Speaking Your Brand: Public Speaking Tips and Strategies

Have you been getting the feeling that you’re ready to go bigger with your ideas and message? That you want to have a bigger impact and reach more people? This is what today’s guest, therapist Marisol Erlacher, started feeling last year, as she took part in conversations with other BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) women who were recognizing the role that trauma has played in their leadership development and how it has shown up in their professional lives. Marisol is currently in our Thought Leader Academy and has been working one-on-one with our lead speaking coach Diane Diaz on her thought leadership platform and signature talk. I love what Marisol says towards the end of their conversation about her evolution as a thought leader: “It’s not about how other people see me. It’s about how I see myself.”   In this episode, Diane and Marisol talk about: The conversations Marisol was having that led her to realize “There’s something more here” How listening to cues can guide you in identifying your thought leadership message Marisol’s transition from therapist and business owner to speaker and thought leader The scary and exciting aspects of shifting your identity Seeing yourself as a thought leader and owning that identity   Enrollment for our Thought Leader Academy is opening again in September! Get the details and join our interest list at https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/academy/.   About Our Guest: Marisol Solarte-Erlacher, M.A., LPC is a trauma expert, speaker and workshop facilitator specializing in post-traumatic growth and resilience. She is also the creator and host of the podcast Resilience and Resistance, which features Black, Indigenous, and Women of Color who have overcome trauma and built success. Her dedication to Latinx communities and women’s issues is evident in her research and public-speaking engagements as well as her leadership with nonprofits and public health departments. About Us: The Speaking Your Brand podcast is hosted by Carol Cox. This episode is hosted by our lead speaking coach, Diane Diaz. At Speaking Your Brand, we help women entrepreneurs and professionals clarify their brand message and story, create their signature talks, and develop their thought leadership platforms. Our mission is to get more women in positions of influence and power because it's through women's stories and visibility that we challenge the status quo and change existing systems. Check out our coaching programs at https://www.speakingyourbrand.com.  Links: Show notes at https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/235 Marisol’s website = https://www.marisolerlacher.com/  Marisol’s podcast = https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/resilience-and-resistance-podcast/id1521769475    Download our FREE workbook on how to position yourself as a thought leader: https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/guide/.    Get on the interest list for our Thought Leader Academy: https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/academy/   Schedule a consult call with us to talk about creating your signature talk and thought leadership platform: https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/contact.    Connect on social: Diane on LinkedIn = https://www.linkedin.com/in/dianediaz  Marisol on LinkedIn = https://www.linkedin.com/in/marisol-solarte-erlacher-a5566513 Marisol on Instagram = https://www.instagram.com/resilience_and_resistance/  Related Podcast Episodes: Episode 210: Finding Your Big Idea By Noticing What's Missing with Jackie Roby Episode 215: Moving Past the Surface to Find Your Deeper Story and Message with Zaribel Clay

The best way to describe this episode is to share what my guest, copywriter Ashleigh Rennie, wrote when she scheduled our podcast interview: “When I was growing up in South Africa, the country was in the darkest days of the Apartheid. It was the 80s. Nelson Mandela had been in jail for twenty years. We were on the verge of a civil war. My parents were liberals who voted for democracy. And I was making speeches at school about social injustice, equality and marginalisation, and why Apartheid was wrong.   “Then I went to work for a non-profit, The Foundation for Tolerance Education, and I held workshops and made speeches about Apartheid, the Holocaust, and what it means to be a victim, a perpetrator, and a bystander.   “I'm passionate about being vocal about what you believe in. It's everything to me. It's a huge  part of my business and my work as a copywriter. For me it’s feminism, human rights, animal rights, black lives matter, issues of privilege. I want my clients to find their voice and be unapologetic about putting it out there. But I also want my own voice to resonate with people.” As soon as I read this, I couldn’t wait to interview Ashleigh!   Ashleigh and I talk about: Her background growing up in Apartheid South Africa How her early experiences influenced what she does now The importance of finding your authentic voice and weaving it into your business and your brand, in your copy and in your marketing Creating content that makes people fall in love with you because you're a little bit in love with yourself     About My Guest: Ashleigh Rennie runs The Story Team, her copywriting business. Her mission is to empower female entrepreneurs to embrace their authentic voice and weave it into their business, creating consistent branding and copy that converts. She works with female entrepreneurs from South Africa to New Zealand, from India to South Korea, from the UK to the USA, helping them with badass brand voice and copy tips. She is an unapologetic vegan who started her business from her car while working as a care worker. She swears too much, is far too loud, is working more and more on not caring too much about what other people think, and she wants to tell her story so that it may help other women to find their power.   About Us: The Speaking Your Brand podcast is hosted by Carol Cox. At Speaking Your Brand, we help women entrepreneurs and professionals clarify their brand message and story, create their signature talks, and develop their thought leadership platforms. Our mission is to get more women in positions of influence and power because it's through women's stories and visibility that we challenge the status quo and change existing systems. Check out our coaching programs at https://www.speakingyourbrand.com.  Links: Show notes at  https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/234  Ashleigh’s website: https://www.thestoryteam.org/  7 of the Greatest Public Speakers (really, no women?!?): https://bigthink.com/stephen-johnson/7-of-the-greatest-public-speakers-in-history  A more balanced list of great speeches: https://blog.wsb.com/powerful-lessons-for-speakers-from-15-great-orators    Get on the interest list for our Thought Leader Academy: https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/academy/.    Connect on social: Carol on LinkedIn = https://www.linkedin.com/in/carolcox Carol on Instagram= https://www.instagram.com/carolmorgancox  SYB on YouTube = https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCS7AtXV0f_HL09mepAON65w  Ashleigh on LinkedIn = https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashleigh-rennie/ Ashleigh on Instagram = https://www.instagram.com/thestoryteamldn/  Related Podcast Episodes: Episode 163: A Feminist Approach to Public Speaking with Carol Cox Episode 185: My Journey as a Thought Leader and How We’re Evolving at Speaking Your Brand with Carol Cox Episode 213: The V.O.I.C.E. of Thought Leaders with Carol Cox

