Hint of Hustle with Heather Sager
You probably don't need someone to tell you to work harder, you’re good at that. Really good.
But somewhere along the way, success started feeling like it was costing you something. Your relationships. Your health. That version of yourself you LIKE. You started wondering if there's a way to win in business without putting everything else on the back burner.
I'm Heather Sager, former corporate executive turned high performance coach specializing in communication. I've spent 23+ years on stages and inside thousands of businesses learning that the entrepreneurs who are truly crushing it are the ones who got really honest about redefining their success and built accordingly.
Each week we get into exactly that, business, marketing, personal growth… the 5 star reviews paint the picture: it’s like grabbing a drink with that ridiculously wise biz friend who has you laughing one minute, scribbling notes the next, and always leaves you fired up to take action.
Welcome to Hint of Hustle where ambitious leaders win at work and thrive in life. Let’s dive in!
Hint of Hustle with Heather Sager
230. 5 Strategies for Tailoring Your Talk for Different Audiences
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
Ever wondered how to tailor your message when you have multiple audiences? Or how to change up what you talk about for different groups? In today's episode, I've got the answers you've been searching for. Get ready to level up your speaking game and leave every audience feeling like you are speaking to JUST them.
Hint: Grab your notepad because this episode is packed with actionable tips, Spicy Sager rants, and captivating stories you won't want to miss.
Here's a sneak peek at what's in store:
- the secret to choosing the perfect topic for diverse audiences.
- why crafting one signature talk trumps constantly creating new presentations.
- the pitfalls of constantly reinventing the wheel
- five key areas to customize in your talk make it resonate
Plus, insider tips on the questions you should ask the host before stepping on stage to ensure your content is a home run.
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Mastering Speaking to Multiple Audiences
Speaker 1What I want you thinking about is what is your number one goal with speaking ? Are you trying to attract more of those higher ticket one-on-one clients or are you trying to build an audience for your more scalable solution ? What I find , nine times out of 10 with clients who are looking at speaking , is they're looking for higher numbers because they want to get out of that one-on-one work and into more of the scalable work . So what I would say is you don't need to worry about your message speaking to two audiences . You need to get clear on which audience you're trying to magnetize and nine times out of 10 , we need to build our personal brands around the larger scale audience with the larger scale offers , if that's the kind of business we're trying to create .
Speaker 1Oh , oh , oh , oh , oh , oh , oh , oh , oh , oh , oh , oh , oh , oh , oh . This is the podcast for the entrepreneur who wants to make a big impact , who doesn't shy away from hard work but also wants to enjoy life along the way . Hi , I'm Heather Sager , former executive-turned-entrepreneur , and I've spent the last 20 years working with premium brands on sales , marketing and communication , and I've learned that when you become a magnet with your message , you only need a hint of hustle to achieve your goals . Get ready to be inspired and ignited each week with tangible strategies on sales , speaking , marketing and so much more . This is the Hint of Hustle podcast . Let's go . ["hint of Hustle Podcasts"] . Well , hey friend , welcome back to another episode of the Hint of Hustle podcast . I'm recording this on a beautiful , sunny , yet freezing Saturday morning here in Bend . I'm very much excited to get out on a walk here in a moment , but I have a message that I need to get out to you today .
Speaker 1It is a topic that consistently comes up on pretty much I mean , every round of coaching calls that I do inside my program over the last five years . This is the thing that always comes up within the first two weeks of someone working on their speaking skills , specifically building their talk , and I can't believe I've never done an episode on it before . So it just came up again this week and I knew I needed to talk to you about it , and so today we are diving into how to nail your topic when you're speaking to multiple audiences . More specifically , how do you know who you're actually talking to ? You've heard the expression before that when you're talking to many , you're not really talking to any One , this is true when you speak . So how do we find that balance between ensuring that your talk is going to be applicable to all different kinds of stages While not breaking that whole rule around being so generic ? Nobody's going to want to choose you to speak and two , nobody's going to remember you if you do so . How do we solve that problem ? How do you address it ? I'm going to deep dive in with you how I would coach a client on how to do it . So you're getting some paid content on today's episode , but I just have this . You know , when you have this deep knowing that you need to talk about something , I'm not a believer , like a lot of marketers , where it's like hold back the good stuff for the paid programs . No , as you know , on this show I am very much . I'm going to tell you all the things . I'm going to give you the tools . Reading through the most recent podcast reviews on the show which , thank you , by the way , for those of you who rallied this last week for my birthday left a podcast review involved the show . I'm so grateful for you . I just give , I give on the show . It's my whole generosity thing for 2024 . But also , it's just how I roll . I am not a huge fan of fluff , I am a how do we get some ish done and develop the skills I mean ? You know that . So we're going to dive into it . But first let me just share with you a fun little thing . So last night we took the kids up to the mountain . You know if you've been listening to the show I moved my family from the Portland area to Bend , oregon , central Oregon , last year and one of the reasons why we moved is my husband and I are both active people .
Speaker 1He specifically loves outdoor active Me . I mean , I like to walk outside , but I wouldn't call myself a mountain hiker , climber , person . When it comes to water sports , I'm more of a water adjacent person . However , I like the idea of being in the outdoors a lot more and I like the idea of raising my kids , especially high energy boys , in the outdoors . So my husband is a snowboarder . I'm going to giggle Because I , when my husband and I met , I told him I snowboarded .
