Speaking Your Brand: Public Speaking Tips and Strategies

485: Get Hired, Get Referred, Get Clients: The Relationship Side of Speaking with Nikki Rausch

What if the most important sales moments connected to your speaking engagement happen before you step on stage and in the first few minutes after you step off?My guest, sales strategist Nikki Rausch, has been my go-to coach for sales language, proposals, pricing, consultation calls, and follow-up for years. In this conversation, we walk through the entire speaking engagement from the first inquiry to the conversations that happen after your talk. Nikki explains how to make yourself easy for an event organizer to hire, plant sales seeds without turning your presentation into a pitch, and recognize when an audience member is giving you a buying signal.We also chat about why your job as the speaker begins long before your scheduled presentation time. In this episode, Nikki and I talk about:Why you should answer an event organizer’s question before asking for a callHow to state your speaker fee clearly and keep the conversation openNikki’s “rapport bank account” and why your presence matters before you reach the stageThe difference between planting sales seeds and selling from the stageHow to use client stories and Q&A responses to show people how you helpWhat a buying signal sounds like after a presentationHow to invite someone to buy or schedule a call while her interest is still highAbout Our Guest: Nikki Rausch is a sales strategist, speaker, and founder of Sales Maven. With more than 25 years of sales experience and over a decade as a business owner, she teaches service-based entrepreneurs how to have confident sales conversations that lead to yeses, without feeling pushy or fake. As a Master Certified Practitioner of Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP), Nikki focuses on the language and communication behind selling. Her approach is rooted in building rapport, recognizing buying signals, and guiding conversations in a way that feels natural for both you and the client. She is the author of three books, including The Selling Staircase, and host of the Sales Maven Podcast, ranked in the top 1% globally. Through her coaching, programs, and speaking, Nikki supports women entrepreneurs in turning sales into a skill they can rely on, so they can grow their business with clarity and confidence.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, voices, 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/485/ Nikki’s website: https://yoursalesmaven.com/ Get Nikki’s free gift Follow-Up Made Easy Guide: https://yoursalesmaven.com/easyfollowup Discover your Speaker Archetype by taking our free quiz at https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/quiz/Enroll in our Thought Leader Academy: https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/academy/ Learn about our Orlando speaking retreat: https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/live/ Connect on LinkedIn:Carol Cox = https://www.linkedin.com/in/carolcoxNikki Rausch (guest) = https://www.linkedin.com/in/nikkirausch/ Related Podcast Episodes:Carol’s episode on Nikki’s Sales Maven podcast: https://yoursalesmaven.com/blog/integrating-both-thought-leadership-and-lead-generation-into-one-talk/Episode 133: Authentic Selling at Your Speaking Engagements with Nikki RauschEpisode 34: Relationship Selling with Nikki RauschEpisode 483: How an I.D.E.A., Not a Topic, Makes You Easier to Refer, Pitch, and Book with Carol Cox

Executive Presence Starts with Clarity, Not Confidence with Mary E. Maloney

When you hear “executive presence,” do you picture someone walking into a boardroom looking polished, confident, and completely certain of what to say?My guest, Mary E. Maloney, sees it differently. Executive presence matters most when you’re in the middle of a high-stakes identity shift, such as after a promotion, a career change, the sale of a business, a retirement, or an unexpected ending. Mary calls that in-between space the Keystone Gap: your old identity no longer fits, but the new one hasn’t fully locked into place.In this conversation, Mary explains why the real issue in that gap usually isn’t a lack of confidence. It’s a lack of clarity. Mary shares her Five C’s of Identity Shift, the year she struggled to explain who she was without her CEO title, and the boss who pushed her onto a stage before she believed she was ready.In this episode, Mary and I talk about:What executive presence means during a high-stakes transitionWhy identity is the hidden architecture beneath career and leadership changesThe Keystone Gap between releasing an old identity and building a new oneWhy rushing through an identity shift can make the transition harderMary’s Five C’s of Identity ShiftThe difference between needing more confidence and needing more clarityHow purpose, impact, and your standards for showing up strengthen executive presenceWhat Mary learned after selling her company and taking a year awayHow a reluctant first speech changed the trajectory of her careerWhy authentic stories and knowing your audience matter on stageAbout Our Guest: Mary E. Maloney, FACHE, is a former CEO/CMO turned Master Facilitator who guides senior leaders through high-stakes transitions, helping them clarify and articulate the identity, purpose, and value that will define their next act. Through her signature two-call Brand Declaration® process, she helps leaders sift through decades of experience to name the recurring themes of their value in minutes rather than months. She works with C-suite executives, physician leaders, military officers, founders, and board-level talent through online courses, mastermind cohorts, and 1:1 inplacement/outplacement executive advisory work, and facilitates leadership and strategy retreats for enterprise teams navigating complex change.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, voices, 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/484/ Mary’s website: https://revealinggenius.com/ Discover your Speaker Archetype by taking our free quiz at https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/quiz/Enroll in our Thought Leader Academy: https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/academy/ Connect on LinkedIn:Carol Cox = https://www.linkedin.com/in/carolcoxMary E. Maloney (guest) = https://www.linkedin.com/in/maryemaloney123/ Related Podcast Episodes:Episode 483: How an I.D.E.A., Not a Topic, Makes You Easier to Refer, Pitch, and BookEpisode 288: A Framework for Creating a Signature Talk for Income and ImpactSpeak with Confidence series

