the bossbabe podcast - 80. Frozen to Fearless: Your Guide to Overcoming Public Speaking Anxiety

Episode Date: February 17, 2020

We’re joined by Tricia Brouk, who is a TEDx producer, international award-winning director, and executive producer of Speakers Who Dare. With a successful career in theater, film, and television, Tricia is a master of public speaking and storytelling.  If the thought of public speaking makes you frozen with fear, then this is the podcast episode for you. We’re discussing the art of public speaking, storytelling, and the game-changing value that it could bring for your life and business. We’re teaching you how to overcome your fear of public speaking along with actionable tips and techniques for becoming a better speaker, how to book speaking events (even if you don’t have any experience!), leveraging public speaking to boost your business, and so much more.  Join Our 7-Day LIVE Business Training: https://bossbabe.com/lessons 

I don't experience rejection as failure. I experience it as what's next. My no's were always not yet's. So you negotiate some wins on your behalf, but never speak for free, always choose to wave your feet. Welcome to the Boss Babe podcast, a place where we share with you the real behind the scenes of building successful businesses, achieving peak performance, and learning how to balance it all. I'm Danielle Canty, president and co-founder of Boss Babe, and your host for this week's episode, where I'm interviewing a pretty incredible woman. She's an international award-winning director and her name is Trisha Brooke. Now I know this episode will change the game for so many of you because Trisha and I dive into the value of public speaking

and how you can use it as a platform to leverage business and my opinion, lots of people forget this aspect when they're thinking about bringing leads into their businesses. And a lot of that is because they're fearful of public speaking. So we discussed how to work through your fear. We discussed incorporating pay to play while speaking to your audience to help monetize and how to get into public speaking without even having any experience at all. This is a podcast I was really really passionate about recording because like I said earlier I know that this is an underutilized channel for so many of you. So with Trisha's background in theatre, film and television she teaches you in this podcast everything that you need to know about the art of public speaking.

She's also the executive producer of Speakers Who Dare and a TEDx producer too. So it's fair to say you're in really good hands. So if you are interested in the art of public speaking and how to really connect with your audience in order to maximize your business, then be sure to listen to the whole of this episode. And as always, please take a screenshot and share your biggest takeaways on Insta stories, tagging me at Danielle Canty and at bossbabe.inc because we would love to know. But before we continue the rest of the episode, you know, we love to share with you the information and resources that have helped us succeed. And honestly, the most important things we've learned in business is the importance of self-education and really tapping into the knowledge of experts. And that's why

we've put together the seven most important things we wished we knew before starting and scaling our business. So if you want to hear all the game-changing lessons that helped us build a successful business with an audience of over 2 million people, you are going to love this. So sign up now for our exclusive seven day video series at bossbabe.com forward slash lessons. Each and every single day, we'll be sharing a powerful lesson that transformed our life and business. And of course, you'll walk away with a highly actionable step that you can then implement immediately in yours. Now, the aim of this is it saves you months, if not years, on your path to building the business you dream of. So make sure you sign up now, like I said, at bossbabe.com forward slash lessons. self and other women to rise, keep going and fighting on. She is on a mission to be her best self in all areas. It's just believing in yourself. Confidently stepping outside her comfort zone to

create her own vision of success. So welcome to the Boss Babe podcast, Tricia. Thank you so much for joining me. I'm so excited to dive in. All things speaking, all things getting opportunities and growing your business via speaking. And I know you're the woman to teach so many lessons today. So thank you for sparing your time and showing up with the audience. I am so excited to be here with you today, Danielle. Thank you for having me. Yay. Okay. So I want to dive in first of all and talk about speaking because I personally feel and helping so many female entrepreneurs grow their business, I actually feel like it's a really underutilized skill set.

And I actually feel like it's also an underutilized marketing channel. I feel like nowadays lots of people go towards social media channels and we're actually forgetting a lot of the traditional marketing channels, even like leaflet drops, but things like speaking. I'm not even talking about huge, huge audiences. I'm talking about going to local events, going to networking events, going to different groups where you can offer value and leading with value. And so I'm really excited to talk about speaking today because I know that it's something that people won't necessarily thought of. And also I know that for a lot of people, it's something that doesn't come naturally and sparks a lot of fear.

