Technically Speaking

A single search for "sales strategies" produces a ton of amazing advice... but also a fair amount of garbage or (put more kindly) myths about sales that can lead you astray.   "Cold outreach is pointless" is a common one. We also hear many thought leaders argue that "You can't build trust with cold outreach" and "objections mean you're not going to close the sale."   The good news is that none of...

It's common knowledge among business owners – regardless of industry – that one of the best ways to win over potential clients is through video testimonials.   Whether they show past clients highlighting their experience working with you or outlining the results you generated for them, video testimonials go a long way in building trust, establishing your authority, and ultimately showing your idea...

If you're a regular listener of Technically Speaking, you already know how many of our guests are professional speakers, and you've likely heard a few of their episodes about boosting your speaking skills.   But what about when you're not on stage? How does speaking tie into the other aspects of running a business?   Even more importantly, can being a better speaker boost your business in other wa...

Whether you're an experienced salesperson or not, chances are one of the most anxiety-inducing parts of your sales process is "the pitch," when you present your offer to a potential client.   But what if your pitch didn't have to be a dry, run-of-the-mill list of why someone should buy from or hire you?   What if, instead, it was a chance for you to build an emotional connection and establish a re...

Among thought leaders – but especially among professional speakers – one of the most common questions is, "How do I get represented by a speakers bureau?"   We've danced around this question on this show and covered many of the surrounding questions, such as "How do bureaus work?" and "What is it like to run a bureau?"   But the one we're focusing on in this episode – and the one that leads to tha...

If you're like most people, you've probably thought at one time or another, "I don't get paid enough for this..."   And, if you're an expert business owner, that thought was also likely followed by, "There has got to be a way to charge more for the products and services I'm providing my clients."   And you're right! You definitely do, and in this episode, we're joined by business speaker and coach...

We've all seen companies that plaster inclusive language across their marketing channels.   But, as most of us already know, inclusivity isn't a PR stunt or a marketing buzzword, and practicing inclusivity can truly make a difference if you do so consistently.   Here to remind us of that and highlight ways to become more inclusive is the author of "The Little Book of Belonging – Your Weekly Guide...

When you hear the word "branding," what comes to mind?   Probably the fonts, colors, and general design choices used in your logo and across your website, right? Well, that's just the tip of the iceberg.   In this episode, we're joined by Nadine Hanafi, the owner of Digital Brand KIt and We Are Visual, to talk about all of the lesser-known components of your branding – things like lead magnets, so...

If you're running an expert business, you've probably experienced the "Curse of Knowledge". If you haven't heard of it, this is the idea that the things that seem like common sense to YOU are often confusing, overwhelming, or overly complicated for the people you serve. If you're a doctor, for instance, it makes perfect sense why you'd prescribe this medication for that condition. It's not that co...

For many business owners, underneath a day's decisions, tasks, and projects, there's the ever-present challenge of when to say "no." Whether it's a new product to offer, a speaking engagement to accept, a lead to pursue – the list is endless – it can be tough to feel like saying "no" is the right decision. But what if the real problem wasn't saying "no" but, instead, thinking about how we make tha...

It's no secret anymore that – especially in the thought leadership space – content is king. But how do you figure out what content to create? How do you narrow down what content will be helpful to your audience, or, more importantly, how to write content that urges them to action? In this episode, we're tackling these questions with the help of ghostwriter, speaker, and podcaster Emily Crookston....

It goes without saying that running a business can be incredibly stressful. There's day to day tasks, tackling problems, not to mention trying to better balance your professional and personal goals.  Many of us are tempted to focus on the "hard skills" that will seemingly make this stress go away when we succeed at them – things like marketing, building sales skills, and refining your offers. But...

If there's one topic the world of thought leadership can always learn more about, it's storytelling. We should know – we've hosted several storytelling episodes in the past! But one angle we haven't looked at in-depth – and one that's undeniably important – is how to use storytelling to drive change. In other words, how do you use storytelling as part of a keynote, breakout, presentation, etc. to...

