Speaking Your Brand: Public Speaking Tips and Strategies

If you’ve been wanting to do a TEDx talk, this episode is perfect for you. My guest Tamsen Webster and I talk about everything TEDx, including what are the 3 key elements that make a great TEDx talk and how to know if you have a TED-worthy idea (“an idea worth spreading”). Tamsen was the Executive Producer of one of the oldest and one of the largest locally organized TED talk events in the world,...

Should you give an instructional or an inspirational talk? You probably think I’m going to say that the answer is “It depends,” but I’m not. I think the real question behind this question is you want to know what kind of content to present to the audience. You’re not sure if they want to learn specific strategies and tactics and how-to’s (instructional) or if they want what we would call a motivat...

When you’re in a group dynamic, whether it’s during a presentation or at work with your team, how can you build real and deep trust and connection? It may seem like this could take days, weeks, or even months or years. But, during a recent workshop I attended that was facilitated by today’s guest, I personally experienced a profound sense of connection with a group of strangers in a matter of 20 m...

What is it like to have over 1.25 million visits to your blog every year and over 250,000 followers on social media? My guest is well-known fashion blogger Jeanette Johnson, who started her blog way back in 2010, before influencer marketing was a thing. Since then, her business and brand have skyrocketed and Jeanette has done lots for visibility: blogging, social media, TV, speaking, and now a boo...

Have you thought about creating and hosting your own in-person event, whether it’s a monthly meetup, a panel discussion related to your industry, or a full conference? Or, if you’ve hosted your own event, but felt like your business and personal brand didn’t get as much exposure as you would have liked (probably because you were busy running around taking care of everything!), you’ll learn what to...

There’s been a dramatic shift in online marketing in the past 1-2 years. What used to work doesn’t work anymore, or at least not the same way it did. My guest Sandi Eveleth, a digital marketing strategist, and I share strategies you can use now including: how to market to cold audiences vs. warm ones; the #1 reason to do Facebook Live videos (it’s probably not what you think); the new Facebook Loc...

What does it take to get known? How can you become the “go to” person for what you do? You know you need to be more visible in order to grow your business and network and to achieve your goals. But, there’s a lot of noise out there: not only competition, but things competing for people’s attention AND people not being clear about what exactly you do, who you do it for, and the outcomes you get for...

There’s something you can do as a speaker to connect with your audience and have an impact on them that goes beyond your content or the activities you have them do. It’s one of the four essential elements (fire, water, air, and earth), which is why I used the word “element” in the title. It’s your breath. The most powerful speakers in the world know how to use their breath, resonance, tone, and pa...

How can you get more visibility for your business? In this on-air coaching call, my guest Pam Andrews and I discuss specific things she can do, from obvious ones like speaking to groups and going on podcasts to some less obvious ones that may be a good fit for you too. You’ll learn the questions to ask yourself to determine where you should focus your time and energy. Interestingly, we discover du...

As a speaker, you’re only one-half of the equation. The other half is your audience. Particularly when you’re doing workshops and breakout sessions with smaller groups, you want to make sure that the audience is engaged, interested, and learning. My guest Amy Lang is an experienced speaker and workshop facilitator and she shares with us strategies she uses, from stories and humor to flipcharts and...

As women, we walk a tightrope between needing to advocate for ourselves, yet not wanting to come across as braggarts or overly promotional (yes, it’s that pesky double bind). How can we make sure we’re getting the visibility and opportunities we deserve for the amazing work I know we’re all doing? We need a wingwoman (or two or three)! In this episode, my guest Mia Scharphie shares what she has na...

This episode is a mini-training to help you create your visibility roadmap and identify the areas you should focus on to build your business, brand, and influence. They’re not the same for everyone. I’m going to share with you 4 different roadmaps depending on where you’re at in your business and what your goals are. Whether you want to do more public speaking, give a keynote, do a TEDx talk, crea...

Virtual summits can raise your visibility: whether you’re being interviewed on one or hosting your own. Being a part of a virtual summit can introduce you to a new audience. Hosting your own virtual summit can help you grow your email list, network, and revenue. My guest Jaime Slutzky is an expert on creating virtual summits - from the tech integration to strategizing on content and marketing for...

