Student Success Stories: Daniel MacQueen

Here at The Speaker Lab, our goal is to help you get Booked and Paid to Speak. Our Student Success Stories share first hand experiences from our students of how they’ve booked paid speaking gigs and grown their businesses by applying the concepts they learned in our courses.

WHY TSL?

I had always been drawn to be a speaker. I’d spoken for years in a volunteer capacity and so I thought I’d take it to the next level with The Speaker Lab. I saw an advertisement which I followed down the rabbit hole and ended up signing up, which was a godsend.

A few months after signing up I was let go at my job (In a round of lay offs). So this part-time pursuit actually turned into my full-time hustle. The Speaker Lab has been very instrumental in getting me off the ground and running as a speaker, which is quite cool.

Today, I speak about resilience and mindset adversity. I talk about my experience after traumatic brain injury having to relearn how to walk, talk, and smile again. I also give talks about mental health to organizations, on how they can reframe things in order to make that mental shift.

HOW HAS THE SPEAK FRAMEWORK IMPACTED YOU?

I think the biggest thing I can commend The Speaker Lab for is my coach Jeremy. We were talking about shooting the demo and I was a bit apprehensive. I didn’t feel ready. I knew I needed to do it as it’s an important asset and Jeremy reminded me that done was better than perfect. That’s probably my quote for The Speaker Lab is that mantra of done is better than perfect.

That demo has gotten me gigs and I’m very glad I did it even though I wasn’t fully. After that demo experience it helped to jump things off and I’ve been able to ride this wave, so to speak.

The experience with the demo really taught me to relax and trust the process. This mindset shift I really helped me to take more risks knowing that it’s not about being perfect but more about delivering a great experience and showing up for my audience and myself. This was a big A-ha for me.

WHAT HAVE BEEN SOME RESULTS YOU ARE EXPERIENCING?

Since doing The Speaker Lab, I’ve spoken now probably 10, 12 times. Half of those have been paid and the price for my talks are steadily increasing, which is really nice to see.

It’s been fun to do and I’ve been able to see the talks impact people and watch them adopt the things I’m speaking about, which is my main goal. I speak because I want to help you be better than yesterday. To hear weeks and months later things like “Hey Dan, because of you, I now do this” and because of that this happened. That’s pretty rewarding for me!

This journey has given me a bit more purpose in my life that I wouldn’t have it I didn’t pursue The Speaker Lab. So, the success is great, but it 100% comes with a lot of hard work.

Chasing down leads is challenging. At times it’s frustrating. But it’s a good fight, if that makes sense. It’s not easy, but it’s simple. Simple to decide that I’m gonna chase this down. It just so happens that ‘chasing it down’ happens to be straight uphill climb. Which is totally okay because I knew this would come with challenges and I balance that out with enjoying the wins as well.

WHO WOULD YOU RECOMMEND TO THE SPEAKER LAB?

I’d recommend the Speaker Lab to anyone who needs a bit of a nudge to get started. As I mentioned, I had spoken before in a volunteer capacity, but I wanted to take it to the next level and get paid for this. The Speaker Lab helped me to do that in a way that upped my professional vibe. Going through this program helped me to show up for myself so that I can show up for other people who need my expertise in order to live better tomorrow, that is my goal. The Speaker Lab helped me achieve it.

Connect With Daniel MacQueen

Want to know exactly what to say to finally land paid speaking gigs?

We’ll send you the exact three emails you can send to conference planners and event organizers that lead to Grant Baldwin (our founder) booking over $2M in speaking gigs. 

Practical Advice and Strategies for Building Your Speaking Business

Training, case studies, and our best tips and tricks to help you find and book more paid speaking gigs than ever before.

3 Tips for Making an Impact Through Speaking from Dave Allred
"If something scares you, you should probably do it." Dave Allred joined Grant on the podcast this week to talk about how he's built speaking into his career, overcoming fear, and leveraging speaking to build...
3 Things Speakers Should Consider Before Using ChatGPT
"This is a relationship business, and while chat GPT may give you the words, you need to make the words your own… You can't just have random marketing copy and expect it to further the...
Should Speakers Use ChatGPT? [Transcript]
Welcome to today's Coaches Corner. I'm Maryalice Goldsmith, the director of Student Success, thrilled to be here with you. Today, our focus is on ChatGPT — an increasingly popular topic. It's not GBT as I...
3 Ideas to Help You Create a Speaking Career You Love with Dan Martell
"Speaking is a platform to share a message and a story that could transform somebody's life." Dan Martell is a SaaS expert, a professional speaker, and an empire owner who joined us on the podcast...
How to Use Your Platform to Maximize Your Legacy with Dan Martell [Transcript]
Grant Baldwin: Hey, friends! Welcome back to The Speaker Lab Podcast. Great to have you here with us today. I'm pumped for this conversation. We've got Dan Martell in the house—an entrepreneur, author, and speaker...
3 Tips to Scale from 0 to 6 Figures in 7 Months with Dr. Reggie Wright
"Commit to your passion and discipline yourself. Have a time management plan. Embrace the initial rejections, because eventually, someone will say yes. And when that opportunity comes, your preparation will shine." This week, Dr. Reggie...
#471: How to Build a 6 Figure Speaking Business in 7 Months with Dr. Reggie Wright [Transcript]
Grant Baldwin: Hey, what's up, friends? Grant Baldwin here. Welcome back to the Speaker Lab podcast. Glad that you're here with us today. I'm super excited about this conversation. We're talking with Dr. Reggie Wright,...
6 steps to Find and Book Paid Speaking Engagements
Introduction Have you been trying to get hired as a motivational speaker? Thought it would be easy but you’re coming up short? Struggling to remember which emails to write back to and which to archive?...
How to get started as a DEI speaker with Dominique Luster
"The more that you do the work, the more that the work impacts you." Dominique Luster is a Kentucky gal turned archivist turned professional speaker who joined Grant on the podcast to chat about her...
5 Strategies for Delivering the Best Closing Remarks
Delivering a keynote speech is an exhilarating responsibility. It is up to you to set or reiterate the tone for an entire event, inspiring a potentially massive audience. This is no small feat–especially when done...