Speaking Your Brand With Carol Cox | Women Entrepreneurs | Public Speaking | Communications And Media | Presentations | Tedx

I talk a lot about the power of public speaking for building brand awareness, generating leads, and becoming known in your industry. The other power of public speaking is to influence social change. Throughout history, public speakers have inspired us about what's possible, from JFK's moon speech to MLK's I have a dream. TED speakers have done this for us for the past 15+ years: getting us to think differently about important issues. When one of our former clients and Thought Leader Academy grads, Tanya Golash-Boza, emailed me a few months ago about collaborating with her on a project, I jumped at the chance. Tanya decided to put on an event called Change the World Through Research through the University of California Washington Program (UCDC), where Tanya is the Executive Director. We worked closely with the selected faculty members to create their 10-minute TED-style talks to showcase their research. I know it was a challenge for them to condense all that they know into 10 minutes - which is where we came i

What does the journey look like to evolve from an expert presenter to a sought-after speaker and thought leader? How can you escape what I call “the expert trap” and make the shift into thought leadership? My guest and Thought Leader Academy graduate, Teri DeLucca, PhD, has done exactly this. I know you’ll be inspired by Teri! In this episode, Teri and I talk about: Why she started her business a few years ago Her initial reluctance to share personal stories and be vulnerable - and what changed her mind Her desire to escape “the expert trap” and go beyond her comfort zone of academic presentations The impact storytelling and vulnerability has had on her, her business, her customers, and her audiences Why she joined the Thought Leader Academy and what she got out of it The elements we’ve worked on together to create her signature talk, from incorporating humor and video clips to coming up with an acronym and planting sales seeds for her offer About My Guest: Dr. Teri DeLucca is the Founder and C

I strongly believe that sharing your story transforms not only your audience, but also yourself. You and your audience discover that you’re not alone and that change is possible. From the consciousness-raising circles of the women’s movement in the 1970s to present-day campaigns for policy and legislative changes, our stories can make a profound difference. My guest today is Karen Keene, who is a pillar of the Orlando, Florida, community. I’ve known Karen since 2016 when I went through one of the women’s leadership programs, Athena NextGen, that she runs. Karen recently graduated from our Thought Leader Academy, where we worked together to create her keynote so she can share her story of courage and resilience to her audiences. In this episode, Karen and I talk about: The tragic event that happened to Karen in March 2020 Finding her purpose and calling Making the decision to share her story through speaking engagements The framework we developed for her keynote Karen’s experience in the VIP Day and what she

This episode airs the week of our 4th of July holiday in the United States, so I thought I’d take this opportunity to re-air one of my favorite episodes. If you want to go from being a good speaker to a great one, there are key elements to infuse into your content and delivery. Three years ago, during the July 4th holiday weekend of 2020, I was at home with not much to do since we were all still in the throes of the COVID-19 social distancing.  Luckily, that weekend, “Hamilton: The Musical” (filmed from the Broadway production) aired on Disney+. I was instantly transfixed.  I knew I would like the play, but didn’t realize I was going to love it.  In this episode, I talk about “Hamilton” the play and the production and what we can learn from it as speakers. Why study the play?  After all, as speakers, we’re not acting in a play or singing in a musical. We’re speaking to grow our audiences, build our businesses, generate leads, get paid. I don’t know about you, but I’ve seen a lot of so-so and boring presentati

We’re wrapping up our podcast series on personal branding. Today we're diving into how to amplify your personal brand.  You've started to define it, you're building it, and now, how can you leverage public speaking to really become a sought-after authority?  We're going to explore strategies that work - like how to find speaking engagements that are right up your alley, ways to refine your public speaking skills, and tips on using speaking opportunities to enhance your personal brand. In this episode, Diane Diaz, our lead speaking coach, and I talk about: Why public speaking is the fastest way to build authority and credibility for yourself The journey from getting started with speaking to landing bigger stages Strategies to lessen fears and nerves around public speaking The benefits of speaking to local groups, even if they don’t have your ideal client in them Using storytelling to make your presentations memorable Tips for creating your speaker reel, even if you don’t have professional video clips (yet!)

