Who do you speak to? What do you speak about?
I’m super passionate about encouraging men and women to embrace the fear of the unknown and to jump into their God-given purpose. The Speaker Lab helped me craft that language. It’s been something that I’ve been doing for a long time.
I’m a pastor in the city of Pittsburgh. I’ve been preaching and speaking for a long time. But then recently, I had a change in my vocation to be a chaplain in the NFL, so that has caused me to kind of launch into – in the off season – a speaking business.
So that’s been something that I’ve been really going after in the last few years.
Wow, that’s exciting. Sounds like a great opportunity. What was happening or not happening in your business that made you say, “I want to do The Speaker Lab.”
I got introduced to The Speaker Lab by a good friend. The reason why was because as a pastor for many years—22 years—I was already speaking a ton obviously, to congregations, at men’s conferences, things like that.
But now trying to launch a speaking business, to get paid to speak, to learn the back end, the business of it all – for that, The Speaker Lab was so fantastic because I didn’t know how to set a speaker fee, I didn’t know how to put myself out there, and so The Speaker Lab gave me an opportunity to really craft those things, gave me language, gave me my website, gave me the reel that I could put out to people, the abstract–I just didn’t know those things, so that was what was really missing for me was really the back end of the business of speaking.
What were your key takeaways from the SPEAK framework?
For me, boiling everything I’m about into that key phrase was huge–“I want to encourage people to embrace the fear of the unknown.” The messaging is what so many of us get tied up in fear around; we don’t want to jump because we’re comfortable.
I’ve always been about helping people to overcome those kinds of fears, and The Speaker Lab really helped me zero in on that one line that helps me say, “If you’re going to hire me to speak, this is what I’m going to be coming to speak on because this is who I am.”
That was a huge piece for me; it took a lot of work to narrow it down and be able to say that statement.
Then, also the prospecting pipeline to help me keep the details–I’m not exactly the most detailed-oriented guy–my wife and I are partners in this, and so she helps me to keep track of all of those invitations to speak. Did I send a contract? All that. The Speaker Lab was huge in giving me a process to understand that’s how you can do it, so I’m super grateful for that.
Always nice to have a helpful spouse in the process!
Oh, for sure. She is so gifted administratively. That’s just not me. I’m more creative and I’d like to just speak so the back end was something I needed to learn. She actually learned it with me.
Sounds like you guys are a great team. Well, I know you said you’re a chaplain in the NFL currently. You’re also a pastor. So, what have been some of your other results along the way implementing the SPEAK Framework?
What I didn’t know was how to put myself out there with the new platform that God has given to me. Being a NFL chaplain is creating opportunities for me, so how do I work that pipeline, stay on top of those details when those invitations come?
People were inviting me simply because I’m an NFL chaplain, but then keeping that organized and keeping that going is something that I really learned about.
It has gotten me more invitations to have a website, a speaker reel, the abstract I can send ahead of time and all of that, I learned that in The Speaker Lab.
It has helped me with the off-season. It’s really unique for me because I can’t really speak during the NFL season because I’m super busy as the NFL Chaplain, but when it comes to the off season, that rhythm lightens up for me because guys work out in different cities and all of that.
So I have the opportunity to speak more in the off-season, so I was just looking for a way to organize and to leverage, if you will, the platform that I have so I can speak more when the off-season comes.
What have been some of your standout moments as a speaker? Any gigs that really come to mind?
Yes. I had this incredible opportunity from my buddy who I had kind of lost touch with, but heard about something he was doing called The Purpose Summit. I can’t believe that he invited me to come and share my keynote that I have been giving called Do It Afraid.
For him to invite me onto that stage of just incredible, influential CEOs, C-suite people who are on purpose in their business was amazing. He invited me to share that story, and I was just blown away that I got to do that–that big of a stage, that big of a platform.
What they did was open up a whole bunch of other things. I got referrals, and people saw me speaking on this stage, and would say, “I want to get you to our business,” and so it’s just been incredible.
So The Purpose Summit opened up some serious doors for more invitations. That was a huge one. I was at the NASCAR Hall of Fame, so that was just a really cool opportunity for me as well.
Then, I had an opportunity to speak at this men’s conference–I felt I had no business being there, but then reminded myself, “Okay, I’m equipped. I know I can speak and communicate.”
To see the impact on the audience and how that helped them and move them forward in their journeys, man, it was a real privilege to speak there. I’m in Pittsburgh, so to get that invitation all the way out in California was a real “I can’t believe that I get to do this” kind of moment.
So you’re traveling a lot as a speaker as well?
