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ASK GRANT

Got a question you’d like Grant to answer on an
upcoming episode of The Speaker Lab Podcast?

We want your questions, but let’s throw out a few basic guidelines first...

  • 1State your first and last name and where you're calling from.
  • 2Feel free to mention your website or blog once during the recording. Don't get spammy/sale-sy. (And no need to mention "www," just give the URL after that. For example, "TheSpeakerLab Dot Com.")
  • 3Keep your question to the point and under one minute in length. If it goes a little over, that's fine, but keep it short and sweet. 
  • 4Please only ask ONE question per voicemail (but feel free to leave multiple voicemails if you'd like).

(Please note that by submitting a voicemail question, you’re allowing me to share it publicly on the podcast.)

Here's a good template to use...

"Hey there...this is Grant Baldwin from Nashville, Tennessee and I run a site called TheSpeakerLab.com where we teach speakers how to find and book speaking engagements. Here's my question..."

There are 2 options to ask Grant a question...

  • 2Leave us a comment below
  • Savina

    Hello, Grant!

    Would you let me into a little secret?-
    You are speaking faster than anyone on the web. Nonetheless, I have got every single word of your mouth. What is it, that you have? A perfect diction, articulation or it is just me, having some kind of strange problem with my brain?

    Also, when you speak you always sound extremely confident, that I- the receiver of your speech will take it on board,

    Smile (only at the beginning and the end of the speech), Savina

    • Grant

      HA! Thanks Savina…I do like to talk fast 🙂

  • Grant:

    Recently started listening to your podcast. Great production and audio qualities. In show #6 where you talked about what should be in a speaker agreement/contract, I thought you had mentioned a template that could be downloaded. Didnt see one on the website. Did I misunderstand something ?

    I like the term agreement over contract, less likely to get a legal departments hackles in an uproar.

    Ron

  • Arun

    Hi,
    Since high school I always wanted to get up on stage and speak… Although I haven’t done much talking formally on stage, I would love to but the problem is I can’t narrow down to single topic, I love persuasive speaking. Can’t niche it down to single topic. How do I find topic what I love

    Looking for your reply

    Thank you

  • Hey mate, the webinar singup link on this page goes to a 404:
    http://www.bookedandpaidtospeak.com/gss-thank-you

    Love what you’re doing!

    Cheers,

    Will

    • Grant

      Thanks for the heads up Will! Looks like it should be working now 🙂

  • Katie Goodman

    Hey Grant. This is all so helpful. Quick question. You mentioned putting in our contracts two things: property (so video tapping us and not selling it) and merch (selling our books without giving them a cut) but could you possibly spell out the language you use for that exactly? Thank you!!

  • Wow! Great thnigink! JK

  • DrRay Charles

    Grant, I am a huge Podcast Listener. I recently came across your Podcast. It is an early birthday gift (My birthday, September 1st). I’ve shut down all other podcasts and I’m listening to the Speaker Lab podcast exclusively. My Goal is to be caught up with all 84+ Podcasts before my birthday and implement at least 52 techniques (nothing magical about the number 52 other than 52 weeks/yr). Bar none, one of my best birthday gifts…..

  • Hi Grant. Thank you for the wealth of great information on your podcasts. I wanted to ask you something since you are a former pastor. I was a Christian for a while and had a spiritual awakening. My position is not so popular anymore and I think this is going to make it difficult to get bookings. Do you have any advice, suggestions or comments for helping a speaker with an unpopular viewpoint to get placements? Thanks.

    • John…well it depends on if those viewpoints are communicated in your marketing or your speech itself. If not, and they are just personal beliefs that you don’t express, then it shouldn’t affect anything. But if it’s something you want to talk about and is controversial, then you would most likely have a difficult time getting booked by people who don’t share the same viewpoint. That make sense?

      • Yes it makes sense. I will just have to accept the consequences. Thanks Grant.

  • Do you have an affiliate program for the upcoming speaking event?

  • Jess Adam

    Hi Grant! I’m a beginner to speaking, where can I find information on speaker training? I live in the New York.

    • Go to freespeakerworkshop.com to get more details on our online trainings 🙂

  • Sarah Leeper

    Hi Grant! I am a college freshman and I will soon be starting my journey to becoming a speaker. I want to stay in college and earn my degree. What college major would you suggest to be the most beneficial to someone like me whose end goal is becoming a full time speaker? I am currently a broadcast journalism major, but I’m thinking that may not be right for this field. Thank you so much for your time!

