Episode 161: Get Your Talk Ready to Rock with Leisa Reid – Transcript
Podcast Episode 16
Rennie Gabriel (0:10 - 1:42)
Hi folks, welcome to episode 161 of the Wealth on Any Income Podcast. This is where we talk about money, tips, techniques, attitudes, information, and provide inspiration around your business and your money. I'm your host, Rennie Gabriel. In past episodes, we spoke about how to understand the numbers from your business, how to measure the level of pleasure based on where you spend your money, how to track your money in 5 to 10 seconds, what determines how close you are to Complete Financial Choice®, and how to run your business without being in your business. Last time, we had Anna Gradie, who co-founded and scaled an educational technology company into a multi-million dollar business. Today, we have as our guest, Leisa Reed. Leisa is a speaker who has booked and delivered over 600 talks and can train you on how to get booked and stay booked as a speaker. Leisa is the founder of Get Speaking Gigs Now and the CEO of the International Speaker Network. She's passionate about teaching you how to get your talk ready to rock, so that you can get on stage quickly and confidently.
On our show today, she'll share the number one secret she uses to get speaking gigs and I look forward to that. Leisa, welcome to the Wealth on Any Income Podcast.
Leisa Reed (1:42 - 1:44)
I'm excited to be here.
Rennie Gabriel (1:45 - 1:56)
Terrific. Well, let's get right to it with some questions. Okay.
You train people how to be public speakers, but tell me more, like why would this be a fit for business owners and why do you do this?
Leisa Reed (1:56 - 2:49)
Well, it's not a fit for everyone. I'll start there. So, anyone who's terrified of speaking, relax, don't worry. You don't have to do anything. But there is a lot of us, a lot of entrepreneurs who really, really feel called to speak.
They've seen someone up there speak. Maybe they got a chance to speak and they think, I should be up there. I should be the one giving that talk.
I have a lot of really valuable information to share. And, it's a deep calling often within our soul, that's like, I need to do this. And I hear these kinds of stories all the time.
So that's how I know. And I'm one of those people as well. So for those of us who are in an entrepreneurial space or wanting to attract our clients, needing to do that sales and marketing thing, speaking is a really fulfilling way.
I call it soul-fulfilling way to market and do sales because you attract your ideal clients through getting to educate and teach and help change people's lives.
Rennie Gabriel (2:50 - 3:27)
That makes so much sense for an entrepreneur to be able to build their business. One of the things that I remember because you're talking about entrepreneurs and speaking, and it doesn't have to be on stage, but sometimes the CEO is stuck doing that. And I remember decades ago going to a presentation for investors and hearing Charles Schwab speak to a group of like, I don't know, there must have been two to 3,000 people in the audience.
It was the worst . . . I mean, he was so uncomfortable. He made me uncomfortable.
Leisa Reed (3:28 - 3:53)
I have been in a similar situation where I was at a speaking for a certain event, and I'll leave it all confidential. But the owner of lots and lots of properties and industry was speaking. And it was one of the most painful talks I ever saw.
It was the tiniest font all thrown up on the PowerPoint slide. He's going to go through every single thing. Oh, my gosh.
It was a nightmare.
Rennie Gabriel (3:54 - 3:57)
Yeah. Death by PowerPoint.
Leisa Reed (3:57 - 3:58)
Yes. Yes.
Rennie Gabriel (3:59 - 4:15)
Well, most of my listeners know and anyone associated with me is that I donate 100% of the profits from the work I do supporting other people to handle money powerfully. I donate to various animal and veteran charities. Tell me about a particular charity that you support.
Leisa Reed (4:16 - 4:49)
Yeah, I support the Pachamama Alliance. And I had the pleasure of seeing Lynn Twist speak at an event. And she's a famous philanthropist herself and teaches people about philanthropy.
And she got me. I was like, OK, I'll do whatever you say. And she supports Pachamama Alliance, which helps with the Amazon Rainforest, which is one of our lifelines for the whole world.
We need to fix this so that we can all be OK. And I thought, well, that's pretty good.
Rennie Gabriel (4:50 - 4:58)
Thank you for supporting something that has the potential to save the planet if we all work together on it.
