Public Speaking Success - Interview with Joe Nicassio

I'm Orly Amor, your host.  Today I talk with  my friend Joe Nicassio, a fellow speaker who shares his journey from Toastmasters to becoming a coach, underlining the transition from being a speaker to a paid speaker. The conversation orbits around a pivotal question: "What separates a great speaker from a great speaker who gets paid?" The answer, as Joe and I reveal, is simpler than you might think – it boils down to the audacity to ask for the money. This episode isn't just an exploration of mine and Joe's personal journeys; it's a masterclass in understanding the value of your voice and the importance of positioning, packaging, and persuasion in the world of public speaking.

For aspiring public speakers, this episode is a goldmine of actionable insights. First and foremost, the importance of asking for your worth cannot be overstated – it's the fundamental difference between those who speak and those who get paid to speak. But beyond this, I dig deep into the essence of my coaching philosophy, highlighting the critical elements of packaging and positioning yourself in a saturated market. I go on t emphasizz the necessity of creating intriguing, sexy, and marketable talk titles that stand out to event planners. This episode underscores the fact that success in public speaking is not just about delivering a great speech; it's about understanding the business behind the stage, from knowing how much to charge to mastering the art of negotiation with event planners.

Listeners, whether you're dipping your toes into public speaking or looking to take your speaking career to new heights, this episode is your roadmap to transforming passion into profit. Let Joe Nicassio and I guide you through the intricacies of making your mark in the speaking world, one paid gig at a time. Remember, in public speaking, your voice is not just a tool for change – it's your ticket to a rewarding career.

Questions that this Episode Answers:
1. "How do I become a paid public speaker?"
2. "What strategies do successful public speakers use to get paid gigs?"
3. "What are the secrets to making $150K a year in public speaking?"

