What Makes Public Speaking Unique as a Medium with Carol Cox and Diane Diaz [The Medium is the Message Series]: Podcast Ep. 251

What Makes Public Speaking Unique as a Medium with Carol Cox and Diane Diaz [The Medium is the Message Series]: Podcast Ep. 251 | Speaking Your Brand

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As entrepreneurs, speakers, and content creators, how can we make the most of the platforms / the mediums we choose to focus on, whether it’s podcasting, video, TV, writing, or public speaking?

Each medium/platform wants different things, so what works on what medium doesn’t usually work as well on another.

This is the second episode in a new series we’re doing called “The Medium is the Message.”

Public speaking is a very unique medium because it’s in person (in the traditional sense of public speaking) and conveys authority and credibility to you as a speaker.

In this episode, Diane Diaz and I talk about:

  • What makes public speaking unique as a medium
  • The role you play as a speaker (and the huge benefits that conveys to you)
  • Who can speak in public was historically limited to {white} men and the impact that has on women speakers today
  • How different types of speeches (business presentations, keynotes, and TED/TEDx talks) dictate different messages/content
  • What audiences want from speakers and how they view speakers
  • Why public speaking is the fastest way to thought leadership

Be sure to listen until the end to get the details on how you can enter for our special giveaway to win a 60-minute coaching session with us.

About Us: The Speaking Your Brand podcast is hosted by Carol Cox, joined in this episode by our lead speaking coach Diane Diaz. At Speaking Your Brand, we help women entrepreneurs and professionals clarify their brand message and story, create their signature talks, and develop their thought leadership platforms. Our mission is to get more women in positions of influence and power because it’s through women’s stories and visibility that we challenge the status quo and change existing systems. Check out our coaching programs at https://www.speakingyourbrand.com

 

Links:

Show notes at https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/251

Download our FREE workbook on how to position yourself as a thought leader: https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/guide/

Schedule a consult call with us to talk about creating your signature talk and thought leadership platform: https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/contact

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251-SYB-Public-Speaking-with-Diane.mp3: Audio automatically transcribed by Sonix

251-SYB-Public-Speaking-with-Diane.mp3: this mp3 audio file was automatically transcribed by Sonix with the best speech-to-text algorithms. This transcript may contain errors.

Carol Cox:
What makes public speaking unique as a medium, especially to build your credibility and authority. Listen in to my conversation with Diane Diaz on this episode of The Speaking Your Brand podcast. More and more women are making an impact by starting businesses running for office and speaking up for what matters. With my background as a TV political analyst, entrepreneur and speaker, I interview and coach purpose driven women to shape their brands, grow their companies and become recognized as influencers in their field. This is speaking your brand, your place to learn how to persuasively communicate your message to your audience. Hi there and welcome to the Speaking Your Brand podcast. I'm your host. Carol Cox, joined today by our lead speaking coach, Diane Diaz. Hi, Diane.

Diane Diaz:
Hi, Carol. I'm happy to be here.

Carol Cox:
I'm happy to have you back. We're going to be talking today about how listeners can use public speaking effectively and successfully to achieve their goals. And this episode is the second in a new series that we're doing that I'm calling The Medium is the Message. So last week's episode was all about podcasting because it was the 250th episode of the Speaking your brand podcast. So I figured that was a nice time to celebrate those 250 episodes, and I shared lessons learned from podcasting. Now for all of those weeks. And then this idea of the medium is the message came about because I read different things and listen to different things. And this phrase came from a media theorist named Marshall McLuhan back in the 1950s and sixties. And when he talked about was that the medium or the technology or the channel that's being used, whether it's television, radio and well, he also talked about the electric light. And even nowadays we can think about the Internet and social media. But his point is that the medium itself was the thing that was most important, not the actual content that's carried in the medium. So we have television, obviously we have different types of television shows, but it's the medium of television that changes our behavior, changes our habits and changes how we interact in our society. So that's kind of like the macro view of the medium is the message. But I really wanted to apply it to us as entrepreneurs, as content creators, and how we can really think about how to effectively use each of the platforms, each of the channels and mediums that we put content on, whether it's podcast, social media, video, television, email writing, and in this case, in this episode we're going to talk about public speaking because each medium does different things and has different things.

