Speaking Your Brand: Public Speaking Tips and Strategies

I love using AI, and I use it almost every day. But when it comes to thought leadership, talks, and presentations, I’ve also seen how easy it is for AI to pull us into a new version of the Expert Trap. In this episode, I’m sharing three things to be careful about when using AI for your talks, from my own recent experiences with clients, including why it can miss the deeper signal in your message,...

Have you ever given a talk that people loved in the moment but nothing happened afterward? The audience took notes. They told you how valuable your presentation was. But you didn't get the next speaking invitation, new clients, or bigger opportunities. In this episode, I explain what I call the Expert Trap : the place where expertise becomes the very thing holding you back from becoming a thought...

You can give a great presentation, get lots of compliments afterward, and still walk away with zero leads. Why? Because most speakers approach their talks like teachers instead of marketers. In this episode, Diane Diaz and I share how to create presentations that generate interest, build trust, and lead to clients, without feeling salesy or violating the dreaded "no selling from the stage" rule. W...

Your marketing may not be broken. It may just be missing a signature talk. In this episode, Diane Diaz and I share why speaking is one of the most effective marketing tools available today and why a well-crafted signature talk can become the foundation for your visibility, lead generation, and thought leadership strategy. We talk about how speaking accelerates the know-like-trust factor in ways th...

How do you name a book, a framework, or even a business in a way that captures the essence of what you do? After struggling with the title of my book for years, I turned to brand strategist and naming expert Rebeca Arbona for help. What happened next surprised me: in less than an hour, she found the title that had been hiding in plain sight. In this conversation, we pull back the curtain on the ar...

You may be closer to your next speaking opportunity than you think. With so many people submitting speaker applications and using AI to generate proposals, standing out has become harder than ever. But there's one thing AI can't replicate: genuine relationships. In this episode, Diane Diaz and I talk about why some of the best speaking opportunities, keynote invitations, media appearances, and cli...

What if the stories you’ve dismissed as “not important enough” are actually the ones your audience needs most? Erin Mark and I explore why storytelling is the bridge between expertise and transformation and why audiences connect far more deeply with emotion, struggle, and humanity than with information alone.  Erin shares how she took her deeply personal experience living with cystic fibrosis and...

In this episode, I sit down with Teri DeLucca for a candid conversation about what really happens behind the scenes in the speaking industry, from getting your first speaking engagements to negotiating fees, navigating “pay-to-play” conferences, and building the confidence to take bigger stages. Teri shares how she went from feeling intimidated and unsure if she belonged on stage to becoming an in...

I love when I stumble across someone I know doing something big —and that’s exactly what happened with today’s guest. I spotted one of our Thought Leader Academy grads Kim Foster on YouTube…with a video that had over 1.5 million views . Naturally, I wanted to know how she did it! In this episode, Kim and I dig into what it really takes to grow a YouTube channel that drives visibility, trust, and c...

What makes a motivational talk actually stick , long after the applause? In this audio from our Back Stage with Speaking Your Brand live show, you’ll experience powerful, real-time signature talks from three of our recent Thought Leader Academy grads Kimberly Brock, Susana Alvarez, and Teresa Phillips. Each blends personal story, practical frameworks, and a clear message that moves beyond inspirat...

What separates a good talk from a true thought leadership talk? It’s not just the story; it’s what you do with it. In this audio from our Back Stage with Speaking Your Brand live show, you’ll hear powerful 10-minute signature talks from two of our recent Thought Leader Academy grads Heather Beebe and Lauren Yankoff, each transforming personal experience into clear, actionable frameworks. Hear how...

We’re pulling back the curtain on the speaker industry. If you’ve been scrolling lately, you’ve probably seen the promises: guaranteed TEDx talks, booked-out speaking calendars, five-figure fees overnight. It’s tempting. It’s also where a lot of people get burned. We share the biggest red flags we’re seeing—from “guaranteed” results to high-pressure sales tactics—and why those shortcuts rarely lea...

