The Speaker Lab Podcast

"It's kind of like setting up a table for dinner. You don't want to just be scrambling and hustle to the table and be sweating and be like, I don't even know where the forks are. So I think it's like, no, let's have a nice clean table. Lay it all out before yourself so you can kind of settle into it and know exactly where everything is and know you've set yourself up for success."

We’re back with another episode in our Coaching Corner series! Today, Maryalice and Emily Arnold sit down to talk about how you can best prep to make your time in the program count. Emily is one of our program concierges, and she’s been around the block a few times when it comes to helping students prep for success and take off running. 

"And as someone who works with all of you, I see that you do all genuinely care about people. And so I think it's so wonderful to work for a team of people that when I'm getting students on orientation, I know with confidence, I'm sending you off to the coaching team who genuinely cares about you."

In this episode, Maryalice and Emily dig into: 

• How to prep for the program 
• What mindsets are helpful to embrace when getting started 
• The richness of the TSL community 
• What it looks like to embrace personal branding 
• How to get over the fear of seeing yourself on a screen 
• When to access the support this program has so you can succeed in the long term 
• And more! 

"There's this beautiful thread between all of the speakers that come to us, which is typically a desire to help people ultimately. And so what a community to be a part of?"

Episode Chapters:

• 00:02:02 Meet Emily, let’s get to know her! 
• 00:08:38 Set intentions and tips to develop a mindset for success.
• 00:09:45 Set up logistics and follow the checklist for successful orientation.
• 00:12:00 How to get the most from the community. 
• 00:16:38 Using module 3 to help you show your best qualities online. 
• 00:18:20 The fear of personal branding and how to get comfortable with that.  
• 00:24:00 What advice would you give to speakers for social media. 
• 00:26:20 Find and hang out where your people are. 
• 00:31:00 Share your knowledge as you’re learning it. Remember that social media aims to support personal connections. 
• 00:33:30 People want to work with people they want to work with. 
• 00:36:00 We want to challenge you to grow but can’t force you. 
• 00:37:36 We genuinely care about helping and supporting you and welcome you into the community with open arms.

Episode Resources:

• Get Free Speaker Resources
• Book a Call with The Speaker Lab
• Calculate Your Speaking Fee
• Join The Speaker Lab Community on Facebook
• Subscribe on Apple Podcasts
• Subscribe on Spotify

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

"I think speakers are being called to be even more dynamic, more impactful, and a greater return on investment if they're addressing someone or having the pleasure of addressing someone in person and live."

Joey Coleman joined us on the podcast this week to chat with Grant Baldwin about his journey of building a speaking business, leveraging books to create credibility, and learning how to eb with the ebbs and flow with the flows as the speaking world grows and changes to accommodate virtual and in-person events. 

"Every presentation I give, I try to think about, what do each of those three separate groups want? What do they need, and how does my speech serve them? So what is the ROI for the check signer? It's going to be a much tighter dollar ROI than for the person sitting in the crowd. But for the person sitting in the crowd, it's going to be a behavioral ROI."

In this episode, Grant and Joey dig into: 

• Joey’s speaking history and expertise 
• The shift in booking timelines
• How to engage crowds virtually 
• What your marketing materials should target 
• How to make sure everyone sees the ROI of you as a speaker 
• Book publishing for your credibility 
• How to run uber specific discovery calls for success 

“It's my personal belief in my worldview that humans are humans. Regardless of industry, customers have certain things that they're going to do. I don't care whether you're buying a loaf of bread or a tractor. You have certain desires, innate feelings as a human being, and the same holds true for employees. If you're a brand new employee, I don't care whether you're the CFO or the call center rep, you're going to have certain human desires that you want. What I try to do is have as the foundation for everything I do the commonality amongst humans.”

Episode Chapters:

[00:02:37] How has covid changed the state of the speaking industry?

[00:04:45] What is the percentage of your in person vs online gigs?

[00:09:48] How do you provide better solutions when what they ask for isn’t what they need?

