Scale Up Strategies: The Business Podcast for Coaches, Consultants, and Speakers
We're your hosts and Business Coaching experts Mary Fain Brandt and Laura Bashore
We’re sharing all our mistakes and insider tips from our 20+ years in business and
how we successfully scaled up our businesses without losing our minds or our husbands.
Sure you can piece it together and try to DIY your way to success
OR
you can listen to us every week and learn the shortcuts because we promise there
are some.
Scale Up Strategies: The Business Podcast for Coaches, Consultants, and Speakers
Maximizing Impact: Transforming Speaking Engagements into Lucrative Business Opportunities
Ever wondered how public speaking can transform your coaching or consulting business? Mary Fain Brandt and Laura Bashore are here to share their firsthand experiences and invaluable tips on selling from the stage.
Our latest episode of Scale Up Strategies kicks off with a personal catch-up, as Laura reveals highlights from her family trip to London and Mary celebrates her birthday. These stories underscore the balance between work and leisure, and how personal experiences can enrich professional journeys. We also invite you to share your summer stories, fostering a closer community connection.
Public speaking isn’t just about addressing an audience; it’s a pathway to establishing credibility and expanding your reach. Whether it's Laura's LinkedIn profile webinar or upcoming AI events, this episode highlights how webinars and online workshops can showcase your expertise and generate leads. We explore the importance of systematically building your speaking career through industry conferences, trade shows, and even podcasts. With intentional effort, you can position yourself as an expert, connect with new audiences, and boost your social media following significantly.
In the drive to maximize speaking engagements for business growth, Mary and Laura offer practical tips and personal anecdotes on how to turn speaking opportunities into lucrative client relationships. From small networking groups to large conferences, they share how these engagements have led to new clients and partnerships.
We also discuss the power of AI tools like Canva, PowerPoint, Keynote, Gamma, and Beautiful.ai in crafting engaging presentations.
The episode wraps up with actionable steps to advance your speaker assets and a teaser for next week's insights. Subscribe, rate, and review to stay in the loop and continue your journey towards business success with us!
SPONSOR
TEAM Referral
https://teamreferralnetwork.com/san-diego-region/
Are you an entrepreneur or a small business owner? How are you attracting business? Join San Diego's Elite team referral networking group. Don't hire a sales team. Join one Call today 619-731- 0395 or visit team referral networkcom to give your business the boost that it needs. Team together, everyone achieves more.
Thank you for listening to Scale Up Strategies: The Business Growth Podcast for Coaches, Consultants, and Speakers.
If you enjoyed the show - follow, rate, and share our podcast with your network!
We'd love to hear directly from you:
bizscaleuppod@gmail.com
Connect with Laura and Mary on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauraobashore/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/maryfainbrandt/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/scale-up-strategies-the-business-growth-podcast
Thank you to our Sponsors:
BuzzSprout
Thinking about starting your own podcast or leveling up by switching hosts? Use our code: https://www.buzzsprout.com/?referrer_id=2110162
Receive $20 through BuzzSprout's Refer a Friend Program
TEAM Referral Network - SD
https://teamreferralnetwork.com/san-diego-region/
You're listening to Scale Up Strategies, the business growth podcast for coaches, consultants and speakers. We're your hosts and business coach experts Mary Fa Grant and Laura Bay Shore.
Laura Bashore:We're sharing all our insider tips from 20 plus years in business, including how we successfully scaled our businesses without losing our minds or our husbands.
Mary Fain Brandt:Sure, you can piece it together and try to DIY your way to success. Or you can listen to us every week and learn the shortcuts, because we promise they're really awesome.
Laura Bashore:So grab your favorite cup of coffee, tune in and let's start the show.
Mary Fain Brandt:Welcome back to Scale Up Strategies the business growth podcast for coaches, consultants and speakers. What's up everybody. I'm Mary Fan Brandt.
Laura Bashore:And that means I must be Laura Bashore. So in today's episode we are going to be talking all about speaking and, more specifically, public speaking engagements, and how you can use this to grow your business.
