The Inside Man (ft. Shawn Hanks)

Discover what top bureaus want— from the CEO of a top bureau himself

OPENING QUOTE:

“There are two ways to really capture our attention, or I would say any bureau's attention.”

-Shawn Hanks

GUEST BIO:

Shawn Hanks is one of the most highly respected leaders in the speaking industry as CEO of Premier Speakers Bureau. PSB books thousands of events and touches millions of lives each year. Besides this role, Shawn has also served as president of the International Association of Speaker Bureaus and has seen it all in his 22 years in the business.

Links

• Shawn’s Bio
• LinkedIn
• Twitter

[11:46] The Ultimate Partnership

Initiating and maintaining bureau relationships

Among a series of can’t-miss insights, one that stands out is Shawn’s advice to focus not on your relationship with a bureau but your relationship with specific agents. After all, those are the people that can truly make moves on your behalf if they become personally invested and passionate about you and your career. And, of course, pursue relationships with a genuine spirit of connection— not manipulation.

[18:49] Myths and Truths of Speaker Bureaus

Everything you want to know and thought you knew

Josh plays ‘Myth or Truth’ with Shawn and we’re all gifted a rapid-fire airing of some of the most common speaking career questions. Sitting back and letting a bureau make your career happen? Myth. Bureaus are the deciding vote on who gets hired or not? Myth. As is usually the case in life, it’s much more nuanced— and requires more legwork on the part of speakers and other parties.

[20:23] A Diversifying Industry

Goodbye ‘male, pale, and stale’

Shawn and Josh discuss the amazing strides the speaking industry has taken away from a somewhat homogenous lineup of speakers to a much more diverse range of backgrounds, perspectives, cultures, and insights. After all, speaking is about telling stories that transform lives— and diverse backgrounds bring a much greater richness of storytelling and achievement.

[21:40] How to Build a Career that Lasts

Today, tomorrow, ten years later

You can choose one thing to last twenty years— your speaking career, or your speaking topic. Not both. Josh and Shawn agree that if you want to build a lasting career, your message must evolve and grow like the world around you and the people who live in it. 

[33:24] For Those at the Beginning

Shawn’s tips for speakers at the start of their career

There are so many valuable insights here that to pack them in, we’re going to have to stick to bullet points.

• “If you speak on everything, you speak on nothing.”
• Write a book— it won’t just make you look like an expert, it will make you an expert
• Get help— a coach, a mentor, a speaker development organization— to develop and guide your career
• Invest in yourself early, rather than too late

RESOURCES:

• [2:10] Premiere Speakers Bureau
• [2:22] International Association of Speakers Bureaus

Follow Shawn:

• Shawn’s Bio
• LinkedIn
• Twitter

Follow Josh Linkner:

• Facebook
• LinkedIn
• Instagram
• Twitter
• YouTube

ABOUT MIC DROP:

Brought to you by eSpeakers, hear from the world’s top thought leaders and experts, sharing tipping point moments, strategies, and approaches that led to their speaking career success. Throughout each episode, host Josh Linkner, #1 Innovation keynote speaker in the world, deconstructs guests’ Mic Drop moments and provides tactical tools and takeaways that can be applied to any speaking business, no matter it’s starting point. You'll enjoy hearing from some of the top keynote speakers in the industry including: Ryan Estis, Alison Levine, Peter Sheahan, Seth Mattison, Cassandra Worthy, and many more. Mic Drop is produced and presented by eSpeakers; sponsored by 3 Ring Circus.

Learn more at: MicDropPodcast.com

ABOUT THE HOST:

Josh Linkner is a Creative Troublemaker. He believes passionately that all human beings have incredible creative capacity, and he’s on a mission to unlock inventive thinking and creative problem solving to help leaders, individuals, and communities soar. 

Josh has been the founder and CEO of five tech companies, which sold for a combined value of over $200 million and is the author of four books including the New York Times Bestsellers, Disciplined Dreaming and The Road to Reinvention. He has invested in and/or mentored over 100 startups and is the Founding Partner of Detroit Venture Partners.

Today, Josh serves as Chairman and Co-founder of Platypus Labs, an innovation research, training, and consulting firm. He has twice been named the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year and is the recipient of the United States Presidential Champion of Change Award. 

Josh is also a passionate Detroiter, the father of four, is a professional-level jazz guitarist, and has a slightly odd obsession with greasy pizza. 

Learn more about Josh: JoshLinkner.com

ABOUT eSPEAKERS:

When the perfect speaker is in front of the right audience, a kind of magic happens where organizations and individuals improve in substantial, long-term ways. eSpeakers exists to make this happen more often. 

eSpeakers is where the speaking industry does business on the web. Speakers, speaker managers, associations, and bureaus use our tools to organize, promote and grow successful businesses. Event organizers think of eSpeakers first when they want to hire speakers for their meetings or events.

The eSpeakers Marketplace technology lets us and our partner directories help meeting professionals all over the world connect directly with speakers for great engagements. 

Thousands of successful speakers, trainers, and coaches use eSpeakers to build their businesses and manage their calendars. Thousands of event organizers use our directories every day to find and hire speakers. Our tools are built for speakers, by speakers, to do things that only purpose-built systems can.

Learn more at: eSpeakers.com

SPONSORED BY 3 RING CIRCUS:

From refining your keynote speaking skills to writing marketing copy, from connecting you with bureaus to boosting your fees, to developing high-quality websites, producing head-turning demo reels, 3 Ring Circus offers a comprehensive and powerful set of services to help speakers land more gigs at higher fees. 

Learn more at: 3RingCircus.com

PRODUCED BY DETROIT PODCAST STUDIOS:

In Detroit, history was made when Barry Gordy opened Motown Records back in 1960. More than just discovering great talent, Gordy built a systematic approach to launching superstars. His rigorous processes, technology, and development methods were the secret sauce behind legendary acts such as The Supremes, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Diana Ross and Michael Jackson.

As a nod to the past, Detroit Podcast Studios leverages modern versions of Motown’s processes to launch today’s most compelling podcasts. What Motown was to musical artists, Detroit Podcast Studios is to podcast artists today. With over 75 combined years of experience in content development, audio production, music scoring, storytelling, and digital marketing, Detroit Podcast Studios provides full-service development, training, and production capabilities to take podcasts from messy ideas to finely tuned hits. 

Here’s to making (podcast) history together.

Learn more at: DetroitPodcastStudios.com

SHOW CREDITS:

• Josh Linkner: Host | [email protected]
• Joe Heaps: eSpeakers | [email protected]
• Connor Trombley: Executive Producer | [email protected]