[00:14:13] What audiences do you need to impress with your content?

[00:19:07] How to use common human desires to drive business outcomes?

[00:22:12] What does it take to focus on customer and employee engagement?

[00:27:37] How did you publish your books?

[00:31:54] Why should we read your new book?

Epsiode Resources: 

• Connect with Joey
• Get Free Speaker Resources
• Book a Call with The Speaker Lab
• Calculate Your Speaking Fee
• Join The Speaker Lab Community on Facebook
• Subscribe on Apple Podcasts
• Subscribe on Spotify

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

"If you go through adversity and you don't learn anything from it, that it's a lost opportunity"

This episode of the Speaker Lab Podcast is another excellent episode of our Student Highlight Series. Maryalice Goldsmith, Director of Student Success, sat down with Bruce Wawrzyniak to talk about his speaking business, the career he’s building, and his experience here at the Speaker Lab. 

"So which ones are you going to choose? Are you going to choose the negative thoughts and dwell on those, or are you going to choose the positive, happy thoughts and really affect your whole day with the choices that you make just based on all the different thoughts that come in and out of your mind?"

When it comes to developing a speaking career, Bruce reflected on finding his niche, developing confidence in his worth, and learning how to run this operation like a business vs. a hobby. Maryalice and Bruce also cover: 

• Developing a strategy as a speaker 
• The importance of happiness in our life 
• Why you should invest in yourself 
• How to prepare for success 
• What it looks like to take action 
• Why you have to solve a problem for your audiences 
• And more! 

“Hope is not a strategy that will grow your business.” 

Episode Chapters:

[00:03:33] Importance of happiness, solution-focused mindset, COVID's impact.

[00:07:19] LinkedIn bio highlights being talkative and adversity.

[00:10:49] Transitioning from unpaid speaking to professional excellence.

[00:15:24] Speaker Lab changes speaker's approach to bookings.

[00:19:57] Learning how to evaluate event opportunities strategically.

[00:23:28] Choose one thing, be successful and prepared.

[00:28:34] What do you need for a successful presentation?

[00:29:47] Benefiting from adversity, helping and inspiring.

Episode Resources:

• Connect with Bruce
• Get Free Speaker Resources
• Book a Call with The Speaker Lab
• Calculate Your Speaking Fee
• Join The Speaker Lab Community on Facebook
• Subscribe on Apple Podcasts
• Subscribe on Spotify

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

“Just because you’ve had success in other fields doesn’t mean that you get to skip rungs on the ladder.” 

Grant welcomes Jon Acuff back to the The Speaker Lab Podcast! Jon is a regular guest on our show, because he’s an active speaker, a well know New York Times bestselling author, and one of Grant’s good friends. 

"I think you could climb the ladder faster when you're an expert at something else already. Like, you and I have seen that, like, former athletes climb the ladder faster. People that have done other things climb the ladder faster. But I think it's about setting your expectations. I think it's about setting the reality. I think it's about putting in the work, about thinking about the client, like, outperforming what their expectations are."

This week, they dig into Jon’s speaking journey what he’s learned through writing his latest book, All It Takes is a Goal, and how you apply these goal setting principles to your speaking business. 

This episode also covers: 

• How to climb the speaking ladder 
• What it looks like to set big goals that don’t set you up for failure 
• Jon’s favorite goal setting framework 
• How to embrace challenges and connect with the audience 
• What it’s like always playing away games 
• How to use books to grow your business 
• What ghostwriting is and how to tell if it’s a good fit for you 
• A little bit more about Jon’s new book 

“It's kind of like, an NFL player who sucks at announcing. They do it for like, three games and you never hear from them again. And you're like, But I thought he played in the NFL for ten years. He's a hall of famer. Yeah, it turns out performing in a game or commenting on a game are very different crafts. And he thought, Nah, dude, I throw touchdowns. I know how to break down a game and do color comment like, no, you don't. You have a chance to engage in that with humility and work on it and put in the reps and the effort, or it just falls apart. And so I remember so many times where I would go and again, it would be low fee, small audience, maybe new content, and I'd put together my own slides, and it was me learning how to do it. And you really have to look at, like, if there's five people in there or 500, I have to give my best.”

