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

We're so excited to announce the launch of our new podcast, Talk Speaker To Me! Talk Speaker to Me will bring you 10-15 minute episodes every Thursday filled to the brim with super practical, actionable advice. If this sounds like what you're looking for, search for Talk Speaker To Me on Apple, Spotify, and subscribe for weekly updates!P.S. Have no fear, The Speaker Lab Podcast isn't going anywhere. This is just a new way to bring you more content to help you book more gigs and grow your speaking business. --Welcome to our first episode of Talk Speaker To Me! In this episode, TSL facilitator and Speaker Erick Rheam walks you through exactly what his daily power hour looks like to build a long-term sustainable speaking business."I didn't have anything but a dream and a desire to be a speaker. I just went out and started prospecting on a consistent basis, and I made over $36,000 with no assets whatsoever."Erick's covering: What is a prospectHow often should your prospectWhat does a "power hour" look likeHow sho

"I remember you kind of making this decision to turn The Speaker Lab into what it is today. You wanted to scale it, you wanted to grow it, make a bigger impact on people, and you really did, man." - Shane SamsToday we’re celebrating a massive milestone on The Speaker Lab Podcast, so, here’s the deal! We invited Grant's good friend Shane Sams to interview Grant about his speaking journey, how The Speaker Lab came into existence, and what it’s been like to podcast for oh, you know, almost a decade.As we celebrate this episode, we want to thank each and every one of you who have subscribed, listened to the show, and shared it with others over the years. We couldn't have published 500 episodes without your support. We're not going anywhere, either — stayed tuned for more exciting news ahead! In this conversation, you’ll get a peek behind the scenes as they discuss:00:00 What was your dream for this podcast when you started it? 05:36 Grant’s intro to podcasting and the start of the Speaker Lab dream.08:4

We're just one episode away from the big one — #500! As we wrap up this series, we're bringing in the best speakers we know to share their #1 piece of advice for speakers who want to get to the next level. These speakers are the best of the best — combined, they've booked thousands of gigs and made tens of millions of dollars in speaking fees. If you're serious about growing your speaking business, this is an episode you don't want to miss. In just 25 minutes, you'll learn:How to serve the people who hired you wellWhy you can make more money off the stage than on itWhy consistency matters more than you might thinkWhy you need to commit to coaching How to consistently over-communicateHow to harness the power of authenticityAnd much, much more!Get your notes app ready because this episode is full of advice you'll want to remember!In this episode, you’ll hear from: Chris Ducker - Chris Ducker is a serial entrepreneur and author of the bestselling books, Virtual Freedom and more recently, Rise of the Youpren

This week on the podcast, we’re excited to share our best tips, tricks, and amazing speaking advice from our coaching/support team and our resident speakers here at The Speaker Lab. Our team has decades of combined experience both as speakers themselves and as coaches helping other speakers like you take things to the next level.This episode is full of quick, practical advice that you can apply in your speaking business RIGHT NOW and start finding more paid gigs and growing your business.As we count down to Episode #500 in just TWO WEEKS, we're excited to bring you this special episode that will help you level up your speaking business in a big way.Through this episode, you'll learn:How to find your confidence as a speakerHow to find your speaking community,Actionable steps to get booked & paid to speak®How to show up in a way that honors who you areHow to think about your branding as wholeAnd much, much moreIn this episode, you’ll hear from: Angie Besignano - Angie Besignano is a TSL Coach and

We’re back and one episode closer to 500!This week, we brought in the Leadership Team here at the Speaker Lab to help us learn about managing a speaking business from their areas of expertise. It's a shorter episode than usual, but it's full of tips and practical advice to help you level up your speaking business right now.Through this episode, you’ll learn:How to avoid the most common pitfalls for speakersWhere to position your sales and marketing effortsHow to build confidence on a sales callWhat you need to set up your business from a financial perspectiveHow to organize yourself for successAnd more!In this episode, you’ll hear from:Maryalice Goldsmith - Director of Student SuccessChris Seo - Director of MarketingSam Hill - Director of SalesAndrew Davis - Chief Financial OfficerDan Alia - Chief Operating OfficerSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