Carol Cox:
And if we focus on what it is the medium wants, I believe, will be more effective and the content that we create for it. At the end, we're going to give you the details about a special giveaway that we're running during the season where you can enter to win a 60 minute coaching session with us. And this coaching session is something that you can use to either review a presentation that you already have, you can brainstorm speaking topics, work on speaking proposals, work on your speaking and visibility plan for 2022. So it's a really valuable coaching session and you'll be able to enter to win a chance to get that. So make sure to stay until the end. And if you're new to speaking your brand, welcome. Our mission is to help more women entrepreneurs break out of the expert trap and become thought leaders and sought after paid speakers. Hence the focus of today's episode. So, Diane, let's talk a little bit about what public speaking actually is. And we do a lot of speaking for our business and for the content that we create. And obviously in the past 18, 20 months, I don't even know how many months now we've been in the COVID pandemic. It's like the year that never ends is 2020.

Diane Diaz:
And I call it 20 2021.

Carol Cox:
Exactly. Just like burn it all together as one. But obviously we've been doing a lot of public speaking virtually because that's all that's been available. So Zoom conversations, webinars, those types of things. But for this conversation, I really want us to focus on in-person public speaking because that is traditionally what public speaking has been known for, is your face to face with an audience in front of you. And so let's focus on that because in-person speaking is coming back. And so, Diane, as a speaker and think about some of the conferences you've attended, I know you've you've gone to them where you've seen speakers live in person. And so the speaker who's in the front of the room and traditionally on a stage, how do you view them and the role that they have as a speaker?

Diane Diaz:
I look at them as the expert. So whatever the topic is that they're sharing with me, with the audience is coming from an expert point of view, also with a unique perspective that is their own, how their story connects to it. I look at them as a person to inspire me for whatever it is that they're speaking about for some change that they want to see in the audience. So that's that's kind of my view. And also I would say I look at them in a little bit of an aspirational way, you know, to be. Wired to do the same thing, whether it be speaking or just to have a bigger voice.

Carol Cox:
Yeah, I feel the same way. You really are just by the literally the position that a speaker commands at the front of the room and on a stage they are seen as an expert, as an authority, as a leader, and almost a little bit as a celebrity. I don't know if you've ever been to conferences and they could be well known people. I know you've seen Monica Lewinsky speak in person at a conference you attended. So obviously she is a little bit more of a celebrity. But even when I go to business conferences and the speakers are not people that the majority of the public would know who they are, but because of their position as speakers, they feel like like celebrities.

Diane Diaz:
They do. They do. And I think in their genre, again, even if other people don't know, but in their genre, you feel a little like, Whoa oh. And then if you get to talk to the person afterwards or beforehand, it's kind of exciting, right?

Carol Cox:
It is like, you want to take a picture with the speaker or.

Diane Diaz:
You want to like.

Carol Cox:
So for those of you listening who are speakers, really take this role seriously and know that the people in the audience are looking up to you and you have so much built in authority and credibility because you've been chosen to speak. So don't squander that credibility that you've been given by the role. And this is where I really want to think about. This is why the medium of public speaking is so powerful, because it conveys its authority and credibility just by the fact of you standing there as the speaker.

Diane Diaz:
Especially as women who want to be not only seen in a certain position of authority, but also to inspire other women. That is what I feel speaking in person especially does is help other people see what could be right.

Carol Cox:
I'm so glad that you mentioned this, Diane, because who can speak in public, like literally who's been allowed to speak in public has been coded as male, has been coded as masculine and for many, many, many centuries and millennia, I guess it was really has been men and white men. If it's if it's if it's a society, a white supremacist society, white men, and oftentimes even just propertied white men or white men who had the right to vote and had those types of civil rights. And so we see that now that as women and people of color have access to the public sphere, have access to having a public voice and having a public presence, they also get a lot of backlash for saying things, even if they're saying the same thing that a white man has said just because, again, the medium of public speaking has been coded as masculine. So to your point, Diane, the more of us as women who are out there having public voices, having public presences, being speakers and being leaders, hopefully that will start to change even more and more. And when we think about who can speak in public has been coded as masculine, I remember oh so well when Hillary Clinton was running for president, especially in 2016, how much she was criticized, not so much for the content, her ideas, her policies. What was she criticized for? The sound of her voice and her appearance?

