May 11, 2026 • 24 mins
You can post every day and still feel invisible.
Because content rarely builds trust fast enough with people who don’t know you yet.
But the moment someone hears your voice, connects with your story, and experiences your energy in real time, the dynamic shifts.
In this episode, I’m joined by Leisa Reid, founder of Get Speaking Gigs Now™ and CEO of The International Speaker Network, to break down how public speaking becomes a practical, client-getting strategy.
What Leisa teaches isn’t about chasing big stages or waiting for the “perfect” opportunity. It’s about using speaking as a trust bridge that moves people from interested to ready.
In this episode, we cover:
- How speaking actually drives lead generation and authority, especially for coaches, consultants, and service providers who rely on relationships to grow their business.
- The pressure to be perfect, the “I’m not qualified” spiral, and why a clear plan matters more than the stage itself.
- How to start with low-stakes speaking opportunities and build momentum
- A simple monetization formula to evaluate if speaking is worth your time
If you’ve been relying on content alone to get visible, this conversation will show you a more direct path to connection, credibility, and clients.
Links & References:
Come network with us! CLICK HERE to attend your first PWR Connection Network virtual speed networking event at no cost using the promo code FIRSTTIME
Want speaking gigs? Get immediate free access to Leisa's Top 5 Tips to Get More Speaking Gigs Now at www.getspeakinggigsnow.com/tips
Connect with Leisa on LinkedIn, Facebook or Instagram
Connect with Your Host!
Melissa Snow is a Business Relationship Strategist and the founder of Powerful Women Rising - a business growth ecosystem for female entreprenuers who want to create real momentum through real relationships.
Inside the PWR Connect Network and the PWR Business Growth Mastermind, Melissa helps women in business get build relationships, increase visibility and get more referrals without pressure, perfection or performative networking.
She's on a mission to change the way women grow their businesses - proving that you can be authentic, values-driven and profitable at the same time.
Melissa lives in Colorado with two dogs (Peyton and Ally), three cats (Giorgio, Karma and Betty) and any number of foster kittens. She hates winter, seafood and feet. She loves iced coffee, Taylor Swift, and buying books she'll never read.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_01 (00:02):
Hi, Lisa.
Welcome to the podcast.
Hi, Melissa.
Thank you for having me.
Yeah, so excited to talk to youtoday about public speaking and
speaking as a marketingstrategy.
I think this is such aninteresting one.
And I would encourage people ifthey're listening and they're
like, oh, nope, never getting onstage.
Skip.
Just listen and hear what Lisahas to say.
(00:22):
Because we're going to talk tothose people too, right?
Not just the people like me thatare like, yes, please put the
spotlight on me.
SPEAKER_00 (00:28):
Where's the microphone?
Can you turn it up?
SPEAKER_01 (00:30):
Yeah, yeah.
Relatable.
So before we dive in, telleverybody a little bit about you
and about how you got to thispoint and what you do.
SPEAKER_00 (00:38):
You know, I started speaking as a like person using
speaking as a way to get clientsback when I was 40.
So this was 2013.
Fast math.
I'm 53 now at the recordingmoment.
And I booked 83 speakingengagements my very first year.
It's my ignorance on fire era,is what I call it, because I
just was going for it.
(00:59):
And I brought in hundreds ofclients to the organization that
I was working with.
And I started my own network forspeakers, specifically
entrepreneurs using speaking asa way to grow their business.
And during that first couple ofyears, people would ask me for
help all the time.
And I realized, gosh, there's agap in this whole thing.
Like people want to speak, butthen how do you speak if you
(01:23):
don't know how to get on thestage?
Or you maybe you got lucky once,but then how do you keep getting
lucky?
How does that keep working?
And so I finally realized Icould write down and start to
catalog what I was doing.
And not that everyone has to doit the way I do.
I don't absolutely don't believethat.
But there was definitely somesecret sauce in there that was
making it really easy for me.
I thought, oh, this is allteachable stuff.
(01:44):
If you're willing, you know, ifyou're willing to learn and do
something a little bitdifferent, um, it's it's easy
and it gets results.
So that's why I started getspeaking gigs now back in 2017.
That's awesome.
Wow, you've been doing this along time.
Yeah, I've given over 600 talksand I I love working with
entrepreneurs who already havethat fire in the belly.
They're like, I want to do this.
(02:04):
But to your point, in your whenyou were opening the show, I do
have clients who've never doneit before, but maybe they
secretly dreamed of doing it.
But there were some fears.
There were some like, oh, Idon't know, would anyone hear
what I have to say?
Um, would I be okay?
Would I make a mistake?
Would I look stupid?
There's all these normal fearsthat are gonna come up.
And all that is overcomable.
SPEAKER_01 (02:28):
Yeah, absolutely.
So for people who are listeningto this, let's talk first about
like people who are listening tothis that have thought about
speaking or maybe they've doneit once or twice, but it's not
like one of their mainvisibility strategies.
Can you talk a little bit abouthow speaking works as a
marketing strategy?
Because I think sometimes peoplefeel like, yeah, it's really
(02:50):
good for um like positioning,right?
It's good for people to see youas an expert.
It's good for your ego, butlike, how is it actually getting
me clients?
SPEAKER_00 (02:58):
Oh yeah.
Don't do it just for your ego.
Um, it would be tip number one.