We are just a few episodes away from 500, and we wanted to make our countdown to this celebration something special! Today, you’ll be hearing from not one, not two, but SEVEN amazing women in speaking. They are sharing their tips, tricks, and advice to help you launch a speaking career.Throughout this episode, you’ll learn about how to show up on stage, why you need strong processes for success, and what it means to stick to the process when the going gets tough. Let’s get into it! In this episode, you’ll hear from: Brittany Richmond - Brittany is an emotionally dynamic, impactfully vibrant, high-demand teen mental health speaker and one of the few active women speakers in the youth market today! She has spoken on some of the largest and most prestigious youth leadership stages and has served thousands of students all over the country with her message: Become an Overcomer.Dr. India White - Dr India helps teachers and principals cultivate grit on campus to assist in closing the achievement

“We can serve everybody, but that's being selfish, because it is impossible to give deep impactful, valuable change in a certain demographic if you are serving everyone in the world."This week, Brittany Richmond and Erin Pompa sat down to talk about all things speaking. Erin’s been a youth speaker for years and has had just about every experience you can have while building a speaking career. In this episode, Brittany and Erin get into the good, the bad, and the ugly as you balance your impact and your opposition."And I had to learn how to release that pressure that I was putting on myself to be perfect."During this conversation, they cover:05:07 Let’s meet Erin Pompa.07:11 What was your journey to becoming a speaker? 10:43 How did you get started when you decided to become a speaker? 15:06 Erin’s journey to finding her voice and message as a speaker.19:33 Tips for working a room while you’re speaking.22:59 The reality of getting negative feedback.25:08 What does it mean to be a speaker and put your

"And what I found out, Grant, that I was building a level of success financially, but I was doing it from a huge relationship deficit. And I didn't know my daughters like I should, and I didn't know my wife like I should."This week, Grant sat down with Aaron Walker, aka Big A, to talk about how to build a life of significance outside of what you do. Grant often says, “who you are is more important than what you do,” and this episode really hits on that. As driven people, it’s easy to get caught up in the outcomes, the money, and the success, but it’s important to be intentional about curating relationships that will enrich your life and make it mean more. "Do an evaluation, like, what gives me energy? What are the things that only I can do? Because when they are taking energy, you've only got so much bandwidth, there's only so much determination you can pull from, and you're going to crash and hit the wall, which I've done a couple of times I'm not proud of, but I had to take months off for a period of t

"I've always, always had the mentality, that I'm going to out-prepare and outperform you. I just want the audience to leave, thinking "Yeah, we had that person who was an Olympic athlete or a pro athlete, but this guy over here who was like, working at a gas station selling t-shirts, that guy put on a show. And so I've always had the mentality to let the experience outweigh some of the credentials backing it up with statistics and data and things like that."This week, Grant sat down with Jake Thompson, a speaker, author, and one of our amazing facilitators here at TSL, to dig into how he’s scaled his business and his income. Jake’s been on a few other episodes, so check out episodes 205 and 412 and then tune back in here."Throw out the hundreds and throw out the zeros and look at the medium. What did the person who booked you say, and are they willing to put their reputation on the line and do a testimonial referral? Because if they are, then you delivered, but if you didn't, you're probably going to get cric

“I think the potential disadvantage with the bureau is you might have this idea, like, if I'm on a bureau's website and they booked me once, that could really turn into something big. And that's really not the reality."Grant sat down with Brandon Edmondson, VP of Sales at Premiere Speaker Bureau, to dig into the current state of the speaking industry, things to think about as you price yourself, and if you need a speakers bureau to be successful. "We know we probably represent less than 10% of the billion dollar industry of the speaking pie, right? So that means Coca Cola, all these companies on the outside of that piece, they're just connecting directly with speakers. So the pie is huge."In this episode, they dig into:00:00 Brandon’s background and credibility 06:04 How COVID changed the speaking world.06:52 What’s shifted since then? 12:02 Let’s talk about the percentage of gigs agents are booking. 13:04 Is the world saturated with speakers?16:57 Advice for raising speaker fees for all.2

