Meet Matthew Cossolotto | “The Podium Pro” — Personal Empowerment Author, Speaker, and Speech Coach

We had the good fortune of connecting with Matthew Cossolotto and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Matthew, do you have a favorite quote or affirmation?
Some years ago, I came across a quote, often attributed to John F. Kennedy, that goes like this: “One person can make a difference and everyone should try.” The quote is all over the internet. I even have a coffee mug with that quote on it. Truth be told, it’s unclear whether JFK ever said those exact words. But it doesn’t really matter. I’ve always liked the quote. It’s a great motivator. When I come up against an obstacle, I often draw on the power of those words to find a way to make progress. If one person can make a difference, there is hope.

When I give presentations about the power of habits, especially our habits of thought, our mindsets, I often ask the audience: How many of you feel like you have fallen short of your potential? How many of you feel like to could achieve more than you have achieved — in your careers or in life generally? And it’s surprising to me how many hands are raised. Just about everyone feels they have fallen short of their potential. It seems to be almost universal. This idea that everyone should try to make a difference speaks to this. This is one reason I focus my books and programs on helping others to reach their peak potential. That’s key to making a difference in the world.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
My senior-level leadership communications career spans the corridors of power and influence on both sides of the Atlantic – as a former speechwriter for top leaders at NATO headquarters in Brussels, the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, the Chancellor of UCLA, senior executives of several Fortune 100 corporations, and as a legislative aide to former Congressman Leon Panetta.

As a speaker, workshop leader, speech coach and speechwriter, I have shared my public speaking and other personal empowerment ideas with a wide range of domestic and international audiences, including corporations, associations, government agencies, conferences, schools, community groups, and nonprofits/NGOs. I recently conducted a series of four PodiumPower! public speaking workshops in Brussels, Belgium, for a major international organization. I also gave two well-received presentations about “The Joy of Public Speaking” and provided one-on-one speech coaching for two senior executives.

The Joy of Public Speaking is the first book in my personal empowerment trilogy. Two additional books are coming soon: Harness Your HabitForce – which highlights the seven habits of FAILURE and SUCCESS – and Embrace Your Promise Power – featuring an extensive foreword by Jack Canfield, co-creator of the Chicken Soup for the Soul® series.

The ability to speak confidently and comfortably to audiences of all types is a widely recognized leadership and success skill. Yet, opinion surveys confirm that most people rank public speaking as one of their top fears, along with spiders, snakes, and death itself.

In The Joy of Public Speaking, I distill many years of high-profile speechwriting and speech coaching experience into a comprehensive, how-to guide to help experienced, novice, and terrified speakers overcome self-defeating attitudes, feelings, and habits about public speaking.
My book and PodiumPower! speaking and coaching programs embrace a simple proposition: People who learn to enjoy public speaking tend to be better at it than those hobbled by anxiety, trepidation, or outright terror. I ask readers and audiences to join me as I unveil what I call “the gentle art of mental joyjitsu” – powerful mindset shifts that encourage participants to turn stage fright into stage delight by bringing a natural, authentic joy to every speaking opportunity. My ideas are designed to give your career, your leadership skills, and your self-confidence a big boost.

Since I’m now based in the greater Cleveland area, I’m actively seeking clients and venues for my personal empowerment speaking and coaching programs in Ohio and more widely on both sides of the Atlantic. I recently launched a new website (www.MatthewCossolotto.com), complete with a demo video and an overview of my lineup of Personal Empowerment Programs (PEPTalks).

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
For the past four years, I’ve lived in the small, bucolic college town of Oberlin, Ohio, not far from Cleveland. I moved here from Brussels, Belgium, after my stint as a speechwriter at NATO and smack dab in the middle of the Covid pandemic.

Because of Covid, in the months after I arrived here my activities in and around Oberlin were restricted. So it has taken me a while to get to the know the area. I have since learned that, for a town just five miles square with 8,000 residents (down to 5,000 when the students go home for summer), Oberlin has a lot going for it.
There’s quite a bit to see and do with a visiting friend. In fact, I’m expecting friends to visit from Brussels fairly soon. The first thing I’ve encouraged them to do is to bring along comfortable walking shoes, because Oberlin is a very walkable place.
For starters, we’ll probably walk two blocks to the Oberlin Heritage Center (https://www.oberlinheritagecenter.org/tours), housed in one of the town’s beautifully preserved historic buildings. Oberlin College and the town were founded in 1833 on the edge of the American frontier by two ministers on a mission to educate an army of young missionaries who would bring religion, morals and manners to the rough pioneer settlements spreading westward.

Oberlin’s progressive history includes a prominent abolitionist profile in the country, including a leading role in the Underground Railroad that helped escaped slaves to make their way to freedom. The College was coeducational from its founding in 1833. It also admitted black students beginning in 1835.