Diane Diaz:
Yes, literally just speaking. Literally speaking. And it's and just it reminds me and we were talking earlier before we hit record about the book I'm reading, The Woman, they could not silence women in that book. In that time in the late 1800s, women could be institutionalized in an asylum, literally, for speaking their own mind, for reading a book. And so it's not a new concept of ridiculing a woman for using her voice and speaking and how she speaks. It's not it's not new. It's been around for a long time.

Carol Cox:
So I have a really crazy tangent right now. But yeah.

Diane Diaz:
Let's do it.

Carol Cox:
I recently watched the documentary on Netflix called Britney versus Spears.

Diane Diaz:
Oh, I haven't seen that one yet.

Carol Cox:
It's really good. Really well done. So about Britney Spears and the conservatorship that her father has had over her since the early two 2005. I don't know. It's been a really long time. And it is ridiculous because there are you cannot find men who are equivalent to Britney and what in her position that have had this type of literally control over her entire not just her finances. Like I understand sometimes where you need like financial management and things, but literally over her entire self, including who she can be with and what she can say into who she can say it.

Diane Diaz:
Yes. And forcing her, from what I understand of her story, forcing her to work because her conservator, her father makes money when she works. So it's really messed up.

Carol Cox:
Yeah. I'm just blown away by the judges in this case who you would hope would know better or and do better, but apparently they haven't. So tangent on that. So yes, really, this is how deep the patriarchy runs.

Diane Diaz:
Absolutely.

Carol Cox:
So if you think back again to this medium of public speaking and how powerful it is because it has was traditionally limited to men and especially to men who were in the dominant group. That's why more of us who are entering this public sphere is so incredibly important. And when we think about the medium of public speaking, especially in person, what also makes it so powerful is that you as a speaker are physically present to your face to face with the audience, and then the audience is also physically present because they're there in front of you. So you have things like facial expressions, body language yourself as a speaker, but then also reading the facial expressions and the body language from the people in the audience. And you can move around, you can use the stage, you can get the audience to move. You can get them to respond and interact with you and with each other. And I feel like a lot of times as speakers, we forget that you have that dynamic between you and the audience, and we've lost a lot of that because on Zoom virtually for the past 20 months. And so I know a lot of us, as we get back into in-person speaking and going to have to be really mindful of bringing that back into our presentations. I love.

Diane Diaz:
That. I love that idea of being in person where your full personality can come through because virtually it's really challenging thing to get that level of connection with the audience. But in person, seeing you there, you can really bring your personality into it, whatever your personality is. And then and I say like, don't worry about who the naysayers are about. Like she's too loud or she this or she that let your personality come through, because that is the opportunity to make that human connection with the audience. And that's where you inspire other people. You engage other people, you encourage other people. And it's truly effective.

Carol Cox:
It is. And especially about engagement with the audience there in person and about that connection that you make with the audience. And really you as a speaker are a performer in a sense. And I talked about this on the podcast a couple of weeks ago, the relationship between speaking and performance. And as a speaker, you are responsible for the audience's experience that they have just as much as the event organizer does. Because you're there on behalf of the event, you're really representing that event and the brand of that event and obviously representing yourself and your business as well. And so really commit to your role as the Speaker at that event and thinking about what you're doing from this role as a leader, as an expert, as an authority figure, but also being mindful of the audience's experience that they're having. So that's the medium of public speaking. So it's really about you as the credible authority figure and leader in the front of the room. So making sure to capitalize on that for yourself, having this physical presence between you and the audience, really seeing it as this experience that you're providing for the audience and having more and more of us as women and women of color being there and having this public presence and public voice. So let's talk about now the message for the medium of public speaking, because this is about the medium is the message. So we think about the message as a speaker. There's different types of presentations that you can give. And Diane and I talked about this in an episode at the end of 2020. We talked about four different types of talks that you can give.

