March 3, 2025 • 32 mins
In this episode, we dive deep into the world of public speaking with industry expert Blair Nichols. Blair is a seasoned speaker coach and manager, helping individuals leverage speaking engagements to grow their brands, attract clients, and establish themselves as thought leaders. We discuss the power of storytelling, how to break into public speaking, and why authenticity is key to success. If you’ve ever considered speaking as a way to grow your business, this episode is a must-listen!
Key Topics Covered:
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Introduction to Blair Nichols
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His journey from publishing to working in the speaker industry
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Experience managing and coaching speakers since 2007
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The evolution of the speaking business over the years
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Public Speaking as a Business Strategy
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Why speaking is a powerful client acquisition tool
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The difference between speaking at an event vs. being an exhibitor
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Strategies for leveraging public speaking to attract ideal clients
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Overcoming the Fear of Public Speaking
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Why speaking remains a common fear
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How virtual platforms have helped people become more comfortable speaking
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The importance of embracing nerves as part of the process
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How Public Speaking Builds Trust and Authority
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The ‘Know, Like, Trust’ factor
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The psychology behind why audiences trust speakers
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Leveraging storytelling to create emotional connections
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Different Styles of Public Speaking
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The spectrum from high-energy speakers like Tony Robbins to calm presenters like Eckhart Tolle
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Why authenticity matters more than a particular style
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How to find and refine your own unique speaking voice
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Getting Started with Public Speaking
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How to book your first speaking engagements
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Leveraging your existing network for practice opportunities
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The importance of pro bono gigs to build credibility and content
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Tapping into the Business Side of Speaking
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The role of sponsorships in securing speaking opportunities
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How to negotiate for stage time at events
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The differences between paid speaking engagements and strategic speaking for business growth
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Virtual Speaking Opportunities
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The rise and sustainability of virtual events
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How virtual speaking compares to in-person engagements
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Monetizing virtual speaking events and workshops
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Success Stories in Public Speaking
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Blair’s experience managing Molly Bloom’s speaking career
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Growth stories from coaching clients who successfully increased their speaking rates and audience reach
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Three Pillars of a Sustainable Speaking Strategy
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Speaking Assets – Crafting a compelling speaker profile, topics, and positioning
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Go-To-Market Strategy – Finding and booking the right speaking engagements
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Products & Services – Leveraging speaking to drive business and revenue growth
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The Future of
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
If you can be on a stage at that sameevent, at the event where your ideal
clients are in the audience, and nowyou're the expert, you have got such
an advantage over everyone else that'sjust trying to form a relationship
with people walking by their booths, soyou really, there's so many different
strategies, but just thinking abouthow powerful it would be if you
(00:24):
could get in front of the audience.
Those ideal clients and adda valuable content to them.
And then, you know, even get them on youremail list as part of that presentation,
and then you can obviously stick aroundand you're going to have way more people
interested now, way more people thatwant to talk to you or want to explore
something than you would have had just.
(00:45):
Just being present at an event, justbeing another vendor, just being
another, you know, exhibitor, et cetera.
So thinking about speaking as astrategy is something I do think a
lot of business owners ignore andhealth coaches, you know, there's
a lot of opportunities for you.
(01:08):
Welcome to another episode ofthe health coach Academy podcast.
I'm your host Omar Cumberbatchwith omarcumberbatch.com com.
So excited to sharetoday's guest with you.
His name is.
Blair Nichols, and he's talking aboutsomething that we really, really need to
take a look at as health coaches, becauseagain, I've probably spoke about it many
times on the podcast before, but publicspeaking is an amazing way to get clients.
(01:31):
So he's going to dive into thatand talk about his agency and all
the good stuff in the industry.
And a couple of things that Ihad no idea was going on as well.
So it was really enlightening to hearabout this specific topic and all the
new and good stuff that's going on.
that.
So I hope that you enjoy him.
I thought he was awesome.
So let's jump into the show,but first, please, as always
(01:52):
leave a rating and review.
So I could continuously get awesomeguests like Blair on the show and
provide all the interesting topicsthat are relevant to health coaches
and how to get their businesses going.
All right, let's jump into it.
Hey Blair, welcome to the show.
How are you today?
I'm doing well.
Thanks for having me.
(02:12):
Oh, my pleasure.
I love this topic.
It's one of those avenues that I thinka lot of people really are beginning
to see, at least in the health coachingspace, how powerful public speaking is.
So I just want to dive into a little bitabout how you got into this field, what
exactly you do, and then we'll get into acouple of questions that right after that.
Yeah, sure.
(02:33):
So I coach and manage speakers.
A lot of people who are eitherdoing paid and or strategic speaking
as part of their business or asa primary part of their business.
And, uh, you know, I juststarted off in speakers.
Bureau's was my 1st job out of college.
I was headed for I was headed for Ajob in New York and publishing and
(02:54):
the job that I found myself with, uh,was an assistant to the director of
the Harbor Collins Speakers Bureau.
So an industry that I didn't reallyknow existed, um, kind of sprang to
life and, you know, the rest is thejourney that I've been on since.
2007. Oh, wow.
So you've been in thegame for a long time.
(03:15):
So is it still true that, youknow, public speaking is the
most feared thing next to death?
Is that still carry?
And how did that even make youeven more empowered to dive
into this and really succeed?
Yeah.
Well, I mean, I do, I do hear that.
I don't know if there's any newdata out there on that or not.
I would say I was hoping that.
(03:35):
Maybe because of COVID, a lot of peoplegot more comfortable, like having
to speak on camera, having to be oncamera, just to be in a zoom meeting.
So it might feel a little bit moreempowering or emboldening to do more
speaking in that sense, and thentransition that to in per in person.
But I do think it's, it'sstill a pretty common fear.
(03:58):
And I, you know, there's a lot ofseasoned speakers that, uh, have.
Stage fright and get the jitters as well.
So I think it's just a pretty natural,a pretty natural thing for most people.
So why do you think public speaking issuch a successful business strategy?
And how can it open up for healthcoaches who are just starting out?
(04:19):
Yeah, for sure.
So, I mean, you've got such limitedtime and resources, uh, you know,
if you're a solopreneur, as you'regetting your own practice started,
whatever that looks like, and youhave to decide what to do with that.
Like, I'm just an advocate for gettingout there and finding opportunities to
speak in front of your ideal audience.
And rather than putting that into, youknow, Facebook ads or other digital
(04:43):
strategies like that, that's justgoing to churn through so much money.
And.
A lot of you might be thinkingabout going to conferences or
events and being a sponsor, maybehaving a booth and all of this, but.
Imagine how many people you'regoing to meet just walking by
the booth or shaking hands.
You're not going to get thatmany, you know, connections.
(05:07):
You're not going to be able todo that many deals or, you know,
really attract that many customersjust with that strategy alone.
But if you can be on a stage atthat same event, at the event
where your ideal clients are in theaudience, and now you're the expert.
You have got such anadvantage over everyone else.
That's just trying to form a relationshipwith people walking by their booths.
