“Just because you’ve had success in other fields doesn’t mean that you get to skip rungs on the ladder.”

Grant welcomes Jon Acuff back to the The Speaker Lab Podcast! Jon is a regular guest on our show, because he’s an active speaker, a well know New York Times bestselling author, and one of Grant’s good friends.

"I think you could climb the ladder faster when you're an expert at something else already. Like, you and I have seen that, like, former athletes climb the ladder faster. People that have done other things climb the ladder faster. But I think it's about setting your expectations. I think it's about setting the reality. I think it's about putting in the work, about thinking about the client, like, outperforming what their expectations are."

This week, they dig into Jon’s speaking journey what he’s learned through writing his latest book, All It Takes is a Goal, and how you apply these goal setting principles to your speaking business.

This episode also covers:

How to climb the speaking ladder
What it looks like to set big goals that don’t set you up for failure
Jon’s favorite goal setting framework
How to embrace challenges and connect with the audience
What it’s like always playing away games
How to use books to grow your business
What ghostwriting is and how to tell if it’s a good fit for you
A little bit more about Jon’s new book

“It's kind of like, an NFL player who sucks at announcing. They do it for like, three games and you never hear from them again. And you're like, But I thought he played in the NFL for ten years. He's a hall of famer. Yeah, it turns out performing in a game or commenting on a game are very different crafts. And he thought, Nah, dude, I throw touchdowns. I know how to break down a game and do color comment like, no, you don't. You have a chance to engage in that with humility and work on it and put in the reps and the effort, or it just falls apart. And so I remember so many times where I would go and again, it would be low fee, small audience, maybe new content, and I'd put together my own slides, and it was me learning how to do it. And you really have to look at, like, if there's five people in there or 500, I have to give my best.”

Episode Chapters:

[00:02:34] Start small, build up to guaranteed goals.

[00:06:52] Frustration and joy in pursuing new ventures.

[00:09:58] Always serve well.

[00:14:54] Content creators need to accept the limitations of their celebrity status.

[00:19:08] To become a keynote speaker you have to cater and serve corporate audiences, books are a great tool for that.

[00:24:26] Test your content live before creating a book.

[00:25:36] Continuing to use older content as it fits the audiences is a great way to use your books after you publish them.

[00:31:22] Is ghostwriting the solution?

[00:33:30] All about Jon’s Book: "All it Takes is a Goal" The author reflects on his college regrets, realizing his potential, and helping others. Study shows most people feel untapped potential. Book offers practical ways to reach goals

Episode Resources:

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Bonus: Have We Found Clint's Biggest Fan?