114 | How Landing Speaking Opportunities Can Help Build Your Business with Taylor Aller
Danielle & Taylor speaking at Vancity Business Babes’ Passion to Profit event, May 2022.
LISTEN TO THE EPISODE HERE:
Have you ever been curious about how people land speaking opportunities? The amazing Taylor Aller, a Multi-Passionate Entrepreneur and Tedx Speaker and a member of our Mastermind, shares how speaking is one of the best ways to gain exposure for your brand and business.
To learn more about Taylor's story you can listen her first guest feature on the pod here.
You can also connect with Taylor here: www.tayloraller.com
Importance of Speaking for Entrepreneurs:
Speaking offers entrepreneurs multiple avenues to promote their business and serve their audience.
Entrepreneurs can inspire, educate, and engage their target market through various speaking opportunities such as podcasts, workshops, webinars, interviews, and conferences.
Speaking helps entrepreneurs scale their services and build brand awareness, providing an evergreen marketing channel.
Overcoming Fear
Many entrepreneurs hesitate to speak due to fear and self-doubt.
Taylor emphasizes that confidence is a skill that can be developed over time, and starting small is an effective way to ease into speaking engagements.
Sharing personal stories and experiences creates a connection with the audience and enhances support for the entrepreneur's brand or business.
Essential Skills for Successful Speakers:
Organization:
Being organized helps speakers prepare and deliver their messages effectively, ensuring a positive speaking experience for both the speaker and the audience.
Confidence:
Confidence is a skill that can be cultivated through practice and acknowledging personal growth. Openly expressing nervousness or excitement can make speakers appear more relatable and authentic.
Performance:
Speakers should understand that speaking involves a give-and-take relationship with the audience, even in virtual settings. Practicing the art of giving and receiving energy from the audience enhances the overall speaking experience.
HOW TO HONE YOUR SPEAKING SKILLS
Determine Your Speaking Focus:
Identify the type of speaking services you are willing and able to offer, such as being a speaker, promoting a product/service, educating on a topic, or sharing a unique idea or invention.
Narrow down one to two areas where you are comfortable speaking, considering factors like comfort level and target audience.
Create a Concise Blurb:
Craft a blurb that effectively communicates what you want to talk about in three to five sentences.
Use the blurb to pitch yourself to podcast hosts, event organizers, or your audience for live workshops, providing enough information to generate interest without giving everything away.
Conduct Thorough Research:
Find a gap in the market or the speaking industry that aligns with your topic or idea.
Insert yourself into that gap and be prepared to persistently pitch your unique perspective until someone recognizes the value in it.
Research the podcasts, events, or platforms you want to pitch to and make sure your content fills a need or provides a fresh perspective.
Highlight Speaking Experience:
Develop a dedicated resume or bio specifically tailored to your speaking engagements, emphasizing any relevant experience, such as hosting workshops, facilitating discussions, or delivering keynote speeches.
Gather audio and video recordings of your past speaking engagements, including podcasts, workshops, or highlights from talks, to showcase your skills and style to event organizers or podcast hosts.
Be Patient and Persistent
Understand that securing speaking opportunities takes time and persistence.
Be prepared for delays and follow-ups when opportunities are not immediately available, keeping yourself on the radar for future events or speaking engagements.
Cultivate patience and persistence to maintain momentum and continue growing your speaking career.
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TRANSCRIPT
[00:00:00] Danielle Wiebe: Today on the podcast we have Taylor Aller, who is one of our incredible mastermind members. Taylor is a multi-passionate entrepreneur, and today we're talking all about speaking and we're talking about it in a way of how can you use speaking opportunities to build your brand awareness to gain more customers and also monetize.
[00:00:23] So I am so excited to be bringing Taylor on today. We talk about everything from how to look at speaking opportunities, what skillsets are involved, as well as how to actually prepare for your talk, how to negotiate, all of those things. It's all in this episode, and I cannot wait for you to dive in. So before we do, I wanted to quickly ask a favor.
[00:00:45] So as I've shared on previous episodes, uh, our podcast has been growing and we are now at a top 1.5% podcast, which is so exciting and it's all because of you guys. So my goal by the end of the year [00:01:00] is to be a top 1% podcast, but I need your help and support to get there right now. Go ahead and leave this podcast a review and also, Send an episode, your favorite episode to a friend that you think it would support.
[00:01:14] Tell them why you think you'd love this pod, they'd love this podcast. And then screenshot those things and send it to me on Instagram @danilivinglife., Dani, with and "I", living life. And as a thank you, I'm gonna gift you one of three things: a group coaching call, a networking event, or one of our workshops from our library, it would mean so much to me, so thank you so much in advance for doing that. And now let's jump into the episode.
[00:01:43] Welcome to the Business Babes Collective podcast. I'm your host, Danielle Wiebe. In this podcast, you'll learn tangible business tips and strategies on how to grow successfully and sustainably. We'll also interview seasoned entrepreneurs so you can listen in on their [00:02:00] stories and see behind the scenes of what it took to grow and scale their businesses. Let's dive in as we discuss the wild, exciting, crazy challenging rollercoaster ride of entrepreneurship.
[00:02:12] Hi Taylor. Welcome back to the podcast. So excited to have you here.
