Okay, and let me settle into my chair here because I'm excited about today's talk. This is going to be so much fun because I know how much this community really loves a behind the scene. Yes, like, you're just like me, you want to know the behind the scenes details, and you want to see the case studies and the numbers, and you just want to know all the things. And it's why we get along. So, so much seriously, I'm still cracking up every time I see I'll go into like, the most
downloaded episodes for the profit podcast. And I see that the case study that I did on the office ladies podcast is still number one. And this just tells me like Ding, ding, ding, like we hit the nail on the head that you're absolutely love the behind the scenes and the case studies and just the information of breaking down what is actually happening. So I thought it would be pretty cool if I took you behind the scenes of the recent pod
fest masterclass talk that I did. And actually, as of me recording this, like, it just happened on Monday, and I'm recording this in real time for this week, which I typically don't do, I usually try to batch ahead of time. And I'm recording, you know, maybe about a week in advance. But I wanted to share the insights from before the talk during the talk and after the talk, because I know y'all are interested in these things. So let's get right
to it. Welcome to the Proffitt Podcast where we teach entrepreneurs how to start launch and market their podcast. I'm your host, Krystal Proffitt, and I'm so excited that you're here. Thanks for hanging out with me today. Because if you've been trying to figure out the world of podcasting, think of this show as the time saving shortcut you've been looking for. So let's get right to it, shall we?
Okay, so speaking of sharing behind the scenes, I thought I should just tell you all why today's episode is a little bit different than most episodes. So not only do I typically batch and have everything out and done, I'm actually recording this the day before the episode airs, and I almost never ever do that. I like I said, I am like well prepped in advance I
record like, at least the week before. Usually, it's not like, you know, if it's gonna air on a Tuesday or Thursday, I don't always record on a Tuesday, but I may have it at least done the previous week, and then it will be ready to go on Tuesday or Thursday of the next week. That did not happen. Like I said, because I wanted to share my experience from before, during and after my talk
at pod fest masterclass. So I just wanted to throw that out there for those of y'all that are like, Oh my gosh, Krystal always batches and she always has her stuff together. And she's now guys. No, no, no, no, I just want let's throw that out the window. Y'all know that Dan is better than perfect. That is the motto around here. So just want it for anybody because I know there's somebody's given themselves a hard time right now about batching their content. So no, it's that's
not always how things work around here. So just wanted to clarify that real fast.
So okay, so we are going to first talk about what pod fest is. So pod fest is an organization that curates these kinds of events, where podcasters can collaborate, come together, share their experiences, learn from one another. And they are actually an organization I have never been involved with before. This was the first time I've done an event with them. But I've always heard fantastic things. I was invited to their 2020 meetup in March. So it was March 2020.
And it was there last in person event it actually happened like, literally it happened. And then the world shut down for the pandemic. And people still talk about how much fun that they had. But unfortunately, it coincided with our spring break. And that was when our family took a trip to Oklahoma to be in the great outdoors. And so I wasn't able to go, but I've always heard fantastic
things about them. So the reason why I bring that up is because when you're thinking about speaking on other stages, whether it's podcast, it's actually, you know, applying to speak at their events.
I always have a few organizations on my radar. That I'm like saying if an opportunity opens up for me to collaborate with them, I'm going to jump on it, I'm absolutely going to make it happen. So those like, that is kind of wrapped up in the tips that I'm going to share with you today. But I wanted to first just kind of guide you along what we're gonna do here. So I want to talk about the process for pitching to podfest. Like I said, we're gonna talk about the before, during, and after of how
this all went down. And I want to share with you the tips that I've learned from speaking on virtual stages. And also just some practical tips that I experienced this week that I'm like, Oh, my gosh, this, this would be so helpful for anyone that wants to speak on stages in the future. Okay, so we know what pod fest is, we knew that it was on my radar, and I was always thinking about it. So that's actually tip number one is have those organizations that you know, that you want to
align with. Because you never know, when something's going to pop up. And the week, the reason, the reason that I knew that this organization was going to be having something is because I was on their email list.