Speaker 1You know , in the early dating process . I'm like , yeah , I totally snowboarded , which I had been snowboarding a handful of times , including when I was 14 . I went with one of my friends up to the mountain to take lessons for the day . Fast forward , my husband and I met when I was 24 . So 10 years later I had think I only been snowboarding one other time . But I'm like sure I have snowboarding pants , let's do this . So I went snowboarding with him . I was terrible , but I figured it out Fast forward in our relationship . I sent some friends went up to Whistler to go snowboarding like fun snowboarding weekend I think I was 26 maybe at the time and we get to the top of the mountain . After paying like $160 , something ridiculous for lift tickets , we get to the top of Mount Whistler and I say top . It was James Swear's . He did not take me on a black diamond run , but I am fairly confident he took me to the top of the freaking mountain . We get off the mountain .
Speaker 1I fumbled my way off the chairlift because that thing is very overwhelming to me , the idea of getting off of the chairlift and only one of your feet is strapped in getting off of it just total anxiety . But I survive . And so I'm sitting there still binding up my other foot , getting ready , and I'm like y'all go ahead , it's cool . So they start going down the mountain and it's one of these slopes where it's , you can see for a little bit and then it drops down so you can't really see past the first little slope . So they take off and I'm like , ok , nobody can judge me , nor know how terrible I am at the snowboarding thing and how many times I fall on my butt . So I start going and I'm going under the chairlift Like I'm still at the top of the mountain and I don't know what happens . Karma probably takes over and I just lose it . Just lose it to the point where I am now in like a full barrel roll , face plant into the snow . My gloves are flying , my cell phone flies out of my pocket and I am just rolling under the chairlift Like pooch , pooch , pooch , pooch , pooch , pooch , and I finally land on my back and I look up and I'm literally on the chairlift and I could just see people in horror watching this disaster of a snowboarding train wreck that just happened . It's me and I instantly know that something is wrong .
Speaker 1Now cut to the little part of the story that you may or may not know about me . I was born with a genetic condition called osteogenesis imperfecta , which means I have super breakable bones . Which means , yes , I am double , double , double , triple quadruple . Stupid , I should not be snowboarding . But whatever , my bone condition has never held me back . I just broke a lot of bones growing up . So I hadn't broken a bone since I was I don't know 15 , 16 years old .
Speaker 1So here I am , super coggy , confident , pre-tent snowboarder on the mountain , and I'm laying there . I'm like shit , my wrist is busted , like busted to the point where I can't even lift up my own arm . So I take my left hand over to my right hand , pick up my own wrist and pull it into my chest to create like a makeshift sling between my boobs . And I'm sitting there sitting up and I'm like , oh crap , oh crap , ok , my phone is not anywhere . Also , this is 2006 , where cell phones are a thing but like text messaging wasn't , there's no internet . No , I mean anything . I don't even know if we had phones on us , right , but they were a little flip kind .
Speaker 1So I'm like , well , what am I going to do ? So I'm looking down and my wrist is shattered Like it is flop , it is in two pieces , and I'm in shock . And so people come running over right , run snowboarding over to come help me , and I'm just sitting there like , oh my gosh , what do I frickin' do ? Funny enough , on the chairlift were two American doctors . A whistler is Canada , just to clarify if you live outside of the area and you're not quite sure . So I'm American , I was in whistler , I was out of the country .
Speaker 1Two American doctors come flying down the hill and they're like , oh my gosh , we saw you biffed it . They're looking at it . They're like this is totally shattered . We need to get you to the hospital immediately . And I'm like , ok , okay . And I'm looking around , like what am I going to do ? Like I am by myself , the rest of my party , I have no idea where they are . So I look at this guy and I'm like I need you to do me a favor . I need you to haul ass down the mountain and look for the man in the neon , turquoise and hot pink snowboard pants . That is not my boyfriend , but the guy with him is his name is James . Go find him and tell him to get his ass back up here because I broke my arm . So he goes flying down the mountain . Probably 20 minutes later , james comes hiking , with snowboard in hand , trudging up the mountain , and the look on his face was just complete and total shock . He knew about my bone condition , but I don't think he had any idea .
Speaker 1To wrap up the story , I ended up being escorted down the mountain on a gurney attached to skis , hopped up on laughing gas , so I thought it was hysterical . In fact , as soon as James came up , I shoved my cell phone in his hand and told him to start taking photos because I needed to share them with my sisters , because this was not my first broken bone rodeo and I knew it was going to be one hell of a story . And I was hopped up on some very good drugs . I ended up down at the hospital . I spent the day down there . They totally loaded me up with Percocet reset my arm told me I needed to go back to America and get surgery and I giggled and sent James back up the mountain because we spent a lot of money on those lift tickets and I let him go . But it's just ridiculous . I had very high confidence on that journey and very low skills , which serves as a lesson for so many things in life . But now I want my kids to know how to snowboard . I want them to be able to have fun . So we went up the mountain last night and they had a lot of good time .
Speaker 1Why do I share this story with you ? Well , one , it's friggin' hilarious that even your girl , heather , evidently has a bit of an ego and sometimes takes things on that maybe she shouldn't . But , two , you got to know yourself . You got to know your strengths , and one of the things that I see a lot with business owners when it comes to speaking is we have this high level of confidence in ourselves and our ability to think on the fly , to try to adapt what we're saying . And maybe that's not you , maybe you're going . No , no , no . I want to plan everything and that's great . I'm going to tell you take a little bit more risks , don't be as ballsy as me with snowboard scenario .