So before we dive in, I would just love for you to share your journey and how you became Teach On Speaking and what that looked like for you. Because like I said, for me, I've always been a little more introverted, not full introvert. But I know for you, you've always had this career in pursuing dancing and acting. So I just love for you to share a little bit about that. Absolutely. Well, let me just mention quickly on top of for you to share a little bit about that. Absolutely. Well, let me just mention quickly on top of what you just said, which is so brilliant. We are moving from digital to analog.

People want to connect with us in a real authentic way. People want to hear from us in terms of our business and how we serve. So the art of public speaking and being able to increase your credibility and your reach and really elevate your business to the next level is going to move into a more analog place, which is why speaking is so important. So I want to just say that first, and we'll go back to that. In terms of my story, I moved to New York City at 20 years old to pursue a career in dance. I was 13 years old when I

competed in the Petite Junior Miss Dance of St. Louis and didn't expect anything to come out of it because all the other girls in the competition had beautiful pink dresses with lace and mine was gray and from Sears. And when they called my name and crowned me the petite junior Miss Dance of St. Louis, all things became possible. And at that point, I stepped into what was possible for my life. And that meant moving to New York City when I was old enough to pursue a career in dance. So I decided while I was in the city that I didn't want to be a starving artist. And I got the idea to start my own business. I've been an entrepreneur my entire life, going on three decades in New York City. I decided to start a fitness company so that I could

pursue my career as a dancer and fulfill my dreams. And then I got another bright idea, which was, hey, I'm going to actually hire consultants to train my clients. So I'm making money in two places at the same time. And I had that amazing career in dance. My fitness company was thriving and making me good money. And then I realized I didn't have the reach I wanted. And what I mean by that, Danielle, is I was only impacting the people in the theater, the number of people in the theater for the amount of time I was on stage as a dancer. I was inspiring them. I was moving them. I was serving them in an artistic way, but it was limited to that amount of time and the number of people. And I realized if I wanted to really have impact and make the world a better place,

then I was going to put other people onto big stages and I was going to put other people onto the big screen. And I moved on from dance really happily into directing and writing and producing. And I was making art and theater all over the place. And by creating theater that people could come and see night and night again over and over, that was giving me more of a reach as an artist, as somebody who wanted to inspire the world to be better. And then all of a sudden, three years ago, Petra Kolber, one of my friends who had been coming to see all of my work

for years, she said, I just booked a TEDx and I want you to direct it. And I thought, well, that sounds fun, just like a one-woman show. We worked together just like I work with actors on intention, objective, and action. I gave her choreography and blocking. I did script analysis and it was really fun. And I didn't think anything of it. And then she planted the seed. You should really do this. And all of a sudden, as what happens when you step up and you raise your vibration, the universe provides, right? So all of a sudden I had all these incredible speakers and no place to put them. Well, as a theater producer, what's the best show for speakers? TEDx. So I got my license. I became the executive producer of TEDx Lincoln Square and produced two sold out shows, both with standing ovations for over two years and realized that, wow, now I have an opportunity people who have important messages and that kind of people who follow Boss Babe like regularly will know that I was actually a chiropractor before I've kind of moved into this space and it just shows you a lot of people kind of think that they have to go like down one route and there's so many

different paths that you can take and I really do believe that when you're following your heart and when you're following the purpose that's when the magic happens when you get up every single day and you care about what you're doing and you care about like the legacy that you're leaving behind that's when you really feel propelled to move forwards and actually work is no longer work work is actually something you love and you're excited about getting up every day so I love that in your story that you know you're living proof of that like okay I've done this bit I'm ready to kind of look and go okay what's next and just gone through it and I just would love to kind of chat around like what maybe fears have come up at those points, because I don't think it's to be underestimated in deviating in your career or adding on something new that perhaps

you've not done before. Because like you said, you'd never taught somebody how to do a TEDx talk. And one thing I often hear is women in business. So they've had a career in something and they want to start their own business. They're like, oh, I'm starting from scratch. You know, I'm going to start in the beginning. And I'm like, no, you've got so many transferable skills. And I think your journey is very much proof of that, how you can transfer skills to a long different path and actually allow that to move you forward. So what were those blocks that came up for you? Were there any at that point? And what was your kind of mindset around that? Because I've always been in showbiz, I hear no all the time. Rejection is part of the deal. And I don't experience rejection as failure.