(05:30):
So you really there's so manydifferent strategies, but just
thinking about how powerful it wouldbe if you could get in front of.
Those ideal clients and add a valuablecontent to them, and then, you
know, even get them on your emaillist as part of that presentation.
And then you can obviously stick aroundand you're going to have way more people
(05:52):
interested now, way more people thatwant to talk to you or want to explore
something than you would have had just.
Just being present at an event, justbeing another vendor, just being
another, you know, exhibitor, et cetera.
So thinking about speaking as astrategy is something I do think a lot
of business owners ignore and healthcoaches, you know, there's a lot of
(06:15):
opportunities for you just somethingthat my colleague used to say is.
Uh, you know, if you're a yoga instructor,don't go to the yoga conference, go to
the stressed out people's conference.
So, depending on what your worklooks like and what your ideal
client looks like, don't just go toother health related conferences.
Don't just go to other, you know, wherethere's everyone there is going to be
(06:39):
kind of of the same mindset or of thesame, you know, kind of on this on the
on board, like, think about where youcan go and stand out where you can go.
And maybe.
That is going to set you apart from theother content that they're receiving
and the, you know, the opportunitiesthat to work with you beyond that don't
get kind of flooded out by everyoneelse kind of sharing a similar message.
(07:03):
I actually love that a lot.
I never thought about it that way.
That's an excellent point becauseI like mentioned off air every time
I've had a public speaking event.
I always get a client.
It never, ever fails.
I have my idea of why that's thecase, but I want to see if we
were on the same page with that.
So why do you think just being in frontof an audience has that much more of
(07:26):
an effect on getting actual clients?
What is there?
Is there an idea?
Well, I, I mean, I think peoplesay they, you know, people need
to know, like, and trust you.
And I think that really accelerateswhen you're up there, you're able to
tell a story and create an emotionalconnection and actually earn people's
trust and they like you becausethey've, they've learned a little
(07:48):
bit about you, maybe made them laugh.
And so.
How do you structure your talk is a bigpart of how to do this successfully,
not just getting up there and pitchingsomething or not just getting up
there and, you know, jumping rightinto a complicated or technical, you
know, conversation, but opening withthe story, being vulnerable, being
authentic, getting them to kind of,you know, uh, you know, follow you.
(08:13):
And then.
They learn from you.
They're more open to that.
And that's at the end of that part, maybethree quarters of the way through, you
offer that free resource or the whateverthat you want to give them, throw, throw
that QR code up on the screen, givethem time to get it downloaded and then
bring them back and close with a story.
(08:34):
So then that's what they remember.
Bring it back to the story from thebeginning, tie it up in a nice little bow.
And that's just how the human mind works.
If, you know, they feel completethen, and then you're there,
you're going to be remembered.
And then you're, again, you're alreadyhave earned their trust probably.
So them getting, you know, to discover,you know, to jump in working with you.
(08:57):
Isn't that surprising?
Because it's a lot different thanseeing an ad, scheduling a call,
you know, checking referrals.
Like that's what a lot of thesales process usually looks like.
And what does that all mean?
It's like.
No, like and trust.
Do they like you for themselves?
Did they, they find out about you?
And then now can they trust you bylooking at references or something else?
(09:21):
But if they believe and see whatyou have to say on stage, and you
know, you're also talking about thework that you do, then you're just,
again, it's such a massive advantage.
I know I definitely think that's a partof it and probably a bigger part than I
was actually thinking about and becauseI was trying to figure out why is it so
successful on my end and I always cameup with the idea that whoever you're
(09:46):
speaking in front of the event itself.
Asked you to participate in it.
So people, I guess, automaticallyassume that you're an expert because
yeah, you wouldn't be invited.
You wouldn't be on stage.
You wouldn't be in front of thesepeople unless you had something
backing you up in that expert realm.
So that's I think that was oneof the advantages as well, too.
(10:09):
Yeah, and it works both ways.
It's it's you are kind of conferringsome credibility on the event
organizers and the host as well.
Like, you're a third party validator.
Like, sometimes coming into a corporateevent, you're there to really help,
help reinforce and carry theirmessage or the theme or the whatever.
And so, uh, you know, I think it's,It should always be a win win.
(10:33):
It should always, you should alwaysbe there whether you're getting paid
or not because it's going to help, youknow, get more leads, get more business,
like do something to advance whatyour, you know, what your mission is.
No, definitely.
So do you actually have to be verygood at Public speaking to succeed.
And I know that's a loaded question, butthe reason I bring it up is because you do
(10:56):
see a lot of different styles and I thinka lot of people kind of think that, you
know, maybe the more animated individualslike, you know, say a Tony Robbins
or or see even a less brown are thosethose kind of that's the ideal piece.
And then you also see people likeEckhart Tolle, who looks like
he's About to go to sleep, right?
So like talk about the spectrum andtalk about maybe why we don't need to
(11:21):
be the public speaker in our mind toactually succeed in public speaking.
Yeah, I mean, and that's whyI think Tony Robbins is always
everyone's archetype of the speaker.
And I talk about that.
A lot in that I had seen this shiftfrom it being all about energy and
like the bringing in that energy andall about that, you know, pump you up
(11:41):
kind of business, you know, business,but it has shifted a lot to whereas
I think what audiences want most andwhat they feel most comfortable with.
So ultimately have the bestexperience with is just authenticity.
You know, they, theywant you to be authentic.
They don't want it tobe all braggadocious.
They want there to behumility and vulnerability.
(12:03):
And that's why we talk about storytelling,you know, because I think that
authenticity is what's most important.
So, no, I mean, to be a public speaker.
There it is a skill.
I mean, it is something you can practicebecause the practice is not in like
just getting in front of the room.
I mean, that's scary.
And so getting as many times atbad at that is is definitely good.
(12:25):
But learning the material, like,you're not going to get paid
to read off a teleprompter.
You are not there to just, you know, putall of your texts on PowerPoint slides
and read them back to the audience.
Like, if you want to get to the levelof keynote quote unquote speaker.
You're going to have to do that,you know, and really be able to
command the stage for 3045 minutes.
(12:48):
You don't need to do cartwheelsand, you know, fire up the crowd.
You do it your way, but you needto be able to carry that time
and whatever that looks like.
And so, you know, whether that's,you know, we talked about, we've
talked about the structure of thepresentation to Some speakers are more
interactive or get into the crowd.
Some, you know, they are more reservedand there's no wrong answer necessarily.
(13:13):
But I think, you know, you, you got toalso respond to the audience if they need
some waking up or if they, you know, ifyou, if you need to kind of, you know,
calibrate to where they're at necessarily.
So, um.
Yeah, a lot of things to consider.
And I think it like anything, yeah,you get better at it with practice.
(13:34):
Um, so when you start out though, it'syeah, it's, it's how you learn and you can
still, you know, get significant deals andget clients from small events, you know,
even if it's just a lunch of 10 people.
So that might be a huge deal,you know, for your business.
And you can just see how thatcan scale by getting in front
(13:56):
of bigger and bigger audiences.