Speaker 1But what today is about is we need to have a conversation around how we can be more proactive in customizing our message to the audiences we're speaking to , because a lot of times let me just call you like it is a lot of times business owners , when they start getting some traction and they start having people say , yes , they're speaking opportunities , there's a little bit of a sneaky ego that comes in where it's like I know my shit , I got my program , I'm just looking for opportunities so I can get in front of my ideal client . And this is where the ego takes in , where it's like who can I find that I can get in front of so that they can hear my message and then want to work with me ? It becomes a little cocky and I giggle at this , because this is the dichotomy that happens when growing a business . You have all these conversations where , hey , I'm passionate about the saying , I want to help people , I want to serve people , I want to serve more people , but then we start getting some traction and you find yourselves going how do I make the math work ? I just need to get in front of more people . If more people heard my message , then they're going to buy my offers . And it's still really centered around how do I get the right people in front of my message so that they'll buy from me ? And I understand and I support strategy in business . In fact , my whole platform around speaking with purpose is rooted in strategy . Make sure that you understand the path from the message to the purchase . You have to map that out . But when it comes to speaking and serving audiences , you map all that out and then there is an element where you got to show up and serve , you got to get in front of different audiences and because you got to test your message out and you got to get better at speaking at it .
Crafting a Magnetic Talk
Speaker 1Like me on the snowboard , I just did it . A couple of times I'm like , yeah , let's go to the top of Mount Whistler . That was dumb . I should have done the bunny slopes or the smaller things . I should have gotten a lot more practice so that I could have developed the skills around how to slow down or fall a little more gracefully , as I saw my sweet little children do last night Levi , who's a little rock star , a little five-year-old on a snowboard . Owen , the first time we went he was super frustrated because he saw the good snowboarders and wanted to be good out of the gate and he got really frustrated that he wasn't . But this week when we went , he really worked hard to develop the patience and the persistency to get better . So back to you and stages .
Speaker 1The reason why I want you to really feel confident in your talk , specifically your signature talk , is I want you to know with confidence how you adapt it to more audiences . Because here's the thing it's going to take you some time and some experience to book , quote unquote aligned audiences . This is one of the things I'm hearing all the time from business owners when I've been doing these marketing research calls over the last couple of weeks as I make these adjustments to my program . I listened to last week's episode around why I decided to stop selling the super successful signature talk accelerator and go all in on my coaching program , the Speaker Society , which includes how to build your signature talk . So listen to that at least episode for more . But I've been doing these message mining calls and what I'm hearing a lot from people is what they really really want is how do I get in front of more aligned audiences ? And I'm here for that Because again it goes back to let's think strategically and not just show up everywhere and honestly waste our time becoming busy and just speaking for the sake of speaking .
Speaker 1We want to speak for impact and what that means is we do want to line up what we're talking about to the right people , but it doesn't mean that every single audience is going to be an on the nose match , and that's not a bad thing . It allows you to stretch your skills , stretch your vocabulary , stretch some of the things I'm going to teach you in today's episode allows you to get a little broader is not the right term but a little bit more well rounded in talking about your message , and that that's really the power of that . So let me let me pull up my notes here . I typed out a couple of things because I really wanted to make this both inspirational today but also really tactical because , as I mentioned , that's what you all say all the time is just full of the tangible fun stuff . So let's talk about a couple of things here . So One of the first things that people ask me on our coaching calls inside the speaker society or in my previous programs before we went all balls the lawn the speaker society when we get to the phase where I'm helping people develop their what we call a sticky message , which is the pillar concept of your talk , the core message of your talk , typically I get people asking but the the , who piece , who I'm talking ? To get into level Specificity , you need to make a really effective talk . They get tripped up on that because they have multiple Audiences . And let me give you a practical example of this .
Speaker 1A lot of times I'm working with business owners who have kind of a double , a double audience . So one maybe they work with Corporate organizations and in those corporate organizations they teach . Whatever does they teach ? So we'll use me as an example , teaching communication skills to Companies and their employees . Well , but then the other audience I have is well , I Also work with entrepreneurs . My programs are focused on entrepreneurs and their communication skills . Those are two different audiences . What do I do ? Or another example of this is when a business owner is thinking well , I have kind of two different ideal clients . I have my one-on-one clients , where I do really high-level work , and these clients are in the north of 200,000 a year , maybe north of a million dollars a year , like they're a very specific client . But my program I'm building in the audience I'm trying to attract is four of my lower ticket programs . They're they're further behind in their journey .
Speaker 1I'll give you an example of this if you want to go back to the episode where I coached Kim Keele on how to nail her signature Talk and guest speaking topics . She was one of these people , so you can actually hear me in real-time coach her through this . So go back to that episode . We'll link to it . I believe it's episode 227 , but we'll put in the show notes just in case , but you'll see that the exclusive coaching session is in the title . But these examples here there's you hear the nuance . It's the how do I craft a message that I know needs to be specific , but there are multiple audiences . So let me take that latter example here for a moment .