But it's a way to really make aconnection with the audience.
And especially if you have aservice or a perspective or a
product or a framework,something that needs a little
bit of explanation orconnection.
(03:19):
Maybe you work really intimatelywith people, it allows them to
get to know you and develop sometrust without entering into a
sales conversation right out thebat.
And I think especially that isdifficult for people in
positions like let's say a lifecoach, where you're so excited,
you can't wait to help people,you want to dig in and really
(03:40):
get into the nitty-gritty oftheir emotions and how you can
help them.
And then you kind of run out ofyour friends and family, and
you're thinking, okay, so am Ijust like DMing people on, you
know, the gram or Facebook orsomething like how do I actually
get clients?
How do I get someone to trustthat I can help shepherd them
through this thing?
And when you can speak, you cangive tidbits, you can get
(04:04):
lessons that are really valuableand give them a taste of who you
are, what your style is.
And then the audience comes toyou.
And I don't mean that the entireaudience is gonna flood you, and
that might happen, but if youhave a high-ticket item, maybe
you only need a couple people inthe audience to really go, you
know what?
You were speaking just directlyto me.
And it just makes the salesprocess easier and you don't
(04:26):
have to like hunt for clients.
I I have a talk where I saydon't um you didn't start a
business because you want tochase clients.
I don't think anyone really getsin business for that.
So this helps solve thatproblem.
SPEAKER_01 (04:37):
Yeah, absolutely.
We talk a lot in um the PowerfulWoman Rising Business Growth
Mastermind about differentmarketing strategies.
And, you know, people willalways come to the mastermind
and say things like, okay, so Ineed your best LinkedIn tips
because I'm not on LinkedIn andI know I should be.
So give me your best LinkedIntips.
And instead of giving themLinkedIn tips, the group will be
(04:57):
like, well, let's first talkabout why you think you need to
be on LinkedIn, right?
And by the end of theconversation, they're like,
never mind, I don't need to beon LinkedIn.
But one of the things we talkabout a lot is like we have so
many members, and I think thisis true for so many people
that's like you can get certainthings across in a Facebook
post.
You can get things across in anemail, right?
(05:17):
Those are all good strategies,but there's something very
different, whether it's video orit's live, for people about
hearing your voice and seeingyour mannerisms and feeling the
actual emotion in your story.
So I love what you said aboutlike it really does warm your
audience up quicker than I thinkanything else.
SPEAKER_00 (05:38):
It's a quick way to do that.
And and it's not just thespeaking part, but it's the you
know, leveraging that with yoursocial media posting, whatever
that, whatever your platform is.
It's leveraging that with youremail campaign or your freebie
or your whatever.
And as you know, as anentrepreneur and you're leading,
you know, successfulentrepreneurs through business
ownership, it's not just onething.
(06:00):
I think sometimes people think,oh, if I get that one talk in
front of this, you know,billions of people, that's gonna
be the answer to my problems.
I'm like, probably not.
It's probably not gonna be theanswer to your problems.
But what could be the answer toyour problems is a consistent
strategy that works for you andthat you can duplicate,
replicate, that makes your lifeeasier, that gives you more
freedom.
And having those differentpieces set up.
(06:22):
Oh, we have a little visitor.
We I thought I was the onlyguest on the show today.
Never, never.
SPEAKER_01 (06:27):
There's always at least one.
SPEAKER_00 (06:29):
I love it.
I love it.
Um, so I think that's wheresometimes we can get into that.
I should do this, I need to dothat, I have to do this, and I
saw someone else do that, andthey got success.
I actually had a client say thatto me the other day.
She's like, Well, I want to do aTED talk.
I'm like, okay, TEDx.
I said, tell me why.
That's not a bad goal.
(06:51):
And then she's like, Well, afriend of mine had one and she's
had a lot of success.
I'm like, well, what else hasshe done?
It's probably not just that.
And then is there a marketingplan behind that strategy?
And so it's same.
I'm like right with you.
We have to think really to scaleit back.
Like, what are why are we doingwhat we're doing?
(07:11):
Usually the people I work with,they want more clients because
they want to make an impact.
They want to give that thingthat that provide that service,
offer that special gift thatthey have to someone to help
them change their lives.
unknown (07:24):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (07:25):
But they just need people.
So speaking ends up being likethis nice um bridge for them.
SPEAKER_01 (07:31):
Yeah, absolutely.
So you talked about some ofthese things in the beginning,
but what are some of the thingsthat you typically see that keep
people from speaking on stage?
SPEAKER_00 (07:42):
Usually they don't have a plan.
And so they might get asked tospeak.
And if they're not ready, I'm ahuge fan of get ready to be
ready.
If they're not ready, they willprobably avoid that request or
never get back to the person orsay, Oh, I'll get back to you,
and then never really get backto them.
They also might take thatopportunity, but then wing it,
(08:03):
which I do not recommend.
That's almost worse than doingit, um, or worse than not doing
it at all.
So I'm I think it's a veryimportant to have a plan in
place.
It's kind of like do yourhomework ahead of time.
You know, prepare as if you'regoing to be doing it.
Like you don't show up to theOlympics and go, Oh, I'll just,
I'm a pretty good gymnast.
(08:24):
I'll just do some flips acrossthe mat.
Like they have practiced, theyhave put the hours in, put the
reps in.