We’re continuing our podcast series on personal branding. Imagine you have a speaking engagement coming up: What do you wear? How does what you wear reflect and reinforce your personal brand? Our guest in this episode is Solita Roberts, who is an image stylist, LinkedIn Top Voice, and in the first class of LinkedIn’s Creator Accelerator Program. Diane Diaz, our lead speaking coach, talks with Solita about: How our style and clothing (and shoes!) connect to our personal brand What to consider when selecting what to wear, whether it’s on stage or to a networking event Why Solita doesn’t believe in clothing basics And more! Discover your Speaker Archetype by taking our free quiz at https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/quiz/ About Our Guest: Solita Roberts is the creator of Style To Impact, an image consulting company that advises Women of Color and entrepreneurs on how to transform their image and style to authentically reflect their individuality and confidence. Solita has worked with TEDx speakers, lawyers,

We’re continuing our new series on personal branding. If you caught our episode last week, we dug deep into defining what a personal brand is.  We chatted about how to discover your unique brand, and why it's crucial as a thought leader to sync it up with your audience. Today, we're all about building that brand of yours and establishing your thought leadership, both in the digital world and in person. In this episode, Diane Diaz, our lead speaking coach, and I talk about: How we built our personal brands when we started our businesses in 2015-2016 The importance of consistency Why you shouldn’t discount jobs or businesses you’ve had in the past, even if they don’t feel like they are relevant to what you do now Strategies for attending events and networking as an introvert What to do after attending an event to nurture relationships with the people you met Tips for building your personal brand online, especially on LinkedIn Discover your Speaker Archetype by taking our free quiz at https://www.speakingyou

We’re kicking off a new series all about personal branding. Do you know you have a personal brand, whether you're aware of it or not? Now more than ever, your personal brand is essential. We're all swimming in a sea of online content, from social media posts to podcasts and videos, and even AI churning out more stuff.  How do you stand out in that crowd? How can you connect with the people you most want to connect with so that they understand who you really are, what matters to you, and then how they align with that? We know it can be confusing about what personal branding actually means.  How slick and buttoned up does your personal brand need to be? Does it feel superficial or like a facade to have a personal brand? How does your personal brand connect with your company brand?  That's why we're doing this series on personal branding. It's a perfect match with thought leadership and public speaking. So, let's navigate this together and help you make your mark in your world. In this episode, Diane Diaz, our l

We are wrapping up our podcast series on Using Your Voice with a very special guest. Sharon McMahon is a former high school government and law teacher whose Instagram went viral in 2020 (she now has over 1 million followers!) and who is the host of the podcast Here’s Where it Gets Interesting.  Sharon is “on a mission to combat political misinformation by sharing non-partisan facts about the US government and democracy.”  Our lead speaking coach Diane Diaz is a super fan of Sharon and has been following her since the 2020 election season.  Diane reached out to Sharon who graciously agreed to chat with Diane and share with us how she started using her voice where she was with what she knew. In this episode, Sharon shares how her journey began with one small post on her Instagram about wanting to change one person’s life through a monetary donation and has since grown into 1 million followers on Instagram and a community of people, lovingly dubbed the Governerds, who’ve raised over $7 million for various causes

Have you ever felt so passionate about something that you experienced and the lessons you learned from it that you thought to yourself “others need to hear about this?”  If you’ve ever thought something like this, then you’ll want to hear this conversation with our guest Kelly Lopez.  Kelly is a graduate of our Thought Leader Academy and in this continuation of our Use Your Voice series, she talked with our Lead Speaking Coach Diane Diaz about:  Her story of going from settling, personally and professionally, to being intentional about her life and work Why she almost said no to a huge speaking opportunity and what changed her mind How she manages imposter syndrome when speaking What inspires her to continue to use her voice to speak about her passions Why she feels her voice matters in her male dominated industry What prompted her to join the Thought Leader Academy The reason she believes it’s imperative that more women use their voices  This episode is part of our Use Your Voice series.   About My Gues