So this is like tip number two, if you want to call it that. The first is to have the organization list that you would love to align with kind of like your master wish list. And I have several on here, whether it's publications that I'd love to write for stages, I want to speak on podcast I want to be on I have a
master list. It's like my dream list that I learned this tip from a boot camp that I did recently, it was all about being on TV and being on podcast and understanding, you know, the dream stages that you would love to be on. And pod fest was one of them. And so I was on their email list, and they sent out a call to action for speaker submissions. And I was like, wait, what is this? What what's what's actually happening? What's going on? And I kind of combed through all the
fine print to understand what was happening. And they were doing a brand new style of virtual event. And it was called the pod fest masterclass. And so in this masterclass, they wanted to serve podcasters during all stages, and specifically, they were going to have opportunities during the pre week events. So if you were to imagine that it was an actual in person event, it's like, there were sessions leading up to the event. And then
they have the main event speakers. And I thought, Oh, that's interesting, because they're not just going to be looking for keynote people that are like, you know, just the top of the top, and there's only going to be like, three spots open. And then that's it. They were looking for lots of
speakers. And I thought what a cool opportunity to, you know, throw my hat in the ring and say, I want to be part of this journey to not only that, but I felt super confident in the teaching aspect of aligning with a masterclass theme, because it's what I do, like, if if you are brand new around here, like you've never listened to this podcast, you haven't watched my YouTube channels, you never attended one of my trainings like, this is what I
do. I love being able to break down information very simply and deliver it in a way that it makes sense to someone who's brand new to podcasting. So I felt pretty confident. I was like, Yeah, I think that this would align really well, with all the content I've been creating and the things that I've been doing in my business and in the content that I've been putting out. So that was number two. So first and foremost, you want to align with organizations, you know, have your dream list of
places where you'd love to speak. The second tip I have is join their email list and follow them on social media follow all these places like because they shared and I know other organizations that are having submissions, like right now for speakers, they post about it on social media. So this is a great place for you to get that information. You know, maybe you love a podcast, follow that podcast and see if they're ever looking for speakers. And if you would be a great
guest jump on that opportunity. I think that this is so smart. And it's so simple, right? I'm not asking you to go out of your way and send them gift baskets full of mini muffins. No, I'm just telling you to get on their email list and follow them on social media.
Okay. The third tip I have is if you know the organization know their audience, because maybe you just align with the organization because you love what they Do but you've got to understand their audience on a deep level, because that's who they are serving, right at the end of the day, like, it's not about you getting on a stage in speaking or being on their podcast or, you know, any way that you can get in
front of their audience. It's about their audience, the organization or the event planner, whoever is like you're trying to get on their stage, it is their like, it's their game. It's their, it's their platform, it's their stage, you've got to become obsessed with understanding exactly who they serve. And don't be afraid to clarify those things whenever you are making your pitch. So here's a great example of what I'm talking about. Whenever I received the email for
speaking at pod Fest, right? It's like, Hey, we have the masterclass submissions, here's the information that we have, here's what you need to know, here's how to apply. Like, there was so much information, they're very organized, like I give them a huge shout out, especially through the process. And we'll talk about that of speaking on stage, everything was so well orchestrated, that it gave me more confidence as a speaker, that they were going to have their shit talking together,
things were gonna work out really well. But I dug through all of their fine print to see exactly who their event was for. And I actually crafted my speech and my language of the pitch with their language, I look to see like, Oh, this is for a beginner podcaster. Or if they called out specific, like content creation, instead of saying, creating podcast episodes, I use the words
content creation. So there's little tweaks that you can make to your pitch, whether it's like I said, a podcast or a virtual stage, that can really cater to the actual organization and their goals. Okay, so that's tip number three.
And then I kind of already mentioned this earlier. But Tip number four is, I want you to cater to the audience. Again, it is not about you being on the stage, it's about serving their audience. And the way that I was able to do this is, like I said, I really studied the information that they put out about this event. I wanted to know well, was it for beginner? podcasters? Was it just for seasoned podcasters? How long did you have to be
podcasting? Is it going to be? Are they looking for technical people to talk because in my world, it's really important to understand whether someone's looking for a technical talk, if it's on editing and equipment, and setting things up and leveling audio and all that stuff. They had a lot of speakers and presenters that came and talked about that stuff. And I'm like, if that's what this whole thing is about, then it's not for me. But thank goodness, that's not what it was.
