Speaking as a Sales Strategy w/Leisa Reid

1 00:00:02,160 - > 00:00:02,799 SPEAKER_01: Hi, Lisa. 2 00:00:02,879 - > 00:00:04,000 Welcome to the podcast. 3 00:00:04,240 - > 00:00:05,120 Hi, Melissa. 4 00:00:05,280 - > 00:00:06,320 Thank you for having me. 5 00:00:06,559 - > 00:00:10,400 Yeah, so excited to talk to you today about public speaking and 6 00:00:10,400 - > 00:00:12,480 speaking as a marketing strategy. 7 00:00:12,640 - > 00:00:14,560 I think this is such an interesting one. 8 00:00:14,640 - > 00:00:16,559 And I would encourage people if they're listening and they're 9 00:00:16,559 - > 00:00:18,480 like, oh, nope, never getting on stage. 10 00:00:18,719 - > 00:00:19,280 Skip. 11 00:00:19,600 - > 00:00:22,160 Just listen and hear what Lisa has to say. 12 00:00:22,320 - > 00:00:24,239 Because we're going to talk to those people too, right? 13 00:00:24,399 - > 00:00:26,960 Not just the people like me that are like, yes, please put the 14 00:00:26,960 - > 00:00:27,600 spotlight on me. 15 00:00:28,079 - > 00:00:28,800 SPEAKER_00: Where's the microphone? 16 00:00:28,879 - > 00:00:29,760 Can you turn it up? 17 00:00:30,559 - > 00:00:31,199 SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah. 18 00:00:31,519 - > 00:00:32,399 Relatable. 19 00:00:32,640 - > 00:00:35,759 So before we dive in, tell everybody a little bit about you 20 00:00:35,759 - > 00:00:38,240 and about how you got to this point and what you do. 21 00:00:38,719 - > 00:00:42,799 SPEAKER_00: You know, I started speaking as a like person using 22 00:00:42,799 - > 00:00:45,520 speaking as a way to get clients back when I was 40. 23 00:00:45,600 - > 00:00:47,200 So this was 2013. 24 00:00:47,359 - > 00:00:48,079 Fast math. 25 00:00:48,159 - > 00:00:50,479 I'm 53 now at the recording moment. 26 00:00:51,039 - > 00:00:54,719 And I booked 83 speaking engagements my very first year. 27 00:00:54,799 - > 00:00:58,320 It's my ignorance on fire era, is what I call it, because I 28 00:00:58,320 - > 00:00:59,759 just was going for it. 29 00:00:59,920 - > 00:01:02,719 And I brought in hundreds of clients to the organization that 30 00:01:02,719 - > 00:01:03,679 I was working with. 31 00:01:03,840 - > 00:01:07,359 And I started my own network for speakers, specifically 32 00:01:07,519 - > 00:01:10,319 entrepreneurs using speaking as a way to grow their business. 33 00:01:10,640 - > 00:01:14,959 And during that first couple of years, people would ask me for 34 00:01:14,959 - > 00:01:15,760 help all the time. 35 00:01:15,920 - > 00:01:19,040 And I realized, gosh, there's a gap in this whole thing. 36 00:01:19,200 - > 00:01:23,599 Like people want to speak, but then how do you speak if you 37 00:01:23,599 - > 00:01:25,200 don't know how to get on the stage? 38 00:01:25,280 - > 00:01:27,840 Or you maybe you got lucky once, but then how do you keep getting 39 00:01:27,840 - > 00:01:28,079 lucky? 40 00:01:28,239 - > 00:01:29,760 How does that keep working? 41 00:01:30,000 - > 00:01:33,840 And so I finally realized I could write down and start to 42 00:01:33,840 - > 00:01:35,120 catalog what I was doing. 43 00:01:35,280 - > 00:01:36,879 And not that everyone has to do it the way I do. 44 00:01:37,040 - > 00:01:38,560 I don't absolutely don't believe that. 45 00:01:38,799 - > 00:01:41,280 But there was definitely some secret sauce in there that was 46 00:01:41,280 - > 00:01:42,400 making it really easy for me. 47 00:01:42,480 - > 00:01:44,319 I thought, oh, this is all teachable stuff. 48 00:01:44,480 - > 00:01:46,799 If you're willing, you know, if you're willing to learn and do 49 00:01:46,799 - > 00:01:49,599 something a little bit different, um, it's it's easy 50 00:01:49,760 - > 00:01:50,799 and it gets results. 51 00:01:50,959 - > 00:01:54,640 So that's why I started get speaking gigs now back in 2017. 52 00:01:54,879 - > 00:01:55,519 That's awesome. 53 00:01:55,599 - > 00:01:56,959 Wow, you've been doing this a long time. 54 00:01:57,120 - > 00:02:01,040 Yeah, I've given over 600 talks and I I love working with 55 00:02:01,040 - > 00:02:03,280 entrepreneurs who already have that fire in the belly. 56 00:02:03,359 - > 00:02:04,719 They're like, I want to do this. 57 00:02:04,959 - > 00:02:09,199 But to your point, in your when you were opening the show, I do 58 00:02:09,199 - > 00:02:12,080 have clients who've never done it before, but maybe they 59 00:02:12,080 - > 00:02:13,599 secretly dreamed of doing it. 60 00:02:13,680 - > 00:02:14,560 But there were some fears. 61 00:02:14,639 - > 00:02:17,280 There were some like, oh, I don't know, would anyone hear 62 00:02:17,280 - > 00:02:18,319 what I have to say? 63 00:02:18,479 - > 00:02:19,919 Um, would I be okay? 64 00:02:20,080 - > 00:02:20,879 Would I make a mistake? 65 00:02:21,039 - > 00:02:21,759 Would I look stupid? 