I’m thrilled to have back on the podcast my client Tammy Lally, TEDx speaker, author, and money coach, whose talk has reached millions of people around the world. But what makes her story so powerful isn’t just the visibility; it’s the vulnerability behind it. Tammy shares what really went into creating her TEDx talk, the emotional aftermath of sharing such a personal story, and how that one talk...

TEDx is one of those stages that so many people aspire to. After being part of the speaker curation and coaching team for TEDxOrlando, I can tell you that there’s a lot that happens behind the scenes that most people never see. In this episode, I’m joined by experienced TEDx organizers Nick Rogers and Liam Rogers, who have spent the past decade reviewing applications, selecting speakers, and shapi...

I’ve worked with a lot of speakers over the years, but Andy Nunn brings something truly unique to the stage. He’s a mentalist turned keynote speaker who knows how to captivate an audience. In this episode, Andy and I talk about what it really takes to evolve from entertaining an audience to transforming them. Because getting laughs, applause, and “that was amazing!” is one thing… but creating a ke...

Resilience isn’t something you build in the moment—it’s something you build long before you need it. In this episode, I’m joined by one of my clients, Wendy Romeu, founder and CEO of Alluvionic, to talk about what happened when her business was suddenly put to the ultimate test. But this isn’t just a conversation about leadership; it’s about story. Wendy shares how she took a deeply personal and e...

What if the thing that makes you most effective as a leader and speaker… isn’t perfection, but authenticity?  That it’s not about having all the answers, but being willing to tell others that you don’t have all the answers? My guest is Judith Smelser, President and GM of Central Florida Public Media, and she shares her journey from journalist to leading a major public media organization and what s...

Today I’m joined by returning guest Tiffany Hawk - author, book coach, and longtime collaborator - to talk about why sharing your story matters, especially when you don’t feel ready. We explore how many accomplished professionals get stuck in what I call the “expert trap”, relying on expertise and credentials while holding back the personal stories that actually create connection. Tiffany shares i...

Many accomplished women already have the expertise, experience, and authority their audiences need. The missing piece is rarely more knowledge — it’s connection. Story is what bridges the space between expert and audience. It humanizes ideas, creates emotional resonance, and allows insight to truly land. When expertise is combined with purposeful storytelling, a talk doesn’t just inform — it conne...

What’s the difference between a presentation people forget in five minutes… and a talk that quietly reshapes how someone thinks, decides, and acts for months afterward? It’s not more information and it’s not prettier slides (although pretty slides are nice!). This episode is the audio from our Back Stage with Speaking Your Brand live show, where you’ll experience two powerful examples of what happ...

Your story is not just your story. It's part of a larger narrative about whose voices are heard and whose are erased. I’m thrilled to have Janice Gassam Asare back on the podcast. She's an organizational psychologist, equity consultant, and author of the new book Rise and Resist - and this conversation went places I didn't expect. What struck me most is how Janice reframes resistance. Not as somet...

This episode is a rich and timely conversation about how we relate to what we know in an age of constant change and AI. My guest is Dr. Laila Marouf, a former academic who spent more than two decades researching and teaching knowledge management before having a powerful realization during the early months of the pandemic: the systems and structures she’d been focused on were designed for stable ti...

What does it look like to turn an idea into a message, a message into a signature talk, and a signature talk into a published book? In this episode, I sit down with Thought Leader Academy graduate Melania Murphy to talk about her powerful journey from spark to spotlight.  Over the past couple of years, I’ve watched Melania take a deeply personal idea and transform it into a compelling signature ta...

One of the most common mistakes I see speakers make is trying to deliver a six-week course or a full-length book in a 45-minute talk. And then they wonder why:  • the audience looks overwhelmed  • the energy drops  • no one remembers their message  • leads don’t convert Here’s the mindset shift that changes everything: Same message. Different medium. Different strategy. When your message doesn’t m...

Have you ever hesitated to call yourself a speaker… or a thought leader… even though you know you have something important to say? I see it all the time: brilliant women who have delivered keynotes, led workshops, facilitated panels, taught classes, and spoken on stages — yet still say, “I’m not a speaker.” Sound familiar? So in this episode, I’m gently (okay, maybe a little lovingly persuasively)...