One of the biggest challenges business owners face – and one you may have wrestled with yourself – is how to do more in the time you have. Between running a business, bringing in new revenue, making connections with potential clients, and trying to continually improve... well, how do you do it all? To answer this, we're joined on this episode by serial entrepreneur turned spiritual seeker Sam Kabe...

What does being charged at by a lion have to do with business? It turns out everything! In today's episode, we've brought in 5x TED Speaker, Event MC, and Professional Speaker, Dan Ram to share his philosophy on life and business. We get real about what it takes to grow a successful speaking business and no-holds-barred talk about what it takes to do 100+ events per year. Dan Ram travels the globe...

Want to find more speaking leads in less time? Want to learn how to nurture those leads and potentially even have someone reach out for you? Well, you're in the right spot! In today's episode, we're talking with Jackie Lapin, founder of Speakertunity. Jackie's mission is to help leaders, entrepreneurs, coaches, and authors find and secure their next clients by getting in front of more audiences fa...

Let me know if this sounds familiar: You're up on stage and you just NAILED that presentation. At the end, you get off stage and talk to the audience 1-on-1, and you're happy to do so. But you know there are people in line that could be interested in buying from you, and you're worried you may miss the opportunity to speak with them. There's got to be a better way, right? There is! And in today's...

Ever feel like your website is a glorified brochure? That it doesn't generate the leads you hoped it would? Believe it or not, the solution to that problem is a simple one. There's a process to turn your website into a full-time sales team and in today's episode, we're uncovering just that. To help us with this topic is Danielle Tucker. Danielle Tucker is the founder of Professional Speaker Websit...

In today's episode, we're talking about what it means to be a conscious leader. Let's face it - the world is changing. Now, more than ever, those who are hiring speakers are looking for open-minded, conscious individuals to motivate and empower their audiences. To help us unpack what it means to be a conscious leader, we've brought on Kelly Campbell. Kelly Campbell is a Trauma-Informed Conscious L...

Podcast guesting seems pretty straightforward, right? Get invited to come on someone's show, talk for a bit of time, and leave. Simple. Not so fast! If you're putting any amount of time into podcast guesting - coming on to other people's shows and sharing your expertise - you want to make sure you're doing it strategically. How do you qualify shows to be on? Should you only look for podcasts with...

In today's episode, we've invited a true expert when it comes to talking in front of the masses. As speakers work to grow their impact, often their audience size increases. What are the differences between speaking to small audiences vs. larger ones? What are the similarities? How do you prepare for a massive audience? All these questions and more are covered in this episode. To help us answer the...

In today's episode, we're talking about how to bring your content from 1:1 to 1 to many. Many of you either want courses or a group coaching program and/or have already tried them with little luck. We hear it all the time. To help us understand why and what to do about it, we've invited curriculum design extraordinaire, Jessica Terzakis. As a child, Jessica would line up stuffed animals and dolls...

Ever feel like your website isn't doing what it should? Maybe it feels more like a brochure, maybe it doesn't generate leads, maybe it just doesn't feel like it's hitting the spot. Chances are, you're familiar with that feeling. You may have consequently asked how can we get our efforts to perform? How do we turn our website into a full-time sales team? What's the secret sauce to making the websit...

One of our most covered topics is around speaker bureaus, agents, and management companies. We've talked about how they're defined, how to build a relationship with one, and how to find them. But, we've never got into the weeds with how the day-to-day works. So, in today's episode, we're hanging out with Amy Tomczyk - an owner of a speaker management company. We're talking about what her business...

In today's episode, we're talking about what a true thought-leadership business looks like. So often, we see people label their business based on solely their delivery. "I'm a speaker", "I'm a coach", etc. The challenge with this is that it does nothing to explain your expertise and the problem you solve. So, we've brought on a dear friend of ours, Dr. Romie Mushtaq, also known as the "STEMinist i...