66 00:02:21,840 - > 00:02:24,639 There's all these normal fears that are gonna come up. 67 00:02:24,800 - > 00:02:27,599 And all that is overcomable. 68 00:02:28,000 - > 00:02:29,199 SPEAKER_01: Yeah, absolutely. 69 00:02:29,439 - > 00:02:32,479 So for people who are listening to this, let's talk first about 70 00:02:32,560 - > 00:02:35,680 like people who are listening to this that have thought about 71 00:02:35,680 - > 00:02:39,120 speaking or maybe they've done it once or twice, but it's not 72 00:02:39,120 - > 00:02:41,759 like one of their main visibility strategies. 73 00:02:42,159 - > 00:02:46,479 Can you talk a little bit about how speaking works as a 74 00:02:46,479 - > 00:02:47,280 marketing strategy? 75 00:02:47,360 - > 00:02:50,319 Because I think sometimes people feel like, yeah, it's really 76 00:02:50,319 - > 00:02:52,560 good for um like positioning, right? 77 00:02:52,639 - > 00:02:54,639 It's good for people to see you as an expert. 78 00:02:54,800 - > 00:02:57,759 It's good for your ego, but like, how is it actually getting 79 00:02:57,759 - > 00:02:58,560 me clients? 80 00:02:58,879 - > 00:02:59,520 SPEAKER_00: Oh yeah. 81 00:02:59,599 - > 00:03:01,680 Don't do it just for your ego. 82 00:03:03,439 - > 00:03:05,599 Um, it would be tip number one. 83 00:03:05,840 - > 00:03:10,319 But it's a way to really make a connection with the audience. 84 00:03:10,479 - > 00:03:14,319 And especially if you have a service or a perspective or a 85 00:03:14,319 - > 00:03:17,039 product or a framework, something that needs a little 86 00:03:17,039 - > 00:03:19,599 bit of explanation or connection. 87 00:03:19,759 - > 00:03:22,879 Maybe you work really intimately with people, it allows them to 88 00:03:22,879 - > 00:03:28,719 get to know you and develop some trust without entering into a 89 00:03:28,719 - > 00:03:30,159 sales conversation right out the bat. 90 00:03:30,319 - > 00:03:33,840 And I think especially that is difficult for people in 91 00:03:33,840 - > 00:03:37,439 positions like let's say a life coach, where you're so excited, 92 00:03:37,520 - > 00:03:40,479 you can't wait to help people, you want to dig in and really 93 00:03:40,479 - > 00:03:43,439 get into the nitty-gritty of their emotions and how you can 94 00:03:43,439 - > 00:03:44,000 help them. 95 00:03:44,240 - > 00:03:47,120 And then you kind of run out of your friends and family, and 96 00:03:47,120 - > 00:03:51,039 you're thinking, okay, so am I just like DMing people on, you 97 00:03:51,039 - > 00:03:54,479 know, the gram or Facebook or something like how do I actually 98 00:03:54,479 - > 00:03:55,120 get clients? 99 00:03:55,280 - > 00:03:58,479 How do I get someone to trust that I can help shepherd them 100 00:03:58,479 - > 00:03:59,759 through this thing? 101 00:04:00,000 - > 00:04:04,000 And when you can speak, you can give tidbits, you can get 102 00:04:04,000 - > 00:04:07,360 lessons that are really valuable and give them a taste of who you 103 00:04:07,360 - > 00:04:08,479 are, what your style is. 104 00:04:08,639 - > 00:04:10,560 And then the audience comes to you. 105 00:04:10,800 - > 00:04:14,639 And I don't mean that the entire audience is gonna flood you, and 106 00:04:14,639 - > 00:04:18,480 that might happen, but if you have a high-ticket item, maybe 107 00:04:18,480 - > 00:04:21,040 you only need a couple people in the audience to really go, you 108 00:04:21,040 - > 00:04:21,360 know what? 109 00:04:21,439 - > 00:04:23,199 You were speaking just directly to me. 110 00:04:23,360 - > 00:04:26,639 And it just makes the sales process easier and you don't 111 00:04:26,639 - > 00:04:28,000 have to like hunt for clients. 112 00:04:28,160 - > 00:04:31,120 I I have a talk where I say don't um you didn't start a 113 00:04:31,120 - > 00:04:32,560 business because you want to chase clients. 114 00:04:32,720 - > 00:04:35,040 I don't think anyone really gets in business for that. 115 00:04:35,199 - > 00:04:36,959 So this helps solve that problem. 116 00:04:37,199 - > 00:04:38,399 SPEAKER_01: Yeah, absolutely. 117 00:04:38,639 - > 00:04:42,399 We talk a lot in um the Powerful Woman Rising Business Growth 118 00:04:42,480 - > 00:04:44,800 Mastermind about different marketing strategies. 119 00:04:44,959 - > 00:04:47,360 And, you know, people will always come to the mastermind 120 00:04:47,360 - > 00:04:51,600 and say things like, okay, so I need your best LinkedIn tips 121 00:04:51,600 - > 00:04:53,519 because I'm not on LinkedIn and I know I should be. 122 00:04:53,600 - > 00:04:55,120 So give me your best LinkedIn tips. 123 00:04:55,279 - > 00:04:57,759 And instead of giving them LinkedIn tips, the group will be 124 00:04:57,759 - > 00:05:00,000 like, well, let's first talk about why you think you need to 125 00:05:00,000 - > 00:05:00,720 be on LinkedIn, right? 