Who do you speak to and what do you speak about?
I speak to corporations and associations about their emerging and existing leaders, and I speak about helping those existing and emerging leaders address self-doubt and overwhelm so they can increase clarity, confidence, and performance.
What was happening or not happening in your speaking business that made you join The Speaker Lab?
I decided to go into this full time. I’d been doing it for a while, for a number of years while I was working full time, and it just became a pivotal time of life where I realized this is what I really want to focus on, and bet on myself. But in the process I realized that it’s so important to have a community of people and someone that can help you accelerate the learning curve–let’s call it “borrow confidence” or accelerate the process, the business.
I felt like it was really important for me if I wanted to be successful to get around some others who had done this so having The Speaker Lab to help me navigate these waters as I’m doing this full time became really important.
Did you have any fears or apprehensions? We know it’s a big investment and big commitment, so was there anything you had to overcome at the start?
I think with anything, like you said, it’s a commitment, it’s an investment, so how do I make sure I get the ROI from this investment? What is it going to look like?
What sold me on it, so to speak, was that there’s such incredible access to people that are really doing this, people in the industry that I could learn from, and so that was my initial fear, and I asked those questions to be clear – who am I to be able to talk to? Who am I going to be able to engage? That was important for me.
But the team made it incredibly apparent that I would get that support and that insight, and connection to people in the industry that I could learn from.
What were your major aha moments or key takeaways that you got from the SPEAK framework?
There’s a couple that come to mind, but the first one is to really refine who you’re talking to, and I think that’s something that happens over time. Getting clear on who your message is for–I’m still testing and measuring that, but I feel like I’m in a place where I’ve really started to align on being more crisp on the industry and the people that I’m talking to.
You don’t know what you don’t know, to some degree, until you’re in it so that’s one piece.
And then the second incredible piece of this has been that power hour and being consistent in that. That has been the lifeblood of my day – just making sure that I keep business development at the forefront because it’s not a business if you’re not doing business development.
What does the power hour look like in your life?
It’s a power few hours, not just a hour. The luxury for me is that I’m doing this full-time right now so for someone else, that may not be the case, but it’s really about making sure you’re following up on your leads, doing new outreach, advancing people that you initially reached out to into the next step of the new communications or follow-up, so that has been just incredible for me to be consistent in.
I love how intentional you are around developing your business. I know you mentioned you’re full time so what have been some of your results and highlights as a speaker in the full-time business? If you don’t mind sharing, what was the process of saying, “Okay, I’m going to do this full-time.”
So results so far. It’s been really, really, really great. I mean, my book of business is almost 6 figures at this point, so that’s been really good.
In terms of the highlights, it’s really about learning how to service the clients. I’ve been doing this for a few years when I was working full time, so I started to develop some models, but again, learning from coaches on how to get more business from your existing clients, focus on my debrief meetings and really asking for the continuing relationship. That’s helped–I’m starting to experience the “let me introduce you to this person.”
And how did I make the transition? It really was a couple of things. I’ve been thinking about it for a while and it just aligned to where my company was going through some reorg and they’re like, “Your role is going to be eliminated,” and I try not to look so happy about it, but it was just honestly divine timing.
I’d already been applying for the business line of credit to become a certified woman-owned business, so all the things that really were shaping up to say, I couldn’t move into this ideally full time so when it happened, I’d already been digging my well.
I don’t want to paint an illusion that I started and everything was so successful right away; I started revving the engines up again and The Speaker Lab helped me to really focus on that, so when the time came to do this full time, it just made it easier to do.
As you’ve been doing this full time, has there been a standout speaking experience and how did it feel?
What has been happening recently is I ask the questions as part of what Erick and the team talk about in making sure you deliver a successful keynote–at the beginning, I ask them what success looks like for them in the beginning in the pre-planning call.
And then I ask that question again in the debrief. And then I also ask, “What did I do well? What are the areas of opportunities? What could I do differently or better?”
So far I’ve had three keynotes this past month so I’ve had three debriefs. The consistent response is when I ask, “What could I do differently or better?” They’ve said, “We can’t think of anything. You have it together. You’ve made us feel seen, heard, and listened to. It’s obvious when you do your keynotes, that’s why the message is so spot on.”
I’ve gotten 95% net promoter scores. I’ve gotten highest-attendance events their whole year. So I think just walking through the frameworks that you all teach and refining that to make sure I focus on delivering excellent services has been the stand out when I get on those debrief calls.
It’s super helpful because I feel like when people trust you to come into their home–I call it their home, their corporate home, their association home–doing great matters when you’ve been invited to someone’s space.
I love that they’re telling you–a speaker–that they feel seen, heard, and listened to. To be a speaker who’s getting credit for how well you listen? You’re hitting the sweet spot.
Yeah, that’s definitely something that I take to heart. I’m glad to hear that that matters to them. It actually is resonating and effective.
I love how intentional you are, you know, not just at the gig, but before and after–that’s a huge part of it. It sounds like you’re implementing a lot of what we teach.
Oh yeah, kudos. Kudos, and a special shout out to Erick and Rick, especially because they’ve been such huge sounding boards for everything. I really appreciate them.
We’d love to hear just what is your new normal these days and how has your life changed since doing the program?
My new normal is I get to wake up and do what I love. Not that I didn’t love my corporate career–I was good at it, probably even great at it, but I get to choose what I do in this season, and I’ve always wanted to do speaking.
And so my new normal is I’m doing what I’m passionate about. I’m on the road to profitability and it just feels great. That’s my new normal.
Who would you recommend to The Speaker Lab and what would you say to someone on the fence?
Anyone that’s really thinking about how to make this something that they do successfully, who really wants to accelerate their learning curve and learn from people that are not just talking about it but really are living it daily.
In the world today, so many people say that they’re coaches, but they’re not really in it…there’s no skin in the game.
From my experience with The Speaker Lab, these are people who are doing it. They’re living it. They’ve got great advice, great insight, and they can really help you navigate all the stuff that can come along with trying to understand this business.
If you’re on the fence, you’re not sure, or you need someone to help you, and you want a community of people that get this industry, The Speaker Lab is the place to be.
Yeah, it’s huge that we have people who are actually speaking that are also coaching and they can say, “I just came from a gig and I just had this insight…I learned this thing on the road recently”–here you get real-time, practitioner help, if you will.
Exactly. Yep!
Is there anything else you want to add about your journey? We’d love to hear anything else on your mind.
Again, major thanks. I am incredibly thankful for the support, the insight, the coaching, the advice – the level of accessibility to the coaches and their insight and input is just unmatched.
I just sent a voice note to a coach today, “Hey, I’ve got a question on this,” and they responded back in like five minutes. The real-time feedback and support is priceless. So thank you. You are doing incredible work in that regard.