Contact Orly Amor Here: https://meetorlyamor.com/

Transcript

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So we started networking and chatting, and at one point one of them said, listen, I'm just curious, how did you get this gig? I said, I don't know. I called, I told them what I speak about, they paid me, and I'm here. They all looked at me like if I had three heads. You got paid? And I said, oh my god, what did I just do, right? The question comes up often, like how do you even start in this? And it kind of fell on my lap, in a way. I was a public speaker for many years, and you said introduce myself, but you introduced me so well. I'm a business coach for public speakers, and I'm still the only one in the world that guarantees they'll make 150k their first year in public speaking, or I work with them until they do. So it's not a money back guarantee, but it's a lifetime guarantee. That means that I give people my condolences if you ever decide to work with me, have me for life. Well, that's a good thing. You know, the truth is a lot of people, you know, I did Toastmasters for seven years. I used to be shy and introverted, and I have to thank Toastmasters for helping me develop the confidence to speak, you know, communication and leadership skills. And then I left Toastmasters because I felt like I got what I needed to, you know, I could speak to people, I could get clients. My communication improved vastly as a result of Toastmasters. But, you know, the truth is, is I never even went down a paid speaker path. And so what's the difference between a great speaker and a great speaker who gets paid? What, what is it that paid speakers do differently that unpaid speakers don't do? They ask for the money. It's literally that simple. It is so simple. They ask for the money. So it's not only about, you know, about that, but I'll give you an example. I and this is how I started coaching. I didn't know that speakers did not get paid. I've always been paid to speak. And I was in a conference in Arlington, Texas, in 2010, I believe. And then so what happened there is that in the break room for speakers, these three guys came over to me. One of them said, Aren't you Orly Amore? I said, Yeah, do I know you? Sorry, I don't remember. And they said, No, we've never met before, but we've seen you on the circuit. And I said, Oh, okay. So we started networking and chatting. And at one point, one of them said, Listen, I'm just curious, how did you get this gig? I said, I don't know. I called, I told them what I speak about, they paid me and I'm here. They all looked at me like if I had three heads, you got paid. And I said, Oh, my God, what did I just do? Right? So I said, You guys didn't you got? They said, No, we got our expenses paid, but we didn't get paid. I said, Oh, no, I got paid and I got my expenses paid. And, and they said, Well, we want to know how you did that. And jokingly, because I wasn't coaching at the time. And you know, my personality by now I said, Well, if I'm gonna tell you, I'm gonna have to charge you. But before I could say just kidding, they said, Oh, okay, name your price. And I'm like, what? And that gave me that was my aha moment. That was my aha that speakers did not get paid. I didn't know that before then. I thought, yeah, I thought it was just normal. I thought it was a business decision, right? I mean, you don't go to Walmart and take off with a pair of pants, you pay for it before you leave. Right? So well, for those who don't know, you know, I come from the Toastmasters world where nobody's getting paid, you know, I did have a blessing that one of my past clients is a guy named Les Brown, who's one of the top paid speakers in the world. And he hired me, I coached him and coached his family and lived with him for four months. And so I got an insight to his world. I remember somebody came to him at a party and said, You know, you've helped me so much. It's like, let me give you $10 just unless it's like pushing the money away. It's like, No, you're messing with my big money mojo. You know, let me ask you this. I mean, you guarantee that people make 150k a year as a speaker, you guarantee that, and you'll keep working with people until they get that. How did you come up with that number? Oh, that is so cool. I'm so glad you asked that question. Because in my, in 2010, again, just before my trip to Arlington, my friends who are speakers were around my pool, and we were having a barbecue and they're all speakers. And I was hearing them complain about not making money, like some of them were, were not making money. And they were complaining that nobody's paying. And I was in the water in my pool. And I said, Guys, guys, what are you talking about? Minimum wage in public speaking is 150k a year. And they all said, what minimum wage, minimum wage. And they said, What are you crazy early, some of us make 50, some of us 60, 80, 100, that's pushing it 150. You're out of your mind early. And I said, Okay, you do you, I'll do me in my head was like, Well, thank God, I didn't tell them I triple that, you know, like, it was really that, that bad. I mean, good in my world, right. So I left it alone. And after you know, and when I, and after I decided to coach, I called my friends, the ones who were at the pool. And I said, Hey, guys, I'm thinking about coaching speakers on the business of public speaking and guaranteeing they'll make 150k. What do you think? And they're like, Oh, my God, you should totally do this. We'll hire you. I'm like, What? Who are you? And what have you done with my friends? But here's what I'm going to ask. You know, like what you're going to hire me. And here's the thing. If I can guarantee you a job at McDonald's, can I guarantee you'll make minimum wage? The answer is yes, it's the law, they have to pay you minimal, if they pay you more good for you. It's gravy, right? But can I guarantee minimum wage? Absolutely. And I'm guaranteeing minimum wage in public speaking. So it's not hard. Sure. So what you're saying is, if you make what five or six grand a speaking engagement, and you do two of those a month, that puts your right that puts you really close to those kinds of numbers. Or you do three months and you don't work two months, or your first two months in working my system, it's gonna be a little slow to start. But once you gain momentum, and you gain it for 10 months, and you only get three gigs a month at $5,000. Guess what, that's 150k. Yeah, let's talk a little bit about your system. Because I think, you know, you're not just pulling the rabbit out of a hat. This is not a random thing. You actually have a system. Yeah. And I know that you have three parts to your system. And it has to do with packaging. It has to, let's see, was it packaging, and it has to do with promotion and has to do with persuasion. So talk a little bit of let's talk about the first one of those is how do you package yourself up? What are your three pieces? Let's start with the first piece. Well, you know, I always tell people I have a superpower. I have two superpowers. My first superpower is to position them in the industry. How many leadership speakers do you know? How many motivational speakers? Everybody calls themselves the same thing. Well, how enticing is that for an event planner to even look at you? And now there's... You commoditize yourself. Yeah, you gotta definitely stand out. And that's my superpower is how to make you stand out in front of all your competitors. Everybody that speaks about the same topic, it's okay. I can take 10 people that speak on leadership and still make them unique to event planners. The second part is to come up with three talk titles that are intriguing, sexy, marketable. I like to say kick ass good. And just the titles are because those are the hooks that get you paid or gets you interest with an event planner. So that's the first two things that I do. Yeah. It's not just being a speaker. It's about what are you going to speak about? And when it hooks and it gets into people's... When the hooks get into the bones, it's like, oh, we got it. Wow. My crowd needs to hear that. And when the crowd hears it, it's like, oh, can't wait to show up for that because you've hooked them with those speech titles. Go ahead. And then you got to know how much to charge, when to charge, how to scale. This is a scalable business as well as how to talk to event planners, what to say first, second, third. What do you say when they tell you they have no money? It's not true. They don't want to pay you. That's a harder pill to swallow. But yeah, it's how you talk to them, what you say, how you say it. Your mindset has to be right. Let's talk a little bit about that. So the first part is how the heck are you packaged up and positioned? The second part is there are meeting planners out there. There are event planners and they have budgets. And number one is how the heck do you find these people and what the heck is going to make them pull out that credit card to pay you? Tell us a little bit about who are these event planners and how do you get to them and how do you know them? Let's start with the last one that you said. What are they looking for? They're looking for you. There's nothing looking for. They're not looking for anything. So let's start with, they did a survey on the most stressful jobs in America, Canada and the United States. Number one was a military jet fighter plane pilot. Number two was air traffic controller. Number five was event planner coordinator. So, and maybe the next one is business coach. I don't know. You're the one that knows how stressful that is. I'm too blessed. I'm not stressed. I'm having fun and serving. But I've done that by design, honestly. But okay. So these event planners, they got to do an event. Exactly. There's 64,000 events a day in America alone, Canada and the United States that pay speakers.