179: Unconventional Speaking Opportunities You Might Not Have Considered
Are you feeling intimidated by speaking on a giant stage in front of hundreds or thousands of people? Friend, it may be time to redefine what a speaking opportunity is! Stages come in many forms, and some of them might surprise you. In this episode, I will be showing you how you can show up for your audience on unconventional stages and have just as much impact as if you were on a giant stage.
If you loved this episode and it motivated you to work on more polished presentations, I’d love for you to leave a review on iTunes and tell me about your biggest takeaway. Take a screenshot of you listening on your device, post it to your Instagram Stories, and tag me @jessicarasdall.
Resources mentioned in this episode:
SPEAKING IS NOT A GOAL TO ACHIEVE
In my many years of speaking, I have learned two things: 1) speaking is not a goal to achieve, and 2) stages are not created equal. I believe that speaking is a skill set that all business owners should be working to strengthen. Speaking is not a box to check off of your bucket list, but it’s something you should be doing every time you show up as the face of your company.
REDEFINE SPEAKING OPPORTUNITIES
When you think of what speaking opportunities are, you may think of conferences, TED talks, and conventions. Large events with giant stages and lots of people in the audience. You are not alone if you feel like those opportunities are out of reach or intimidating, friend.
It is time to look at speaking a little bit differently. Remember how I mentioned that stages come in many forms? Any time you have the opportunity to show up, share information or stories, or simply add value and leave your audience better than you found them, you are speaking!
UNCONVENTIONAL STAGES
Now that you have redefined what a speaking opportunity is, you can unlock an entirely new set of opportunities, and that’s exciting! The truth is that alternative and unconventional stages can give you the opportunity to see just as much impact as you would on a large, traditional stage.
Some of the other forms of stages include podcast interviews, video content, live streams, virtual summits, webinars, or even PR interviews. Your social media posts, blog posts, emails consultations, networking, and sales calls will all allow you to speak as you show up for your business.
If you’re unsure of where to show up, ask your people! You can do this by adding a question box to an Instagram story, posting in your Facebook community, or contacting the people on your email list, just to name a few. Show up where your people are.
Show up polished
Show up just as polished on an unconventional stage as you would if you were giving a TED talk. Go into every speaking opportunity with intention and strategy. Before any speaking opportunity, ask yourself the following questions:
Who am I speaking to?
What action am I trying to drive?
What difference am I trying to make?
What does the audience need from me?
Nobody likes listening to word vomit! Come prepared, polished, and be ready to have an impact. Even if it’s not a formal event, interactions can open up doors for you. You always want to be ready to shine.
A CHALLENGE
I challenge you to pick one alternative stage and connect with the organizer. Let them know what you have to offer! Friend, dream big, and believe in yourself and your business. You have a lot to share that can have a massive impact. Now find some alternative stages and do your thing!
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Transcript for Episode 179:
If you're feeling a little intimidated by the thought of speaking on some big giant stage, and you're hoping and wishing that maybe there was some other places that you could share your message, today's episode is for you, friend, I'm breaking down some unconventional stages that you can start speaking on.
Welcome back to another episode of The speak to scale podcast, where we're helping small business owners just like you grow and scale their company by speaking on stages, podcasts, webinars, and more. And today, I want to talk about some stages you maybe haven't thought of, because I know after spending the last, I don't nearly 15 years more than time no longer exists lots of years, traveling the country sharing my own story, speaking on all kinds of stages, and working with hundreds of business owners to do the same. I've learned that stages one are not created equal. In two, they come in many, many forms. But it's really easy to hear the word speaking in immediately think of a mainstage at a giant conference or Ted presentation, right? But that's not it. And if that's where you are today, if you're hearing this, you know this episode, if we're having this conversation, you're saying, yes, yes, that is what speaking is, to me, it probably feels intimidating, maybe even feels out of reach, or that you're not ready for that yet. You haven't had enough practice whatever the case may be. And I'm going to challenge you today to look at speaking a little bit differently. Like, what if, what if dream was me for a minute?
What if we redefined what a speaking opportunity was, and we unlocked an entirely new set of business opportunities for ourselves and for our businesses. That's my goal for you today, we're going to keep this short and sweet. But we're gonna get in to the places I want you to be showing up. So period, point blank, speaking is defined as the action of conveying information, or expressing one's thoughts and feelings in spoken language. Very boring, very straightforward. That's what speaking is, you'll notice it does not say speaking is when you've reached a certain level of success. And somebody will, you know, grant you the privilege of speaking on a stage in front of 1000s. Nope, that's not what that is. And I think that's where we've gotten stuck, we've gotten to this place where we feel like speaking is a goal to achieve, right? It's a box to check. It's a someday goal. And that's not true.
Speaking is a skill set that all business owners should be working to strengthen, it bleeds into all areas of our business. And by my definition, speaking, is showing up sharing information or stories, and leaving your audience better than you found them. Now, are you doing that already in your business?
Are you showing up in different places, sharing information, sharing tips, sharing strategies, sharing stories and experiences, adding value to the people you've been called to serve? I know you are. So why do we keep putting speaking up on this little pedestal all by itself, instead of bringing it down in using those strategies and other places? See, while speaking, is those big stages, conferences and conventions and Ted Talks. It's also podcasts, interviews, webinars, virtual summits, video content, live streams, you know, even PR, interviews and different types of press. All of that, is you using your voice. But I would take that one step further. I do take that one step further. Actually.
See you know that if you're whatever students, and I say that speaking, also pours into your social posts, your emails, your blog posts, even sales calls, consultations and networking, because you are speaking, every single time you show up as the face of your company. Now, here's the difference. When you think about speaking in that big main stage, I bet you show up a little more polished, a little more rehearsed a little bit more elevated. Well, yes, you are yourself. And you are, you know, being branded to you.
