meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
Log in
Good Life Project

Jon Acuff: On the Power of Truth, Humor and Craft

Good Life Project

Jonathan Fields / Acast

Education, How To, Self-improvement, Business, Health & Fitness

4.63.2K Ratings

🗓️ 15 February 2016

⏱️ 60 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Imagine you're on stage, charged with holding the attention of a thousand people. Knowing that, as soon as you stop talking the free cocktails begin. Your job is to keep the audience rapt for a solid 60-minutes. It's you against the taunt of free partying.

That's often the speaker's worst nightmare. But, this week's guest, Jon Acuff, loves those moments. A New York Times bestselling author of 5 books, including his latest Do Over, he relishes the challenge to win over his audience and keep them hanging on his every word.

What's so interesting is that he doesn't do it by telling them he has everything figured out, then endowing them with his omniscience. He does it by sharing his own humanity, his vulnerability, his not knowing, and then tying it all together in stories that leave people crying with laughter and inspiration. And, he pretty much does the same with his books. Everything he does comes from a place of truth, humor, humility and craft.

In this week's conversation, we go behind the scenes, exploring why Jon left a hugely successful corporate career to take a risk on writing and speaking. We learn how Jon's deep devotion to being honest (but not radically honest), to always working to connect with, rather than separate himself from his readers and listeners, and his devotion to craft and deep study not just of writing and speaking but also of comedy, has become the center of who he is. We explore how he dances with both the maker and the helper in him and reconciles his desire to create with his commitment to serve.



Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Freedom is...

0:02.0

A spontaneous day at the beach.

0:05.0

A weekend away with friends.

0:07.0

Freedom is...

0:09.0

Zip car.

0:10.0

With Zip car, you can get a car or van exactly when and where you need one.

0:14.0

Just search, book, and unlock over 3,000 vehicles near you, or via our app.

0:20.0

Whether it's getting away for the day or getting around town,

0:24.0

enjoy freedom at your fingertips with Zip car.

0:27.0

Download the app or search Zip car to find out more.

0:58.0

That takes me straight to the med.

1:06.0

20 years ago, you wouldn't have gone into blockbuster and rented 9 movies and not felt like a loser.

1:11.0

Even the cashier would have been like, is everything alright, man?

1:18.0

I talked to a lot of people who come up to me and they ask,

1:21.0

how do I become an author?

1:22.0

How do I become a speaker?

1:23.0

How do I build a career where I'm writing and speaking?

1:26.0

And living an extraordinary life and playing with only the people I want to play with.

1:31.0

And talking and writing about the things that really light me up.

1:35.0

And I always think it's kind of funny that that comes to me because I don't consider myself that person yet.

1:40.0

I'm very much on the journey, but one person who I do think has really done a great job of building this for himself

1:47.0

is today's guest, John A. Cuff.

...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Jonathan Fields / Acast, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Jonathan Fields / Acast and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.

Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.