In this episode, I share 3 types of thought leadership models: personality-driven, research-driven, and mission-driven.  A lot of times we see someone who we would categorize as a thought leader and think that we can’t do what they do - and you don’t have to be just like them.  You can see which of these 3 types most closely aligns with who you naturally are.  Just like your business model influences your customer segments, value proposition, key activities, and channels, your thought leadership model will do the same. Once you have an understanding of which type of thought leader you are, your goals, your message, your content, and your platforms will be much clearer and easier to implement. About Us: The Speaking Your Brand podcast is hosted by Carol Cox. At Speaking Your Brand, we help women entrepreneurs and professionals clarify their brand message and story, create their signature talks, and develop their thought leadership platforms. Our mission is to get more women in positions of influence and power because it's through women's stories and visibility that we challenge the status quo and change existing systems. Check out our coaching programs at https://www.speakingyourbrand.com.  Links: Show notes at https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/233. Download our FREE workbook on how to position yourself as a thought leader: https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/guide/.  Get on the interest list for our Thought Leader Academy: https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/academy/ Schedule a consult call to talk about creating your signature talk and thought leadership platform: https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/contact.    Connect on social: Carol on LinkedIn = https://www.linkedin.com/in/carolcox Carol on Instagram= https://www.instagram.com/carolmorgancox  SYB on YouTube = https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCS7AtXV0f_HL09mepAON65w  Related Podcast Episodes: Episode 213: The V.O.I.C.E. of Thought Leaders with Carol Cox Episode 229: 3 Speaking Styles You Can Use Episode 232: Are You an Influencer, an Expert, or a Thought Leader? with Carol Cox

What’s the difference between an influencer and a thought leader? And what’s the difference between an expert and a thought leader? Which one you choose will determine the kind of content you create and where (what platforms) you should be spending your time and focus. Most likely, you’re currently in the expert category (which is great!) and perhaps you want to develop into a thought leader. There’s a lot of overlap between being an expert and a thought leader that you can leverage - AND there’s a critical difference between the two, which you’ll hear in this episode. In this episode, I talk about the differences between influencers, experts, and thought leaders, including examples, what they do, platforms, monetization streams, and what their content looks like. I also talk about WHY it can be hard to shift from expert to thought leader.   About Us: The Speaking Your Brand podcast is hosted by Carol Cox. At Speaking Your Brand, we help women entrepreneurs and professionals clarify their brand message and story, create their signature talks, and develop their thought leadership platforms. Our mission is to get more women in positions of influence and power because it's through women's stories and visibility that we challenge the status quo and change existing systems. Check out our coaching programs at https://www.speakingyourbrand.com.  Links: Show notes at https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/232.  Download our FREE workbook on how to position yourself as a thought leader: https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/guide/.  Get on the interest list for our Thought Leader Academy: https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/academy/  Schedule a consult call to talk about creating your signature talk and thought leadership platform: https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/contact.    Connect on social: Carol on LinkedIn = https://www.linkedin.com/in/carolcox Carol on Instagram= https://www.instagram.com/carolmorgancox    Related Podcast Episodes: Episode 184: Why Some Speakers Become Thought Leaders with Carol Cox Episode 214: Top Takeaways from Our Speaking Coaches Episode 229: 3 Speaking Styles You Can Use

How can you get selected to speak at an event? What do event organizers look for in speakers? My guest is Kelly Youngs, the founder of global women’s network She Is Fierce!, which puts on in-person and virtual events. Kelly and I talk about the balance between inspirational speakers and expertise speakers, what kinds of speakers are inspiring to us, and how she curates the content and speakers for her events. I’ll be speaking (in person!) at Kelly’s She is Fierce! Summit this September 22-24, 2021, in St. Augustine, Florida. Join me there! Show notes, links, and related episodes at https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/231.

