Speaking Your Brand: Public Speaking Tips and Strategies

Get ready for a whirlwind conversation on all things speaking! I guarantee you will learn something you didn’t know before. For instance, do you have a walk-on song? Don’t know what a walk-on song and why you need one? Definitely listen in to hear Mia’s and how to choose a good one. If you do have one, let us know in the Speaking Your Brand Facebook group. (Join for free at https://www.speakingyou...

You may have a twinkling of an idea for your topic for your signature talk, keynote, or TEDx talk, but perhaps you’re not sure where to go from there. How can you take your idea, expand upon it, and make it your own? In this on-air coaching call, you’ll hear the key questions I ask my clients to help find their core message, including the one question that tends to be the most useful. My guest, Ne...

If one of your goals is to become a keynote speaker, this on-air coaching call will help you identify the stepping stones to get you there. My guest in this episode, Laura Gallaher, was on the podcast about a year ago ( episode 54 ), talking about how to build trust with your teams and audience, based on a powerful workshop experience I had had with her. Laura and I have worked together on her sig...

You’re speaking, you’re podcasting, you’re creating videos to increase your visibility. Have you thought about expanding your visibility strategy to include “traditional” media like TV, radio, and magazines? Appearing on TV and radio as a political analyst over the past 12 years has been a vital part of building my personal brand and visibility, not only in my local market (Orlando) but also using...

What trends are on the horizon that you can capitalize on to get better speaking engagements and to get better results from them? What are conferences and events looking for in their speakers and the topics they select? How can you improve your presentations and workshops so the audience raves about you and you get invited to do more (including paid speaking)? After having worked with over 100 cli...

When I launched this podcast in February 2017, I committed to myself that I was going to do it for one year. No matter what, I was going to make the time to release a weekly episode (and there were weeks when I was up until midnight getting the podcast done for the next morning’s release!). We’re now at episode 100 (woohoo!) and in a couple of months, the podcast will be 2 years old. My tendency i...

You’ve heard their on-air coaching calls - and now you get to hear what they’ve been up to since their coaching call. You know that I love leaving my guests and clients with action items and homework. As a speaking coach, I want you to take what we do together and get results, so you can gain more confidence, get better results from speaking, and someday soon stand on your dream stage and deliver...

You may have had an experience, a situation, a life event that caused you to change how you looked at the world or led to a new understanding of how something is wrong and needs to be changed. Your personal story can have a powerful impact on an audience. But, for it to spark a movement, to cause others to change, to cause systems to change, you need to expand your personal story into a universal...

Whew, this episode was much harder than I had anticipated. You’ve heard me coach my clients and members of the Speaking Your Brand community on this podcast. On-air coaching calls are some of the most popular episodes because we go deep and you get to hear what it’s like to be in a coaching session. After hearing Geraldine Carter be interviewed by Jodi Flynn on Geraldine’s podcast (flipping roles)...

How can you increase the likelihood that free speaking engagements you do lead to companies hiring you do workshops for them? In this episode, my guest Louise Brogan, a social media expert and trainer, and I talk about: The topics her corporate clients want training on The topics she speaks about when she gives free presentations at local groups The importance of having a system/framework in your...

If you have doing a TEDx talk on your list, you’ll need a TED-worthy idea, an “idea worth spreading.” How do you know if you have a *really good* idea for a speech, one that’s going to make an impact, whether it’s for TEDx or a keynote? In this episode, my guest Lori DiGuardi, a TEDx and professional speaker, and I discuss: What makes a great talk How an “idea” is different from a “topic” How Lori...

When my guest Molly McPherson introduced herself in the Speaking Your Brand Facebook group and said one of her topics is helping women speak powerfully, I knew I had to have her on the podcast. Molly McPherson is a PR professional and speaker, with a focus on communicating in the digital age and crisis communication, helping her clients protect their reputations with proactive plans and messaging....