"The goal is to look at the science because there is a step by step metric to keep tabs on your career so that you know without a doubt, is this or is this not the right time to go full time?"This week, Maryalice Goldsmith is joined on the podcast by Jeremy Rochford to talk about when it’s time to go full-time with your speaking. Jeremy has a 7-step framework to make sure your transition from part-time to full-time speaker is seamless. If you’re on the fence or wondering when is the right time, this episode is for you! "There are two things that most people will say are the most valuable things in life. One, time, two, money."In this episode, Jeremy and Maryalice discuss. 01:00 Separating emotion from science in career decisions.04:37 Why timing matters.07:23 How to evaluate your readiness for a full-time speaking career. 10:16 What does this process of assessment look like in practice? 16:19 Where to grow and focus your efforts. 20:38 Reflect on the impact this will have on your rout

"I did not see this being a full time gig at the time. I just thought I was going to be speaking, like, at churches or something, right? So I thought I was speaking at women events, women's conferences and things like that while doing my nine to five, maybe on the weekends."This week, Grant Baldwin sat down with former TSL Student, Amy Pechacek, to dig into her speaking journey, how she’s “planned to win”, what her business looks like today, and the advice she would give other speakers looking to get to the next level."I came into this process thinking I was going to be an inspirational speaker...But people were coming to me, asking me to speak to their teams, and I thought, well, if people trust me in the realm of corporate american leadership and business development and sales and things like that, then I am a firm believer of people seeing you sometimes what you don't see in yourself."In this episode, Amy and Grant get into:05:18 How Amy transitioned from part-time to full-time as a speaker07:20 Amy’s jour

"And what better way than to expand your reach than to do workshops where you can really make an impact?"This week, TSL Facilator and full-time speaker, Erick Rheam is on the podcast talking about how he’s personal scaled his business through workshops. Erick has a 4 step system for breaking into the workshop world to help unlock your income and your impact as a speaker. "And so that's what I did, is I started thinking, okay, this is my keynote. Now, if I were to actually go to an organization and spend 90 minutes or longer with them, what would that look like? What kind of value would I bring? What would be the call to actions? What would be the action items?"If you’re interested in learning more about how to use workshops to grow your business, this episode is for you! 01:07 What Erick’s been up to lately03:16 Erick’s business growth (with real numbers!) since he started speaking07:16 How workshops unlocked growth for Erick’s revenue 10:01 Leveraging workshops as a way to make a bigger impact

"It's really about differentiating between the reality and the necessity. How much do I need to make? How much will the market bear? And can I find that in between space where it actually makes sense?"This week, Maryalice Goldsmith sat down with Angie Besignano to chat about how to charge your worth as a speaker just getting started. If you’re new to speaking and looking to break into the industry, this is how to think about initial pricing, when to give yourself a raise, and how to go about finding your value in the market. "There were definitely cues that I was receiving from the market that were kind of telling me, maybe it is time, right? Maybe it is time for me to go from $1,000 to $1,500 to $2,000 and make those incremental jumps."During this episode, Maryalice and Angie discuss: 05:59 Why you have to understand your money mindset and how to change your relationship with money. 08:44 How to set realistic expectations around your financial expectations. 11:13 What goes into devel

“If you tell a story, it should evoke an emotion, and then that emotion can lead to a thought which shifts somebody's perspective."If you want to learn how to tell better stories, this week's podcast episode is a must-listen! Ravi Rajani joined Grant on the podcast this week to dig into all things storytelling. Ravi’s a TSL facilitator and also a professional speaker who teaches B2B sales teams to embrace storytelling and stories in their work so they can sell better. "What emotion am I trying to elicit? What perspective do they have right now that isn't serving them? And what perspective do I want to give them and how can I support them in creating change?"We all know that stories are important, but where do you begin? How do you source stories, what does it mean to workshop a story, how do you create compelling stories? Ravi and Grant share valuable expertise on sharing stories to connect with your audience. “They all have one thing in common when telling a story and showing up in whatever medium