Mm hmm.
No, definitely.
And I love the fact that you bringup the authenticity because, um, in
my limited experience, like I said,always successful getting a client.
I think that it was the authenticitythat actually helped out a lot and
the relatability to the audience whowas in front of that helped out a lot.
(14:17):
And it's listen, if you're anintrovert and that's your style,
I'm glad that you're at leastsharing with the audience that it.
Be yourself, you know, you don'thave to, and that, that'll loosen
up some of the hesitation withjumping into public speaking.
So I definitely appreciate that.
Um, I guess, you know, you justmentioned also starting up, right?
Like what happens in this circumstance?
(14:39):
Like what kind of resources do youhave to get in front of people?
Like, are there anything asfar as, uh, like how do we get?
Uh, a speaking gig period.
Yeah, sure.
I mean, I always recommend people tostart, you know, with your network, with
the people that know and love you, youknow, even do, do plenty of pro bono
(15:00):
things, like speak at your kid's school.
Speak at your school, speak atyour church, speak at a community
organization, speak at your friend'scompany, like anywhere that like,
maybe there's an opportunity for youto get some practice, get some video.
And just get in front of an audience, Ithink is a great opportunity, but as that
continues to grow and as you've kind ofshaped, like, these are the topics, this
(15:23):
is the ideal audience I want to reach.
And, um, so I'm going to starttargeting events where I know that
that audience is and see what kindof speaking opportunities there are.
So a lot of those conferences areonline, you know, there's a lot of
different events and you, you would be.
Reaching out to them.
Some have applications for speakers and,um, some have just contact information.
(15:50):
So, you know, it's, it's definitely ahustle if it's something that you really
want to do, but I think you can getsuper focused on those most meaningful
events where your ideal clients are,and just really kind of focus on that.
And the advantage is most people are.
We're going in there and wanting to bepaid as a speaker, or just, you know,
(16:12):
trying to get picked as a speaker.
If you approach them and say, I'minterested in understanding how you
work with speakers and partners.
You know, as you're reaching outto them, then in their mind, they
hear like, they hear money signs.
So now it's like, Oh, well, if hewants to partner or she wants to
partner, then that might mean thatthey're going to spend some money.
(16:35):
So let's talk to them.
So then you're just there.
You're really just doing a. Fishingexpedition to find out like, well,
how do you work with speakers?
How do you choose your speakersor how do you, you know, like what
sort of opportunities do you have?
And then if, if there, if theyreally only do kind of speaking
option, you know, opportunities.
(16:56):
through sponsorships, or that is one ofthe main ways, then that is something that
you can negotiate, you know, and dependingon what the rate is for the sponsorship
and what you're going to be able to offer,because you might, in those situations,
be able to just offer your program, youknow, at the end of the talk or at the.
The three quarter length way is still,you know, we're just, you know, move
(17:21):
directly to selling people at this event.
Typically, um, it mightbe really worth it.
Because even if you convert afew, like, it would definitely
pay for the sponsorship rate.
And in this case.
You're going to just want toconsider a lot of things, but most
(17:41):
of all, this track record, like,we were talking about it earlier.
Once you've got, like, once you've donean event and can show that people showed
up and like, you know, like, whatever.
And the more you do it, the morecredibility you have to get people
to want to sponsor and put moneyinto your event and be doing this.
So thinking about thatjust as a speaker too.
So those are just some ways to pursue it.
(18:05):
Events and to think not just about like,how do I just get picked as a speaker?
A lot of them do work more asbusinesses, these conferences,
like they work off sponsorships.
And think about this, like some ofthem might not even offer speaking
as part of their sponsorship,but try to negotiate for it.
Cause what are they offering?
Do you don't need your logo ona step and repeat or a lanyard?
(18:28):
You know, you might not needa lot of the stuff that they
put in these packages, but.
If you can get all of the email addressesof the con of the attendees, if you can
get, you know, things, if they will senda dedicated email on your behalf, if they
will give you that stage time or whatever,these are the things you want to look for.
It's just how can you getdirectly people into your funnel
(18:51):
as quickly and efficiently aspossible into and along that trust,
like, you know, whatever curve.
Oh, no, I'm glad that you brought that upbecause not being in the space, I didn't
even know those opportunities existed.
Right?
So it's like, it's really coolthat you're sharing a little
bit behind the scenes with that.
And I know that we spoke off airto, um, obviously there's a couple
(19:14):
of people out there who do publicspeaking full time, but you don't
necessarily recommend that as astrategy for The everyday folk, right?
It's more of a supplemental way to,to kind of broaden your horizons
as far as bringing in business.
Well, I think it's one way that you canstart to take some, you want to get out
of like a nine to five corporate lifeor whatever that looks like for you.
(19:38):
It is something to that you thatcan help you get out there and
start building a business and start.
Getting clients or start getting, youknow, some things to get you started.
So I think there's just a lotof value that at any stage in
your business or in your own.
You know, career that you canleverage to continue that growth
and it can be really strategic.
(19:59):
I just don't think that like,you know, I think there's a lot
of people who love speaking andthey get lots of money to do it.
So I, you know, why wouldn't you love it?
Um, and they, and I, you know, Ithink they like the travel and they,
you know, but most of them don'twant to be on the road as much.
Most of them wish that they could make asmuch money and not be on the road as much.
(20:19):
And so.
There's only a couple ways to do that.
You got to keep growing yourdemand and raising your rates and
doing less and whatever and hopingthat it balances out, et cetera.
Or you got to figure out how elseyou're going to make money off of this.
So I've just seen so many speakerswhen I've been on the agency.
Side where all we care aboutis getting our commission.
(20:40):
I'm not there to try to get themto sell any products or services
or any additional coaching.
Like, none of that.
I'm not like, that's not our business.
In fact, we don't want that.
We want the, you know, the bureaus don'twant the speaker trying to upsell anything
and they just want to keep it clean.
And in a paid engagement, you, you do haveto be a little bit more judicious and.
(21:04):
How you approach it and, andwhat you request or want to do.
And there's a lot ofstrategies for that too.
It doesn't mean it's off the table, butit's not the same sort of opportunity.
Whereas these events, you know, wherethey're more, is there open to the
public or they're open to specificgroups or associations, et cetera,
(21:24):
or specific industries, then, youknow, that part of their business
model is just bringing people.
Bringing people to them that can supportthe event and they're happy as long as
it doesn't, you know, as long as it, thataligns with what they're trying to do.
No, it makes a lot of sense.
(21:45):
Now, obviously my envision ofeverything would be your, like you said,
traveling, going on stages, et cetera.
What's the market for.
Virtual, like, is it big?
Do you get paid the same?
Different parameters?
Yeah, it's definitely not as big.
(22:07):
I mean, obviously it exploded duringCOVID and became such more of a
viable option for people even now.
There definitely are virtual things,but it's usually for smaller events
or for a meeting where a companyis not going to bring all of their
people together to one place.
They're just going to All attend,you know, remotely or, you know,
(22:28):
there's a lot of different reasons,but it's always less money.