Have you had an experience that impacted you so much that you were compelled to take action, to make a shift in your life, business, or career? “Compelled to take action” is one of the core stories you can use to frame a talk (others we teach include crisis of confidence, paradigm shift, pin drop, and more). This is precisely what happened to my guest Dr. Nicole Rochester. Nicole was inspired to start her company, Your GPS Doc, after caring for her late father and witnessing the complicated healthcare system from the other side of the stethoscope. Not only has Nicole channeled her advocacy work into her business, but she also does a lot of speaking engagements and panels. Nicole was on this podcast way back in December 2018 (episode 98) when we did an on-air coaching call to help her take her personal story and universalize it. She did exactly that, which led to her TEDx talk in 2019! In this episode, Nicole and I talk about: What she learned from that on-air coaching call How she prepared for her TEDx talk

Have you ever felt imposter syndrome, that you weren’t sure if you had enough expertise or experience or knowledge or credentials [or fill in the blank] to speak up, share your perspective, and use your voice? If so, you’re not alone - and there are ways to move past this. My guest is Kelly Schermerhorn, who describes herself as a recovering people-pleaser and accolade-collector (I can relate!). Kelly recently graduated from our Thought Leader Academy. Kelly and I talk about: Her story of feeling worthy enough to have a voice Her message around mental health Why she wanted to create a signature talk and speak to audiences Why she decided to enroll in the Thought Leader Academy The doubts that came up while she was creating her talk and our conversation about it The process of creating and refining her talk and framework This episode is part of our new series called “Use Your Voice.”   About My Guest: Kelly Schermerhorn is a recovering people-pleaser and accolade-collector. She’s ditching her long-time histo

If I take a look at your slide deck or presentation outline and I can’t tell that the content is yours (vs. another speaker on your topic), you’re in danger of being a commodity speaker. Commodity speakers are undifferentiated and interchangeable. It will be harder for you to attract higher-profile speaking engagements, raise your speaking fees, and generate quality leads at your presentations. What you want instead is for your content to position you as a thought leader. You will have a much bigger impact on your audiences and your speaking will be an effective marketing channel and revenue stream in your business. Now more than ever it's time to escape the expert trap that will keep you undifferentiated and interchangeable with other experts and with the A.I. and instead step into thought leadership. This is how you’ll stay relevant in the age of A.I. were rapidly entering. In this episode, you’ll learn: What the expert trap is, why we stay in it, and how it holds us back What being a thought leader tru

Register for our new free online training at https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/training/ If you’re like many of us, you like being seen as an expert. After all, expertise is celebrated because it generally takes some combination of degrees, credentials, and experience to be seen - and to see yourself - as an expert. You’ve put in the hard work, you’ve mastered a subject, and you can help others in your area of expertise. You speak to audiences and you share your expert tips and insights in your presentations. All of that is changing - and changing fast. If you’ve used ChatGPT, you’ve probably marveled at how quickly and seamlessly (and pleasantly) it comes back with a well-written response to your query. Sure, it’s not perfect, but remember it’s still in its infancy (and GPT-4 is significantly better than what most people have been using with GPT-3.5). A.I. (artificial intelligence) tools like ChatGPT have more expertise than we as humans can possibly acquire, remember, or synthesize. A.I. is now the expert.

We’re wrapping up our series on how marketing is changing and new approaches you can take to more effectively connect with your audiences and prospective clients.  This episode is all about getting PR and media, which can be an important element of your visibility. Have you ever seen someone you know featured in a television news story and wondered how they made it happen?   It’s no secret that public relations efforts like being interviewed on television can ramp up your visibility and grow your reach.  But it might feel like a mystery as to how to get those opportunities.  Our guest is Cheryl Tan, who is a former TV news anchor & host and the creator of the Media Authority Plan, a program designed to help experts increase their visibility through video. Cheryl talks with our lead speaking coach Diane Diaz about:  How media and PR has changed and how it’s impacted getting your story in front of your audience  What media people are looking for in pitches and strategies you can use to pitch your story

