In this motivational podcast episode, speaker coach Sally Koering Zimney challenges big‑hearted entrepreneurs and changemakers to elevate their speaking careers in 2022. She shares the backstory of her "Million Dollar Mission"—a community initiative to help 100 speakers each earn $10,000 or more per speaking engagement. Sally confronts the common discomfort around charging for speaking, emphasizing that making money amplifies impact and enables a dream life. She outlines the practical steps needed: develop a signature talk, shift from being an expert to a thought‑leader with a unique perspective, and confidently ask for higher fees. The episode also promotes the Emerging Speaker Society (ESS), a membership group that provides dashboards, accountability, and deeper work to support speakers on the path to high‑paying gigs. Throughout, Sally balances encouragement with concrete milestones, urging listeners to set specific financial goals, embrace authenticity, and join the community to track progress.
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Are you ready to think bigger about your speaking in 2022? Me too. Hey, movers, it's Sally Koering Zimney with Be Moved. Let's go create some talks that will move this world. We're going to talk with amazing speakers, share tips, tricks, resources, and we are going to be moved so that our audience can be moved. This moved me. What is moving you? Hey everybody, welcome back to This Moved Me. My name is Sally Koering Zimney, your speaker coach, and I empower big-hearted entrepreneurs and changemakers like you to leverage the power of speaking so that you can step out front with more confidence and grow your impact, your authority, and your revenue without sacrificing your authentic voice, because that is the key. That's the magic sauce. I wanna hold that really, really close. All right. Well, here's the deal. Sometimes when we work with big-hearted entrepreneurs, I have to spend a lot of time convincing you that you belong out front, that you're a big deal, that you can make money with speaking, and that it's okay to make money with speaking. Now, part of the reason I started this Million Dollar Mission, right, so way back this past summer, you guys remember, if you go back and you listen to some older episodes, there's a whole slew of episodes about the Million Dollar Mission. It was really fun to do, because this is my own journey as well. So I myself started out in the nonprofit sector. That's where I was speaking, and I wasn't speaking for the money. I was speaking for the joy of speaking and because I felt really passionate about what I was speaking about. And that's how a lot of us get into this. We are driven out front by a message and I am totally on board with that, 100%. I am not actually all about the money, but I wanted to bring this really out front for us as a community because I know too many speakers who are kind of playing small in their speaking. They're sort of convinced that they'll never be that level of speaker versus the people who are like, well yeah, I'm a big deal and I'm gonna make as much money as I can with my speaking, and they come in and they drop into those high-level opportunities and they get paid for it because they're like, yep, I belong out front. I would love for more of us big-hearted entrepreneurs who are really driven by our message to take our place out front and to get paid well for it. So if right now, if that even just saying that out loud makes you uncomfortable, and believe me, there's like a little part of my tummy that's like Sally, you're talking about money. People are going to think that you're a heartless, terrible person. And at one point in my life, I would have thought that. And I know people in my life right now who probably think that, that I've kind of lost my way because I'm talking so much about money. But I have come to the belief that I can have a bigger impact when I make more money. I can live a dream life. Like, it's okay for us to do that, and it is okay for you as well. So I start this conversation from a place of, I know that you care very much about what it is that you are speaking about. You are not a speaker that's like, I'll speak about whatever, just pay me well for it. Okay, those people probably are not really into me, and that's totally Fine. You are here because you feel driven out front by a message. And yeah, I mean, wouldn't it be great to also get paid well for this thing that you enjoy doing? I hope that you're starting to enjoy it, right? My hope is that you enjoy it because it can be so joyful. So here we are, big-hearted entrepreneurs, and we are trying to step a little deeper into the spectrum of speaking where we are making more money, where we're comfortable asking for more money, and we are, we are acknowledging and stepping into becoming the speaker that gets paid well, and gets put on the big stages. It's a process of evolution that is happening. If you're here and you're listening to this, you might have that like little dream vision out front of you on stage. We have to really step into what it means to become that person. So what we've talked about in the past in the Million Dollar Mission is like money mindset, and let's just even get comfortable with the idea of making $10,000 for a speaking gig. Okay? Because it's funny, when I first started putting this out into the world, I was like, yep, I want you to put that on your list. Like, I'm gonna make $10,000 per speaking gig. I can't tell you, I, I got a handful of responses from people who are like, do people really make that much money in their speaking? And Is that for real? Are you making that up? And