Speaking Your Brand: Public Speaking Tips and Strategies 103: [Coaching] How to Become a Keynote Speaker with Laura Gallaher
If one of your goals is to become a keynote speaker, this on-air coaching call will help you identify the stepping stones to get you there.
My guest in this episode, Laura Gallaher, was on the podcast about a year ago (episode 54), talking about how to build trust with your teams and audience, based on a powerful workshop experience I had had with her. Laura and I have worked together on her signature talk and, more recently, on her TEDx talk for TEDxOrlando (here's the intro).
Now, Laura wants to know how she can become a keynote speaker, including a paid one, as well as how she can find other speaking engagements where her ideal clients would be in the audience.
In this on-air coaching call, you’ll hear us talk about:
- What Laura and her company do
- Who her ideal clients are and where she can find them
- The types of speaking engagements that are the size and format for the work she does and that will generate the most interest in hiring her company
- How Laura can start positioning herself to be a keynote speaker
- Whether Laura should niche down even more (you may be surprised at my response)
- Speaking topics that could be good ones for conferences Laura wants to attend
- How to title her talks
- And more.
About My Guest: Dr. Laura Gallaher is an Organizational Psychologist, Executive Coach, and Licensed Human Element Practitioner. She began her career at NASA Kennedy Space Center. After the Space Shuttle Columbia exploded upon re-entry in 2003, killing everybody aboard, Kennedy Space Center hired Laura and a team of organizational psychologists to change the cultural influences that were deemed to play a role in the tragedy. She worked for 8 years with NASA to positively influence culture, develop leadership capacity, and improve organizational performance at Kennedy Space Center. She was also hired to help manage the change associated with radical changes in the performance management process and philosophy at Walt Disney Parks & Resorts.
Laura’s company, Gallaher Edge, works with executives who want an edge over their competition by looking inward, and pushing past the edge of their comfort zone in order to increase their awareness, alignment, and accountability. She helps executive teams have conversations they didn’t even know they needed to have. Organizations are just people. Gallaher Edge helps executives learn what it takes to be more profitable by truly putting people first.
About Us: The Speaking Your Brand podcast is hosted by Carol Cox. At Speaking Your Brand, we help women entrepreneurs and professionals create their signature talks and gain more visibility to achieve their goals. Our mission is to get more women in positions of influence and power: on stages, in businesses, on boards, in the media, in politics, and in our communities. Check out our coaching programs and workshops at https://www.speakingyourbrand.com.
Links:
Show notes at https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/103
Visit Laura Gallaher’s website and download her free guide at http://www.gallaheredge.com.
Join Laura’s membership program at https://gallaheredge.com/join/.
Listen to Laura’s podcast “Expand Your Edge”.
Laura's TEDx talk: https://youtu.be/RUxT8wuDsG4
Join the free Speaking Your Brand community at https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/join/ or text the word SPEAKING to 444-999.
Sign up for a Strategy Session at https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/strategy.
Ready to create your signature talk and framework? Email me at carol@speakingyourbrand.com or click here to schedule a call.
Say hi to me on Instagram and Twitter: @CarolMorganCox.
Subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Google Podcasts and leave a review!
Related Podcast Episodes:
- Episode 8: [Coaching] Topics Worthy of a Keynote with Danielle Liss
- Episode 11: Creating and Preparing for a Keynote Presentation with LuAnn Nigara
- Episode 45: Your Visibility Roadmap: Build Your Business, Brand, and Influence
- Episode 50: The 3 C’s of Visibility: What It Takes to Get Known
- Episode 54: Building a Culture of Trust with Your Team and Audience with Dr. Laura Gallaher
- Episode 68: Getting Paid to Speak and Negotiating Speaker Fees
JOIN US: Our in-person Speaking Accelerator Workshop is coming up in Downtown Orlando on October 30, 2025. Create and practice your signature talk in one day using our proven framework, so you can confidently share your message and attract more opportunities. It's a fun, supportive environment where you get personalized feedback, professional photos, and more. Limited to 15 attendees. Get the details and secure your spot at https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/orlando/.