[00:02:17] Taylor Aller: I'm so excited to be here. Thank you for having me back. It's always the best time ever talking with you.
[00:02:22] Danielle Wiebe: Yeah. So for the listeners who are maybe new around here and don't know who Taylor is, Taylor has actually been featured on the podcast a few times before.
[00:02:32] So you've probably seen her name pop up a few times. And if you wanna kind of more in depth of who Taylor is and all about her and her multi, potentially amazing. You can go to episode 46 where we really dig into that. But I would love for you to share, Taylor, just kind of brief summary, who you are, what you do, and your businesses, cause you have a few.
[00:02:56] Taylor Aller: Absolutely. So like you said, I like the term multipotentialite, which means [00:03:00] somebody who's passionate about more than one thing. And currently right now I practice as a registered massage therapist, an educator. I do consulting with other business owners one-on-one. And I'm a speaker, which is what I'm so excited to talk to you about today.
[00:03:13] I had a TED Talk, which was a bucket list item. Uh, I've done public speaking internationally in different places, and I think it's a really important skill for a lot of business owners, and I'm so happy to be here talking about that, kind of giving some tips and info. But like Dani said, episode 46, you can find all the good juicy things about me outside of this.
[00:03:31] Danielle Wiebe: I love that. Yeah, and we'll link that episode in the show notes in case you wanna refer back to it. I highly recommend listening to it cuz it was a really, really good episode, I have to say. It was really fun. Okay, so tey, tell us why, like, why is it important or why do you think it's beneficial for entrepreneurs?
[00:03:48] Because I know there's. I feel like there's kind of two, two types of people. There's people that are like, yeah, I would love to maybe speak one day, or I would love to kind of, you know, share my expertise. And then there's other people that are like, oh my gosh, that [00:04:00] sounds terrifying. I don't know if I would ever wanna do that.
[00:04:02] So for those people, I feel like we need a little bit of encouragement of why would an entrepreneur wanna put themselves, themselves out there and want to have a speaking opportunity.
[00:04:14] Taylor Aller: Yeah. Fantastic question. So there's a few, let me zoom out a little bit first and just kind of lay the land a bit on speaking.
[00:04:21] So often when we think about like, oh, being a speaker, people automatically think talks like TED Talk, they think keynote speeches, but there's actually a bunch of different ways you can speak about your business. So being on a podcast like this, you can be hosting workshops, you can be doing webinars online, or you can do stuff in person.
[00:04:39] You can be doing different interviews, you can have your own podcast. There's so many different ways you can do that. Additionally, if you're looking to build out your career as a speaker, there are different speaking opportunities that way. Being a host in different shows, having a YouTube channel, being an emcee for different events.
[00:04:54] These are all different ways you can go about it in addition to the keynote type of speaking that [00:05:00] we're used to. So just laying the land that way where you can see some of the different options that are out there. As a business owner, you can take advantage of these different options for usually one of two reasons.
[00:05:11] One is to be able to serve who it is that you are serving. So if you have a product or service and you want to be able to inspire people about it, educate people about it, teach them different components on how to use it or how to be a part of it, or how to learn about a specific topic, speaking is a really great facilitator to be able to do that.
[00:05:28] And it's also a really great way to scale something up in terms of serving. So if, for example, I do consulting one-on-one with clients, that's my jam. I don't think I would ever do something on a larger scale because I prefer that, but there's lots of people that start to expand those things out. So having things like online courses or having a workshop where a lot of people can attend or doing a speech at a conference or something where you can teach on a topic and serve your audience, that's one really great way.
[00:05:52] The other reason a lot of business owners like to approach speaking, and this is what I wanna kind of highlight a little here too, is that it also helps [00:06:00] you grow your business. So it's not just serving your audience, but it's also growing brand awareness. It's helping you kind of solidify the different things that you have to offer.
[00:06:08] It's allowing people to interact with you in a different capacity, and for most people out there, social media is hard to advertise Your business. Marketing is really challenging. How do you keep up with emails and all those types of things? Speaking is such a really, Evergreen way to have an avenue to market your business.
[00:06:27] You can be able to use those things again and again. You could share about them on all these other channels for marketing. So it's a really great tool in those two ways you can serve and you can market, and usually it's underutilized because of what you said. So many people fall in the category of that scares the bananas outta me, dips out, you know?
[00:06:43] It's like, I don't wanna do that. I don't know what I would say. I'm gonna get stagefright. It's gonna be terrifying. I'm an introvert. Newsflash. I'm an introvert too.
[00:06:52] Danielle Wiebe: Mm-hmm.
[00:06:52] Taylor Aller: I am so introverted. It's not even funny. And I love public speaking because I feel like it's an avenue that the brave [00:07:00] take and the brave get results.
[00:07:01] And there's ways you can go about it to reduce the fear around it by preparing, which is what I'm hoping we can dive into. So yeah, that's kinda why someone would do it. Those two reasons.
[00:07:10] Danielle Wiebe: So, so good. I love that. And I have just seen time and time again of when people are willing to put themselves out there, especially with their voice and getting over the fear of that. I think too, to what you said, you can start small. It doesn't have to look like speaking in front of thousands of people or doing a TED talk right away. And I'm sure we can kind of go into some of the ways to kind of ease into it, but I have seen per, well, personally for our business, like so much success coming from just sharing our story, share, sharing our journey, and then having other people come on and share about their journey and the value that that brings to our community and how that builds our community as well.