It's usually half the fee forfor paid engagements, you know,
virtual, but doing virtual events ingeneral as an opportunity for you.
And it's a, you know, a healthcoach or business person.
Are great.
You know, there's a lot of differentplatforms to leverage in that way to get
(22:48):
your message out there, your informationto drive people to your webinars to host
your own workshops because it's free.
Like, you, you don't need to getbooked at an event to have a stage.
You can create that.
You can invite people, youknow, even if a few people show
up again, it's good practice.
So virtual events should bevirtual events and just obviously
(23:09):
all the virtual platforms.
You know, I think are abig part of the strategy.
Okay, good, good, good.
That's good to know as well.
So can you talk about maybe a successstory that you've had with one
of your clients specifically thatreally you could, you, that's your,
your model student, boost theirbottom line, boost their brand.
(23:30):
Can you have any, uh, testimonials tothat effect or the main testimonial that
you'd like to share with the audience?
Yeah, yeah, and a few like I've beenon different sides of the business
and worked with different speakers andhelped grow their businesses in different
ways But I think you know, obviously mymy proudest Client that I worked with
pretty intensely was Molly Bloom fromMolly's game when I was with big speak
(23:56):
and I was you know, I saw the movie andreached out to The publishing house,
which is where I first worked, so Ihad still had some connections and they
got me in touch with the publicist.
And, you know, before you knew it, Ihad a meeting set up and I was just,
I was so amped for that meeting.
I was so ready.
Like, I read the book.
(24:17):
I was just like, really felt like.
Like connected to her and then shedecided to work with us and I pretty
much talked to her every single dayand went on the road with her and went
to her first, you know, events andwent with her to Romania and Australia
and, you know, other crazy places.
So I got to, like, continue to, like,coach and guide her through that first.
(24:42):
You know, year and a halfat least of speaking.
Well, yeah, at least like year and ahalf of speaking, um, that now it's
pretty much her like solid career.
It was her comeback story with the movie.
And then this was going to, youknow, her hope was that she could
translate it into something like this.
So, you know, and, andthat's a good thing.
(25:02):
You know, obviously a little bitmore fantastic since not everyone
gets a movie made about them.
That is a pretty good platformto get your story out there.
Um, but even just in the speakersI've worked with in the last
couple of years, like I've,I've just seen their fees go up.
I've seen how like better and bettertheir materials and their assets are.
(25:23):
And, you know, a lot of my, the peopleI coach, you know, it's a limited
time engagement, but I'm seeingall this stuff they're doing now.
You know what I mean?
Like, damn, they like.
They really took it and ran andlike, you know, it's It's exciting.
That's awesome.
That's awesome.
So, I guess to wrap, because like yousaid, you, you definitely have started
people out, you've seen how they've grown,like, how would you approach helping the
(25:48):
health coaches who are just starting out?
Give us a little glimpse of what youwould maybe talk about first, couple
steps that you would start them on thatprocess of being a successful speaker.
Yeah, well, I'll just describe to youthe 3 pillars of my sustainable speaking
strategy, because I think you can applyit to your business, especially since
you'll just put that, you know, put yourhealth coach services, et cetera, into
(26:11):
pillar 3, but starting with pillar 1.
It's your speaking assets.
So figuring out your topics,figuring out your positioning,
you know, what are the things thatyou really want to speak about?
And in thinking about the audience,like don't, again, don't think about
everyone that knows all the healthjargon and lingo and might be up on
the latest trends or everything else.
(26:33):
Think about your ideal client, someonethat needs your support, someone that.
Doesn't know anything about this.
What are the things?
What are the problems you'regoing to help them solve?
Whether they're top of mind issueslike all of those positioning questions
that go into defining those topicsand then putting some video on there.
If you, you know, to your point, gettestimonials, have, you know, the logos
(26:57):
of places where you've spoken, like allof these is just building out a speaking
page, a speaker profile, um, with somecredibility building and then just showing
what you've got again, if you don'thave all that right away, that's okay,
you can get it, you can gather it, youcan, you know, start with testimonials
from friends and replace them as you go,like, you know, just, To have kind of
(27:19):
the bare bones there and the second thenis what's your go to market strategy.
So if you define now who yourtarget client is and your target
audience, it's what we were talkingabout just before going now after
those events, where do they gather?
How do you get to speak at those events?
Is it?
Something that they do pay their speakers.
And so there's an added elementthere, et cetera, or going around
(27:41):
and figuring out if you can partnerwith them in a different way.
So that's the whole go to marketstrategy and just defining
where to spend your time there.
And the pillar three isproducts and services.
And this is what most speakers don't have.
And so as coaches now, you,you pretty much have this
already and you might want to.
Grow that portfolio or whatever, butunderstanding like the products and
(28:04):
services that you are going to offerthrough speaking or that are going to
be part of your product pipeline thatyou hope that speaking is kind of the
top of the funnel for you and how you'regoing to move customers through that.
So those are kind of the 3 areas that Icover as like my 3 pillars of what I think
makes for a sustainable speaking strategy.
(28:24):
As a business, but also just if you'reusing it as a business, this is how they
all the pieces should work together.
You know, it's informed ultimately byyour, your ideal clients, your audience,
your, your customers, and then all of theother things are engineered around that.
Okay, great point.
Now, I thought that was going to be mylast question, but I think I have one more
(28:45):
follow up to that and then we'll wrap.
Um, where do you see.
Public speaking going, is thereanything new on the horizon?
Is it just going to be, it's that triedtrue steady method, like almost like
authorships, like, you know, like, isit, is there anything on the horizon that
you may think is a surprise on the way?
Or it's just, you know, publicspeaking is just what it is.
(29:07):
No, I don't know.
I mean, I think there's alwaysgoing to be this new technology.
Like we haven't really scratched thesurface of the whole hologram thing, you
know, I'm sure there's going to be like,Different ways that we interact with VR
and AR for meetings and stuff like that,that speakers will have to adapt to.
I'm like guaranteed that there's,that's going to be happening.
(29:28):
Like I, so I'm always on the technologyside and then on the, on the venue
side, you know, it's been all right.
Like what I, when I think aboutspeaking, it's like, it's.
It's been around since the Greeksare, you know, around forever.
It's a storytelling and being outthere has been around for so long that
like principally it doesn't change.
(29:49):
It's just like the, the mediums,the methods of delivery, maybe
even some of the business models.
Um, but.
I don't know, I think fundamentally the,you know, the principles aren't really
going to change all that much and, youknow, just the, the topics that people are
thinking about it and and, uh, you know,like, the, the industries that dominate
(30:14):
kind of the interest in this kind of,uh, you know, learning and experiences.
No, cool.
I didn't even think about that.
That's, that's awesome.
So you've been great.
I want to give you an opportunity toshare how to get in touch with you, you
know, your social media handles, yourwebsite, any way that we can just keep
up with the great stuff you're doing.
(30:34):
And if anybody absolutely wants to connectwith you to get some assistance in this
area, maybe a hot, you know, jump on intoyour, your agency, all that good stuff,
if you could share that with us right now.