Speaker 1If you are a service provider , a coach or a consultant , and you do high , more high-ticket work with a more , let's say , more established or more sophisticated client , but you don't really market those services , they primarily come from referrals and your hope is to grow more of your scalable offers . So memberships , group coaching programs , courses , lower-ticket digital products . What I want you thinking about is what is your number one goal with speaking ? Are you trying to attract more of those higher ticket 101 clients or are you trying to build an audience for your more scalable solution ? What I find , nine times out of ten with clients who are looking at speaking is they're looking for higher Numbers because they want to get out of that one-on-one work and into more of the scalable work . So what I would say is you don't need to worry about your message speaking to two audiences . You need to get clear on which Audience you're trying to magnetize and nine times out of ten we need to build our personal brands around the larger scale audience with the larger scale offers . If that's the kind of business we're trying to create You're , the natural byproduct is people will see what you're doing , they will have the experience of friends or colleagues who have gone through it and they will reach out and explore working with you One-on-one .
Speaker 1That always happens to me . All of my marketing , like 100% of my marketing , is targeted at group Programs . Might my program I talk about it all the time , unapologetically the signature talk accelerator I talked about all last year and now it's the speaker society . I'm talking about that all the time when I'm guest speaking . I'm referencing that . Sure , I might mention my client here , my client there , but I call everyone inside my programs clients and I always have people reaching out Heather , how can I work with you one-on-one ? There will always be that kind of buyer and you can decide do you want to continue to do one-on-one or would you like to Kind of move them closer to the group program side ? Right , you can make that choice there . But the point is in your marketing you don't have to market to both if your goal is to have that more Scalable offer .
Speaker 1If that's not your goal , your service provider and you love the higher ticket consulting work . For example , I was just on with the business owner a couple weeks ago in our message mining calls . She does consulting and organizations and she wants more of that more speaking and more paid consulting contracts to help Organizations in a deeper , more transformational way . So for her , she does not need to go out and do a ton of visibility To try to get more people in her world because she's not even selling anything that's going to be scalable in that way . She needs to have a really well-developed talk and a follow-up process to get more referrals from that talk and she needs to work on getting in rooms where she's going to meet more of the decision-makers who are going to book those kinds of talks . So for her , she's working on becoming a paid speaker with back-end higher ticket consulting contracts .
Speaker 1You have to know what business you are in when it comes to speaking and that'll help you say okay , who is it that I'm speaking to ? Because , going back to the initial question of this thing is how do I adapt it for multiple audiences ? You need to start by saying do I need to adapt this for multiple audiences ? Because you might not . So that's the first question and what you ask yourself is ultimately , what am I leading this towards ? So that you can make the decision around who am I speaking to ?
Speaker 1The more in tune you are to your ultimate person , who is going to benefit the most from your transformation , the more in tune you are with them and their needs , the easier it is for you to create a magnetic talk . So audience research is so important . That's why , for me , here I am six years later I know my person in and out . Think you would agree you get a lot of head nods on this podcast . You probably have a lot of thoughts of holy shit , heather , you're speaking right to me . It's because I know my person . I know you . I might not know you exactly , but , metaphorically speaking , I know you . I get the pains , the problems , the annoyances , the Excitements , the jazzy's like . I get it with my person because I'm constantly in Conversation with you or people just like you , and that's what you need to have that level of Awareness to , and that's why I never stopped the audience research phase .
Speaker 1Okay , so let's talk about why you want to Focus on one main topic that you then adapt , one main signature talk Versus building a bunch of different talks . Now , before I dive into this , let me just clarify Ultimately , as a business , I do think you're going to have two or three talks . I've talked about this multiple times in the podcast . I talk about this in my free guide where I teach you how to develop your list of go-to guest speaking topics . So go grab that if you'd like to go to Heather sacred comm forward slash topic , and you can grab my worksheet where I walk you through exactly how to choose your profitable guest speaking topics . But what I want you to understand is , before we start building a bunch of different talks and I would argue you should really have a max of like three talks in your business Ultimately but you have to have one , one main talk . And here's why you've heard me say it over and over and over again and I'm gonna shout this all frickin day long if you don't give your audience the script , if you don't put yourself in Some kind of box I know that might like be a little roughly for you , but if you don't tell them this is what I talk about , this is what I'm an expert in , you're not gonna be known for the thing you want to be known
Choosing a Niche Topic for Speaking
Speaker 1as .
Speaker 1No one is known for being the greatest at everything . No one is known for like a sweeping category Until like you've heard this before , right , the people that you might love it in my online that talk about like five different pillars of Stuff that they talk about all . Use an example here Jenna Kutcher , great example . I love Jenna . She is a marketing genius . She's built everything around a personal brand . She talks about parenthood , momhood , infertility , skincare , now fitness and health . She talks about marketing and Pinterest and all these , all these different categories . However , jenna got her start as a Photographer . She was a very specific wedding photographer . That is what she rinsed and repeated and built her brand on . Then she went in , started teaching photographers how to market themselves . I'm just guessing . I actually don't know that piece of information here , so please don't come at me if I'm not entirely correct , but you get the gist here right . She has earned the right to be a lot more broad Because she chose her lane to start with , and , I would argue , anyone that you see who talks about a lot of things online .