I'm like, not only is it real, there's no logical connection with the people who make a lot of money with speaking being the best speakers. So there's this whole like little wacky wonky, okay? And I've spent years so focused on making sure that you are excellent at what you do because that's my expertise is content. And delivery, right? So I'm like, oh, I want you to make the most of every moment out front. And then I've got all these speakers who are under-impacting because you're like, I don't know if I belong out there. I'm not that kind of speaker. I'm not at that level. And I'm like, we got— I got to go bigger with this. I'm going to go bigger with our Million Dollar Mission in 2022. So just a reminder, our million-dollar mission is to have 100 speakers in this community making $10,000 or more in their speaking. There's some caveats around this, right? If you're somebody right now who you're determined and you're on the pathway to making $10,000 per speaking gig, awesome. That is your goal, is you're gonna get there. Okay, together we're gonna, we're gonna work through this and together you're gonna be like, yep, I'm doing it. I just got paid 10 grand for me to do this thing. That's your goal. If right now you're like, I would just like to get paid for my speaking, please Sally, cuz right now I'm just doing it for free and I'm talking about whatever. Like we've gotta get some things in place for you to start doing that. The first thing is you need a signature talk, but Once you have that, then it's really about making sure that you are getting paid for those opportunities and you're gonna just start asking for more money, right? Once you get paid, then it's like, okay, next time you're gonna ask for more money. Next time you're gonna ask for more money. And your goal is to look back in 6 months or a year and say, I've made $10,000 with my speaking. That's great too. Either one of those milestones count for me in terms of our million-dollar mission. If you are someone who does almost exclusively lead gen speaking, so I'm talking to a lot of entrepreneurs here who are out speaking on podcasts and they're out, you know, doing summits, okay, that speaking counts as well. I want you to start thinking about yourself as a thought leader rather than just an expert. I want you to start going, how can I be seen as a disruptor in my industry? How am I disrupting? What is my voice? What do I want to be known for? What am I here to say? And when you figure that out, you're gonna start shifting out front, out onto those bigger stages where you can get paid. Well for those opportunities. They'll pay you for your expertise, but they're going to pay you more for your perspective because then your goal isn't just, here's some information, but it's, here's how I want you to see things differently. Here's how I want to shape the way you live and move and do life and business. That is why we are doing what we are doing. We are not just information givers. We are changemakers. Wherever you are at right now when you're speaking, I want you to think bigger in 2022. I want you to, with some determination, say, okay, I want to move from expert to thought leader. Or maybe you're going to say, I want to move from making no money with my speaking to making $1,000 when I speak, or $1,500, or $3,500. I want you to think, what's that next leapfrog that you're gonna make with your speaking? And this is all contextual, right? Like some audiences, they're just not gonna pay that much, and that's fine. But then what needs to shift for you to step into that space? If right now you are already making in the thousands in your speaking, your goal is that $10,000. In one gig, because once you get there, there is no limit. There is no limit. It's shocking sometimes what people make as speakers. I'm all about it. I think it's great, but I want my big-hearted speakers out front. I want you all showing up with your hearts, with that full authenticity where you are like, here is what I believe, here is my story. And here's what I want for you. That intention, that's what I want more of out front, my friends. I feel a little, ugh, when I look at the speaking industry as a whole and I'm like, the overly polished kind of like, slimy is the wrong word and I don't mean it to be mean, I really don't, I really don't want it to be judgy and I don't mean this judgy, it's just there's a different intention when we go out wanting to move our audience versus when other speakers go out and they are just in one opportunity and onto the next. You and your message is needed. Your voice is needed. This is about making more money with your speaking, but it's really about impact. And I am going to push you. Are you ready? Are you ready for 2022 to be the place and the time where you become that next level speaker? Because I am here. I am here with you all the way. And I will say, if you haven't joined the Emerging Speaker Society yet, I hope that you will. I hope that you will, because in here we've got some special Million Dollar Mission content in there. You can get access to the dashboard where you can sign up. If you are in the group and you hit $10,000, I want to hear about it. I will send you something special. All the fun stuff happens here in the group, and so that's what it— that's where I want to see you. That's where we can hang out a little bit more, not just these like little things here on the show, but we will dig deep together over in the ESS. All right, my friends, this moved me. What is moving you this week? I would love to know. A few more episodes left here in 2021. Get ready, we're gonna do some big stuff together in 2022. Let's go!
