the process he uses to turn the game into riveting theater. Chamblee has earned a reputation for being one of the most intellectual and well-researched television sports personalities. Carmine calls Brandel Chamblee the “Da Vinci of sports commentators” for his wide-ranging insights.

In this inspiring conversation about leadership and communication skills, Carmine speaks to James Stavridis, a four-star U.S. Navy Admiral and former Supreme Allied Commander at NATO. The two authors talk about Stavridis’ new novel, 2034, as well as the paramount skill all leaders must develop: strong written and verbal communication. Stavridis, who reads 100 books a year, also explains why great leaders are readers.

Kristin Graham teaches writing courses at Amazon and other global companies. In this conversation with author Carmine Gallo, the two communication experts ‘nerd out’ as they offer writing tips for emails, presentations, blogs, and other areas where effective writing skills will help you stand out. 

Jim ‘Mattress Mack’ McIngvale is a Houston business leader and philanthropist known throughout Texas. He opened a furniture store with $5,000 and a dream. Today he receives national awards for opening up his stores to those in need during Hurricane Harvey, the 2021 ice storm, and other times of crisis. Mack has appeared on ABC’s Good Morning America and The Ellen Show.

In this fascinating conversation, Carmine interviews Suneel Gupta, a Harvard instructor, entrepreneur, and author of “Backable.” Learn to get the “it-factor” that helps you stand out, build confidence, reduce anxiety, convey ideas, and win people over.

In this conversation Colin Bryar, co-author of “Working Backwards” shares the lessons he learned as chief of staff for Amazon founder, Jeff Bezos. As “Jeff’s shadow” for two years, Colin had a front-row seat to the world’s most visionary entrepreneur. Colin discusses the day Bezos decided to ban PowerPoint at senior-level meetings and to replace slides with 6-page narratives.

In just ten years, real-estate agent Ryan Serhant went from $9,000 a year to more than $1 billion a year in sales. In this conversation with bestselling author Carmine Gallo, Serhant talks about his new book, “Big Money Energy,” and reveals the communication skills that fueled his success.

In this video, you’ll learn about FOUR leadership principles that fueled Amazon’s success. Bill Carr worked at Amazon for 15 years and helped Jeff Bezos launch the digital media business: Kindle, Amazon Music, Prime Video, Amazon Studios, and more. In this conversation, Bill talks about his new book, “Working Backwards.” Bill and Carmine talk a Bezos’s extraordinary ability as a communicator to align everyone around four principles that guide every major decision at Amazon.

In conversation with Carmine Gallo, Twilio founder and CEO Jeff Lawson reveals the communication tactics he learned from his former boss, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos. Lawson runs Twilio, one of the fastest-growing tech companies in the world. With 200,000 customers, Twilio powers many of the apps you engage with—from Uber to DoorDash and from Airbnb to Netflix.

In this conversation with Allie Webb, the founder of Drybar, a successful chain of hair salons, Carmine Gallo and Allie Webb talk about the founder’s story. Great entrepreneurs follow their passions and share their stories to attract customers, engage partners, and inspire others.

In this conversation with Carmine Gallo, bestselling author Ozan Varol talks about his new book, “Think Like a Rocket Scientist.” Carmine and Ozan explore simple strategies anyone can use to make giant leaps in work and life.

Square co-founder Jim McKelvey read Carmine Gallo’s book, “The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs,” to prepare for the startup pitch that a top Silicon Valley VC called ‘the greatest pitch’ he had ever seen.

 In this conversation, Carmine Gallo and  Hint Water founder and CEO Kara Goldin talk about her new book, “Undaunted.” They explain how effective communication skills and storytelling techniques help entrepreneurs get attention and attract loyal customers.

In this conversation with leadership coach Carmine Gallo and fine arts photographer and retired Navy SEAL, Darren McBurnett, you’ll learn how SEAL instructors identify potential leaders and how elite soldiers are trained to work as a team.

Learn how to tell a compelling story in this conversation with Carmine Gallo and former IDEO partner, Fred Dust. In his book, Making Conversation, Dust applies design-thinking strategies to the art of communication.

The COVID pandemic has triggered a wave of anxiety, depression, and gloom. This interview with Cato Institute scholar, Marian Tupy may be an antidote to the pessimism that could infect your thinking and derail your long-term success. Carmine talks to Marian about this new book, Ten Global Trends Every Smart Person Should Know…and many others you will find interesting.

Carmine Gallo talks with acclaimed neuroscientist Adam Gazzaley. Gazzaley is the author of “The Distracted Mind,” a professor of neurology, and is the Executive Director of the Neuroscape research lab at UCSF.

Guy Raz’s podcasts including “How I Built This” are heard by 14 million people a month. In this conversation with Carmine Gallo, Raz talks about the inspiring entrepreneurs he’s interviewed and the lessons we can all learn.

Carmine Gallo talked to Maria Konnikova, author of “The Biggest Bluff.” Maria had a Ph.D. in psychology and zero experience playing poker. Within two years of applying psychology to the field, she had won $300,000 in professional tournament winnings.

In this fascinating conversation, Carmine Gallo and Pulitzer Prize-winning Harvard historian, Fredrik Logevalle, talk about Fredrik’s new book, “JFK: Coming of Age in the American Century” (Random House)

In this conversation with Carmine Gallo, Stanford business professor and JetBlue chairman, Joel Peterson, talks about his new book, “Entrepreneurial Leadership.”

Unlock your massive potential with Carmine Gallo and Mark Divine, a retired Navy SEAL commander and founder of SealFit.com.

Carmine interviews Celine Danhier and Aliya Naumoff who won New York’s #WearAMaskNY contest, inviting creatives to submit a 30-second spot to encourage people to wear a mask in public to stop the spread of coronavirus.