I experience it as what's next. My no's were always not yet. And that is how I was able to forge ahead, not knowing anything about this new business. And I don't say that I wasn't scared. I was scared, but the fear never crept in. My biggest concern was I had zero online presence. I was not on Facebook until three years ago. I was not credible in the space of public speaking because I'd never done it. And so for me, it was, okay, I have to build a foundation one brick at a time because I know that I'm talented. I know I can do this. And I know that I need to build a foundation and I need to get an online presence. I need to find somebody to teach me what Facebook is. I need somebody to help me create an Instagram account. And I know that sounds very silly,

but I really had no need for an online presence because I was working in film, television, and theater. It's not the online space. It's not the entrepreneurial world. And I didn't communicate with my friends that way. So I didn't need it. The biggest challenge for me was learning how to navigate visibility. That was the biggest challenge. I was concerned about messing up. I was concerned about what happens when you go live. And I am a communicator.

I am somebody who's been on stage my entire life. So when I share with you and your audience that I didn't know what I was doing in terms of being online, I literally didn't know what I was doing. And when I allowed myself to be bad, when I allowed myself to not know what I was doing and really embrace that, all of a sudden everything came into place. And it was me just being me. It was me saying, here's what I believe in everybody. I think we can change the world when we learn how to communicate with authenticity and dignity. I think we can change the world when you make the decision to get on stage and share your message because one person that needs to hear it will hear it and you might

just save their life. So when I stopped making it about me, oh, what if I mess up? What if I'm embarrassed? What if I embarrass myself? And I started doing what I teach people, which is make it about the message. Move your ego out of the way. Who cares what people think? You are going to be judged and just embrace that. That is when all the fears went away. That is when I stepped fully into my purpose. And that is when that foundation that I built was solid enough to receive all of the incredible abundance that came shortly after making the decision to do that. That's so true. I think when you put other people first and when you share that message, it is so powerful. And I actually relate to

a lot of what you said because I actually was not big on social media. I used to use it for my friends as well. So it does kind of take a lot of growth mindset to really go, actually, no, I want to learn this. Like I'm interested in it. I always say you can't fail if you don't quit. And when you're so kind of willing to get back up and dust yourself off, then there is no failure. It's just a learning curve and you're just learning on the way. So I really appreciate you sharing that message. And so I know that one of the biggest fears, we'll chat around this in a little bit around how, you know, speaking can help your business a little bit more, but I just want to come back to that fear point while we're on it because so many people, well, it's all very well saying that I'll put other people first, I'll think about them, but I am

quaking in my boots when I talk in front of five people, let alone 10, 20, 100. And I know you spoke earlier about helping your friend through some blocks, et cetera. So what are some techniques that people can really start thinking about if they're like, oh yeah, I want to get into speaking, but I don't even know where to start. I really have this fear. I'm very intimidated by it. And it just seems this pipe dream so far out of their reach. Where do they start at that point? I always share with my speakers that if you're rehearsing by yourself in front of the mirror with your beloved pet, you are setting yourself up for absolute failure. Because when you get in front of people, your body will betray you. You will have a

physiological response. It's just going to happen no matter how many times you've been on stage, which means you must rehearse under mild stress. You must increase that stress a little by little until you are ready to take a stage in front of 300, 3,000 people. And this is how you work through those nerves. You don't have to get rid of them. You don't have to put them somewhere. You have to know what to do with them because they will always be with you. So rehearsing under mild stress means in front of someone that you care about who doesn't really make you nervous, maybe your partner, maybe your friend. And then increase that stress by giving the talk in front of a group of colleagues so that what happens when your knees start shaking or your palms start sweating or your mouth goes really dry, you keep going and you deliver this talk from start to finish and not pass out, not

cry, not die. And so you teach your body to work in tandem with your actual performance. And that is what you want to start doing. The other part to this equation is learning the technique of performance. If you think about actors on Broadway, they have eight shows a week. They do two performances on Saturday or Sunday, right? So if they're phoning it in, if they're having a bad day, if they walk into the theater and they're in a bad mood because they had an argument with somebody they care about, they cannot go on stage that way. They have to perform for the audience as if it's their first performance because it is the audience as if it's their first performance because it is the audience's first time seeing the show, which means they rely on technique.

