The Speaker Lab With Grant Baldwin // Public Speaking / Motivational Speaking / Entrepreneurship

Every week, our Speaker Lab podcast guests surprise us with all the exciting twists and turns of their journey to the stage. This week’s guest, Taurea Vision Avant, is no exception — listen in to episode 445 to hear her adventures from computer science, to network marketing, to authorship, coaching and beyond. In fact, Taurea never even saw herself as a professional speaker or entrepreneur at the beginning of her career! In this episode, she admits speaking was “never her thing” until she realized how powerful and impactful she felt speaking for even just a small room full of people. Now, she’s a successful entrepreneur and author of over 15 books. Her story is an incredible testament to how no matter what educational background you come from, you can challenge expectations and make an impact as a speaker.As a network marketer, Taurea often found herself speaking to smaller groups. As she invested in her skills, she became a speaker on behalf of the entire company! Despite her experience and success selling f

Do you think some careers just aren’t a good fit for speaking? Think again! This week, we invited a world champion salsa dancer on the podcast. Not only is he a professional dancer, but also a veteran firefighter–we’re talking about Alex Lee, one of our Booked and Paid to Speak program alumni featured in our latest Student Highlight. In Episode 444, he shares the twists and turns of his professional career with our director of student success Maryalice Goldsmith, as well as the lessons he learned and applied from our coaching program. His message focuses on teaching the language of leadership through the paradigm of three pillars: credibility, humility, and loyalty. This message is applicable to a wide variety of audiences, and equally so to the speaking world. It’s a helpful paradigm to keep in mind when acknowledging the reality that there’s no “shortcut” to gaining momentum as a speaker. While our Booked and Paid to Speak program has equipped Alex and thousands of other speakers to launch sustainable,

Bobby Umar is a speaker who does it all. He writes books. He runs coaching programs. He’s amassed hundreds of thousands of followers in his social media communities. He’s done multiple TEDx talks. And most importantly, he’s a self-described doting dad. If you’re wondering how he manages to juggle so many balls alongside his speaking engagements, so are we — so he joined our founder Grant Baldwin for Episode 443 of the TSL podcast to discuss his speaking journey. Many aspiring speakers want to be like Bobby. All kinds of people in all sorts of industries look to him as a branding and networking expert. But he didn’t start out that way! Over time, he has both expanded and refined his speaking platform so he only speaks on topics he is best at to audiences who are the perfect fit. On the show, he shares how he started with a well-defined niche that allowed him to become a thought leader with a simple, compelling message: discover your personal brand (DYPB). One part of Bobby’s platform that we don’t of

Our coaches at The Speaker Lab are equipped to guide you through your speaking journey, no matter what kind of speaker you want to be. Which means if you prefer a side room with a dozen or so people around a table to a massive auditorium, we’re here to help. Delivering motivational keynotes might look like the most glamorous choice, but many speakers build incredible careers and make huge impacts through other communication channels such as workshops. With that in mind, this week’s Coaches’ Corner on The Speaker Lab show is dedicated to everything workshops–how to create them, how to build a business around them, and how to actually make an impact. On Episode 442, our director of student success Maryalice Goldsmith is joined by Nanette Hitchcock from our TSL coaching team. Nanette loves nothing better than running a great workshop, and she knows how to create a collaborative atmosphere that helps her audience solve their problems. If you’ve ever wanted a heart to heart chat with our speaking coaches abou

Speaking can be pretty intimidating for introverts. In fact, you might be under the impression that all successful professional speakers are extroverts. After all, isn’t getting up on a stage the ultimate example of being a “people person”? As a matter of fact, introverts can be great public speakers–and they often bring something unique to the stage. This week, the Speaker Lab founder Grant Baldwin (who is actually an introvert!) sat down with Dr. Mike Bechtle (another introvert!) for an episode dedicated entirely to introverts and public speaking.Dr. Bechtle’s career spans many fields: ministry, teaching college, writing books, and decades of work for a renowned coaching company. Now retired, he’s focusing on growing his platform as an author and speaker. You’ve probably seen his name in the “inspirational books'' section, where his best-selling works on communication, and interpersonal relationships reside. In a few months, you’ll be able to read his upcoming book about how introverts can succeed in the wo

