Who do you speak to and what do you speak about?
I speak on perspective and my audience varies a little bit. I’m in the mortgage industry, so I’ve spoken to realtors. I’ve spoken at spiritual retreats. And then another vertical that I just started speaking to is small college athletics. I played college sports, and I played at a small college, so it fits really well and it fits great with my message.
I’m excited to hear more about how that all comes into play. What was happening in your speaking business or NOT happening in your that made you sign up for The Speaker Lab?
Well, I had a significant medical event back in 2018, and I spent 31 nights in the hospital. While I was laying in the hospital, I had always wanted to speak, and I realized two things. One is life’s short, so if you’re gonna do it, you gotta do it now. And the second thing was that my story just got a heck of a lot better.
So right away, I actually hired a speaking coach. I worked on my script and I booked three speaking engagements in 2019, one at a college – It was actually the college that I went to. I was really enjoying it, and I was getting better. And then Covid hit and I just kind of put it on the shelf and let it collect dust for the next couple years because in the mortgage industry, 2020 and 2021 were just crazy. So I did a little speaking, I did some mindset workshops and things on Zoom, but as far as speaking in front of an audience, I didn’t do anything until I reengaged with The Speaker Lab.
Last year I decided it’s time to get this thing going again. I stumbled upon ad after ad on Instagram and I said, “You know what? I’m gonna look into this thing.” And it was awesome. It was exactly what I needed to get me back on track to create a system that really made me do it rather than just kind of putting it on a list and never checking it off.
So you were hoping to get some structure around it, and momentum. That’s good! Did you have any fears or apprehensions at the start that you had to overcome? Or was it just full speed ahead at that point?
I have no fear of speaking in front of people. I actually have less fear in front of a group of a few hundred people than I do one-on-one. With one-on-one, I feel like sometimes I’m thinking about what I’m gonna say but when I’m just the speaker and I have an audience, I feel like I’m in my element.
That’s awesome. What about as far as enrolling in the program? Was that a big feat or were you just ready to go?
That was easy. It was manageable financially and I figured, “It’s not gonna take a whole heck of a lot for me to repay this.” And again, to your point, using your words, it was about adding structure to my business. I knew I had a good story, I have a lot of good stories, and I just needed some structure on how to deliver them in a good way to an audience.
It sounds like you believed the investment would be worth it right from the jump!
I did. Yeah.
That’s awesome. Well, what were some of your aha moments and takeaways from doing the SPEAK Framework?
My coach was great. The aha moments were rewording my talk with him; he was almost like AI for my script because I would come up with scripts and I’d put ’em in the little sections to be able to do homework to send back. And without even any preparation, it just seemed like off the cuff, he was able to come up with a better way to deliver it. In some instances, it could just be a couple words or just a little tweak on how you deliver it in the emphasis. And it was good because when it’s your story, you know it so intimately that it’s hard to take a step back and do that.
That was the biggest thing was just having that coach listen to me, listen to the script and give me a better way to deliver it.
I’m glad you got that feedback. What have been some of your results or standout moments for you as a speaker that you’d like to share with us?
So my highest paying gig, which is not huge…not the level where I want to get to – was in the end of August, I spoke to all 330 athletes at a college here in Philadelphia, and it was really cool because usually when you speak, you’re higher than your audience. You’re up on a stage, you’re kind of looking down.
This time I was in the center, it was almost like a movie scene. I was center court on a basketball court with the lights and everything, and they were in the stands. So I was looking up at the kids. The screens were on the opposite wall behind me. I didn’t have that screen in front of me to be able to make sure that when I click the button, it actually is on the slide that I’m talking about, so I would have to turn completely around every time I clicked the slide. But it went beautifully.
The head of their AV recorded, and that gave me a great recording to be able to use. I’m actually in the process of trying to figure out how to rework my demo, because for the first demo process, I actually faked some videos because I didn’t have a lot of material. This is by far the best material that I have. I just need to figure out how to go back and take the video that you guys created for me and add some good content from that event. That was, that was by far the coolest event that I’ve done so far, and a little nerve wracking just because it was such a different environment that I’m used to.
When you said it was like a movie, I could totally picture what you’re talking about. Also, we can definitely help you with that demo. Any other results kind of overall that you can point to as far as doing the SPEAK Framework?
The other thing was the vertical for small college athletics. I feel like in that space there are Michael Jordans and people who cost a fortune, and I just feel like there’s a bandwidth there, where I can insert myself where they may have a budget. So far it’s worked pretty well. I speak next week at another college here in the region. That’ll be my second one since graduating The Speaker Lab.
That’s definitely a vertical that I’m going to continue to go after, because I feel like the corporate talks, the RFPs, the call for speakers, it’s a little bit more challenging because there’s a bunch of different folks who are throwing their hat in the ring. So this is especially through athletic directors, has worked really well and the response has been great. And now every time I do one, I have a new testimonial and a new referral source.
I love hearing you’re using that system! Now onto our last couple questions. What is your new normal as a speaker?
The biggest thing is that I’m looking for opportunities. I put in Google search words of “call for speakers” and real estate events and small colleges, so every day, I get emails in my inbox with links to different things that are going on. So I think just keeping it top of mind now that I’ve made that investment and I feel like I have a script that works really well. Also, now I have some slides, some visuals that I feel like are super powerful. So now it’s just finding the opportunities.
Totally. The last question – who would you recommend to the Speaker Lab? And if someone was on the fence, what would you say to them?
I’ve actually recommended a couple people to The Speaker Lab. I don’t know if they followed through and did it, but a lot of people are in sales and or they’re business owners who want to do more speaking, so anytime anybody brings it up, I mentioned The Speaker Lab.
I say, “You’ll end up with a website. You’ll end up with a video. You’ll have a script that you’ll be really proud of and be ready to go out and obtain opportunities.”
I have recommended it probably a handful of times in the last few months to folks, anytime anybody opens that door, then I mention it.
That’s great to know. I find myself doing the same thing! I tell all my friends.
One of my most exciting things – and I forgot this, but I already had a Zoom call with her. But next Tuesday, I have a live meeting with the Chief Nursing Officer for a major hospital network. It’s actually the largest hospital network in the greater Philadelphia region. And it’s the hospital where that I stayed for 31 nights.
So my talk would resonate really well. There’s a part of it about a nurse that would fit really well with an audience of nurses so I’m pretty excited about that. Plus they’re huge so they have deep pockets, so I’m actually going another level with what I ask.
We hope you secure that gig and I hope you circle back to let us know how it goes. Thanks for adding that story there at the end. Is there anything else you want to mention just while we’re on this call?
Just that I recommend The Speaker Lab to anybody who has even thought in the past that they wanna do more speaking. Maybe they speak for their job, but they want to take those stories and put them into a keynote. It’s super valuable and super affordable.