Mary Fain Brandt:I can't wait for this episode because we both have a lot of experience in it and I learned how to sell from stage, which is something I don't think I did really well in the past, and now I'm like got it, let's do it. But before we dive into all of our great tips and statistics and trends, laura, let's catch up, because we haven't caught up in a while, and I know you were across the pond, as I like to say, and you just got back from being across the pond. Where were you at?
Laura Bashore:I was in London for 10 days with my family and my husband's whole side of his family, so it's a lot of fun. We did a lot, and my seven and nine-year-old were fantastic. They let us drag them around everywhere. We visited multiple castles.
Mary Fain Brandt:We even went to Ted.
Laura Bashore:Lasso Pub. You know if anyone's a fan of Ted Lasso.
Mary Fain Brandt:I love that show. I love that show. I didn't know there was a pub. Is it the pub that's in the movie?
Laura Bashore:Yeah, the pub that's in the show. So after we went to Hampton Court, which is where Henry VIII was, we took a cruise boat on the River Thames and then that took us to Richmond, where the actual pub is outside of it, where they shoot, and then we watched a football game in there. So, yes, that's awesome.
Mary Fain Brandt:Oh, I love that. Wow, that sounds like a perfect trip. Did you walk a lot of places Like did your Fitbit or Garmin or whatever you wear? Did it like track all your steps of places, like did your Fitbit?
Laura Bashore:or Garmin or whatever you wear. Did it like track all your steps? Oh yeah, I walked a lot and um, as you know, I always refer to my, my plantar fasciitis on my, my old lady foot, as I call it, but you know I've been working on it and working with a chiropractor and I got walking shoes and I can say I did the whole trip walking for those 10 days without any kind of problems. I was really excited about that.
Mary Fain Brandt:Yay, when we went to Minneapolis, you know, I wore my little Fitbit watch and I got a lot of steps in. So one day and this cracks me up we went. I took my husband to mall of America because he's never been the aquarium was there. We'd like to check out an aquarium and um, so we were waiting for the aquarium to open, I think, or for our time slot, cause you buy tickets for a time. So we walked around the mall of America, which is like three stories right.
Mary Fain Brandt:At the end of the and then walked through the aquarium and then, um, we walked somewhere else. That day I got something like 13,000 steps and I told my husband I'm like this is great exercise. Look, it's only going to cost you like $200 a day. I'll go walk a mall, get my 13,000 steps in. He's just laughing. I was like you know it. You know, instead of a gym membership, I'll have a mall membership.
Laura Bashore:I like that. You know you can knock out two tasks at once. Why not exercise and get some much needed shopping therapy? And you celebrated your birthday since last time we were together as well, so happy belated Thank you, and thank you for the gift box that I got.
Mary Fain Brandt:It was super cool that that cup that says a cup of happy.
Laura Bashore:Yeah, that was you. It just made me think of you and I was like Yep, that's what I'm sending to Mary.
Mary Fain Brandt:I love it. Yeah, I had a great time. My girls from San Diego came. We went kayaking down the Salt River, we did a lazy river day at a fancy resort, we went to a speakeasy, we did brunch. It was literally four days of bliss with friends and family.
Laura Bashore:Yes, and then how long is the recoup time after that? Because I mean right, we just can't do it like we used to.
Mary Fain Brandt:I have to say I did really well and paced myself and that they left Monday after we had lunch. So they got on the road around two thirty three o'clock and I had two loads of laundry done that night like strip the beds, I'm like everyone's gone. Strip the bed, do the laundry, start cleaning the house. So they left on Monday by Wednesday everything was done.
Laura Bashore:I love it. I'm impressed. So next time I have family out I need to ship you out here to San Diego and have you help me clean up after.
Mary Fain Brandt:Absolutely, I'll be there. Yes, Well it's good catching up, and to our audience out there. What fun things have you been doing this summer? Send us a DM or email us. What's our email? Laura, I forget.