Speaker 1They started very specifically . You cannot shortcut this . You cannot skip the line on this , believe me , I . I have tried a bit , but what it happens is , every time I double down on my niche Topic , speaking to grow your business , making your voice your best brand asset , that is , for me , the most effective way For me to turn marketing into sales . Now , if you want to just grow an audience and have a bunch of people rave about you and say , I love your content , I resonate it with it , and you don't care whether or not they buy from you , you could talk about all everything that you want to talk about .
Speaker 1But if you have an expert topic and you specifically want to attract pain clients and students into your world , you need to pick a lane . And that's why I think having one talk , one talk topic , is so important , because it forces you to do that and then you can talk about it on repeat all the freaking time . But also , if you continue to continually create different talks every time somebody asks you to speak and you're like Let me build a new talk or what do you want me to talk about here ? Number two here's why that is not serving you , because even if you have like that was awesome , you are constantly staying in what I call scrappy , rough draft mode , or I actually call it shitty rough draft mode , but I'm creating a little PC version and what I mean by that is you're constantly delivering your scrappy rough draft . You're never getting the point where you're polishing and refining your stories . You're never truly becoming magnetic Because you're constantly delivering something new or something new ish or something that maybe you presented on a year ago and you were like , oh , let me grab that canvas PowerPoint file . I have something around that , let me pull that back up . So you're like , oh , I'm repurposing it , but you haven't touched it in over a year . So the next time you deliver it is still gonna be like it's brand new . You're constantly in rough draft mode .
Speaker 1If you want to become a magnetic speaker , we have to start with a rough draft . Work off the rough draft , adapt that rough draft mindset , but we have to commit to Polishing and refining it so it can actually become the magnet that attracts pain clients . So that number two is why you definitely need to hunker down on one topic . Number three this one you're . If you like math , you're gonna love this one . Number three is until you have a topic and a talk that you have given over and over and over again , even under a variety different platforms , you don't actually know if it works . You don't know what your conversion rates are . How many people actually book your opt-in from the talk ? How many of those people book calls ? How many of those people become clients ? How on earth are you going to know that you have become a magnetic speaker , achieving your goals of attracting clients through visibility , if you keep changing the what you talk about or you keep changing it up every time you speak ? How do you know if it's working ? Well , I'll tell you how you probably think you know it's working or not working .
Speaker 1And it's all feelings , it's all . Did that feel good ? Did they give me praise ? How did I feel after ? Did I get people posting on Instagram stories ? Did they fill out the survey ? What are the hosts ? Say that she's loving , she want me have back , like we go off of feeling . Did I feel good ? Did they feel good ? And I'm gonna give you the tough love that I rallied on with my people last week in our Group coaching call and I said here's the deal Stop making your business decisions based off feelings . Look at the facts . What do the facts tell you ? And until you anchor down and choose that core topic , with that core talk You're going and we can't help it . We are a feeling driven Species . That's what we do , and until we give ourselves Practical ways to bring in facts , we will continue to recreate the wheel based around our feelings or the feelings others project on us . So I want you to have that one freaking topic , okay .
Speaker 1So now let's go into , once we have the topic , which , by the way , go listen to that episode around choosing your topic . Also , go to Heather seger , calm forward slash blog and Just type in the search bar signature talk and you'll get all of the episodes that are all where I talk about signature talks . So if you want some help around that , there's that . You also can jump into the speaker society . Head to Heather seger , calm forward slash society . You can see if we have doors open or not . If not , join the wait list and you can learn more about how do I actually Crop that talk .
Speaker 1But today I'm going to dive in and say let's just assume you have that talk . Okay , let's just assume you have a damn good talk that you're showing up , that you're using or that you're building . The question is , how do we adapt it to different kinds of audiences ? Because the truth is , you're not going to get that quote-unquote ideal client audience , that aligned audience , every single time . Okay , and as I mentioned at the top of the episode , I would argue you need to broaden up and speak to more audiences so that you can get through that scrappy , rough-dragged mode . You can get better speaking about your message . Okay , I want you to get better at delivering this talk . So the question is what specifically , if you have the same damn talk , what specifically do you customize ? Oh , my gosh , you ready for it ? We're gonna break this down . I'm gonna give you four specific things I want you looking at to customize your message when you're showing up and speaking .
Speaker 1Now , this is applicable to panels . This is applicable to podcast interviews . This is applicable to , obviously , guest speaking . This is applicable to speaking to corporate organizations . This , I mean any type of speaking . These are the places , specifically , that I look at to update my talk . Okay , so , number one Let me give you the premise here .
Speaker 1The premise is you ask some questions to the host of the platform You're speaking on before you step on stage . This one is key . Okay , now what you need to do is you need to talk to the host and a couple questions that I would ask is tell me about your group . What are their biggest challenges related to insert your topic right now ? What are your ? What are your biggest challenges for your group related to speaking ? Or what I could say is what are the biggest challenges for your group related to Attracting leads through guest speaking ? I can make it even more specific what are the biggest challenges that your audience has right now related to putting together their talks when they go out and speak ? It depends on what angle I want to come from with with the talk , but you see how I'm asking this just a very specific yet open-ended question . So tell me about your group , followed up by Tell me a little bit about where your audience struggles with insert topic here Right now .
