Some of the advice you'll hear most on this show is about how to narrow your audience. Yes your topic may appeal to a wide range of audiences, but how are you going to find the people perfect for you? By staying focused and going narrow. Someone who epitomizes this is Rick Clemons, our guest for this episode. Rick has gone through The Speaker Lab elite coaching program and has made fantastic strides in the process! Today we are talking about how he's worked to narrow down who his audience is (ev...
Oct 23, 2018•34 min•Ep. 208
Do you think if you get listed with a speakers bureau the gigs will just come pouring in? It's not quite that simple. Marcus Sheridan joins us to share why speakers bureaus alone won't make you successful (and what will) on episode 207 of The Speaker Lab. Marcus is a successful speaker who has built his business in an unconventional way. Today we break down and bust through myths he held, how his perception of speaking bureaus has evolved and changed, how he thinks about speaking fees and quanti...
Oct 16, 2018•41 min•Ep. 207
Do you know what SEO stands for or how SEO can grow your speaking business? You're in luck because today's guest will answer those questions, and more. Brian Dean of Backlinko joins us for episode 206 of The Speaker Lab. Brian's company is Backlinko, an SEO training company that teaches people how to rank in Google and YouTube. Most people know Backlinko as a blog, it gets 3 million visitors every year and is one of the top SEO blogs in the world. If you're wondering what SEO is the term stands ...
Oct 09, 2018•36 min•Ep. 206
You know it takes time, effort and energy to build and grow your speaking career; succeeding as a speaker means you also must know how to compete every day. Someone who embodies this is Jake Thompson. Jake's brand, Compete Every Day, is an apparel lifestyle brand based on the idea that life is worth competing for. On this episode of The Speaker Lab, Jake will go into more detail on the evolution of his brand as well as how he's uncovered who his audience is, how he battles discouragement in this...
Oct 02, 2018•37 min•Ep. 205
Can publishing a book help your speaking career? It can and here to explain how to get a book deal is my friend Chad Allen. Chad has 20 years of publishing experience under his belt, including being the head of the Baker Books division of The Baker Publishing Group. On this episode of The Speaker Lab, we're going to talk about how to create your book proposal, why and how to follow authors in your space, how to contact potential publishers, and much more. Chad has been extremely instrumental beh...
Sep 25, 2018•33 min•Ep. 204
One of the most common topics people ask me about is how to create a demo video. To dive into this topic our co-host, Ms. Melanie Diezel, is returning for episode 203. This is an important part of building your speaking business and your brand so we're dedicating an entire show to it. Today, Melanie and I will walk you through the best practices to keep in mind for your demo video, how to actually create your demo video with or without footage, and our best technical tips and software suggestion...
Sep 18, 2018•38 min•Ep. 203
Are you a part-time speaker, or are you someone who speaks on occasion? Or maybe you're doing a lot of speaking on the side while still working your full-time job, and you're wondering how to transition into full-time speaking. If any of those scenarios sound like you then you're in luck! Today's episode is completely dedicated to this very topic - how to transition into speaking full-time. Melanie and I will share our own stories of how we went from part-time speakers to having full-time speaki...
Sep 11, 2018•48 min•Ep. 202
This is my favorite guest we've ever had and ever will have: my wife! We are talking with Sheila Baldwin, my other half. Sheila was previously here with us on episode 60 , and we're bringing her back for part two today. We'll talk about how to be married to a speaker: what Sheila's role has been in my business, what it's really like for her when I travel, how we divide up chores and what we like to do for fun. You'll hear Sheila give her thoughts on those topics and more today. Please enjoy this...
Sep 04, 2018•45 min•Ep. 201
Welcome to The Speaker Lab for a very special milestone: episode 200! Whether it's your first time here or you've been with us for all 200 shows, thank you for listening. On today's episode we are doing something different - we've reached out to our speaker friends and other people in the speaking industry and asked them to share their best speaking tip. It could be related to connecting to the audience, building your business or the craft itself. About 20 some speakers chimed in with their #1 t...
Aug 28, 2018•41 min•Ep. 200
By now you know publishing is a great way to solidify your reputation in your niche. But did you know you can also grow your speaking revenue through publishing? You can and our friend Jeff Goins is here to share exactly how. Today is a different type of episode, it's actually an interview taken from our upcoming course Beyond The Stage. Our conversation focuses on all things publishing: self-publishing, traditional publishing or a hybrid of the two we are covering it. There's a lot of great stu...
