How To Start Speaking On Stages To Grow Your Business with Laurie-Ann Murabito

This is the Beyond the Story podcast, a show that goes way beyond the story. And now, Sebastian Rusk Laurie-Ann welcome to the show.

Sebastian Rusk

Thank you. I'm excited to be here.

Laurie-Ann Murabito

I'm excited that you're here. You and I connected on threads.

Sebastian Rusk

I know, of all places.

Laurie-Ann Murabito

Yeah, it's what all the cool kids are talking about lately, I guess.

Sebastian Rusk

Yes.

I love when a new platform comes up and people are adapting to it because we get so, you know, Facebook's like the backyard barbecue now.

I'm getting used to it.

Yeah. I don't know what goes on on Twitter and, you know, Instagram is more visual. So the, the, the conversation part of threads is, has been fun. So, um, I saw you talking about the speaking world, obviously our ears perk up when it comes to anything in the speaking world, uh, cause we're a rare breed to say the least. So I wanted to learn more about what you got going on. And of course your story, I, Speaking of stories, I love to tell people's stories on this show. So for some context for our listeners, let's back up a little bit. I like to go back to the beginning of the story. You can define the beginning as you see fit, but what really brought you to present day with being a professional speaker and also working with speakers. So let's back up a little bit.

I'm a reformed, painfully shy girl who couldn't even make eye contact with people. Yes, that is hashtag total truth. Could not make eye contact with people. And I literally remember the moment I was working in a grocery store and I'm just like watching friends make eye contact and talk with each other. And I literally said to myself, this behavior is not going to work well for me in the long term. So I better learn how to make eye contact when I'm talking to people. And I did, you know, just a few seconds, looked away and realized the earth did not open up and swallow me whole. The person I was talking to did not laugh at me. So that was all positive reinforcement for me. So that was the beginning of me unlearning to be shy.

I love that. So when was that?

God, that was in high school. So I was a teenager. And so somewhere in my twenties, after I had left my corporate job was starting a life coaching business. Cause isn't that what we all do when we leave corporate or something? It's just one of those pathways. Yeah. And. I was working with a small group of other women, and women just network differently. So we were trying to create a networking event that catered to the way that women network. So we were like, let's do education and networking. Lorian, you do the speaking. And my head just went up and down, and inside my voice was like, what are you doing? You don't speak, especially in front of a group of people. But self-integrity is one of my highest values, and I showed up anyways, and I didn't even think about what would happen if I forgot what I was going to say, if somebody asked me a question that I couldn't answer, if I rambled on or something. I just showed up and I just served the audience. Now, it was not my best speech. There was no beginning. It was just the middle. And it came to a drastic end. Now this is very different than what I do today, but literally Sebastian, I'm going to share with you how I ended this. I said, okay, now I'm done. So if you want to talk to me, I'll be in the back of the room. And it was just because I wanted to get away from the front of the room. I was done speaking. I had no more to talk about. I mean, I laugh about it now, but that is how it all started.

Did anybody go to the back of the room?

Yes. As a matter of fact, people did. They came up to me and said, so do you have a website? Do you work with clients? And I was thinking, really? I could tell people that stuff up there? So I did get clients from speaking. But I did go in the leadership and corporate engagement speaking route. That's the path that I ended up on. And then I ended up, something happened in Fort Lauderdale that made me say, universe, I need a different business model. And I got a text message from somebody two weeks later saying, Lorian, do you write speeches for people?

Wow.

Put me on this path. I didn't write the speech for her because I knew if I wrote it, it wouldn't be all her, and she would then have to memorize something that she didn't write. So I made her write it under my guidance.

So I didn't even know that was a thing. Well, I guess for speech writers, for like politicians and like large names, I guess that would be a thing. I didn't even start to think about that because, you know, talks are hard enough. Someone else going, okay, here's what you're going to talk about is a little different, but I'm sure there's a process to that whole thing. It's, you know, where you've got to extract the information out of the person that's going to deliver the talk and then help formulate the talk based on, you know, what they want to talk about in their own. But it also comes down to your own speaking style too, right?

Exactly, exactly. And so I just share with them my methodology of, you know, a little bit of neuroscience about how speeches are put together and we craft a beautiful speech together. And my, this first client that I ended up working with, she'd never spoken before. She was just like, okay, I'll try this because she had a failing business. And so after her first speech, she walked away with three full paying clients. Wow. And that was a game changer for her. So that made me think, Oh, I wonder if anybody else wants to know what I know. And so that's, that's what brought me. So I specifically work with coaches, consultants, and service providers. I don't really work with professional speakers.