"If you have diluted focus, you get diluted results."When it comes to building your brand, Rory Vaden is the expert you want in your corner. He’s committed to helping others identify the problem they solve and build a strategy for lasting success."You're most specifically equipped to help someone get through a problem that you have already walked past. That's the greatest shortcut."Rory has a unique story of how he came to be an entrepreneur, found his place on the stage, and embraced the wisdom and insight of others so he could keep growing. As a college student, he found his niche in door-to-door sales. With a knack for developing principles of personal success and development, he soon found himself on the speaking stage and rubbing shoulders with mentors who would change the trajectory of his future."There's so few people who have walked the exact path that you have walked that have overcome the problems that you have overcome. And so there is somebody out there right now who is looking for questions to an

“Think about: Who is the person that I want to impact? Not so much how many people do I want to impact? Or what area of my area of expertise do I want to impact? But who is the exact person that I want to leave my message with and know that they're going to go and step out and make an impact with it?"This week, Maryalice Goldsmith and Eve Gilmore are on the podcast talking about how to find better leads! Sure, Rick’s episode from a couple of weeks ago was great, but you can’t work leads well if you aren’t even trying to get to know the right people! "When I am creating a lead list for a student, I can really tell the difference between a student who knows their audience and knows their voice versus a student that doesn't, because everyone wants to get booked by an event planner or a conference manager."We brought in our Lead Manager, Eve, to talk about how she helps students dig into their expert positioning statements to find the best leads possible. “In particular, we ask our students, hey, provid

“I spoke in a literal barn last year…So for all the speakers listening, you're never too big time. You're never on a big enough stage to go speak at a barn. It kind of humbles you a little.” In this week's episode, Brittany Richmond sits down with the CEO of Streamline Books, Alex Demczak, to chat about his speaking career and how Streamline Books is helping speakers level up their businesses. "When you make a jump of any kind in your career, imagine it like this. You're in one boat, right, and you're leaping to this other boat, and you need to make sure that your boats are aligned so that when you make that jump, there's not a huge splash in the water, right. You need to make sure you go from one boat to the other. And so my mentor, they told me, they said, look, your boats with corporate America and speaking are actually, they're so close that they're actually restricting each other. They're, like, causing friction."In this episode, Brittany and Alex dig into: When Alex realized he wanted to

“Be the steakhouse, not the buffet.” “Have a take.” “View it as a business not a hobby.” We asked the TSL team to tell us their #1 piece of advice for speakers, and they delivered. This episode contains hot takes, practical advice, and key speaking tips from industry experts and leaders. If you want to go from casual speaker to pro in 2024, this episode will help you find a few focus areas, give you some inspiration, and help you take action to create your dreams.The team covers:Advice on niching downHow to go from hobbyist to a professional speakerDaily habits to create successBranding advice to help you level upWhy processes, systems, and execution matterand so much more.Episode ResourcesGet Free Speaker ResourcesBook a Call with The Speaker LabCalculate Your Speaking FeeJoin The Speaker Lab Community on FacebookSubscribe on Apple PodcastsSubscribe on SpotifySee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

“Look for inspiration, not comparison.” Brittany Richmond sat down with Dean Heffta today to talk about his speaking journey, the National Speaker Association, and how he built a business to get him booked and paid consistently. Get back to the basics. Keep it simple. And remember, you don't have to build somebody else's business; you have to build YOUR own business.In this episode, Brittany and Dean talk through:Dean’s experience getting starting as a speakerWhen to donate your time and other ways to get paid Embracing the mindset of the marathon not the sprintWhat it looks like to provide services people rave about Dean’s new book and what having a book signals What are the perks of being in the National Speaker Association Developing the craft of speaking "And to sustain innovation and to sustain the hard times and the uncertainties and the ups and the downs, I believe you need a community. Your friend group and your family group will smile and nod as you're sharing thing