Carol Cox:
And so there's a link to that in the show notes. That was episode number two of five. If we think about the different types of presentations that you give, the type dictates the message or the content that you're sharing. Now let me give you an example. So we think about TEDTalks or TED talks. There are very specific type of public speaking, a very specific medium. They're short in length, 8 to 10 minutes, up to 18 minutes, but really they don't go more than 18 minutes. They have a narrative arc, they share a big idea. And they and usually the speaker integrates some type of personal story into it. So most of the time, if you're watching a TED Talk, especially the really well known ones, the ones that have millions of views, you can kind of chart the narrative arc, you can see the similarities and the meta structure of their speech because those talks have dictated their own content after all these years. And so this is one of the things that when the women go through our Thought leader academy, we teach them how to do a keynote kind of TED Talk, story driven talk, because of this particular format that it has, and it makes it easier for them to grasp on to this idea of how to take their big idea and their personal story and integrate it into a talk. So that's a lot of fun. So those are very specific medium thing about business presentation. So Diane, how would you categorize business presentations as far as the type of content that's in them?

Diane Diaz:
Yeah, I think for business presentations, obviously you're dealing with not that they don't have story in them because they do, but you're dealing with more tactical information, more things that people can actually apply immediately when they leave the talk. So I would say a little bit instructional, but still encouraging them to take action on whatever it is that you're talking about. And I think rather than it being story driven, I think it's supported by story, right? So the story sort of ties the tactical things together and then helps the audience to connect with you on a personal level to then want to apply what it is that you're talking about to the audience.

Carol Cox:
That's a great way to describe it, Diana. It's almost like what is the core of the different types of presentations for a business presentation? The core is what are the key points, the learnings that you want to share versus like a TED talk. The core is really about that big idea. And then that speaker story is like, where did this Genesis come from for this big idea? And then business presentations generally are like 30 to 60 minutes for the most part, versus obviously the TED talks are much shorter. And then we think of keynotes, which keynotes tend to be 45 to 60 minutes. Sometimes they can be a little shorter around 30 minutes. I remember back in the day I there would be a lot of keynotes that would be 90 minutes that they would slot for keynote speakers and I don't think people have the attention span anymore.

Diane Diaz:
I don't. I didn't have it then. Oh, that's too long. Unless it was someone super riveting that I really was dying to see like a Hillary Clinton type person, then I'm not going to sit for 90 minutes.

Carol Cox:
No. So I was like 45 to 60 minutes and really keynotes are similar to Ted talks in the sense that they're about these big picture ideas to get the audience to think and imagine something different and to create a memorable experience. But obviously you have a much longer time than a TED Talk, so you can flesh out your idea more, You can have more stories and examples related to it.

Diane Diaz:
One that I attended that was really memorable was the one that Monica Lewinsky gave at the conference I went to in Tampa, and she talked her core message was around bullying. And of course, in our I mean, who better to talk about that honestly, if we're being real? And she works with a nonprofit organization around bullying and how social media plays into that and texting and all of that. And so her whole core message was around the impact of bullying, even starting at younger ages. But also she wrapped in her story. Of course, we all know her story, but knowing that it had such a huge impact on her made the core message so much more important and impactful.

Carol Cox:
Yes. Like she didn't try to create this artificial distance between the content that she was sharing in this idea and who she was and what what had happened to her.

Diane Diaz:
Yeah, it was truly intertwined. And I think people were I mean, we all knew we all know that story pretty much. But kind of hearing her sort of tell it from her perspective and how it impacted her to the point where she kind of wanted to kill herself at some points, I mean, that's pretty impactful. And then when people are connecting that to that, she's talking about how does that relate to your your teenage children like bullying? I mean, how can that message not hit home?

Carol Cox:
Yeah, she's incredible. I've been listening to some podcast episodes with her. She was on a New York Times podcast called Sway. It was a great interview. And she she is someone who has so much resiliency and so much grace, just like Hillary Clinton. And it's so fascinating, of course, that it's Hillary Clinton and Monica Lewinsky that have these very similar qualities about themselves that I really admire.