Laura Bashore:It's biz, so bizscaleuppod at gmailcom and that'll be in the show notes. Yes, Yep, so in our show notes and on all our social platforms, so you can reach out to us, please do.
Mary Fain Brandt:Yes, well, let's get started on. Why don't you start us off, laura, with a statistic on how speaking can actually grow your business?
Laura Bashore:Right, Because you hear this all the time from people who say that speaking grows their business. But it helps to actually grab onto real statistics that you can use and not just hearsay. According to a study by Insightsalescom, 74% of people who attended a webinar or a live event were more likely to buy the product that was being discussed.
Mary Fain Brandt:Well, and you know why that is. One of the reasons is it takes 12 marketing touches for someone to do business with you. So they, you might be on an email list, you might see them on social, you might check out their website, right. So there's all these touch points. But then when you go and see them at a live event or a webinar, so you're hearing them, you're seeing them it's more touch points. And that leads right into what I'm going to talk about. Thank you very much. That speaking is really a tool that is used to establish your credibility and authority. So when you're a speaker, I think it raises the bar of your credibility factor, right, and your authority of the topic that you're speaking on. Public speaking can increase perceived expertise by 20%, according to a study by the University of Wolverhampton I don't know where that's at but that just sounds funny.
Laura Bashore:I love the name. I can't wait to Google that after this Wolverhampton, wolverhampton.
Mary Fain Brandt:Yeah, we're totally going to Google that one. But you know, speaking engagements also help expand your reach. So, whether you're online or in person, you have a larger reach. You're speaking to someone else's audience most of the time, so those are people that maybe don't know you or slightly know you of the time, so those are people that maybe don't know you or or slightly know you. So you have a new and larger audience, both online or in person. And I want to throw in there don't discount those online summits, linkedin lives or online networking groups. Those are still opportunities for you to get in front of other people. So here's another statistic, because you know, laura and I like our stats. We're not just making this stuff up Well, maybe, sometimes, no, just kidding Some of it. Speaking at events can increase your social media following by 25% on average. I know that when I speak, I get new LinkedIn connections, new people subscribe to my newsletter on LinkedIn and new people subscribing to my email. So yes, 100 percent.
Laura Bashore:I can grow my social media or my email list by 25 percent when I speak that you engage when you see that the speaking environment or the platform that you're using, when you see that those who have hosted you as their speaker are posting, you need to engage with that so people again can say, oh well, here she is or here he is and they're talking about it, and that's how you really get that big hit of 25%. It's not just that someone out there put it. You need to engage, so that's a great, great stat to share there. See how to get more out of it. Speaking of which, you know doing webinars and online workshops, so hosting your own webinars can really showcase your expertise and let people know how to get in touch with you.
Mary Fain Brandt:And you're hosting a webinar. I saw very soon on. Linkedin.
Laura Bashore:On LinkedIn, yep, doing your profile, and what's great about that is not only is it getting those who have signed up and are going to participate in that webinar right, so it's also showing more visibility, so that even those who can't attend or think that they can attend, they get FOMO. I'll say, the last time I did the webinar, which was about two months ago, I had people reach out to me to say hey, the next time you do that, please share it with me. And so immediately I already had a list of people who were going to sign up for this because, again, I I'm sharing it. Yeah, so um, that.
Mary Fain Brandt:I'm doing one. I'm doing one on AI in September or August a webinar and then a live workshop in-person, I guess, workshop. So I think these are tools that can help in your speaking career and I think people sometimes they want to go from zero to 75 or 90, right, like I've never spoken, to pay me to speak. I think that you have to pay your dues. What do you think about?
Laura Bashore:that, laura. Yeah, you have to pay and build up to it, because when somebody is bringing you in, in the beginning of this part of using it, you're benefiting more from using their platform. And then, once you get to a certain level where people recognize your name, your branding, now the people who are bringing you in are using your platform.
