Out of the Box: Lauren’s Speaking Breakthrough

What happens when you put soulful speaking into practice?

In this playful and powerful follow-up with Lauren Goldberg, we move from conversation into coaching. Lauren bravely steps into the hot seat to try out a 60-second pitch for her work—and together we explore how shifting from titles and rambling to intention, alignment, and invitation transforms the way she shows up.

We talk about why pain-point marketing feels manipulative, how to lead with vision instead, and the difference between cramming everything into an “elevator pitch” versus offering a soul-aligned appetizer. You’ll also hear Lauren’s reflections on public speaking, entrepreneurship, and even her delight in dishwasher jingles.

If you’ve ever struggled with pitching yourself, this episode offers both inspiration and practical tools to make your words—and your presence—magnetic.

Takeaways
1. Starting with your why creates instant connection.
2. Pain-point marketing manipulates; vision-led marketing inspires.
3. A 60-second pitch is an appetizer, not the whole meal.
4. Intend–Align–Invite: three keys to speaking with confidence and impact.
5. Alignment means body, breath, and energy working together.
6. Pausing and breathing can shift rambling into resonance.
7. Networking intros, pitches, and talks can all be playgrounds for practice.
8. Public speaking isn’t about proving—it’s about holding space.
9. Play and authenticity can reveal the heart of your message.

Soul Sucker Quiz

Take the Soul Sucker Quiz to learn which Soul Sucker screams the loudest in your mind so you can release them from being in charge and set your voice free!

https://voice-matters.com/soul-sucker-quiz/

Transcript

Live coaching setup: Lauren’s 60-second intro

Lauri 0:32

I am getting the urge to play and do a little bit of public speaking coaching and see where it goes. Sure, can I have you. I'm going to grab a phone, so on YouTube you're going to see me go off camera because the timer's here on the phone. Can I ask you to speak for 60 seconds about what you do, even though they've actually been hearing the much more juicy version as if you were in a networking meeting, and then we'll do some coaching and see if it shifts. And the bonus is that they'll be getting to hear even more that like who is she and what does she do?

Lauren 1:13

Okay so. So what's my like elevator pitch for my coaching business?

Lauri 1:18

yeah, yes, okay. I might say more after we're done. But yes, a 60 second intro, yeah to you and your business. Okay, and I'll go like this when it's done, because it might I I don't know if it's going to ring loud enough for us to hear, so I'll go. That's time.

Lauren 1:39

Okay.

Lauri 1:40

All right, whenever you're ready.

Lauren 1:44

I'm Lauren Goldberg. I am a career, self or career transition, find clarity and figure out what their energizing next step is. I also do that through the lens of self-compassion, building their toolkit for self-advocacy and disability justice and recognizing justice, recognizing what unique skills, experience, perspective they have, that they bring to the table, that they can shine a light on. The folks that I typically work with are neurodivergent or have chronic conditions or disabilities. Okay, so easy for me to just like ramble through something. So, yeah, yeah.

Lauri 2:57

Yeah, Let me. I'd love to hear it.

Lauren 2:59

I'd love to hear it, coach, but just the speaking coach. Yeah.

Lauri 3:02

Well, first I like to ask most of the time, unless we're really pressed for time what is something that you liked about how that went and what, if anything, did you wish were different, so that I'm not just kind of diving in and going into the critical thoughts.

Marketing without manipulation: vision vs pain points

Lauren 3:21

Yeah, I think if I were to do it again, I would start with my why and not about me not with my title, like I want you to know why I do what I do before you hear about what I do what I do and that's actually something that I work with my coaching clients on too. So I would love to hear your thoughts on that and I think, something I have been able to break away. I think something I have been able to break away from in, like traditional marketing. What they taught, what they teach people in traditional marketing is like you need to call attention to people's pain points, and in coaching it's very or I should say in marketing, coaching and talking about coaching, it's very easy for there to be like a slippery slope into like how much does your life suck? I've got the secret sauce, I've got the secret formula that's going to solve all your problems. And like get you the new job and make your life wonderful. And like yeah, here's a Cinderella story to prove it and it's very manipulative.

Lauren 5:07

It's very oppressive, yeah, and so one thing that I take pride in is that I don't do that. I try to lead with the vision of like how people will feel and what the benefit will be of working together, as opposed to like calling out people's pain and like making people feel bad really. Like I just want to make people feel good through my marketing. So yeah, but it did feel rambly, just like how I I always am Like right now, yeah.