126 00:05:00,800 - > 00:05:02,079 And by the end of the conversation, they're like, 127 00:05:02,240 - > 00:05:03,759 never mind, I don't need to be on LinkedIn. 128 00:05:04,000 - > 00:05:07,360 But one of the things we talk about a lot is like we have so 129 00:05:07,360 - > 00:05:09,680 many members, and I think this is true for so many people 130 00:05:09,839 - > 00:05:14,480 that's like you can get certain things across in a Facebook 131 00:05:14,480 - > 00:05:14,720 post. 132 00:05:14,800 - > 00:05:17,759 You can get things across in an email, right? 133 00:05:17,920 - > 00:05:21,279 Those are all good strategies, but there's something very 134 00:05:21,279 - > 00:05:25,680 different, whether it's video or it's live, for people about 135 00:05:25,920 - > 00:05:30,000 hearing your voice and seeing your mannerisms and feeling the 136 00:05:30,000 - > 00:05:31,680 actual emotion in your story. 137 00:05:31,759 - > 00:05:35,199 So I love what you said about like it really does warm your 138 00:05:35,199 - > 00:05:38,399 audience up quicker than I think anything else. 139 00:05:38,879 - > 00:05:40,240 SPEAKER_00: It's a quick way to do that. 140 00:05:40,399 - > 00:05:44,720 And and it's not just the speaking part, but it's the you 141 00:05:44,720 - > 00:05:48,879 know, leveraging that with your social media posting, whatever 142 00:05:48,879 - > 00:05:50,160 that, whatever your platform is. 143 00:05:50,319 - > 00:05:53,120 It's leveraging that with your email campaign or your freebie 144 00:05:53,199 - > 00:05:53,600 or your whatever. 145 00:05:53,759 - > 00:05:56,000 And as you know, as an entrepreneur and you're leading, 146 00:05:56,079 - > 00:05:58,319 you know, successful entrepreneurs through business 147 00:05:58,319 - > 00:06:00,560 ownership, it's not just one thing. 148 00:06:00,720 - > 00:06:03,680 I think sometimes people think, oh, if I get that one talk in 149 00:06:03,680 - > 00:06:06,160 front of this, you know, billions of people, that's gonna 150 00:06:06,160 - > 00:06:06,959 be the answer to my problems. 151 00:06:07,120 - > 00:06:08,000 I'm like, probably not. 152 00:06:08,079 - > 00:06:09,680 It's probably not gonna be the answer to your problems. 153 00:06:09,839 - > 00:06:13,040 But what could be the answer to your problems is a consistent 154 00:06:13,040 - > 00:06:16,319 strategy that works for you and that you can duplicate, 155 00:06:16,480 - > 00:06:19,680 replicate, that makes your life easier, that gives you more 156 00:06:19,680 - > 00:06:20,160 freedom. 157 00:06:20,319 - > 00:06:22,160 And having those different pieces set up. 158 00:06:22,319 - > 00:06:23,279 Oh, we have a little visitor. 159 00:06:23,360 - > 00:06:25,519 We I thought I was the only guest on the show today. 160 00:06:25,839 - > 00:06:26,959 Never, never. 161 00:06:27,199 - > 00:06:28,800 SPEAKER_01: There's always at least one. 162 00:06:29,920 - > 00:06:30,720 SPEAKER_00: I love it. 163 00:06:30,959 - > 00:06:31,759 I love it. 164 00:06:32,000 - > 00:06:37,040 Um, so I think that's where sometimes we can get into that. 165 00:06:37,279 - > 00:06:40,160 I should do this, I need to do that, I have to do this, and I 166 00:06:40,160 - > 00:06:41,839 saw someone else do that, and they got success. 167 00:06:42,000 - > 00:06:43,839 I actually had a client say that to me the other day. 168 00:06:44,000 - > 00:06:46,319 She's like, Well, I want to do a TED talk. 169 00:06:46,399 - > 00:06:47,680 I'm like, okay, TEDx. 170 00:06:47,920 - > 00:06:49,279 I said, tell me why. 171 00:06:49,759 - > 00:06:50,720 That's not a bad goal. 172 00:06:51,040 - > 00:06:53,360 And then she's like, Well, a friend of mine had one and she's 173 00:06:53,360 - > 00:06:54,079 had a lot of success. 174 00:06:54,240 - > 00:06:56,560 I'm like, well, what else has she done? 175 00:06:56,800 - > 00:06:59,360 It's probably not just that. 176 00:06:59,920 - > 00:07:03,040 And then is there a marketing plan behind that strategy? 177 00:07:03,360 - > 00:07:05,040 And so it's same. 178 00:07:05,120 - > 00:07:06,399 I'm like right with you. 179 00:07:06,879 - > 00:07:09,040 We have to think really to scale it back. 180 00:07:09,199 - > 00:07:10,959 Like, what are why are we doing what we're doing? 181 00:07:11,439 - > 00:07:15,040 Usually the people I work with, they want more clients because 182 00:07:15,040 - > 00:07:16,160 they want to make an impact. 183 00:07:16,240 - > 00:07:20,000 They want to give that thing that that provide that service, 184 00:07:20,240 - > 00:07:23,759 offer that special gift that they have to someone to help 185 00:07:23,759 - > 00:07:24,800 them change their lives. 186 00:07:24,959 - > 00:07:25,120 unknown: Yeah. 187 00:07:25,279 - > 00:07:26,399 SPEAKER_00: But they just need people. 188 00:07:27,120 - > 00:07:31,360 So speaking ends up being like this nice um bridge for them. 189 00:07:31,600 - > 00:07:32,879 SPEAKER_01: Yeah, absolutely. 