Laura Bashore:So when you start out, you're using theirs right and then, once you're established, they're using yours, and that's when you have the power of bringing that in.
Laura Bashore:So another thing is speaking in industry conferences and trade shows.
Laura Bashore:You know, I think sometimes people overlook this one because either they have imposter syndrome and feel that they can't speak at these things because who are they, or, two, they're thinking what is the benefit I'm going to get?
Laura Bashore:And I can just share with you that speaking at industry specific conferences helps bring up your visibility within that network, not only for potential clients, but for your peers, and those peers lead to potential clients. So I have an example of how I've used this, which is I've been a regular speaker at the National Resume Writers Annual Conference, and when I speak there, because I'm also a business coach, I'm not speaking specifically on resumes or how to build them. Instead, I've helped them with how to use LinkedIn to build their brand, which is also the webinar that you mentioned that I'll be doing August 1st, and then how to get quality referrals to scale and perfecting a 20-minute consultation so that you can get your time back. So those are all things that I've spoken at where I'm not speaking to um potential clients, I'm speaking to my peers as potential clients, and that's all.
Mary Fain Brandt:Yeah, I think that's. I think that that's overlooked. Um think some also some people like I made an intention in I think it was like May that I wanted to speak on more podcasts, right.
Laura Bashore:Yeah, I remember that.
Mary Fain Brandt:Well, so I literally I think I just wrapped up podcast number eight. So I you know what I want to tell people is be intentional, like I want to be on more podcasts because I can be seen as the expert. It gets me in front of an audience that I'm not attached to, that I don't know. So we're talking like the real estate um, a different business coach. Business coach I was on a LinkedIn live show. Different business coaching I did a lot of those. An AI technology platform, so getting in front of those people for my AI business, but like being intentional. And then, on top of that, you guys, local radio, your local radio station they have spots for business owners to come on and share. So I was on the.
Mary Fain Brandt:Phoenix morning news for career coaching. Well, now I do AI, so it's time for me to reach back out. There's nothing that says you can't be a repeat guest right, especially if you're engaging. But the local radio shows, the local TV shows. There's a couple groups industry specific, as you say that are not my. They don't do what I do but I do annual trainings for them, like what's going?
Laura Bashore:on, on.
Mary Fain Brandt:LinkedIn. I know things have changed right, so that just reminded me that I think that they're going to be in town. There's some kind of conference and I need to reach out to them. Chambers are a good place, you know. If you're a member, you can typically go and speak. You don't get paid for that, but that can lead to clients. I just you know podcasts, radios and chambers are three great areas and networking events to get started in speaking or to grow your speaking.
Laura Bashore:Yeah, exactly, I mean, you know, looking at chambers and networking events is really important because you're already in an environment of people who want to learn. You're already in an environment of business leaders and or owners who are looking for different ways to enhance what their organization is doing or what they're doing as a solopreneur. So that's a great audience that you want to be in front of and you'll typically find that you will get business from there.
Mary Fain Brandt:Then, looking down at You've spoken at the chamber where you're at right the North County. Is it North County?
Laura Bashore:Yeah. So at the North San Diego Business Chamber, which I'm now a board of director for interesting, I have another coaching friend there and she was asking me you know, I love this chamber, but do you ever get business from here? And I said yeah, quite frequently. And this other coach is established, and so we had a one-on-one session together where I was helping her figure out how to actually leverage her membership, because it was shocking to me that she wasn't getting business from it. So you need to know how to work within chambers. It's really important, you know, don't just be a number or a name on the registration list. Don't just be a number or a name on the registration list and then different networking events. Again, it's the same type of thing where speak to a topic that's going to really touch a lot of people and you'll end up finding business from that.