Yeah, and I’ve learned about myself that I’m not really a plane guy. What’s nice about The Speaker Lab is the freedom to know you don’t have to say yes to every opportunity, but you can really zone in on who you are as a speaker and you learn that about yourself in this process.
I’m really kind of keeping it on the East Coast, and in the region of the tri-state area for me, Pittsburgh, Ohio, West Virginia. Pennsylvania is really a long state, and I really don’t want to travel all that much. So it’s been honing in on that, and I’ve learned that in the process.
That’s always helpful! We talk about you getting to build the business you want as the owner of your speaking business.
That’s right.
Well, what’s your new normal looking like these days? How has your life changed?
The opportunity to learn from The Speaker Lab has helped me realize my lane, and be able to say, “That’s just not who I am, but I can recommend someone else to you.”
A whole bunch of invitations were coming, which feels great, but I can’t say yes to everything, especially being an NFL chaplain, because I have to say no from basically mid-July through the NFL season, so the new normal for me…Well, coming up in April, I will speak probably 13 times because there isn’t really anything going on in the NFL for me.
Because of the rhythm, it opens up that calendar for me. In March, April, May, I will speak about 35 times. I just didn’t have a way to organize that before, to really kind of put myself out there with the abstract and all that, so to be organized feels really good and came as a result of the SPEAK Framework.
Wow – that is a lot of speaking gigs! How amazing. Can I ask what you were doing before in the off-season typically?
When I first became an NFL chaplain, it was the COVID season, so we never really could get our footing there. About three years in the NFL chaplain role, we still have some travel for training and things that we do, but I was really speaking more locally for people that I have relationships with in Pittsburgh. I was speaking at different churches; as a pastor for 25 years in Pittsburgh, I was getting those invitations in Pittsburgh.
But then as a result of The Speaker Lab, some of the connections that I was able to make as a result of being a part of this, just expanded that circle out to more frequent business.
And it helped me with language to say, “Hey, I’m available.” I never wanted to be that guy that says, “Hey, here I am, hire me.” Just not my personality. But The Speaker Lab gave me that push and said, “Hey, it’s okay to make yourself available and put yourself out there.” So I feel like it really helped me to do that.
I love hearing that. Well, it sounds like you’re thriving.
We’re having a great time.
Do you see yourself doing this for a long time?
Yeah, it’s one of those things where in the NFL you just never know what’ll happen, like at the end of the season, you’ve probably seen it sometimes in the NFL where an entire coaching staff and support staff is all fired, so you just never know. This might be my last NFL season as a chaplain!
So mixing the speaking business while I’m doing the NFL chaplaincy has been great. I could really see myself doing this in the future, and my wife and I might start speaking together more, so we’ll see what we have in the future, but I could see it for us for sure.
I love when spouses get involved because you probably are like, “I can teach you the SPEAK framework now too.” You can apply it to her and just integrate her in the business.
That’s right. And what’s so great about the way that The Speaker Lab does it is she was able to even kind of sit in on some of the sessions. I just know myself–I’m not a business guy–so she was able to learn and help me.
That’s awesome. My last question is who would you recommend to The Speaker Lab and why?
I’d recommend this to those non-profit people who get invitations to come and speak. Sometimes when you’re in non-profit work or ministry work, you get invitations, but you never know what to say when somebody says, “So what do you charge?”
As a guy who would get those invitations, I would sometimes show up and never know if you’re getting an honorarium or things like that. So, because of the clarity that the Speaker Lab brings, I would definitely recommend this to my buddies in ministry and to the nonprofit leaders.
Get involved in this. Take this. Get involved in the SPEAK framework, and learn how to organize so that you can easily say, “This is what I bring to the table. If you want to bring me in, here’s what I’m going to talk about.”
I think sometimes for guys in non-profit, people ask you, “Here’s what we would like for you to speak on,” and you just go for it. But The Speaker Lab helps you say, “No, that’s not who I am. This is my lane.”
I love that you touched on the clarity, because it definitely adds confidence when you go into a gig knowing, “We’ve signed the papers. We know what the exchange is going to be. I’m speaking in my sweet spot.” That eliminates the confusion or air of mystery around that.
Exactly.
Anything else on your mind as we wrap up our conversation?
I just appreciate all of the work that you guys have done and the follow up and the coaching. You’re truly in the business to help people get better at speaking, but it’s not just the craft — I felt through the process that you guys cared a lot about what it is that I knew that I would like to do, and you helped craft that for me to get better.
I just appreciate you guys allowing me to be a part of this. So well done, Speaker Lab.