Uh huh. Okay. So people that want to speak that had the chops to do it, but don't really know the route.

Correct. And want to just use it as a marketing tool because that's what happened to me back in the beginning.

So are these people being paid to speak?

Well, there's a lot of associations that have budgets and they will pay speakers. I've been paid by associations. I've been paid by chambers, but you and I both know that the back end, you can get paid very well. Yeah, most definitely. Yeah. Attracting clients, phone calls, sales calls, programs. Yeah, sure.

No, that, that model does work very well. Unfortunately, it's not guaranteed. So that's the challenge, um, on there. So in your opinion, in 2025, that's weird to say, uh, is, is it still realistic to have, to be a full-time paid speaker?

Um, in the professional world, I think that a lot of professional speakers are doing other things. Like it's not their only source of revenue, especially the speakers that are, you know, earning six to seven figures a year. They are, they've got, they've got other things, whether it's books, masterminds programs that they sell, you know, that are on their website, et cetera.

Yeah. Good. Good. Good. Yeah. And that's exactly what I thought too. I think it's another, bucket.

Yeah.

Yeah. It's another revenue source for your business. Wildly stressful to just depend on the next gig being booked because it's often uncertain, even though you may have your whole calendar, you know, booked out. I did a lot of MC work, which is the hardest job in the building. So I'm, I've since retired, um, from, from doing that. I'm very good at it. However, you're never allowed to leave the stage. You are the first one there. You are the last one to leave. It's your job to add time, cut time and, uh, entertain as much as possible. And I have zero desire in doing any of that any longer. Um, but I have friends that love it and thoroughly enjoy it and they are booked solid, but gosh, they're good at it. Yeah. What a grind.

Yeah, I mean, I've met a few people who I actually had a podcast interview with this woman. And she at the end of our interview, she summarized everything. And after she finished, she shut off the recording. I was like, you would make a great closer. She had never heard that before.

Wow.

You are a closing keynoter. Yeah, that is a rare thing to find. And she was like, huh, really?

Yeah, I have a lot of people that do both. More on the entertainment side, a lot of our fellow NSA friends, really good at what they do. Jeff Savillico is one of the first people to come to mind. I found Jeff because of his the most unbelievable emcee reel you will ever see in your entire life. I found on YouTube and he has become a lifelong friend and mentor. I said that, you know, we're both emcees, but I don't know how to juggle. But he he's he's moved into a lot of the keynote stuff now, which is really cool to be able to dabble in both of them. I have no desire to do both by any stretch of the imagination. But he loves it, and he's done really good with being able to figure it all out. But that's the speaking business at its core. Number one, what else is available on the back end after this talk? What else can be provided from the stage? Now we've got workshops. We've got corporate sessions. We've got corporate annual meetings. We've got workshops. There's a plethora of things that can be done.

Yeah, there's so much. And I almost think like you're speaking is your marketing. It's to bring people into your shop world, you know, like your other offerings, but also it's for the next gig and the next gig.

Sure. Sure. So it's the beginning of 2025, the time we're recording this episode right now, uh, you are currently working with, executives and leaders that want to become speakers or are already speakers. We're working on our big words over here. Yeah, my adult braces don't help. My goodness. Yeah.

Good for you, though. No, no. Currently, I'm working with coaches, consultants, and service providers.

Okay.

I want to use free speaking events as their best form of marketing. I mean, wouldn't you just love to be speaking about your business and solving people's problems in a room that had 50 people who said yes to being in your room because they have an interest in your topic or they have the problem that you solve.

Yeah.

That is so much better than posting on Instagram.

Yeah, it really is. Well, both is both, both is ideal, but you know, they kind of work and they're kind of interconnected with how they, they, you know, but we're also living and I love to get your opinion on this. We're also living in a world where like everybody's writing a book, everybody wants to be a speaker. It's like we, it's like I had this meme I posted, uh, last year with, uh, The guy from the office, I forget what his name is, not Steve Carell, but the guy that was married to the receptionist. And he always makes his funny faces like the camera. And it said, yes, we know you want to be booked on podcasts. It's like, that's been the next big thing too. So is, I think that as with anything, as with like any big, big, like gold rush or big interest of things, the tide always goes out. And those that are meant to actually be doing the thing are actually going to be doing the thing. But what has been your thought process around that, especially after like 2020, where everyone wanted their brother wanted to be a speaker, author, and entrepreneur.