Mary Fain Brandt:And you have to ask. So today, as I was leaving my chamber breakfast, one of my clients did his LinkedIn profile. He's in the travel industry and when he walked out I was in my car and I rolled down the window. I was like Ellen, he's like what I was like, you need to ask to speak here. He's like what I go, you need to get up and talk about your travel business. So I said I told him who to talk to go talk to David, get on the ticket. They're already booked through October. But you know that's part of you know, being a chamber member you have to ask. Don't expect speaking gigs to just drop in your lap. They do, but you know what? Also, there's some right in front of you that you're just probably not asking, saying hey, I'd love to give a talk on this topic that I'm an expert in.
Laura Bashore:I know that it can you know benefit. Because, especially if someone hasn't seen you speak, they may not know that that's something that, one, you're willing to do, or, two, that you thrive at, that you're good at it. So don't just assume that, because people know that you're a coach, that that means you're a good speaker. It's not the case. You and I have come across a few coaches who are not right Just straight out. Yeah, so, and then what about Mary doing guest lectures and more of that? Academic events.
Mary Fain Brandt:Yeah, so I've done that in the past and I'm actually know I set my quarterly goal. So my next quarterly goal is um targeting some new colleges here new because they're new to me, being new to the phoenix area, but speaking at universities like. So the universities have different um uh topics or sections in between. So I spoke to to a hospitality um class right Of how to use LinkedIn to get a job. I've spoken at Grand Canyon university, Brandman university If you went to college, reach back out to the alum, figure out whose class or workshop that you can teach.
Mary Fain Brandt:I've spoken at SDSU that was online during COVID, to the engineer students, which was great. I spoke at USD a few times, so you know what universities I spoke at ITT before they went out of business. I'm sure there's some, yeah, yeah, but yeah, there's a lot of speaking opportunities that are right in your back pocket, your backyard, but you have to research them and you have to reach out until you become a known speaker and even as someone, I'm a known speaker. But there are two universities here that I'm going to be reaching out to see about doing workshops and more speaking.
Laura Bashore:And one thing I would add to that too is looking at the alumni programs and speaking at their alumni event for those schools and universities as well. So I've had a lot of success doing that too.
Mary Fain Brandt:Yeah, you got to tap into what you already have in your backyard and I think a lot of times we overlook that, we don't think about that. I think at this point we should kind of share a couple stories about how speaking has led to clients, collaborations or what have you. So and I'm going to take it to this year, I'm not even going to talk about the past. Like long, long time ago, in January, I spoke to a group of realtors. I literally thought when I was invited there were going to be like 10 to 15 people. It's a networking group for realtors.
Mary Fain Brandt:Well, that cause that person. She saw me speak three months prior to a group, an industry group, of 15 people in the room, so she asked me to come speak to her group, all about LinkedIn. That led to two new clients and a training gig. So that was $1,750, right Out the door. Then I spoke to a small networking group of female business owners. It was a brand new networking group and sometimes you're like, should I, is it worth my time? There were literally probably 12 people in the room. The group had been around a month. I got an introduction. I'm like, okay, I'll do that. Well, that led to four consultation calls and two clients, so that was twenty seven hundred and fifty dollars. And then, speaking to the at the chamber, I did a presentation on ai. Right, I don't, I didn't get paid for, but that led to a client signing up that day. And I want to tell you how to do that. You create a QR code and it's on your next to last slide on your deck.
Mary Fain Brandt:Your slide right. So you have a QR code and then they can scan it and it goes straight to the payment, like here's the description, here's what you're getting and it was a special that I had only available that day. If you sign up today, you're going to save X amount of dollars. Here's the QR code. So that led to someone signing up that day and another consultation call. So overall it was probably five grand just from sharing what I do and what I know. Not bad.
Laura Bashore:Not bad. I think that's great, and really good to add is that having a QR code that takes them to something, whether that's like a freebie or signing up for a special offer, or both. Keep it simple and keep it accessible. So just always make sure to test out your QR code. Broken links are the death of credibility, so make sure you test that out. But that's a really good thing to add in there.