Leisa Reed (4:58 - 4:58)
Yes.
Rennie Gabriel (4:59 - 5:04)
Now, I got the idea it's entrepreneurs, but do you have a specific target market?
Leisa Reed (5:05 - 5:56)
For me, yes. A lot of coaches, consultants, and service-based business owners or professionals are usually my clients, typically in the entrepreneurial space. I do work with a lot of women.
However, I have incredible male clients as well. It's not just limited to women. It's really that, like I was saying before, Rennie, that person who feels called. Like, they're just like, I know I should be doing this. And typically, that's someone who's got a purpose in mind. They're not just speaking for dollars.
They're speaking because they know that the information they have can be helpful for other people. They can help solve problems for people. They can make people's lives easier.
And it's just this thing that's like, I have to do this. I've got to really make an impact in the world. And those are usually the people who I work with.
Rennie Gabriel (5:57 - 6:02)
OK. Yeah, the people who really care about what they're doing where it's not just the dollars.
Leisa Reed (6:02 - 6:03)
Right.
Rennie Gabriel (6:03 - 6:09)
On a personal note, tell me what your biggest failure was, whether it's personal or business.
Leisa Reed (6:09 - 6:31)
Yeah, I would say getting divorced. Not because, I mean, I say as a failure because I don't think anyone goes into getting married thinking, well, I can always get divorced. Like, you know, that wasn't the plan.
That wasn't the plan. That being said, of course, there was lots of lemons, lemonade made. But yeah, I would say that was a tricky part.
Rennie Gabriel (6:32 - 6:41)
And I realized I should have added the follow up to that question is, what was your biggest insight from that? And how have you used that to create success?
Leisa Reed (6:41 - 7:34)
Well, to be honest, Rennie, if I hadn't got divorced, I don't know if I'd even be with this business right now. Because you look back far enough, you see all the dominoes are just lined up perfectly. But you don't know it yet.
That separation prompted me to take a deeper look at my own personal beliefs and default habits. And I started to really shift internally, like what I wanted in a relationship and who I was going to be in a relationship. And that led me to, ultimately led me to working for the company I ended up taking workshops with, which taught me about how to speak. I would go out and speak all the time and teach people about mindset because I had that, you know, that deep calling to speak just like my clients do. And it was really fulfilling, so much so that I do that all the time now and create my own company around it. So yay, yay for failure.
Rennie Gabriel (7:36 - 7:38)
Yeah, congratulations on the divorce.
Leisa Reed (7:39 - 7:54)
Yeah, thanks. And my ex and I are really good friends and we're great co-partners with our parenting. And I'm already remarried.
I'm celebrating my 10-year anniversary with my second husband in a couple of weeks.
Rennie Gabriel (7:54 - 8:28)
Congratulations on that. So, you know, it worked out. I ask that question often to my guests and I'm almost always getting, well, here's what I learned from that, and whether you want to call it a failure or a challenge or whatever, and it always enhances their future lives. So thank you, Leisa. Now getting back to the business stuff, what benefit, goal, objective, or what outcome do people seem to achieve out of working with you or, you know, taking your material?
Leisa Reed (8:29 - 8:57)
I think it's that they have hope and they have confidence and they realize that they can do this for the rest of their career, meaning speaking for the rest of their career and actually attract their clients. I think when they come to me, oftentimes they're suffering from some form of speaker's kryptonite, that's what I call it, where like I have one client who, she was a former accountant, turned life coach, was like, okay, I'm not doing this accounting anymore.
Rennie Gabriel (8:58 - 8:58)
Yeah.
Leisa Reed (8:58 - 9:57)
Yeah. I'm not doing this anymore. And so she started speaking to accounting organizations.
And when she and I first talked, she was about ready to throw in the towel because she was like, this isn't working. Like I'm giving this, I'm giving incredible content, but no one's signing up for my thing. It's not moving the needle in my business.
I think I should maybe give up. So luckily she didn't give up. Yay.
Because what happened is that we started working together. I was able to really take a look at what she had already been doing, see some of the holes in the boat, because we can't see our, you know, we can't see the label from inside the bottle. You know, that's why we have coaches.