And trust me, you don't have towork as hard as an Olympian to
be a speaker.
So just in case you're worried.
SPEAKER_01 (08:37):
Yeah.
I think too, people think like,I'm not qualified, or like, you
know, I there's so many peoplewho have so many interesting
things to say.
I don't really have anythinginteresting to say.
I don't have anything important.
I don't have anything anybodywants to listen to you.
What do you listen to thosepeople?
SPEAKER_00 (08:52):
Okay.
I have a whole, I mean, how longis this podcast?
Because I could talk about thatfor a long time.
It's something I call speakerskryptonite, and it shows up
differently in different people.
So some of the phrases that youjust said is exactly what people
will think.
Well, you know, I need to writemore um content.
I have to put more videos outthere.
I got to get anothercertification.
I need to write a book.
I need to do this and that andall the things.
(09:13):
And that's literally theirsubconscious mind is just
keeping them safe and nice andin the comfy zone.
Or it could be like, oh, I, youknow, I don't know if I'm really
good enough to do that.
I've never, you know, I've nevergiven a talk before.
I mean, what would I say?
Who, who, who do I think I am?
You know, all those, all thoselittle thoughts creep in.
And when we have a business,those thoughts come up, whether
(09:35):
you're trying to speak or do anemail campaign or raise your
prices, it's just gonna come up.
So the closer you can get tounderstanding those thoughts in
your mind and then um, you know,processing that.
So you go, okay, thank you forkeeping me safe.
I hear you.
And I'm gonna move into adifferent direction anyway.
Thank you for sharing.
(09:57):
And then we we go forward.
But yeah, I I often say in myactually, I have my magic wand
right here.
One of the things that I do inin my live talks in person is
everybody gets a magic wand.
And we go through this quiz oflike, does it make sense for you
to be a speaker?
Even if you've never done itbefore, does it make sense?
Let's talk about that.
And we talk about it like fromthe head, the logic side, and
(10:18):
then from the heart.
Like, I'm not here to make youdo stuff you hate.
Why would you do why would youdo more soul-sucking activities?
If you, if you would rather geta root canal than do public
speaking, then please do not doit, right?
But if you're like, wait asecond, I could teach something.
Well, that doesn't sound asscary.
You mean I could like attractthe people that I would really,
(10:39):
really want to work with.
Okay, I'm listening.
Like we had to like step into anew um, a new version of
ourselves sometimes.
SPEAKER_01 (10:46):
Yeah, yeah.
And I think for me and myexperience speaking, it was
easier to kind of ease into it,right?
Like I didn't go from neverbeing on stage to speaking in
front of 400 people.
I went from never speaking onstage to like doing some video
presentations.
That feels a lot safer, right?
Like if I'm just completelymortified and an idiot, I'll
(11:06):
just be like, oh, my connection,gotta go by.
Um, and then you know, speakingto smaller audiences of maybe
like 30 and you know, kind ofworking your way up.
And I feel like I don't knowwhat your take on that is, but
for me, that felt easier.
SPEAKER_00 (11:20):
Yeah, I always say, like, we can do low-hanging
fruit.
Why not do low-hanging fruit?
Go and speak in front of I I dorecommend your first speaking
engagement, especially if youhave a lot of, you know,
trepidation around it.
Your first one, don't make thatbe the most important one in
your whole life, right?
Don't have it full of the exactperfect clients, and it's the
best opportunity you've everseen in your whole gosh darn
(11:41):
life.
Go do it in front of, you know,kids in the neighborhood, your
friends, uh your close buddies,your work uh colleagues, your
family, depending on you knowyour relationship, somewhere
close to home, somewhere whereyou're like, oh, I kind of feel
comfortable.
Oh, I know where that is.
Yeah, I could go over there, nobig deal.
And then you can just let a lotof the nerves out during that
session.
I think we put a lot of pressureon ourselves to be perfect the
(12:04):
first time.
It's like, imagine we're fiveyears old and we didn't tie our
shoes perfectly the very firsttime.
Like, would we just give up andwe're like, oh, that just
doesn't work.
I'm never gonna tie my shoesagain.
But we do that with speakingbecause it it can feel
vulnerable and scary.
But it's like, give yourselfsome grace, go, you know, inch,
(12:24):
inch up as at your own pace,yeah, and be ready so that you
can take those opportunitiesthat are gonna be ideal.
SPEAKER_01 (12:32):
Yeah.
We do that with so many thingsin business, don't we?
It's like I launched the thingonce and nobody wants it.
And I'm like, okay, well, gottastart over.
Yeah.
I guess I'm giving up my dreams.
SPEAKER_00 (12:42):
You're like, whoa, hold on a second.
SPEAKER_01 (12:45):
Or maybe just like change one thing and try again.
Yeah, we may just need a littledo tweak.
SPEAKER_00 (12:50):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (12:50):
So how do we know if speaking is the right strategy
for our business?
Like, obviously, you mentioned,you know, if you're somebody
that is like, I would rather doliterally anything than speak,
probably not the best strategyfor you.
But is there anybody else wholike shouldn't use speaking as a
strategy for their business oranybody who it's particularly
(13:11):
suited to?
SPEAKER_00 (13:12):
I I think there's a nice sweet spot.
And this isn't an exact, but um,one of the things I'll do is a
speaker monetization formulawhere we start to figure out
like what's your speaking salespotential?
