Speaking Your Brand: Public Speaking Tips and Strategies

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 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/.

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. 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/.

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.  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/.

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.  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/.

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.  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/.

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 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/.

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 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/.

“The more you speak, the more you understand yourself and your audience.” I love this quote from my guest Dr. Zoe Shaw. Zoe is a psychotherapist, coach, podcaster, and speaker, whom I have known for the past few years as I’ve seen her speaking career grow. You’ll get a lot out of our conversation!    Zoe and I talk about: How her speaking career got started How she got her first paid speaking engagement How speaking led to Zoe getting her first book contract Why Zoe has decided to re-brand her podcast and narrow her focus and audience to be more specific around faith and feminism How her hot seat in our mastermind has helped her to walk into her re-brand with confidence Setting speaking fees and deciding how many free speaking engagements to do each year About My Guest: Dr. Zoe Shaw is a passionate practitioner in the field of clinical psychology. She is licensed as a psychotherapist and divides her time between her family life, clinical practice, virtual life and relationship coaching, speaking, writing and hosting her podcast (The Dr. Zoe Show).  Dr. Zoe holds a doctorate in Clinical Psychology from Pepperdine University, a Master’s Degree in Marriage and Family Therapy and a Bachelor’s degree in psychology from UCLA, where she also competed as a sprinter and hurdler. Dr. Zoe has been sought out as an expert and featured in Oprahmag.com, Prevention Magazine, Voyage LA Magazine and the Los Angeles APA magazine discussing issues relevant to women and psychology.  Dr. Zoe has presented at the National APA Convention regarding racial identity development and has been a keynote speaker for various engagements, including the NAACP and U.S. Navy.  She is author of A Year Of Self Care, published in 2021. She is currently writing her memoir.   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/225 Zoe’s website: https://drzoeshaw.com/  Listen to Zoe’s podcast: https://drzoeshaw.com/podcast/    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 media: Carol Cox on LinkedIn = https://www.linkedin.com/in/carolcox Dr. Zoe Shaw on LinkedIn = https://www.linkedin.com/mwlite/in/dr-zoe-shaw-1409b5122  Carol Cox on Instagram = https://www.instagram.com/carolmorgancox  Dr. Zoe Shaw on Instagram = https://www.instagram.com/drzoeshaw  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/.

When you have a big goal or project you want to achieve, what do you do to keep yourself on track? For me, having external deadlines and public accountability is what gives me the motivation to complete the goal. This is what happened with our first Brave. Bold. Beyond. Live Virtual Summit. I set the date of October 15, 2020, announced it to our email list and on social media, and then worked backwards from the date to make sure everything happened that needed to. I did the same thing when I launched this podcast in February 2017. I applied to speak at a podcasting conference and figured it would be helpful to have a podcast by the time of the conference, so the week leading up to it, I worked to make sure this podcast went live. My guest in today’s episode is Natalie Sisson, who has achieved a lot of big goals, both personally and professionally. Natalie has written 3 books, had 2 different podcasts, given a TEDx talk, biked across Africa, and much more. In this conversation, Natalie and I talk about: The identity shift Natalie went through when she changed her brand name and focus after being The Suitcase Entrepreneur How she prepared for her TEDx talk she gave in 2016 Why she decided to self-publish and crowdfund her latest book The success she’s had using public accountability to achieve her goals And more! About My Guest: Natalie Sisson is a New Zealand entrepreneur, author, speaker, host of the ‘Untapped’ podcast and triathlete. After ditching a successful corporate career and co-founding a technology company, Natalie decided to monetise her humble, 6-month old blog, The Suitcase Entrepreneur, into a multiple-six figure online education platform back in 2010. In her efforts to continuously innovate, Natalie, the OG of digital nomads, has since turned that content and knowledge into 8 different revenue streams including digital products, courses, workshops, international retreats, and coaching. These days, she’s passionate about helping others leverage their unique set of skills, knowledge, and experience to earn a living and make an impact from anywhere, simply by being them. She’s the author of three books, and proud Queen Bee to the Queens of the $10K Club, an international posse of women who support each other through trials and success, all while being coached and mentored by Natalie. 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/224    I’ll be participating in Natalie’s Monetise You Summit happening May 25-27! I’m talking all about how to get paid speaking engagements. Register for free at https://speakingyourbrand--nataliesisson.thrivecart.com/all-access-pass/.   Natalie’s website = https://nataliesisson.com/    My episode 114 on Natalie’s podcast “Untapped”: https://nataliesisson.com/eps-114-how-to-find-your-thought-leadership-message-signature-talk-topic-with-carol-cox/    Get Natalie’s new book “Suck It Up, Princess”: https://nataliesisson.com/princess    Natalie’s TEDx talk: https://youtu.be/lNNCMu1OjRQ   Schedule a consult call with us to talk about creating your signature talk: https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/contact.    Connect on social media: Carol Cox LinkedIn = https://www.linkedin.com/in/carolcox Natalie Sisson LinkedIn = http://linkedin.com/in/nataliesisson/ Carol Cox Instagram = https://www.instagram.com/carolmorgancox/ Natalie Sisson Instagram = https://www.instagram.com/nataliesisson Related Podcast Episodes: Episode 65: Writing, Publishing, and Promoting Your Book with Julie Broad Episode 186: From Hashtag to Podcast to Book: Developing Your Thought Leadership Platform with Elayne Fluker [Thought Leadership Series] Episode 198: Find Your Hook for Your Book and Talk with Kelly Notaras [Storytelling Series] 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/.