Lauri 5:55

The. So the marketing. It feels like we're similarly aligned in terms of marketing that the oppressive. I've often described it as like we're going to pour salt in your open wound and then, like I don't know, shove your face down in it, rather than something that's more focused on the vision, while also empathizing with where you actually are. So it's not totally. Look over, here I've got sunshine and roses. It's. If sunshine and roses are what you want, I can help you move from. I don't know, I need a metaphor. That's like it's foggy, yeah, it's foggy. Go from foggy to sunshine and roses, yeah, yeah. And you don't stay there forever. If foggy is where they are, you empathize with the fog and then the marketing itself can already be like you're helping them shift toward the vision.

Lauren 7:04

Yeah, I think what you'll notice too is, through the whole beginning of our conversation, like I'm really confident in what I'm talking about and then you asked me to like pitch myself and my energy was different. I could feel that. So, I am really curious to hear what you have to say about that too, because I.

Intend, Align, Invite Framework

Lauren 7:25

I want to be able to. I feel like the coaching that I'm doing is so important and like the work that I'm putting the body of work that I'm building is so like needs to be out there, and I'm going to write them down, yeah.

Lauri 7:59

The three words are intend, align, invite and in some ways it's like if somebody told me how to improve my basketball shot by bend your knees, look at the back of the rim, follow through. I'm already probably going to get better if I do that immediately and there's like a lifelong playing with that. That can happen. Intend is setting the intention for what you want the people to feel, and I was hearing that when you were saying I wish I had started with my why, because starting with the why is so connected to the intention. It's what do you want them to feel emotionally or energetically?

Appetizers, not buffets: reframing the pitch

Lauri 8:51

yeah and it's. You know, if you map out your whole entire soulmate client journey and then you go, oh, this moment where I'm meeting them for the very first time can be their very first step on that journey, their very first step on that journey. So they might go from frustrated to possibility, or hopeless to hope, or deflated to vibrant, to put it in more energetic words and they might choose to work with you. Or they might like, oh my God, there's hope. And then like, go hire someone else, because now they know there's hope. So that's intend, and that's what it feels like. You were in when we were talking at the beginning and then when you got the spotlight of the like, now you got to. This is what happens sometimes in our heads Cram all that into 60 seconds.

Lauri 9:54

The other piece that I love for people to consider is it's not cramming all that into 60 seconds. It's like there's a whole buffet and you're giving them an appetizer and they come to you for more if the buffet aligns with their dietary concerns. Mm-hmm, yep, yep, yeah, yeah. Inviting is the bookend to intend, and we did a little of this in our warm-up when I talked about like hugging the room. There's like an energetic space that you're holding for hope or possibility or confidence or vibrance or whatever it is, and underneath the words, the whole time you're talking, you are holding the space for them to choose to step into that new energy. You're not dragging them. You're not dragging them, you're not convincing them, you're not proving it to them. It's like you're holding a space and they choose whether or not to jump into it. Aligning is aligning your body, your breath and your energy with your most expressive self, which means generally deeper breaths than most of us are taking, especially if we've been living in those box infused worlds.

Aligning body, breath, and energy

Lauri 11:19

So, they happen in school, they happen in corporate. It's getting back to like what is it that you had when you were a child and you were entertaining everyone? You were probably. You look very seated upright, so that's like the body. The breath is a little deeper than most people normally do, and then the energy is allowing your energy to fill the whole room so that you're really hugging people and helping them to feel safe. Any questions about those three?

Lauren 11:56

No, I love those. Intend align invite.

Lauri 11:58

Yeah, and align is aligning the body, the breath and the energy. So that's part of why I was like I'm looking at you, I see an open heart, there's a balance of effort and ease. Otherwise, if we don't have any effort, we would be in the fetal position on the floor. We're not in the fetal position on the floor, so I would love for you to know that your body came in as a baby and, up until that point when the school started to take away your body's knowing about how to breathe, how to energize, remember her. So, like you know, you're remembering the align body, breath and energy. And do your 60 seconds again with intend, align, invite and the thought that you had about like, where do you want to start your talking?

Lauren 12:57

Right.

Lauri 13:00

I'm going to grab my phone, all right, whenever you're ready.

Speaking to the right people at the right time

Lauren 13:43

My personal mission is to help those who want to make the world a better place actually make the world a better place. Make the impact that they want to make. I'm a career, self-discovery and leadership coach and I help folks break free of toxic professionalism and the boxes that they've learned to fit themselves into and figure out what their own unique shape and energy looks like, how to self-advocate, make the impact that they want to make.

Lauri 15:44

Good. How did that one feel different from the first one?