Like, forget about the fee ifyou're getting paid or not.
Just let that go for a second.
Because if you have a service orproduct that's a thousand
dollars or more, just even thatinitial sale, you might they
(13:33):
might then continue.
So that might turn into moremoney, but I don't want to
complicate it.
So let's say you have a programfor$1,000, maybe$5,000.
We'll just do$5,000 as anexample.
Um, and you speak a couple timesa month.
It could even be virtual, andyou got a client, let's say you
average one client every talk.
Let's see, I'm gonna do somereally quick math here.
(13:56):
So we've got five thousanddollars times one client times
twenty-four times a year, that's$120,000.
And so when people go, oh, well,okay, I think I can get over my
issues.
I think I can, I think I canwork it like moving through
that.
Now, is that a guarantee?
No, but it starts to empower youto go, does this make sense for
(14:17):
me?
So if you're selling your bookfor$20 and that's your big
master business plan, that'sprobably not gonna be the plan
for you.
If you have you, but maybe yousell book, bulk book sales and
you depending on theenvironment, or you have a
coaching program or some kind ofconsulting service that people
(14:38):
pay top dollar for.
Maybe they get a free book, whocares, right?
Who cares about the 20 bucks?
But like, how do we make thismake sense for you and your
business?
I think that's where it it'shelpful to to know.
SPEAKER_01 (14:48):
Yeah, absolutely.
So you mentioned at thebeginning, too, and this is
something that I have struggledwith, especially in the
beginning, is like, okay, I wantto speak.
I know what I'm gonna speak on.
I know that there are people outthere who like would love to
hear this talk.
And now what do I do?
Like, how do I find them?
You know, like I see so muchgeneric advice that's like, call
(15:11):
the Chamber of Commerce, askyour local women's group, which
is great to start with, but likewhat else?
SPEAKER_00 (15:18):
Yeah, so there's so many different ways that you can
navigate that.
And I was literally just on acall the other day, and this
gentleman said, Well, the way toget speak engagements is just
you have to just cold, call,reach out to hundreds every day.
And I thought, oh my gosh, thatsounds like a soul-sucking
activity for a million person.
My clients do not want to dothat.
Um, and that's kind of thepopular way.
(15:41):
Like you, you know, get a VA andhave them submit your
application.
That's for certain types ofspeaking engagements, but it
really depends on your audience,your message, and who your ideal
clients are.
And what kind of speaking umlife do you want to have?
Are you a person who would loveto travel, or are you like, oh,
I kind of like staying home andcozy?
(16:02):
Are we can we do a blend ofvirtual speaking and in person?
Maybe you start to.
I I'm a huge fan of I have somuch to say about this.
So I'm like, I've got like allthe thoughts are coming in all
at the same time.
So I'm gonna like take, take anumber.
Okay.
So thought number one is it'simportant to get a lay of the
land.
Like, where are you?
(16:22):
One of my clients is in Chicago,so it's like, okay, for her
market, I'm like, I want you toget a lay of the land.
What's going on in Chicago inthis particular market that you
are trying to jump into?
What associations are there?
What local groups are there?
What national groups havechapters there?
So we're talking uhassociations, it could be
chambers, could be networkinggroups, could be business
(16:44):
groups, could be specialtygroups.
So you want to kind of get a layof land in your own backyard.
I call it like finding treasurein your own backyard because
that's just like easier.
Like, you know, I gotta get on aplane if you live in a
well-populated area.
So I just say it's like basic,like you gotta know what game
you're playing, what's around.
So you can keep your eyes andears open when you're networking
and say, like, hey, do you knowa person who's, you know, a
(17:05):
member of XYZ Association?
I'm a huge fan of warmintroductions.
So part of it is figuring outwhat warm introductions are you
gonna ask for.
Because if you say, Melissa,like, um, oh, I'm looking to
speak, do you know anyone whohas speakers?
I'm like, yeah, the KnittingAssociation of America, like
that's not really who you'relooking for, right?
So we want to be able to trainthe people around us to know
(17:28):
what to look for.
Um, sometimes that can beconfusing too.
Like I have um, we just had ourinternational speaker network
meeting, and we always say,okay, what type, you know, what
do you speak on and what's yourideal audience?
And so sometimes I do a littlecoaching on the ideal audience.
Someone's like, Well, I'mlooking for an audience of men
and women who need to level up.
I'm like, nobody knows, likeit's not like uh we need to
(17:50):
level up, so we're gonna allmeet together.
There's not, there's not anaudience like that.
Yeah.
Now, but it's general enough tolike, okay, you help men and
women.
So probably any group that'sbusiness oriented, they're gonna
be open to leveling up becausethey're there to grow.
So that'll help to determine umwhere to start looking.
SPEAKER_01 (18:11):
Yeah, that totally makes sense.
I love that.
So you mentioned when you and Iwere talking earlier that you
have a list of the top top fivetips to get more speaking gigs.
Yes.
Can you share that with ouraudience?
SPEAKER_00 (18:25):
I'm gonna actually, yeah, you can go to get speaking
gigsnow.com slash tips and getthat.
And that's those are some of thetips I've used to book over 600
talks.
I've never used an agent.
I've I've never used an agency.
I just do it all myself.
Still to this day, I have I haveassistants, but they don't help
me with that part.