Carmine Gallo and Ziauddin Yousafzai, author of “Let Her Fly,” were invited to speak at the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair. Carmine and Ziauddin discussed how Malala became a great speaker and why communication skills are fundamental to changing hearts and minds.

In an interview with Carmine Gallo, Avinash Kaushik, Digital Marketing Evangelist at Google shares why data and storytelling go hand in hand.

Carmine Gallo talks to Columbia law school professor, Alexandra Carter, about her Wall Street Journal bestseller, Ask for More: Ten Questions to Negotiate Anything (Simon & Schuster, May, 2020).

Carmine Gallo talks to Netflix co-founder, Marc Randolph, about his new book, That Will Never Work. The two writers and speakers tackle the topics of storytelling, the birth of Netflix, and the amazing life of an idea.

Andreessen Horowitz (@a16z) is the legendary VC firm behind such names as Lyft, Slack, Pinterest, Airbnb, and many others. In this conversation, Carmine Gallo sits down with managing partner and CEO, Scott Kupor, to talk about his book, “Secrets of Sand Hill Road” and the 5 essentials of a winning pitch.

Carmine Gallo and Canva CEO, Melanie Perkins, talk about the leadership and communication skills that turned Canva into a $2.5B startup.

Carmine Gallo and Guy Kawasaki talk about leadership, entrepreneurship and public speaking.

Talking Leadership with Keynote Speaker Carmine Gallo and Former Cisco CEO, John Chambers.

Carmine Gallo and Daniel Pink say your #1 job is to sell your ideas.
Carmine Gallo interviews New York Times bestselling author Daniel Pink.

Carmine’s book, The Storyteller’s Secret, inspired entrepreneur Bobby Herrera to share his remarkable journey from migrant farmworker to CEO of a $600 million a year business.

Carmine Gallo and UC Berkeley management professor Morten Hansen, author of Great At Work, explain how passion and purpose drive peak performance.

Carmine Gallo and Richard Branson discuss the power of storytelling to drive change.

Carmine Gallo and Richard Branson explain why the best ideas fit on a beer mat.
Full interview with Carmine Gallo and Richard Branson.
Carmine interviews Steven Pinker, Bill Gates’ “favorite author,” about optimism, leadership, and the power of communication.
Carmine Gallo interviews Hall of Fame Quarterback, Steve Young, about the leadership lesson in his book, QB Life Behind The Spiral.
Carmine and Y Combinator investor/partner Geoff Ralston on the power of storytelling to sell dreams.
Y Combinator has provided seed funding for Airbnb, Reddit, Dropbox and many others. In this video, partner Geoff Ralston explains why passion plays a major role in their investment decisions.
Dr. Sean Sullivan walks Carmine Gallo through the benefits of using Limbix VR exposure therapy to overcome anxiety.

Prezi CEO and co-founder, Peter Arvai, on Augmented Reality (AR) as the future of presentations.

In an interview with Carmine Gallo, Avinash Kaushik, Digital Marketing Evangelist at Google shares why data and storytelling go hand in hand.

Carmine interviews Cameron Craig, Polycom’s Director of Global Communications about how working for Steve Jobs and Johnny Cash taught this business leader two valuable communication secrets.

Carmine Gallo media interviews

Microsoft for Startups invited Carmine Gallo to talk about storytelling, communication skills, public speaking, and how to stay optimistic in tough times

Carmine was a guest on Elevate, a podcast dedicated to personal and professional growth. In this clip with host Tyler Chesser, Carmine talks about his 3 favorite books.

Carmine was a guest on Elevate, a podcast dedicated to personal and professional growth. In this clip with host Tyler Chesser, Carmine talks about his 3 favorite books.

In this exclusive video for Inc.com, Carmine explains one of the key concepts in his new book, Five Stars.
Carmine was interviewed by Bold TV for his book, Five Stars.
Carmine was interviewed by Bold TV for his book, Five Stars. In this clip, Carmine talks about why emotion is so important in leadership.
Carmine was interviewed by Bold TV for his book, Five Stars. In this clip, Carmine talks about why storytelling is so important.
Carmine interview on Bloomberg TV.
Carmine appeared on MSNBC to talk about The Storyteller’s Secret and the 3 keys to making your idea irresistible.
Carmine was interviewed by 20/20 correspondent Deborah Roberts about the seven secrets to Steve Jobs’ success.
The American Management Association (AMA) asked Carmine Gallo two questions.
The American Management Association (AMA) asks Carmine about the leader that had the most influence on him; his father.

Leadership Communication Tips

Great Leaders are Great Communicators

6 PowerPoint Lessons from Gov. Andrew Cuomo

In his closing remarks at the Khosla Summit Carmine reminds the audience to sell dreams, not products.

Keynote Clips

At a keynote to 10,000 attendees, Carmine tells us how our brains are wired for stories.
At the Khosla Summit, Carmine reads the audience’s minds and predicts which part of a famous presentation everybody remembers.
In his closing remarks at the Khosla Summit Carmine reminds the audience to sell dreams, not products.
You cannot have a great career without being passionate about what you do. But is passion enough?
At a keynote for Hibbett Sports, Carmine reminds us to dream big.
Great presentations are novel. Carmine talks about how our brains crave new information.

Carmine Gallo for Forbes.com

Carmines video postings for Forbes.com on a variety of timely topics.

 

Why We’re Hardwired To Find Stories Of Struggle Irresistible
What Expert Presenters Do Differently
How To Triple A Product’s Value In Under 2 Minutes
How To Find Your Signature Brand Story To Inspire Employees And Motivate Customers
The Spark Behind Richard Branson’s Most Creative Ideas
Hit Movies And Winning Sales Pitches Follow The Same Formula