Unlock the Secrets to Building a Valuable Speaker's Network

So everyone is trying to pick each other's brain, trying to get leads, and no one had actually done any speaking. So I'm wondering, how do you judge when you're meeting with someone and people in your speaker's network? How do you. Not in a snobby way, obviously, but how do you really figure out who has enough here to add value where they've done it versus just people in the aspirational mode? And there's nothing wrong with being aspirational, but if everyone is there in the aspirational mode, it's very hard for people to. To bring each other up.

I think of it as kids on the playground, like at recess, right? And you don't need to play with every kid on the playground, but you need to have a couple good friends. So why not put yourself in a situation where there's a bunch of people that you might potentially play with and you just find your couple? I think a lot of times people think you need to know everyone and do all the things and give out, you know, give your. And we were trained like that a long time ago, you know, like, give all your cards to everybody and get everyone's information and all that. And I think it's different now. I think utilizing your intuition again, of, like, who, like, say you're in a virtual meeting and you can see all the little boxes on the zoom, right? Who do you feel like you would really want to connect with? Who. Who's floating your boat? What are they saying? That sounds like it would be really helpful for you. And like, for example, in the international speaker network, we talk a lot about your ideal audience. Who's your ideal audience? What's your topic? We. What's your speaking avatar? Are you speaking virtually? Are you speaking in person? Are you doing paid? Are you doing waving your feet? Are you pay to play? Are you going for summits, podcasts, like, and getting to know what your fellow networkers are focusing on, that will help you determine, okay, this person I want to chat with, this person I want to chat with. I can tell pretty quickly if somebody is a, you know, seasoned speaker or just at the beginning. And like I said, at the. It starts off with, oh, well, what do you speak about? And if they say, oh, I'm working on my talk, or, oh, I can speak on anything, I know they're at the beginning of their journey, and that's totally fine. But if they say, oh, I just got back from, you know, Minneapolis, and I was speaking at a conference, and next week I'm going to this place or I have a virtual show that I give. I'm a podcaster. Like, I'm like, okay, those. Now we're, we're laying some tracks. I can sort of see where you're playing, right? And that's very common.

I mean, to me, professional speaking is a, is a broad term. And I certainly think of. Part of my professional speaking is speaking in online courses. What I like about online courses, there's no gatekeeper. I can just create. You have an online course. I want to hear more about your course and also about how hard you stress, if at all, to your clients, that, hey, you need to have an online course because it's another way of speaking, it's another practice. It's the ultimate sort of demo reel in some respects. So tell us your philosophy of online courses as it relates to professional speaking.

I don't have a super strong opinion about online courses. I have my own. And it was so that I wouldn't get in the way of anyone's learning speed. Like, I, I want you to be able to watch this at 2 o' clock in the morning, if that's you, or 4 o' clock in the morning, any time zone that you're in, I want you to be able to have access to that information so you, so that when you and I are together, we're talking about really like the deeper stuff. Like, okay, how do I apply that to me and my business? That's the conversation that's really valuable. And I think a lot of entrepreneurs are like, feeling stuck and alone. Like, they watch the course and then they're like, okay, but I don't know how to. I got stuck on this part. Like, that's why I'm, I'm here. So that's just for.

And do you bundle your course with the consulting services or with membership in the international speaker network, or do you sell it on its own?

I do both. I sell it on its own. And then I also, for my speakers training academy, they get access to the course as well as access to me and masterminding and other access. So that, that way my whole thing is no speaker left behind. Like, I don't want you stuck in the station, not moving. We got to keep you moving so that you can go out there and help more people. In terms of referring my clients or recommending my clients have online courses, I don't, I think that's a separate issue. Like, just, I don't know about you with working with entrepreneurs. We all have a whole bunch of things cooking on the stove, right? But we only have four burners. So, like, how are we going to do this? How are we what are we going to focus on? How do we build the Roman Empire? And I just say we're going to just build it one house at a time. And your speaking is probably a house. Right. And then if you want to have a podcast, then that's a how or an online course. Okay. But we don't need to do all the things all the time, all at once. We we need to decide what's going to bring us the cash the most quickly.

Lisa Reed summed it up quite nicely. Again, the book is get speaking gigs. Now, can they find out more information about your, your course, your consulting, your program@getspeakingigsnow.com is that really the best place.