    • I would actually focus on getting a business degree. Perhaps something along the lines of marketing. There’s lots of great speakers who have no idea how to find and book gigs.

      That being said, my degree is in nothing related to business or speaking. So I don’t think you have to have a degree in order to be a speaker. In fact, several speaker friends I know either dropped out of college or never even went. Depending on what you want to speak on, a college degree may not be that relevant.

  • John Antonacci

    Hi Grant, my name is John Antonacci. I signed up for your live webinar for Tuesday, November 22 @ 7 am Central. I am in San Diego, so it is of course 5 pm central time. I just found out that I have to work, my work schedule changes every week, so it is out of my control. When can I schedule another live Webinar, or at least I want to hear a recorded session. My email address is antonacci9@gmail.com

    • Hey John…go ahead and register and we may send out a replay 🙂

  • Kate Garnes

    Hey Grant!! My name is Kate Garnes! I just wanted you to know how much I love your podcast! It is revolutionizing my motivational speaking journey.
    I do have one question. I want to make motivational speaking my full time career, but I know that my audience are ages 18-30, the people who have grown up and are learning to live in a world driven by facebook, starbucks, netflix, takeout chinese food, and uber. I know that my audience is probably mostly high schools and colleges. SO I guess my main question is, IS it possible to make money when I’m not really aiming at big companies and cooperation?? I hope that makes sense!!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!!

    • Thanks for the kind words Kate! You can absolutely make a living speaking to high schools/colleges. That’s exactly what I did for a good portion of my career. Make it happen!

  • mikeyouthallie

    How do I get started as a motivational speaker and begin to start a business out of it? How can I succeed in the long run as well and grow the business successfully? This is something new to me. I had some experience speaking in front of small groups of adult men, children and teenagers in the past. I recently moved to a new state and area. I know that I want to speak to children, teenagers and young adults that I am passionate about and which industries and settings, as well as the problem and topics that are relevant to this specific audience and are an interest to them, for example I have experience with the issue of bullying, since I was a victim of bullying myself and have other personal experiences of life struggles and hardships.

    • Best thing you can do Mike is register for one of our upcoming free trainings at FreeSpeakerWorkshop.com. There we’ll walk through a step-by-step plan on how to get started.

      • mikeyouthallie

        Thank you brother for responding back to me. God bless. from a fellow brother in the Lord Jesus Christ. I had served in youth ministry myself as well.

  • Hi Grant, I like your teaching. I wrote ten books and knew how to speak about “the racism epidemic” facing people in the US for centuries. I believe that I have the solution for the racism epidemic and wish to talk to any organization to solve the problem and make people have respect for one another in workplaces or any organization.

    Unfortunately, I do not have any resources to pay now; I have been doing research in last eleven years without making money, I lived on my saving and retirement with my wife.

    Help me to get started; I will sign the paper for you to pay you as agent or pay you back from money I make.

    • Thanks for the offer Hamma but I’ll have to politely decline. The reality is you won’t work as hard if you don’t have any skin in the game. Plus, if we just gave away our premium trainings, you would value them less because again, you have nothing at stake.

      We would love to have you join Booked & Paid To Speak or one of our other trainings, but we still offer plenty of free resources on this site 🙂

  • steve

    Tried to purchase the program on my smart phone with no luck. Can I get a call please 214-679-5690 (Steve)

    • Hey Steve! Just followed up with you. Looking forward to you joining BPS 🙂

  • Greg Larkin

    Hi Grant, I hope you can sprinkle some of your rockstar-fairy dust on a puzzle I’m trying to solve. About 10 years ago I was one of the first voices on Wall St. to predict the financial crisis. I was in the news, talk shows, and featured as a keynote speaker often as the financial crisis unravelled.

    Since then, I’ve changed careers. I now specialize in digital product innovation. I have a great reputation with my clients – but I’m not famous. At all.

    I’m coming out with my first book in June. Is there a smart way to parlay my past 10 minutes of fame into my new life, or should I essentially start from scratch?

    Thanks in advance for your insight!
    Greg

    • Hey Greg! If you were speaking on something related to your past 10 minutes of fame, you may have something there, but since you’re speaking on a seemingly unrelated/different topic, there’s not much you can do directly.

