"I think often we confuse strategy with activity, and we can get stuck in this kind of flywheel of just like, well, I feel busy, I look busy. I did a lot of things today, but what did I actually accomplish?"

If you really want to build a successful speaking business, you have to follow the right processes — and be consistent in doing the little things well. Everyone wants to book more paid speaking gigs, but what are the simple, practical things that most speakers miss?

Dan Irvin knows a thing or two about building processes to scale your speaking business — in just a few years, he's gone from a full time corporate job to 60 paid gigs in 2023. This week, he's sitting down with Grant to share 7 strategies you can use right now in your speaking business to get more gigs.

No matter where you are as a speaker or how many gigs you've booked, you'll get something out of this episode to help you move to the next level.

"Find what can you do each and every day consistently, even if it's just one tiny little step that you can do every day versus these massive kind of leaps that I think people oftentimes want to create."

Looking for the highlights?

• 02:29 How to build long term relationships in the speaking industry
• 08:35 Why having a strategy is more important than being busy
• 10:39 How to overcome the challenges of building a speaking business
• 11:38 Why consistent lead generation and follow up is the key to success
• 23:33 How to level up your communication with event organizers
• 27:39 Why your audience (and clients) are craving more from you
• 32:26 The power of referrals in building a speaking business
• 36:05 Why you should give yourself grace in the process

Episode Resources:

• Dan Irvin's Website
• 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.

"You can get rid of that limiting belief that you have to have a talk fully ready before you sell it."

One of the hardest things for new and aspiring speakers is putting together a compelling talk. It's hard to move forward until you feel like everything is perfect — but what if you could sell your talk before it even exists?

Your best marketing is a great talk — but you don't necessarily need to have that talk fully developed before you pitch it to event organizers.

This week, Erick Rheam is back to break down the four main reasons developing your talk first can actually be problematic, along with advice on how to test the market, why prospecting is a superpower for successful speakers, and much, much more!

If you're feeling stuck or you're not sure how to get things rolling as a new or aspiring speaker, this is the episode for you.

"When you're on the phone with an event planner and you're discussing what their needs are, if you're too rigid and you have this talk already developed, and you've got too much time invested in it and too much energy, it's harder to adjust and a little demotivating if you spent all this time building something that the event planner doesn't exactly want."

Looking for the highlights?

• 02:58 Four reasons why speakers shouldn't finalize talks before selling them
• 03:54 How to adapt your presentation to meet the event planner's needs.
• 07:00 How to draft a rough idea and adapt it based on feedback
• 10:10 Why you should be flexible with your topic and develop assets around it later
• 13:29 Why it's easier to pivot when you're already in the game
• 18:47 Why you don't need a dramatic story to speak
• 25:51 Why consistent daily prospecting beats sporadic efforts
• 28:05 Why success in speaking requires aligning passion with demand
• 33:01 How deadlines will force preparation and commitment

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

"Two things have to be true: one, you have to offer enough value so that they're paying attention. And two, you've got to communicate that value in a believable way, either through a third party or somebody they trust or you directly."

It might be cliché, but it's still true: speaking is a relationships business. If you want to be a successful speaker, you have to invest in building relationships every single day — with event planners, with industry leaders, and with other speakers.

This week, Grant is sitting down with Mo Bunnell to talk about how to overcome some of the most common obstacles that speakers face in making connections — being "too busy," fearing rejection, and more.

Mo recently wrote a book called Give to Grow about how to invest in relationships to build your business and your career, and he has a lot of practical advice that will help you get out of your comfort zone and start building relationships like a pro.

If you're struggling to get traction in your speaking business and you're looking for a spark to get things going, this might be the episode you need to hear!

"I'll be really bold on this. If somebody is thinking 'I'm too busy to do the next piece of work,' that is a massive excuse and you just need to flush it."

Looking for the highlights?