That's why people look at stuff for us. And we made some tweaks. Her content was good, but yeah, she had a few big holes in the boat that was missing how to have that call to action that feels really clear and clean, how to be confident about that.
Too much information, not too much information. Like where do we find that balance? And the very next time she gave her talk to the same group, different people, but same organization.
Rennie Gabriel (9:58 - 10:00)
Same kind of people in the audience.
Leisa Reed (10:01 - 10:24)
She got, she emailed me and she's like, I got more engagement than I've ever gotten in any presentation ever. And she goes, who knew that accountants would have that much, you know, liveliness. And they book calls with her.
And all of a sudden she was like, Oh, okay. Now I get it. Now I can do this again and again and again.
And it actually moves the needle on our business. And she speaks now all over the country.
Rennie Gabriel (10:25 - 10:41)
Ah, okay. That's the kind of transition or transformation I like to hear about. Now for the people who are listening, do you have some valuable free resource that will further support people who may be interested in this?
Leisa Reed (10:41 - 11:05)
Absolutely. I always got something in my pocket for you, Rennie. And for those of you who are like, I think I might want to take a look at speaking.
That sounds like something that I would love to do. I have Five Top Tips To Get More Speaking Gigs Now. And that is available at getspeakinggigsnow.com/tips. And I think it's going to be in the show notes as well.
Rennie Gabriel (11:05 - 11:28)
Yes. And it will be in the show notes. You're absolutely right. And now I'm going to guess there may be a question I should have asked you that would give some great value. And I hinted at this when I read your introduction, like what's the number one way to get a steady stream of speaking referrals? What's the answer to that?
Is it the tip sheet?
Leisa Reed (11:29 - 11:35)
Well, there's some tips in there, but actually it's a totally different tip. So you're getting like a bonus, extra bonus tip.
Rennie Gabriel (11:36 - 11:37)
I like those.
Leisa Reed (11:37 - 12:53)
Here's what I learned a long time ago is that when I, so when I first started speaking, I booked 83 speaking engagements that first year. That's a lot. That's way more than most people do and way more than most people think is possible.
Now that was a lot of blood, sweat and tears, not going to lie. Okay. And, it wasn't the funnest experience in my life to do it all on my own. So about halfway through that process, I started a networking group of just for speakers. It's now called the International Speaker Network, because just like most things, it's a lot more fun when you hang around other people who are doing the same thing you're doing. And what I found is that when you find a couple of key speaking referral partners, something I call a speaker soulmate, all of a sudden you're eliminating your cold calling.
You're eliminating those Google searches that go nowhere and spending hours on an admin task that you don't want to do. So I haven't cold-called for speaking in like nine years and I align myself with other people, hang out with other speakers. We have our meeting every month and I encourage all the members to find their own speaker soulmate so that they can have a more prosperous speaking bookings in their calendar.
Rennie Gabriel (12:53 - 13:03)
That makes so much sense. In other words, it's the same way, if I'm going to a dentist and I need a referral to another dentist, he will know other dentists.
Leisa Reed (13:03 - 13:04)
Or she.
Rennie Gabriel (13:04 - 13:21)
Or she. Thank you for making me correct.
Or inclusive. Inclusive, that's the word I'm looking for. Leisa, I want to thank you so much for being on the Wealth on Any Income Podcast.
Leisa Reed (13:22 - 13:25)
Thank you. It was so fun to spend this time with you.
Rennie Gabriel (13:25 - 14:33)
Thank you. And for all of those who are listening, if you'd like to know how books, movies, and society programs you to be poor and what the cure is, then log on to wealthonanyincome.com/TEDx. You'll hear my TEDx talk and can request a free 9-Step Roadmap to Complete Financial Choice® and Philanthropy, and receive a weekly email with tips, techniques, or inspiration around your business or your money. And if you'd like to see how you can increase your wealth and donate to the causes that touch your heart, please check out our affordable program, Wealth with Purpose. To my listeners, thank you for tuning in. You can listen to the Wealth on Any Income Podcast on your favorite platform. And please rate, review, and subscribe. Until next time, be prosperous. Bye-bye for now.