Diane Diaz:
Yeah, Well, I mean, women who've been, I would say, kind of swirled up into the patriarchy. I mean, not that Monica Lewinsky even says, you know, obviously she had fault in it. However, she got a good jillion times, more bullying and and negativity directed at her than Bill Clinton did. And why? I mean, she. Yes. Did she make a mistake? She says yes, absolutely. However, she was a young person who doesn't make mistakes when you're young. And so I think women that get kind of wrapped up into the patriarchy for whatever reason, you know, how could you not have if you're an intelligent woman, how could you not kind of have similarities with each other? You know?

Carol Cox:
Yes. And I love that she now has a public voice and she's she uses Twitter really well. And again, she's so gracious and funny. Yes. And Twitter. But in this podcast interview that I listened to and I'll include a link in the show notes, she talked about how when all this was going on back in 1998, she didn't have a public voice. No. Number one, there was no platform. There was no social media platform where she had control, like where she could have a public voice. But number two, because all the legal issues that were going on, she wasn't really allowed to talk. So she no, she was so she was characterized as so one dimensional people. She couldn't let people know these different sides of her. I just can't understand how frustrating that must have been.

Diane Diaz:
You know, we I say we as a collective, as a nation, it's so hard for us to say that person must be going through some things personally that aren't showing up in their outside persona and try to for us to try to have some empathy and just say, Oh, well, maybe there's things I don't know.

Carol Cox:
Right, Exactly. And so I appreciate, Diane, that you mentioned this example, Monica Lewinsky and the personal stories that she shared in her talk about bullying, because this is the thing about public speaking as a medium that we talked about earlier, because the speaker, you as a speaker are seen as this authority figure and almost a little bit of a celebrity because you have this elevated, literally elevated position in the room. There's an automatic distance that's created between you and the audience. And as we talked about, it's up to you as a speaker to try to. Bridge that distance by connecting with the audience and is through personal stories and vulnerability that you create that connection and you try to collapse that distance because the medium has that built in. So it's up to us to work around that. And I think about then as the people in the audience, as an audience member and you're thinking about conferences that we've attended, what do we want from the speakers? And you mentioned this earlier, Diane, We want to be informed. We want to be inspired. We want to be entertained. Like we're sitting there for 30 minutes, 60 minutes, maybe longer, and we're kind of a captive audience when we're in person. Now, of course, you could get up and leave, but most people are not, especially like you're paying for a conference or what have you. You're going to stay there. So you're you're a captive audience. And so as and as the speaker, then you need to be mindful of that and know that you really need to make sure that you do a great job so that the audience appreciates the time that they just given you.

Diane Diaz:
Yes. And I like when even when it's a tough topic and something that's kind of emotionally driven or very hard to hear. I do appreciate when the speaker adds a little levity, you know, of course, in a respectful way. But I appreciate it because I think it it not only does it lighten the mood and help the audience accept the more difficult information that you're sharing, but I think it also humanizes the speaker because, yeah, we crappy stuff happens to everybody, but we certainly can most of us can find some humor in something going on, right? So I think that we can all relate when when they do that, when they factor humor into their talk.

Carol Cox:
Yes, I know that I have seen speakers over the years. I remember there was an event that I attended, this is maybe five years ago. It was a women's conference and the keynote speaker was had a background in sports. I don't know if she was some type of high level athlete or had coached a team. I don't remember the details. And so she was her keynote speech was about like five ways to win the field or played the field. I don't know, some some sports metaphor, right? Yeah. And it was there was no there was no soul to what she was sharing. It was so like, okay, like, here are the things that we've all heard of before. And she probably I'm sure she shares some stories about her accolades or her accomplishments and her sports career. But there there was no like, there was no digging deep right in it at all.