190 00:07:33,199 - > 00:07:35,759 So you talked about some of these things in the beginning, 191 00:07:35,920 - > 00:07:40,319 but what are some of the things that you typically see that keep 192 00:07:40,319 - > 00:07:42,240 people from speaking on stage? 193 00:07:42,879 - > 00:07:45,199 SPEAKER_00: Usually they don't have a plan. 194 00:07:45,519 - > 00:07:48,000 And so they might get asked to speak. 195 00:07:48,160 - > 00:07:50,879 And if they're not ready, I'm a huge fan of get ready to be 196 00:07:50,879 - > 00:07:51,279 ready. 197 00:07:51,519 - > 00:07:56,480 If they're not ready, they will probably avoid that request or 198 00:07:56,480 - > 00:07:58,959 never get back to the person or say, Oh, I'll get back to you, 199 00:07:59,040 - > 00:08:00,480 and then never really get back to them. 200 00:08:00,720 - > 00:08:03,600 They also might take that opportunity, but then wing it, 201 00:08:03,759 - > 00:08:04,959 which I do not recommend. 202 00:08:05,040 - > 00:08:08,160 That's almost worse than doing it, um, or worse than not doing 203 00:08:08,160 - > 00:08:08,879 it at all. 204 00:08:09,199 - > 00:08:14,160 So I'm I think it's a very important to have a plan in 205 00:08:14,160 - > 00:08:14,319 place. 206 00:08:14,480 - > 00:08:16,560 It's kind of like do your homework ahead of time. 207 00:08:16,720 - > 00:08:19,759 You know, prepare as if you're going to be doing it. 208 00:08:19,839 - > 00:08:22,480 Like you don't show up to the Olympics and go, Oh, I'll just, 209 00:08:22,639 - > 00:08:24,000 I'm a pretty good gymnast. 210 00:08:24,079 - > 00:08:26,240 I'll just do some flips across the mat. 211 00:08:26,800 - > 00:08:30,800 Like they have practiced, they have put the hours in, put the 212 00:08:30,800 - > 00:08:31,360 reps in. 213 00:08:31,439 - > 00:08:34,159 And trust me, you don't have to work as hard as an Olympian to 214 00:08:34,159 - > 00:08:34,960 be a speaker. 215 00:08:35,200 - > 00:08:36,879 So just in case you're worried. 216 00:08:37,440 - > 00:08:37,840 SPEAKER_01: Yeah. 217 00:08:38,080 - > 00:08:42,960 I think too, people think like, I'm not qualified, or like, you 218 00:08:42,960 - > 00:08:45,600 know, I there's so many people who have so many interesting 219 00:08:45,600 - > 00:08:46,159 things to say. 220 00:08:46,240 - > 00:08:47,840 I don't really have anything interesting to say. 221 00:08:47,919 - > 00:08:48,879 I don't have anything important. 222 00:08:48,960 - > 00:08:50,639 I don't have anything anybody wants to listen to you. 223 00:08:50,799 - > 00:08:52,480 What do you listen to those people? 224 00:08:52,720 - > 00:08:52,879 SPEAKER_00: Okay. 225 00:08:52,960 - > 00:08:55,200 I have a whole, I mean, how long is this podcast? 226 00:08:55,279 - > 00:08:57,360 Because I could talk about that for a long time. 227 00:08:57,519 - > 00:09:00,720 It's something I call speakers kryptonite, and it shows up 228 00:09:00,720 - > 00:09:02,000 differently in different people. 229 00:09:02,159 - > 00:09:05,200 So some of the phrases that you just said is exactly what people 230 00:09:05,200 - > 00:09:05,519 will think. 231 00:09:05,679 - > 00:09:08,399 Well, you know, I need to write more um content. 232 00:09:08,559 - > 00:09:09,759 I have to put more videos out there. 233 00:09:09,840 - > 00:09:11,039 I got to get another certification. 234 00:09:11,120 - > 00:09:11,919 I need to write a book. 235 00:09:12,000 - > 00:09:13,600 I need to do this and that and all the things. 236 00:09:13,759 - > 00:09:16,399 And that's literally their subconscious mind is just 237 00:09:16,399 - > 00:09:18,720 keeping them safe and nice and in the comfy zone. 238 00:09:18,960 - > 00:09:22,879 Or it could be like, oh, I, you know, I don't know if I'm really 239 00:09:22,879 - > 00:09:23,919 good enough to do that. 240 00:09:24,080 - > 00:09:26,399 I've never, you know, I've never given a talk before. 241 00:09:26,559 - > 00:09:27,440 I mean, what would I say? 242 00:09:27,600 - > 00:09:29,440 Who, who, who do I think I am? 243 00:09:29,519 - > 00:09:32,000 You know, all those, all those little thoughts creep in. 244 00:09:32,159 - > 00:09:35,120 And when we have a business, those thoughts come up, whether 245 00:09:35,120 - > 00:09:39,279 you're trying to speak or do an email campaign or raise your 246 00:09:39,279 - > 00:09:40,879 prices, it's just gonna come up. 247 00:09:41,039 - > 00:09:43,840 So the closer you can get to understanding those thoughts in 248 00:09:43,840 - > 00:09:46,720 your mind and then um, you know, processing that. 249 00:09:46,799 - > 00:09:49,919 So you go, okay, thank you for keeping me safe. 250 00:09:50,080 - > 00:09:51,200 I hear you. 251 00:09:51,440 - > 00:09:54,960 And I'm gonna move into a different direction anyway. 252 00:09:55,120 - > 00:09:56,720 Thank you for sharing. 