How to Be a Successful Speaker with Grant Baldwin

On this episode of the program, I'm joined by Grant Baldwin. Grant is the founder of The Speaker Lab, a training company that helps public speakers learn how to find and book speaking gigs. He's also the author of the book The Successful Speaker: Five Steps for Booking Gigs, Getting Paid, and Building Your Platform. This episode is brought to you by the University of California Irvine Division of Continuing Education. Established in 1962, UCI offers education for adult learners in Orange County. But thanks to technology, their courses and certification programs in various fields are now available worldwide and online for just about anyone who's interested. You can get 15% off of one (1) course by visiting https://ce.uci.edu/about/trending/toolkits.aspx?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=paidsocial&ut%20m_campaign=productivityist&utm_term=20WI20SP (http://ce.uci.edu/productivityist) then enter the promo code timecrafting. Make sure you take advantage of this limited time offer as it is only valid until July 31, 2020 at 11:59 pm. (Please note that this discount is for almost all of the certificate programs. The exceptions only include coding boot camps, international programs, teacher credentialing programs, and test prep courses.) This episode is brought to you by Zapier. When you’re running your own business your to-do list is never-ending. You know you could automate many of the tasks you do, but you don’t know-how. That’s where Zapier comes in. And right now through the end of the month, you can try Zapier free by going to our special link. Just visit http://zapier.com/timecrafting (http://zapier.com/timecrafting) and get a 14-day free trial of Zapier - and tell them The Productivityist Podcast sent you! Through his popular podcast The Speaker Lab and flagship coaching program Booked and Paid to Speak, Grant has coached and worked with thousands of speakers. As a keynote speaker, Grant has delivered nearly one thousand presentations to over 500,000 people in 47 states and has keynoted events for audiences as large as 13,000. Grant has also been featured in national media including Forbes, Inc., Entrepreneur, and Huffington Post. He now lives near Nashville, Tennessee, with his wife, Sheila, and their three daughters. I'm happy to have Grant return to the podcast to share some of the ideas and insights he presents in his new book. I look to Grant as someone who knows his stuff about being a successful speaker and there's plenty you can learn from what he shares during our discussion. Talking Points What made Grant decide to take all his lessons and work from his speaking gigs and put them into a book? (1:45) This is the step that Grant thinks is overlooked too often (3:41) How does a budding speaker still come off as authentic but not too polished or over-rehearsed? (8:00) How do you keep in mind while speaking that people want you to relate to them and don't necessarily care about your thoughts on something? (12:42) How does Grant suggest dealing with the patience aspect of getting good at speaking... and everything that comes along with that? (21:27) This is Grant's views on slides as a tool for speaking gigs (24:45) How has Grant balanced the travelling life of a speaker with his family life? (30:45) These are the steps Grant takes when he's building a talk (36:03) Quote "It's not an overnight thing... and so one of the things we tell speakers all the time is this is simple but it's not easy." - Grant Baldwin Helpful Links https://amzn.to/2SWqEeN (The Successful Speaker: Five Steps for Booking Gigs, Getting Paid, and Building Your Platform) https://amzn.to/2uhEe46 (Comedian) https://thespeakerlab.com/successful-speaker/ (thespeakerlab.com/book) https://www.psychotactics.com/podcast/ (The Productivityist Podcast Pick of the Week: The Three Month Vacation Podcast) I hope you enjoy this episode and grab Grant's book. In fact, if