Yeah, for sure.
So Blair Bryant Nichols, and you can findme on LinkedIn and Instagram as well as.
BBN creative management.
So you can find both of us, both thecompany and me on those platforms
(30:58):
as well as BBN creative management.
com.
Um, and you can sign up for a free 30minute call and be happy to chat about
where you're at with speaking, or evenif you're just thinking about getting
started and hopefully give you some.
Some good advice towhat you should do next.
So, um, yeah, check me out thereand hopefully I'll, I'll see,
(31:18):
uh, see you on my calendar.
Awesome.
Awesome.
Appreciate you.
Thanks for jumping on the show.
Have a great rest of the day.
You too.
Hope you enjoyed listeningto today's episode of the
health coach Academy podcast.
If you did jump over to iTunes andleave a rating and or review, it
goes a long way in helping get thismessage out to our fellow health
(31:41):
coaches and people in our industry.
Also, if you can't jump overto my website, omarcarbatch.
com where I give out a lot of freebies,including my five day sugar challenge for
people who are having issues with sugar.
And also for health coaches, I havethe book hidden the six not so obvious
ways to get your clients unstuck.
Have a great day.
If you can be on a stage at that sameevent, at the event where your ideal
clients are in the audience, and nowyou're the expert, you have got such
an advantage over everyone else that'sjust trying to form a relationship
with people walking by their booths, soyou really, there's so many different
strategies, but just thinking abouthow powerful it would be if you
(00:24):
could get in front of the audience.
Those ideal clients and adda valuable content to them.
And then, you know, even get them on youremail list as part of that presentation,
and then you can obviously stick aroundand you're going to have way more people
interested now, way more people thatwant to talk to you or want to explore
something than you would have had just.
(00:45):
Just being present at an event, justbeing another vendor, just being
another, you know, exhibitor, et cetera.
So thinking about speaking as astrategy is something I do think a
lot of business owners ignore andhealth coaches, you know, there's
a lot of opportunities for you.
(01:08):
Welcome to another episode ofthe health coach Academy podcast.
I'm your host Omar Cumberbatchwith omarcumberbatch.com com.
So excited to sharetoday's guest with you.
His name is.
Blair Nichols, and he's talking aboutsomething that we really, really need to
take a look at as health coaches, becauseagain, I've probably spoke about it many
times on the podcast before, but publicspeaking is an amazing way to get clients.
(01:31):
So he's going to dive into thatand talk about his agency and all
the good stuff in the industry.
And a couple of things that Ihad no idea was going on as well.
So it was really enlightening to hearabout this specific topic and all the
new and good stuff that's going on.
that.
So I hope that you enjoy him.
I thought he was awesome.
So let's jump into the show,but first, please, as always
(01:52):
leave a rating and review.
So I could continuously get awesomeguests like Blair on the show and
provide all the interesting topicsthat are relevant to health coaches
and how to get their businesses going.
All right, let's jump into it.
Hey Blair, welcome to the show.
How are you today?
I'm doing well.
Thanks for having me.
(02:12):
Oh, my pleasure.
I love this topic.
It's one of those avenues that I thinka lot of people really are beginning
to see, at least in the health coachingspace, how powerful public speaking is.
So I just want to dive into a little bitabout how you got into this field, what
exactly you do, and then we'll get into acouple of questions that right after that.
Yeah, sure.
(02:33):
So I coach and manage speakers.
A lot of people who are eitherdoing paid and or strategic speaking
as part of their business or asa primary part of their business.
And, uh, you know, I juststarted off in speakers.
Bureau's was my 1st job out of college.
I was headed for I was headed for Ajob in New York and publishing and
(02:54):
the job that I found myself with, uh,was an assistant to the director of
the Harbor Collins Speakers Bureau.
So an industry that I didn't reallyknow existed, um, kind of sprang to
life and, you know, the rest is thejourney that I've been on since.
2007. Oh, wow.
So you've been in thegame for a long time.
(03:15):
So is it still true that, youknow, public speaking is the
most feared thing next to death?
Is that still carry?
And how did that even make youeven more empowered to dive
into this and really succeed?
Yeah.
Well, I mean, I do, I do hear that.
I don't know if there's any newdata out there on that or not.
I would say I was hoping that.
(03:35):
Maybe because of COVID, a lot of peoplegot more comfortable, like having
to speak on camera, having to be oncamera, just to be in a zoom meeting.
So it might feel a little bit moreempowering or emboldening to do more
speaking in that sense, and thentransition that to in per in person.
But I do think it's, it'sstill a pretty common fear.
(03:58):
And I, you know, there's a lot ofseasoned speakers that, uh, have.
Stage fright and get the jitters as well.
So I think it's just a pretty natural,a pretty natural thing for most people.
So why do you think public speaking issuch a successful business strategy?
And how can it open up for healthcoaches who are just starting out?
(04:19):
Yeah, for sure.
So, I mean, you've got such limitedtime and resources, uh, you know,
if you're a solopreneur, as you'regetting your own practice started,
whatever that looks like, and youhave to decide what to do with that.
Like, I'm just an advocate for gettingout there and finding opportunities to
speak in front of your ideal audience.
And rather than putting that into, youknow, Facebook ads or other digital
(04:43):
strategies like that, that's justgoing to churn through so much money.
And.
A lot of you might be thinkingabout going to conferences or
events and being a sponsor, maybehaving a booth and all of this, but.
Imagine how many people you'regoing to meet just walking by
the booth or shaking hands.
You're not going to get thatmany, you know, connections.
(05:07):
You're not going to be able todo that many deals or, you know,
really attract that many customersjust with that strategy alone.
But if you can be on a stage atthat same event, at the event
where your ideal clients are in theaudience, and now you're the expert.
You have got such anadvantage over everyone else.
That's just trying to form a relationshipwith people walking by their booths.
(05:30):
So you really there's so manydifferent strategies, but just
thinking about how powerful it wouldbe if you could get in front of.
Those ideal clients and add a valuablecontent to them, and then, you
know, even get them on your emaillist as part of that presentation.
And then you can obviously stick aroundand you're going to have way more people
(05:52):
interested now, way more people thatwant to talk to you or want to explore
something than you would have had just.
Just being present at an event, justbeing another vendor, just being
another, you know, exhibitor, et cetera.
So thinking about speaking as astrategy is something I do think a lot
of business owners ignore and healthcoaches, you know, there's a lot of
(06:15):
opportunities for you just somethingthat my colleague used to say is.
Uh, you know, if you're a yoga instructor,don't go to the yoga conference, go to
the stressed out people's conference.
So, depending on what your worklooks like and what your ideal
client looks like, don't just go toother health related conferences.
Don't just go to other, you know, wherethere's everyone there is going to be
(06:39):
kind of of the same mindset or of thesame, you know, kind of on this on the
on board, like, think about where youcan go and stand out where you can go.
And maybe.
That is going to set you apart from theother content that they're receiving
and the, you know, the opportunitiesthat to work with you beyond that don't
get kind of flooded out by everyoneelse kind of sharing a similar message.