Episode Chapters:

[00:02:34] Start small, build up to guaranteed goals.

[00:06:52] Frustration and joy in pursuing new ventures.

[00:09:58] Always serve well. 

[00:14:54] Content creators need to accept the limitations of their celebrity status.

[00:19:08] To become a keynote speaker you have to cater and serve corporate audiences, books are a great tool for that.

[00:24:26] Test your content live before creating a book.

[00:25:36] Continuing to use older content as it fits the audiences is a great way to use your books after you publish them. 

[00:31:22] Is ghostwriting the solution? 

[00:33:30] All about Jon’s Book: "All it Takes is a Goal" The author reflects on his college regrets, realizing his potential, and helping others. Study shows most people feel untapped potential. Book offers practical ways to reach goals

Episode Resources:

• Connect with Jon
• Get Jon's New Book: All It Takes Is A Goal
• Get Free Speaker Resources
• Book a Call with The Speaker Lab
• Calculate Your Speaking Fee
• Join The Speaker Lab Community on Facebook
• Subscribe on Apple Podcasts
• Subscribe on Spotify

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

"We absolutely have the ability to cultivate a growth mindset, which will put us it makes us more resilient. It gives us the ability to see opportunities and connect more easily with people. We move through the world very differently, and it gives you a different energy to go about the task of building a business."

The Speaker Lab Coach, Katherine Johnson is back on the podcast this week sharing her expertise on reprogramming your mindset so it’s a helpful tool in building the speaking busines of your dreams. She sat down with Maryalice Goldsmith, to chat about changing your mindset, to ensure that you aren't creating a breeding ground for failure.

 "I'm always growing. I don't know how to do this piece. This may feel hard right now, but what I know is I can look back at my past life and be like, I can do hard things."

Katherine and Maryalice dig into:

• Tips on how to build resilience
• Why you need discipline
• How to overcome failure 
• What it looks like to transition to a growth mindset 
• How to assess our experiences and the stories we tell ourselves for quality in the decision making process 
• What metrics matter when you’re building a busienss 
• Ways to recovery when you learn a hard or expensive lesson 
• And more! 

“I think of resilience as coming from focusing more on the activities you're doing and their effectiveness over the long run instead of focusing on the results. Right. Because if we take that idea of, let's say bamboo, right? Bamboo. At first, there are certain kinds. You plant it, you water, water, water. You don't see anything. And then all of a sudden, you can get a foot of growth a day. Right? Well, we have to focus on what you're doing in your speaking business and as a speaker, looking at the activities, and that those compound and they stack. But if you take a snapshot in any moment and you are just like, well, this must mean X, Y or Z, and you walk away, you're doing a huge disservice to yourself.”

Episode Chapters

00:02:13 Mindset impacts everything. Positive mindset is crucial.

00:06:52 Questions to focus on learning and reprograming thought processes.

00:11:33 Embrace new opportunities and see what happens.

00:15:28 Open to learning, failures lead to success.

00:16:36 How to bounce back when things go wrong.

00:22:39 Consistently prioritize key tasks to achieve success.

00:24:41 Focus on growth mindset, set realistic expectations. Seek coaching for perspective and progress.

Episode Resources

• Get Free Speaker Resources
• Book a Call with The Speaker Lab
• Calculate Your Speaking Fee
• Join The Speaker Lab Community on Facebook
• Subscribe on Apple Podcasts
• Subscribe on Spotify

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

"So there are definitely two main chapters to my life, and they both happened before age 22. So when I was very young, and they both involved aviation, and one was ultimately amazing, and one was obviously terrible.”