[00:07:52] And I've also seen, yeah, whether it be product or service-based business for them to get in front of people, whether it be at a live event or virtually. I [00:08:00] think there's so much value because people wanna know, they're always curious about the founder, right? Of the company. Doesn't matter if you're product or service base, like people wanna know you when they wanna feel like they're connected with you.
[00:08:13] So I think, like you said, like speaking is such an amazing way to do that, to be able to share your story and then for people to feel much more connected and I think so much more likely to get behind and wanna support your brand, support your business, if they've heard you speak before, I think that's huge.
[00:08:29] So let's kind of dive into some of the skills that you think people should have in order to be able to be talented speakers? Can you, wanna dive into that and, and share with us what are,
[00:08:41] Taylor Aller: I would love to!
[00:08:41] Danielle Wiebe: Some of those skills?
[00:08:42] Taylor Aller: So there's lots of skills that are helpful, but I've tried to boil it down to three that I think are crucial.
[00:08:48] There's a few more that are crucial too, but these are the three that I think would help people the most. The very first one is probably one that's unexpected, is to be organized. There [00:09:00] is a lot of moving parts when it comes to having some sort of a speaking commitment, whether that's in a podcast interview, hosting your own mini workshop, or doing a keynote speech somewhere.
[00:09:09] Preparation and organization will set the tone and set the difference between a good speaking experience and a crash and burn speaking experience. And while you can't control who it is, you may be working with, you can absolutely control your preparation and your organization. So we'll talk a little bit later about how to prepare and how to organize, but having an organizational skill or being prepared to flex that organizational muscle will be really helpful, particularly in a few areas.
[00:09:37] One is in the preparation, like I mentioned, which we'll talk about in a bit. The second one is organizing what it is you're talking, who it is you're talking to, the kind of who, what, where, when, why, of what it is that you're doing. So why are you gonna be speaking to these people? What is it you're hoping to be able to get across?
[00:09:53] How will you do that through storytelling? Cuz that's what speaking is. It's really just telling stories, you know, having that [00:10:00] organization so that when you do go to speak the audience can follow along with you. So organization is a big one. Start there.
[00:10:05] The second skill I think is really helpful is a confidence skill.
[00:10:09] And I say confidence skill because most people think confidence is a trait. Like you have confidence or you don't, you know, like I have red hair, but I don't, you know? It's like a trait that you have. It's not confidence is actually a skill that you build. So when you think about that,
[00:10:22] Danielle Wiebe: I love that you, I love that you said that because I think some people immediately disqualify themselves Cause they're like, oh, well I'm not confident so
[00:10:29] Taylor Aller: Exactly. Or I'm shy or I'm interviewing.
[00:10:31] Danielle Wiebe: Yeah.
[00:10:31] Taylor Aller: And it's, that may be the case right now, but it doesn't have to be if that's not where you wanna go.
[00:10:36] Danielle Wiebe: Mm-hmm.
[00:10:36] Taylor Aller: you know. So confidence truly is a skill. It's something that you build over time. Just like cooking skills, just like cleaning skills. If you're like me and you need to build those and research on YouTube how to clean windows, but, you know, you need to be able to start to build that skill of confidence.
[00:10:50] So just like what you said earlier about starting small, that's the perfect way to do it. And it can literally be yourself and recording yourself on your phone and just watching that recording back. That may be the first scary [00:11:00] step, um, the first time you've ever watched yourself speak or the first time you've ever heard your voice, that's not out of your own ears.
[00:11:06] You know, that's kind of a shocking experience for people to hear their voice back for the first time is like, whoa, what is that? So, you know, you can start that small to even for your family or friends to a small, you know, like we talked about for workshop, et cetera, et cetera. So using the skill of confidence.
[00:11:19] My favorite hack for building confidence is to own that you're working on it. So I love if I am really nervous or really excited to be somewhere, I own that. I own that state of excitement or nervousness wherever I'm at. So if I'm at a big conference and I'm going to be speaking and I'm nervous, my armpits are sweating, I'm shaking, my mouth is dry, I'm getting like the fight or flight, like, holy smokes, this is really exciting and really nerve wracking.
[00:11:44] I, I'll lead with that sometimes before a speech and say like, Hey everyone, thanks so much for having me. Wow, I'm so excited. Wow. I'm really nervous to be here. There's so many of you. This is kind of overwhelming. It shows a lot of confidence to open yourself up that way. And I think a lot of people are afraid to do that [00:12:00] cuz they feel like it makes you look unprofessional, but it actually makes you look human.
[00:12:04] Danielle Wiebe: Mm-hmm.
[00:12:04] Taylor Aller: So depending on the audience, I mean, you'll have to take this with a grain of salt. Some places that's not appropriate. But in most kind of informal, casual educational spaces where most business owners will be speaking, own your status. Own where you are emotionally, and then also own how hard you've worked to get there.
[00:12:20] Danielle Wiebe: Yes.
[00:12:21] Taylor Aller: Own the status of your business, own the success of your product or service. Own the people that you've been helping own the degrees or education or extra courses you may have. Own the topic that you have, the expertise and your life story that you're gonna be sharing, or other stories that you may be sharing. Just feel free to own that. It's a really great hack to kind of work into the confidence.