Diane Diaz:
Yeah, I was watching a documentary recently, and I for the life of me, I cannot remember the name of it, but it was the one created by the Geena Davis Institute for Women in Media, and I can't remember the name of it, but at the beginning they show a clip of her speaking somewhere. So she's done her institute has done all these studies on women in the media or let's say, lack of women in media and how prevalent and pervasive that is and has been. And at the beginning, she's giving this talk to a group of people after she's done all these studies. And she was talking about how as children, we read these books on Dick and Jane, you know, and we've been reading them since we're since we've been children and learning about Dick and Jane. And she said, I want to see more. Jane, we've seen enough Dick. So I loved that. Now, it's a very serious topic because they're dealing with sexism. They're dealing with women not getting roles as directors or producers or not getting funding or all these things. But she was able to add humor in and we all get it like, that's funny and we all understand the Dick and Jane books, right? So I just I loved that she was able to incorporate that into that little, especially that just they showed us that little snippet, which I just thought was a really good way to incorporate humor.

Carol Cox:
And that's a great example of the power of the medium of public speaking. And you think it just like Oscar winners when they give their their steer speeches and so many of them get clipped because of the impact that they had, whether it's about racism or sexism in the movie industry. And so actors and actresses are more likely nowadays to use that platform and to use public speaking because they know that it's going it's going to get attention for their issue.

Diane Diaz:
Yes, absolutely.

Carol Cox:
And so if we think about this message of public speaking, so you're there as the authority, a little bit of a celebrity, as the expert, and you want to collapse that distance that's built into the medium. And if you contrast this with with the medium of podcasting, which is what I talked about last week with the medium of podcasting, as a podcast listener, you feel like you're part of our group, like our circle of friends, and that's what we want you to feel like because podcasting is a very intimate medium. You're listening in your earbuds most likely, like you're kind of in like a little bubble as you're listening. I know when I listen to podcasts and I feel like I know the host, even though I've never.

Diane Diaz:
Met them and they couldn't.

Carol Cox:
Really be like famous people, they could just be other entrepreneurs. And I feel like I really know them. And so that is the power of different medium. So with public speaking, it's not the same as podcasting. So you have to think about your content in a different way. Like Diane and I would not go do a public speaking event and do this kind of format.

Diane Diaz:
Right.

Carol Cox:
Because wouldn't it work? It works for podcasting, but it's not going to work for public.

Diane Diaz:
Speaking, right? You know, that's a really great point because if you think about it when you do. Public speaking. It's that one this that one time in front of that one audience, you might speak somewhere else and you might give the same talk. It's a different audience, it's a different dynamic, it's a different location. So it's a different, slightly different talk. Podcasting, although there are different episodes, you hear the person week after week after week after week and over however many times you listen. So for example, I listen to Tig. Tig Notaro, a comedian, has two podcasts that I listen to. I feel like she's my best friend and actually I secretly want to be best friends with her because she's got a really dry sense of humor and I really connect with it. But they're also working in personal stories and they're messing up and they're laughing about messing up. And so I feel like I'm sitting in the recording studio with them, right? So it is very personal, very different from public speaking, where you have that one session to make that emotional human connection with the audience.

Carol Cox:
Oh, that's a great example. Diane, thank you so much for sharing that. And I'm even thinking, I know that in our Thought Leader Academy, one of the things that the women do is they decide on what their thought leadership container or project is going to be. And some of them already have podcast and and then some of them decide to do a LinkedIn live show or a YouTube or something like that. But really I encourage many of them to do podcast, whether they want to do podcast season, so like 8 to 10 episodes for a season and then take a break or they want to do a weekly show or they would just want to do a capsule podcast because as a speaker, if you can give that audience that you only see one time a way for you to a way to continue to build a relationship with you, number one. And number two, for event organizers to get to know you and find you. Having a podcast is one of the best ways to do that.

Diane Diaz:
Yes, because it's more like how they compare. Linkedin is a network meeting. Facebook is going to dinner with friends. Twitter is being in a crowded bar. So I think speaking and podcasting, so speaking is more like, you know, you had a party and some people came over. Podcasting is like people come over to your house every Sunday for dinner. It's, you know, so it's very regular, right? So those two different sort of dynamics.

Carol Cox:
Exactly. Oh, I'm going to use that metaphor.

Diane Diaz:
Do it.