Laura Bashore:So for a different side of it, I'm going to talk about how speaking first helped me with a partnership that I developed. So previously we hosted the B show on LinkedIn audio, you and I. That's where we started before we determined we were ready for a podcast, and it led to an amazing partnership with a local workspace company called VentureX. So, with a coworking space here, their owner, john, has not only become a business partner but a friend and confidant of mine, and it was simply because he heard me speaking on our show, reached out to me and our partnership was basically born from there. And now my networking organization, team Referral Network we have our headquarters there in his beautiful space. Yeah, so that was wonderful.
Laura Bashore:And then in March, I spoke on stage at Women's Week here in San Diego and immediately I gained three new clients. Then just last week in July Okay, cause we're recording this in July so I spoke in March. Just last week in July, I had another client pop onto my scheduling calendar and they referenced me speaking at women's week is how they found me. So it's something that, months later, is continuing to generate clients.
Mary Fain Brandt:Yeah, speaking is literally a funnel and we're going to get into the practical tips of that because it is an opportunity, but you do need to have things in place to get the biggest ROI on that. So I'm going to jump right in because that was perfect. Because you spoke in March, this client jumped on your calendar in July. So we want you to walk away with clients right away, but we also want you to understand that it is a marketing touch point and people aren't always ready right then when they see you, but you're going to be top of mind and tip of tongue when they are ready because you have showcased your expertise and your authority in your subject matter. So, speaking of subject matter, you need to identify your niche and your audience because you, your talk isn't going to align, going to be aligned for everyone. So I'm going to tell you guys a true story.
Mary Fain Brandt:I was asked to come speak to a women's leadership conference here in Scottsdale with about 300 women, and it was about navigating change. I was all excited because my degree is in change management. I wrote this is not a topic I typically talk on, but boy can I. So I gave him a little background. I created a talk description. The acronym was EAT. I can't remember what it stands for, it's like embrace, act, something. Anyways, it was great. Well, they already have enough people talking about that. I was like, okay, and this is getting somewhere, so just bear with me.
Mary Fain Brandt:So we jumped on a Zoom call. We jumped on a Zoom call. I'm like, well, I thought this is about navigating change for women. It is, but we have someone talking about that. We have someone talking about that. Oh, I see that you're an AI consultant. And they had specifically said this is not a business conference. Okay, specifically said it is not a business conference. So I was like, okay, how am I going to present myself Again? They sought me out. So we jumped on the call and they're like oh, you're a certified AI consultant. That's interesting. I think people would be interested in that. Can you write something up for us? And we had a talk. They can introduce many people. They were going to pay me a tiny speaker fee.
Mary Fain Brandt:I was like, okay, well, let me think about that over 4th of July. And I thought about it and I didn't act. And I thought about it and I didn't write anything. And I finally wrote them an email saying I don't understand how AI ties into a leader, a women's leadership conference about navigating change, because these are not business people, no-transcript. So when I say, define your niche and audience, because my talk on AI has nothing to do with that conference is about. So it didn't make sense. So they're going back to the board to see you know how I can do a talk, I'm like it didn't feel right and I'm so glad that I did that, because I'm like I don't think it would have gone over well, it doesn't fit the theme of the day. So focus you know when you're you're creating your, your talk stuff. Focus on the topics where you have the expertise and you can talk in your sleep about it. Of course, you're going to have to practice, but talk about the topics that you know and that resonate with the audience, right?
Mary Fain Brandt:So AI leadership, women leadership, woo, woo, woo conference. It didn't match. Um, yeah. And then I wanted yeah, right, right, I agree, it wasn't gonna be a good fit.
Laura Bashore:I was like I'm gonna stick out right, and then you wouldn't have gotten business from it anyways and it wouldn't have resonated. Yeah, I, I agree with that you. Sometimes you just have to say no, like that's okay. Not every opportunity is the right opportunity.