253 00:09:57,440 - > 00:09:59,039 And then we we go forward. 254 00:09:59,279 - > 00:10:02,799 But yeah, I I often say in my actually, I have my magic wand 255 00:10:02,799 - > 00:10:03,360 right here. 256 00:10:03,600 - > 00:10:07,360 One of the things that I do in in my live talks in person is 257 00:10:07,360 - > 00:10:08,720 everybody gets a magic wand. 258 00:10:08,799 - > 00:10:12,559 And we go through this quiz of like, does it make sense for you 259 00:10:12,559 - > 00:10:13,279 to be a speaker? 260 00:10:13,440 - > 00:10:15,200 Even if you've never done it before, does it make sense? 261 00:10:15,279 - > 00:10:15,840 Let's talk about that. 262 00:10:15,919 - > 00:10:18,559 And we talk about it like from the head, the logic side, and 263 00:10:18,559 - > 00:10:19,360 then from the heart. 264 00:10:19,519 - > 00:10:21,679 Like, I'm not here to make you do stuff you hate. 265 00:10:21,840 - > 00:10:24,320 Why would you do why would you do more soul-sucking activities? 266 00:10:24,399 - > 00:10:27,440 If you, if you would rather get a root canal than do public 267 00:10:27,440 - > 00:10:29,759 speaking, then please do not do it, right? 268 00:10:30,399 - > 00:10:34,399 But if you're like, wait a second, I could teach something. 269 00:10:34,639 - > 00:10:36,399 Well, that doesn't sound as scary. 270 00:10:36,639 - > 00:10:38,960 You mean I could like attract the people that I would really, 271 00:10:39,039 - > 00:10:39,679 really want to work with. 272 00:10:39,840 - > 00:10:40,639 Okay, I'm listening. 273 00:10:40,720 - > 00:10:45,120 Like we had to like step into a new um, a new version of 274 00:10:45,120 - > 00:10:46,000 ourselves sometimes. 275 00:10:46,159 - > 00:10:46,879 SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah. 276 00:10:47,120 - > 00:10:50,159 And I think for me and my experience speaking, it was 277 00:10:50,159 - > 00:10:52,639 easier to kind of ease into it, right? 278 00:10:52,720 - > 00:10:55,840 Like I didn't go from never being on stage to speaking in 279 00:10:55,840 - > 00:10:56,799 front of 400 people. 280 00:10:56,960 - > 00:11:01,279 I went from never speaking on stage to like doing some video 281 00:11:01,279 - > 00:11:01,840 presentations. 282 00:11:02,000 - > 00:11:03,279 That feels a lot safer, right? 283 00:11:03,360 - > 00:11:06,399 Like if I'm just completely mortified and an idiot, I'll 284 00:11:06,480 - > 00:11:08,639 just be like, oh, my connection, gotta go by. 285 00:11:08,960 - > 00:11:13,039 Um, and then you know, speaking to smaller audiences of maybe 286 00:11:13,039 - > 00:11:15,279 like 30 and you know, kind of working your way up. 287 00:11:15,360 - > 00:11:17,759 And I feel like I don't know what your take on that is, but 288 00:11:17,759 - > 00:11:20,240 for me, that felt easier. 289 00:11:20,559 - > 00:11:22,799 SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I always say, like, we can do low-hanging 290 00:11:22,799 - > 00:11:23,039 fruit. 291 00:11:23,200 - > 00:11:24,559 Why not do low-hanging fruit? 292 00:11:24,639 - > 00:11:27,600 Go and speak in front of I I do recommend your first speaking 293 00:11:27,600 - > 00:11:29,759 engagement, especially if you have a lot of, you know, 294 00:11:30,240 - > 00:11:31,600 trepidation around it. 295 00:11:31,840 - > 00:11:35,039 Your first one, don't make that be the most important one in 296 00:11:35,039 - > 00:11:35,919 your whole life, right? 297 00:11:36,080 - > 00:11:39,200 Don't have it full of the exact perfect clients, and it's the 298 00:11:39,200 - > 00:11:41,120 best opportunity you've ever seen in your whole gosh darn 299 00:11:41,200 - > 00:11:41,600 life. 300 00:11:42,000 - > 00:11:44,960 Go do it in front of, you know, kids in the neighborhood, your 301 00:11:44,960 - > 00:11:48,960 friends, uh your close buddies, your work uh colleagues, your 302 00:11:48,960 - > 00:11:52,080 family, depending on you know your relationship, somewhere 303 00:11:52,080 - > 00:11:53,919 close to home, somewhere where you're like, oh, I kind of feel 304 00:11:53,919 - > 00:11:54,080 comfortable. 305 00:11:54,159 - > 00:11:54,720 Oh, I know where that is. 306 00:11:54,799 - > 00:11:56,480 Yeah, I could go over there, no big deal. 307 00:11:56,720 - > 00:12:00,639 And then you can just let a lot of the nerves out during that 308 00:12:00,639 - > 00:12:01,039 session. 309 00:12:01,200 - > 00:12:04,080 I think we put a lot of pressure on ourselves to be perfect the 310 00:12:04,080 - > 00:12:04,480 first time. 311 00:12:04,639 - > 00:12:07,919 It's like, imagine we're five years old and we didn't tie our 312 00:12:07,919 - > 00:12:09,600 shoes perfectly the very first time. 313 00:12:09,759 - > 00:12:11,919 Like, would we just give up and we're like, oh, that just 314 00:12:11,919 - > 00:12:12,240 doesn't work. 315 00:12:12,320 - > 00:12:14,080 I'm never gonna tie my shoes again. 