Aug 21, 2018•39 min•Ep. 199
You know a speaker only makes money when they speak - unless they build their business beyond the stage. And today we are exploring one of the ways to do just that with the one and only Mr. Pat Flynn. Pat is an entrepreneur and renowned public speaker who runs a site called Smart Passive Income. Even though he and I could geek out on speaking all day long we have a different focus for this show: affiliate marketing. Pat has built a significant business going this route so I brought him on to sha...
Aug 14, 2018•38 min•Ep. 198
Wouldn't it be great if you knew how to never lose a customer again? Absolutely! To give us insights is the man who literally wrote the book on this subject: Joey Coleman. Joey is a full-time speaker who talks to companies about what they can do to keep their customers, especially in the first 100 days of a new customer's journey and how to keep that customer coming back for more. We dive into those topics as well as his one tip for providing an exceptional experience for your speaking clients. ...
Aug 07, 2018•40 min•Ep. 197
Have you ever listened to a speaker and felt like they knew you and your fellow audience members personally? That feeling makes all the difference as a listener, but it also makes a difference for the speaker. Here to tell us how customizing improves you as a speaker is our Chris Hogan, our guest on today's episode of The Speaker Lab. Chris is part of Ramsey's Solutions, Dave Ramsey's company and has been for the last 13 years. Over time, Chris has evolved from coaching pro athletes, entertainer...
Jul 31, 2018•28 min•Ep. 196
Why is being your authentic self on social media important to your speaking career? The answers are on this episode, and it's an extra special one. We're doing something today we have never done before: Melanie Deziel is your host, not me. Joining her is Michael Barber, a marketing expert and talented speaker who is sharing how speakers can show up as their authentic selves on social media and on stage, plus the 3 different types of content speakers should share online to market themselves and h...
Jul 24, 2018•34 min•Ep. 195
Knowing how to get attention in today's increasingly digital world is no small feat, and our guest is here to fill us in. If you've listened to the show for awhile you may remember her from episode 124 - Ms. Neen James. She's a rare repeat guest and we make great use of her visit on today's The Speaker Lab. We talk about attention: getting and keeping attention from potential clients and even other speakers, and how to pay attention. We're also talking about the grind of speaking and how to stay...
Jul 17, 2018•34 min•Ep. 194
Do you hate the idea of networking or do you see it as an opportunity to give to others? For some networking has a negative connotation, but our guest is here to set the record straight and tell you how to improve your life through networking. David Burkus is a successful author who considers himself a writer first, and a speaker second. He's written several best-sellers including his latest book called Friend of a Friend. , which is specifically about how to enjoy networking. On today's edition...
Jul 10, 2018•32 min•Ep. 193
Preparing for your speech is an important aspect of giving a great talk and here to give us her trade secrets is Melanie Deziel. If you've been here before you know Melanie is a frequent co-host of the show and she joins us again on The Speaker Lab to give you a breakdown of her personal speaking preparations. We give you a behind-the-scenes look at how we each rehearse and get ready for the stage. We specifically talk about music we listen to, food we eat or don't eat, how much we hydrate, and ...
Jul 03, 2018•30 min•Ep. 192
On episode 191 of The Speaker Lab, we're talking about the technical aspects of slides when you're speaking: the pros and the cons, and how to deal with the cons. As a recap from last week's episode, our co-host Melanie Deziel is here with us for part two of our talk on slides. She's a fan of slides, and uses them with almost all of her presentations. As she says, she's all about the slides! It's not that I'm not a fan of slides it's just that they can really make or break a presentation. There'...
Jun 26, 2018•28 min•Ep. 191
Should you use slides as a speaker? Some say yes, some say no and some say it depends! To weigh on whether or not you should use slides during your speech we're bringing back our lovely and talented co-host Ms. Melanie Deziel for this edition of The Speaker Lab. We'll be debating about the pros and cons of using slides as well as customizing slides, and using text, video and images in your slides. Melanie uses slides in almost all of her speeches, and I rarely use them so you'll hear both sides!...
Jun 19, 2018•33 min•Ep. 190
Our guest is an expert at many things, especially how to put yourself out there! Nicole Walters is our entertaining, energetic and sassy guest on this episode of The Speaker Lab. Nicole is an income strategist, and globe-trotting speaker. In her business, she helps everyday entrepreneurs apply corporate income strategies to get more profitability, more popularity all the while creating a life they love. On today's show we talk about her practical tips on how she pitches for gigs, her follow up f...
