Top speaker and podcaster Dez Thornton shares how the facilities and team at Atlanta-based Global Media Studios help him turn unbridled vision into world-class reality
By Carol Badaracco Padgett
For the past 15 years, speech coach and writer Dez Thornton has worked with corporate executives, helping them get their messages across clearly, effectively, and memorably. Turns out, Thornton has a resource he trusts to help him do the job better and to capture and produce his own content, as well: Global Media Studios.
Global Media Studios is a 20,000+ square foot professional facility that houses state-of-the-art audio, film and video, podcast, and post production suites and studios, along with meeting rooms and event spaces complete with live streaming technologies.
Here’s what Thornton shared in a recent sit-down interview about his communications consulting work, his own media projects, and the resource he uses to produce them with excellence.
To start, describe your consulting and coaching work with business executives.
Thornton: I work primarily with corporate executives, and I look at my work as having four different areas.
One is content, and helping people who have a mustard seed of an idea. So, for example, an executive may come to me and say, “Dez, I want to turn this idea into a keynote presentation or a workshop.” You can think of these people as TED-style speakers—and I actually do a lot of work with TED speakers.
But many of these clients are people in a corporate environment who pretty much know what they want to say, but they want to know how to say it, and how to be persuasive and compelling.
Secondly, I help people with the delivery of that content. So, everything from gestures, body language, and standing on a big stage, which is one of the things I use at Global Media Studios—a big stage to train them on.
The third area of communications I deal with is visuals. So, PowerPoint presentations, handouts, video, and those elements that complement the presentation that executives are going to deliver.
And then the last area of my work, one that’s somewhat obscure but is really important to executives, is dealing with Q and A’s. So, I work with a lot of executives who have to report to boards and things of that nature. We use a whiteboard and create a number of scenarios where, if they ask this, this is a solid response. If they ask that, this is a sound response.
In your day-to-day coaching and consulting work, how do you use the facilities at Global Media Studios to help you train your corporate clients more effectively?
Thornton: There are a number of different elements of the studios that I’ve used. I personally know the owner, Rich Hart, and his standard of excellence is extremely high, which is what I need to help my clients. It’s my name and my brand at stake.
I work primarily out of my home office, and so Global Media Studios has given me a place where I can go out and take my clients. I make an excellent impression on them there because of the professional services, the atmosphere of the place, the privacy—and all these things are hugely important for me.
As I said before, I have clients who speak in front of large audiences, and they need to get on a stage to replicate the reality of what they’re going to be dealing with. It has been immensely helpful for me to be able to get my clients on a big stage, with screens for content [behind them and beside them], so they can get the feel of what they’ll actually be doing.
Using Global Media Studios’ large stage also allows me to demonstrate different things for my clients. So they can watch me onstage and see me demonstrate for them.
I’ve also done trainings at the studios in their high-tech meeting spaces, with both large groups and small groups of people. And that’s been helpful for me.
Tell us about your podcast that’s produced at Global Media Studios.
Thornton: A small part of my business is dealing with professional athletes. And so I have a podcast that I do there at the studios with my business partner, Bob Rathbun, who is the announcer for the Atlanta Hawks. The name of the podcast is “Talk a Good Game.”
I’ve been able to invite some of our guests to appear there at the studio, and it’s always been a wonderful experience. They have great people who are professionals and know what they’re doing.
As a business owner who deals intimately with high-level clients, I feel like there’s always a risk when you go beyond yourself and you partner with someone, or you take your clients to someone else’s space.
With Global Media Studios, one of the main things that keeps me coming back is that I have the assurance of excellence. Because of Rich’s standard for excellence, I know that my clients will be treated well and that they’ll have a great experience. I’ve gone there and done business since the inception of the studios, and that excellence has been consistent throughout.
How did you meet Rich Hart and find Global Media Studios in the first place?
Thornton: My story with Rich goes back as far as 2008. When I first met him, I had joined the National Speakers Association. He was serving on the board of the organization at that time, and after being there a short while I was recruited to the board, as well.
When Rich became president of the chapter, he recruited me to be the director of membership. So he’s sort of responsible for roping me into board responsibility there, where I eventually served as president in 2013-2014. So, the genesis of our relationship was at the National Speakers Association.
Since then, we’ve crossed business lines and become personal friends. I remember when Rich had the seed of this idea for Global Media Studios in his mind. At that time, he used to call it a sandbox or a playground for speakers. That is what he imagined.
You know, as with most people who have vision, sometimes people around them think, “Okay, yeah, this sounds good, buddy, but you’re a little bit out there.” With Rich, though, this vision must have been something that was hardwired into his heart, because he brought it to fruition.
That’s the reason that we’re talking here today. I heard him talk for years about this idea and what it could be, and I heard the different manifestations of it in his mind. Then, to watch the different manifestations of it be born physically was just an amazing process.
Today when my clients walk into the studios with me, they’re stunned. They’re like, “Oh, I’ve never seen a place like this.” From the studios down to the smallest details, even the restrooms, everything is super clean and serious thought has been put into it. The small things that people overlook, they’re there at Global Media Studios, and that’s definitely important.
Quite a few content creators have great concepts, but they have no idea how to execute them technically. If someone isn’t a technical wizard with pro AV equipment, how does the staff at Global Media Studios help them? And how have they helped you?
Thornton: I find myself frequently in that position of, “Hey, I’ve got this idea, but I don’t know what the heck to do.” It’s one of those situations where it’s interesting because I can’t say how to do it, but once it’s done, I can say, yes, that’s it. Or no, that’s not right.
So, I’ve had the experience where I’ve had to articulate a vision to the best of my ability to the team at Global Media Studios, like for my podcast opening and closing, that will make an impression on an audience and help them decide if they’re going to tune in or not.
In that process, I’ve had the opportunity to work closely with some of the engineers at Global Media Studios and articulate the vision for what I wanted. And they just took it and far exceeded what I expected. Then, when I’d look at it for the first time, I knew it was an overwhelming “Yes.” I sent it to my partner who is a TV broadcaster and has been for three decades for the Atlanta Hawks—he’s the real gauntlet when it comes to those types of things—and he was kind of blown off his chair when he saw it for the first time.
It’s huge when you can just turn over a vision to someone else and have them execute that vision at such a high level of excellence, because it’s personal to them that it be excellent.
When you’re in the creative phase with something, it can be a real problem when you and your various vendors’ standards aren’t the same. And so I can rest assured with Global Media Studios that the standard of excellence will definitely be there.
They have people who are capable and know how to work with the technology, far beyond my comprehension. I’ve had a front row seat to see some of the bells and whistles with sound and color and all those things. I could really appreciate the work of their engineers when I saw the opening of my podcast.
In addition, my business partner and I just formed a partnership with a company that’s an executive search firm for the sports industry. We’ll be offering them communication information. So, a part of our offering is going to be our podcast where we interview people who are in the sports industry with different teams and companies and front offices, and pass along information to younger people who are getting into the sports business and looking to climb that ladder. We’ll show them how they can put their best foot forward when it comes to communication.
A huge part of this project, for us, is our podcast. And so we went to Global Media Studios to make sure that it has the professional look we are needing to represent us on a global level.
Having that assurance that you’re going to have a professional experience … today, it’s kind of rare.