Because if you've been around here, y'all I'm not technical. I really don't spend a ton of time with editing and the equalization of audio and compression and doing all those fancy things. Because I don't need to, I don't do that I have equipment and tools and software. And just to be honest, I'm gonna give them a plug, I use buzzsprout. And I use their magic mastering tool.
And that does everything of basically, whenever I'm finished recording here, if I make any mistakes, or I have to switch things up, I will do that. And then I upload it to buzzsprout. I don't spend hours editing this podcast, I just don't i don't think it's that important to cut out every and like little pieces of dead air. I mean, I will cut out huge chunks, huge mistakes. But I'm just not technical, basically like let's just sum that
up as I'm not a technical person. So whenever I was looking through, how can I best serve this audience I saw they were looking for talks for beginners and content creation. And I thought, Oh my gosh, this is my jam, like I can do this all day long. So I had that in my mind. That's what I'm going to do. That's who I'm going to serve. And this is how I'm going to serve them with content creation.
So tip number five, and then we're actually going to walk through the talk that I did the pitch that I did, because I want you to understand what this process actually look like. Because I know there are several people listening to this podcast that would love to speak on virtual stages one day, so you may hear me clicking around in the background because I'm opening I'm going to actually open up my pitch. So this is going to be the end kind of
of the before stage right? Like we said we were going to break down the before, during and after. So That's kind of the before, this is the prep work that I did before everything happened. And then I'm actually going to pull up. This is gonna, I'm really going to show you all my nerdiness behind the scenes with this. Okay, so I'm pulling up what I did, and this is something that I just started doing recently that I should have been doing a long time ago. But I actually learned this
from my speaking coach, Heather Sager. She has a program called speak up to level up, and I am in her program. It's called su Lu for short, but it speak up to level up. And one of the exercises that she taught us is having this Google Doc outline for any talk that you want to do, whether it's a podcast, it's for an event like this, it's a presentation, but having this master template that you use, and since I already had it, I was like, oh, cool, I can actually use this while I'm
crafting the pitch. And then whenever, you know, if they say yes, then I knew Oh, I can come back to my pitch and then just work from there.
Okay, I'm just I'm totally going to embarrass myself here with saying this and telling you this, but you know, it is what it is, like I've said worse embarrassing things on this podcast. But I have submitted talks before, and not remembered what I submitted. And I could not find the original information. Because if you've never submitted a talk, there's very different platforms. Some people use Google Forms,
some people use type form. Some people use really fancy sophisticated software just for speakers. And sometimes when you click Submit, like that's it, like it sends it off, and then you can't find it anymore. So if you don't create a copy of what you actually submitted, and then they come back, and they're like, Oh, we can't wait to hear your talk on blah, blah, blah. And you're like, I don't even know what I submitted. I totally forgot your I've done this. I've done this numerous times,
which thank goodness, they didn't pick me. It's like one of those things. I didn't have to it's water under the bridge. I didn't have to actually deal with it. But I've had several. Like, I've been so digitally unorganized. It's something I'm getting better at. Okay, I know this about myself. My husband, like gets out into me with my phone. Like my phone is so digitally unorganized. And I'm like, this is something I have to get better with. It's actually like, I'm just gonna tell y'all.
It's one of my quarter three goals. It's sad. It's sad. I know. Like, why? Why is getting more organized on your phone? What are your goals? It just is okay, I need to get better at it. So we are going to the actual pitch. So I am on my Google Doc kind of masterclass information.
And so I created this Google Doc. And the information that they required is, of course, you're going to have sections where it asks you what is your bio, tell us who you are, and give us your handles for social media because they want to check you out. If you're going to do a submission to talk, they are going to want to see who you are, what you're all about maybe the name of your podcast or where you're creating
content online. So the first thing that they asked is, what is the title of your proposed presentation. And I feel like this is where I've struggled a lot in the past because I know that I can create a great talk, you just got to get me out there. Like just trust me, I can do this. Let me just get out in front of your audience and I'll deliver. But creating that title has been a struggle for me when I've submitted in the past.
