057: relax, i’ve seen worse | beth sherman
In this episode, Deb Knupp sits down with Beth Sherman, a seven time Emmy award winning comedy writer turned keynote speaker and the creator of Audience-First Communication. After thirty years writing for the Late Show with David Letterman, the Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Ellen, and the Academy Awards, Beth now teaches lawyers, executives, and professional speakers a single discipline she learned in comedy clubs:
"Before you respond like a professional, respond like a person."
think about the person receiving the message as much as the message itself. As she puts it, it does not matter if you have the right answer if you cannot deliver it in a way that builds trust and can be acted on.
Underlying the conversation is a quiet correction to how most of us were trained. Law school, and most professional education, teaches you how to be right, which puts all the weight on the message and none on the human being across the table. Beth offers the opposite starting point. Notice what is in the thought bubble above the other person's head, acknowledge it out loud, and the friction drops away. Recognition creates connection, connection builds trust, and trust is what makes people listen longer, act faster, and come to you first when something breaks. None of it requires being funny. It requires being a person before being a professional.
Key Highlights
Why "make me funny" is the wrong ask, and what people actually want when they say it. In Beth's words, it is not about humor, it is about humanity, and the secret of comedy is truth.
The forensic accountant with a coffee mug that reads "Relax, I've seen worse," and everything those four words tell a terrified client before he says a single sentence.
The paramedic who took a knee, got to eye level, and opened with "Today hasn't turned out the way you expected. What's going on?" and why first responders may have the best sense of humor of any profession.
About Our Guests
Beth Sherman is a seven time Emmy award winning comedy writer, keynote speaker, and the creator of Audience-First Communication. Over thirty years in television she wrote for the Late Show with David Letterman, the Tonight Show with Jay Leno, and Ellen, and she has written material for the Academy Awards, including for Tom Hanks, Helen Mirren, and Queen Latifah. For fifteen of those years she worked concurrently as a stand up comedian in clubs, on college campuses, and on military bases. Today she brings that craft into the professional world, teaching leaders and subject matter experts how to make complex expertise clear, human, and actionable. Her clients and audiences range from law firms and professional services organizations to CEOs, Air Force generals, commencement speakers, and professional speakers who have climbed Everest or won Olympic medals. She recently delivered the day two keynote at the College of Law Practice Management Futures Conference, following legal AI authority Richard Susskind, on the human skills that will determine the profession's next chapter. What distinguishes Beth's voice in this conversation is that she models the thing she teaches. She is not selling a technique. She is showing what happens when you tell the truth to the room in front of you.
Connect with Beth Sherman:
Beth Sherman on LinkedIn
Follow Beth on Instagram
Learn more at bethsherman.com
About the HX Collective
The HX Collective explores the human experience through three lenses: work, relationships, and self, through raw, authentic conversations rooted in human-centered design. Each episode offers gripping stories, thought-provoking discussion, and concrete tools that help you rethink your relationship with distress and strengthen your whole human experience.