You're a little more buttoned up. So what would happen if we started showing up like a mainstage, presenter, and all of those aspects of our business where we show up as the face of our company, if we showed up a little bit more polished for those summit presentations for those live streams? For those sales calls at those networking events, I'm not saying you need to look perfect. I'm 100% recording this in yoga pants. But what I'm saying is you go into those opportunities with a little bit more intention. With a little bit of a strategy, you take a moment to ask yourself, Who am I speaking to? What difference Am I trying to make? What action Am I trying to drive in? What does the audience need for me, it's going to help you get focused on what you're going to say how you're going to say it. And what happens next, instead of just showing up or word vomiting, stumbling over your words and feeling like I'm doing all the things in my business, and none of it is working. I want you to spend some time this week looking for stages that don't look like stages, there are so many places where you can show up and add value to others, and be the face of your company and see just as much impact as you could on a large stage without you even having to put on pants.
So what could some of those things be like for you. For each of us, it will look a little bit different based on our business, our industry, our audience, the type of work that we do. But you know, you know the places where your people are hanging out, the communities that you're involved in the groups that you're a part of the podcasts you listen to the books that you read, all of those places are great indications of spaces you can be showing up in. And if you are someone who leaves their house, not like me, because I'm a little hermit. Things in your own backyard are incredibly powerful. So local networking groups, entrepreneurial meetups, things like that are gonna be places where you can connect with others face to face, and share with them a little bit about your company learn about their pain points. Even if you're not delivering a formal presentation, those interactions can open doors to so many other stages for you.
So I want you to pick one alternative stage today. Just one, that's all I'm asking you for we can do this right? Is it going to be a podcast? Is it a webinar? Is it a video? Is it a networking event, a retreat, a conference a convention? What is the place that you would like to seek out to speak on that stage, pick one, you could be an overachiever and pick more than one. But I want you to pick one. I want you to pick one. And I want you to start taking steps towards getting on that stage. I want you to connect with the organizer and show them the value you can add to their audience in for a little bit of accountability purposes. I'd love for you to shoot me a DM over on Instagram. I'm at Jessica Rasdall. If we're not already friends, and tell me that stage that you are focused on speaking at this year, you don't have to speak there today. But what's that place you'd like to speak at this year? If you're not sure what that stage could be, I've got a secret for you. I've got a little hack. It's not really a secret or secret I've probably told you before, but it's a great little refresher, we can try it out. So I think it's very easy to oftentimes look to other people in our industry, you know, our business friends, somebody we consider a competition, whatever. And we look at the stages, they're speaking on an immediate like, well, that's where I need to speak. But we don't actually know that, because we don't know why they're speaking on that stage.
We don't know the impact it's making for them or not making for them. We don't know if they're being paid. We know nothing but outside looking in. It looks sexy. And we want to do it too. Well, that my friend might sound great. But it's not a very good strategy for using speaking to actually scale your business. So here's where I want you to focus your energy today. Where are your people hanging out? Because if you're paying customers, if you're engaged audience is hanging out in a community in a membership and a coaching program in a free Facebook group was listening to a podcast. Then there were other people just like them in that space. And if you could tap into that audience, you're getting much closer to your target audience. You're paying clients and the people you've been called to serve. So here's my challenge for you today, Fred. Select one alternative stage, whether it's a podcast, membership, community, free Facebook group networking event conference, pick one right down, make that selection. Got it. Okay. Now, let's find one for you.
So what I want you to do is I want you to ask your people, you could head over to Instagram pop up an Instagram story with a question box. You could ask your email list. You could ask your coaching clients wherever your people are Wherever you talk to them the most, I tend to talk to my people the most in my Instagram, DMS. And we also have a private Facebook group that pairs with this podcast to speak to scale community over on Facebook. And those are the two places where I tend to chat with my people. Also, if you're not hanging out with me there, come on, I'm waiting for you. But I want you to ask your people. So you pick your one, let's say that you pick podcasts you're like, podcasts is the unconventional stage that I want to speak on this year. I don't know of any perfect. So what you're going to do is you're going to head over to Instagram, in a pop up an Instagram story with a quick question to your audience. What podcasts are you listening to these days? Or what podcasts? Are you loving right now, that's going to give you an entire list of podcasts that you can start listening to connecting with the host and reaching out to them about being on the show. Alternatively, maybe you're asking them, what Facebook groups are you hanging out in, I'd love to, you know, be a part of some some other communities, it's going to give you a whole list of spaces to start spending your time in, then you can connect with that host. Reach out to them, and share with them how your presentation is going to add value to their community and to their members.
So that's my homework for you today. Friend, you don't have to, you know, write a whole talk, you don't even have to do the outreach. But today, you're going to make a decision. What's a stage that doesn't look like a stage that you can start speaking on. And let's start doing the research to find those for you. You've got this. It's one step that is going to start getting you closer to making an impact without waiting for someone to hand you a microphone. I hope this was super helpful and you're willing to take action on it. Once you do find me over on Instagram at Jessica Rasdall Shoot me a DM and let me know which stage you're going after this year. I'm cheering you on big time friend. And I'll see you next week for another episode of speak to scale podcast. Thank you so much for joining me for another episode of this peak to scale podcast. It means the world to me that you keep showing up here every week. And I'm going to keep doing the same. But if you like today's episode and you want to continue the conversation, I want to personally invite you to join us inside of our free private community, the speak to scale community.
We can continue this conversation chat all things business and speaking and you can meet and link arms with other business owners that are working to scale their impact and income from this stage. So if you're ready to come hang out and dive deeper into speaking, just head on over to our show notes and click the link to get direct access to our community or go straight to speak to scale group.com I'll see you inside
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