Speaker 1I need it to be right now , not a hypothetical , a grid right now , or where they currently challenged in this area , and just let them talk . When they talk for a moment , you're gonna hear some things that are very relevant for your stuff and I don't want you to jump into . Oh , here's how we can solve that . I want you to ask a follow-up question around and what would you say are some of the ways they're trying to solve that , or things that they have tried in the past . That is just not working for them or it's kind of just they don't want to do it . See what they say . I just want you to ask those three questions , because what that does is gives you a picture for this audience . Are they newbies ? Are they more experienced with your topic ? Like , how are they gonna be coming to your session or how are they gonna be hearing you on the podcast ? Because If you just assume , you know the audience .
Speaker 1But let's say , for example , a couple years ago I did a podcast for my friend , paige . She is a real estate agent and runs a marketing for real estate agents company and I was speaking on her podcast and let's see , real estate agents they're not using guest speaking Like I teach . They're not going out and speaking at conferences some , some are , but the majority your audience are just trying to show up on Social media to establish rapport with clients . So I asked these questions with Paige and I knew what I was going to teach , but I needed to have the context in which this audience would be receiving it so that I could make my content even more applicable . That's the key . I didn't change my content , but I wrapped it to make it more applicable .
Speaker 1So , number one tip I'm giving you okay , that's number one . I'm giving you five . Number one tip is ask questions first . Now , if you're thinking about Heather , I don't like how would I even ask questions ? Okay , let's say , for example , that you're just doing a podcast . I do not want you to become your key tip here . You don't want to become a pain in the ass for the host . You don't want to be badgering them with questions . If you become too needy and too like , you need to make it easy for them . Your whole thing is how do I knock this out of the park for your audience ? I want you to look good , host . I want you , like your audience , to be like oh my gosh , this was the best thing ever . You're ever , you're so smart for bringing this person on like , thank you , thank you . You want that experience for them . So you need to make this light and easy .
Speaker 1So , for example , on a podcast , if you're in initial conversations with someone where you're either pitching them or your In those conversations about getting on the show , these questions would easily go to that where you can just easy , breezy , ask one or two these questions and then send your pitch . Make your pitch , oh , you know , based because you told me x , y and z . You know a topic . That really would help is Insert topic here and then insert why that topic ? Because of what they told you . That is the easiest way you can pitch someone . Okay , so there's that .
Speaker 1But let's say you , you book a show and you didn't ask these questions when you start the interview . Hey , real quick , before we jump in , do your siphon , do your research first . Do not ask questions that you can Google . Do not go on be like who is your audience ? You should know . Okay , so I would jump into . Hey , I know your audience is , for example , real estate agents looking to build the brand more so online .
Speaker 1Can you tell me a little bit around how speaking shows up ? Or , hey , can you tell me a little bit of what they're struggling right now when it comes to speaking ? See how I just jumped right into it . So I would say something like hey , hey , paige . Real quick , before we start , I want to make sure I make this a slam dunk for you and your audience . Pause , I'm going to repeat that phrase . If you're driving , I want you to write this down hey name . Before we jump in , I really want to make sure I make this a slam dunk for you and your audience . I know your audience is blankety blank . Can you tell me a little bit of what they're struggling with right now related to topic that question ? If you asked only that and had the knowledge of that headed in the interview , at the top of the interview before they hit record , you would instantly resonate more . If you just hung up right now , hung up like we're on a phone call , hang up the phone . If you just hung up right now , stop this podcast episode . That right there will serve you . But we're going to keep going because that's what we do around here on the show .
Adapting Your Speech for Success
Speaker 1Let's keep going .
Speaker 1And now that you have that information here is where I would focus on adapting your talk . Number one the more you know about an audience , the more you can adapt . I guess this is number two , because number one was asking questions . Number two adapt your language and your tone . This is the first place I would adapt .
Speaker 1When I'm speaking to a group , I gauge what's the level of formality . For example , when I am speaking to corporate , I am not saying swear words , I'm not referencing my push-up bra . I mean I will have reference banks before . It depends on the group , it depends on who it is , but I'm not using references that I would use on my podcast . I would not use references like I've told a birth story before for entrepreneurs that were moms . I would not tell that , probably on a corporate stage .
Speaker 1Read the room , know the room , Use that professional dial . We will link the episode where I talk about knowing your personality , that you want to shine through . It's like a dial . I just referenced it this last week on my weekly email . There is a dial that you need to look at on your level of professionalism and polish when you speak .
Speaker 1Number one that is the first place I would adapt is what is my persona on this stage ? Do I need to dial it up on my professionalism ? No , I don't become someone else , I just dial my own professionalism up . Or can I bring the ? This is a little bit more casual . This is more of like a fireside chat inside a program where it's more conversational . That's the first thing . It's the language and the tone . That is the first place you want to adapt . Okay , the next one . I guess that was number two . Number one understand the context . Number two adapt the language and tone .
Speaker 1Number three adapt your stories , metaphors and analogies . This one is powerful Now your individual story , your signature story . You probably don't need to adapt that Now . When you take the story that you tell and connect to the audience the lesson of the story , you want to make it relatable to that audience . But I'm talking about stories . For example , I'll use the real estate again . If I'm talking to entrepreneurs who are doing guest speaking at conferences , I'm going to use examples around speaking live on stages , but I knew I was speaking to real estate agents where that really wouldn't resonate . So I'm going to swap out the example of live stages and I'm going to swap in going on your Instagram stories Easy swap . I'm using a different example , a different type of story , a different metaphor or a different analogy . I'm just swapping those out . The content around , confidence , structure of your message using stories , the things that I talk about in my signature method . Those are going to be pretty much the same . But the context again back to number one . The context is going to adapt a little bit . The story is going to adapt to make it more relevant and resonate with the audience . Okay , number three the examples . So these kind of are redundant , so my apologies , but I separated them in my notes .
