Who do you speak to and what do you speak about?
I speak to teenagers mostly; I speak to primarily a youth audience, but that does sometimes include college students. I like to basically say I speak to young professionals because that ties into what I talk about.
My big goal is helping students or teenagers grow personally and professionally so they can achieve their dreams, live a fulfilling life or pursue the dream that’s inside of them.
What was happening or NOT happening in your business that made you say, “I need to do The Speaker Lab”?
I don’t want to get too long winded here, so to kind of keep the story short–I had dreams and aspirations of being a speaker that date all the way back to around 2018. When 2020 rolled around, I made this attempt and said, “You know what, I’m going to become a speaker.”
Well, as you know, COVID hit, and I got sidetracked. I was like, “Let me just pursue other things for a while.”
Deep down, I had this calling to be a speaker. I feel like I really want to do this, but maybe I need to do this other thing for a while or this other thing.
Really, when you get down to it, I was psyching myself out. I wasn’t fully committing.
Basically, I don’t know if you want to call it like, like a Come To Jesus moment or a conviction moment, but I basically came to this realization that I’m not living in congruence with what I’m actually supposed to be doing. The longer I’m outside of this, the more I’m in disobedience to myself and my deeper calling.
I realized there’s never going to be a perfect time, there’s never going to be a perfect opportunity or a perfect situation, so I decided: I’ve got to do this. I’ve got to make this plunge.
I was getting some small opportunities, but they were lowkey, like “If you want to come just talk to the kids or speak some words of encouragement, that’d be great,” but it was never me consistently getting opportunities–especially not paid opportunities. So basically I was like, “I’ve got to have help in this area. Who do I need to talk to? What do I need to make happen?”
Jake Thompson is actually who really helped me take the full plunge into The Speaker Lab.
Did you have any fears or apprehensions at the beginning?
I remember thinking: Okay, I’m about to invest in this program. This is getting serious. This is getting real. I don’t want to make any mistakes. I want to make sure I’m going to be speaking to the right audience, and that I’m going to be choosing a good career path for myself and my family moving forward.
There were all of these different fears, but at the end of the day, it became like…this has to work or it has to work.
I’m going to face this thing head on. I’m going to move forward and at the end of the day, I’m going all in on this thing. I’ve got to make it work, like it’s a do-or-die type situation–it kind of came to that.
What were some of the key takeaways or major aha moments along the way for you?
Like I’ve kind of alluded to, the biggest hang up for me was basically getting consistent opportunities, especially paid opportunities, so it took everything in me not to just skip to the A module – number 4: Acquire Paid Speaking Gigs. I knew it was important to actually go through it, step by step by step.
But that was the biggest one for me–learning how the business model actually works, functioning as a present, how to present yourself as a business, and what that looks like on a day to day basis.
It’s not just this snap your fingers and all of a sudden you’re on a big stage and you’ve got a big audience and they’re clapping and cheering for you–no, there is a long, sometimes long and arduous system that goes before that.
I also really valued learning how to navigate the before, during, and after the gig–being intentional with what that should look like.
So it was really big for me to see what the life of a speaker actually looks like.
What have been some of your results? What have been some of your highlights as a speaker?
For those of you who are like me, in a situation where you’re getting some little one-off gigs, some are paid, some not, but you just don’t know what the system is, as soon as I learned the system, things snapped into place.
Within a few months, I was starting to get opportunities. Within six months, I was getting paid gigs and now a year and a half of being a part of The Speaker Lab and coming out of the program, putting it all into practice, I’m looking at four paid opportunities this month, paid opportunities next month into the summer and momentum is actually really starting to be built.
I’m actually doing the thing! It’s really cool actually seeing this happen.
I’ve gone from where I was doing workshops in tiny little classrooms to where I’m keynoting on a stage with hundreds of students and this happened, realistically, for me in less than a year of really applying the SPEAK framework.
For those of you wondering, “How long is this going to take? Is this going to take years? How much am I going to have to invest?” It’s gonna take some time; it’s not going to happen overnight, but you will be able to get there faster than you may realize if you actually do the work and do the thing!
I would add that a really cool opportunity I had was this past gig I had in January where I got to do the closing keynote, or it was the keynote for CGTI, which is a Teen Institute in Illinois.
What was really cool is the first time I spoke with them, I was in this tiny classroom, with 30 students, but I went in there and was pouring my heart out, and the kids are loving it, they’re eating it up. Afterwards, I was like, “Man, I would love to be on the big stage next time.”
Then a few months later, they reached out and said, “We want you to come keynote.” When you steward the small little rooms where there’s just a small group of people and you give the same energy, the same attention, the same passion in those little tiny rooms, it expands to the big stages and so don’t despise those small beginnings because it’s going to lead to these even greater, cooler opportunities.
I will say, too, that the impact on the stage is really cool, but the magic really happens afterwards when they come up to you talking about how much they got from your session, or how you really spoke to them, or how they really got this golden nugget that you shared or you see them taking their phone out and taking pictures of your slides, it’s just so cool especially in a youth space because for kids today, it’s really easy for them to get distracted or be apathetic so to see that they’re actually engaged is extremely rewarding.
Wow, Chase, well to think of where you were at towards the beginning to now, where you’re booking multiple gigs a month and you have these wonderful audiences that are engaged, how is it feeling to be really doing this, and be a professional speaker with these opportunities?
