Who do you speak to and what do you speak about?
I speak to a wide variety of audiences, and I know if we speak to a number of audiences, we really don’t have a specific thing, but it’s been an interesting journey for me.
I speak for corporate sales teams, leadership events, I’ve spoken to NFL teams, colleges, for a wide variety of organizations and associations.
What I speak about is resilience and overcoming life’s obstacles – how to be able to get your life back on track, but also to find the ways to build more resilience within your everyday life.
What was happening in your business or not happening that made you seek out The Speaker Lab?
I was just getting started in my business. I’ve been speaking for a little bit and had gotten a couple of paid engagements, but I really wanted to take it up to a higher level.
I knew Grant’s method and SPEAK Framework would give me some clarity and really some structure behind ways to not only improve my talk, but improve my ways of being able to market myself and outreach as well.
Overall, that helped me get more engagements for higher fees and be able to grow even more so as a speaker.
Were there any fears or apprehensions you had at the beginning of the journey that you had to overcome?
We always have fears when we’re doing something that we’re not extremely familiar with.
I had done some previous coaching before and I had some not so great things that happened as a result of it, and so I carried that into this, but once I got into some of the modules and started working with my coaches, it was really good. It went well and the experience, not only that came from the process, but the experience that I gained, that I could actually implement and now, what I’m doing today, it was well worth the investment.
What were some of your aha moments or key takeaways from doing the SPEAK framework?
One of the key takeaways that I got was from Module 1, where Grant sort of opened up my eyes to some of the different audiences that were out there.
It caused me to expand my thinking on the types of people who I could target in order to try to get my message out there into the world.
Another thing that comes to mind is just how important some of the marketing materials were.
I know we talk about how important the demo reel is, how important the website is, and I’d already done some things with those, but it made me go back and take a closer look and I found things I could do certain things to improve it. Once I started getting the good footage, it only enhanced those assets even more.
Lastly, is the overall process on how to do outreach and communicate to those meeting planners, those corporate executives who may be interested in looking for their events. I had a process, but it wasn’t as refined as it is now.
Understanding the chain of communication with the emails was key; I don’t have to tell ’em everything in the first email. That approach to basically invite them to a conversation changed some of my thinking and that has really made a difference in getting more and more meetings, and more and more meetings leads to more and more opportunities to speak.
What have been some of the results that you’re seeing from implementing the SPEAK framework?
I have spoken a lot and have done a lot of great things. It has allowed me to be able to speak, for the NFL, for the Las Vegas Raiders as one of my clients. I’ve been able to speak to numerous areas in law enforcement.
Just recently, I spoke to the Georgia Board of Investigation, and for some other major corporations, the Eden Corporation, Southern Company, as well as a number of medical directors associations and colleges.
So really what it’s done is increased my network and I speak to a whole wide range of audiences, but what I realized is that in some ways, we may be creating obstacles in our own mind.
That shift in mindset and actually seeing and hearing somebody who’s giving you a clear strategy on how to approach the speaking business was very beneficial for me to be able to grow and extend mine.
That sounds like a lot of amazing opportunities. Congratulations to you!
Thank you.
How did it feel to be on those stages making that kind of impact? If you’ve got any stories that stand out to you, we’d love to hear them.
I’ll tell you a funny story. So I mentioned earlier, I’m based out of Atlanta. I was flown out to Las Vegas to spear for the Las Vegas Raiders on a Friday night. I was speaking there on a Sunday afternoon before their training camp.
On that Saturday morning, I was in the hotel. I went downstairs to work out like I typically do, and that morning I happened to have an injury. I ended up having a horrible sprain in my bicep and I thought to myself, “This is one of my biggest opportunities, and now I’m not gonna get the chance to do it?!” because at the time, I thought I had really tore something and I was either gonna be in a sling or need surgery or something.
Turns out it wasn’t that serious, and by the time I got to the event, it actually had calmed down to an extent to where it didn’t bother me and I gave one of my greatest performances I think, as far as being able to speak and really impact.
The fact that I kind of had something with that particular injury that those athletes could relate to led to an even better connection from the beginning.
I was gonna say if there’s the right audience that would understand that, it’s a bunch of athletes who probably have the frustration of getting an injury at the wrong time.
For sure.
We would love to know what your new normal looks like these days? How has your life changed?
My life has changed because now I’m averaging over five figures for every engagement that I do and I’m getting more and more opportunities that are coming my way. I’ve found that through building my brand and my platform, I’m not only finding success with my outbound reach, but I’m getting more and more inbound events coming my way so people are seeing the results and by me sharing it, it is causing my business to expand and grow even greater.
That’s awesome. It’s nice when those leads start coming to you.
Exactly.
Who would you recommend to The Speaker Lab and what would you say to someone who’s on the fence about it?
I would recommend any aspiring speaker who is not necessarily sure that they have anybody in their network that they can work with that will help get them there.
I think that being able to get hands-on support is always a great thing, but I think that the process and what you guys do in The Speaker Lab, really makes it clear for anybody who is a systematic thinker, who can follow a process, and who’s willing to do the work in order to take what you think is a good talk and make it a great talk and actually take the next steps to actually deliver it, and get the credibility to be able to get on the stages and get the fees that you’re looking for.
Couldn’t have said it better myself. I like that you said a systematic thinker because we always say it’s really just about following the SPEAK framework. A lot of people wanna get creative and kind of put their own spin on it, and of course you want to modify it to your own business, but the results will come when you do the modules in order and follow the system.
Exactly.
Is there anything else you wanna share?
I think that just overall, I think that The Speaker Lab is a phenomenal program. Like I said, I had done some level of coaching before, but I love the way that the resources are there, and then the coaches were very helpful in helping guide me through things I need to tweak and change.
A lot of times, I think a lot of individuals are in their own head. They can’t see past what they already know. And by getting some real insight on what you’re doing well and what you may need to tweak in order to do better was one of the benefits I got through my time working with The Speaker Lab.
Even still to this day, I go back to the modules. I go back and do refreshers and as my business is evolving, I realize certain points that may not have been as relevant or as important when I was going through the program, but are extremely important now.
So I think that’s one of the beauties of the way that this content was created and administered to allow you, at multiple levels of your speaking journey, to be able to get the most out of it.
I’m so glad to hear that. We give students lifetime access to the content so it’s really nice to hear that you are going back to it. We have so much there that it could be too much to go through in the first 6 months – as far as those bonuses and stuff. There are 50 interviews you could watch later down the line once you finish the SPEAK framework, so it’s great to know that you’re going back to some of the material and getting refreshers and seeing what’s there that maybe you missed along the way the first time.
It’s great. I enjoy it. I enjoy the access and the capability to be able to go back and revisit. And a lot of times we think we get something the first time that we see it or go through it, but actually, it isn’t until we’ve done something for a period of time that it truly makes sense and we understand it.
That’s what I feel about going back through some of the content now.
Different things click at different stages in our journey so that makes perfect sense. Thank you so much for sharing. It was such a pleasure talking to you. I’m happy to hear about everything happening in your business.
I appreciate it Emily, and I thank you for even letting me be able to share my thoughts and my remarks.
I wish you and this program nothing but the best, and encourage anybody who is on the fence, if you’re committed to speaking and you’re ready to make that decision and take things to the next level, go ahead and choose The Speaker Lab because it is phenomenal.