Lauren 15:51

Well, I definitely took more pauses. It was more thoughtful as opposed to just like jumping right in just saying words. Like jumping right in just saying words, it felt a little bit more like a visceral, heartfelt essay as opposed to before. It just felt like I was like throwing words out there and I do feel like it was a bit of an appetizer and it's like if you want you know the whole four course meal, then you're gonna like come back for more yeah, or inquire for more yeah yeah, and it really, when you said visceral, heartfelt, it really felt like the thought in my mind about the second one is that you're out of the box.

Lauri 17:05

Yeah, speaking to the people who not speaking to the people who are like, desperately holding on to the box for dear life, that it would really reach the ones who are like or oh my God, the box just disappeared, like I got fired, and that they it's the right appetizer for them on every level. On the words that came out of your mouth, on the way that you were energetically and heart to heart connecting with them. Yeah, well, I'm a coach too, so I love to ask people will you find somewhere in your life could be a networking meeting to try playing with? It's like take it into game time now.

Pivot Pivot: sassafras, cardboard, mascots, and love

Lauren 17:57

Take, intend, align and invite out into the real world time now take, intend, align and invite out into the real world. Definitely, yeah, yeah. And actually you know what this is so timely because I've been thinking about doing um business pitch competitions for a new product that, um, I just launched and it's it is a professional bucket list item for me to do a business pitch competition and I feel like the energy from that exercise is something that I want to take with me into that and preparing for that. So so your question of like will you continue to refine that? The answer is yes, because I plan to do more public speaking and I want it to feel like that.

Lauri 18:55

Nice, yay, that gives me like chills of excitement. That gives me like chills of excitement. If people listening to this, who are driving and cannot visually see the show notes or cannot visually see them for some other reason, can you say aloud how people can, now that they've heard your appetizer and this episode, how can they find you?

Lauren 19:21

Sure. So you can find my website at laurengoldbergcoachingcom, that's L-A-U-R-E-N-G-O-L-D-H-I-N-Gcom, and you can also find me on Instagram and on LinkedIn at Lauren Goldberg Coaching. And, yeah, those are the main ways to get in touch with me and get on my email list. And, yeah, set up a time to chat. I'd love to meet you.

Lauri 20:09

Awesome. All right, and now it's time to slide into the Pivo Pivot. Lauren what is your favorite word?

Lauren 20:21

Sassafras. What is your, your favorite word, sassafras?

Lauri 20:23

What is your least favorite word?

Lauren 20:27

Rural.

Lauri 20:31

What turns you on creatively, spiritually or emotionally?

Lauren 20:47

Talking to other people about their passions yeah, and talking to other entrepreneurs about their business and what they are stuck in, and, yeah, that definitely gets my creative juices flowing, nice.

Lauri 21:13

What turns you off?

Lauren 21:24

um too many, too many boundaries, like feeling confined what's your favorite cuss word? Oh, you're making me realize I don't cuss a lot, maybe shit. I say shit.

Lauri 21:55

Okay.

Lauren 21:56

Shit, a lot, yeah, shit.

Lauri 21:58

What sound or noise do you love? When our dishwasher is finished it has this little jingle and it just is so delightful or hearing my cat, like her meow or just like you know, not in like a crying way but like in a, like a just very content yeah, like a cat purring yeah.

Lauren 22:41

What sound or noise do you hate? I hate both the sound and the feeling of cardboard rubbing together like two pieces of cardboard, like a cardboard box, like I just, yeah, can't even with cardboard boxes.

Lauri 23:05

Yeah well, they're boxes after all, and we've already established we don't like those that's right. I don't know what profession, other than the ones you've already had, would be fun to try.

Lauren 23:26

I would love to be. I would okay. So I don't actually want to be a mascot for a professional sports team. However, if there was such thing as, like a mascot audition or a mascot tryout, I think that would be really, really fun to do. Nice, like it's entertaining, but anonymously, and you have to figure out, like, how to use your body in a way that creates energy and creates like delight for other people who can't see your face.

Lauren 24:08

You know it just um, um. Yeah, I think I have some pretty sweet dance moves, so nice yeah what profession would you not like to do?

Lauri 24:20

What?

Lauren 24:20

profession. Would you not like to do Anything? That's like numbers crunching? Counting no and Lauren what do you hope people say about you on your 100th birthday? She is pure love.

Lauri 24:49

I felt that.

Lauren 24:57

Thank you so much for being here and being so open and playful. Thank you for the opportunity. I'm happy you got to do this.

Lauri 25:04

Awesome, and I'm going to say this because, for once, I actually remembered. If you're listening and you loved this, reach out to Lauren and also, like us, rate us, share us with other people who might also love an episode like this one.