(18:46):
And um happy to give those out.
SPEAKER_01 (18:48):
Yeah, that's awesome.
And if people are listening tothis and they're like, oh, maybe
speaking is a good idea for meand they want to learn more
about you and about what you do,what's the best way for them to
do that?
SPEAKER_00 (18:59):
Um, you can go to the tips and get the get
speaking gigsnow.com slash tips,pop your email in there, and
then you'll get my email addressand we'll be off to the races.
There'll be a link in thereeventually that you can, if you
want to book a call with it withme, we can do that.
Okay, awesome.
SPEAKER_01 (19:14):
Thank you so much.
I feel like we could go.
There's so many things to talkabout when it comes to speaking.
I feel like we could keep goingforever, but we'll have to have
you back for part two sometime.
Um, but I feel like this is areally good start to just to get
people thinking like maybe thisis an idea for me.
And maybe all these things I wasthinking about of like why I
can't speak are not actuallytrue and kind of give people a
(19:37):
good starting place.
So I think this is reallyhelpful.
Thank you, Melissa.
Yeah, thank you.
Hi, Lisa.
Welcome to the podcast.
Hi, Melissa.
Thank you for having me.
Yeah, so excited to talk to youtoday about public speaking and
speaking as a marketingstrategy.
I think this is such aninteresting one.
And I would encourage people ifthey're listening and they're
like, oh, nope, never getting onstage.
Skip.
Just listen and hear what Lisahas to say.
(00:22):
Because we're going to talk tothose people too, right?
Not just the people like me thatare like, yes, please put the
spotlight on me.
SPEAKER_00 (00:28):
Where's the microphone?
Can you turn it up?
SPEAKER_01 (00:30):
Yeah, yeah.
Relatable.
So before we dive in, telleverybody a little bit about you
and about how you got to thispoint and what you do.
SPEAKER_00 (00:38):
You know, I started speaking as a like person using
speaking as a way to get clientsback when I was 40.
So this was 2013.
Fast math.
I'm 53 now at the recordingmoment.
And I booked 83 speakingengagements my very first year.
It's my ignorance on fire era,is what I call it, because I
just was going for it.
(00:59):
And I brought in hundreds ofclients to the organization that
I was working with.
And I started my own network forspeakers, specifically
entrepreneurs using speaking asa way to grow their business.
And during that first couple ofyears, people would ask me for
help all the time.
And I realized, gosh, there's agap in this whole thing.
Like people want to speak, butthen how do you speak if you
(01:23):
don't know how to get on thestage?
Or you maybe you got lucky once,but then how do you keep getting
lucky?
How does that keep working?
And so I finally realized Icould write down and start to
catalog what I was doing.
And not that everyone has to doit the way I do.
I don't absolutely don't believethat.
But there was definitely somesecret sauce in there that was
making it really easy for me.
I thought, oh, this is allteachable stuff.
(01:44):
If you're willing, you know, ifyou're willing to learn and do
something a little bitdifferent, um, it's it's easy
and it gets results.
So that's why I started getspeaking gigs now back in 2017.
That's awesome.
Wow, you've been doing this along time.
Yeah, I've given over 600 talksand I I love working with
entrepreneurs who already havethat fire in the belly.
They're like, I want to do this.
(02:04):
But to your point, in your whenyou were opening the show, I do
have clients who've never doneit before, but maybe they
secretly dreamed of doing it.
But there were some fears.
There were some like, oh, Idon't know, would anyone hear
what I have to say?
Um, would I be okay?
Would I make a mistake?
Would I look stupid?
There's all these normal fearsthat are gonna come up.
And all that is overcomable.
SPEAKER_01 (02:28):
Yeah, absolutely.
So for people who are listeningto this, let's talk first about
like people who are listening tothis that have thought about
speaking or maybe they've doneit once or twice, but it's not
like one of their mainvisibility strategies.
Can you talk a little bit abouthow speaking works as a
marketing strategy?
Because I think sometimes peoplefeel like, yeah, it's really
(02:50):
good for um like positioning,right?
It's good for people to see youas an expert.
It's good for your ego, butlike, how is it actually getting
me clients?
SPEAKER_00 (02:58):
Oh yeah.
Don't do it just for your ego.
Um, it would be tip number one.
But it's a way to really make aconnection with the audience.
And especially if you have aservice or a perspective or a
product or a framework,something that needs a little
bit of explanation orconnection.
(03:19):
Maybe you work really intimatelywith people, it allows them to
get to know you and develop sometrust without entering into a
sales conversation right out thebat.
And I think especially that isdifficult for people in
positions like let's say a lifecoach, where you're so excited,
you can't wait to help people,you want to dig in and really
(03:40):
get into the nitty-gritty oftheir emotions and how you can
help them.
And then you kind of run out ofyour friends and family, and
you're thinking, okay, so am Ijust like DMing people on, you
know, the gram or Facebook orsomething like how do I actually
get clients?
How do I get someone to trustthat I can help shepherd them
through this thing?
And when you can speak, you cangive tidbits, you can get
(04:04):
lessons that are really valuableand give them a taste of who you
are, what your style is.
And then the audience comes toyou.
And I don't mean that the entireaudience is gonna flood you, and
that might happen, but if youhave a high-ticket item, maybe
you only need a couple people inthe audience to really go, you
know what?