316 00:12:14,399 - > 00:12:17,840 But we do that with speaking because it it can feel 317 00:12:17,840 - > 00:12:19,679 vulnerable and scary. 318 00:12:19,840 - > 00:12:24,720 But it's like, give yourself some grace, go, you know, inch, 319 00:12:24,799 - > 00:12:29,120 inch up as at your own pace, yeah, and be ready so that you 320 00:12:29,120 - > 00:12:32,399 can take those opportunities that are gonna be ideal. 321 00:12:32,639 - > 00:12:32,879 SPEAKER_01: Yeah. 322 00:12:33,039 - > 00:12:35,200 We do that with so many things in business, don't we? 323 00:12:35,360 - > 00:12:38,000 It's like I launched the thing once and nobody wants it. 324 00:12:38,080 - > 00:12:40,080 And I'm like, okay, well, gotta start over. 325 00:12:40,320 - > 00:12:40,720 Yeah. 326 00:12:40,879 - > 00:12:42,320 I guess I'm giving up my dreams. 327 00:12:42,559 - > 00:12:44,720 SPEAKER_00: You're like, whoa, hold on a second. 328 00:12:45,519 - > 00:12:48,080 SPEAKER_01: Or maybe just like change one thing and try again. 329 00:12:48,320 - > 00:12:49,919 Yeah, we may just need a little do tweak. 330 00:12:50,080 - > 00:12:50,639 SPEAKER_00: Yeah. 331 00:12:50,960 - > 00:12:55,120 SPEAKER_01: So how do we know if speaking is the right strategy 332 00:12:55,120 - > 00:12:55,759 for our business? 333 00:12:55,919 - > 00:12:58,559 Like, obviously, you mentioned, you know, if you're somebody 334 00:12:58,559 - > 00:13:01,440 that is like, I would rather do literally anything than speak, 335 00:13:01,600 - > 00:13:03,279 probably not the best strategy for you. 336 00:13:03,519 - > 00:13:07,759 But is there anybody else who like shouldn't use speaking as a 337 00:13:07,759 - > 00:13:11,759 strategy for their business or anybody who it's particularly 338 00:13:11,759 - > 00:13:12,399 suited to? 339 00:13:12,960 - > 00:13:15,279 SPEAKER_00: I I think there's a nice sweet spot. 340 00:13:15,440 - > 00:13:20,080 And this isn't an exact, but um, one of the things I'll do is a 341 00:13:20,080 - > 00:13:22,320 speaker monetization formula where we start to figure out 342 00:13:22,399 - > 00:13:24,080 like what's your speaking sales potential? 343 00:13:24,240 - > 00:13:26,960 Like, forget about the fee if you're getting paid or not. 344 00:13:27,039 - > 00:13:28,320 Just let that go for a second. 345 00:13:28,399 - > 00:13:31,279 Because if you have a service or product that's a thousand 346 00:13:31,279 - > 00:13:33,919 dollars or more, just even that initial sale, you might they 347 00:13:33,919 - > 00:13:34,720 might then continue. 348 00:13:34,799 - > 00:13:36,720 So that might turn into more money, but I don't want to 349 00:13:36,720 - > 00:13:37,360 complicate it. 350 00:13:37,519 - > 00:13:41,200 So let's say you have a program for$1,000, maybe$5,000. 351 00:13:41,360 - > 00:13:43,600 We'll just do$5,000 as an example. 352 00:13:43,840 - > 00:13:46,879 Um, and you speak a couple times a month. 353 00:13:47,039 - > 00:13:51,200 It could even be virtual, and you got a client, let's say you 354 00:13:51,200 - > 00:13:53,360 average one client every talk. 355 00:13:53,519 - > 00:13:56,080 Let's see, I'm gonna do some really quick math here. 356 00:13:56,159 - > 00:14:00,399 So we've got five thousand dollars times one client times 357 00:14:00,399 - > 00:14:03,200 twenty-four times a year, that's $120,000. 358 00:14:03,679 - > 00:14:08,000 And so when people go, oh, well, okay, I think I can get over my 359 00:14:08,000 - > 00:14:08,559 issues. 360 00:14:09,360 - > 00:14:12,399 I think I can, I think I can work it like moving through 361 00:14:12,399 - > 00:14:12,559 that. 362 00:14:12,639 - > 00:14:13,679 Now, is that a guarantee? 363 00:14:13,759 - > 00:14:17,200 No, but it starts to empower you to go, does this make sense for 364 00:14:17,200 - > 00:14:17,360 me? 365 00:14:17,519 - > 00:14:20,559 So if you're selling your book for$20 and that's your big 366 00:14:20,559 - > 00:14:24,799 master business plan, that's probably not gonna be the plan 367 00:14:24,799 - > 00:14:25,279 for you. 368 00:14:25,519 - > 00:14:30,399 If you have you, but maybe you sell book, bulk book sales and 369 00:14:30,399 - > 00:14:33,919 you depending on the environment, or you have a 370 00:14:33,919 - > 00:14:38,159 coaching program or some kind of consulting service that people 371 00:14:38,159 - > 00:14:39,279 pay top dollar for. 372 00:14:39,440 - > 00:14:40,720 Maybe they get a free book, who cares, right? 373 00:14:40,799 - > 00:14:42,000 Who cares about the 20 bucks? 374 00:14:42,080 - > 00:14:44,799 But like, how do we make this make sense for you and your 375 00:14:44,799 - > 00:14:45,039 business? 376 00:14:45,200 - > 00:14:48,399 I think that's where it it's helpful to to know. 377 00:14:48,639 - > 00:14:49,679 SPEAKER_01: Yeah, absolutely. 