(07:03):
I actually love that a lot.
I never thought about it that way.
That's an excellent point becauseI like mentioned off air every time
I've had a public speaking event.
I always get a client.
It never, ever fails.
I have my idea of why that's thecase, but I want to see if we
were on the same page with that.
So why do you think just being in frontof an audience has that much more of
(07:26):
an effect on getting actual clients?
What is there?
Is there an idea?
Well, I, I mean, I think peoplesay they, you know, people need
to know, like, and trust you.
And I think that really accelerateswhen you're up there, you're able to
tell a story and create an emotionalconnection and actually earn people's
trust and they like you becausethey've, they've learned a little
(07:48):
bit about you, maybe made them laugh.
And so.
How do you structure your talk is a bigpart of how to do this successfully,
not just getting up there and pitchingsomething or not just getting up
there and, you know, jumping rightinto a complicated or technical, you
know, conversation, but opening withthe story, being vulnerable, being
authentic, getting them to kind of,you know, uh, you know, follow you.
(08:13):
And then.
They learn from you.
They're more open to that.
And that's at the end of that part, maybethree quarters of the way through, you
offer that free resource or the whateverthat you want to give them, throw, throw
that QR code up on the screen, givethem time to get it downloaded and then
bring them back and close with a story.
(08:34):
So then that's what they remember.
Bring it back to the story from thebeginning, tie it up in a nice little bow.
And that's just how the human mind works.
If, you know, they feel completethen, and then you're there,
you're going to be remembered.
And then you're, again, you're alreadyhave earned their trust probably.
So them getting, you know, to discover,you know, to jump in working with you.
(08:57):
Isn't that surprising?
Because it's a lot different thanseeing an ad, scheduling a call,
you know, checking referrals.
Like that's what a lot of thesales process usually looks like.
And what does that all mean?
It's like.
No, like and trust.
Do they like you for themselves?
Did they, they find out about you?
And then now can they trust you bylooking at references or something else?
(09:21):
But if they believe and see whatyou have to say on stage, and you
know, you're also talking about thework that you do, then you're just,
again, it's such a massive advantage.
I know I definitely think that's a partof it and probably a bigger part than I
was actually thinking about and becauseI was trying to figure out why is it so
successful on my end and I always cameup with the idea that whoever you're
(09:46):
speaking in front of the event itself.
Asked you to participate in it.
So people, I guess, automaticallyassume that you're an expert because
yeah, you wouldn't be invited.
You wouldn't be on stage.
You wouldn't be in front of thesepeople unless you had something
backing you up in that expert realm.
So that's I think that was oneof the advantages as well, too.
(10:09):
Yeah, and it works both ways.
It's it's you are kind of conferringsome credibility on the event
organizers and the host as well.
Like, you're a third party validator.
Like, sometimes coming into a corporateevent, you're there to really help,
help reinforce and carry theirmessage or the theme or the whatever.
And so, uh, you know, I think it's,It should always be a win win.
(10:33):
It should always, you should alwaysbe there whether you're getting paid
or not because it's going to help, youknow, get more leads, get more business,
like do something to advance whatyour, you know, what your mission is.
No, definitely.
So do you actually have to be verygood at Public speaking to succeed.
And I know that's a loaded question, butthe reason I bring it up is because you do
(10:56):
see a lot of different styles and I thinka lot of people kind of think that, you
know, maybe the more animated individualslike, you know, say a Tony Robbins
or or see even a less brown are thosethose kind of that's the ideal piece.
And then you also see people likeEckhart Tolle, who looks like
he's About to go to sleep, right?
So like talk about the spectrum andtalk about maybe why we don't need to
(11:21):
be the public speaker in our mind toactually succeed in public speaking.
Yeah, I mean, and that's whyI think Tony Robbins is always
everyone's archetype of the speaker.
And I talk about that.
A lot in that I had seen this shiftfrom it being all about energy and
like the bringing in that energy andall about that, you know, pump you up
(11:41):
kind of business, you know, business,but it has shifted a lot to whereas
I think what audiences want most andwhat they feel most comfortable with.
So ultimately have the bestexperience with is just authenticity.
You know, they, theywant you to be authentic.
They don't want it tobe all braggadocious.
They want there to behumility and vulnerability.
(12:03):
And that's why we talk about storytelling,you know, because I think that
authenticity is what's most important.
So, no, I mean, to be a public speaker.
There it is a skill.
I mean, it is something you can practicebecause the practice is not in like
just getting in front of the room.
I mean, that's scary.
And so getting as many times atbad at that is is definitely good.
(12:25):
But learning the material, like,you're not going to get paid
to read off a teleprompter.
You are not there to just, you know, putall of your texts on PowerPoint slides
and read them back to the audience.
Like, if you want to get to the levelof keynote quote unquote speaker.
You're going to have to do that,you know, and really be able to
command the stage for 3045 minutes.
(12:48):
You don't need to do cartwheelsand, you know, fire up the crowd.
You do it your way, but you needto be able to carry that time
and whatever that looks like.
And so, you know, whether that's,you know, we talked about, we've
talked about the structure of thepresentation to Some speakers are more
interactive or get into the crowd.
Some, you know, they are more reservedand there's no wrong answer necessarily.
(13:13):
But I think, you know, you, you got toalso respond to the audience if they need
some waking up or if they, you know, ifyou, if you need to kind of, you know,
calibrate to where they're at necessarily.
So, um.
Yeah, a lot of things to consider.
And I think it like anything, yeah,you get better at it with practice.
(13:34):
Um, so when you start out though, it'syeah, it's, it's how you learn and you can
still, you know, get significant deals andget clients from small events, you know,
even if it's just a lunch of 10 people.
So that might be a huge deal,you know, for your business.
And you can just see how thatcan scale by getting in front
(13:56):
of bigger and bigger audiences.
Mm hmm.
No, definitely.
And I love the fact that you bringup the authenticity because, um, in
my limited experience, like I said,always successful getting a client.
I think that it was the authenticitythat actually helped out a lot and
the relatability to the audience whowas in front of that helped out a lot.
(14:17):
And it's listen, if you're anintrovert and that's your style,
I'm glad that you're at leastsharing with the audience that it.
Be yourself, you know, you don'thave to, and that, that'll loosen
up some of the hesitation withjumping into public speaking.
So I definitely appreciate that.
Um, I guess, you know, you justmentioned also starting up, right?
Like what happens in this circumstance?
(14:39):
Like what kind of resources do youhave to get in front of people?
Like, are there anything asfar as, uh, like how do we get?
Uh, a speaking gig period.
Yeah, sure.
I mean, I always recommend people tostart, you know, with your network, with
the people that know and love you, youknow, even do, do plenty of pro bono
(15:00):
things, like speak at your kid's school.
Speak at your school, speak atyour church, speak at a community
organization, speak at your friend'scompany, like anywhere that like,
maybe there's an opportunity for youto get some practice, get some video.