Like I said, in 2018, I had a dream of being on a stage and speaking to hundreds of people. Now I’m at this level where I really feel like anything is possible. Like if I was able to take a dream and get past myself, get over myself and actually do the work, it’s like, what can I not do?
What is actually possible even beyond speaking into all other areas of life? Anything is freaking possible.
That’s really the cool thing is just like, wow, I had this vision of doing this, and now I’m actually doing it–that is so cool.
But going back to what I said earlier, the real impact comes from once you get off the stage and you get messages in your DMs or follow up emails after the event’s over from the event organizers like, “Oh my gosh, thank you so much. Can we have you back next year?” Those things are just so rewarding to know I really do feel confirmation that I’m doing the thing that I’ve been called to do–it feels really good.
What’s your new normal looking like these days? What is life as a speaker for Chase Livingston?
Once again, I’m just scratching the surface, and this becomes almost–I don’t want to say an addiction; it’s more of an obsession, and there’s a difference there, right? I’m not like clinging to this thing like, “I need this,” but I am obsessed like, “I want to do this so much more!”
Every month, I can expect to be traveling somewhere, getting a paycheck for doing the thing that I love to do. That’s my new normal.
And I am almost getting to this place where I expect–not in a negative way where I’m entitled to something–but there’s this hopeful anticipation, this expectation that I’m doing this professionally now; I am worthy of getting on a stage and doing what I’m good at and what I’m getting better know, so that’s the new normal is anticipating that every month that I’m going to have opportunities and I’m going to get another chance and I’m going get to do this thing.
And like I said, it’s just the beginning. I mean, some of my big heroes in the program, Jake Thompson, Erick Rheam, these guys are doing it like big time. And it’s like, “Look at what they’re doing; I’m not even close yet.”
So there’s so much more that’s possible for me, and it just keeps me reaching.
It’s not quite to the place where it’s like full time yet. Some months it’s like, “Oh, I’m getting close.” And then some months it’s like, “Okay, I just need two or three more.” So I’m seeing that new reality being shaped.
What would you say to someone who’s on the fence? Or what would you say to younger you?
I had a conversation with somebody recently on the phone that was supposed to be a two minute conversation exactly on this question, and we ended up talking for an hour and a half, and it’s this right here–the longer you you put it off, the longer you’re in disobedience to that calling that you know you’re hearing but you’re talking yourself out of hearing.
So if you’ve had this little inkling, if people have referred The Speaker Lab to you, if you’ve been listening to the podcast for months and months, and you’ve been wondering about this thing, The Speaker Lab, it’s time for you to get on a call and see what can be worked out for you to make this a reality for you.
I’m telling you the greatest part about The Speaker Lab for me–while the framework was incredible–I think the most powerful thing was being a part of a group of other people who are on the same journey as you, everybody is in their own little niche, but everybody is trying to get this thing figured out.
Even more importantly, being surrounded by a network of coaches who have done this, who have walked this walk, who know the way, who can help you tighten and tweak and perfect your craft–it’s something you don’t really understand until you get in The Speaker Lab and experience it.
You hear about it and stuff, but I would say if you’re on the fence you need to get on a call and you need to talk to somebody. Dan Irvin is who I got to talk to and he answered all my questions and you know you talked about that fear and apprehension, well that all started to go away as the call went on.
The longer you continue to tell yourself no, you’re just delaying your destiny, so go ahead and say yes. Get on a call and figure out a way to make it work because I promise you like it’s going to be worth it.
I love that you touched on the community aspect, because I think there’s just this energy when you’re in a group of people going after a dream together–that passion is contagious and can be so motivating. Sure, maybe you could Google some of this on your own at your computer or something, but doing it in a structured way, with coaches cheering you, available to you, and a whole community of other people doing it helps you take things to the next level.
Yeah, it does. And there are still people who I went through The Speaker Lab with who I still talk to on a monthly basis–just, “Hey, man, how’s it going? Are you getting gigs?” The community is not something that just lasts for six months to a year while you’re in the program, but it continues on.
And Jake, he continues to be a hero of mine. I went to a conference of his that he held for Compete Every Day just last year. So it’s like, “Dude, you’re stuck with me now. I got connected to you through The Speaker Lab, and now I’m glued to you, man.”
I can totally see you two hitting it off. It’s been so great talking to you. Like I said, I’ve heard such great things about you from different members of our team, so it’s fun to now have my own stories with you. I’m going to tell everyone–you’ve got to watch Chase’s testimonial interview. As we wrap up, is there anything else you want to share?
Just thank you to you, Emily. Thank you to Grant and everybody on The Speaker Lab team. There’s even people who helped me on this journey in The Speaker Lab who I didn’t mention.
So the cool thing is, once again, is the network of coaches that you gain access to–you’re going to find somebody who you completely meld with, who you mesh with, who is going to mentor you.
Like, Jeremy Roachford–he was somebody who was big for me in the program where I just hit it off with him on so many different levels–the standup comedy, the fitness and all of that different stuff, so you’re gonna find your people in The Speaker Lab, which is really cool. I think you all have done an amazing job of that, of having a well-rounded group of people to help people on this journey.
I love hearing that. The team is going to be so glad to hear all this positive feedback too, so thank you for that. Chase, it was so good talking to you.