Speaking Your Brand: Public Speaking Tips and Strategies

How can we create a decision-making filter to determine which opportunities to say ‘yes’ to and which to say ‘no’ to? If you are newer in your business and/or with speaking, it can be very beneficial to say ‘yes’ to a lot of opportunities because it provides you with experience and with data for future decision making. Then, as we get further along in our businesses and in our speaking careers, we...

This episode is 2 conversations in one.  I invited my guest and client Lesley Batson, founder of Rebel Rock Wealth, on to the podcast to help us with our financial review and planning as we end one year and start the next. Lesley shares with us the areas we need to review as individuals and as business owners. This ends up being the 2nd half of our conversation.  The 1st half of the conversation i...

What should you be measuring in your business and in your speaking and visibility efforts? There are the obvious metrics: revenue, leads, sales, number of events you speak at. But what else? We can’t forget to measure what we’re doing (or *not* doing and *should* be doing) that will get us to the goals we want. My guest is Casey Gromer, who owns SHE-Suite Boutique, a business consultancy that work...

Although 2020 didn’t end up going quite as planned (understatement of the year), there are lessons I’ve taken from it that have made me and Speaking Your Brand as a business stronger and more resilient. In this episode, Diane Diaz and I talk about: The impact COVID had on the business and our plans for the year The value of constraints What worked and what didn’t work this year 5 big lessons from...

200th episode celebration!  After creating 200 podcast episodes over nearly 4 years, I’ve learned a lot.  In this episode, I share: The impact podcasting has had on my business How my guest selection process has evolved Things I wished I had done earlier The most popular episodes and why I think they are My favorite episodes The surprising lessons I’ve learned about finding and using my voice What...

We’ve heard so much about the importance of storytelling over the past few years that using data, statistics, and research in our presentations seems to have been sidelined. However, data can play a very important role in helping people understand what’s going on and what’s possible. Data can be used to tell stories and to affect change. This is a fantastic conversation with my guest Monique Osite...

Writing a nonfiction book and having a signature talk go hand in hand: both are a reflection of who you are, what you do, and why you do it. Both your book and your signature talk should have a “hook,” which is your particular angle that answers “why me” and “why now” for your topic. Some of our clients come to us after they’ve written a book to work on their signature talk, so we help them pull o...

I admit, I’m a bit obsessed with the musical “Hamilton.” I watched it on Disney+ the July 4th weekend it came out and was instantly transfixed.  I knew I would like it, but didn’t realize I was going to love it.  Today I’m going to talk about “Hamilton” the play and the production and what we can learn from it as speakers. Why study the play?  After all, as speakers, we’re not acting in a play or...

The live virtual summit that we hosted a couple of weeks ago was a smashing success. Attendees told us that it was the best virtual event they’ve even been to; some even said it was the best event, in person or virtual. And the stats prove it: the average watch time was nearly 3 hours. People told us they planned to pop in for an hour and ended up staying for the entire time! In this episode, we t...

What an incredible day we had last week for our Brave. Bold. Beyond. live virtual summit!  Our speakers truly embodied being brave and bold. There were tears and laughter, mic drops and raised hands. In this episode, you get to hear the audio from my opening keynote and Diane Diaz’s closing speech. (In next week’s episode, Diane and I are going to talk about our takeaways from the summit, to help...

Why would you want to start a movement when you’re busy with your business? Isn’t a movement for activists and non-profits? Not necessarily. A movement is a group of people coming together to act towards a common cause who share similar values. As a business owner, you can ask: How can I serve people who believe the same thing I do? What can I create for this community to achieve our goal? You can...

You’ve heard by now the power of storytelling in your presentations and thought leadership content. But, do you sometimes feel stuck and uncertain about what *kinds* of stories to share? As we work with our clients on their signature talks, we ask them questions about their past, present, and future, so we can extract the stories that will reveal who they are and how they can relate to and help th...