And just get in front of an audience, Ithink is a great opportunity, but as that
continues to grow and as you've kind ofshaped, like, these are the topics, this
(15:23):
is the ideal audience I want to reach.
And, um, so I'm going to starttargeting events where I know that
that audience is and see what kindof speaking opportunities there are.
So a lot of those conferences areonline, you know, there's a lot of
different events and you, you would be.
Reaching out to them.
Some have applications for speakers and,um, some have just contact information.
(15:50):
So, you know, it's, it's definitely ahustle if it's something that you really
want to do, but I think you can getsuper focused on those most meaningful
events where your ideal clients are,and just really kind of focus on that.
And the advantage is most people are.
We're going in there and wanting to bepaid as a speaker, or just, you know,
(16:12):
trying to get picked as a speaker.
If you approach them and say, I'minterested in understanding how you
work with speakers and partners.
You know, as you're reaching outto them, then in their mind, they
hear like, they hear money signs.
So now it's like, Oh, well, if hewants to partner or she wants to
partner, then that might mean thatthey're going to spend some money.
(16:35):
So let's talk to them.
So then you're just there.
You're really just doing a. Fishingexpedition to find out like, well,
how do you work with speakers?
How do you choose your speakersor how do you, you know, like what
sort of opportunities do you have?
And then if, if there, if theyreally only do kind of speaking
option, you know, opportunities.
(16:56):
through sponsorships, or that is one ofthe main ways, then that is something that
you can negotiate, you know, and dependingon what the rate is for the sponsorship
and what you're going to be able to offer,because you might, in those situations,
be able to just offer your program, youknow, at the end of the talk or at the.
The three quarter length way is still,you know, we're just, you know, move
(17:21):
directly to selling people at this event.
Typically, um, it mightbe really worth it.
Because even if you convert afew, like, it would definitely
pay for the sponsorship rate.
And in this case.
You're going to just want toconsider a lot of things, but most
(17:41):
of all, this track record, like,we were talking about it earlier.
Once you've got, like, once you've donean event and can show that people showed
up and like, you know, like, whatever.
And the more you do it, the morecredibility you have to get people
to want to sponsor and put moneyinto your event and be doing this.
So thinking about thatjust as a speaker too.
So those are just some ways to pursue it.
(18:05):
Events and to think not just about like,how do I just get picked as a speaker?
A lot of them do work more asbusinesses, these conferences,
like they work off sponsorships.
And think about this, like some ofthem might not even offer speaking
as part of their sponsorship,but try to negotiate for it.
Cause what are they offering?
Do you don't need your logo ona step and repeat or a lanyard?
(18:28):
You know, you might not needa lot of the stuff that they
put in these packages, but.
If you can get all of the email addressesof the con of the attendees, if you can
get, you know, things, if they will senda dedicated email on your behalf, if they
will give you that stage time or whatever,these are the things you want to look for.
It's just how can you getdirectly people into your funnel
(18:51):
as quickly and efficiently aspossible into and along that trust,
like, you know, whatever curve.
Oh, no, I'm glad that you brought that upbecause not being in the space, I didn't
even know those opportunities existed.
Right?
So it's like, it's really coolthat you're sharing a little
bit behind the scenes with that.
And I know that we spoke off airto, um, obviously there's a couple
(19:14):
of people out there who do publicspeaking full time, but you don't
necessarily recommend that as astrategy for The everyday folk, right?
It's more of a supplemental way to,to kind of broaden your horizons
as far as bringing in business.
Well, I think it's one way that you canstart to take some, you want to get out
of like a nine to five corporate lifeor whatever that looks like for you.
(19:38):
It is something to that you thatcan help you get out there and
start building a business and start.
Getting clients or start getting, youknow, some things to get you started.
So I think there's just a lotof value that at any stage in
your business or in your own.
You know, career that you canleverage to continue that growth
and it can be really strategic.
(19:59):
I just don't think that like,you know, I think there's a lot
of people who love speaking andthey get lots of money to do it.
So I, you know, why wouldn't you love it?
Um, and they, and I, you know, Ithink they like the travel and they,
you know, but most of them don'twant to be on the road as much.
Most of them wish that they could make asmuch money and not be on the road as much.
(20:19):
And so.
There's only a couple ways to do that.
You got to keep growing yourdemand and raising your rates and
doing less and whatever and hopingthat it balances out, et cetera.
Or you got to figure out how elseyou're going to make money off of this.
So I've just seen so many speakerswhen I've been on the agency.
Side where all we care aboutis getting our commission.
(20:40):
I'm not there to try to get themto sell any products or services
or any additional coaching.
Like, none of that.
I'm not like, that's not our business.
In fact, we don't want that.
We want the, you know, the bureaus don'twant the speaker trying to upsell anything
and they just want to keep it clean.
And in a paid engagement, you, you do haveto be a little bit more judicious and.
(21:04):
How you approach it and, andwhat you request or want to do.
And there's a lot ofstrategies for that too.
It doesn't mean it's off the table, butit's not the same sort of opportunity.
Whereas these events, you know, wherethey're more, is there open to the
public or they're open to specificgroups or associations, et cetera,
(21:24):
or specific industries, then, youknow, that part of their business
model is just bringing people.
Bringing people to them that can supportthe event and they're happy as long as
it doesn't, you know, as long as it, thataligns with what they're trying to do.
No, it makes a lot of sense.
(21:45):
Now, obviously my envision ofeverything would be your, like you said,
traveling, going on stages, et cetera.
What's the market for.
Virtual, like, is it big?
Do you get paid the same?
Different parameters?
Yeah, it's definitely not as big.
(22:07):
I mean, obviously it exploded duringCOVID and became such more of a
viable option for people even now.
There definitely are virtual things,but it's usually for smaller events
or for a meeting where a companyis not going to bring all of their
people together to one place.
They're just going to All attend,you know, remotely or, you know,
(22:28):
there's a lot of different reasons,but it's always less money.
It's usually half the fee forfor paid engagements, you know,
virtual, but doing virtual events ingeneral as an opportunity for you.
And it's a, you know, a healthcoach or business person.
Are great.
You know, there's a lot of differentplatforms to leverage in that way to get
(22:48):
your message out there, your informationto drive people to your webinars to host
your own workshops because it's free.
Like, you, you don't need to getbooked at an event to have a stage.
You can create that.
You can invite people, youknow, even if a few people show
up again, it's good practice.
So virtual events should bevirtual events and just obviously
(23:09):
all the virtual platforms.
You know, I think are abig part of the strategy.
Okay, good, good, good.
That's good to know as well.
So can you talk about maybe a successstory that you've had with one
of your clients specifically thatreally you could, you, that's your,
your model student, boost theirbottom line, boost their brand.
(23:30):
Can you have any, uh, testimonials tothat effect or the main testimonial that
you'd like to share with the audience?
Yeah, yeah, and a few like I've beenon different sides of the business
and worked with different speakers andhelped grow their businesses in different
ways But I think you know, obviously mymy proudest Client that I worked with
pretty intensely was Molly Bloom fromMolly's game when I was with big speak
(23:56):
and I was you know, I saw the movie andreached out to The publishing house,
which is where I first worked, so Ihad still had some connections and they
got me in touch with the publicist.