[00:12:39] And then the last skill is to understand that performing is a part of speak. And what I mean by that is there's a give and there's a take, even if it's online and you can't kind of have that energy exchange that you would in person.
[00:12:52] It's a give and take between you and the audience, and that's also a skill. You can practice what it is you're giving and practice receiving at the same time. [00:13:00] And that'll come over time and experience with any type of interaction, even just a conversation with someone. So I challenge the audience, now, you guys listening, if we're on a walk with you or in the car with you, think about the next conversation you're gonna have and take a moment during that conversation if you can, to think about what am I giving here and what am I taking?
[00:13:18] And think about, am I giving inspiration? Am I giving education? Am I giving humor? Am I making them laugh? Am I giving consolation or comfort? Am I giving a story? Am I sharing something like that? And what am I receiving in return? Are they excited about that? Are they telling me something? Am I feeling their energy exchange here?
[00:13:36] Think about that give and take. And if you ever watch a performance anywhere, whether that's dance, Theater or musicians. Notice the give and take between the audience and the performer and understand that that also applies to speaking.
[00:13:49] Danielle Wiebe: Hmm. I love that so much. I'm like, my wheels are turning like, wow.
[00:13:53] Taylor Aller: Yes.
[00:13:53] Danielle Wiebe: That's so good . And I love, I love it because I, it, what it made me think of too, [00:14:00] is how much what you're talking about, which, which obviously applies to speaking and speaking in front of people, but it also just applies to communication in general. And I
[00:14:09] Taylor Aller: absolutely
[00:14:10] Danielle Wiebe: think like if you can hone your skills on speaking, you're also going to be a better communicator. Whether it be within your business with your clients, you know, in your personal life with a, with a spouse or friends or family members, right? Everything that you just mentioned is like, wow, thi, this can be applied to any sort of communication. And I know you, I mean, obviously you love communication. For people who don't know, Taylor and her husband actually for a very long time had a, ha and still is live.
[00:14:43] Mm-hmm.
[00:14:43] the platform called The Relationship Project and a lot of it was around communication between you and your significant other. And yeah. So I love that, that kind of all intertwines really well.
[00:14:54] Taylor Aller: Yeah.
[00:14:54] Danielle Wiebe: So I just wanted kind of mention that cuz that as you were speaking, I'm like, man, that's, that's so valuable, no matter, no [00:15:00] matter what you're pursuing. So how do you actually get these speaking opportunities? Like how do you pitch yourself to, because if people listening are like, okay, this is great. Like I love, I love this idea of being able to talk in front of people and to share my story and all that kind of stuff.
[00:15:15] What is your biggest advice on where do people even start with this?
[00:15:21] Taylor Aller: Yeah. And that's the question I get the most, especially now that I have a Ted Talk, they're like how did that happen? And I am happy to tell you. So if I don't answer it in this podcast, find my contact information, hit me up on my website or email, and I'm happy to like, expose behind the curtain just like Wizard of Oz, you know, pull it all back.
[00:15:39] Danielle Wiebe: Yeah.
[00:15:39] Taylor Aller: But I'll try to boil it down to a few different things. So the very first place to start is to understand what type of speaking services you are willing and able to. So like we mentioned before, are you wanting to actually be a speaker and go into like emcee and hosting and things like that? Are you looking to promote your product or service?
[00:15:54] Are you looking to educate on a certain topic or idea? Are you wanting to share a different idea or [00:16:00] invention? Whatever that is, try to narrow down one to two places that you're willing and able to speak at. So if you're thinking, okay, I have a product-based business, I wanna be able to educate my clients on how to use this product in new and exciting ways.
[00:16:15] I wanna start a conversation on fun ways to hack my product, whatever that is, and I'd like to be able to market it. Where are two ways I'm comfortable doing that? I'm not comfortable maybe with a keynote speech, but maybe I am comfortable hosting an online workshop or being invited as a guest on a podcast.
[00:16:31] So, you know, just going through that thought process of finding where am I going to speak and what is it that I'm going to be speaking on? Narrowing that down is really helpful. The second thing is to create a blurb. So a blurb is like, if you remember books, hardcover books, not like digital books or audiobook. Do we all remember those like paper books?
[00:16:49] Danielle Wiebe: Yes.
[00:16:49] Taylor Aller: In the back of the book, if you were to flip it over, it tells you a blurb of the. It gives a lot away so that you're interested to read. The story doesn't quite give everything, but it gives almost everything, [00:17:00] right? There's obviously gonna be a few twists and turns in the book that you're not prepared for, but it's going to have that, and it's going to happen in about three to five sentences.
[00:17:07] So think about what it is you wanna talk on and create a blurb around that. It'll make it much easier for you to communicate what it is you wanna be talking about to whomever or wherever it is you're going to be speaking to. So if you're pitching this to a podcast host, if you're pitching this to an event to be able to speak at, if you're pitching it even to your audience to come and join your live workshop, having a blurb that's really concise and really clear and gives away a lot of the information already, but not quite, everything, is a great place to start. And keeping it around that three to five sentence guideline is really, really helpful.