Carol Cox:
And our in our show notes here. All right. So here are the tier, the takeaways for you as a listener and as a speaker. So as a speaker, you are a leader and authority figure and expert and a performer when you're in front of an audience. So own those roles and be responsible for the audience's experience. I really see public speaking as the fastest way to being seen as a thought leader because of that built in credibility and authority that you get as a speaker. So if you want to be a thought leader, and that's what so many of you who are listening want to do, and that's what we help our clients with, obviously do your writing, do your videos, do the social media, but public speaking for sure, as we talked about, public speaking is incredibly important for us as women to do, to have public voices, to have a public presence and not just speaking at women's conferences, because men need to see strong, powerful women in their conferences, too. And I must say that I'm as guilty of this as I know many of us are because I love women's conferences. I enjoy being around other women. It's fun, it's enjoyable. I get so fulfilled by it. But I also know that we need to be intentional about branching out and going to the co-ed audiences.

Diane Diaz:
I would totally agree with that. And I would say, if you're nervous about going to the co-ed audiences, go to the event, go to the conference first without speaking, just attend it, get to know the lay of the land, how the conference works, and then apply for the next one, because then at least you have some experience and a comfort level there. I would also say, because I know a lot of times when we talk to our clients and even just women that I speak with, a lot of us, we struggle to see ourselves as leaders, as thought leaders, as authority figures, and we think, Oh, the audience isn't going to think of me that way. Trust me, even if you don't think of your own self that way, do a couple of speaking engagements. You will begin to think of yourself that way because I can almost guarantee you somebody in the audience is going to come up to you at the end and say to you, Oh my God, that was so great. And or they're going to ask you questions where it's clear that they think you are the authority figure and that you are the leader. So just do one, see what happens. You will start to see yourself that way. But if you if you have to have the experience and then you'll start to feel it.

Carol Cox:
Oh, yes, that is such a great point. And I know that we when I started speaking your brand in 2015 and then you started your business, the brand teacher, we did so much public speaking and networking in Orlando where we live, and I know that that helped us feel so much more confident in our businesses.

Diane Diaz:
Yes, so much. Actually, I did my first speaking engagement without even really having a company. And then I created my company because I thought, oh, wait a second, I'm speaking to these business women. I bet they might want me to do some of this work. And I didn't even really believe I was a leader until I gave that talk. So just the power of doing that for yourself, but also I would again. The other women in the audience to see that to see you model that behavior, I think is so important collectively as a group.

Carol Cox:
Yes. And for those of you listening, if you know that you need help with this and you are far from alone, I mean, this is what we do. We have coaches for the things that we need help with. This is why women come to us. You are welcome to schedule a consultation call with us to talk about your goals, what you want to accomplish, and then we'll talk about our different ways that we can work with you or different programs and see what is the best fit. We do not do a hard pressure sales pitch. We do not need to like we know when women are ready to work with us. And so we're just we just like to have conversations to see where you're at. So if you go to speaking your brand dot com, go to the contact tab and then fill out the consult call form and we'll be happy to talk with you. Speaking your brand to do that and while you're there, enter to win our giveaway that we're doing during the series, which is to win a 60 minute coaching session with us. And so again, you can use that to review a presentation. You already have to talk about speaking topics. Speaking of proposals, map out a strategy for your speaking and visibility for the next year, whatever it would be the most help for you.

Carol Cox:
That's what we'll work on. And we're going to be randomly pulling names that have been entered throughout the series that we're doing. So enter now. You don't have to wait until the series is done. You can enter today, go to speaking your brand slash win win, speaking, your brand dot com slash win to enter. There's no purchase necessary to enter. You just submit the the form fields there and that's it. And then we'll let everyone know who wins in January. But enter now because we'll be randomly pulling them before then. But then the final draw will be in January. Next episode in the series that we're doing, the medium is the message is all about using video. So my guests and I talk about how to use video on social media, particularly on LinkedIn for brand awareness, lead generation and thought leadership, as well as how to use video effectively for sales. So you're not going to want to miss that episode. Make sure to hit, follow or subscribe in your podcast app so you don't miss that. Diane, thank you so much for joining me today.

Diane Diaz:
It was my pleasure, Carol. I love talking about this stuff.

Carol Cox:
Likewise. Until next time. Thanks for listening.

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