378 00:14:49,919 - > 00:14:51,919 So you mentioned at the beginning, too, and this is 379 00:14:51,919 - > 00:14:54,320 something that I have struggled with, especially in the 380 00:14:54,320 - > 00:14:56,799 beginning, is like, okay, I want to speak. 381 00:14:56,960 - > 00:14:58,639 I know what I'm gonna speak on. 382 00:14:58,879 - > 00:15:03,120 I know that there are people out there who like would love to 383 00:15:03,120 - > 00:15:04,159 hear this talk. 384 00:15:04,480 - > 00:15:06,879 And now what do I do? 385 00:15:07,039 - > 00:15:08,399 Like, how do I find them? 386 00:15:08,559 - > 00:15:11,919 You know, like I see so much generic advice that's like, call 387 00:15:11,919 - > 00:15:15,279 the Chamber of Commerce, ask your local women's group, which 388 00:15:15,279 - > 00:15:18,399 is great to start with, but like what else? 389 00:15:18,639 - > 00:15:21,600 SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so there's so many different ways that you can 390 00:15:21,600 - > 00:15:22,320 navigate that. 391 00:15:22,480 - > 00:15:25,120 And I was literally just on a call the other day, and this 392 00:15:25,120 - > 00:15:28,240 gentleman said, Well, the way to get speak engagements is just 393 00:15:28,320 - > 00:15:32,480 you have to just cold, call, reach out to hundreds every day. 394 00:15:32,559 - > 00:15:34,559 And I thought, oh my gosh, that sounds like a soul-sucking 395 00:15:34,559 - > 00:15:35,919 activity for a million person. 396 00:15:36,320 - > 00:15:37,919 My clients do not want to do that. 397 00:15:38,159 - > 00:15:41,279 Um, and that's kind of the popular way. 398 00:15:41,360 - > 00:15:44,559 Like you, you know, get a VA and have them submit your 399 00:15:44,559 - > 00:15:45,039 application. 400 00:15:45,200 - > 00:15:48,799 That's for certain types of speaking engagements, but it 401 00:15:48,799 - > 00:15:53,200 really depends on your audience, your message, and who your ideal 402 00:15:53,200 - > 00:15:53,919 clients are. 403 00:15:54,000 - > 00:15:57,279 And what kind of speaking um life do you want to have? 404 00:15:57,440 - > 00:16:00,159 Are you a person who would love to travel, or are you like, oh, 405 00:16:00,240 - > 00:16:01,840 I kind of like staying home and cozy? 406 00:16:02,080 - > 00:16:05,759 Are we can we do a blend of virtual speaking and in person? 407 00:16:06,240 - > 00:16:07,519 Maybe you start to. 408 00:16:07,600 - > 00:16:09,919 I I'm a huge fan of I have so much to say about this. 409 00:16:10,000 - > 00:16:12,000 So I'm like, I've got like all the thoughts are coming in all 410 00:16:12,000 - > 00:16:12,399 at the same time. 411 00:16:12,480 - > 00:16:14,000 So I'm gonna like take, take a number. 412 00:16:14,080 - > 00:16:14,399 Okay. 413 00:16:14,639 - > 00:16:19,840 So thought number one is it's important to get a lay of the 414 00:16:19,840 - > 00:16:20,080 land. 415 00:16:20,559 - > 00:16:22,480 Like, where are you? 416 00:16:22,639 - > 00:16:26,559 One of my clients is in Chicago, so it's like, okay, for her 417 00:16:26,879 - > 00:16:29,200 market, I'm like, I want you to get a lay of the land. 418 00:16:29,360 - > 00:16:32,559 What's going on in Chicago in this particular market that you 419 00:16:32,559 - > 00:16:34,080 are trying to jump into? 420 00:16:34,399 - > 00:16:35,840 What associations are there? 421 00:16:36,080 - > 00:16:37,519 What local groups are there? 422 00:16:37,679 - > 00:16:39,360 What national groups have chapters there? 423 00:16:39,519 - > 00:16:42,000 So we're talking uh associations, it could be 424 00:16:42,000 - > 00:16:44,639 chambers, could be networking groups, could be business 425 00:16:44,639 - > 00:16:46,480 groups, could be specialty groups. 426 00:16:46,639 - > 00:16:49,279 So you want to kind of get a lay of land in your own backyard. 427 00:16:49,360 - > 00:16:51,519 I call it like finding treasure in your own backyard because 428 00:16:51,600 - > 00:16:52,399 that's just like easier. 429 00:16:52,480 - > 00:16:55,039 Like, you know, I gotta get on a plane if you live in a 430 00:16:55,039 - > 00:16:56,159 well-populated area. 431 00:16:56,320 - > 00:16:58,799 So I just say it's like basic, like you gotta know what game 432 00:16:58,799 - > 00:17:00,000 you're playing, what's around. 433 00:17:00,159 - > 00:17:02,639 So you can keep your eyes and ears open when you're networking 434 00:17:02,720 - > 00:17:05,839 and say, like, hey, do you know a person who's, you know, a 435 00:17:05,839 - > 00:17:08,000 member of XYZ Association? 436 00:17:08,240 - > 00:17:11,039 I'm a huge fan of warm introductions. 437 00:17:11,200 - > 00:17:14,240 So part of it is figuring out what warm introductions are you 438 00:17:14,240 - > 00:17:14,880 gonna ask for. 439 00:17:15,039 - > 00:17:17,920 Because if you say, Melissa, like, um, oh, I'm looking to 440 00:17:17,920 - > 00:17:19,680 speak, do you know anyone who has speakers? 