Balancing your work with your personal and family life is a challenge for any ambitious professional, but it can be especially taxing for speakers. Scaling your speaker business to the point where you can make a living takes time, and in those early “lean years” you might be traveling to every gig you can land at the expense of time with your family. Before you know it, you find yourself burnt out in all areas, adrift in the chaos, and not sure what to prioritize. Fortunately, speaker and coach Cory Carlson has some solutions for you. Cory is the author of Win at Home First, an inspirational book that teaches you how to prioritize your personal life so you can then succeed in your professional life. He joined our founder Grant Baldwin for Episode 440 of The Speaker Lab podcast to share lessons from his own experience with a perfect storm of professional and personal burnout, overwhelm, and exhaustion. Cory had an incredibly successful rise to the C-suite in his first career, but he was constantly stresse

Today’s guest on Episode 439 of The Speaker Lab podcast, part of our Student Highlight series, is proof that you can become a speaker at any stage in your career, even if you’ve spent your life doing something different. William Quigg is one of those speakers – after a decades-long career in broadcasting, he found his way via sales and corporate training into the speaking industry with the help of our Virtual VIP program with Erick Rheam. In this conversation with director of student success Maryalice Goldsmith, William shares his story along with unique insights about everything from how many emails you have to send to get an answer to nailing a sales call.William, like many of our students, came to TSL after he realized there was a missing link between where he was as a speaker and where he wanted to be. COVID gave him the opportunity to massively expand his speaking business virtually, and he continues to speak both virtually and in person. If you’re looking for an easy answer for how to scale quickly, you

Often, one of the hardest parts of the learning curve of launching a speaking business is being self employed. Many would-be entrepreneurs have longed for a textbook that explains how working for yourself actually works. Fortunately, Jeffrey Shaw, speaker, author, and expert in the unconventional art of being self-employed, has written a book about just that. For Episode 438 of The Speaker Lab podcast, he spoke with TSL founder Grant Baldwin about honing in on your expertise and managing your own business. He also shares his time-tested strategies for mastering the art of storytelling, one of the most important skills in any speaker’s toolkit.Many speakers overextend themselves trying to reach too many audiences. Getting in front of the group who values what you have to offer can be a long process. Jeffrey has done the hard work for you–he cycled through a variety of audiences before finding the place where his expertise could deliver the most value. While it’s not bad to try different things with d

Our amazing TSL coaches do a lot of great work helping our students accelerate their speaking careers through our programs. But beyond their great work at TSL, our coaches are people with their own amazing journeys inside and outside of the speaking industry. This week on the Coaches Corner, our director of student success Maryalice Goldsmith interviewed coach Michelle Onuorah about her mission, her speaking career, and how she ended up at The Speaker Lab. Michelle is a faith-filled go-getter with so much passion for life, and Episode 437 gives you just a taste of what you might learn from her if you enroll in one of our programs. Michelle started out as a TSL student before she started coaching for us (a story shared by many of our coaches, like Erick Rheam). Her mission had already fired her up to run a life coaching business and publish a book when she decided to dig deeper into the opportunities afforded by speaking. Michelle is an ideator and innovator with a professional story marked

Every year, The Speaker Lab founder Grant Baldwin and coach Erick Rheam come onto the TSL show for an episode we call “The State of the Speaking Industry.” Grant and Erick use this time to zoom out and examine shifts in the last year and trends for the next year that affect speakers working on building their business this year. This is a chance to really dig deep into what’s going on in a variety of different industries and how that changes things up for all speakers, from aspiring to advanced. In episode 436 of The Speaker Lab podcast, we’re looking at the state of the speaking industry for 2023. Exciting things are happening as the world emerges from the COVID-impacted era of virtual events into a new hybrid era. Some organizations are eager to get back to classic conferences with lots of personal interactions and face-to-face communication, while others are enjoying the efficiency afforded by shifting everything to zoom. At the same time, many sectors are hurting due to the economy, and speakers in th