      What you can leverage is on your site and in your marketing materials, share that you’ve been featured on XYZ talk show or in major media publications which will help you with credibility.

      Make sense?

      • Greg Larkin

        It makes great sense and thanks for your reply. Should I also link to the actual stories? My instinct is yes….

        • The downside is you’re showing content unrelated to what you actually speak about, so in some ways it could diminish the effectiveness of media appearance.

          • Greg Larkin

            Thanks!

  • Judd Albring

    isnt here a training starting now?

    • We do a weekly training you can register for at freespeakerworkshop.com!

  • Judd Albring

    Loved the workshop! I feel I have everything I need to get started and would love to start the training. However, I have NO clue how to begin writing my speech. Do you cover this in the training? Thank you

    • Glad you enjoyed it Judd! Yes, within Booked & Paid To Speak, we do have a few lessons on how to create/structure your talk. We also offer a separate, complementary training course (The Art of Speaking) that goes into it even deeper.

      • Judd Albring

        Thank you. Where can I find The Art of Speaking?

        • At this moment, we don’t offer it on it’s own, but if you join Booked & Paid To Speak, you have the option of also including Art of Speaking. Let me know if you need anything else 🙂

  • James

    I HAVE BEEN GIVEN TO KNOW THE LOST TEACHING OF JESUS CALLED THE WAY AND WOULD LIKE TO SHARE THAT MESSEGE WITH THE WORLD. Can you help me get some speaking gigs in san diego California?

    • Thanks for reaching out James! We don’t actually get speaking engagements for you, but we will teach you how to find and book speaking engagements on your own, so you’re not dependent on us 🙂

      If you haven’t already, be sure to register for one of our free trainings at http://www.FreeSpeakerWorkshop.com

  • Thomas Nestor

    Hey Grant. I purchased the beginning portion of the speakers lab and was listening to the google hangout with Tim Sanders, and Tim made a comment saying, “Most high paying gigs are going to come from speakers bureaus.” In your opinion, how much emphasis needs to be placed on getting involved with bureaus on a scale of 1-10?

    • 0 🙂

      The bottom line is if you can’t book gigs on your own, a bureau won’t be interested in you. Bureaus aren’t interested in 99.9% of speakers on the market, so I wouldn’t worry about them.

      Listen to this podcast – https://thespeakerlab.com/shawn-hanks/

  • Anah Reichenbach

    Hi Grant! I am wondering if you do a live training for new speakers? I do much better with a real time, experiential training then online. Thanks!

    Anah

    • Right not we don’t currently have any in-person events planned but it’s certainly something we’re considering for the future!

  • Kelly

    Grant, My name is Kelly, and I am a speaker in Ohio. I am taking your paid class in the speakerlab.com and I am wondering what you used to create your course. It looks great, clean, simple, and a great template for others to replicate and use. Can you tell me more about this and your paywall? Thank you for your time.

    • Glad you enjoyed it Kelly!

      We use Thinkific to house all of our digital courses/products and use ClickFunnels for the checkout process.

  • Jack Hirsh

    Hi Grant, this is Jack Hirsh from Phoenix, AZ and I just discovered your podcast and love it. I am a corporate speaker and sales trainer and I was wondering how you feel about groups that ask you to fill out an RFP. Do you just do it knowing that it will most likely get ignored or do you bypass that request and try to get someone on the phone so you can build that rapport?

    Thanks and looking forward to your response.
    Jack

    • Not all RFPs are a waste. In some industries, they may even be required. I might consider emailing the contact to learn more of what they’re looking for but then I would follow the process of the RFP. If you try cold calling them, you’ll catch them off guard and generally not make a good first impression.

  • Paula

    Hello, Grant. I’m Paula. I’ve done all kinds of original research for years and have some speaking experience. However, because of a horrific childhood and a misdiagnosed injury to my spine, I am a late bloomer. I am 66 and have only recently reached a place where I can create the career I’ve always wanted. Because I’ve already been discounted in a number of ways as a senior citizen, I’m wondering what kinds of attitudes I will get from people who hire speakers. I am a good speaker, however. I briefly joined a Toastmasters group. After my first talk, one of the members who had been a Toastmaster for decades told me my speech had the quality of a TED talk. Will my age matter?

  • Lucia Ferraro

    trying to download your info… as offered… i keep getting caught in a loop…never allows for the download. What shall i do??

  • Help, I’ve been informed and I can’t become ignrtano.

