Tell us a bit about you!
I’m Jeanne Thompson, and I joined the Speaker Lab two years ago after retiring from my corporate career. I had done a lot of speaking throughout my career, but I didn’t know how to transition that to finding my speaking gigs and topics. I enjoyed public speaking and spoke at many events, but I never had to source the gigs, so I had to learn how to do that and figure out how to turn it into a business. I joined the speaker lab once I retired to try to figure all of that out.
Who do you speak to?
I speak to a lot of corporate professionals now, though I’m hoping to expand that, and my topic is a take on work-life balance. I believe in Work-Life Sway. Sway is about embracing that natural ebb and flow between life, and sometimes, you have to focus more on work and sometimes a little more on life, but it’s never balanced. Balance is a state that’s hard to maintain.
What was happening or not happening in your business that made you decide to say yes to The Speaker Lab when you did?
It’s one thing when you’re in a big corporate environment, but it’s different when you’re on your own. I didn’t know how to get started. I had a lot of public speaking experience and knew how to create a keynote, but I had always had a lot of support. So, to be able to do that by myself and then to build my website and take the structured approach around finding gigs and the contracting and the pricing, and even all the templated emails, everything you offered, I needed and took advantage of.
How would you say the SPEAK framework impacted you and your speaking business?
I would say that it helped me focus and helped me to get organized. Those were the two things that I took away from The Speaker Lab. I also learned how to market myself. I was all over the place, so The Speaker Lab put some structure to my speaking business.
What were some of the biggest aha moments or takeaways?
I was overthinking everything. If you take a disciplined approach, it’s not as complex as it seems. The other was the coaching. I got a lot of value out of the one-on-one coaching. The coaching helped boost my confidence and focused on turning my speaking into a business rather than a hobby.
I had probably not spoken to Rick in two years, but he had such an impact on me I reached out because I wanted him to know that all his time with me paid off.
What have been some of your results?
Working my network and keeping in touch with people has been the most successful for me. Almost all of the speaking gigs I have gotten have been through the networking effect. Sometimes, it’s people I haven’t spoken to in years, but just being out there on social media and putting my name out there brings it to the forefront.
And I’ve been getting recommended for things. I would say this is my biggest year. I had one virtual keynote event and was paid $7,500, and I have an event at the end of August for a Fortune 100 company. I’m doing two breakout sessions, and they’re paying me $12,000 for each session, flying me down to Orlando, and putting me up in a hotel for three days. I never thought I would get to that level.
Congratulations! In light of all of that, as you kind of reflect on your journey, who would you recommend the Speaker Lab to and why?
I just recommended it to a friend of mine last week! I’d recommend The Speaker Lab to anyone who has something to say and wants a bigger platform. The Speaker Lab can help provide the structure and a disciplined approach to bringing you through the process of creating a speaking business. You will get the results if you trust and lean into the process. TSL would be great for anyone working on a book, transitioning from one career to another, or at the end of their career who has a lot to say. Big companies are always looking for good speakers, and they’re hard to find.
I would also say: take everything you can from The Speaker Lab about how to work your network because that is impactful.
I know you haven’t been a student for a while, but it’s so exciting to see that you’re off running your speaking business and having such success, so we definitely wanted to hear from you.
I wouldn’t be where I am today without the Speaker Lab. I wouldn’t have had the confidence to pursue this path; there’s no way.
Is there anything else you’d like to share this morning?
Now, I’m working on a book. Most people do the book first and then the speaking, but I did the speaking, and now, the book! I’m working with the Self-Publishing School, which I heard about on one of Grant’s podcasts. He had the CEO, Chandler Bolt, on, which sounded like a great path for me. I’m so grateful for The Speaker Lab; it set me on this fabulous journey.