You were speaking just directlyto me.
And it just makes the salesprocess easier and you don't
(04:26):
have to like hunt for clients.
I I have a talk where I saydon't um you didn't start a
business because you want tochase clients.
I don't think anyone really getsin business for that.
So this helps solve thatproblem.
SPEAKER_01 (04:37):
Yeah, absolutely.
We talk a lot in um the PowerfulWoman Rising Business Growth
Mastermind about differentmarketing strategies.
And, you know, people willalways come to the mastermind
and say things like, okay, so Ineed your best LinkedIn tips
because I'm not on LinkedIn andI know I should be.
So give me your best LinkedIntips.
And instead of giving themLinkedIn tips, the group will be
(04:57):
like, well, let's first talkabout why you think you need to
be on LinkedIn, right?
And by the end of theconversation, they're like,
never mind, I don't need to beon LinkedIn.
But one of the things we talkabout a lot is like we have so
many members, and I think thisis true for so many people
that's like you can get certainthings across in a Facebook
post.
You can get things across in anemail, right?
(05:17):
Those are all good strategies,but there's something very
different, whether it's video orit's live, for people about
hearing your voice and seeingyour mannerisms and feeling the
actual emotion in your story.
So I love what you said aboutlike it really does warm your
audience up quicker than I thinkanything else.
SPEAKER_00 (05:38):
It's a quick way to do that.
And and it's not just thespeaking part, but it's the you
know, leveraging that with yoursocial media posting, whatever
that, whatever your platform is.
It's leveraging that with youremail campaign or your freebie
or your whatever.
And as you know, as anentrepreneur and you're leading,
you know, successfulentrepreneurs through business
ownership, it's not just onething.
(06:00):
I think sometimes people think,oh, if I get that one talk in
front of this, you know,billions of people, that's gonna
be the answer to my problems.
I'm like, probably not.
It's probably not gonna be theanswer to your problems.
But what could be the answer toyour problems is a consistent
strategy that works for you andthat you can duplicate,
replicate, that makes your lifeeasier, that gives you more
freedom.
And having those differentpieces set up.
(06:22):
Oh, we have a little visitor.
We I thought I was the onlyguest on the show today.
Never, never.
SPEAKER_01 (06:27):
There's always at least one.
SPEAKER_00 (06:29):
I love it.
I love it.
Um, so I think that's wheresometimes we can get into that.
I should do this, I need to dothat, I have to do this, and I
saw someone else do that, andthey got success.
I actually had a client say thatto me the other day.
She's like, Well, I want to do aTED talk.
I'm like, okay, TEDx.
I said, tell me why.
That's not a bad goal.
(06:51):
And then she's like, Well, afriend of mine had one and she's
had a lot of success.
I'm like, well, what else hasshe done?
It's probably not just that.
And then is there a marketingplan behind that strategy?
And so it's same.
I'm like right with you.
We have to think really to scaleit back.
Like, what are why are we doingwhat we're doing?
(07:11):
Usually the people I work with,they want more clients because
they want to make an impact.
They want to give that thingthat that provide that service,
offer that special gift thatthey have to someone to help
them change their lives.
unknown (07:24):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (07:25):
But they just need people.
So speaking ends up being likethis nice um bridge for them.
SPEAKER_01 (07:31):
Yeah, absolutely.
So you talked about some ofthese things in the beginning,
but what are some of the thingsthat you typically see that keep
people from speaking on stage?
SPEAKER_00 (07:42):
Usually they don't have a plan.
And so they might get asked tospeak.
And if they're not ready, I'm ahuge fan of get ready to be
ready.
If they're not ready, they willprobably avoid that request or
never get back to the person orsay, Oh, I'll get back to you,
and then never really get backto them.
They also might take thatopportunity, but then wing it,
(08:03):
which I do not recommend.
That's almost worse than doingit, um, or worse than not doing
it at all.
So I'm I think it's a veryimportant to have a plan in
place.
It's kind of like do yourhomework ahead of time.
You know, prepare as if you'regoing to be doing it.
Like you don't show up to theOlympics and go, Oh, I'll just,
I'm a pretty good gymnast.
(08:24):
I'll just do some flips acrossthe mat.
Like they have practiced, theyhave put the hours in, put the
reps in.
And trust me, you don't have towork as hard as an Olympian to
be a speaker.
So just in case you're worried.
SPEAKER_01 (08:37):
Yeah.
I think too, people think like,I'm not qualified, or like, you
know, I there's so many peoplewho have so many interesting
things to say.
I don't really have anythinginteresting to say.
I don't have anything important.
I don't have anything anybodywants to listen to you.
What do you listen to thosepeople?
SPEAKER_00 (08:52):
Okay.
I have a whole, I mean, how longis this podcast?
Because I could talk about thatfor a long time.
It's something I call speakerskryptonite, and it shows up
differently in different people.
So some of the phrases that youjust said is exactly what people
will think.
Well, you know, I need to writemore um content.
I have to put more videos outthere.
I got to get anothercertification.
I need to write a book.
I need to do this and that andall the things.
(09:13):
And that's literally theirsubconscious mind is just
keeping them safe and nice andin the comfy zone.
Or it could be like, oh, I, youknow, I don't know if I'm really
good enough to do that.
I've never, you know, I've nevergiven a talk before.
I mean, what would I say?
