What a titanic task it is
to interview a professional in communication,
a seasoned journalist who has also won the most awards in Spain.
But, we'll try our best.
You'll see it here, on Talent Talks.
We have with us Juanma Romero,
director of the radio program Emprende on the Canal 24 Horas of Radio Española.
Hello Juanma! How are you?
I'm happy to be here, Miguel Ángel.
Super happy!
It's wonderful to have you here with us on Talent Talks
and that you can tell us a bit about your broad and award-winning career.
The first question I wanted to ask you is:
What would you highlight
or what are the main things you've learned from your career,
which is full of countless successes?
Well, I've learned that no matter how much you know,
you can always mess up.
-Definitely!
And what else,
out of everything you've experienced,
how you've managed different teams,
or how you've carried out your program for many years now,
what are the main lessons you've learned that you can share with us?
You have to be sensible, down-to-earth,
and lean on others in order to move forward.
If you want to do something alone,
in the end, you won't achieve it.
If you do, you're a rare species.
What's normal is to not achieve it.
You need the help of others.
I always lean on people. I lean on people who are smarter than me,
which isn't too difficult either!
I have assistant producers on the program,
and they have to be better than I am.
If I'm at this level and they are here,
I will undoubtedly have a better program.
If I'm here and they are here,
my program's rankings will definitely drop.
In other words, I want them to be better than me.
Surely. -That's why I have you!
Of course!
You took the words right out of my mouth.
In all of your experience interviewing thousands of entrepreneurs,
people who are starting their business, people who are very successful,
people who have tried again and again,
what do you think is the key to success
for people who are starting a business
and who need, above all, to learn how to reach those objectives?
The first thing is passion and effort, that's for sure,
but they also need to be prepared.
Some start and they're fearless, just waiting to see what happens,
and then they realize that they don't understand finance,
they don't understand managing,
they don't know anything.
They're afraid to sell themselves.
Some think that selling themselves is not for them.
They think, "No, that's not nice!"
I love promoting, and I'm always promoting things.
Look here, I'm promoting my book.
You always have to promote and shouldn't be shy at all.
-Fantastic.
Thanks to your experience, you've received many prizes.
How many prizes?
More than 50, more than 40? -I've won 53 prizes.
You have 53 prizes,
and that's why you're the most award-winning journalist
in Spain, which is well-deserved.
I hope it is. Some might say it's not. -I think it is!
You're also someone we can learn many things from
because you're also a mentor and a teacher, right?
Yes, what I teach most of all…
I don't teach too much.
I mean, what I teach is a quite limited subject
because there are people who teach you absolutely everything.
There are people who…
Have you seen those old Western movies?
There's a salesman with an elixir that can cure baldness,
a stomachache, an injured leg,
or if you're missing half a leg, with the elixir it grows back.
It does everything! Well, I don't teach everything.
I teach communication, soft skills, and not much more.
I teach people to be visible,
to be involved in the news industry, and how to be a journalist.
If you want to be visible, you need to read my book.
If you want to be invisible, don't even think about buying it,
because if you do, it will be useless to you.
We'll talk later about your fantastic book,
which shares many of your experiences
as a lecturer and a mentor.
You've strongly insisted that soft skills
are much more important than what many people think, haven't you?
That's right.
Soft skills are essential
because even though we're talking about technology nowadays,
hard skills, and knowing all about computers,
if you don't know how to interact with your team,
it won't work. -That's true.
It doesn't matter if you interact online
from your computer, with no physical meetings
or if you interact in an office with many people,
you need to know how to interact with others
and how to have a good relationship with your team.
If not, it won't work out, and they'll end up firing you.
Of course. In fact, a little birdy told us
that many of your lectures and mentorships are very dynamic,
reflecting your own personal style,
and that you're more used to using direct language
so people can understand and learn at the same time.
That's right. When I give a lecture,
the person there is Juanma Romero
and everything that I am. -The very one.
If I have to talk about my wife and my children, I'll talk about them.
If I have to talk about things that have happened to me, I'll do it,
because that way I can show people the truth,
the things that have happened to me,
how they've happened, and how I've solved them.
If I've experienced any failures, and I've had many,
I share them, too.
Then I share how I dealt with that situation.
In fact, I have a lecture with my ten books,
the eleventh book isn't there yet.
In each book there's a failure.
I share the failure that's in the book
and how I overcame it.
That's so interesting.
Speaking about those books,
you're now in the middle of your book promotion
for your latest book Hazte visible.
This book is a compilation of everything you've achieved
in the communication field and how to be visible.
In fact, you've conducted more than 1,000 or 2,000 radio interviews
in a very short time.
I've conducted more than 1,000 individual radio interviews in two years.
There are people that believe me and there are people who don't.
I believe you. -You better! I have a stick here
to hit you with if you say you don't.
It's true, yes.
One time, I had 20 interviews in one day.
That day, I couldn't ride my motorcycle.