They're playing a scene with somebody. That scene partner needs to know that they want something from them. So that means if you walk onto the stage, you have to know what you want from your audience. It might be for them to be shaking their heads, yes. It might be their attention. What do you want from them? To donate to a worthy cause, to buy your book, to be nodding their heads, yes, because they agree with what you're saying. And if you're not getting what you want, if they're looking down at their phones, you better change how you're playing that scene. And that's the technique I'm talking about. If I walk out onto a stage and people are not paying attention, I better change what I'm doing. And if I think I'm inspiring them and it's not working, I better do something else quick so I get their attention. And it might mean entertain

them. It might mean wait. It might mean stand there in silence until everyone looks up because nobody's talking and that's strange. And that is the technique, the objective and action that you put into place so that you're doing something and it's not about you. I'm nervous. I'm so scared. I hope they like it. If you put the action onto the audience and remember what it is that you're doing and what you want, then the fear goes away because you're actually focused on what you're doing. Let's take a quick pause to talk about my new favorite all-in-one platform, Kajabi. You know I've been singing their praises lately because they have helped our business run so much smoother and with way less complexity, which I love.

Not to mention our team couldn't be happier because now everything is in one place. So it makes collecting data, creating pages, collecting payment, all the things so much simpler. One of our mottos at Boss Babe is simplify to amplify and Kajabi has really helped us do that this year. So of course I needed to share it here with you. It's the perfect time of year to do a bit of spring cleaning in your business, you know, get rid of the complexity and instead really focus on getting organized and making things as smooth as possible. I definitely recommend Kajabi to all of my clients and students. So if you're listening and haven't checked out Kajabi yet, now is the perfect time to do so because they are offering Boss Babe listeners a 30-day free trial. Go to kajabi.com slash Boss

Babe to claim your 30-day free trial. That's kajabi.com slash boss babe to claim your 30-day free trial that's kajabi.com slash boss babe that's really powerful actually like thinking about what the audience want rather than you because now you're saying that i'm like that's so true about when you're first nervous about speaking and i remember when i first did my bits of speaking and i stood on stage in new york and i was so terrified and i remember having to do breathing exercises so i was trying to calm my heart rate down by doing like box breathing and that did work. But at that point I was very like self-absorbed around, oh my goodness, I'm nervous about my delivery. But when you're up there and when you're actually, like you say, you focus on the audience and be like, okay, what gift am I giving them?

Are they engaged? Are they writing down? Are they listening to what I'm saying? Or are they sleeping in the corner? Actually, all of a sudden, like you say, it makes you calm down because you're like, I'm here to deliver. I'm here to offer value. And I think that's a real key point that actually a lot of people miss when they're speaking and when they're first starting out. I think experienced speakers do know that. But when you're first starting out, it is a little bit more, you know, it's the ego kicks in. It's all about us, isn't it? Whereas actually it's all about the audience. So I think that's really powerful to share. It is. And there's also something that you can do before you get to the stage when you understand it's about objective inaction, which is give yourself something to do

when you're rehearsing. So we talked about the mild stress, increase the stress, increase the stress. We talk about making it about the audience. And in between there, once your talk is memorized, give yourself something to do, clean the house, do the dishes, do the laundry so that you are being tasked with delivering the talk and actually doing something else. So your focus is split and that will really help you take the nerves off of yourself because you're trying to figure out which whites go in the laundry. You're trying to figure out what dishes go in the dishwasher or you're cleaning the house. So when you split your focus as you're delivering your talk, it removes that fear factor from your body. Love these pointers. So if we just go, we've already discussed, like you say,

those people who are getting really nervous and some skillsets they can utilize. But what if people are like, okay, right, I want to grow my business. I want to do it through speaking. What kind of speaking gigs do I do? Do I do a keynote? Do I do a TEDx? Like, what's the difference? Where do people start? The best place to start is being on a panel. What's so fantastic about being on a panel is A, you don't have to show up with anything memorized because the facilitator is going to ask you questions. And B, you get to be a profound listener. And when you're listening to the other panelists and then you deliver your thoughts about what they're saying, you become the superstar. You become the rock star because you are contributing in a way that is valuable. You get to show up on that panel as the expert. You get to be showcased as the expert from the beginning.