Who, who, who do I think I am?
You know, all those, all thoselittle thoughts creep in.
And when we have a business,those thoughts come up, whether
(09:35):
you're trying to speak or do anemail campaign or raise your
prices, it's just gonna come up.
So the closer you can get tounderstanding those thoughts in
your mind and then um, you know,processing that.
So you go, okay, thank you forkeeping me safe.
I hear you.
And I'm gonna move into adifferent direction anyway.
Thank you for sharing.
(09:57):
And then we we go forward.
But yeah, I I often say in myactually, I have my magic wand
right here.
One of the things that I do inin my live talks in person is
everybody gets a magic wand.
And we go through this quiz oflike, does it make sense for you
to be a speaker?
Even if you've never done itbefore, does it make sense?
Let's talk about that.
And we talk about it like fromthe head, the logic side, and
(10:18):
then from the heart.
Like, I'm not here to make youdo stuff you hate.
Why would you do why would youdo more soul-sucking activities?
If you, if you would rather geta root canal than do public
speaking, then please do not doit, right?
But if you're like, wait asecond, I could teach something.
Well, that doesn't sound asscary.
You mean I could like attractthe people that I would really,
(10:39):
really want to work with.
Okay, I'm listening.
Like we had to like step into anew um, a new version of
ourselves sometimes.
SPEAKER_01 (10:46):
Yeah, yeah.
And I think for me and myexperience speaking, it was
easier to kind of ease into it,right?
Like I didn't go from neverbeing on stage to speaking in
front of 400 people.
I went from never speaking onstage to like doing some video
presentations.
That feels a lot safer, right?
Like if I'm just completelymortified and an idiot, I'll
(11:06):
just be like, oh, my connection,gotta go by.
Um, and then you know, speakingto smaller audiences of maybe
like 30 and you know, kind ofworking your way up.
And I feel like I don't knowwhat your take on that is, but
for me, that felt easier.
SPEAKER_00 (11:20):
Yeah, I always say, like, we can do low-hanging
fruit.
Why not do low-hanging fruit?
Go and speak in front of I I dorecommend your first speaking
engagement, especially if youhave a lot of, you know,
trepidation around it.
Your first one, don't make thatbe the most important one in
your whole life, right?
Don't have it full of the exactperfect clients, and it's the
best opportunity you've everseen in your whole gosh darn
(11:41):
life.
Go do it in front of, you know,kids in the neighborhood, your
friends, uh your close buddies,your work uh colleagues, your
family, depending on you knowyour relationship, somewhere
close to home, somewhere whereyou're like, oh, I kind of feel
comfortable.
Oh, I know where that is.
Yeah, I could go over there, nobig deal.
And then you can just let a lotof the nerves out during that
session.
I think we put a lot of pressureon ourselves to be perfect the
(12:04):
first time.
It's like, imagine we're fiveyears old and we didn't tie our
shoes perfectly the very firsttime.
Like, would we just give up andwe're like, oh, that just
doesn't work.
I'm never gonna tie my shoesagain.
But we do that with speakingbecause it it can feel
vulnerable and scary.
But it's like, give yourselfsome grace, go, you know, inch,
(12:24):
inch up as at your own pace,yeah, and be ready so that you
can take those opportunitiesthat are gonna be ideal.
SPEAKER_01 (12:32):
Yeah.
We do that with so many thingsin business, don't we?
It's like I launched the thingonce and nobody wants it.
And I'm like, okay, well, gottastart over.
Yeah.
I guess I'm giving up my dreams.
SPEAKER_00 (12:42):
You're like, whoa, hold on a second.
SPEAKER_01 (12:45):
Or maybe just like change one thing and try again.
Yeah, we may just need a littledo tweak.
SPEAKER_00 (12:50):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (12:50):
So how do we know if speaking is the right strategy
for our business?
Like, obviously, you mentioned,you know, if you're somebody
that is like, I would rather doliterally anything than speak,
probably not the best strategyfor you.
But is there anybody else wholike shouldn't use speaking as a
strategy for their business oranybody who it's particularly
(13:11):
suited to?
SPEAKER_00 (13:12):
I I think there's a nice sweet spot.
And this isn't an exact, but um,one of the things I'll do is a
speaker monetization formulawhere we start to figure out
like what's your speaking salespotential?
Like, forget about the fee ifyou're getting paid or not.
Just let that go for a second.
Because if you have a service orproduct that's a thousand
dollars or more, just even thatinitial sale, you might they
(13:33):
might then continue.
So that might turn into moremoney, but I don't want to
complicate it.
So let's say you have a programfor$1,000, maybe$5,000.
We'll just do$5,000 as anexample.
Um, and you speak a couple timesa month.
It could even be virtual, andyou got a client, let's say you
average one client every talk.
Let's see, I'm gonna do somereally quick math here.
(13:56):
So we've got five thousanddollars times one client times
twenty-four times a year, that's$120,000.
And so when people go, oh, well,okay, I think I can get over my
issues.
I think I can, I think I canwork it like moving through
that.
Now, is that a guarantee?
No, but it starts to empower youto go, does this make sense for
(14:17):
me?
So if you're selling your bookfor$20 and that's your big
master business plan, that'sprobably not gonna be the plan
for you.