Mary Fain Brandt:No, but they can hire me to come back and do a training on AI or something. So we're still in talks. I don't know how that's going to go. I just wanted to share that experience because did I want to get paid to speak? Do I want to speak in front of 300 women? Yes, but it has to be the right opportunity and the right audience. Number two you've got to be prepared when you go to speak. If you're starting out mid speaking, you know whatever level you are. You need to build your speaker profile. So you need to create a compelling speaker bio so you might have a bio that talks about all your coaching stuff. I'm going to tell you something the more applications I do, they want a bio. That's 300 characters online. Like that's really short.
Laura Bashore:So you need to have a speaker one sheet, your speaker one sheet. Well, they want a bio.
Mary Fain Brandt:They don't even want an attachment on some of the online stuff, right, but on your speaker.
Laura Bashore:One sheet should be less than 300 characters. That has your little intro right there, so you should be able to copy and paste that in. I think that's a really good point, because people don't understand the difference between those two things.
Mary Fain Brandt:Yeah, so you want to have your long bio, your short bio and your little tiny speaker bio. You should really have about three bios to be used for different things, and I feel that everyone has two to three topics that they can talk about. So create your speaker talk descriptions what audience is it for, what are the three takeaways that they'll get right, and a two to three sentence introduction. These are like paragraphs. Create a bio. The bio should be focused on your speaking skills, not everything that you do. And then this is what I do. That, I think, is amazing. I didn't come up with the idea, but if you haven't heard of it, create a hidden speaker asset page on your website. So when someone asks me for all that information, I send them the link and on that are my headshots, pictures of me speaking from stage, all my social media, a short bio and a long bio. I just send them the link and they can take what they want from that. Yeah.
Laura Bashore:I just think when you look at a bigger organization and they have their social media kits. This is exactly what this is, but it's for you.
Mary Fain Brandt:Yeah, I love that, your love that. Your speaker, your speaker, yeah, a hidden speaker asset page I love that.
Laura Bashore:That's a great tip to share, um. And then again, just doubling down on how to use social media and networking. So we mentioned this a little bit earlier. But making sure that that's being promoted, especially if you're speaking free somewhere, make sure that they have their social media game on point. That's where you're getting that more of a resounding footprint off of it. And if they don't add yours in, you know you can promote this too. That's all right.
Laura Bashore:And sharing clips from your past talks on your social media. So, in addition to having that page thinking about on your LinkedIn and your featured section, do you have a little clip there that someone can click on and see you in action? Do you have that set up on your website? Do you have that set up on your website? People want to see you engaging and also having still photos as well, because you need to reach people in the way that they're able to access it. So just remember that if that's something that you're highlighting in your business, you need to show that that happens. You can't just assume that people understand that you're also doing public speaking engagement.
Mary Fain Brandt:Right, got to put it out there. So let's talk about the prepare and practice part. Laura, this is something I feel like people don't do. They think that they know the topic so I just get up and present, or they wait till two days before, depending on where you're speaking small networking group, larger conferences prepare your presentation and practice it over and over. You don't have to memorize it, but you should be really, really darn familiar with it that if you didn't have your slides, you could still go through and get your points across.
Mary Fain Brandt:For someone like me, my brain's going in 10 different directions. Practice makes all the difference. You should read it out loud. You should stand and read it, laura. Read it to your kids, right, I know your kids. You did something with your kids and they gave you some feedback, so I love that. Yeah, kids aren't pre-programmed, right, they're going to give you. I don't have kids, so otherwise they would be sitting in my living room and I would be practicing all my talks. But use tools like Canva, powerpoint or Keynote keynote, I use canva now to create all my decks. I can access it from anywhere. Uh, I like it. I think they're more visually appealing, they're more engaging. Uh, the biggest thing and this just happened this morning the biggest thing with presentations people putting too many things on one slide. Less is more. This slide is not to give away the whole talk to your audience or to train your audience. The presentation, the slides, is to remind you where you're at and what you want to get a point get across. So like three bullet points like.
Mary Fain Brandt:I don't want to see, you know, I don't want to see this Excel sheet up there that nobody can read from the back of the room or nobody cares about. Like I just, oh my gosh, it drives me bonkers Every time I see someone present and their slides are just crammed and I I can't read anything.