Speaker 1The stories , the stories that you use . The examples are like when you say , for example , like I have done , for example , when you're talking to real estate agents , or , for example , if you're a blank , doing blank . So the actual examples . This is what I would say is probably the most powerful way that you can use . Now . You can use examples in two well , a lot of different ways , but I'll give you two examples of the examples .
Speaker 1Well , my gosh , we're in a meta moment . One way you could do it is actually use client examples . So just the other day I was working with the client and here's what happened . Or I have this client and this is the scenario . There's an example . The other one could be a hypothetical , where you pull in the audience to say , for example , if you're trying to create an example , here's what you do . Theoretical , it's very meta . We're like meta in the meta , in the meta . Is that with the movie Inception ? That's what just happened here . So you see how those are different . I can say I've done this . Okay . Oh , my gosh , here's my example of the episode . Go back and listen to the episode , because now you can hear it .
Speaker 1When I said . For example , I have my friend Paige , who is a real estate agent , who also serves for this , and then get that example . And then I gave you an example of me giving a hypothetical example . Oh my gosh , is this breaking your brain or are you following me ? The example was so . Let's say you're trying to go live on an Instagram story and you're frustrated with X , y and Z . Pause , that was the hypothetical example . Let's say you're trying to do X , y and Z . That's the hypothetical . That's where you're entering an example , but it's not an example of something that's been done with a real person . It's something that your person in front of you could easily do or might be challenged with . So , point being , I won't keep going on that , on the case that I have confused you Examples oh my gosh , this is where you're going to customize . This is the most powerful way to do it , because it instantly creates that connection and that resonance that you're after . Okay , number , let's see .
Speaker 1Number one we talked about asking good questions up front to get context . Number two adapting language and tone . Number three adapting your stories . Number four adapting your examples . And number five this one is the most critical Adapt your call to action .
Adapting Call to Action for Speakers
Speaker 1Do not have the same generic call to action with every group you speak to . Now . You could have the same list building Freebie , you could have the same book of call with me . That's not what I'm talking about . I'm talking about adapting how you make that call to action . Adapting how you make that call to action . Again , you need to make sure this is relevant to this group . They're most pressing challenge right now and what they want . So I want you to think about how do you make the ask ? How do you motivate someone to take action ? How do you create that sense of urgency for this group , right here , right now , to take action ? And it's about practicing your call to action .
Speaker 1If you need some help with this one , this is an area I know . People just fumble with their words . So if you find yourself really struggling around , how do I say this ? Or you speed so quickly through it because one you feel bad now asking to do something , even though you just spent the last hour giving , giving , giving , giving . Or you have spent the last hour giving , giving , giving , giving and didn't save any room for a proper call to action , so you just speed right through it or just show it . Okay , my friend , you need some language to help you with this , which , by the way , I literally just did my magic formula for call to actions in this call to action for you so you can grab the script that I teach around this . I call it my 19 simple and magnetic phrases . Grab those . Heather segarcom , forward slash magnet . We will include the throw notes If you've downloaded this .
Speaker 1This is my most popular freebie I've had out for years . If you've grabbed this in the past , it's time for you to open it back up , because if you are not smooth in making that ask or you feel shy making that ask , you need to work on this . This one . Number one , this is how you're going to get results from your talk . So this is a skill you must Jedi Ninja freaking master . But number two this is how you can adapt it when you're on a podcast or you're on a stage or you're on a panel . You have to be smooth as frickin butter , my friend , in that ask , make it seamless into it and it can feel really custom for that group . So , for example here , in that we'll go back to the real estate example At the end of that podcast interview I remember , trying to remember now I send them to .
Speaker 1Oh , I knew , okay , based off the context questions I asked , I knew they struggled with how to look good on camera . They really struggled with okay , what , what do I like ? What do I even do ? What lighting should I use ? How can I look professional and polished without spending a ton of money ? So one of the things that I had at the time was an easy breezy tech checklist to help them with the tech pieces of that . What's funny is it's not even what I teach , but it was a resource I knew that could help them pull them into my world , and I still have real estate agents from that podcast years later who joined my world , and many of them have actually joined my program , which is pretty cool , right . So I had that checklist and I talked about hey , if you're struggling with this , hey , if you're , whatever , I went through a couple different things and I send them to that checklist . That is not my typical freebie that I offer , but I knew about that group . I curated it , put it together and I have that as an offer and now that's in my tool belt where I use that as a next step for people .
Speaker 1Now I say this knowing that those real estate specifically , weren't what I would call my ideal aligned audience , because they weren't necessarily looking at leveraging guest speaking as a marketing tool . They were focused more on video , and while many of my clients find a lot of benefit in their work on video , I'm not the video person . I'm not the video expert . I look at video as a practice platform to get better speaking on stages , or I speak on stages . I just use video to supplement my brand and my credibility and to essentially build stronger relationships with people from my speaking opportunities . So they work hand in hand , but I'm not the video person .