So whenever I joined Heather's program, I was like, You know what, no, no, like, this is not going to be issue for me anymore. I want to title my talks better. And it being intentional about that. I spent a lot more time creating these titles. Like I went through probably 30 titles before I actually picked one. Yeah, I know that sounds like a lot. But it was totally worth it. Because it really resonated. And the talk that I did was kind of top of mind for a lot of their
marketing. Like I saw it being highlighted as one of the top talks for this pre week. So it did it did a good job. I'm gonna pat myself on the back and say that I use the tools that I had and created a great title. So the title of the talk was stopped getting stuck three ways to outline your next podcast episode, because I knew that this would appeal to seasoned podcasters who are stuck, and to new podcasters who are like, oh, stuck. I don't want to be stuck. I don't know. No,
I don't want to be stuck. And either way if it was a new podcaster or a seasoned podcaster they're all going to be creating their next podcast episode. So again, the title is stop getting stuck three ways to outline your next podcast episode. So I thought that it was really good. And then the
brief description. So in the application process, it says give give a top, the title, the proposed presentation, you know, because we could always change it later, if we kind of, you know, we're missing the mark just a little bit, but the rest of the content was great. But I really recommend trying to nail the title. And this was actually the last thing that I did, I crafted all the like, I did like a brain dump of all the things that I
wanted to talk about. And then I came back to the title last, because I wanted to really, really knock that one out of the park. So then on the application, they say, give us a brief description. So I in the past would just give the bullet points like, Oh, this, this talk is for blah, blah, blah, who wants to do this and achieve this result? That's kind of boring, even if that is what your talk is about. I wanted to spruce
this up. I didn't want it to be the typical like this talk is for you know exactly what I just said. So instead, I wrote, have no idea what to talk about on your next podcast episode, you're totally normal, most new podcasters run into this obstacle in the first six to 12 months of their show. Let me show you three proven strategies that work every time to help you brainstorm new ideas, repurpose previously published episodes, and create an outline and easy outline or script for
your next episode. So what I did, and actually, I think that I did this after I did the next step. So I kind of did the application in reverse order. Because again, I could do that I was in my Google Doc, I wasn't actually in the form. So what I did was I went to the form, I copied all the information, like the questions, and then put them into my Google Doc. So I could figure this out and work it all out before I actually submitted. So
this was a way better application process. And now I have the information, my that's how I'm able to share it here with you. Because I saved it. I saved my own copy of everything. So I did not craft this description, before I actually had my bullet points, because I was like, okay, they want three to five examples or lessons that we can teach. So I came up with those three things that I wanted to teach. Then I back stepped into the description of the proposed talk, and then I back
stepped into the title. So that's how the application worked.
And then I actually am going to put in to the show notes. So I haven't talked about the show notes yet. So KrystalProffitt.com/episode252. That's going to be today's show notes. And I want you to go look at this talk. Like if this is something that you're interested in, I don't have the video recording, because that's still podfest information. And they are still going through their the process of creating the podfest masterclass, like they still have a whole week of all the stuff that they're
doing. But I do have my slides. So I want to share with you the slides of how I presented I actually cut the slides down from the original Canva presentation that I did, because I don't do animations during presentations, because I'm just like, well, what if they mess up if they screw up? I'm gonna look stupid. And so what I do is, I will actually duplicate several slides and then just cut out the information that doesn't need to be
there. So it's it's really a short PDF. It's like 15 slides when the original one I think was like probably 25 or something like that. Just for context. Like Let me tell y'all when I do presentations, I did one for my masterclass the four insider secrets every podcaster needs to know, y'all. That presentation is straight up 100 slides 100 slides, yes, because there's no animations. It's just like, I duplicate them and then I'll click through them. And I like I think
it moves faster and it works better. For me. It's a faster pace. I don't like sitting on the same slide because I start boring myself. Like I got to have more slides. Okay, that's my like little little thing for like presenting Dearing. Okay, so we've covered the before, right? We talked about the pitch.