And, you know, before you knew it, Ihad a meeting set up and I was just,
I was so amped for that meeting.
I was so ready.
Like, I read the book.
(24:17):
I was just like, really felt like.
Like connected to her and then shedecided to work with us and I pretty
much talked to her every single dayand went on the road with her and went
to her first, you know, events andwent with her to Romania and Australia
and, you know, other crazy places.
So I got to, like, continue to, like,coach and guide her through that first.
(24:42):
You know, year and a halfat least of speaking.
Well, yeah, at least like year and ahalf of speaking, um, that now it's
pretty much her like solid career.
It was her comeback story with the movie.
And then this was going to, youknow, her hope was that she could
translate it into something like this.
So, you know, and, andthat's a good thing.
(25:02):
You know, obviously a little bitmore fantastic since not everyone
gets a movie made about them.
That is a pretty good platformto get your story out there.
Um, but even just in the speakersI've worked with in the last
couple of years, like I've,I've just seen their fees go up.
I've seen how like better and bettertheir materials and their assets are.
(25:23):
And, you know, a lot of my, the peopleI coach, you know, it's a limited
time engagement, but I'm seeingall this stuff they're doing now.
You know what I mean?
Like, damn, they like.
They really took it and ran andlike, you know, it's It's exciting.
That's awesome.
That's awesome.
So, I guess to wrap, because like yousaid, you, you definitely have started
people out, you've seen how they've grown,like, how would you approach helping the
(25:48):
health coaches who are just starting out?
Give us a little glimpse of what youwould maybe talk about first, couple
steps that you would start them on thatprocess of being a successful speaker.
Yeah, well, I'll just describe to youthe 3 pillars of my sustainable speaking
strategy, because I think you can applyit to your business, especially since
you'll just put that, you know, put yourhealth coach services, et cetera, into
(26:11):
pillar 3, but starting with pillar 1.
It's your speaking assets.
So figuring out your topics,figuring out your positioning,
you know, what are the things thatyou really want to speak about?
And in thinking about the audience,like don't, again, don't think about
everyone that knows all the healthjargon and lingo and might be up on
the latest trends or everything else.
(26:33):
Think about your ideal client, someonethat needs your support, someone that.
Doesn't know anything about this.
What are the things?
What are the problems you'regoing to help them solve?
Whether they're top of mind issueslike all of those positioning questions
that go into defining those topicsand then putting some video on there.
If you, you know, to your point, gettestimonials, have, you know, the logos
(26:57):
of places where you've spoken, like allof these is just building out a speaking
page, a speaker profile, um, with somecredibility building and then just showing
what you've got again, if you don'thave all that right away, that's okay,
you can get it, you can gather it, youcan, you know, start with testimonials
from friends and replace them as you go,like, you know, just, To have kind of
(27:19):
the bare bones there and the second thenis what's your go to market strategy.
So if you define now who yourtarget client is and your target
audience, it's what we were talkingabout just before going now after
those events, where do they gather?
How do you get to speak at those events?
Is it?
Something that they do pay their speakers.
And so there's an added elementthere, et cetera, or going around
(27:41):
and figuring out if you can partnerwith them in a different way.
So that's the whole go to marketstrategy and just defining
where to spend your time there.
And the pillar three isproducts and services.
And this is what most speakers don't have.
And so as coaches now, you,you pretty much have this
already and you might want to.
Grow that portfolio or whatever, butunderstanding like the products and
(28:04):
services that you are going to offerthrough speaking or that are going to
be part of your product pipeline thatyou hope that speaking is kind of the
top of the funnel for you and how you'regoing to move customers through that.
So those are kind of the 3 areas that Icover as like my 3 pillars of what I think
makes for a sustainable speaking strategy.
(28:24):
As a business, but also just if you'reusing it as a business, this is how they
all the pieces should work together.
You know, it's informed ultimately byyour, your ideal clients, your audience,
your, your customers, and then all of theother things are engineered around that.
Okay, great point.
Now, I thought that was going to be mylast question, but I think I have one more
(28:45):
follow up to that and then we'll wrap.
Um, where do you see.
Public speaking going, is thereanything new on the horizon?
Is it just going to be, it's that triedtrue steady method, like almost like
authorships, like, you know, like, isit, is there anything on the horizon that
you may think is a surprise on the way?
Or it's just, you know, publicspeaking is just what it is.
(29:07):
No, I don't know.
I mean, I think there's alwaysgoing to be this new technology.
Like we haven't really scratched thesurface of the whole hologram thing, you
know, I'm sure there's going to be like,Different ways that we interact with VR
and AR for meetings and stuff like that,that speakers will have to adapt to.
I'm like guaranteed that there's,that's going to be happening.
(29:28):
Like I, so I'm always on the technologyside and then on the, on the venue
side, you know, it's been all right.
Like what I, when I think aboutspeaking, it's like, it's.
It's been around since the Greeksare, you know, around forever.
It's a storytelling and being outthere has been around for so long that
like principally it doesn't change.
(29:49):
It's just like the, the mediums,the methods of delivery, maybe
even some of the business models.
Um, but.
I don't know, I think fundamentally the,you know, the principles aren't really
going to change all that much and, youknow, just the, the topics that people are
thinking about it and and, uh, you know,like, the, the industries that dominate
(30:14):
kind of the interest in this kind of,uh, you know, learning and experiences.
No, cool.
I didn't even think about that.
That's, that's awesome.
So you've been great.
I want to give you an opportunity toshare how to get in touch with you, you
know, your social media handles, yourwebsite, any way that we can just keep
up with the great stuff you're doing.
(30:34):
And if anybody absolutely wants to connectwith you to get some assistance in this
area, maybe a hot, you know, jump on intoyour, your agency, all that good stuff,
if you could share that with us right now.
Yeah, for sure.
So Blair Bryant Nichols, and you can findme on LinkedIn and Instagram as well as.
BBN creative management.
So you can find both of us, both thecompany and me on those platforms
(30:58):
as well as BBN creative management.
com.
Um, and you can sign up for a free 30minute call and be happy to chat about
where you're at with speaking, or evenif you're just thinking about getting
started and hopefully give you some.
Some good advice towhat you should do next.
So, um, yeah, check me out thereand hopefully I'll, I'll see,
(31:18):
uh, see you on my calendar.
Awesome.
Awesome.
Appreciate you.
Thanks for jumping on the show.
Have a great rest of the day.
You too.
Hope you enjoyed listeningto today's episode of the
health coach Academy podcast.
If you did jump over to iTunes andleave a rating and or review, it
goes a long way in helping get thismessage out to our fellow health
(31:41):
coaches and people in our industry.
Also, if you can't jump overto my website, omarcarbatch.
com where I give out a lot of freebies,including my five day sugar challenge for
people who are having issues with sugar.
And also for health coaches, I havethe book hidden the six not so obvious
ways to get your clients unstuck.
Have a great day.
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