In this episode Cindy and Jason welcome speaker, author and founder of Ugg Boots, Brian Smith.

They discuss the importance of branding and marketing, why speaking is like being in a band, continuous improvements, and more. Brian also tells both heartwarming and funny stories about his early days as a speaker.

 

Continuing with the footwear theme, Cindy and Jason give tips and advice on how to choose the shoes you will wear onstage.

In this episode Cindy and Jason talk to story expert and former actor Michael Kass.

They discuss the dynamics of speaking and how to modulate your energy depending on the size of the audience and the room.

They also talk about the power of stories and how to use them to connect with people on a human level. Plus thoughts on the future of speaking!

In this episode Cindy and Jason talk to creativity and productivity expert Samantha Bennett.

Samantha talks about her career in acting and improv, and how they’ve affected her approach to speaking. We also discuss the impact of reading fiction, and being influenced by the language of various authors. Samantha also explains why entertainment and interactivity are the keys to engagement.

In this episode Cindy and Jason talk to vulnerable leadership expert Dom Faussette. Dom talks about how he used speaking to improve his career, how he got into the speaking industry and how he found his niche.

He also discusses his remarkable journey from being a chronic stutterer, to becoming a top leadership speaker.

Jason and Cindy also tackle the issue of how many talks you should have listed in your speaker marketing and how long you should make your descriptions.

In this episode, Jason and Cindy talk to Juliet Clark about how to build a platform (and not the one you stand on.)

We tackle topics including building an email list, using facebook groups, bots, assessment marketing, the best way to become a self published author, and more.

Cindy and Jason also tackle the question, “How do you hook a meeting planner so that you can get yourself booked for a gig?”

In this episode, Cindy and Jason welcome speaker, entrepreneur and author Alfonso Cuadra, a speak to sell master who regularly sells $20K plus packages from the stage at his own events.

Alfonso talks about the importance of self development, creating rapport with your audience, and the process he uses to ensure highly qualified leads in every room.

In this special episode Cindy and Jason welcome audio-visual specialist John Fraser to talk about how to use technology to create more intimacy with your audience.

We take an in-depth look at what you need to know about various types of stage audio - especially stick microphones, lavaliere microphones and headsets.

We also talk about how to use Powerpoint or other visuals without them distracting from your talk, plus how to use lighting and music to make your talk a real event.

Michael talks about both his background in Gestalt, and teaching in the military and how those things have improved his speaking style.

Cindy, Jason and Michael also discuss assumptions speakers make about their audiences, the power of an entertaining voice, and also key body language mistakes that speakers make that undermine their effectiveness.

David, Cindy and Jason talk about a number of recent trends and discuss going against conventional wisdom in several areas such as:

- How to use social media

- Speaking to sell

- How to create a great TED talk

In this first episode of the New Year, Jason and Cindy look back at the speaking industry in 2017 and project some of the trends for 2018.