Now during the talk. They are using a app that I've never used before called Whova. So it's W-H-O-V-A have never used this before. I'd never even heard of it before. But it's a really cool software where we are presenting in zoom, basically like a zoom webinar. And attendees can watch it right there in the app, whether it's on their phone Or it's on the computer, they can watch it in either place, but they don't actually have to sign in to zoom and do
a bunch of things. It's like you can just be there, you can just show up and click on the different sessions. So that was a lot of fun to experience that, because I'd never done it before. But, um, during the talk, so I was talking to my coach Heather the other day, you know, she's my speaking coach, we were doing an IG live yesterday, actually. And I was telling her that one of the things I know about myself, whenever I speak, is I have to channel the nervous energy.
Because I get a lot of nerves, y'all like the day that I'm going to speak, I kind of have like an upset stomach all morning, I can't hardly eat anything. I try not to overdo it on the coffee because I just have, like a lot of energy running through my body. And what I've realized is I cannot sit down, I don't I if I can stay up while I'm talking at home. Like if it's a big deal, like I will stand up, I don't like to sit down because then I get fidgety. And I start playing with my
hands or I start moving around on my chair. And my chair is actually a little squeaky right now I need to tell Seth, I need to just be like, hey, do you need some wd 40 on the chair or something because it's been squeaky when I move around. But I didn't I don't want any of that I wanted to stand up. So this is another thing that I did during my talk. And I presented with Canva. I had like the live, I have two screens of two monitors
for my computer. So two monitors up, I have Canva and one screen, I have the other app and the other two where I can, you know, answer questions, look in the chat, do all the things. And in Canva, if you're familiar with PowerPoint, or Google Slides or something like that, it's very similar and that you can have speaker notes. And I never did this in the past. I don't know why. But I was just like, I don't need speaker notes. I'm good. I can
just wing it. But of course, I would always forget that important thing that I really wanted to cover on that one slide. So I use speaker notes. Now. I don't know why I was so stubborn in the past di not use them. I absolutely use them. So I ha those open on the other screen as well. Whenever was presenting, and it was so much fun. It was s great.
And I loved that I hopped off the call. But then I hopped right back into the zoom to here are the Whova app to see what they were doing and what they were talking about. And they were saying things like I loved her energy. That was fantastic. Like we we need a little bit of you know what that energy that she had. So it told me and this is like, we've talked about the before,
during and after. And they told our that told me hearing those comments that I hit the nail on the head with what the Sulu students call our speaking mantra. Now the speaking mantra is something that like I said, my my code Heather Sager is like, you have to have that sentence that you want other people to describe you as whether it you know, and I'll just tell you, I actually wrote it in my, my presentation information. Because it was so
important. And I wanted to be at my speaking mantra for this talk and you have one for every single talk that you do is I am funny, I'm relatable. And I have a clear message. That was really, really important to me, because I like being funny and like it's something that I just a I enjoy it. I like you know, sharing that side of my personality because it's where I'm most comfortable. I like love humor. If you've been
around here, you know, I love the office. Ladies, I love the show the office, like my husband, and I joke all the time, my kids and I joke all the time, we love to laugh. So humor is a really big part of my life. And I want to infuse that into my brand. Wherever I show up. Wherever I show up, I actually opened, I had every intention of opening this presentation. I mean, I told a story that was really relatable and you'll see a little bit about it in the presentation slides I'm gonna link to in
the show notes. But Hi, it couldn't have worked out better that Chris he is actually the coordinator of pod fest. And he started the entire opening ceremonies sharing a gratitude. And he was like, you know, let's let's all share our gratitude. Like what are you grateful for today? And they shared a little bit about it. And he was like, you know, y'all Tell us in the comments.