Speaker 1However , my message worked for this audience and it was a great speaking opportunity . I've actually done many for pages group over the years and so , even though it wasn't quote unquote aligned , I said yes because , one , it exposed me to a new group . Two , it was a great relationship that I continue to nurture with my friend , client and peer page . And three , it's I don't remember what I said for number one , so let's just go . Oh my gosh , this is where we're at today . This is what I get for recording a podcast on Saturday . Anyways , it's all good thing .
Speaker 1Remember , I connected back to top the episode . I said you're not always going to book those quote unquote aligned opportunities . Well , here's the deal Say yes to more opportunities . Get the practice in . Get better at adapting your language and tone , get better at adapting your stories , your examples . Get really damn good with your call to action . These are all fundamental skills of becoming a magnetic speaker . So if you're sitting here and you're going , yes , all right , this all sounds good . Heather , these are things I need to work on . Let me just tell you , if you are one of my members inside this speaker society , you know I'm going to be all over your ass saying work on these things , get your skills in order . Put yourself in scenarios where you're actively practicing these skills Asking up front for the context , getting your language and tone down to match the audience , working on your stories , working on your examples , really drilling into that call to action .
Speaker 1Now , all of this came rooted by a more strategic conversation we had at the top of today's episode , which is what do you want speaking to do for your business ? And if that's a little confusing for you and you still don't quite know where should I run with this , how do I really tangibly turn those feelings into facts ? How do I get better at making these opportunities count for my business . You want to grab my profitable speaking guide . That is the thing that's going to help you understand how do you connect the dots and how do you turn these speaking opportunities into tangible monetized results in your business . So if you want to grab that guide , head to the link inside the show notes . We will do that . I can't remember what the actual slug is . It's like profitable dash something , dash something . So just go to the link . Or if you just go to heatherstakercom it is on the homepage you can grab all of my freebies , all the resources there .
Speaker 1I hope this episode today was filled with brilliant golden nugget gems whatever you want to call it . I wanted to do a slam dunk episode that just got you excited to try some of these things . Now let me pause here . I threw a lot at you today and , just to be clear , I do not expect you to take everything that we talked about today and put into action . This is the time where we wait a pause for a second and think what was one thing Heather said today that really resonated with me ? And two , what is one thing that I can do , because I now know that that would make a big impact for me and the person I am set out to serve . That is the only true takeaway I want you to have from today is choose one thing to do . You can always bookmark this episode and come back to it and friend .
Speaker 1On that note , I mentioned the podcast reviews over this last week . If you heard last week's episode , or part of my email world , you'll know that last week was my 40th birthday . You'll also know that the month of March for me is a pretty hard month because it is also the month that I lost my mom 22 years ago . So I tend to make a really big , freaking deal out of my birthday so that I don't have a little bit of a breakdown . So I say that awkward , traumatized laughter but we're good , we're all good , but that's one of the reasons I make my birthday a really big deal .
Speaker 1And this year I decided to be a little big , bold and brave and make an ask of you that , if you have found value in the show , if you love coming to listen to my real talk sassy , spicy , rambly story style on the show can you do me a solid ? I have two favors for you . Number one can you please leave a review if you have not yet . We are trying to break 100 reviews to celebrate my 40th birthday , and if you would be one review to add to that , it would really truly mean the world to me At number two , would you please share this podcast with your business peers . If you were in a mastermind or you're in a program or you're in a part of like a little Voxer chat pod , would you say like , hey y'all , have you heard my friend Heather Sager ? She's my business bestie . She might not even know who I am , but I . This is the podcast I come back to every single week .
Speaker 1And here's why . Could you just share it . Just sharing it in your Instagram stories ? That is great . But if you tell your people why it resonates with you , that is far more likely to transcend to someone else , for they'll take action of it . When we just share random things in our stories , that's awesome . It gets exposure . But we're not about exposure , we're about impact around here . So if you can share why the show has made an impact , any other business owner you can get in front of , it would just mean the world . Tag me . If you share it in your stories , put a little note around why you love it . Tag me at the Heather Sager .
Speaker 1The show is at hint of hustle . I have some pretty big goals around wanting to get the show into like the ranking categories over the next two years . We're not there yet , and one of my mantras that I talk about all the time is I'm just going to act as if , so we're going to pretend that this show is like one of the top 10 podcasts . It's not , it's not even close . But I'm okay with that . I'm still going to show up for you like that . But could you do me a solid and help me get this into the ear holes of more people who need it , who have that big message to share ? I want , I , just I just I want to meet them . I want to know them . Okay , on that creepy note , love you , miss . You . See you next week .
Speaker 1Well , thanks for listening to another episode of the hint of hustle podcast . That flew right by , didn't it , gosh ? I hope I didn't say anything super embarrassing today , but if I did , it's pretty much on brand . If you love today's episode , be sure to scroll on down wherever you're listening from , and if you haven't yet left a review , it would mean the world . Hit those five stars . Tell other people who are prospecting podcasts how awesome this show is . Give us a little love . We would appreciate that . And hey , if you're hungry for more of what we do here on this show , you can peruse all of the past episodes , grab the show notes and find out the latest free resources to help you get seen , heard and paid for sharing your expertise . Head on over to heathersegarcom . You can also grab the link wherever you're listening to this episode , and we'll see you in the next one .