How an I.D.E.A., Not a Topic, Makes You Easier to Refer, Pitch, and Book

When someone asks what you speak about, do you give them one clear answer - or a list that includes a bunch of keywords like leadership, communication, resilience, confidence, and change?I understand the temptation to include everything. When you’ve had a long career, narrowing your message can feel like leaving out valuable parts of your experience. But if the person you’re talking with can’t explain what you speak about after the conversation is over, she can’t refer you. And that means you’re less likely to get booked.In this episode, you’ll learn:The difference between a broad subject, a presentation topic, and a distinctive ideaWhy your speaking topic is also a positioning decisionThe one-sentence referral test every speaker should tryHow broad positioning costs you opportunities you may never know you lostThree questions that can uncover the point of view inside your experienceHow to test your message with my I.D.E.A. FrameworkWhat event organizers need to understand before they can picture you in the roomA practical sentence prompt for clarifying your audience, claim, and outcomeAbout 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, voices, 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/483/ Discover your Speaker Archetype by taking our free quiz at https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/quiz/Enroll in our Thought Leader Academy: https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/academy/ Connect with me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carolcoxRelated Podcast Episodes:Episodes 478-481: Expert Trap SeriesEpisode 468: What TEDx Organizers Look for When Selecting Speakers

What Makes a Talk Worth Hearing? Hint: Are You Curious?

AI can give you an answer. But it can’t be genuinely curious about you.In this episode, I’m joined by our lead speaking coach, Diane Diaz, to explore why curiosity is essential for developing a compelling thought leadership message and signature talk, especially in an age when AI can quickly produce polished but often predictable content.Diane shares a powerful analogy about browsing library stacks: You may begin by looking for one book, only to discover an unexpected idea on the shelf beside it. That kind of exploration and serendipity is often where your most original insights come from.We also talk about why being too close to your expertise can make it difficult to recognize what is most interesting about your ideas and experiences - and why the right questions from another human can uncover connections and stories you would never find through a fill-in-the-blank formula.Diane and I discuss:How relying too heavily on AI can weaken our curiosityWhy constraints can help you create a stronger talk more quicklyThe questions that uncover your most compelling ideas and storiesWhy your curiosity about your audience matters as much as your expertiseHow curiosity contributes to originality, personal connection, and even humorYour audience doesn’t need more information. They want a reason to become curious about your idea and about you.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, voices, 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/482/ Discover your Speaker Archetype by taking our free quiz at https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/quiz/Enroll in our Thought Leader Academy: https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/academy/ Connect on LinkedIn:Carol Cox = https://www.linkedin.com/in/carolcoxDiane Diaz = https://www.linkedin.com/in/dianediaz/ Related Podcast Episodes:Episode 481: Expertise Alone Doesn’t Get You Booked as a Speaker - Here's What DoesEpisode 479: 3 Ways AI Can Hurt Your Public Speaking, and 3 Ways It Can Help

Expertise Alone Doesn’t Get You Booked as a Speaker - Here's What Does

If people leave your talk thinking, “She really knows her stuff,” that feels good. But it doesn’t necessarily make you memorable, referable, or bookable.In this fourth and final episode of my Expert Trap series, I’m looking at three things you may be saying yes to (more content, neutrality, and the wrong room) and the identity questions underneath each one. I’ve done all three, and I still have to watch for them in my own presentations.You’ll hear why your audience doesn’t need everything you know, how a clear point of view helps your ideas travel, and how to choose speaking opportunities that make your thought leadership stronger instead of more generic. I’ll also give you one practical exercise you can use right away: replacing one proof sentence with one belief sentence.In this episode, you’ll learn:How too much content can become a way to prove you belongWhy staying neutral can make your message harder to rememberHow to know when a speaking opportunity is the wrong roomThe identity shift from expert to thought leaderWhy expertise builds trust, but your point of view makes you referable and bookableThe difference between a proof sentence and a belief sentenceAbout 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, voices, 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/481/ Discover your Speaker Archetype by taking our free quiz at https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/quiz/Enroll in our Thought Leader Academy: https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/academy/ Connect with me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carolcoxRelated Podcast Episodes:Episodes 478-481: Expert Trap SeriesEpisode 463: The Connection Formula of Expertise + Story: Live Signature Talks from Thought Leader Academy GradsEpisode 458: Same Message, Different Medium: Why Your Talk Isn’t Landing (and How to Fix It)