Who do you speak to and what do you speak about?
I speak to corporations, organizations, some nonprofits and associations.
The biggest thing that I speak about is helping ambitious professionals level up their life through clear communication, confident leadership, and making sure they’re able to take courageous action.
A lot of my topics range on skill development of employees. Again, communication, leadership, bold action, as well as prospecting and sales.
What led you to seek out The Speaker Lab when you did? What was happening with your speaking business at the time?
Nothing was happening with my speaking business. I was working full-time and I was just kind of dabbling on the side when it comes to speaking. I started off as a coach. I was doing part-time coaching for myself and then I was like, “I think I wanna go further. I wanna reach the masses versus just one-on-one.”
So I was already speaking and it wasn’t really a business and then I felt ready to get serious. I was ready to understand how to get consistent gigs every single month, how to actually have a system and how to work with professionals that have already done this.
I had been following The Speaker Lab for years and I finally jumped on a webinar and after that webinar I went ahead and scheduled a meeting to learn more.
I’m glad you said yes. Coming in, did you have any fears or apprehensions? If so, how were you able to overcome them to complete the SPEAK Framework and start getting those paid gigs?
Absolutely. Definitely. I had fears. I think the biggest fear in the beginning was: do I have enough time? I was working full time, I already had a lot on my plate, so I wondered if I could really pour myself into the program in the way that I wanted.
Then, of course I was nervous about showing up for myself. If I pay for this program and I show up, am I really going to keep myself accountable and not just buy another program and then not do anything with it? So I think there were a lot of different things that I was nervous about when I first started.
Totally get it. How did you commit to showing up for yourself?
I got very organized. What I love about The Speaker Lab is you talk about that in the beginning – you talk about the fact that you have people that are working full-time, you have people that are full-time speakers, you have people that are part-time and communicate that we are gonna have to organize our system. You gave ideas in the beginning of how we can stay organized.
And then you gave us a community, you gave us schedules, you gave us a plan. So my fears started to be alleviated once I actually joined the program and understood how structured and organized you all were. That calmed me down and kept me accountable.
That’s good. A lot of people have talked about the external accountability of the community and calls and all the things. And I think knowing other people are also working full-time, you see how other people get it done and learn from their practices and think, “How can I incorporate some of that in my own life?”
Well we know you completed the SPEAK Framework, so what were some of your aha moments or key takeaways? What have you kept with you?
So much. The biggest thing I really liked was in Module 1 – Select a Problem to Solve when we had to create our Expert Positioning Statement. I loved learning to be able to quickly tell someone what I do in a short, concise manner.
It made me look really polished and professional and I’ve been using that a lot. Whenever I say my expert positioning statement, people are like, “Wow, you really were able to just push that out!” And they say, “That’s what I want.” So I’ll end up telling them, “This is what I learned in The Speaker Lab.
It’s all the little details that you don’t think about as a professional speaker that people are actually paying attention to, so that was a big aha moment for me.
Then just throughout the entire program, when I was looking at all the videos and different professional speakers that you all have interviewed, I realized that a big part of what causes people to ask you to come back is engaging with your audience. So, you have to make sure that when you’re speaking, of course you wanna be professional, of course you wanna do all the negotiations and all the business stuff, but you also wanna be engaging. You actually want to be a good speaker.
In watching Grant – he’s so funny when he speaks – so I just picked up a lot of things from you guys.
Those are definitely key things! What have been some of your results as you’ve implemented all that you learned? What are some standout moments for you as a speaker?
I got about five paid speaking gigs this year, and the biggest standout for me was creating a system, which is why I joined The Speaker Lab to begin with.
I knew I needed a system that can give me consistent results that I can do every day. So in The Speaker Lab, we learn how to prospect.
I use Pipedrive and I keep all of my information there and I just use the system that I learned and it has gotten me so many responses.
Even though I’m still growing as far as getting the gigs, I still get a lot of responses from people that say, “We’ve hired a speaker for this, but we want to interview you for next year,” or “Let us send you this information because we do have something coming up in the next couple of months.”
What I’ve learned is, number one, you have to be consistent. You have to follow the program, follow the formula and do what The Speaker Lab coaches tell you to do.
But the biggest thing for me is being accountable, and even though I’ve graduated, to really keep doing what I’m doing.
I really love speaking. I’ve gotten speaking engagements and I’ve gotten a lot of great feedback. They tell me how professional I am when it comes to the business part of it. Like, we have the Discovery Call – what I learned in The Speaker Lab – and we do the negotiations, and actually, I was so afraid of that part originally but it’s actually become quite easy.