Until age 22, Ryan’s life revolved around flying and aviation. Unfortunately, after an unexpected trip, he was put in a place where flying couldn’t be his #1 priority anymore. After some unexpected journeys as he was healing, he spent a lot of time reflecting on what he would do with his life. 

“I realized at that point that a lot of speakers are out there, like the prior version of Ryan. Who spoke on climbing a mountain, this incredible success that had its adversities along the way?

But there was also a whole different group that spoke on the day that changed their life forever. And that was unrequested adversity. But very few had both. And I thought to myself, wait on, that's actually an opportunity to compare the two to see where we truly learn.”

Ryan moved to the US to pursue his speaking career. In a way, the world forced him to change his plans and adapt to the industry as he settled down in the US just in time for COVID to hit. If you’re experiencing a season of turbulence in your life and are hoping to find inspiration to continue overcoming adversity, this episode is for you! 

Grant and Ryan dig into:

• How to handle adversity and become “turbulence tough”
• Following your intuition even when it’s hard. 
• How to tell your stories so they resonate with your audience 
• Engaging the audience so they never forget your message
• Developing resiliency 
• Learning how to handle the ebbs and flows 

“There are very few ways to do new ways to do old things, right? It's, finding a way to take a cliche or something that's worn out and present it back to an audience in a fun, unique, potentially viral, unforgettable way, and, That's what we've managed to do, which is really cool. So if you're out there and you don't have that wild story, don't worry about it.”

Episode Chapters:

[00:02:50] Prioritizing joy, mental health, resilience, hobbies

[00:05:04] Aviation passion leads to incredible achievement.

[00:08:43] Young flyer's journey from fame to tragedy.

[00:11:51] From paraplegic to helicopter pilot to speaker.

[00:15:30] Passion for mental health and resilience. Pink Cadillac led to prioritizing joy.

[00:20:22] A masterclass in storytelling.

[00:23:46] Finding joy and prioritizing happiness transformed me.

[00:26:54] Communicate, learn, iterate, observe, and create memorable experiences.

[00:29:53] Building a speaking business takes patience and resilience.

[00:35:34] Be careful networking too far ahead.

[00:37:49] Incredible lifestyle, money, time, work-life balance. Create your own brand and transform.

“What if I merge these two worlds? What if every time I was struggling, I actually intentionally prioritized joy? What if I took this one thing that a lot of us consider selfish, and I made it essential? And it was an understanding of the benefits, a deep dive into that, that led to the permission to do something we often see as selfish.

The permission led to prioritization, which led to positive change. So this one idea of ‘Hey, this stuff matters’ led me down a path that not only did this become one of the greatest benefits in my life to my mental health, especially since the accident, it actually became a question, what's your pink Cadillac? What's the one thing you do that makes you smile like a kid?”

Episode Resources:

• Chat with Ryan 
• Connect with Ryan on LinkedIn
• Get Free Speaker Resources
• Book a Call with The Speaker Lab
• Calculate Your Speaking Fee
• Join The Speaker Lab Community on Facebook
• Subscribe on Apple Podcasts
• Subscribe on Spotify

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Many speakers lean gradually into speaking. Still others stumble upon it unexpectedly. And still others find their passion and talent early on in life with the help of formative family members–like Shailesh Ghimire. Shailesh is our latest Student Highlight guest on The Speaker Lab podcast, and he shares his story on episode 459 with Maryalice Goldsmith, our director of student success. Today, Shailesh is a speaker, podcaster, and marketing expert with a background in physics. But years ago, he was a fourth grader preparing and delivering presentations for his dad, who loved and respected the fields of public speaking and debate. Thanks to those early years learning how to speak in front of an audience, Shailesh has never struggled with stage fright to this day.