What are you grateful for? And I was literally sweating bullets right before the talk started because there was the trash like trash trucks were on our street because they pick up on Mondays. They were on our street literally minutes before my talk was gonna start. And there was a lawn care service that was like 200 is down, that was finishing up, right? And I was like, Oh my gosh, they're going to be like, I have no control. I
have zero control about them being here. And I it's not like I can be like, Hey, I'm podcasting. And I'm, you know, we're talking about podcast here y'all need to leave. So I was sweating bullets. And so what I did is they thankfully they were done, they were all gone. By the time it was, you know, time for me to get on stage. And I told Chris, I was like, Hey, Chris, you know how you
were talking about gratitudes. When you first started, I just want to share I'm grateful for whenever the trash trucks and the Amazon deliveries and the lawn care services are done. So we can actually get back to podcasting. And he just thought that was so funny. He was like, Oh, my gosh, thank you for sharing that. Because everybody that's here can relate to the noises that are totally out of our control. So all of that to be said that I really wanted my speaking
mantra to be I'm funny, I'm relatable. And I have a clear message. And whenever I was done, like I walked off the stage, like, quote, unquote, I walked off, right, they basically they kicked me out of the zoom webinar. But I felt like I nailed that. And I felt so confident, and I just felt so dang good about it.
So all of that to be said, I have learned all of the things that helped me have a successful pitch a successful talk and feeling like I freakin nailed it from my friend and speaking coach, Heather Sager. And she is actually doing a live training exclusively for this audience. And I'm so excited about it, because it's coming up. If you're listening to this in real time, it's coming up next week. Okay, so I don't want you to miss this, I want you to you can go to the show notes that we've already
talked about. Or you can go to HeatherSager.com/Krystal with the K, if you're listening to the show, you probably know that but just making sure it's HeatherSager.com/Krystal. So I'm going to link to everything in the show notes. But she created this exclusive training for coaches and course creators. So if you have a business that's related to helping other people through a coaching program, or a membership, or course creation, you want to come to this free
training. It's how to confidently nail your message on podcast, live streams, and other live stages without second guessing what you say. And I love that she said without second guessing what you say, because we talked about this earlier. Remember when I told you all about the pitch whenever I would send a blind pitch and then be like, what, what did I say? Am I even prepared for this? What if they call me back? How do I know that this is what I need to talk about? Or that
they're actually going to like this. Like there was a lot of second guessing that I did before I started learning from Heather. So I want you to come to this training. And she was like Krystal, make sure you tell your people that I'm going to talk about my program speak up to level up. So yes, she is she's going to tell us how to
confidently nail our message. She's going to actually teach us though, if you've ever been to a masterclass or a webinar, or whatever people were calling it these days, where you're like, gosh, like I just attended this. And, you know, I don't even think that I really got anything from it. And then they pitched me on their program like this just felt like a sales pitch. Heather was like that is not what this is, I want to genuinely
teach your audience. That way they can go on to guest speak on other podcast and book stages that will move the needle in their business. So that is what she is all about. And honestly, it's why I was like, Yes, will you please come and teach this because we are all about Integrity, Authenticity, and just telling you upfront, like this is a free training and she's going to talk about her program, but she was like I promise we are going to be teaching in this training. So you want to go
to HeatherSager.com/Krystal. All the links of everything we talked about today are going to be in the show notes. I'm actually going to link to my pod fest masterclass presentation. So when you go to the shownotes, you will see that there's a link to download the PDF of my talk.
So I hope that you're excited to see like this is the presentation I put together based on the pitch that Heather helped me create, based on the information that I knew that the podfest audience really needed. And I really just felt so good, so good about this presentation. I hope that I'll be able to get a copy of the video or at least a few clips of it that I can share with you because it was so so good. So go to the show notes for today again, it's
KrystalProffitt.com/episode252. Make sure you register for this free training happening next week, May 11, at 12pm Central, so make sure go register if you're listening to this in the future, sorry you missed out, but you can absolutely still go learn from Heather and all the incredible things that she teaches on being a magnetic speaker and making your message have a bigger impact. So that's all I have for you today.
If you have not subscribed to the show, make sure that you do that now or I guess I should start saying, follow because I know that that's the vernacular we're going towards eventually in the future. Everybody will say follow my podcast or subscribe if it's a paid one, blah, blah, blah, all the changes that Apple's making, right. But subscribe to the show, please, if you're listening, if you're brand new, come hang out with us on a regular basis because we have a lot of fun
around here. But that's all I have for you today. So remember, keep it up. We all have to start somewhere.