A leisurely walk around Oberlin’s neighborhoods reveals a host of large, historic homes. Many were super-sized because they were built to accommodate students from the College, which only provided a few residence halls early in its history.

I think my friends would like to take a stroll on the campus itself to take in a few landmarks, including the grassy quad on edge of student housing and the Wright Physics building – named for the Wright Brothers and their sister, who was a student at the college. We’d also pay a visit to Mary Church Terrell Library, named for a 19th century activist.

A tour of Oberlin would not be complete without walking through Tappan Square, with its shade-covered lawns, big old trees, and a small concert stage where we might catch live musical performance. Tappan Square is also home to a Memorial Arch honoring the Oberlin missionaries killed in China during the Boxer Rebellion circa 1900.

Across from Tappan Square, we’d spend some time in the Allen Museum of Art with its expansive collection. As a teaching museum, the museum’s artworks’ descriptive labels are helpfully informative and interesting.

Also across from Tappan Square is the historic First Church where the charismatic Reverend Charles Finney served as pastor in the mid-1800s, regularly preaching to the largest congregation in the United States. In the late 1800s, First Church attracted a Who’s Who of famed speakers, including Ralph Waldo Emerson, Frederick Douglass, Horace Greeley, Mark Twain, and Booker T. Washington.

I’ll suggest to my friends that we should stop by the campus to experience a lecture, a dance performance, a play, or a concert. After all, the College is famous for the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, one of the top music schools in the world. The Conservatory produces nearly 500 concerts every year. It’s also possible to walk through the halls of the Conservatory and to see and hear students practicing in private rehearsal rooms on every sort of musical instrument or singing everything from jazz to opera. Even if you’re not a student of music, a visit to the Conservatory is truly a magical experience.

Beyond the campus, Oberlin boasts a network of scenic bike paths and bike-friendly streets. If you enjoy Pickleball or tennis – as my friends and I do – we’ll find indoor Pickleball courts nearby at Splash Zone and outdoor tennis courts on the Oberlin campus. As for grabbing a bite to eat, we’ll probably have some pizza at Lorenzo’s and enjoy brunch at The Feve. For coffee lovers, Oberlin is home to a place called Slow Train, where I can order my favorite: the delicious Albino Squirrel (white chocolate) coffee beverage.

The town of Wellington is a short drive away. It was once the cheese-making capital of the country, complete with many mansions that cheese built along Main Street. You might even see Amish carriages clip-clopping along its tree-lined streets. There’s also a good chance we’ll decide to take a guided walking tour of downtown Cleveland to see many points of interest, including the statue of Mayor Tom Johnson, the Public Square, Old Stone Church, the Cleveland Public Library, The Mall, the War Memorial Fountain, and the theaters of Playhouse Square.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I’ve told this story many times and I’m sure I’ll tell it many more times in the years to come. I’d like to make a big shout out to my mother. Specifically to the role she played in helping me to clarify my purpose. A major turning point in my journey occurred after my mother was diagnosed with cancer and her illness took a very bleak turn for the worse. On my last visit to see her before she passed away, I made a promise to her that I would finish writing a book she had been encouraging me to write and I would dedicate it to her memory. She looked up at me with tears in her eyes and said: “You do that, Matthew. You do that. This makes me very happy.” I’m proud to say I kept that promise.

But keeping that promise was not easy. The book I promised to write was a self-help book and at that time I did not think of myself as a self-help author. Writing a self-help book was decidedly outside my comfort zone. But the idea for the book was intriguing enough to me that I discussed it frequently with others, including my mother. And she reminded me of the idea from time-to-time. She seemed to know something that I didn’t fully appreciate: that I should be a personal empowerment author and speaker. I’m convinced now that she had a clearer vision of my purpose years before I perceived it myself.

Making that promise put me on my current path as a personal empowerment author, speaker, workshop leader, and coach. It also helped to shape my overriding mission: to help millions of people around the world replace negative, disempowering habits of thought with positive, empowering mindsets.

This is true even in the realm of public speaking. My overall approach to personal empowerment — on and off the podium — can be summed up in one sentence: Success is an inside job. I believe the most powerful motivational speech in the world is what you say to yourself. That’s one reason I don’t refer to myself as a motivational speaker. What you say to yourself is much more powerful that anything I could ever say to you from a stage or in a book. Your internal dialog – your consistent, habitual self-talk – will determine whether you succeed or fail, whether you reach your peak potential in life or fall short.

That’s why I focus my books, coaching, and speaking programs on sharing the tools my audiences and readers need to make empowering mindset shifts. This approach applies to all three “power tools” in my Triad Empowerment System – Habits / Speaking / Promises – and my trilogy of books on these topics.”

Website: https://www.MatthewCossolotto.com

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