Aug 20, 2021
In today's episode, our guest is Blair Nichols, the Director of Stages of Advance your Reach. He’s also a Coach, Consultant, and Co-host of Inside the Greenroom with PV3 Podcast. He has deep expertise in developing speakers for corporate events, conferences, and other thought leadership opportunities, including internal and external communications. Blair enjoys helping unique individuals and companies foster new strategies for operations, communications, business development, and partnerships to further develop and enhance their bottom line and brand. Today, he is going to tell us how we can share our message with our audience.
[5:34] Why should we listen to you?
I guess it just depends on where we pick up and why you should listen to me. A lot of the time, when people reach out to me, they want to know about how they can get on stages, how they can spread their message, and get help figuring out how they can really get heard.
[7:39] What do you think is a difference between a $2,500 speaker and a $25,000 speaker?
It usually just comes down to demand. If people are coming to you and inviting you to speak, it's a lot easier to ask for a fee than hustling and getting out there and trying to get on a stage where people don't know you.
[8:57] The greatest speakers that probably work with bureaus are in that 10 to 20, 25k range. Once you get above that, it's because you've got a bit of demand. Maybe you have a best-selling book or some name recognition. Once you get into that 25k to 30k range, that's where people are doing that because they've already got some sort of established platform that's generating that interest.
[10:17] Sharing a message through purpose
If you have a message to share because you feel in your heart and will whatever you're called by and whomever you're called to share that, then that comes across more powerfully if you've got kind of a purpose behind your story.
[10:39] Storytelling has been around for thousands of years. But the people who end up getting paid a lot of money to tell stories are the ones that have that intention. They have an intention to make an impact on changing lives.
[11:09] It has to start from your why or your big purpose and why you want to get out there and do it. That's what sets apart the people you can tell is just a sales pitch, and those who have a story that's impacted them have led them to success, and they want to impart on other people.
[12:16] What are some of the biggest roadblocks that would give speakers more freedom?
The important thing to know is that every stage has value. It's about understanding why you can monetize at any stage
[12:39] If you have that best-selling book, that name recognition, or you've kind of established yourself, and you're able to turn down things because they can't meet your fee, then that's awesome. But that's a very small percentage of speakers out there. What's important to keep in mind is that you can build a business through stages and speaking where any stage can have value for you.
[13:38] Think about other types of products or other things that matter. You're not going to be selling on that stage, but you're going to be getting in front of an audience that, hopefully, you're going to make a connection with. Then they're going to want to follow you, and then you've got them in your world. When you have those other things to offer them, some of them will take advantage of that, and that's where stages start to become valuable.
[14:43] You want to take a step back first to reverse engineer to get to the point where it can be something that makes you money. It should be about that purpose, that impact, and those problems you're going to solve because that's what's going to bring the money to you rather than trying to get out there and sell something that people don't need.
[15:59] What are all the stages that people are missing?
Right now, in the virtual environment, you've got podcasts, webinars, summits, conferences, Facebook Lives, and all the different social media channels. Stages now are all these different platforms where you can get your message out in front of the ideal audience.
[17:30] A stage is any opportunity in a platform where you're connecting with an audience, and hopefully, it's the ideal audience you want to.
[18:23] What would be the best course of action for them to pursue right now?
You want to make sure you have clarity around the problem that the message is solving. You want to make sure that you're clear on who that message is for.
[19:00] You want to get a sense of both your message, the problem you're solving, and who you want to speak to. But as far as getting started as a speaker, speak anywhere.
[20:18] You have all of the tools available to get your message out there. It's just getting started and putting yourself out there in front of any audience you have access to and let it go from there.
[20:04] Is there a separation or thought that you have on whether or not someone should focus on social media to build their ability and make good speeches?=
So being a great speaker is all about practicing and being committed. Anyone who does this or anyone you consider like a superstar practiced their craft for many hours.
[21:51] Social media is one big way to split test your message to an audience that knows and loves you. A lot of speakers are lazy about how many platforms they want to be on. If you want to be a speaker and want to influence the world, you want to be on every platform.
[22:54] If you've got that clarity on your ideal audience and you can look into what platforms they're using and how to reach them, then you don't want to ignore them. You don't want to let that opportunity go to waste by not sharing content on other platforms.
[25:14] Putting in the effort
The next step is very much within your power. Get out there on stages that are available to you. Be willing to share your story with anyone that you meet. Think about how that core message can be done in a few minutes with a stranger that you just met if you get the opportunity to be on a stage and just continue to put yourself out there and be consistent.
[25:48] The people who are successful are the ones who stick it out, who put in the time and effort to build that, and knows that it's a slow build sometimes, but it's a compounding effect.
Key Quotes
[10:14-10:17] "Speaking is not a vocation. It's an advocation."
[17:18-17:21] "Every opportunity you have to share a message is really a stage."
[22:33-22:42] "You're leaving audiences out, and you're missing opportunities if you don't try to take advantage of anything that is really relevant."
Learn more about Blair Nichols on:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/blairbnichols/
Website: http://blairbryantnichols.com/
Company Website: https://advanceyourreach.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/BBNichols