• 03:53 How to fall in love with the process of building relationships
• 07:08 How limiting beliefs can block speakers from achieving success
• 10:20 Why many speakers struggle with promoting themselves
• 15:23 How to maximize face time with key decision-makers
• 20:40 Ways to balance service with getting gigs in conversations
• 25:06 How to understand client needs and stated vs. unstated problems
• 33:01 Why you should reach out quarterly to maintain important relationships

Episode Resources:

• Mo's Website
• Give to Grow Book
• Give to Grow Live
• 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.

This week, we’re giving you a behind-the-scenes look at what coaching can do for speakers.

Erick Rheam is hosting live coaching sessions this week! These sessions feature TSL students and real problems that speakers face in their businesses.

This episode features Molly Kennedy and Theresa Skaar. Molly focuses on shifting her demographics and finding new income sources, while Theresa focuses on overcoming impostor syndrome and selling herself with confidence.

A few of their quotes that you might relate to:

“I just turned 50 this summer, and I feel like, personally, I'm kind of evolving and growing. I feel like my reach can expand beyond education, although I love teachers. Again, it's kind of an easy space for me, but I also feel like I want to challenge myself to have a broader reach as well." - Molly Kennedy

"I don't know if it feels audacious if it feels like so many people position themselves as an expert. And I'm like, you know, I don't know." - Theresa Skaar

Want to skim the session?

• 04:56 Why Molly loves what she does currently
• 08:09 Where she would like to transition into
• 12:52 Erick’s ideas on getting into a new market
• 15:18 Molly’s final steps to make the shift
• 18:51 Where Theresa feels like she’s lacking confidence
• 22:27 How Theresa wishes people felt about aging
• 25:11 What Theresa hopes to accomplish with her work
• 28:03 Erick advice on how to build confidence and show up as a pro

Episode Resources:

• Connect with Molly on LinkedIn
• Follow Molly on Instagram
• Visit Molly's Website
• Connect with Theresa on LinkedIn
• Follow Theresa on Instagram
• Visit Theresa's Website
• 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.

“The key to any industry is not focusing or trying to sell to 98% of your market. You're only trying to sell to that very top percentage of people."

If you're a speaker looking to scale your business and add new streams of revenue, you might want to consider launching a high ticket offer. This week, Grant sat down with Bryan Harris to chat about the value a high-ticket offering can bring to your business, how to get started, and some tips on developing these offerings in your own business.

Thinking about what’s next for your business? A high-ticket offering just might be for you!

“Our mission is to make it almost impossible to fail at getting customers."

In this episode, they also cover:

• 00:00 What do Bryan and his team do?
• 04:41 Why should people consider a high-ticket offering?
• 08:22 How do you think about finding your target market for this offering?
• 09:27 What can your business look like in practice?
• 13:33 How does support vary in you business and other places in your life?
• 19:11 What can you do to ensure your clients get what they need?
• 21:47 How do you continue to create value for your high-ticket offerings?
• 24:17 What does it look like to sell to your target market?
• 27:56 Book a free strategy session with Bryan's team
• 31:10 How can you leverage this as a speaker?

Episode Resources:

• Growth Tools Website
• Connect with Bryan on LinkedIn
• Follow Growth Tools on Youtube
• Follow Bryan on Twitter
• Free Strategy Session with Growth Tools Team
• Explore List Swap
• 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've got a working keynote that has structure that you've been honing for a while, you probably have the bones of a book." - Liz Morrow

"If you are someone who is highly entrepreneurial and you feel like you really value having a lot of creative control over the end product and you don't mind doing the hard, you know, kind of manual work of putting all of those systems in place and really championing your book yourself, then self publishing could be a great choice for you." - Ariel Curry

This week, Liz Morrow and Ariel Curry joined Grant to talk about the process of book writing for speakers. If you've ever thought about writing a book, this is the episode for you! Liz and Ariel have been at it as writers and editors for years, so they bring first-hand knowledge to the conversation about the process of writing and selling a book.