If you have you, but maybe yousell book, bulk book sales and
you depending on theenvironment, or you have a
coaching program or some kind ofconsulting service that people
(14:38):
pay top dollar for.
Maybe they get a free book, whocares, right?
Who cares about the 20 bucks?
But like, how do we make thismake sense for you and your
business?
I think that's where it it'shelpful to to know.
SPEAKER_01 (14:48):
Yeah, absolutely.
So you mentioned at thebeginning, too, and this is
something that I have struggledwith, especially in the
beginning, is like, okay, I wantto speak.
I know what I'm gonna speak on.
I know that there are people outthere who like would love to
hear this talk.
And now what do I do?
Like, how do I find them?
You know, like I see so muchgeneric advice that's like, call
(15:11):
the Chamber of Commerce, askyour local women's group, which
is great to start with, but likewhat else?
SPEAKER_00 (15:18):
Yeah, so there's so many different ways that you can
navigate that.
And I was literally just on acall the other day, and this
gentleman said, Well, the way toget speak engagements is just
you have to just cold, call,reach out to hundreds every day.
And I thought, oh my gosh, thatsounds like a soul-sucking
activity for a million person.
My clients do not want to dothat.
Um, and that's kind of thepopular way.
(15:41):
Like you, you know, get a VA andhave them submit your
application.
That's for certain types ofspeaking engagements, but it
really depends on your audience,your message, and who your ideal
clients are.
And what kind of speaking umlife do you want to have?
Are you a person who would loveto travel, or are you like, oh,
I kind of like staying home andcozy?
(16:02):
Are we can we do a blend ofvirtual speaking and in person?
Maybe you start to.
I I'm a huge fan of I have somuch to say about this.
So I'm like, I've got like allthe thoughts are coming in all
at the same time.
So I'm gonna like take, take anumber.
Okay.
So thought number one is it'simportant to get a lay of the
land.
Like, where are you?
(16:22):
One of my clients is in Chicago,so it's like, okay, for her
market, I'm like, I want you toget a lay of the land.
What's going on in Chicago inthis particular market that you
are trying to jump into?
What associations are there?
What local groups are there?
What national groups havechapters there?
So we're talking uhassociations, it could be
chambers, could be networkinggroups, could be business
(16:44):
groups, could be specialtygroups.
So you want to kind of get a layof land in your own backyard.
I call it like finding treasurein your own backyard because
that's just like easier.
Like, you know, I gotta get on aplane if you live in a
well-populated area.
So I just say it's like basic,like you gotta know what game
you're playing, what's around.
So you can keep your eyes andears open when you're networking
and say, like, hey, do you knowa person who's, you know, a
(17:05):
member of XYZ Association?
I'm a huge fan of warmintroductions.
So part of it is figuring outwhat warm introductions are you
gonna ask for.
Because if you say, Melissa,like, um, oh, I'm looking to
speak, do you know anyone whohas speakers?
I'm like, yeah, the KnittingAssociation of America, like
that's not really who you'relooking for, right?
So we want to be able to trainthe people around us to know
(17:28):
what to look for.
Um, sometimes that can beconfusing too.
Like I have um, we just had ourinternational speaker network
meeting, and we always say,okay, what type, you know, what
do you speak on and what's yourideal audience?
And so sometimes I do a littlecoaching on the ideal audience.
Someone's like, Well, I'mlooking for an audience of men
and women who need to level up.
I'm like, nobody knows, likeit's not like uh we need to
(17:50):
level up, so we're gonna allmeet together.
There's not, there's not anaudience like that.
Yeah.
Now, but it's general enough tolike, okay, you help men and
women.
So probably any group that'sbusiness oriented, they're gonna
be open to leveling up becausethey're there to grow.
So that'll help to determine umwhere to start looking.
SPEAKER_01 (18:11):
Yeah, that totally makes sense.
I love that.
So you mentioned when you and Iwere talking earlier that you
have a list of the top top fivetips to get more speaking gigs.
Yes.
Can you share that with ouraudience?
SPEAKER_00 (18:25):
I'm gonna actually, yeah, you can go to get speaking
gigsnow.com slash tips and getthat.
And that's those are some of thetips I've used to book over 600
talks.
I've never used an agent.
I've I've never used an agency.
I just do it all myself.
Still to this day, I have I haveassistants, but they don't help
me with that part.
(18:46):
And um happy to give those out.
SPEAKER_01 (18:48):
Yeah, that's awesome.
And if people are listening tothis and they're like, oh, maybe
speaking is a good idea for meand they want to learn more
about you and about what you do,what's the best way for them to
do that?
SPEAKER_00 (18:59):
Um, you can go to the tips and get the get
speaking gigsnow.com slash tips,pop your email in there, and
then you'll get my email addressand we'll be off to the races.
There'll be a link in thereeventually that you can, if you
want to book a call with it withme, we can do that.
Okay, awesome.
SPEAKER_01 (19:14):
Thank you so much.
I feel like we could go.
There's so many things to talkabout when it comes to speaking.
I feel like we could keep goingforever, but we'll have to have
you back for part two sometime.
Um, but I feel like this is areally good start to just to get
people thinking like maybe thisis an idea for me.
And maybe all these things I wasthinking about of like why I
can't speak are not actuallytrue and kind of give people a
(19:37):
good starting place.
So I think this is reallyhelpful.
Thank you, Melissa.
Yeah, thank you.
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