Speaking Your Brand: Public Speaking Tips and Strategies

Your personal brand isn’t optional anymore, even if you wish it were. In this episode, I dig into why your personal brand matters more than ever, especially in a world overflowing with content (and now AI-generated content, too), and how it connects to your thought leadership and your business  I talk about a common hesitation I see with many women: the feeling that cultivating a personal brand is...

Hey there, it's Carol, popping in for a minute! I want to make sure you know about our 1-Day Master Your Message & the Stage workshop coming up on February 19th in Downtown Orlando, Florida . You’ll go from having a rough idea (or no idea at all!) to building your talk using our Signature Talk Canvas® framework - and then practice delivering it with real-time feedback from us. And here’s the t...

Have you ever heard a speaker share a story and have one of these reactions: #1: Wow, I really feel connected to what this person is saying. I have a new perspective on my own situation. -OR- #2: Why is this person telling this story? I don't get how this relates to the rest of their content or why I should care or this feels icky. You don't want to end up being the speaker where the people in the...

Today’s episode it’s all about finding and developing your Big Idea for your thought leadership and public speaking. Ideas are incredibly powerful; they can live on for years, centuries, even millennia. Ideas spark movements for political and social change. Ideas help us as humans understand ourselves, each other, and the world around us. Your idea doesn’t have to be something people have never he...

If you’re giving talks but not seeing leads or clients come from them, this episode will change how you think about speaking. I’m joined by our lead speaking coach, Diane Diaz, for part two of our series on integrating speaking into your marketing strategy. We’re talking about how to approach your talks as a marketer — without turning them into sales pitches (because no one wants that). We break d...

If your marketing feels like it’s working harder… but not necessarily working better , you’re not imagining it. In this episode, I’m joined by our lead speaking coach, Diane Diaz, for part one of a two-part series all about why your signature talk isn’t just “nice to have” - it’s actually the foundation of an effective marketing strategy. We’re seeing it everywhere: more content, more noise, more...

What does it really take to create a keynote that inspires, connects, and builds your speaking career? In this Back Stage with Speaking Your Brand, I’m joined by three incredible women who attended our recent Master Your Message & the Stage Workshop in Orlando: Kait Richardson, Alfarena (Alfie) McGinty, and Niki Ramirez. You’ll hear: Why they decided to work on a keynote talk How they used our...

When most people hear the word policy , they immediately picture Washington, D.C., marble hallways, and people in suits arguing on TV. But as my guest today so brilliantly reminds us, policy is simply how decisions get made - and you don’t need to be a political insider to influence it. In this episode, I talk with Dr. Deborah Stine, founder of the Science and Technology Policy Academy, former Exe...

Worried that giving the same talk more than once would box you in - or worse, bore you to tears? I’ve been there. And if you’re a builder-of-slides-at-heart like me, the idea of sticking to one signature talk can feel a little… constraining. But here’s the truth: the talk you give again (and again and again) is the one that becomes unforgettable - for you and your audience. In this episode, I’m jo...

Whether you’re in corporate aiming for your next big role or an entrepreneur looking to attract higher-value opportunities, this episode gives you the clarity and strategy to move forward. I’m joined by my friend and career strategist Kate Wade, founder of Get Her Hired , who brings her signature mix of humor, candor, and deeply practical insight. Together, we unpack why talented women get stuck,...

We all know that facts tell, but stories sell. And when you add a touch of humor, your audience doesn’t just listen… they lean in . In this Back Stage with Speaking Your Brand LinkedIn Live, we’re joined by two recent clients of our Thought Leader Academy, Angela Gillis and Crystal Daye. They each present a 10-minute version of their signature talk that they developed with us during their VIP Day...

Have you ever had one of those moments when all eyes are on you… and your brain suddenly decides to take a vacation? Whether it’s during a big presentation, a media interview, or an unexpected question in a meeting, how we communicate under pressure shapes how we’re seen as leaders. That’s why I’m so excited for you to hear my conversation with Jen Mueller, a veteran sports broadcaster for the Sea...