[00:17:37] The other thing is to be able to do your research. So see if you can find a gap for what it is that you were talking. And wherever that gap is, you need to insert yourself. And be prepared to do that over and over and over
[00:17:49] Danielle Wiebe: Yeah.
[00:17:50] Taylor Aller: So I found there was a huge gap in the area of multipotentialism. I, as you know, I'm really passionate about that. And I found that gap a little bit in a very niche way in the TED [00:18:00] Talk market, and that's what I kept pitching and I had to pitch over and over and over and over until finally someone was like, yeah, I see the value in that idea too. You're right, this is missing there. And it was so exciting to have that.
[00:18:12] So whether that's researching the podcast you wanna pitch to, or the events that you wanna be a speaker at, whatever that looks like, find that gap, see if what you wanna talk about fills that gap, and then just connect and build relationships as much as you can.
[00:18:25] The other really kind of two tips that are helpful specifically for speaking, is making sure you have. A specific resume or bio dedicated to speaking. So if you do have previous experience in speaking in any way, whether that's hosting a workshop or facilitating something or having a keynote speech somewhere, have a resume that's catered to highlight those things.
[00:18:46] And also, if you can, have audio and video of your previous speaking available. So if you have been on a podcast before, if you have done a workshop before online and it's recorded, any of those things, having them somewhere that you can [00:19:00] send that event organizer that you can send along with your pitch is going to be really helpful.
[00:19:04] Sometimes even things like speaking reels where it'll have highlights from your different talks. You know, if you have that experience behind you, feel free to include that. If you don't, that's okay, but be prepared to start to build that so you can have momentum as you go and continue to pitch, continue to have speaking as a part of your business.
[00:19:19] But that would be the first places. Be be, be prepared to work hard and pitch a lot.
[00:19:23] Danielle Wiebe: Mm-hmm.
[00:19:23] Taylor Aller: have any type of experience you can highlighted, understand, you know, who you're speaking to, what you're going to be speaking on, and that there's that gap there. And just continue to build those relationships.
[00:19:34] Danielle Wiebe: Yeah. So cool. So cool.
[00:19:36] Taylor Aller: Mm-hmm.
[00:19:36] Danielle Wiebe: And um, I wanna just take a moment to just appreciate the, when you kind of talked about, like your TED Talk and, obviously, everyone sees like the end result, right?
[00:19:48] Taylor Aller: Yes.
[00:19:48] Danielle Wiebe: It got featured on the YouTube channel, like the bigger TEDx YouTube channel, which is amazing and it's gotten a ton of views already. I haven't checked recently, but I,
[00:19:57] Taylor Aller: I try not to , [00:20:00] I try not to read the comments. And I try not to look at the views, but yeah.
[00:20:04] Danielle Wiebe: Yeah.
[00:20:04] Taylor Aller: Mm-hmm.
[00:20:04] Danielle Wiebe: But it has gotten a lot of exposure, but people see that kind of like end result, right? But they don't see, and, and it's really cool cuz, for those of you who don't know Taylor's in our mastermind, we saw the process of that. Like we saw the years that it really, that it took from, like that first
[00:20:19] Taylor Aller: especially with the pandemic being like rescheduled and Oh my god. Yeah. It was years.
[00:20:23] Danielle Wiebe: Yeah, so it's like it's cool to be able to see behind the curtain, to have been able to kind of see that process of you going from, okay, I have this idea of like, I would really love to, to do a TED Talk.
[00:20:35] And then from that till the video got released on YouTube, that was a long period of time and it was a lot of work and it was a lot of preparation and like, so all of the tips that kind of you're, you're sharing with us and all the things that you're sharing with us, that sometimes takes time. And I think that's one of the things that I always like to remind people is that, you know, patience, it doesn't sound very sexy, but it's like one of the things in [00:21:00] business that we need to have.
[00:21:02] Taylor Aller: Yeah. And along with the patience, another P word, persistence.
[00:21:05] Danielle Wiebe: Persistence. Yes!
[00:21:07] Taylor Aller: Yes.
[00:21:07] Danielle Wiebe: And like the tenacity, it's like seeing it through. And so I love that you shared that. I love that you shared, start small, start to gain some of that exposure and then start to feature that. Or if it's a media kit or something that you're gonna send alongside of that and doing your research to make sure you actually know like the person building that connection, building that relationship.
[00:21:26] Taylor Aller: Yeah.
[00:21:26] Danielle Wiebe: Make sure they know that you care about them.
[00:21:30] Taylor Aller: Yeah, often you'll hear about opportunities kind of delayed sometimes with teaching. So you'll see a conference maybe in your industry and you're thinking, I would love to be a speaker at that conference. And you reach out and they're like, well, our speaker list is full.
[00:21:41] And you're thinking, okay, please keep me in mind for next year. I wanna follow up. So a lot of these things are like years in a making.
[00:21:46] Danielle Wiebe: Totally.
[00:21:47] Taylor Aller: You know, speaking at a conference in Colorado was like, two years before we actually did, and speaking at like a women's day conference was, it's the same thing.
[00:21:54] So if, like you said, those seeds you sow take a while to reap and it's totally worth it.[00:22:00]
[00:22:00] Danielle Wiebe: Mm-hmm.
[00:22:00] Taylor Aller: and whether you have it, like you said in in private documents that you're sharing individually, or if you want it take a peek At my website, I have a whole speaking page there where you can see my blurbs and how I word them for the different talks that I do.