Laura Bashore:So Right and it's just completely unprofessional. Honestly, it makes it look like you're not prepared and you don't understand what a slideshow is for. It's just to have a visual to give people's eyes to move over to instead of zoning out. And then for you, it is a transitional trigger. It is to help you transition through your talk. That's what it is. It is to help you transition through your talk.
Mary Fain Brandt:That's what it is. What are you using? I've been using Gamma, but I think that you've been using a new tool.
Laura Bashore:Tell us about that, laura. So I started using Beautifulai. It is amazing. It's truly a game changer.
Laura Bashore:So right before I went to my trip to London, I had to hop in and fill in for one of my directors for a presentation that they were supposed to give online, and I just didn't have time to go in and use Canva like I usually do. So I thought you know what. I'm going to check this out. You know I keep seeing it in my Facebook feed. I'm going to check out beautifulai and see what happens. So I opened it up. I prompted it, mary, with three sentences, I kid you not. I just pressed the little microphone and said my three sentences into it of what I was looking for. Within two minutes.
Laura Bashore:There it was a presentation that all I had to do was upload my branding toolkit, and then it shifted everything into my colors and dropped my logo into it, and it was good enough to be used. It was great and it did the things I wanted it to. And the topic was networking how to follow up after an event, so how to follow up with the people who attended your event, what that needed to look, and it was exactly what I needed it to be. So if presentations are something that you struggle with, I would highly recommend beautifulai. It's going to be a game changer, and if you don't know how to use prompting, then you need to get with me and Mary so we can help you, because you would be just amazed. Literally three sentences. It did what I needed it to do. I barely had to make any changes.
Mary Fain Brandt:I love that and I use gamma. I haven't used beautifulai, but they're both AI tools, and I use gamma. I haven't used beautiful AI, but they're both AI tools and you're right. You just put some, a couple, you prompt it, and it creates a stunning with images deck in like seconds. I showed my step-mom when they were here this weekend.
Mary Fain Brandt:She and we did. You know, she's a teacher at ASU and she's like everyone's using AI. I'm like, yes, they are, it's not going anywhere. So we did a presentation, laura, why you shouldn't use AI to write your papers or something or something like that? And she's like I said watch, and her eyes were like what she goes? I sent it to her. She goes can you send that to me? I was like, yeah, I'll send it to you. I'm like AI is here to stay, so we all just need to learn how and when to use it in our businesses and our lives Exactly. Yeah, so many good things.
Mary Fain Brandt:So I think it's time to recap growing your business through speaking is definitely a game changer for me, for Laura, it can be a game changer for you. We want you to start growing your business by speaking and, if you know, if you're wondering what does that look like? You guys gave away so much great information? Dm us or email us because Laura and I can coach you through setting up your speaker one page where to find those speaking opportunities that we talked about how to create that hidden speaker asset page. I love that. Saved me a ton of times, you know how to practice and you know the follow-up sequence.
Mary Fain Brandt:You know how do you follow up to keep people engaged. So if that's something that you're interested in, then definitely reach out to us. Laura, do you want to add anything or do you want to talk about our next podcast topic?
Laura Bashore:Yeah, I think we've really recapped what people need and how to start moving forward, and if you want to get some more tips on this, then you want to come in and stay tuned for next week's episode be sharing some tips on really how to spruce up these assets that we were talking about. How do you personalize them for yourself. So you'll definitely want to listen in for that. So remember to subscribe, rate and review this podcast so that we can be in your feed every week. You can share us out with others that you know in the business world that will benefit from hearing all the fabulous tips and tricks of the trade that we share here weekly with you. So until next time, here's to good coffee, great conversation and even greater success, Ciao.
Mary Fain Brandt:Ciao. If you enjoyed the podcast, show us some love. Please rate, review and subscribe to our podcast, and if you have any feedback, go ahead and share that with us too, because we want to hear from you. Until then, stay focused, stay motivated and stay caffeinated.
