565: Founder and CEO of GK Training on Communicating Effectively to Live a Better Life

The Strategy Skills Podcast: Strategy | Leadership | Critical Thinking | Problem-Solving

Michael Chad Hoeppner, CEO of GK Training and adjunct professor at Columbia Business School, brings a deeply practical lens to one of the most undervalued professional skills: spoken communication. With roots in professional acting and over two decades coaching executives, Hoeppner challenges conventional wisdom, arguing that most communication advice is either vague (“slow down”) or abstract (“just be confident”), and fails to address the real issue: communication is physical.

In this episode, he shares specific, kinesthetic methods that help clients speak more clearly under pressure. From using Lego blocks to build well-structured thoughts, to timing answers with a wiffle ball in political debate prep, Hoeppner demonstrates that improving communication is not about talent, it’s about training behavior.

“Speaking is movement. We put air into action—that’s what talking is. And you can learn to do it a lot, lot better.”

Key Insights:

1. Delivery is Undervalued, but Often Drives Perception “Most coaching hyper-focuses on content and completely neglects delivery,” Hoeppner explains. Yet “delivery really, really determines much of the impression your audience makes about you.”
2. Rambling, Fillers, and Anxiety Are Physical, Not Mental, Problems He critiques typical advice like “don’t say um” as “thought suppression” and instead teaches clients to physically anchor themselves. One client stopped chronic blushing mid-session by simply learning to ground her feet.
3. Tools Like Lego Blocks Make Structure Tangible “Pick up a Lego block, say your first idea, and put it down in silence. That pause gives your brain time to think,” Hoeppner shares. These physical anchors help clients avoid word salad and clarify complex thinking.
4. Founders with Growth Mindsets Improve Fast “They’re not held back by ego. They care deeply, they want to improve now, and that means they practice,” he says. In contrast, those with fixed mindsets (“I’m just a bad speaker”) often plateau.
5. AI Will Make Delivery the Strategic Differentiator As language models democratize content, he argues, “delivery, how you say it, will matter more than ever.”

The episode closes with a powerful call to reframe communication not as a soft skill, but a trainable, high-leverage behavior, one that can transform not just boardrooms and keynotes, but daily leadership and presence.

Get Michael’s new book here: https://dontsayum.com/

Learn more about Michael here: https://gktraining.com/michael-chad-hoeppner/

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