[00:22:11] You can see some of the experiences and events that I've done up there that can be really helpful because you don't have to reinvent the wheel, you know?
[00:22:17] Danielle Wiebe: Mm-hmm.
[00:22:17] Taylor Aller: speakers have done this for a while. But making sure that you do the research to be able to do what you wanna do with speaking is really important.
[00:22:24] Danielle Wiebe: Yeah.
[00:22:24] Taylor Aller: And then just sticking with it. Yeah.
[00:22:25] Danielle Wiebe: So, so good. I love that.
[00:22:27] Taylor Aller: Mm-hmm.
[00:22:27] Danielle Wiebe: let's dive into what people should expect. So when they, let's say they get a yes, like you're able, you know, like, yes, we'd love to have you, whether as it be, as a speaker, as a guest, Whatever that might be. And then you're like, yes, this is amazing.
[00:22:43] And then it's like, now I really have to, now I have to prep myself. And you know, so take us from that moment of you've heard a yes, what would your advice be from, from here?
[00:22:53] Taylor Aller: Yeah. So let's zoom out just a slight little bit. The first thing to decide, kind of for [00:23:00] yourself personally is, am I going to be paid for this speaking event or this speaking gig or not?
[00:23:05] Because that'll also adjust what some of these next tips will be. And it is absolutely okay to be doing things in an unpaid manner, to be volunteering for different things or, obviously, if you're gonna be speaking on your own podcast, you know, or doing your own live workshop, you may not see that return of when you're, dealing directly with clients.
[00:23:22] But if you are gonna get an event that is hiring you to come in and emcee for them or do a keynote, you know, think about am I gonna be paid for these services or is it gonna be volunteer? Uh, my favorite way of looking at this is what is the value exchange? Because sometimes the value isn't just monetary.
[00:23:37] They can have an audience that is exactly who it is you want to speak to. They can have a platform that you've been really struggling with that they could help you with. They may have skills that you want to barter and exchange for. You may want to kind of do a swap of some instance. So there's other ways that you can exchange value.
[00:23:52] But having a conversation with yourself ahead of time, what is the value I am able to exchange? I'm willing to exchange and that I want to [00:24:00] exchange. And then having that conversation with whoever it is usually happens before the yes. So be prepared to negotiate.
[00:24:07] There's a fantastic book I love called, Never Split the Difference. And it's about negotiating. So if that's a scary thing for you, that book's a great resource. The audio book's really good too, if you're into listening a little bit more and they talk a lot about it. And also side tip, it helps with my toddler just saying, moving on, cause she's negotiating everything right now, it's crazy.
[00:24:24] Danielle Wiebe: Yeah.
[00:24:25] Taylor Aller: I need to read the book again because she is like, yeah, anyways, she's on another level, obviously she's my kid. So moving on, but thinking about those conversations because they're going to happen, right? So again, my first skill of organization, be organized.
[00:24:39] Danielle Wiebe: Mm-hmm.
[00:24:39] Taylor Aller: So if you do want to have a rates sheet, I really recommend having that where it can talk about a nice summary of your past experiences, the talks that you want to do or the speaking you wanna do, and then the different rates of that.
[00:24:50] Danielle Wiebe: Mm-hmm.
[00:24:51] Taylor Aller: So some things to consider in the rates are not only just an exchange for time or with value, but thinking about if you have to prepare anything, if there's gonna be take home things for the [00:25:00] audience, if you're making a handbook, if you're gonna be making slides. Those are things that are going to be helpful.
[00:25:05] Other things are travel costs. So we are doing things in person now. It's really exciting and fun. And if you are gonna be doing those, think about, you know, airfare, accommodation, travel, parking, all of those things. Are they going to be included, are they not? And then thinking about proprietary things. So once your speech or your topic is out there, who owns it?
[00:25:22] Who owns the rights to it, who gets to share it? If it is getting shared, who gets the profits of those? Those are gonna be kind of those ripple effects of the value exchange. So having those in a rate sheet can be very helpful. And full disclosure, I use a rate sheet. Uh, that's what I send to everybody. I also have volunteer rates because there's certain topics and there's certain causes that are so deeply important to me that I will absolutely speak at them for free.
[00:25:45] And even if they offer to pay me, I take that money and I donate it right back. Because there's different causes, particularly around body image and around motherhood, that I will gladly speak on with no fee because I just feel like that information, if I have something to offer to that space, I'm going to do it.
[00:25:59] So you may have [00:26:00] an area like that that really calls on your heart. totally okay too.
[00:26:03] Danielle Wiebe: Mm-hmm.
[00:26:03] Taylor Aller: there doesn't have to be a monetary exchange.
[00:26:05] Danielle Wiebe: Yeah.
[00:26:05] Taylor Aller: So just think about that ahead of time. Other things to think about besides budget of the event is who the audience is, how big the audience is. That may adjust what it is you talk about or how interactive you make it.
[00:26:16] You can think about the equipment that's required for whatever that speaking engagement is. So if it's digital, you may need a microphone, you may need a camera, you may need a background. If it's in person, do you need a projector? Do you need a remote? Do you need a mic? often events will provide these things for you, but it's really great to have that conversation so you can be prepared in either instance, thinking obviously about the topic and that both parties agree specifically on the topic.