441 00:17:19,759 - > 00:17:22,480 I'm like, yeah, the Knitting Association of America, like 442 00:17:22,559 - > 00:17:24,480 that's not really who you're looking for, right? 443 00:17:24,640 - > 00:17:28,880 So we want to be able to train the people around us to know 444 00:17:28,880 - > 00:17:29,839 what to look for. 445 00:17:30,079 - > 00:17:32,480 Um, sometimes that can be confusing too. 446 00:17:32,559 - > 00:17:35,920 Like I have um, we just had our international speaker network 447 00:17:35,920 - > 00:17:38,799 meeting, and we always say, okay, what type, you know, what 448 00:17:38,799 - > 00:17:40,559 do you speak on and what's your ideal audience? 449 00:17:40,640 - > 00:17:43,119 And so sometimes I do a little coaching on the ideal audience. 450 00:17:43,200 - > 00:17:46,000 Someone's like, Well, I'm looking for an audience of men 451 00:17:46,000 - > 00:17:47,359 and women who need to level up. 452 00:17:47,519 - > 00:17:50,720 I'm like, nobody knows, like it's not like uh we need to 453 00:17:50,720 - > 00:17:52,559 level up, so we're gonna all meet together. 454 00:17:52,799 - > 00:17:54,799 There's not, there's not an audience like that. 455 00:17:54,960 - > 00:17:55,200 Yeah. 456 00:17:55,359 - > 00:17:58,400 Now, but it's general enough to like, okay, you help men and 457 00:17:58,400 - > 00:17:58,799 women. 458 00:17:58,960 - > 00:18:04,079 So probably any group that's business oriented, they're gonna 459 00:18:04,079 - > 00:18:06,880 be open to leveling up because they're there to grow. 460 00:18:07,039 - > 00:18:10,960 So that'll help to determine um where to start looking. 461 00:18:11,200 - > 00:18:12,880 SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that totally makes sense. 462 00:18:13,119 - > 00:18:13,759 I love that. 463 00:18:13,920 - > 00:18:17,359 So you mentioned when you and I were talking earlier that you 464 00:18:17,359 - > 00:18:22,880 have a list of the top top five tips to get more speaking gigs. 465 00:18:23,119 - > 00:18:23,440 Yes. 466 00:18:23,680 - > 00:18:25,359 Can you share that with our audience? 467 00:18:25,599 - > 00:18:28,559 SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna actually, yeah, you can go to get speaking 468 00:18:28,559 - > 00:18:32,400 gigsnow.com slash tips and get that. 469 00:18:32,640 - > 00:18:36,240 And that's those are some of the tips I've used to book over 600 470 00:18:36,240 - > 00:18:36,720 talks. 471 00:18:36,880 - > 00:18:38,319 I've never used an agent. 472 00:18:38,480 - > 00:18:40,160 I've I've never used an agency. 473 00:18:40,240 - > 00:18:41,200 I just do it all myself. 474 00:18:41,359 - > 00:18:44,559 Still to this day, I have I have assistants, but they don't help 475 00:18:44,559 - > 00:18:45,599 me with that part. 476 00:18:46,079 - > 00:18:48,559 And um happy to give those out. 477 00:18:48,799 - > 00:18:49,839 SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's awesome. 478 00:18:50,079 - > 00:18:53,119 And if people are listening to this and they're like, oh, maybe 479 00:18:53,119 - > 00:18:56,000 speaking is a good idea for me and they want to learn more 480 00:18:56,000 - > 00:18:58,559 about you and about what you do, what's the best way for them to 481 00:18:58,559 - > 00:18:59,119 do that? 482 00:18:59,359 - > 00:19:01,839 SPEAKER_00: Um, you can go to the tips and get the get 483 00:19:02,000 - > 00:19:05,759 speaking gigsnow.com slash tips, pop your email in there, and 484 00:19:05,759 - > 00:19:09,119 then you'll get my email address and we'll be off to the races. 485 00:19:09,279 - > 00:19:11,359 There'll be a link in there eventually that you can, if you 486 00:19:11,359 - > 00:19:13,440 want to book a call with it with me, we can do that. 487 00:19:13,599 - > 00:19:14,559 Okay, awesome. 488 00:19:14,799 - > 00:19:15,440 SPEAKER_01: Thank you so much. 489 00:19:15,599 - > 00:19:16,559 I feel like we could go. 490 00:19:16,720 - > 00:19:19,279 There's so many things to talk about when it comes to speaking. 491 00:19:19,359 - > 00:19:21,920 I feel like we could keep going forever, but we'll have to have 492 00:19:21,920 - > 00:19:23,440 you back for part two sometime. 493 00:19:23,599 - > 00:19:26,480 Um, but I feel like this is a really good start to just to get 494 00:19:26,480 - > 00:19:29,519 people thinking like maybe this is an idea for me. 495 00:19:29,680 - > 00:19:33,279 And maybe all these things I was thinking about of like why I 496 00:19:33,279 - > 00:19:37,279 can't speak are not actually true and kind of give people a 497 00:19:37,279 - > 00:19:38,160 good starting place. 498 00:19:38,319 - > 00:19:39,759 So I think this is really helpful. 499 00:19:40,079 - > 00:19:41,119 Thank you, Melissa. 500 00:19:41,359 - > 00:19:42,480 Yeah, thank you.