  • profparent

    Hi Grant, I was looking for your training on how to write effective speeches but don’t see anything on this website about that. Do you offer a course on effective speech-writing? I missed the webinar recently that addressed this and really would like to find a good course to take online with some professional feedback. Thanks!

  • So true. Honesty and everything recognized.

  • O simples facto de se referir ‘é esperar para ver’ já constitui uma grande maldade, uma vez que é óbvio que o nephew nada tem a ver com o caso anglo-luso! Como sabemos? Porque um sobrinho, por definição parental, não é um tio, nem mesmo um cunhado e muito menos um avô. Ou um primo, um genro, um padrinho e evidentemente que não uma nora. Tá percebido ou tendes que meter explicador? Ignácio de Loyola Frei Torquemada (Figuras históricas q.b.)

  • Now, over the last couple of weeks there has been a lot of fingerpainting over who is to blame….fingerpointing over who isto… I know our government grows more juvenile by the day, but they haven’t degenerated that far…yet.

  • Economies are in dire straits, but I can count on this!

  • O período fértil não termina necessariamente às 23h59 do dia 30, pelo que no dia 1 ainda pode ser arriscado, no entanto só é possível engravidar em período fértil.

  • "Leona Lewis aside, can anyone point me to the classic music that past winners are still putting out?" Ok, they didn't win, but Rhydian has his second album out and JLS won two MOBOs and are doing very well.

  • Yeah that’s what I’m talking about baby–nice work!

  • I notice how Maggie has her boots on and her purse on her arm. Love it! She is so stylish. She definitely did not get that from her Grandma! 

  • Tatianaa … que te pasa en la cabeza ? tienes pedos o q ? … esos actores son talentosisimoss, yo creo mas q cualquiera de hollywood y la serie fue lo mejor desde el primer capitulo

  • Congratulations, Shannon! I'm glad you shared your happy and exciting news with us. I wouldn't have known about it. I only heard of Folk Magazine a few months ago, but haven't seen an issue yet.

  • Maybe they just paid the guy off and he figures he's lost his legs in a bombing so why not profit from it.Even bomb victims can be ready to serve tyranny, either that or brainwashed at some point.These people did 911, so magicking up this "witness" is hardly beyond them.

  • Espero ler logo Para Sempre para ler o Lua Azul. Pelo o que eu tenho lido dele, ele parece ser mais intenso que o P.S.; ótima resenha, beijos (:[]garotaquele Reply:July 25th, 2010 at 2:34 pmBrigada Jaci. Ele é mais intenso sim, mas acho que vai de gosto mesmo rs[]

  • Now THAT is a deal, though I’m pretty sure I get the better end of it! Yes, it was such a fun evening I’m so glad you liked the post, the meal was really special.

  • Of the panoply of website I’ve pored over this has the most veracity.

  • Regards the to the comment from Terrence; he left the comment on an entirely different post -and it seems Vis was unaware of this as he chose to respond to Terrence here.For anyone who is interested, the comment Terrence wrote was on the Mirrors' post "Empty suits and the Darkness that Moves Them".Here's a

  • Hello There. I found your weblog the usage of msn. That is a very neatly written article. I’ll be sure to bookmark it and come back to read extra of your useful information. Thanks for the post. I will definitely comeback.

  • 14 de maio de 2011 Por Writer Deixe um Comentário Depois de fazer o cadastro no Nota Fiscal Paulista, você pode, sempre que quiser, acompanhar o valor dos créditos disponíveis em sua

  • It’s great to read something that’s both enjoyable and provides pragmatisdc solutions.

  • Nem veszem kötekedésnek. Csupán azt írom, hogy terápiás jelleggel (értsd: nem örökre) elhagyni egy két TECHNIKAI (a fény és a helyszín nem az…) eszközt, segíthet fejleszteni a kreativitásod.Egyébként a normál objektíves példád pontosan ugyan ez, és ugyan így igaz.

  • yahudi punye planning ni.3 ribu yahudi cuti bekeje pade hari kejadian.al qaeda tak wujud.osama pun tak wujud.kambing hitam saje yg wujud.puiihh!

  • on Basically to follow up on the update of this theme on your site and would want to let you know how much I appreciated the time you took to write this useful post. In the post, you spoke on how to definitely handle this thing with all convenience. It would be my personal pleasure to get some more tips from your blog and come up to offer others what I have learned from you. Thank you for your usual good effort.