Hosting your own event can be incredibly valuable for you and your business. It can position you as an expert and authority in the topic of your event; it can expand your visibility to new audiences; and it can build your email list and bring in revenue. There are different types of events you can host: live vs. pre-recorded; one day vs. multiple days; online or in person.  Here at Speaking Your Brand, we hosted our Brave. Bold. Beyond. Live Virtual Summit in April 2021 and in October 2020. We chose to do it live on one day: all of our speakers delivered their talks live on the day of the event. My colleague and business coach Lisa Princic took a different approach to the summit she hosted in February (called The Profitable Membership Summit): hers was pre-recorded presentations and interviews, with some live components, over a period of a few days. I invited Lisa on to the podcast to talk about: The specific goals she had for her summit Why she decided to structure hers the way she did How she chose her speakers and curated the content The price points she had and why she decided to charge more than others typically do The results she got Changes she’ll make for next time About My Guest: Lisa Princic helps impact-driven business owners dive deep into their unique value and business models to build sustainable & profitable brands. She helps them simplify their offers, increase their visibility with bolder messaging, strengthen and deepen their marketing systems and scale with membership programs. She is a trained business strategist and the host of the Scaling Deep Podcast. Lisa is a results-oriented, deep thinker who has a knack for “seeing” the value of each business and turning that into a pipeline of ideal clients. A staunch believer in business simplicity and intention, Lisa helps her clients accomplish their goals by focusing on what to do AND what to ignore.   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/223 Lisa’s website: http://www.scalingdeep.com/ and https://scalingdeep.com/freebie/  Listen to Lisa’s podcast “Scaling Deep”: https://scalingdeep.com/podcast/  My episode 111 on Scaling Deep: https://scalingdeep.com/thought-leader-carol-cox/ Schedule a consult call with us to talk about creating your signature talk: https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/contact.    Connect on LinkedIn: Carol Cox = https://www.linkedin.com/in/carolcox Lisa Princic (guest) = https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisaprincic/  Related Podcast Episodes: Episode 12: Defining Your Value Proposition for Marketing with More Heart and Less Hustle with Lisa Princic Episode 142: Positioning Your Brand for Business Growth with Lisa Princic [Leadership Series] Episode 174: Hosting Your Own Virtual Summit with Dr. Holly Tucker Episode 189: Behind the Scenes of Planning Our Virtual Summit with Carol Cox and Diane Diaz [Use Your Voice Series] Episode 196: Why Our Summit Was the Best Virtual Event Experience People Have Had with Carol Cox and Diane Diaz 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/.