Our Student Highlight series continues with a student who came to us after years of success as a therapist and academic. Dr. David Palmiter knew how to fill in the gaps between scientific research and common knowledge, specifically on the topic of achieving happiness. He had three decades of speaking experience and regularly trained other therapists. He was a hit with his audience every time he went onstage. He had a good handle on content, delivery, and performance. But something was missing. He hadn’t turned speaking into a real business. Fortunately, the Virtual VIP program with Erick Rheam helped him do just that and find the magic key (literally!) to differentiate himself from his competition. David does indeed do magic tricks to illustrate his points, but the magic he works for his audience goes much further. In this episode, he shares how Erick opened the world of possibilities available once he streamlined his prospecting process by utilizing Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems. This c

On The Speaker Lab podcast, we feature guests who find their way to the speaking industry via myriad paths. Sometimes their path is linear, and sometimes the story of how they got to speaking is just as interesting as what they speak about. In Episode 434, you’ll get to hear from one of those speakers–someone who has really done it all! Lou Diamond has worked in marketing, technology, finance, and professional services. He’s a speaker, author, consultant, and expert podcaster, and he has a lot to share.Lou’s journey to speaking involves a lot of the lessons we love to emphasize at The Speaker Lab. Discovering his unique ability for connecting with people allowed him to find an organic niche that suited his message and his experience–one of the most important steps to launching your speaking business. As demand for his speaking services increased, he had to make a lot of tough decisions about where to put his time and energy to further his career. These days, he splits his time three ways, between sales and le

Do you have executive presence? It’s not just for CEOs. According to TSL coaches Maryalice Goldsmith and Katherine Johnson, executive presence actually refers to the constellation of cues that people use to evaluate whether we have credibility, whether they see us as a leader, and how they perceive our capabilities. Most people default to trusting nonverbal messaging when there’s a cognitive dissonance–even if your words are telling the truth. You can have all the expertise and authority in the world, but it won’t help if your clothes, your body language, and your branding send the wrong message.Executive presence solves that dissonance. It helps you create a clear and intentional first impression that communicates your message and your business with warmth and confidence. The last thing you want to do is scare people off, but the many speakers who struggle with executive presence are doing just that!In today’s episode, Maryalice and Katherine go through strategies for elevating trust with your clie

We have big news: we’re launching a new program at The Speaker Lab. In this podcast episode, Grant is joined by Erick Rheam to tell you all about our Master Speaker Program: what it entails, who it’s for, and how it can help you scale your speaking business. This program is our first ever offering for established speakers. If you’re not sure whether that describes you, Erick and Grant give a quick overview of the phases of a speaking business (beginner, emerging, and established). As Erick and Grant explain in detail, established speakers are those who have a good handle on the speaking industry, but are struggling to scale, systematize, and prioritize. Maybe you’ve been speaking for a year or more, but struggle knowing when to say “no” to gigs that aren’t quite in your preferred niche. Maybe you’re overwhelmed by the financial and accounting side of speaking and don’t know how to plan for a more profitable year. Maybe you make a lot of money speaking, but are tired of all the travel and want to cha

When we say our programs get you results, Anne Marie Anderson is what we mean. After decades of experience in sports broadcasting, Anne Marie realized that the speaking gigs she landed here and there could become a career. She joined the Speaker Lab Virtual VIP program with Erick Rheam in the fall and just three months later, her speaking business is booming! She shares her success story on today’s podcast with TSL director of student success Maryalice Goldsmith. If you struggle knowing when and how to make your next best professional move, Anne Marie’s story will fill you with the confidence you need.In this episode, Maryalice and Anne Marie dig deep into what it takes to turn your speaking business from “one of the things you do” into “what you do”. From locker room pep talks to celebrity sideline interviews, Anne Marie’s career has taught her a lot about how to take opportunity by the horns. For her, The Speaker Lab was the obvious choice to maximize her opportunities. Giving us a taste of her si

