478-Solo-Expert-Trap.mp3: this mp3 audio file was automatically transcribed by Sonix with the best speech-to-text algorithms. This transcript may contain errors.
Carol Cox:
For a long time I knew how to give a very useful talk. I could organize all the information. I could come up with a framework, a snazzy acronym, or an alliteration. I could anticipate questions that the audience may have. I could give them practical steps they could take back to their work right away. And the feedback that I got was always good things like Carol, I learned so much that was so valuable. I wish we had more time. Now, if you’ve ever given a talk, you know how good that feels, especially when you’re starting out. It tells you, I can do this. I know what I’m talking about, and the audience trusts me. But over time, I started to notice something with my own presentations, as well as other speakers that I would see. A talk can be useful and still not be memorable or bookable. It can be generous and still not lead to the next invitation or the next client. It can prove that you know your material and still leave people unclear about what you stand for or how they can understand themselves better. And frankly, that’s a strange place to be because on paper and on the slides, everything looks like it worked. The audience smiled. People took notes. They told you they appreciated it, and then nothing really moved. And I’ve seen this happen with so many brilliant women. They’re prepared, they’re thoughtful, they’re credible. They’re often the smartest person in the room, and they’re still not getting booked for their bigger stages, the bigger opportunities or the rooms where their ideas could travel further.
Carol Cox:
And it’s not because they need more expertise. It’s because they’re caught in what I call the expert trap. That’s what we’re talking about today. Hi there, and welcome to the Speaking Your Brand podcast. I’m your host, Carol Cox. This episode has one job to help you recognize whether you’re in the expert trap or not, to solve the whole thing. Today we have more episodes for that, just to create that moment where you think, oh, I think I’ve been doing that. I first started talking about the Expert Trap back in 2020. I was doing some informal research because I wanted to figure out why did some speakers become thought leaders? You saw them take off. You saw them get more speaking opportunities, get on more podcasts. They were making the rounds of the internet or the little corner of the internet where they were well known in so identified different elements that these speakers had that helped to propel them into thought leadership and having a bigger impact. And I called it the voice framework. Of course, I still do like a handy acronym, and voice stands for having a viewpoint that’s unique and different, being open and transparent in your communication. I is for having an individual story that you universalize. C is for a container for your thought leadership. For many of you, it’s a keynote. A signature talk could also be a book, a podcast, or an initiative.
Carol Cox:
And then E is being emotive and vulnerable in both your content and your delivery. So as I continue on, kind of keep these elements in mind. Because here’s what makes the Expert Trap hard to notice. The feedback you’re getting as a speaker can be positive. People come up to you afterwards, or the event organizer says, that was great. I took a lot of notes and that was really valuable. And that’s not necessarily bad feedback. I’ve gotten that many times, but that this was so valuable. Feedback does not necessarily mean I’ll remember your central idea next week, much less next month. I learned so much does not mean I now see myself, my work, or this problem differently. You really know your stuff does not necessarily mean I need you on our stage. It may simply mean that you gave the audience good information. But ask yourself this if someone recommended your talk tomorrow, what would they say about it? Would they say she gave us a lot of great tips? Or she helped me see something I hadn’t been able to see before. That’s the difference. Helpful content gets people nodding. Thought leadership gets people recognizing themselves. So what is the expert trap? The expert trap is what happens when your expertise becomes the place you hide. Now I am not anti expertise at all. Please keep your expertise. Your clients need it and the work that you do with them and your audience should trust that you know what you’re talking about.
Carol Cox:
Your expertise is the foundation. But at some point, expertise can become your armor. And for many women, expertise is how we learn to stay safe in rooms where we were often underestimated or questioned or expected to prove ourselves. So of course we overprepared and we over deliver. And we think, let me add one more side, one more example, just in case. Let me give you three signs that you may be in the expert trap. Sign number one is that you’re trying to transfer your expertise instead of your perspective. You bring the worksheet, the framework, the client example, the checklist. And again, none of this is wrong. And this is what makes it so tricky. The problem is that the audience can’t find the one idea they’re supposed to carry with them. So ask yourself, am I trying to teach people how to do what I do, or am I helping them see what I see? Sign number two you may be in your expert trap is your talk has information but not a clear through line. It’s like your audience is walking through the storage room of your expertise. And there are shelves everywhere your frameworks, your client stories, your research, and your audience follows you as you pull down the box and say, oh, you should see this too. And oh, let’s dig through this box. I know there was some good stuff in here, and some of those things may be helpful, but your audience is trying to also figure out how to navigate the hallways and how to figure out where to go next.
Carol Cox:
A talk needs shape, a talk needs a narrative arc. It needs a journey from the beginning to the middle to the end. Shape is what lets people follow you, remember you, and then tell someone else. You need to hear her talking about this. That means choosing the path even. And I know this is especially hard for some of you when it leaves good material on the shelf and in all those boxes. And sign number three, you may be in the expert trap is that the audience hears what you know, but not what you believe. This goes back to your talk being accurate and helpful and well delivered. But if the audience doesn’t know what you’re willing to stand behind, you’re still staying in that safe, expert territory. Having a point of view means someone might disagree with you. It means you can’t hide behind. Here are the best practices forever. When you look at your presentations and your talks, could someone reasonably disagree with what you’re saying? Not because your facts are wrong or because you were unclear, but because you’re making a real claim. If the answer is no, you may not actually have a point of view yet. You may be given a vice. There may be education, but a point of view asks something of you, and it can feel exposing, especially for so many of us who’ve been trained to be credible, polished, pleasant, generous and careful.
Carol Cox:
So what are you actually trying to prove in your talks that you know enough that no one can challenge you? Or are you willing to say what you actually believe? Now you may be thinking, well, what’s the big deal? If I want to give a useful talk that’s full of expert information, can’t I do that? And the answer is yes, you can. But what is the expert trap costing you? It costs you movement. You get polite praise, but not the next invitation. It costs you memorability. People take notes but can’t repeat the idea later, and it costs you referrals and clients because people refer what they can describe and it costs your ideas the distance they could travel. And this matters to me because our mission here at Speaking Your Brand is to help women amplify their voices and ideas for positive change. I want your ideas to travel further. I want you to be invited to the stages in the rooms where the important conversations are happening. Now, you may have noticed that this whole idea of the expert trap is part of my thought leadership. I can’t tell you how many women I have console calls with who say, oh my gosh, I recognize that I was in the expert trap and that’s why I want to talk to you. So they’re repeating this phrase. They’re recognizing themselves in it. They’re seeing something differently than they had before.
Carol Cox:
That’s the same thing I want for you. If you would like to talk about how we can work together to identify your thought leadership message and create your signature talk. The best thing to do is to schedule a consultation call with us, and you can do that as speaking yourbrand.com/contact. Now, if you also recognize yourself in any part of this episode, I invite you to take our free Speaker Archetype quiz. It will show you how you naturally show up as a speaker, what your strengths are, and some recommendations for improvement. Because each of the four archetypes I’ve identified has real gifts and each one also has a ceiling. You can take this quiz at speaking your brand.com/quiz. In the next episode, we’re going to talk about AI. Now I’m not anti AI. I use it every day. I have a background in software development. I built AI workflows for a lot of the back end operations that we do here at Speaking Your Brand. But here’s what I have found. Despite all of my efforts, AI cannot find your signature message, your core idea for you. And there’s a specific reason why it can’t. And I have discovered this especially recently after working with our clients and seeing what is the difference between what we do in our VIP days versus what AI does in your chat conversations. So we’re going to dig into that and I think you’ll enjoy that episode. Until next time. Thanks for listening.
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