I found that the moment I say, “This is my rate,” they’re like, “Okay!” There’s no pushback. It’s amazing. It’s amazing that I’ve learned to confidently state the rate I want, and people just say yes.
That’s awesome. Do you have any like fun speaker memories of just maybe one of the paid speaking gigs that really stood out to you?
Well, I used to be a Toastmaster, so I count the laughs in my mind when I’m doing a speaking engagement. Did I make them laugh? Were there people I could see in the audience whose eyes lit up?
Recently, I spoke at the Women’s Council of Realtors – this was all women. It was like a high tea event that they invited me to. I was talking about believing in yourself and having that confidence and knowing that you can do whatever it takes. You know how the room just gets quiet and everybody is focused on you? I could see women shaking their heads like, “Yeah, I know exactly what she’s talking about.”
I was talking about imposter syndrome and creating boundaries for yourself and I could tell it was resonating. For me that’s impactful. Of course, I want to make people laugh, of course I want to be entertaining. But when I’m talking about serious things and I see everybody stop and start nodding their heads, like they know exactly what I’m talking about – that’s what really touches me and makes me feel like I’ve made an impact on them.
So that was a recent engagement that I really enjoyed.
Then afterwards, a lot of people came up to me and were like, “You were speaking right to me. That’s exactly what I’ve been going through. I’ve been in the business for years and I still experience imposter syndrome and understanding how to set proper boundaries.”
I love that you make yourself available to connect with the audience in that way too. Well, what’s your new normal looking like? How has your life changed?
I’ve implemented a tighter schedule because I want to ramp up, especially for the rest of 2025 and 2026. So I still work full time, but as I’m ramping up, I get up at a certain time, I work on my business, then I work my full-time job. And then on the weekends I work on the business. I prospect. I’ve hired an assistant to help me with my social media because it was just becoming overwhelming. I also have a YouTube channel.
So it was starting to become a lot and I knew that I really want this to take off, I need help. I’d love to get to the point where I can hire someone to prospect for me. But right now I still like to be hands-on with the prospecting.
I have an assistant that handles my social media to push me out there and take pictures of the events that I speak at, and collect different quotes that people give me as feedback. So that’s one aspect that has changed.
Then, my mindset has changed a lot. I think that as you grow in entrepreneurship, that’s the greatest gift to have because before, I used to think, “Can I do this?” Now I’m like, “I can do this and I’m doing it and I’m going to keep doing it and it’s just getting better and better.”
So I’ve definitely noticed a mindset shift, and I say to myself, “It gets to be easy. This doesn’t have to be hard. It gets to be an easy experience.”
Since I’ve changed that and made my mind believe that, I get more responses, I get people reaching out to me, I get people referring me, so it’s just a full on 360 degree change that happens in you when you say, “I have value to bring to the market. I’m going to invest in myself and get around people that know what they’re doing to teach me how to do that. And I’m gonna be consistent every single day. When I need to delegate, I’ll delegate and get help, but either way I’m going to win. I’m gonna make it happen.”
So that is really what has changed for me.
It sounds like you’ve gained a lot of confidence and you’re in your sweet spot. Congratulations. It’s so great to hear about all the paid speaking engagements and to see you in our community sharing your wins.
One more question – who would you recommend to The Speaker lab and why?
I’m in the National Speakers Association of Georgia and whenever I have speakers come up to me from that group at events and they say, “You seem so polished. How did you get here?” I will say, “I went through The Speaker Lab. I don’t know if you’re familiar with Grant Baldwin or if you’re on their email list, but I highly suggest that you get on their email list and go to their website.” I always tell them The Speaker Lab helps you really get organized with the business.
I always recommend The Speaker Lab. I tell people all the time, “Look them up. They can really help you get organized and get started on the right foot.”
It must be so affirming to hear repeatedly that you’re so polished. What a testament to all the work you’ve done and what you’ve implemented. Thanks for sharing all that with us.
Absolutely. Also, whether you’re just starting off or you’ve been a speaker for a long time, be willing to invest in yourself. It is an investment but it’s to help you get better. And if you’re serious and you’re like, “I want to make money,” you’re going to make that money back fairly quickly. which is what I did.
I’ve already made back the money that I’ve invested in The Speaker Lab. So it is very much worth it. I would tell anybody who wants to get serious about it to go for it.
Is there anything else you wanna share as we wrap up our conversation today?
I just really appreciate the community. I’m the type of person that needs that community and a little handholding. And the coaching was excellent at The Speaker Lab. Every two weeks, having a coach that I could talk to who is already an established speaker and established coach was really great. So shout out to the coaches.
They’re awesome. Well, thanks so much for your time today, Tiffiny, and congratulations on all the success you’re having.