THOUGHT LEADER ACADEMY
Create Your Signature Talk.
Build Your Speaking Platform.
You have the expertise. Let’s shape it into a talk people remember, refer, and want to book.
In our eight-week online program for women, we build your signature talk with you, then help you find speaking engagements, prepare your pitches, and know what to charge.
Private VIP Day + personalized coaching + live small-group support + speaker assets.
Let’s talk through your goals and whether our Thought Leader Academy fits.
Over a decade of helping experts become compelling speakers
For over 10 years, Speaking Your Brand has helped hundreds of business owners, consultants, coaches, executives, authors, and researchers shape their expertise into signature talks.
Our clients include TEDx speakers, international keynote speakers, and paid professional speakers. Whether you’re developing your first keynote or bringing a fresh perspective to an established speaking career, we bring years of experience helping people find their message and deliver it with confidence.
Clarity you can build on
“Now, I have a fully planned ready-to-execute thought leadership project, clarity and feedback on my message, and my signature talk.”
— Natalie Legrand, Leadership and Social Impact Consultant, TLA graduate
Your expertise deserves a talk people can remember.
You know your subject. But when you sit down to create a keynote, everything feels important. Which ideas belong? Where do your stories fit? What will make this talk different from the training you already deliver?
That’s we call The Expert Trap: knowing so much that it’s hard to see the message an audience needs most.
And once you have a talk, another question remains: Where do I find the right speaking engagements, and how do I get chosen?
You don’t have to figure it out alone.
Inside Thought Leader Academy, we help you develop your message and signature talk, practice sharing it, and build a plan for finding and pursuing speaking opportunities. You get personal coaching and a small group of women working alongside you.
Why This Matters
You need an I.D.E.A., not just a topic.
When you want to get booked and paid as a speaker, an organizer needs more than a subject. They need a reason to choose your talk for their audience.
Your signature talk gives your expertise a point of view: a clear idea people can remember, explain to someone else, and put to use.
Illustrative example:
Topic: Leadership.
Distinctive idea: The questions leaders ask determine whose expertise shapes a decision.
Now there’s a perspective to explore, a problem to address, and a reason for an audience to care. That’s what we look for when we build your talk.
Our I.D.E.A. Framework
I · Interesting
Give people a reason to lean in and want to hear more.
D · Debatable & Defensible
Offer a point of view you can support with your experience, stories, and evidence.
E · Emotionally Resonant
Connect to what your audience cares about and what’s at stake for them.
A · Actionable
Help the audience see, decide, or do something differently.
Bring your expertise. We’ll help you shape the talk.
You might have an existing presentation that feels too much like a training. You might have a dozen ideas and no clear place to start.
We’ll help you find the message worth building a talk around, draw out the stories that make it yours, and give those ideas a structure you can use on stage.
You don’t need an existing talk or a polished idea to join - that's why you're here!
Coaching that gets to know you
In your private sessions, your coach asks questions, listens for connections, and builds the talk with you. During the eight weeks, you’ll get feedback, practice your delivery, and learn from the other women’s work, too.
There’s room to try an idea, discover what connects, and make adjustments before you take it to an audience.
How Your Thought Leader Academy Experience Works
Over eight weeks, you develop your talk and the materials and skills to put it to work. Your private VIP Day gives you a focused foundation; ongoing coaching and group calls help you refine it and take the next steps.
See how we build a talk together using the Signature Talk Canvas®.
Your VIP Day: Private coaching · Approximately 3 hours · Live on Zoom
Your Academy experience also includes two additional private coaching calls and eight weeks of live group calls.
1 Find and develop your idea
Bring your expertise, stories, and any existing presentation. In your private VIP Day, we identify your message and map your talk together using the Signature Talk Canvas®. You don’t need to write a new talk first.
2 Refine and practice your talk
Use your outline and slide draft to prepare. Two additional private calls, live group coaching, and feedback on your recorded delivery help you strengthen your stories, transitions, and audience connection.
3 Pursue speaking opportunities
Use your customized speaking pipeline report and Talk at a Glance to focus your outreach. Learn how to find engagements, pitch your talk, discuss fees, and build your speaker presence on LinkedIn.
Where do you find speaking engagements?
Build a plan for getting booked and paid
Once you have a talk you believe in, you need places to deliver it. We help you identify opportunities that fit your expertise and audience, understand what organizers need, and make a clear case for your talk.
- Find the right opportunities: a customized speaking pipeline report gives you a focused starting point for research and outreach.
- Prepare your pitches: use your Talk at a Glance to explain your message, audience, and why the talk matters.
- Learn the business of speaking: work on proposals, fees, negotiation, and conversations with event organizers.
- Strengthen your speaker presence: get a review of your LinkedIn profile and guidance on making your message visible.
You’ll have materials to use and practical next steps to take, with coaching as you work through them.
A small group that helps you move forward
Live weekly calls give you space to ask questions, get feedback, and learn from women developing their own talks. Hearing another woman work through her idea can help you see yours more clearly.
