The Speaker Lab Podcast

Have you ever thought of YouTube as more than a place to host your videos? What if you could find out how to use YouTube to grow your speaking business? The man to tell us how is none other than my friend Thomas Frank.  Thomas went through our Booked and Paid to Speak trainings a few years ago. I met him when he was in college; I spoke at his school. We stayed in touch and he's become extreme...

At a certain point, most of us think about how to ensure we are living a life of significance. One person who has definitely done this is our guest today, Pete Smith. Pete has devoted his career to this very topic and he's here to share with us how he's successfully done so as a keynote speaker. Today he has between 40 and 50 engagements a year, most of which are opening or closing keynotes on the...

One of the fundamental keys to succeeding as a speaker is providing an exceptional customer experience for your client. This includes all aspects of your client's event: before, during and even after. A man who knows this truth like the back of his own hand is Joey Coleman. You may remember Joey from epsiode 197 of the show, and you may remember we finished that show with a tease to bring him back...

Can you change your audience once you’ve started speaking? You can, and here to share how to pivot in your speaking career is Kendra Dahlstrom. On today’s episode of The Speaker Lab, Kendra shares how and why she changed her speaking niche, how she gained traction early on in her speaking career, and what it was like to make the jump from alast full-time job to a full-time speaking career. Join us...

Do you need a speaking management company? What's the difference between a speaking management company and a speakers bureau? Here to answer those questions and more is Karen Harris of CMI Speaker Management, a management agency for speakers. Karen's agency is designed to represent the speaker's interests and take care of their needs, while also growing their business. On this episode of The Speak...

Have you ever considered how to develop your voice through speaking and writing? Whether you are a speaker who wants to write or a writer who has a book to promote writing and speaking go hand in hand. Here to tell us more about this is Ann Handley. Ann is the Chief Content Officer of MarketingProfs, she's also a best-selling author and a speaker. Today on The Speaker Lab she and Melanie are talki...

Some of the advice you'll hear most on this show is about how to narrow your audience. Yes your topic may appeal to a wide range of audiences, but how are you going to find the people perfect for you? By staying focused and going narrow. Someone who epitomizes this is Rick Clemons, our guest for this episode. Rick has gone through The Speaker Lab elite coaching program and has made fantastic...

Do you think if you get listed with a speakers bureau the gigs will just come pouring in? It's not quite that simple. Marcus Sheridan joins us to share why speakers bureaus alone won't make you successful (and what will) on episode 207 of The Speaker Lab. Marcus is a successful speaker who has built his business in an unconventional way. Today we break down and bust through myths he held, how his...

Do you know what SEO stands for or how SEO can grow your speaking business? You're in luck because today's guest will answer those questions, and more. Brian Dean of Backlinko joins us for episode 206 of The Speaker Lab. Brian's company is Backlinko, an SEO training company that teaches people how to rank in Google and YouTube. Most people know Backlinko as a blog, it gets 3 million visitors every...

You know it takes time, effort and energy to build and grow your speaking career; succeeding as a speaker means you also must know how to compete every day. Someone who embodies this is Jake Thompson. Jake's brand, Compete Every Day, is an apparel lifestyle brand based on the idea that life is worth competing for. On this episode of The Speaker Lab, Jake will go into more detail on the evolution o...

Can publishing a book help your speaking career? It can and here to explain how to get a book deal is my friend Chad Allen. Chad has 20 years of publishing experience under his belt, including being the head of the Baker Books division of The Baker Publishing Group. On this episode of The Speaker Lab, we're going to talk about how to create your book proposal, why and how to follow authors in your...

One of the most common topics people ask me about is how to create a demo video. To dive into this topic our co-host, Ms. Melanie Diezel, is returning for episode 203. This is an important part of building your speaking business and your brand so we're dedicating an entire show to it. Today, Melanie and I will walk you through the best practices to keep in mind for your demo video, how to act...

