I think for a lot of people, you don't necessarily realize that being a speaker is like an actual thing. — @GrantBaldwin #PublicSpeaking #2MTT Click To Tweet

2-Minute Tip: Tell Stories

Stories are how humans connect. They form the basis of our social relationships. They’re how we share history.

As a speaker, one of the best ways to make sure you connect with your audience is to tell stories — and not just one. Illustrate your talk with as many stories as possible. Generic ones are okay, but authentic, personal stories will bring you the most success.

The reality is like the way you become a better speaker is that you speak. — @GrantBaldwin #PublicSpeaking #2MTT Click To Tweet

Post Tip Discussion

Grant Baldwin has built a business speaking to speakers about the business of speaking. He hosts the Speaker Lab podcast, which is in my weekly must listen to list. His Speaker Lab company runs the popular Booked and Paid to Speak program. And now he has a new book coming out next week on February 18, 2020 called The Successful Speaker: Five Steps for Booking Gigs, Getting Paid, and Building Your Platform.

As a long-time fan, I was thrilled to talk with Grant for this episode. I think I’ve listened to every episode of his podcast. Now I just need to put it all into action.

If you’ve ever wondered how keynote and other professional speaker make their living and how you can too, Grant is the guy to listen to.

Nobody's following along in the audience going 'Oh, wait, wait, wait, go back. You skipped a word.' Nobody knows. — @GrantBaldwin #PublicSpeaking #2MTT Click To Tweet

Bio

Grant Baldwin is the founder of The Speaker Lab, a training company that helps public speakers learn how to find and book speaking gigs. Through his popular podcast The Speaker Lab and flagship coaching program Booked and Paid to Speak he has coached and worked with thousands of speakers. As a keynote speaker, Grant has delivered nearly one thousand presentations to over 500,000 people in 47 states and has keynoted events for audiences as large as 13,000. Grant has also been featured in national media including Forbes, Inc., Entrepreneur, and Huffington Post.

He now lives near Nashville, Tennessee, with his wife, Sheila, and their three daughters.

I think it's really important to note that as speakers you are a human talking to a collection of other humans. — @GrantBaldwin #PublicSpeaking #2MTT Click To Tweet

5 Basic things Effective Speakers Do

Grant shared this list of characteristics of effective speakers. The key thing here is that all the required skills are ones that anyone can develop.

1. They are comfortable with their content.
2. They are familiar with their content.
3. They understand pacing and pausing.
4. They tell a good story
5. They keep an audience engaged

Remember that the audience takes their cues from you. Because if it's not a big deal to you, It's not a big deal to them. — @GrantBaldwin #PublicSpeaking #2MTT Click To Tweet

5 Steps to a Successful Speaking Career

S – Select a problem to solve.

P – Prepare and deliver your talk.

E – Establish your expertise.

A – Acquire paid speaking gigs.

K – Know when to scale

This is the framework Grant covers in The Successful Speaker: Five Steps for Booking Gigs, Getting Paid, and Building Your Platform.

Speaking is a high-paying manual labor job. — @GrantBaldwin #PublicSpeaking #2MTT Click To Tweet

Links

The audience wants you to win; they are on your side. — @GrantBaldwin #PublicSpeaking #2MTT Click To Tweet

Call To Action

• Subscribe to the Speaker Lab podcast in your favorite podcast app
• Check out Grant’s new book The Successful Speaker: Five Steps for Booking Gigs, Getting Paid, and Building Your Platform.
• Share this episode with someone else by giving them the link http://2MinuteTalkTips.com/Grant
• Don’t get best…get better.

So the truth is, you can do all the things but you can't do them all at once. — @GrantBaldwin #PublicSpeaking #2MTT Click To Tweet

2-Minute Talk Tips is the public speaking podcast that helps you become a more effective speaker in as little as 2 minutes a week.