Forging a Path to Purpose-Driven Speaking with Shannon GaNun

Jan 13, 2026

Shannon GaNun, a communications pro and former professor turned full-time speaker, shares her inspiring journey from small-town roots to empowering leaders with confident communication. She emphasizes the importance of pitching yourself and taking imperfect action. Overcoming imposter syndrome, Shannon talks about the transition to a speaking career later in life and her lesson-filled experience with The Speaker Lab. She advocates for reframing sales as serving clients and encourages aspiring speakers to package their life experiences into valuable offerings.

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ANECDOTE

Career Path From Capitol Hill To Stage

Shannon recounted working on Capitol Hill, association communications, and later as a college professor teaching public speaking.
Those roles fed into her offering and eventual full-time speaking pivot.

INSIGHT

Background Isn’t The Limiting Factor

Age or a 'normal' background isn't a barrier; unique purpose and packaged lessons matter more than dramatic credentials.
Many successful speakers come from ordinary careers and solve practical problems.

INSIGHT

Ordinary Experience Becomes Sellable Expertise

Packaging decades of ordinary experience into a focused offer creates value for buyers.
Speakers are hired to solve a specific problem for a specific audience, not to have a dramatic life story.

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“There’s a huge amount of progress that comes from pitching yourself and putting information out there and having discovery calls and doing events and speaking at events and fielding questions and posting on social media and seeing what people want.”

Welcome to another episode of The Speaker Lab Podcast! Today, host Grant Baldwin welcomes Shannon GaNun, a former communications professional, college professor, and now a thriving full-time speaker who’s built an inspiring business around helping others communicate with purpose and confidence.

In this conversation, Shannon takes us through her remarkable journey, starting from her roots in a small Wisconsin town, through her early career on Capitol Hill, and onto the classroom at Georgia Southern University. She shares how her lifelong passion for effective communication eventually led her to pitch herself, land gigs, and build programs that empower leaders at corporations and associations to strengthen their impact through better speaking skills.

This episode dives deep into the realities of launching a speaking business later in life, the challenges of making a mid-career pivot, and the process of turning decades of both work and life experience into a valuable, marketable service. Shannon gets candid about overcoming imposter syndrome, learning the business side of speaking through The Speaker Lab, and tackling the not-so-glamorous parts.

If you’re someone who wonders if you’re “special enough” to be on stage, or if you’ve wrestled with questions of timing, self-doubt, or financial security in pursuing your passion, you’ll walk away with encouragement to start where you are, leverage your experience, and take that next step!

You’ll learn:

Starting before you’re 100% ready
Transitioning from learning to pitching, discovery calls, and social media outreach
Recognizing value in communication versus sharing it on stage
Overcoming fears or doubts about speaking in front of groups
The misconception that speakers need unique backgrounds
Solving a specific problem for a specific audience
Packaging expertise into a sellable product
And much, much more!

“Everybody, even though we’re all kind of ordinary, normal, what I consider middle class Americans, we all have a unique experience and so we can take what we have experienced and teach others.”

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