Have you ever had a vulnerability hangover? I know I have, including just last month, along with other times this year after recording particular podcast episodes or writing emails to our list. A vulnerability hangover is that feeling of regret or uncertainty after you share something that’s personal or something that could be considered controversial. I’ve been thinking about vulnerability hangov...

I’m excited to have on the show today Anna Eskamani, who is my state representative in the Orlando, Florida, area where I live. Anna is young, outspoken, and tireless in the work she does for her constituents and for Floridians in general. I invited her on to have a conversation about what it’s like to run for office as a woman, how she found her voice, how she deals with negative and vocal oppone...

Have you had an experience that made it so you couldn’t *not* speak up and use your voice? It could have been something that happened directly to you or it could have been something you witnessed or learned about. My guest is Dr. Karla Manning, who had such an experience when she taught in South Africa, which she calls a transformative experience that led her to be more vocal about injustice and d...

What’s it like to plan an event in only 8 weeks? We’re about to find out! Our live virtual summit takes place on October 15. Register at https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/summit (it’s free!). This is a one-of-a-kind event: a mix of TED-style 10-minute talks plus panel discussions so you can learn how to craft a stellar speech and build your thought leadership platform. I’ve coached a number of TED...

This episode is the perfect bridge between the series we just wrapped up on Thought Leadership and the new series we’re starting called Use Your Voice . My guest is Gina Bianchini, the founder of Mighty Networks, which enables people like you (and me!) create and host online communities (and more). I’ve been a fan of Gina’s since her days as co-founder of Ning and in the past couple of years even...

A few weeks ago in episode 184, I talked about the five elements that thought leaders have. One of these elements is what I call a *container* for their message and content. What happens as content creators and speakers is that we create pieces of content here and there. What makes the content more impactful is when there’s a participatory project or initiative, a container, that your audience can...

We’ve been talking about thought leadership for the past few episodes - what it means to be a thought leader, what thought leaders have in common, and the importance of having a container/project for your message. My guest Elayne Fluker has done exactly that - even though she didn’t start out with that plan in mind. It evolved as she paid attention to what she needed and what she was hearing from...

This episode didn’t go quite as planned. In last week’s episode, we looked at why some speakers become thought leaders - the elements they have in common. I’ve gotten great feedback on that episode, so go back and listen to it if you haven’t already. I decided to do this series on thought leadership because of a client survey we did and a recent conversation I had with my business coach. She point...

What do you think when you hear the term “thought leader?” Do you think you can be one? (Hint: you can!) I define a thought leader as someone who has an interesting idea that challenges the status quo, challenges our assumptions, maybe even breaks the rules, especially one that hasn’t been talked about a lot in their circle of influence, who communicates it with conviction and boldness, who inspir...

If you've seen the incredible production of the play “Hamilton,” you may remember the song, “The room where it happens.” In it, Aaron Burr laments that he wants to be in the room where it happens - where leaders make decisions, make compromises, make opportunities for themselves and those who they are allied with. The idea is that to get traction, to have your ideas heard, to be successful, you wa...

In this episode, my guest and I talk about what may be a difficult topic for some of you: sexual abuse and in particular male sexual abuse. We don’t go into detail about the abuse, but I wanted to let you know in case this is an area that is personal to you and you’d rather not listen to our conversation. Even if we’ve never personally experienced sexual abuse or have a close family member who has...

We’ve been talking for the past couple of podcast episodes about finding your voice and both the challenges and opportunities around that. My guest today is Dr. Jerrica Dodd, a pharmacist who now coaches other women pharmacists transitioning into starting their own businesses. Jerrica is an incredible entrepreneur, coach, and speaker. We’ve worked together twice on her talks and she has a dynamic...

Have you struggled to figure out what to say, whether it's on a social media post or in a presentation? Have you stopped yourself from sharing something because you weren't sure what the reaction would be? Do you feel like there's something deeper, more meaningful, more impactful you want to say, but you haven't quite been able to tease it out? Do you feel stuck in your business and marketing and...