[00:26:40] Sometimes that involves actually sending your speech or your workshop or your slides ahead of time so that they can, you know, be able to technologically check it out, but also they can check out the topics. So I've had that in different educational capacities. Talking about neuroanatomy, I do different education around that. So I'll have people check out my slides to make sure they meet [00:27:00] continuing education requirements before I teach a workshop somewhere.
[00:27:02] And then, The other biggest thing, and this is probably the biggest one, is how much time do you have? How much time do you have? And not just how much time do you have at the event because maybe you actually wanna attend the event.
[00:27:13] But how much do you have for speaking? Is there an opportunity for questions? And whatever you are preparing, make it so far inside that window, cuz that time is gonna go by in a blink. And you're gonna be overtime, and that's the last thing you wanna do. Events run on schedule. They have a time, and if you are that speaker, even if you are phenomenal, you are 10 minutes over, 20 minutes over, that's gonna be unacceptable and they may not ask you back.
[00:27:37] So really practice what it is you're talking about. Be very cognizant of how much time you have and for yourself, shave off some time and make that your limit, because as you go,
[00:27:45] Danielle Wiebe: yes.
[00:27:46] Taylor Aller: You may wanna have a bit of breathing. Okay,
[00:27:48] Danielle Wiebe: that's so good.
[00:27:49] Taylor Aller: But those are kind of briefly sub tips. There's other things too. If you wanna know more, feel free to reach out. I'm happy to work with people on this one-on-one, but those are some really great places to start.
[00:27:58] Danielle Wiebe: So good Taylor, and I [00:28:00] love specifically what you said, make sure it's within that timeframe because it also allows you then to somewhat, and I mean as you get better at speaking, you can somewhat improvise in ways depending on how the audience is responding and like as you get really good at like responding to specifically
[00:28:18] Taylor Aller: the give and take!
[00:28:18] Danielle Wiebe: To the, yeah, to the audience that you're, that you're preparing for. And so leaving some space and some room for that as well as like you said q and a. Cause I know the talks that have the main talk, and then the q and a. I love those because often the q and a is actually. where like they're really,
[00:28:34] Taylor Aller: it's delicious.
[00:28:35] Danielle Wiebe: Yeah. They're like, meat and potatoes is, and you're like, yes, this is exactly what I need. So I love that you share that and it's so, so key. And then when it comes to, I just want had one more follow up question for
[00:28:47] Taylor Aller: Yeah.
[00:28:47] Danielle Wiebe: The paid versus free. Because I think depending on where people are at or what the purpose, and I love that you said like, what is the purpose of it?
[00:28:55] And you know, I talk about this when it comes to like collaborations on is the purpose of [00:29:00] this to get more exposure or more traction for your business or your brand, then that would kind of lean itself to potentially free opportunities. Not always, like sometimes you can get paid for things and still get exposure, but for example, let's say it's being featured on someone else's platform or yeah, doing something to kind of get in front of the ideal audience that you want? Or is this something, do you want to be a paid speaker where you're actually going to be, make this kind of almost a part of your monetization plan for your business?
[00:29:31] Taylor Aller: Yeah.
[00:29:31] Danielle Wiebe: So what would you recommend for someone who's like, I, you know, maybe I wanna move into that eventually, into paid, but I wanna start with kind of these like free sort of opportunities.
[00:29:42] What specifically should they look for as far as what audiences would be ideal for them? Cuz I think it can get really overwhelming and confusing with like all these different opportunities. Where would you suggest that they start as far as knowing if an opportunity is a good [00:30:00] opportunity or not?
[00:30:01] Taylor Aller: Mm-hmm. Yeah, fantastic question. I think the best place to actually start if you are looking to make this an income stream in your business, because like you said, totally accurate. There are things you do for free. So for example, we held our conference for parenthood, um, earlier this year, and we did a PR campaign and we were on different news channels and things.
[00:30:20] We absolutely did that for free because we wanna be on global and promote our conference, so you know that that value exchange is there. But then as you guys already know, this is an income source for me. I teach at different workshops. I'm a speaker at different conferences. So if you're heading more in that direction, starting free is actually a really great place to go, especially if you're building your confidence skills.
[00:30:40] And especially if
[00:30:40] Danielle Wiebe: in your skills
[00:30:41] Taylor Aller: you're new to this
[00:30:42] Danielle Wiebe: For sure.
[00:30:42] Taylor Aller: Yeah. Because the last thing you wanna do is promise you can deliver something fantastic and then not be able to. And if I can just like be real blunt for a minute, the speaking industry is like the wild, wild west. There are people who charge 50,000, 75,000, a hundred thousand dollars per- I do not charge that. [00:31:00] Let, let me, like, I'm being, I do not charge, I don't charge anywhere close to that. But there are people that do, and they have the value exchange there and they get paid for it. And, and that's a thing. And then it all the way goes down to doing it for nothing.
[00:31:10] So there is no regulatory body, there is no set. Rates. It is truly what you feel your value is. And sometimes starting for free can help you gauge what that's like. Also, and this is just another tip that may be controversial. I never offer something for free unless it's something I wanna do volunteer, and I don't want to get paid like I mentioned before.
