An Insider’s Look (ft. Ivy Gustafson & Jenny DeRosse)

All Episodes

October 10, 2023 • 41 mins

Insights from two amazing experts right here at Impact Eleven

OPENING QUOTE:

“If you really open yourself up and show who you are and you're not afraid to show your weaknesses and your flaws, the audience really relates to you because we're all human.”

-Jenny DeRosse

GUEST BIO:

Ivy Gustafson spent over 20 years in the bureau world, first as an agent for the Washington Speakers Bureau, and then as an agent for Gotham Artists. When she realized she wanted to dive headfirst into coaching speakers, she joined the Impact Eleven team as director of client development and coaching. Today, she coaches some of the world's most prolific keynote speakers.

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Jenny DeRosse first entered the speaking industry as an agent for Toronto-based Speakers Spotlight. After moving to the States, she joined BigSpeak managing exclusive speakers and co-brokering. After a decade on the bureau side, she joined the Impact Eleven team, where she now manages the team of founding partners, Peter Sheahan, Seth Mattison, Ryan Estis, and little old me, booking approximately $8 million of keynotes per year for the four of us. She also heads up our bureau relations, which gives her a unique perspective into the industry.

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CORE TOPICS + DETAILS:

[13:54] - It’s Not About Content or Quality

Successful speakers are simply great people

From highlighting what makes them fall in love with speakers to sharing their “speaker pet peeves,” the picture painted by Ivy and Jenny is that the speakers they love aren’t the most successful, or the most popular, or the ones that can captivate a crowd. They’re the ones who are kind, who answer emails on time, who show up to meetings with the bureau. They’re the speakers who understand that this is a human business, and treat everyone as human beings.

So if you want to impress a bureau — or anyone in this industry — it’s even more important to be a good person than a good speaker.

[39:25] - The Bureau is On Your Side

Believe it or not, bureaus want you to succeed

Throughout the conversation, Ivy and Jenny make it apparent that bureau professionals want one thing more than anything else — to help speakers succeed. New and emerging speakers often become frustrated with bureaus, either because they can’t get their attention or because they can’t keep it. “Why don’t they care about me?” they think. But the truth is that bureaus care deeply about their speakers — it’s why they do what they do. Sometimes they simply have to balance all the competing demands on their time to the best of their ability.

[36:35] - Advice for the Next Generation

What would our guests say to rising speakers?

Both Ivy and Jenny joined Impact Eleven because they believed in the power of learning from people who have been there before. Their advice to young speakers is to seek out opportunities to learn from other speakers, other bureau experts, and established voices within the industry. Whether this comes through Impact Eleven or elsewhere, the power of learning from mistakes, missteps, and masteries of other speakers is absolutely essential.

[34:49] - A Category of One

How to hone your message and speaker brand

Ivy shares one of Impact Eleven’s go-to mantras: what is your “category of one?” It applies to the idea that every speaker should try to pinpoint what they can talk about that no one else can with the same level of authority. It’s about taking a broad category and turning it into something where you’re the only authoritative voice.

What’s your category of one? The time to start looking is right now.

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