Jun 18, 2018•33 min•Ep. 189
What do you need to know about insurance? Do you even need to know about insurance? Yes! I get questions about this all the time so I'm bringing you the man with the answer: Matt Ham. Matt is our guest today on The Speaker Lab. For the last 10 years Matt has focused on helping families properly insure their homes, their businesses and their lives. But not long ago he also felt a calling to step into something new, and he wrote a book called Redefine Rich . From there he began speaking which has ...
Jun 05, 2018•36 min•Ep. 188
There's something the most successful speakers do that you might not know: they know how to create systems for success. Without systems, businesses either never really get going or they fall apart. The same is true for speakers and their businesses. Join Melanie Deziel and I as we talk about that very topic on today's episode of The Speaker Lab. Melanie is back with us again for the third week in a row and we're going to help you figure out the ins and outs of systems for your expenses, your out...
May 29, 2018•38 min•Ep. 187
Want to know how to pull off the riskiest move as a speaker? Then you'll want to know how to interact with your speaking audience! And here to help us break this topic down is our returning co-host Melanie Deziel. Today on The Speaker Lab, we are talking about audience interaction: how to engage and interact with your audience, the pros and the cons plus the different ways to go about connecting and when to use which approach. We'll also cover how to manage your audience interactions so you don'...
May 22, 2018•33 min•Ep. 186
Part of living the speaker life is travel, so today you'll find out how to be a true road warrior! Joining us to give her expert insights and wisdom is our co-host, Melanie Diezel. If you've been listening to The Speaker Lab for awhile you'll remember Melanie from some recent episodes: she is an outstanding speaker, coach and consultant on her own - and she also does a phenomenal job of coaching our Speaker Lab students. And we had such terrific feedback from her recent appearances we decided to...
May 15, 2018•42 min•Ep. 185
Do you know how to provide value offstage for more success? It's true - what you provide offstage can do just as much (if not more) to help grow your onstage business. Our guest today is proof positive and he's here to tell us all about it! If you recognize his name from a previous episode of the show you would be right - Brian Fanzo was here for episode 116. And he's back for today's edition of The Speaker Lab to share the simple ways he promotes his events to his audiences and how he connects ...
May 08, 2018•32 min•Ep. 184
When you think of speakers do you normally think of extroverted people? Does that have you wondering if you can be an introvert and a great speaker? That's a question I answer today with Jonathan Fields. Jonathan is a best-selling author, entrepreneur and international speaker who is known for his brand, Good Life Project. On this episode of The Speaker Lab, we take an introspective look at being speaker. Jonathan shares how he handles being an introvert during his speaking engagements, and how ...
May 01, 2018•31 min•Ep. 183
If you are wanting to learn how to speak effectively in two different markets our guest today is your source! Typically I tell people not to speak to two markets but John Michael Morgan has done it quite successfully. On this episode of The Speaker Lab, John tells us how he speaks in the business and faith-based markets, how he does it effectively and how he uses speaking in different markets as a way to stand out from the crowd. While I'm typically not a fan of having a foot in more than one ma...
Apr 24, 2018•29 min•Ep. 182
How to use systems to build your business is one of the keys to creating a lasting speaking career. No one is better at this then my friend Andrew "Drew" Davis. Drew is a master at implementing processes and procedures to ensure he makes the most out of every lead. Today on the Speaker Lab we'll cover each and every step of his system along with why you should track certain metrics in your business, how to use that data and why a quality system is important to becoming a high-paid successful spe...
Apr 17, 2018•39 min•Ep. 181
The true key to your speaking business is knowing how to expand your business beyond the stage, and applying what you know. David Loy is going to share that knowledge with you on today's show so you can apply it after you listen! David has been involved in speaking industry in many capacities for over a decade. Today much of his time is devoted to managing the career of Andy Andrews, the author of The Traveler's Gift . In fact, that book is what propelled David into the speaking industry. After ...
Apr 10, 2018•31 min•Ep. 180
As a speaker you want to leave a good impression, but do you know how to craft an experience for your audience during your speech? Our guest, Stephen Shapiro, is a master at doing this and he's here to tell us how on today's episode of The Speaker Lab. Stephen began his career with Accenture where he spent 15 years and created a 20,000 person practice around process and innovation. As a result he was charged with speaking to this group and soon found himself giving over 100 speeches a year. He r...
Apr 03, 2018•42 min•Ep. 179