[00:31:30] But if this is something that I'm like, yeah, this could be an income stream, I never mention I have volunteer rates until I've asked their budget.
[00:31:35] Danielle Wiebe: Right.
[00:31:35] Taylor Aller: Because they may say something that's twice what my rate is and I'm like, great, that's my rate. great.
[00:31:41] Danielle Wiebe: Right.
[00:31:41] Taylor Aller: That's twice what I would've said. So just as like, some Big business acumen as their budget first.
[00:31:46] Danielle Wiebe: Yeah.
[00:31:46] Taylor Aller: If you're gonna be going through this, but
[00:31:48] Danielle Wiebe: Well, cuz some, some speaking opportunities are different things. It's like they've literally budgeted this amount
[00:31:54] Taylor Aller: Yes.
[00:31:54] Danielle Wiebe: For this type of service, which is great. So I love that you mentioned that.
[00:31:59] Taylor Aller: Yeah.
[00:31:59] Danielle Wiebe: It's like [00:32:00] you never know. Yeah. You never know what that person has literally like budgeted into their, the amount that they're willing to pay for, for speakers and for people that are involved.
[00:32:10] Taylor Aller: Yeah, so my best advice when it comes to like what type of audience you should be looking for, if you wanna make this an income stream and how to go about it. Starting free, like I said, that's a really great place to start.
[00:32:22] The best avenues I see for making speaking an income stream is to be able to move into the speaker title, which is things like emcee hosting or things like that. If you're wanting to be more of like a workshop presenter or a keynote speaker, that's the other side of things. So being on the event side as a speaker, or being somebody who's brought in as a speaker, those are usually the two places and you have to think of where are those places going to be and who are they serving? And they're in almost every industry.
[00:32:48] Danielle Wiebe: Mm-hmm.
[00:32:49] Taylor Aller: there is a vacuum conference.
[00:32:50] Danielle Wiebe: Yeah,
[00:32:50] Taylor Aller: there is a dog collar conference, there is a pregnancy conference. There is an anything conference.
[00:32:56] Danielle Wiebe: Right.
[00:32:57] Taylor Aller: So know, like we said before, know [00:33:00] what it is that you want to talk on.
[00:33:01] Danielle Wiebe: Mm-hmm.
[00:33:02] Taylor Aller: and do a lot of research to see where those people are at.
[00:33:04] Danielle Wiebe: Mm-hmm.
[00:33:05] Taylor Aller: corporate places often have higher budget. Educational places often have higher budgets. So if it's a conference that is going to be educating an industry in a certain topic, that's a great place to look cuz there's often budget there for those types of speakers. If it's going to be a reputable educational industry, whether that's universities bringing in speakers, whether that's going to be, uh, professional organizations.
[00:33:26] And then like we mentioned before, the corporate sense. So if you're gonna be going into different companies to educate on, so for example, I work as a massage therapist. I've been brought in different organizations, different dance companies, athletic organizations, to talk about athletic self-care, to talk about injury, rehabilitation, all of those things.
[00:33:42] I need to know that that is what that audience is looking for. And often in the corporate sense, they have the budget to be able to do that.
[00:33:48] Danielle Wiebe: Mm-hmm.
[00:33:48] Taylor Aller: So even though having volunteer opportunities is really wonderful, usually nonprofit areas or charities, those are places where donating your time is so impactful because they don't have the budget for that.
[00:33:59] Danielle Wiebe: Mm-hmm.
[00:33:59] Taylor Aller: the budget goes [00:34:00] towards making a difference.
[00:34:01] Danielle Wiebe: Yeah.
[00:34:01] Taylor Aller: So if you're looking for this to be a higher income stream, looking in those more corporate avenues is what's going to be helpful.
[00:34:08] Danielle Wiebe: So good, so good. Well, thank you Taylor, this was so valuable and yeah, absolutely. If people have follow up questions or people wanna connect with you, please tell us, tey, how can people connect with you, work with you.
[00:34:21] Taylor Aller: Yeah. I love to work with you. Come be my friend. I'm a real person. I am not on social media and I haven't been for years now, so feel free to head to my website, tayloraller.com. Uh, there's a contact form. It goes right to my inbox. You'll be able to chat with me there. You can also see the different speaking things I do there and I have a bunch more tips and like memorization techniques and methods and things that can help you through speeches. So if you're interested in any of those, feel free to gimme a shout. I would love to chat with you.
[00:34:49] Danielle Wiebe: Oh, I love it. Thank you so much, Taylor. This was so incredibly valuable and I hope you are all inspired. Even if you've never thought about speaking before, maybe this inspires you and puts a little spark in [00:35:00] like, hmm, maybe I could, maybe I could do that speaking gig.
[00:35:02] So, um, I hope you feel encouraged and inspired and can't wait to have you back on the podcast cause I'm sure we will. You're, you're a regular here on, on the podcast. So thanks Taylor for being here and we'll see you next time.
[00:35:13] Taylor Aller: Thank you. Thanks for having me. It was so much fun. Take care.
[00:35:16] Danielle Wiebe: Of course.
[00:35:21] If you love this episode, make sure you screenshot, post and tag us on Instagram @businessbabesco. Want to know when the next episode goes live? Subscribe on your podcast app and while you're there, leave us a review. Until next time, keep dreaming big, setting goals and taking action.