I mostly move around the city on a motorcycle.
I had to take the car because every time they called me,
I had to stop.
Organizing 20 interviews in a day was impossible to manage.
It was only possible with the communication strategy
that I explain in the book.
I didn't keep it a secret.
The thing is, it's not only about strategy.
You also have to work, work, work.
This doesn't just happen by saying, "Juanma Romero explained this to me."
When I give a lecture, I teach them absolutely everything
and how to do it.
However, you have to work.
A few days ago,
I was giving a lecture to a company. I told them,
"This is great. You know how to do it,
but now you have to actually do it."
It doesn't count if you just say, "Juanma told me to do this."
Now you have to do it. -Of course.
I actually wanted to ask you about this.
I don't want to take up too much of your time.
You've advised many companies,
from multinationals to small businesses and entrepreneurs.
What do they often do wrong?
What do they tend to not keep in mind
to ensure communication is a success
or at least to reach the objectives they have set?
They don't think about ordinary people.
They're in their own bubble
and they don't think about the people out there.
The other day, I had a session in a company,
it doesn't matter which one.
They were adept on social media and WhatsApp,
but it didn't occur to them to get coffee with a journalist.
"Coffee with a journalist?"
But if you're in your city, go have a coffee with them.
Interact with them.
If the journalist doesn't want to, obviously don't do it,
but if they want to…
You're not bothering them by seeing them
and telling them what you do.
They can't have 200 coffees every day, of course,
but you can suggest it. If they're not interested, that's that.
If they are, you maintain that relationship.
Well, getting coffee with a journalist was something they didn't even consider.
They didn't send the right email to the journalist either.
They would send an email and say,
"I've attached the press release" or "Here's my company's report."
A 200 page report.
And I would tell them,
"That's foolish!
How is a journalist going to read 200 pages
about your company? Do you think they care?"
First, they have to open the email.
They probably won't even open the attached PDF.
Then, they have to read it.
Honestly, if I saw it was 200 pages long,
I wouldn't read it either. -You and me both.
You have to explain these things that they don't consider,
but this happens to some communication agencies,
and they're supposed to know about these things.
These are huge mistakes, and there's no time for that, of course.
I receive about 200 emails a day.
If I had to read and answer each email,
it would take me at least three minutes per email.
In other words, six hours of my life each day.
I wouldn't have any time to work.
My bosses would ask me, "When are you going to do the program?"
Without a doubt.
To wrap things up,
one of your latest milestones is writing
Amazon's number one best-selling book with Hazte visible.
I know you won't share it with us,
but could you tell us about some of the main aspects of the strategy
that's made your book number one?
I'm sure you'll be number one again, by the way.
Well, we've been number one on Amazon…
I said "We" and I'll tell you why.
It's been a 12-hour campaign.
It hasn't been short.
It's been a 12-hour campaign
and three months of preparation.
I said "We"
because I led the campaign with the help of others, including you.
There are people who might say they did it all by themselves.
That's not my case.
In my case, I always have help and I always ask for help, too.
All that we've achieved…
In the book Hazte visible,
there's a QR code as a gift for those who buy the book,
which takes you to a site where we explain how we made the book.
Of course, this can't be in the book because the book has already been printed.
But what's in the QR code
will be written up until two days before the book is released,
and then it will be uploaded on the site.
By the way, you're the one who'll upload it.
Thank you so much for giving me more tasks to do.
That's so interesting! -Sorry.
In that QR code,
we'll share the strategy we followed and the key words
that made Amazon place us in a good position,
and how we made sure those key words
were aligned with the people who want to use our services.
All of the information will be there:
how it was promoted online,
how it was promoted on communication channels,
with friends, with colleagues, with enemies, with our daily emails, etc.
There's going to be a strategy that we'll also make into a lecture later,
because all of this has to be profitable.
Of course.
Everything you're sharing is so interesting.
It's certainly a wonderful project,
just like many projects you've carried out.
I'm convinced it will be a great success
for professionals to be visible, to learn,
and to continue learning,
this time with the help of communication strategies
from the most award-winning journalist in Spain,
which we hope continues for many years.
We hope it does!
-We sure do! -I hope they buy the book, Hazte visible.
Of course, that too!
It's been a pleasure to have Juanma Romero,
director of the radio program Emprende
on the Canal 24 Horas of Radio y Televisión Española.
I tried my best to be up to your standards.
-We're done already? -Yes, we're done already.
Well, it went by super quick! You've completely surpassed my standards!
I wish I could speak as good as you do.
No, no.
You just think highly of me!
Thanks for coming to Talent Talks, Juanma. -Thank you.
Now you've seen why he's the most award-winning journalist
in Spain.
He also has fantastic initiatives
that keep us learning and improving.
He shared all this with the experience, kindness,
and friendliness of someone who doesn't give up
and who doesn't want you to either.
It happened here, on Talent Talks.