  • Second mortgages were marketed as home equity loans, or home equity lines of credit, partly to conceal that they were liens on your house, just like the first mortgage.

  • How gorgeous you look…I am well impressed that you have time for everything and to look like THIS! WOW!I am wearing a lot of floral dresses, specially the frilly and floaty ones :)I as gonna say as well please say Hello to Tali if you get a chance to speak o her…And tell her I miss her :(((xoxo

  • This is a neat summary. Thanks for sharing!

  • Wow, your post makes mine look feeble. More power to you!

  • Nossaaaaa muitoo Obrigadooo !! tava louco com esse programa ja,tenho um trampo da escola pra afze e preciso dele só que num veio no windowns 7Obrigadooo novamentee

  • bed.” “her face convinced me of my…success.” “the crow cawed its intentions.”2. take your reader with you.this skill includes many elements of good writing, but without it, your reader will stop reading – the ultimate failure of poor writing. this skill begins with focusing on the re…

  • Please keep throwing these posts up they help tons.

  • It’s great to find an expert who can explain things so well

  • Dag nabbit good stuff you whippersnappers!

  • I could read a book about this without finding such real-world approaches!

  • There are actually a number of details like that to take into consideration. That could be a nice level to deliver up. I provide the thoughts above as basic inspiration but clearly there are questions like the one you carry up where crucial factor will be working in honest good faith. I don?t know if best practices have emerged around issues like that, however I’m positive that your job is clearly identified as a good game. Both boys and girls really feel the impression of only a moment’s pleasure, for the remainder of their lives.

  • Posts like this brighten up my day. Thanks for taking the time.

  • Great insight! That’s the answer we’ve been looking for.

  • After paying the back taxes I contacted the owners and ask if the would just go a head and sign a quit claim deedd. They did. What do I need to do now? The collector says I need to still follow through with sending the letters out and title search, quite title. is that accurate?

  • Man, man, was ist heute hier los? Ist schon Weihnachten? Ich kenne die Lite Version, ich glaube die hat aber nur drei Effekte. Aber macht auf jeden Fall Spaß.

  • Great stuff, you helped me out so much!

  • Sarà difficile contro questo potere rubentino, è come fare una gara con penalizzazione.Ci sono due dati da sottolineare:- la rube rispetto all’anno scorso ha una differenza punti pari a +5;- mentre ha subito un gol in più.E’ una magra consolazione ma sappiamo che sarà molto dura tenere questo passo.

  • I’d love to visit Canada, it seems like a very beautiful place to go to. Toronto, Bamf, and Montreal all look amazing. I mean living in Southern California is nice, but Canada seems like a great place to go.

  • Thanks for writing such an easy-to-understand article on this topic.

  • Your articles are for when it absolutely, positively, needs to be understood overnight.

  • Once again I posted without fully reading all the posts…Thanks Halph for asking Steven what the condition is called and posting it….Good luck Steven, Im really praying you get rid of this terrible condition.

  • I love reading these articles because they’re short but informative.

  • Pingback: How To Use Social Media To Land Speaking Gigs! Speaker Lab Podcast()

  • Kendra Dahlstrom

    Grant, since you are a fellow Christian I know you will understand when I share this with you. For twenty years I have been looking for a way to tell my story in context of His story. I am a successful marketing exec at a high tech company and while great at my job I have never really found it fulfilling. I have finally shaped my story and how to share with youths and women in the Church and outside of the Church. This is how I want to serve and help others – even just one person – so they can avoid the pitfalls, pain and errors I have made.

    I just found your site this morning as I prepare to meet with my local Church about giving 3-4 Chapel seminars (45 mins each) over several weeks. i have listed to 2 podcasts and I am hooked. Thank you for providing this forum for people like me who aspire to tell their story, or just further brand and market themselves or their business.

    I look forward to learning more. Also would be interested in a 1:1 session when available.

    Best,
    Kendra

  • Marc Shulman

    Hi Grant, My name is Marc Shulman and I have been speaking to family organizations who have a family loved one with disabilities and teaching them how to set up a life plan for their loved one for the last 28 years. These will include setting up a special needs trusts with a special needs attorney, writing a letter of intent and much more. Is there a place in your program for this?

    • Absolutely! In fact, we have another speaker in Booked & Paid To Speak that I talked with the other day who speaks on a similar topic.