Get ready for a fun and lively conversation! We get into the nitty-gritty of speaking in this episode: how to make sure that the speaking opportunities you say yes to are helping you reach  your goals and grow your business vs. derailing you. My guest Amber De La Garza is a productivity specialist, so we also talk about productivity tips for us as speakers and entrepreneurs. I even ask her to help...

What kind of content should you create when you want to start a movement (or launch a product)? In this on-air coaching call, I help my guest Marnie Clark with ideas and strategies to generate awareness and interest in a movement she’s starting around premium, hand-crafted non-alcoholic cocktails. Marnie’s been frustrated that when she goes to restaurants or out with friends, she’s stuck ordering...

In this episode, I take you behind the scenes of a presentation I recently gave at BizChix Live, a 3-day conference for women entrepreneurs. The title was “Your Visibility Roadmap: Growing Your Business, Brand, and Influence.” I talk about how I created the presentation itself, an overview of the content, how I prepared, and the feedback and results I got. You’ll hear about the nightmare I had 2 n...

Have you ever felt scared to say or publish something, but you knew you had to do it? That’s what my guest Sophia Eng did a few months ago when she wrote and published “Hear Us Roar: A Manifesto for Women and Minorities in Startup, Tech, and Business Communities.” She knew that if she wanted other women to speak up, she had to do it herself. Sophia is a Growth Advisor and Founder of Women in Growt...

What kinds of personal stories should you share in a business context? How personal is too personal when sharing stories publicly? How do you get past the fear that creeps up when you’re about to share something? My guest Lisa Woodruff, founder of Organize 365, and I talk about how and why she shares personal stories on her podcast and blog and how that has impacted her business growth. We also ge...

Creating and hosting your own local workshops can be a great way to add a revenue stream to your business and reach prospective clients who get to know you as an expert and then want to work with your further. My guest is social media strategist Valentina Escobar-Gonzalez, who has built a good part of her business through local workshops, partnering with the chamber of commerce and SBA in her town...

We’re back with an on-air coaching call! Webinars are an excellent way to increase awareness of who you are, what you do, and how you help people, plus they’re a lot of fun (at least I think so!). In this episode, I help professional makeup artist Samantha Agostino with the content of her webinar. We review her past webinar and how to improve it to make a stronger connection with her audience and...

Business can be a vehicle for social impact and positive change. But, oftentimes, entrepreneurs who see themselves as changemakers can get tripped up with money blocks, trusting their idea, and figuring out how to turn their idea into tangible growth. That’s where my guest Geraldine Carter comes in. As co-founder of Climate Ride, she grew the organization from an idea to a seven-figure budget and...

Moderating a panel, or being on one, can be a great way to increase your visibility at an event or conference. People in the audience see you as an expert and you get to know and network with the other panelists. But, as the moderator if you’re not careful, panels can quickly become unruly or go off on tangents or end up with one person dominating the conversation. My guest Natalie Eckdahl has mod...

How do you approach selling, whether it’s your product/service or yourself for speaking engagements? Do you schedule time and make it a priority or do you tend to procrastinate on it because you don’t like “sales” and you’re not sure what to do or say? In this mini-training, my guest Nikki Rausch, founder of the Sales Maven, walks us through how to do the sales process, from prospecting to closing...

Ah, interns. The promise of inexpensive (or even free) labor as you’re growing your business, especially when you’re in that hard point between having too much work to do yourself but not having extra revenue to hire someone. But, there’s a catch. Interns come with responsibilities for you as the business owner (as well as legal regulations). My guest Isabella Johnston is known as the “intern whis...

Your signature talk needs to be useful, interesting, and relatable to your audience - and it needs to be original and uniquely yours. In this on-air coaching call, my client Adrienne Borgersen and I discuss how we found her angle for her signature talk topic and we go over key parts of her presentation storyboard. We also talk the groups Adrienne should reach out to for speaking engagements based...