While Shailesh’s dad helped set him on the road to public speaking, it took him some time to move beyond treating speaking like a hobby on top of his successful marketing business. But ultimately, as he attests, everybody has the same 24 hours in a day–and he refocused his time to prioritize building a speaking business. That’s where The Speaker Lab comes in! Shailesh walks Maryalice through how our program offered him structure and consistency while leaving lots of room for independent initiative and creating your own systems. For example, unlike most speakers, Shailesh relies primarily on email for lead outreach rather than phone calls. This requires a unique set of systems for getting in touch with clients and following up, as you’ll learn on the show. 

Shailesh is full of enthusiasm and humor on air as well as on the stage–listen till the end to hear why he’s ready to write the “definitive book on women” after raising four daughters. He is currently working on expanding to new clientele and you’ll get to hear all about the additional hurdles and challenges that come with the scaling stage of running a speaking business.

You’ll also learn all about: 

• How being involved in theater helps prepare you for confidence as a speaker.
• Tips and tricks for balancing speaking and parenting. 
• How to make traveling all the time more enjoyable. 
• Why you shouldn’t overcomplicate the prospecting process.
• Why imposter syndrome is actually a good thing.
• How to maintain energy from one speaking engagement to the next.
• …and so much more!

Episode Resources:

• Read Shailesh's Success Story
• Connect with Shailesh
• Get Free Speaker Resources
• Book a Call with The Speaker Lab
• Calculate Your Speaking Fee
• Join The Speaker Lab Community on Facebook
• Subscribe on Apple Podcasts
• Subscribe on Spotify

Episode Chapters:

• [00:01:51] Dad's influence at home to get public speaking practice.
• [00:04:02] Discovering speaking career leads to paid gigs.
• [00:09:40] Time is all about priorities and goals.
• [00:14:30] Be intentional, follow instructions, use email.
• [00:19:43] Surprise: Learning about presentation time requirements
• [00:22:12] Last-minute panic turns into successful presentation.
• [00:25:25] Big experience with dedicated, learning audience. Stay prepared.
• [00:29:11] How are you focused on expanding your speaking business?
• [00:33:41] Game-changing; juggling multiple businesses with purpose.
• [00:34:47] Believe in your message, forget self-doubt.
• [00:40:00] Legacy: emotional attachment to leaving a mark.
• [00:41:23] Grateful guest expresses appreciation for podcast appearance.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

As a speaker, it’s often hard to find the balance between telling your story, building your personal brand, and serving your audience. No matter what your story is, you have to connect it to solving your audience’s problems. Otherwise, you’re just talking about yourself–and that’s a surefire strategy for failure if your goal is making an impact. On Episode 458 of The Speaker Lab podcast, Grant Baldwin invited Bruce Van Horn, a speaker with a pretty extraordinary story, to help you walk that very fine line. 

Before Bruce was a speaker, he was a creative writing major who pivoted to a successful career in the software business. If you’re struggling to connect the dots between what you studied, where you work, and what you want to speak about, his path will inspire you to think outside the box and buck expectations. 

Bucking expectations is a big part of Bruce’s mission. On top of being a speaker, he is also a life coach, author, and podcast host. Through his various efforts to promote positive change using words, he helps other people experience radical mindset shifts and get unstuck from negative patterns in their life. On the show, he shares some of those strategies and a sneak peek into what he calls his “victory routines.” His podcast, Life Is A Marathon, invokes a powerful experience of self-reflection and mindset shift he had while training for a marathon during a series of tragic life events.

You’ll also learn all about: 

• The drawbacks of basing your career choices entirely on money. 
• How Zig Ziglar inspired Bruce to kick his victimhood mindset. 
• What we can learn about from marathon training. 
• How to leverage a podcast to get you more speaking gigs. 
• The difference between passion and enthusiasm.
• How to pick the parts of your story that will connect with your audience. 
• …and so much more!

EPISODE RESOURCES

• Connect with Bruce
• Get Free Speaker Resources
• Book a Call with The Speaker Lab
• Calculate Your Speaking Fee
• Join The Speaker Lab Community on Facebook
• Subscribe on Apple Podcasts
• Subscribe on Spotify

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Establishing your niche is one of the most important tasks of building your speaking business.