In this episode, Grant, Liz, and Ariel cover:

• 05:31 What’s involved in building a platform to sell a book?
• 08:34 Pros and cons of self-publishing vs traditional publishing.
• 12:53 How do you find angles to sell a lot of books?
• 14:19 Why are speakers positioned uniquely to write great books?
• 18:59 How does the book mapping process make a difference when it’s time to write?
• 20:42 What is the structure you recommend to writing a nonfiction book?
• 24:30 How do you use the book map to align your content as you write?
• 29:31 Are there ways to use AI to make the book-writing process easier?
• 32:41 Why should someone write a book?
• 35:14 Final advice for people still on the fence about writing a book.

"And these are people who have multimillion dollar businesses. They have 4 million Instagram followers. They've got multiple six figures of email subscribers. I mean, these are people who think would have all the justification in the world that they have something worth sharing, and they still worry, am I good enough?" - Liz Morrow

"The quality of the idea matters because people want something that is surprising. People want something that is new, and it's really hard to define." - Ariel Curry

Episode Resources:

• Buy Liz and Ariel's Book - Hungry Authors
• Follow Hungry Authors on Facebook
• Follow Hungry Authors on Instagram
• 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'm really passionate about solving the same problem that they're passionate about solving. I have a unique ability that I'm willing to share."

How do you write your own story and become the speaker you've dreamed about being?

This week, Brittany Richmond and Jake White are answering that question and talking about when to scale your business, how to find your niche, and so much more.

“If you want to accelerate faster, then you need quality time with the people that buy what you offer. I need to partner with the perfect match, learn their language, how they're funded, what problems they have, whenever they book us, what are the hurdles they have to go through? And however it can make it so easy for them to bring us in, that's part of my learning curve."

During this episode, you'll hear about:

• 00:00 Jake’s background and the road to speaking
• 06:00 Jake’s story of founding Vive18
• 08:54 How Jake met his co-founder
• 12:53 What it means to create your own story
• 14:08 The power in living your message
• 18:05 Why you have to invest in your own career
• 20:32 How to find your people in your industry
• 24:34 Tips to accelerate your business and learning from the get-go
• 28:16 How to create value for your customers
• 32:55 What it looks like to support your decision-makers

“If you build the community, then your people are going to continue using you because you are the hub and where to go."

Episode Resources:

• Connect with Jake on LinkedIn
• Check out Vive18's Website
• Follow Vive18 on Instagram
• Subscribe to Vive18 on Youtube
• Connect with Vive18 on Facebook
• Follow Vive18 on TikTok
• 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 show up and provide value and get to know us."

If you’re like most speakers, you’re probably wondering about AI. How should you use it? Should you be using it at all? And how do you make sure your authentic brand and story doesn’t get lost in the process?

This week, Pat Flynn is answering all of those questions and ALSO diving into what it's like being an event planner. How do event planners look for speakers? How do they make final decisions? Check out the full conversation!

"Short form video is like handing out Halloween candy, right? You have people coming to your house, you hand out candy, they move on to the next one. That's just people swiping, and when they move on to the next house, they kind of forgot about you already."

Grant and Pat also talked about:

• 03:22 What does your speaking business look like to date?
• 08:05 How does the format of content change the way it’s consumed?
• 11:06 What kind of prompts get you the best results when you use AI?
• 13:17 Why should someone consider using AI in their business?
• 20:07 When did you get into hosting events and what did that first one look like?
• 25:45 How do you think about finding speakers for an event?
• 29:12 Why showing up the spaces you want to be in matters.
• 31:26 Tips to get on event planners radars.
• 34:43 From an event planner, what makes a great speaker?
• 36:54 How do you build credibility with speakers before you make your selection.
• 40:20 Why it’s important to maintain quality relationships with other speakers.
• 44:10 Why the story you tell yourself matters, and how to change the narrative.

"When I first started, there were gatekeepers, there were people like, what are you doing here? Why are you trying to do this? And, like, who are, who are you to even do this? And I just, you know, just kept going and kept, you know, hitting that hammer across the value wall, and eventually, it broke, and people saw what I was actually here for, which is amazing."

Episode Resources:

• Visit Pat's Website
• Connect with Pat on LinkedIn
• Subscribe to Pat's YouTube Channel
• 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.