Practice sharing your message
Build experience through delivery practice and recorded-delivery feedback. Your Academy experience also includes a live-show/podcast opportunity to share your work with an audience.
A talk you can use. A plan for taking it to an audience.
You leave with a message and structure you can adapt for different audiences and formats, plus the materials and next steps to pursue speaking engagements. We work with you on the talk and on how you’ll use it.
Your distinctive message
A clear point of view that connects your expertise and stories to a change you want your audience to make.
Your signature talk
Your opening, framework, stories, key points, and closing mapped on the Signature Talk Canvas®, with an outline and slide draft to prepare and practice.
Coaching and delivery feedback
A private VIP Day, two additional private calls, eight weeks of live group calls, and feedback on your recorded practice delivery.
Your speaking opportunities
A customized speaking pipeline report, Talk at a Glance, LinkedIn review, and business-of-speaking guidance to support your outreach and fees.
What’s Included in Thought Leader Academy
Your Academy experience combines talk development, personal coaching, and support for getting booked and paid.
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Private Signature Talk VIP Day
Map your talk with your coach in an approximately three-hour Zoom session using the Signature Talk Canvas®.
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Two Additional Private Coaching Calls
Get personal guidance as you refine your talk and work through your next steps.
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Eight Weeks of Live Group Coaching
Ask questions, get feedback, and practice with a small group of women developing their talks.
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Talk Outline + Slide Draft
Prepare and rehearse with your talk outline and a slide draft, ready for your colors and branding.
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Your Talk at a Glance
Clearly explain your talk, audience, and takeaways in pitches and speaker submissions.
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Customized Speaking Pipeline Report
Find relevant engagements with opportunities selected around your expertise, talk, and audience.
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Recorded-Delivery Feedback
Get feedback on a practice recording to strengthen your delivery and audience connection.
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LinkedIn Profile Review
Make your profile reflect your message and the speaking opportunities you want to pursue.
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Live-Show / Podcast Opportunity
Share your message with an audience through a live-show/podcast opportunity.
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Six Months in the Learning Hub
Use short video lessons, worksheets, and templates as you develop your talk and speaking platform.
Both coach options include the full Academy experience.
Your talk, mapped
See how the central message, opening, stories, key points, and closing fit together. Your outline turns that visual map into a document you can use to prepare.
Your pitch, made clear
Give an organizer a clear picture of your talk and why it matters to their audience. Your Talk at a Glance gives you material to use in outreach and speaker submissions.
Your next opportunities
Start with opportunities selected around your expertise, talk, and audience. Your customized pipeline report helps you focus your research and outreach, with business-of-speaking guidance to help you act on it.
What Academy Graduates Have Put into Practice
“I booked 8 paid speaking engagements that year and my average speaking fee was 5x more than it was prior to going through the program.”
— Angela Hosking, Founder of Her One Tribe, Speaker, Workshop Facilitator, & Author
“If it weren't for the group, I would not have created my speaker page or considered a baseline for getting paid to speak.”
— Charmaine Gregory, M.D., Speaker & Workshop Facilitator on Professional Burnout
Betsy Jordyn
Marketing Agency Owner & TLA Graduate
Space to develop her own message
When you spend your days guiding other people, it can be hard to make room for your own ideas. Betsy joined the Academy to clarify her message and structure a talk.
“This program gave me the unique experience of being led vs. being the one guiding others.”
She described digging into what she wanted to express and launching her podcast and new brand with power and excitement.
Recommended video: Betsy describing how the coaching and group experience helped her find her message.
Meet Diane Diaz
$5,950 · Diane VIP Day
The full Thought Leader Academy experience, with your private VIP Day led by Diane.
Diane is Speaking Your Brand’s lead speaking coach. Her background in marketing, branding, and teaching informs the way she helps clients connect their expertise to an audience.
Work with Diane to find the message running through your ideas, shape your stories, and build a signature talk that reflects your voice.
Meet Carol Cox
$7,950 · Carol VIP Day
The full Thought Leader Academy experience, with your private VIP Day led by Carol.
Carol is the founder of Speaking Your Brand and host of the Speaking Your Brand podcast. She brings experience in business, speaking, storytelling, and working with TEDx speakers.
Work with Carol to draw out your perspective, find connections in your experience, and develop a talk with a distinctive idea at its center.
Invest in Your Talk and Your Speaking Platform
Thought Leader Academy · Eight weeks · Online
$5,950 with Diane Diaz for your VIP Day
Our lead speaking coach
$7,950 with Carol Cox for your VIP Day
Our founder
Both options include your private VIP Day, two additional private calls, live group coaching, and all the materials and support described above.
Schedule a discovery call to discuss your goals and choose your coach.
Let’s Talk About Your Next Chapter as a Speaker
What do you want your talk to make possible? Tell us about your expertise, the audiences you want to reach, and where you’d like to speak.
We’ll talk through how Thought Leader Academy can help you develop your signature talk and pursue the opportunities that fit your goals.
Schedule a discovery call. You don’t need a finished talk to get started.