And then when you are communicating about what other panelists have said, that shows the audience that you are listening and that you are paying attention and that you care about your fellow panelists. And that is the best way to drive traffic to your business. That is the best way for you to start the art form of public speaking because you're not alone and you get to listen and then comment. And so how do people go about getting on panels? The first thing to do is really reach out to people who have events and ask them if they would like you to be a panelist. Offer yourself up to them for free.

That kind of visibility is worth a million bucks. And once you're on the panel, people may ask you to come speak at their event. So it's a very organic way to create the road to public speaking. Something else I want your listeners to know is that you do not have to have any experience to apply to be a TED speaker. And you don't have to have a talk written in order to apply. All they're asking for on these applications is your idea worth spreading, a description of what that is, and your name and bio. So I encourage anybody who has the desire to take a TED stage in 2020 to take it off that bucket list and put it on your to-do list because it is absolutely possible for you. It's possible for anyone. Oh my goodness. I love that. And I would

love to see more boss babes doing TEDx talks because they're so powerful and they're so impactful. Like that's what I love about TEDx like talks. You listen to them, there's always so many takeaways and they always make you think like, oh yeah, that's a really good point. I just love like in-depth conversations that are facilitated through that. So let's just talk about TEDx a little bit because I know that there'll be so many listeners going like, oh, it's on the bucket list, but it seems out of reach. So like you said, you can apply to a TEDx talk via submitting your idea and your buyer, et cetera. But how do people get to the point where they're deciding on even what their idea is? Have you got any good ways to come up with topics that

they want to talk about or titles that they want to talk about? Or what makes that TEDx talk like the ones that you've seen so good? The first thing that I have my speakers do is mine for ideas. And how I do that is asking them simple questions. What do you love? What do you hate? What are you good at? What are you bad at? What do you care about in the world? And the reason that I ask these questions is because we often as entrepreneurs want to talk about our business, right? We want to talk about something that's directly related to what we sell. And that is not an idea worth spreading. And when I was the executive producer of TEDx Lincoln Square, that was the mistake 95% of the applicants made. They would pitch me their book,

they would pitch me their business instead of talking about an idea worth spreading. So it's really important that you understand the art of TEDx. It's a gift, not an ask. It's an idea, not an issue. And you want the audience to adopt your idea as their own at the end of TEDx. It's a gift, not an ask. It's an idea, not an issue. And you want the audience to adopt your idea as their own at the end of this talk. If you're talking about global warming and you say, if you read my book, you'll understand how important our awareness is to the climate crisis. Well, that's not a gift. That's an ask. You're asking us to read your book. But if you say an aunt can tell you exactly how to reduce your carbon footprint, tell me more. How is that possible, right? That's a gift you're just giving us. Like you're going to tell us the actual aunt, not your aunt, can help reduce the carbon

footprint. That's amazing. So you want to really understand the art form and the language of TED. If you care about something in the world, if you teach public speaking, how to be a better speaker is not an idea worth spreading, right? If you are teaching women how to be boss babes, it's an incredible thing that you're doing. And I love boss babes. That's not an idea worth spreading. So what is it? We have to go deeper.

If I were to talk about an idea worth spreading, it would be learning how to mourn the loss of your single self. That has nothing to do with my business. I were to talk about an idea worth spreading, it would be learning how to mourn the loss of your single self. That has nothing to do with my business. But when I got married, I cried uncontrollably for three straight days after I got married. And it wasn't because I was unhappy. And I'm happily married 11 years, by the way. Follow up with that in case the husband is listening. And what happened was nobody told me I needed to mourn the loss of the single Trisha and step into the role of the married Trisha. And I didn't know who I was. And so my passion around teaching women that that is something to acknowledge would be my idea worth spreading.