We’re continuing our series on how marketing is changing and new approaches you can take to more effectively connect with your audiences and prospective clients.  Two weeks ago, I kicked off this series on how we’re ditching the traditional hero’s journey framework for marketing and how here at SYB we’re approaching marketing. Last week, I talked to Cara Steinmann about relationship marketing and strategic collaborations. Today, I’m excited to have on the podcast Wendy Kendall, who is a Chartered Psychologist and a co-founder of The Self Led Practice, the health virtual workplace for independent mental health practitioners.  I invited Wendy to come on the podcast because a few months ago she shared a post on LinkedIn about what she calls “regenerative marketing”, a framework she developed to better serve her clients. (You know we love frameworks!) I was intrigued because it aligned so well with how I was thinking about a better approach to marketing. I have a huge light bulb moment towards the end of our conv

We’re continuing our series on how marketing is changing and new approaches you can take to more effectively connect with your audiences and prospective clients.  Last week, I kicked off this series on how we’re ditching the traditional hero’s journey framework for marketing and how here at SYB we’re approaching marketing. I knew I had to have on as my guest today, Cara Steinmann, for this series. I met Cara last fall and when we had a consult call and I learned about the work she does around relationship building and strategic collaborations, I was instantly intrigued. I got to know Cara over the past couple of months as she went through our Thought Leader Academy. In this episode, Cara and I talk about: What strategic relationships and collaborations look like Why who you see as a competitor may be the perfect person for a collaboration Why you don’t need to be an extrovert to be good at networking How to go about building strategic relationships Why Cara decided to join our Thought Leader Academy and what

We’re kicking off a new podcast series on how marketing is changing and what to do now. The rise of AI tools means that endless quantities of decent content can be generated at virtually no cost. This is going to impact social media marketing, SEO, and online advertising. As speakers, content creators, marketers, and entrepreneurs, doing the same things we’ve always been doing isn’t going to work for much longer. Along with content saturation making it harder for our content to be discovered and seen, pretty soon we’re not going to be able to tell who online is real and who is not. This is why I believe that as a public speaker, you have a unique opportunity to cut through the noise, authentically garner people’s attention, build relationships, and attract leads and clients. In this episode, I talk about: The big shifts in online marketing that are only going to accelerate Why we’re ditching the hero’s journey as a marketing framework The problems with the hero’s journey that is making it less compelling The

As women, we are all too familiar with the societal expectations imposed on us from a young age. Both implicitly and explicitly, we are told how we should look and act and what roles we should embody. This pressure often leads to a struggle for many women, as we try to conform to these external demands while grappling with our own unique identities. But there comes a transformative moment when we decide to break free from these constraints and embrace our authentic selves. This moment of self-acceptance and empowerment is not only liberating, but it also paves the way for us to lead more fulfilling and successful lives. To conclude our podcast series for Women’s History Month, we're delving into the topic of self-perception and its impact on our personal and professional lives. I'm thrilled to have Heike Martin, a talented photographer and Thought Leader Academy graduate, as our guest on this week's episode of the Speaking Your Brand podcast. Heike's powerful work captures the essence of authenticity,

Fear of failure, fear of rejection, imposter syndrome, self-doubt, vulnerability hangovers, nerves. All of these can cause us to be reluctant to be visible, to put ourselves out there. I’ve certainly experienced all of these throughout my career. Yet, I’ve also experienced the power and transformation that comes from being visible not only to others but also to myself. My guest is Bibigi (Bibi) Haile who works with women to help them be visible. We talk about: What comes up for women when they think about being visible Getting curious and living with the discomfort Our examples of times when we didn’t want to be visible What happens when we see other women punished for their visibility Bibi’s recommendations I know you’re going to be inspired by our conversation! This is the third episode in our podcast series for Women’s History Month.   About My Guest: Bibigi Haile founded The Beauvoir Group to give women in middle and senior management roles the license to be Unapologetically Visible, make bold moves, an