Vanessa Van Edwards on the Hidden Science of Trust, Charisma, and Selling Without Being Salesy | #Marketing - Ep. 112
The Russell Brunson ShowShow Notes
In this episode of The Russell Brunson Show, I sat down with Vanessa Van Edwards, and I knew right away this conversation was going to hit differently. I’ve been seeing Vanessa everywhere lately, and when she told me she used funnels and webinars to build her business, my mind was blown. She’s a self-described “recovering awkward person” who turned social anxiety, human behavior research, and relentless testing into a global brand - and along the way, she quietly mastered selling without ever feeling salesy.
What fascinated me most wasn’t just her success, but how she got there. Vanessa didn’t chase every platform blindly. She studied people the same way we study funnels. She learned what makes someone trust you, listen to you, and ultimately buy from you - and she applied those principles to webinars, content, books, and partnerships. This episode is a masterclass on communication, charisma, and how deeply understanding people can transform your business
Key Highlights:
◼️How Vanessa went from failed book launches and quitting her business to rebuilding everything with webinars, funnels, and aggressively helpful content
◼️Why most entrepreneurs aren’t bad at marketing - they’re under-signaling warmth and competence (and how to fix that)
◼️The real reason some webinars convert for years while others flop, and how balancing credibility with likability changes everything
◼️Her unconventional growth strategy of leveraging platforms (not just social media) like Udemy, MasterClass, and email lists she didn’t own
◼️The exact cues - from voice tone to body language - that instantly increase trust when you’re on stage, on video, or on a sales call
We also go deep into her books Captivate and Cues, her upcoming work on conversation, and why charisma isn’t something you’re born with - it’s something you can learn, practice, and systemize. If you’re an introverted entrepreneur, a funnel hacker who loves strategy more than small talk, or someone who knows their message is good but struggles to deliver it confidently, this episode is for you.
◼️If you’ve got a product, offer, service… or idea… I’ll show you how to sell it (the RIGHT way) Register for my next event → https://sellingonline.com/podcast
◼️Still don’t have a funnel? ClickFunnels gives you the exact tools (and templates) to launch TODAY → https://clickfunnels.com/podcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
More from The Russell Brunson Show
Last week I told you the story of everything that led up to launching ClickFunnels — my original “One Funnel Away.” I ended it like the hero coming home victorious with the elixir. But here’s the thing about a hero’s journey: it always has a sequel. And the sequel is where it gets real.
When I was a kid, I mailed 38 hand-stapled sales letters to names I picked at random out of the phone book, absolutely certain I was about to get rich. Zero people responded. That was my very first funnel — and it flopped like almost every one that came after it. I’ve failed at more funnels than anyone I know. And that’s exactly why I eventually found the one that changed everything.
I have millions of followers across every platform… and when I go live, maybe 150 people actually see it. Back in the Periscope days, I’d hit “go live” and five or six thousand people would show up instantly, and we’d just hang out — that’s how I really built this community. Then the algorithms changed and quietly took that away. So I built my own way around it.
For years people have asked me the same question: Russell, if you could only build one funnel, what’s the best one? And my answer always frustrates them — it depends. But here’s what almost nobody realizes: inside every business, there’s only ONE funnel that actually matters. You might look at the two hundred funnels I’ve built and think it’s chaos… it’s not. All the rest are just appendages to the one funnel that rules them all.
A year and a half ago, I walked off the Funnel Hacking Live stage, took my shoes off, and left them there — the wrestler’s way of saying a career is over. FHL 10 was “The Last Dance,” and I meant it. We shut it down, and I honestly didn’t know if it’d be a year, five years, or forever before we ever did anything like it again. Well, I’ve got news: it’s coming back — once. This September we’re doing a one-time-only encore called Funnel Hacking Live AI!