Have you ended up somewhere in life that you did not expect (or was not expected of you)? Do you have a life story that people have told you is inspirational? For my guest and client Tanea Smith, the answer to both of these questions is YES. In this episode, Tanea and I talk about how she’s using her life journey for her signature talk, including identifying her big idea, how we selected specific stories, and what happened to her recently that confirmed the message she wants to share.   Show notes, links, and related episodes at https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/230. 

Are you ready to challenge yourself with your presentation content and delivery to make a memorable experience for your audience? In this episode, I share with you 3 main speaking styles, the overall goals of each, what each of them looks like including examples. You can take parts of each to create a style that’s your own - one that you enjoy, stretches you, and is memorable for the audience. After doing many, many Zoom sessions and virtual presentations over the past 16 months, I know I can’t wait to be in front of an audience and to truly make an experience for them and for me. You can use this opportunity as we shift from virtual to in-person to try new things, maybe go out of your comfort zone a bit and play with a new speaking style. Show notes, links, and related episodes at https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/229. 

Have you attended presentations, whether in person or online, where you get frustrated or bored? Perhaps even the thought has crossed your mind to walk out of the session or to close the Zoom window? I know I’ve had those experiences as someone in the audience - and that’s definitely *not* something you want your audiences to experience when you’re the presenter. As speakers, we want to deliver a really great experience, get excellent feedback, and get leads and clients. Hear 5 mistakes I see speakers make that turn off their audiences AND what to do instead. This applies no matter the audience size and whether you’re presenting in person or online. Show notes, links, and related episodes at https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/228. 

Get behind the scenes on what we do at Speaking Your Brand to get, pitch for, and prep for speaking engagements. When I'm at a live event, whether it's a conference with speakers or a play with actors, I'm just as curious to know what goes on *back* stage as what's going on *on* stage. As such, we’ve started a NEW LinkedIn Live show called "Back Stage with Speaking Your Brand"! This podcast episode is the audio from the first LinkedIn Live show we did last week on how we and our clients pitch for and prepare for speaking engagements. We talk about: strategies for attracting inbound speaking requests, submitting speaking proposals, and preparing for the return of in-person speaking. You can watch the video replay on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/video/live/urn:li:ugcPost:6800864573894348800/.  Show notes and links at https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/227

Sydney Cummings is a YouTube sensation with over 1.1 million subscribers, which she built organically over the past 3 years by uploading a new workout every day (talk about consistency!) Recently, Sydney gave a TEDx talk called “Resilience: How to Emerge from your Tragedies Stronger”, which was her first (!) experience with public speaking. Sydney was invited to give the TEDx talk because the organizers at UC Davis heard about her and her story. This is how consistency and authenticity can build your brand and lead to opportunities. Our lead speaking coach Diane Diaz has been following Sydney for a while (doing her workouts!) and invited Sydney onto the podcast to talk about her TEDx experience and how she has built her brand. Diane and Sydney talk about: Why Sydney almost said ‘no’ to doing the TEDx talk How she got the opportunity to do a TEDx talk How she came up with the specific topic and thread The importance of a strong opening Making your story relatable to the audience by taking your personal story and universalizing it How she leveraged the visibility from her TEDx talk The role of consistency and authenticity in building an audience Positioning yourself as a person, not a company (advice from Nike)   About Our Guest: Sydney Cummings is a NASM Certified Personal Trainer and Fitness Nutrition Specialist based in Charlotte, NC. She is a Women's Health Magazine Action Hero and is the owner and founder of Royal Change, a fitness media company alongside her fiance, Dustin Houdyshell. Sydney was a West Virginia University alum and national qualifying Track & Field high jump athlete who still maintains several school and state records for high jump. Royal Change has grown into a fitness brand that has successfully provided over 115 million free workouts to people from all over the world via their YouTube channel, titled "Sydney Cummings" and has a membership community and a merchandise and apparel line that helps people all over the world represent everything Royal Change is about; Making the changes to make yourself feel like royalty!   About Us: The Speaking Your Brand podcast is hosted by Carol Cox. At Speaking Your Brand, we help women entrepreneurs and professionals clarify their brand message and story, create their signature talks, and develop their thought leadership platforms. Our mission is to get more women in positions of influence and power because it's through women's stories and visibility that we challenge the status quo and change existing systems. Check out our coaching programs at https://www.speakingyourbrand.com.  Links: Show notes at https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/226 Connect with Sydney: Her TEDx talk: https://youtu.be/HA-0rvrWu7c  Website: https://www.royalchange.fit/  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sydneycummings_/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/SydneyCummings Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sydneycummingsfitness