Now, it has nothing to do with my business. However, if I were to talk on this and people thought it was important and powerful and got them to think differently, would they look me up? Of course. Would that potentially lead business my way? Absolutely. So I encourage all the boss babes to talk about what you care about. Get on that stage if it's a TED stage and share your idea worth spreading, and it will organically drive traffic to your business. I love that as well. And I love that it's a gift, not an ask. Like we have this program called Insta Growth Accelerator, which teaches people how to grow their Instagram. Obviously we spoke about earlier how, you know, like growing social media is a big thing in this day and age, growing

your business. But one mistake people make all the time is they make it about them. Whereas actually when you lead with the value, like I would normally say I lead with the value, but I love reframing that and saying like, you need to be giving, not asking. That is just so powerful. And I think in the world that we live in now, where content is being created at a rapid rate and good content at that a lot of the time,

you need to be able to like giving value and giving opinions and giving. I just love that. So I feel like that's going to be the quote for this episode. It's a gift, not an ask. So thank you for sharing that, Tricia. You're welcome. We've touched on TEDx talks, but I also want to touch on keynotes because there is a big difference between these two. And I know that sometimes people get a little bit confused if they are asked to talk or if they do want to talk, like what should the format be? And obviously with a TEDx

could talk, how do you feel that differs from like maybe someone's standard keynote, which they kind of a topic that they talk about a lot? A keynote has a formula that's pretty simple. You introduce yourself, which leads us to understand why you're the credible person to speak. Then you say, and this is what I'm going to talk about. And then you talk about those things and then you summarize and then there's a call to action. And if you follow that formula, it will set you up nicely to write a keynote or to write a companion talk to your book. I often have speakers come to me and say, I just wrote a book and I want to write a companion talk so that I can go to conferences, talk about this

idea, sell my book. And I often say, we're not going to turn your book into a keynote because they can read the book. We need to create a companion talk, which means I read the book. I make sure that the talk is aligned with the message of the book, but it is not anywhere near what the book is. And that means, hi, everybody, I'm the credible person to talk about this. This is what we're going to talk about today. I explain it all. I summarize what you've all just spent the last 45 minutes listening to, and then I have a call to action. Does that make sense? Yes, completely. And so when people, let's say they haven't got a book, but they're wanting to leverage keynotes to grow their business, how would you advise kind of formulating that talk?

Would it be the same kind of strategy? And I'm asking these questions because I always try and put myself in our boss baby listener's shoes. And I know a lot of them will be kind of like, oh, so okay, how could I apply this? So what if I say I've got a business, I'm like, okay, I want to do some more speaking. How do I decide what my talk's on? I love this. If you are doing a keynote specifically to grow your business, I always suggest doing pay to play. This is a really, really great opportunity to get on stage and have permission from the event organizer to sell. And the first half an hour is all about value. It's all about sharing your idea, talking about what your expertise is on. And then you move into the selling part, which is why working with you

will change their lives. And if you probably teach this, Danielle, if you think about reframing sales into serving and service, you will never feel weird about selling your products again. When you stand on that stage and you talk about what you care about and what you're passionate about and what you spend seven days a week cultivating and working on as entrepreneurs, your passion will come through. And when you transition from the value-driven keynote into, and this is how you can work with me. This is why when you work with me, your life will improve. This is why when you work with me, your life will improve. This is why when you work with me, everything I just shared with you will be taught in a way that is unique to you. And that is why pay to play is so valuable. Now, in addition to choosing that kind of a venue,

you want to make sure the audience is correct. If I were to speak about public speaking to an audience of feng shui practitioners, they probably would not buy from me because they don't need to necessarily take a big stage in order to get clients. So it's really, really important to understand if you choose to go the route pay to play, it's absolutely valuable and make sure that the audience is your ideal client. That's so true, actually. And one thing I've definitely started working with, you know, people in the society and our masterminds is talking about this,

is like saying no to things. Because I had this personal challenge where I hated saying no to everything, anything. I felt like I was turning things down. But then I realized that by saying yes to everything, I was actually saying no, kind of unconsciously to other things because I couldn't fit them in or those opportunities weren't coming to me because I didn't have

space for them. And so I think that's really important. Like you say, when you're looking at, okay, I want to do speaking, it's like always looking at, okay, is that the right place? Don't just take every speaking opportunity that comes your way. Think about it. Is that going to serve us? And am I going to be able to give to that audience appropriately?