One of the most popular episodes of this podcast is episode 61 on developing your own framework. I’ve heard from so many of you - in the FB group and via email - that it got you thinking of creating your own framework for your business and your presentations. Having a framework differentiates yourself from others in your field, it makes it easier for your audience and clients to understand what yo...

Two years ago, right before the November 2016 U.S. presidential election, I gave a talk at a small, local TEDxWomen chapter. Until now, I’ve never shared it publicly (beyond the audience that was there). Why? There are several reasons, which you’ll hear about in this episode. It was the most challenging speaking experience I’ve ever had. Not because of the format or the short length (8 minutes), b...

How does a visibility strategy actually work? What does it look like to grow your business and your personal brand through speaking? What are the steps you can take? This episode is truly a case study in what happens when you show up consistently and put yourself out there with courage and conviction. Over the course of the past couple of years, my guest and client Tammy Lally went from speaking f...

Speaking at someone else’s event is great, but hosting your own workshop or retreat can be even better. You get to control the content and you’re center stage as the host and presenter. But, there’s also a lot that goes into planning a successful workshop or retreat that’s a full day or even two days. My guest, Blair Green Thielemier, recently hosted her first one-day retreat (combination workshop...

“My dream is bigger than my fear.” Have you ever felt like that? My guest today, Debbie Gonzales, heard that from a guest she interviewed on her brand new podcast and she said it’s what pushed her forward to launch. In this on-air coaching call, Debbie asks me questions about launching her podcast, including: Creating a community of listeners The magic number for a Facebook group Tips for working...

If you’re a speaker, you should be doing live broadcasts on platforms like Facebook and Instagram. But…. I hear you say in your head, I don’t like to see myself on video … I don’t have time … I don’t know what to say. These are all things I’ve said to myself. Even though I’ve been on TV dozens of times, have hosted over a hundred webinars over the years, and speak in person often, I’ve shied away...

Have you been thinking of launching your own podcast? It’s been a game-changer for my business and personal brand - and it can be for yours too. But, it can seem overwhelming and daunting: What to do first, then next, what equipment and software do you need, much less thinking about the format and interviewing guests, and so on. In this episode, you’ll learn what’s important - and what’s not - whe...

Do you have a podcast - or video series or blog - but aren’t getting leads from it as you had expected? You know your content is good - you’re getting listeners and viewers and readers - but, when it comes to making money as a result of that content, it’s crickets (and an empty inbox). What can you do? This is the question my guest today, Stacey Ogden of Busy Mom Collective, had. In this on-air co...

When’s the last time you asked yourself: “What do I *really* want? What’s right for me *right now*?” And then what happens if the business you’ve been building is not quite the right answer. You can either ignore the answer and try to go down the same road, bumping into obstacles along the way. Or, you can pivot your business model to better align with your mission, your lifestyle, and opportuniti...

There are many, many ways you can get visibility for yourself and your business: Speaking to local groups Presenting at conferences Being a member or officer of a local organization Guesting on podcasts or hosting your own podcast Doing Facebook Live and YouTube videos Hosting webinars Being active in Facebook groups and other online communities   But, you can’t do all of these at the same time. Y...

How can you expand your network and reach new people? Collaborating with others who share a similar mission, vibe, and audience can be one of the best ways to do that. But, how do you actually collaborate in a pre-planned way? What does that look like (webinars, FB Live, workshops, podcasts, etc.)? What does each person gain and, just as importantly, what does each person’s audience gain? My guest...

How can you create an emotional connection with your audience? Even if you *think* you have a topic that doesn’t lend itself to creating an emotional connection, there are ways you can pull your audience in. Creating an emotional connection: Engages the audience and keeps them interested Builds trust with you and with each other by being vulnerable and relatable Helps them to remember what you’re...

What separates a great speaker from a so-so one and how can you be a great one? I recently attended a 3-day conference (Podcast Movement) and took notes during the keynotes and breakout sessions on what the speakers did well and what could have been better, so you can take these tips and apply them to your own presentations. Although it was a conference for podcasters, this episode is not about po...