WHY TSL?
My business has been corporate training and strategic planning and specifically training in sales and customer service. Covid dramatically changed this as the program was all in person. I also talk about consensus decision making based on my Quaker background. I was on the board of a Quaker College and watched this in action. Although it has a religious connection, it is a secular way of making decisions.
What inspired me to seek out The Speaker Lab was that after I spoke at an event for high school students. It was a 90-minute presentation to high school students who hope to one day enter the medical field. This specific event was hosted by the hospital where I was on their ethics committee. They asked me to speak about ethical decision making and in hospitals. A few weeks later a corporation asked me to do a zoom call with their managers on Consensus decision making. The events went so well, I thought, that was cool! I should do this as a business.
The Speaker Lab was hitting me with a lot of marketing, and I thought, why not explore the opportunity. I signed up to the Virtual VIP program and it was very beneficial.
Today, I speak about values, ethics and consensus decision making. I focus on how the two are intertwined and the difference it makes in an orgsnization when they’re not observed.
What were some A-ha’s and takeaways from working with TSL?
I love that I can get on Zoom, make an impact, and get paid. One of the big A-ha’s for me was how to put my speaking business altogether in order to get more virtual gigs. Working with Erick on my abstract was tremendous.
Also, realizing that I can help more people in less time has been great. I don’t want to wait for conventions, I want to make an impact now. So, I am going about my speaking business slightly differently than some of the other speakers. I am picking up the phone, making connections with individual businesses, and booking events via Zoom. It’s really amazing.
I speak to corporations, but I also speak to hospitals – these are all very busy people, they don’t have time to have someone come in and take up a few hours of their day. Now that I have gone through The Speaker Lab I am able to offer a better way. I can do a lunch Zoom call and accomplish the same goal as an in person event would. It’s a win-win for all involved.
The Speaker Lab has helped me put all the pieces together and given me the confidence to navigate my speaking business successfully. It’s been extremely helpful.
What is your new normal as a professional speaker?
I have been in sales for a long time so marketing myself is not new to me. That is what building a successful speaking business takes – you must market yourself. Pick up the phone and build those relationships. There is no other way to do this. As The Speaker Lab says over and over, this is a relationship building business, so as a speaker, that is our responsibility – we must build relationships in order to book events. There are no two ways about it. So, I do what I have always done, pick up the phone and make connections.
Who would you recommend to The Speaker Lab?
Anyone that wants to make an impact through their story. We have to remember as speakers, it’s not about us, it’s about them, our audience. It’s about where do they want to go? What’s their journey? How can I make your journey more successful, more enjoyable, and worthwhile while working in your organization?
As speakers we get to sit on stage or in Zoom and use that time to hold the space and help impact people. We help make people better. We give them the tools to do so. Through our story we have the great privilege of impact and transformation. So, there is a responsibility as a speaker to always make it about the audience you are serving. If you are able to do that and have a desire to do that, you should definitely pursue that dream with the help of The Speaker Lab.