Do you feel like your presentations are good , but maybe not yet great ? The kind that gets people talking, taking action, and reaching out long after the event? That’s exactly what happened for my guest, Karen Cochran, founder of Philanthropy Innovators .  Karen has led teams that have raised over $1 billion (yes, billion with a “B”!) - and after attending our 1-Day Speaking Accelerator Workshop...

Most of us have been told that if we want referrals, we should just ask for them. But, that approach can feel awkward. What if, instead of asking, you could design an experience that makes you naturally referable? That’s exactly what my guest, Stacey Brown Randall, teaches. Stacey is the author of her new book The Referable Client Experience , and she’s built a proven system to generate consistent...

Are you the kind of speaker who loves to have everything prepared in advance? Perhaps you even have your entire presentation scripted out nearly word for word and you have detailed notes for every slide that you rely on? Well, I have a challenge for you: getting more comfortable with impromptu speaking. As a speaker and as a leader, both impromptu and prepared speaking skills are a must. Have you...

Have you noticed how much harder it feels to stand out online lately? Between podcasts, YouTube, newsletters, and the never-ending scroll of social content, it’s easy to feel like your voice is getting lost in the noise. That’s why I invited my friend and fellow connector, Julie Fry, founder of Your Expert Guest , to join me on the podcast. Julie helps women entrepreneurs, speakers, and authors ge...

Here’s what you don’t want the audience to say after you deliver your keynote: “I learned a lot.” That’s you being stuck in the expert trap.  As a keynote speaker, you’re there to provide an experience for the audience; to help them see something differently about themselves or their industry or their world; and to have them believe they can do it. In this episode, I’m sharing 3 must-haves that wi...

We’re wrapping up our Booked Without Burnout series, and this one might surprise you: should you ever pay to speak? I know - it sounds backward. After all, you want to get paid for your expertise, not the other way around. But there are times when paying for a speaking slot makes strategic sense, especially if it’s tied to a sponsorship or marketing opportunity that gets you in front of your ideal...

Visibility is valuable. But visibility plus revenue? That’s power. Speaking isn’t only about sharing what you know. It’s about owning your expertise, modeling equity, and showing what women leaders are worth on stage. So how do you go from free talks at local events… to $2,500, $5,000, even $10,000 keynotes and workshops? This is Part 3 of my 4-part series on how to land more speaking engagements....

Wouldn’t it be amazing if speaking invitations just landed in your inbox - and with a speaker fee attached? The truth is, they can. In fact, many of my own paid speaking gigs (and our clients’ too) have come through inbound strategies - because we’ve intentionally set ourselves up so event organizers find us . This is Part 2 of my 4-part series on how to land more speaking engagements. In Part 1,...

Hey there, it's Carol, popping in for a minute! I want to make sure you know about our 1-Day Speaking Accelerator Workshop coming up  in Downtown Orlando, Florida . You’ll go from having a rough idea to building your talk using our proven Signature Talk Canvas® framework - and then practice delivering it with real-time feedback from us. And here’s the thing = you’ll create a talk that goes beyond...

You know speaking is one of the best ways to grow your business and your visibility. But between running your business, serving your clients, and managing everything else on your plate, finding time to pitch yourself for speaking engagements feels impossible. If you’ve ever thought: “I know I should be speaking, but I’m too busy to figure out where to start.” “Pitching myself feels overwhelming. I...

One of the biggest benefits of creating your signature talk and framework is that you don’t just use it once; you can repurpose it over and over again. In this episode, I talk with Thought Leader Academy graduate Eloisa Marquez-Gonzalez, who shares how she’s taken the signature talk and framework she developed with us and adapted it for different audiences, topics, and speaking engagements. Eloisa...

How do you go from giving short, tip-focused talks to inspiring audiences with a full keynote?  That’s exactly the journey our guest has taken and it’s one so many of us can learn from. Our lead speaking coach Diane Diaz talks with Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur, a senior project engineer who has spent over 20 years in the theme park industry, including at Disney. Elaine thought of herself as “the tip g...

Whether you've had one day that changed your life forever - or a series of events that shifted your understanding of yourself and the world - or a culmination of hard-won lessons from work and life, you have a story worth sharing. This is something I emphasize often, because so many women tell me, “I don’t really have a story. Nothing big has happened to me.” What matters isn’t the size of your st...