Like all important tasks, this isn’t a one-step process–it is a long journey of discovery and refinement. Because this is such a hot topic among our TSL students, our latest coaches’ corner podcast naturally focuses on finding your niche. In Episode 457 of The Speaker Lab Podcast, TSL coaches Maryalice Goldsmith and Katie Campbell discuss how to figure out what your niche really is. If your niche is an onion, this episode is peeling back the layers so you can hone in on your target audience and book the gigs that are best suited to your expertise.

The more you narrow your niche, the more you attract the attention of the right people. That’s how successful speakers build momentum, as Katie and Maryalice explain on the show. No matter how broad you think your message is, you can amplify it best by finding the specific audience out there whose needs intersect perfectly with what you bring to the table. At the same time, finding your niche should not be a limiting experience. Many speakers mistakenly think they have to draw only from their on-paper experience to find a niche. But if your industry is over-saturated, there is probably a gap in the market where an unexpected audience really needs to hear what you have to say!

Another limiting belief that many speakers unconsciously subscribe to is that your story determines your niche. Stories are a core part of who we are and any speaker’s personal brand. While your story informs your talk, it does not have to define your niche. Speaking at its core is about solving problems, not selling stories. If you feel stuck in your attempts to drill down in your niche, reconsider whether you have let your story eclipse the solutions you offer. Chances are, reorienting your speaker brand around solutions and transformation will give you a boost and help you reach the right people. That’s what Katie and Maryalice will walk you through in Episode 457!

You’ll also learn all about: 

• What your “unique leverage point” is and how to find it. 
• How to apply your experience to a drastically different field. 
• Why your expertise matters more than your stories.
• How to choose stories that connect to your solutions. 
• How getting clear on your niche helps you sell yourself on the phone. 
• The importance of coaching and mentorship to overcoming imposter syndrome.
• …and so much more!

EPISODE RESOURCES

• Get Free Speaker Resources
• Book a Call with The Speaker Lab
• Calculate Your Speaking Fee
• Join The Speaker Lab Community on Facebook
• Subscribe on Apple Podcasts
• Subscribe on Spotify

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

It’s not every day that a game show host comes onto The Speaker Lab podcast. But this is your lucky day! For this episode, Mike Montague joins Grant for an exciting conversation about how he balances podcasting, speaking, game show hosting, and his job for a prominent sales and leadership training company. While some might have a specific vision of what it means to be a speaker, for Mike it means any time he’s behind a microphone. He knows how to bring the party to whatever kind of event he’s leading, whether it’s a corporate seminar for a multinational company or a keynote where he’s throwing water balloons at the audience.

Mike strikes an unusual balance for a speaker, as he has multiple ongoing employment contracts on top of his independent speaking business. As a result, this episode offers a great deal of insight into managing multiple streams of income. Most speakers scale and diversify their business at some point, so even if you’re not at that point yet, it can be really helpful to hear what that process is like for someone as multi-talented as Mike. 

Deciding whether to go all-in on entrepreneurship is a tough decision with many factors. Family, finances, and prior commitments can all impact the decision. Whether you like the stability of having one employer or you enjoy juggling multiple jobs at once, Mike’s story will certainly have some insights for you.

You’ll also learn all about: 

• Coping when your dream job isn’t everything you thought it would be. 
• How to create contracts with your employer that allow you freedom in your speaking business. 
• How to shake off imposter syndrome by getting comfortable in your niche. 
• When it’s time to take risks with your audience. 
• What it’s like to audition for game show gigs.
• How to write a game show script. 
• …and so much more!

EPISODE RESOURCES

• Visit Mike's Website
• Connect with Mike on LinkedIn
• Check out Mike's Podcast - Playful Humans
• Get Free Speaker Resources
• Book a Call with The Speaker Lab
• Calculate Your Speaking Fee
• Join The Speaker Lab Community on Facebook
• Subscribe on Apple Podcasts
• Subscribe on Spotify

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.