And also then it leaves you time if if those audience are appropriate to actually go out and source those events and those places that your ideal clients and your audience are in so I think that's also super powerful and just kind of understanding the value of your talk even if you've not necessarily done it a million times I think there's a lot to be said about practicing but I also think there's a lot to be said about making sure that when you do do it, it's in front of the right people too and being selective on that. The other thing I want to bring to the attention of the Boss Babes is that it is time consuming to create a keynote and everything you just said about really understanding to pick and choose what audience and what speaking

engagements you attend and you speak at because the writing process can take up to three or four weeks. The rehearsal process can take up to three or four weeks. This is not something you just wing. This is something that requires a lot of investment in time and in money and in what you're going to wear and in hair and makeup. You have to really be clear on where you are devoting your time as a keynote speaker. And something that you can also do is sign up for places like speakerhub.com, speakermatch.com. You can create profiles.

And what they do is they send you speaking engagements that are specific to your area of expertise. I'll make sure the links are actually in the show notes for this because that's really powerful, actually a really good source that you say to get some of those leads in, particularly if you're just starting off in your business as well. When you're starting out in public speaking, ask other speakers who you respect. Let them know that if they're ever unavailable for a gig, that you are happy to step in for them. That is something that I cultivate in my community of speakers.

In my community, you might be on stage by yourself, but you are never alone. And that is something that is really important. Start talking to your friends about it. Do you have a speaking gig that's coming up? Awesome. I'd love to come and support you. Or if you ever get asked to speak and you're unavailable, please know you can always send my name and I'm happy to step in for you. And that's really something that you can do as well is find those speakers that you respect and let them know that you are here to support them. So powerful. I love that actually. That's like such a community. Like we're really passionate about community and Boss Babe. It's actually one of our core values within all our products. And that's really, really important because actually when you're passing opportunities on, they naturally come back to you. And I just

love the law of attraction, how all that works. So I would definitely encourage everybody who's listening to start implementing that as well. And lastly, I just want to also talk about money because everyone's listening to this as boss babes, right? So I know this is always going to get their mind as well. Should you or should you not be paid for speaking gigs? I know that gets kind of thrown around a lot. Should it be? Yes. You know, we've already talked about the preparation that goes in behind them. What are some general, are there general rules around this? Or is it just kind of like you said, looking at the preparation, looking at the opportunity, looking at your experience, like what's your take on that, Trisha? Always be paid for a speaking opportunity. Always. If you work with an organizer who says,

I'm really sorry, we want you so badly, but we don't have a budget to pay you, then you say, I'd be willing to waive my fee if in exchange you pay for my transportation, my lunch, and you refer me to three other organizers. So you negotiate some wins on your behalf, but never speak for free. Always choose to waive your fee. I love that. And I feel like that's such an amazing note to finish this interview on because there've been so many takeaways. Honestly, I have like so many notes and, you know, we were so blessed and honored to have you in the society as well. Like you did December and it was just

phenomenal. I know the feedback has been absolutely incredible, Tricia, like your teachings are just so powerful. And not only have I already heard stories about them giving women the confidence to actually start speaking, but they've also helped them grow their businesses. So thank you so much for showing up for our community in so many different ways. And I would just love for you to share where our listeners can find out a little bit more information about you. You know, we spoke about earlier, you are now on Facebook and Instagram. So do you want to share your information there? Absolutely. I'm so excited that your community is benefiting from the gifts that I've been sharing. That means a lot to me. I'm really, really happy to hear that. And your listeners can find me at trishabrooke.com and I am all over social

media now, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Facebook and Twitter. I love it. Oh, I love it. Amazing. Thank you so much, Trisha. We really appreciate you. If you have loved this episode and you would like to share your takeaways, please tag Trisha and myself on Instagram, my handles at bossbow.inc and also at Danielle Canty. We'd love to hear from you. And if you would love to find out a little bit more about Tricia, like she said, follow the handles. And also, although the doors, well, depending on your listening list, the doors may be shut for the society, but you can join the waitlist at www.bossbabe.com forward slash membership. And you can sign up for the waitlist. So when the doors open, you can get access to all the goodies from Tricia and so many more guest experts. So thank you very much. And thank you again, Tricia. Thank you, Danielle.

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