We love bragging about the success of our TSL students on the podcast. Today’s guest is a real gem — he speaks straight from the heart and you can hear it in his voice! Ryan Botner has tried his hand at several different industries with great success. Despite bringing in multi-million dollar revenues, he wasn’t in love with the results. Coaching and speaking (with the help of The Speaker Lab) turned out to be his passion. What drives him, on and off the stage? Intentionality. In today’s student highlight podcast with TSL coach Maryalice Goldsmith, Ryan talks about how intentionality should drive your business and your life. His inspiring advice for staying aligned with your purpose, facing your fears, and choosing mentors wisely will leave you burning with excitement for your speaking business’s future. In addition, he offers some great tips for coaches who aren’t sure how to integrate speaking into their business. If you’ve been feeling lackluster about your speaking goals, Ryan will fire you up to

You’ve probably heard from us before that a good website is one of your two most important assets as a speaker (the other is your demo video). At the same time, once you build your website you can’t just set it and forget it! Along with that great importance comes great responsibility. You might be surprised how much your menu organization matters to potential clients, or how your font choices and pop-up timing influence first-time visitors!In this episode of The Speaker Lab podcast, Rick Clemons and Maryalice Goldsmith bring some much-needed nuance to the topic of speaker websites. They’re digging deep into what really matters on your website, as well as what isn’t worth your time (when it comes to websites, the perfect is sometimes the enemy of the good)! Have you been trying to coordinate your social media, email marketing, and personal branding with your website? Today’s show covers some incredibly helpful metrics for figuring out if all that effort is paying off.Here's what you'll learn from this episode

As a speaker, there are plenty of legal issues to navigate as you build a rock-solid speaking business. Good news – Autumn Witt Boyd is bringing her expertise and experience to Episode 428 of The Speaker Lab Podcast to help you walk through what you need to know!There are many nuances to preserving and protecting online businesses, intellectual property, opportunities for trademarks, and even creating contracts! Autumn covers all of that in this episode and highlights some of the most overlooked legalities that can often be missed by speakers. In addition to offering her insight and expertise as an intellectual property lawyer, Autumn takes a deep dive into contract writing and how to cover all the specifics, add riders, and navigate extenuating circumstances. As speakers, your work is personal, meaningful, and a reflection of what you're most passionate about. As you build your business, it’s essential to know what you need to protect and how to assess the risks and rewards of each legal consideration. This

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to sit down with some of our coaches and take a deep dive into some of the hottest topics for speakers?In our first episode of 2023, Director of Student Success Maryalice Goldsmith joins Lead Coach Rick Clemons to unpack the ten biggest distractions that can hurt speakers who are trying to grow and scale their businesses. There are so many things to navigate as you build your speaking business, and it's so easy to get sidelined by things that don't matter.Using social media, finding your audience, navigating the comparison game, figuring out how to sell — it's hard not to get overwhelmed at times. Maryalice and Rick have both been there, done that and they're here to guide you through the delicate process of building success on the stage. Through this episode, you'll learn about the most common distractions, how to identify them in your own journey, and and how to set boundaries and stay focused amidst the “noise.” There’s so much to take away from this conversatio

Sharing in the excitement of our students’ success is a privilege for our team at the Speaker Lab! Our Director of Student Success, Maryalice Goldsmith, is taking the mic for our Student Highlight series so you can hear directly from our students about their experiences and what they want you to know about growing your speaking business.This week, Michael Laidler joins us for Episode 426 of The Speaker Lab Podcast to talk about how the evolution of his speaker training led him to take the plunge into professional speaking. Despite his current success, Michael had a rocky introduction to the speaking industry. Along the way, he found The Speaker Lab and quickly learned how to grow and scale his speaking business.During this conversation, Michael unpacks the value of the systems and processes that have made all the difference in the growth of his business. Michael shares practical advice about how to build your skillset, grow your network, effectively prospect, and be intentional about building a sustainable sp