Are you a part-time speaker, or are you someone who speaks on occasion? Or maybe you're doing a lot of speaking on the side while still working your full-time job, and you're wondering how to transition into full-time speaking. If any of those scenarios sound like you then you're in luck! Today's episode is completely dedicated to this very topic - how to transition into speaking full-time. M...

This is my favorite guest we've ever had and ever will have: my wife! We are talking with Sheila Baldwin, my other half. Sheila was previously here with us on episode 60 , and we're bringing her back for part two today. We'll talk about how to be married to a speaker: what Sheila's role has been in my business, what it's really like for her when I travel, how we divide up chores and what we like t...

Welcome to The Speaker Lab for a very special milestone: episode 200! Whether it's your first time here or you've been with us for all 200 shows, thank you for listening. On today's episode we are doing something different - we've reached out to our speaker friends and other people in the speaking industry and asked them to share their best speaking tip. It could be related to connecting to the au...

By now you know publishing is a great way to solidify your reputation in your niche. But did you know you can also grow your speaking revenue through publishing? You can and our friend Jeff Goins is here to share exactly how. Today is a different type of episode, it's actually an interview taken from our upcoming course Beyond The Stage. Our conversation focuses on all things publishing: self-publ...

You know a speaker only makes money when they speak - unless they build their business beyond the stage. And today we are exploring one of the ways to do just that with the one and only Mr. Pat Flynn. Pat is an entrepreneur and renowned public speaker who runs a site called Smart Passive Income. Even though he and I could geek out on speaking all day long we have a different focus for this show: a...

Wouldn't it be great if you knew how to never lose a customer again? Absolutely! To give us insights is the man who literally wrote the book on this subject: Joey Coleman. Joey is a full-time speaker who talks to companies about what they can do to keep their customers, especially in the first 100 days of a new customer's journey and how to keep that customer coming back for more. We dive into tho...

Have you ever listened to a speaker and felt like they knew you and your fellow audience members personally? That feeling makes all the difference as a listener, but it also makes a difference for the speaker. Here to tell us how customizing improves you as a speaker is our Chris Hogan, our guest on today's episode of The Speaker Lab. Chris is part of Ramsey's Solutions, Dave Ramsey's company and...

Why is being your authentic self on social media important to your speaking career? The answers are on this episode, and it's an extra special one. We're doing something today we have never done before: Melanie Deziel is your host, not me. Joining her is Michael Barber, a marketing expert and talented speaker who is sharing how speakers can show up as their authentic selves on social media and on...

Knowing how to get attention in today's increasingly digital world is no small feat, and our guest is here to fill us in. If you've listened to the show for awhile you may remember her from episode 124 - Ms. Neen James. She's a rare repeat guest and we make great use of her visit on today's The Speaker Lab. We talk about attention: getting and keeping attention from potential clients and even othe...

Do you hate the idea of networking or do you see it as an opportunity to give to others? For some networking has a negative connotation, but our guest is here to set the record straight and tell you how to improve your life through networking. David Burkus is a successful author who considers himself a writer first, and a speaker second. He's written several best-sellers including his latest book...

Preparing for your speech is an important aspect of giving a great talk and here to give us her trade secrets is Melanie Deziel. If you've been here before you know Melanie is a frequent co-host of the show and she joins us again on The Speaker Lab to give you a breakdown of her personal speaking preparations. We give you a behind-the-scenes look at how we each rehearse and get ready for the...

On episode 191 of The Speaker Lab, we're talking about the technical aspects of slides when you're speaking: the pros and the cons, and how to deal with the cons. As a recap from last week's episode, our co-host Melanie Deziel is here with us for part two of our talk on slides. She's a fan of slides, and uses them with almost all of her presentations. As she says, she's all about the slides! It's...

Should you use slides as a speaker? Some say yes, some say no and some say it depends! To weigh on whether or not you should use slides during your speech we're bringing back our lovely and talented co-host Ms. Melanie Deziel for this edition of The Speaker Lab. We'll be debating about the pros and cons of using slides as well as customizing slides, and using text, video and images in your slides....