This week’s episode was recorded while on the road, preparing to speak at the International Monetary Fund to help them kick-off new career programs for 2020 (an honor!).
Thankful for a quiet hotel room all to myself in the midst of puppy-training (semi)chaos, I stacked a call with my attorney for a licensing contract, then recorded this interview and two solo shows — true to this week’s topic of navigating life as a professional speaker!
Grant and I discuss guidance from his new book, The Successful Speaker: Simple Steps to Make a Living Off Your Message, on everything from pricing, to outreach, to navigating life on the road.
Check out full show notes from this episode with links to resources mentioned at PivotMethod.com/155.
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More About Grant Baldwin
Grant Baldwin is the creator of the popular podcast The Speaker Lab and the online course Booked and Paid to Speak, through which he has trained more than 2,000 speakers.
A popular keynote speaker and entrepreneur, he lives near Nashville, Tennessee, with his wife, Sheila, and their three daughters. His new book is The Successful Speaker: Simple Steps to Make a Living Off Your Message. Visit www.thespeakerlab.com for more information.
Topics We Cover
How Grant earned more than two million in speaking fees, speaking over to half a million people
Five simple steps: SPEAK (Select a problem to solve, Prepare and deliver your talk, Establish your expertise, Aquire paid speaking gigs, Know when to scale)
Scaling our businesses beyond keynote speaking
Select a problem to solve: choose an industry, identify an interest, speak with integrity
How to narrow your interests: What do I enjoy talking about? Does it pass the five-year test? Are others interested too?
When in doubt, watch the market — OPEN method (Oblivious, pondering, engaged, needing)
When people don’t care: The Trojan Horse Method
What does a keynote speaker do? Perform
How to infuse humor, even if you don’t think of yourself as hilarious
A good talk should answer two questions: So what? Now what?
How to reach out to event organizers, and follow-up without being obnoxious
When to speak for free for “exposure” and when to ask for what you’re worth
Listen below or on iTunes, Spotify, SoundCloud, YouTube, Overcast, Stitcher, or Google Play Music:
Resources Mentioned
Grant on the web: Grant Baldwin
Twitter: @grantbaldwin
Instagram: @gbaldwin
The Successful Speaker: Simple Steps to Make a Living Off Your Message
Related Pivot Course: Speak Like a Pro Virtual Conference
The Speaker Lab: How to Pivot a Speaking Career with Jenny Blake
Books:
E-Myth Revisited by Michael Gerber
Related Pivot Podcasts:
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