It's like when you think about it, why did you want to be a speaker when there was no speaking events? Zoom was around, however, that virtual market wasn't quite there yet. I'm just going to go back to something that you said. Everybody's writing a book, but very few people are publishing books. So it's like we're doing the behind-the-scenes work. Oh, I want to be a speaker. Does it say speaker on your bio? Are you reaching out to meeting planners? Are you telling like your warm market that you want to speak and these are the topics that you speak on? I think a lot of people feel that answer is no.

Yeah. Yeah. Most people are not willing to go do that work. We were talking a little bit about the whole hunting process as a speaker. It's a tremendous amount of hunting that's involved because people don't know about you. It's not about, uh, who, you know, it's about who knows you, um, at the same time, um, both of those components work, you know, together simultaneously. I read it. I actually read a stat this morning that book publishing is down by 3%. which is crazy because that, you know, to your point, just now, a lot of people writing them, very few people publishing them.

That's right.

So what are you excited about for 2025? What do you got currently working on for, for, for the brand new year here?

Well, last year I had set the goal that I wanted my podcast to become the center of my content universe. That's what I called it. Let's go. Let's go. And I think it has evolved, but I think 2025 it's going to evolve even more into the center of my content universe. Either that or it's going to be pushed aside. I'm not sure what that is. But I'm just kind of like letting things just kind of show up. I am just doing my art. I am doing my thing. And I think that's the most important thing. Instead of talking about what you're going to do, just go do the darn thing. Serve people. Get out there and have conversations, virtual conversations, thread conversations like you and I had in person. Go to conferences. Meet people. have, you know, meet people in real life.

Sure. Sure. Yes, absolutely. I think we crave that, especially after 2020. And then, you know, being so engulfed online, um, being able to like, I find myself working from home now. I'm like, I just want to go outside.

I want to go somewhere other than outdoor person too. Yes. It's like, maybe I need to go to like Starbucks and start doing a little bit of work or something like go outside and touch grass.

Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. What would you say the biggest opportunity, um, has been, or what's, what, what's the biggest opportunity that's come from your podcast?

clients, like really like quality clients. That's one. And I would also say guesting opportunities because I have a podcast. It's a great way for other people on other podcasts, like they can go listen and be like, okay, Laurieann can actually, like I can have a conversation with her. I'm going to invite her onto my podcast. I can't believe how many people invited me towards the end of the year and podcast interviews that are happening early 2025.

Yeah. Yeah. Well, the year, the end of the year slows down. It's a great time to give people scale. I swear. I must've recorded 15 episodes this month. Um, I want to, well, every time I joined a new mastermind group, I'm the new guy. So naturally I lead with, Hey, I'd love to get you on the podcast. Cause then I get to meet you. And then I get to find out what you're all about. Now we've got a couple of deals in the pipeline. So, um, but that's all organic. That's not, and that's specifically what I teach is sort of podcast. So you can interview people you want to do business with and also get your content game and check in consistent. Um, which most people feel miserably at, you know?

Yeah. And, you know, just to go back to the client attraction, because it's quality people that are, they're basically getting on the, on the calls with me and convincing me to hire them because they've already listened to so much of my content. And they're like, this is the person that I need to be working with. So I like, you know, like, I like that it's easier and it's quality people who are going to do the work.

Yeah, absolutely, absolutely. Well, I absolutely love being able to connect with you here. And we'd be playing a similar sandbox and know a lot of the same similar people. I mean, my gosh, holy cow, this world is so tiny, as are we. And just so excited to start the brand new year with new connections and excited to see what 2025 uh, brings to you as well. I appreciate you taking some time out of your day to hang out with me and, uh, share your story and hope that our listeners are getting something from this. I believe my biggest takeaway is that, you know, if you want to do the thing, maybe it's speaking, maybe it's a book, maybe whatever it is, you must. And when I say must, you absolutely must be willing to roll up your sleeves and do the work. So, uh, with that said any final thoughts for our listeners?

Go do the thing. Go do the thing that has been, you know, like speaking on your heart to just like get out there and go do it and stop worrying about what other people will think or say.

Love that. Fantastic. Final thoughts. Laurieann, you're amazing. Thanks again for your time.

Thank you.

Until next time, friends. Thanks so much for tuning into this episode of the Beyond the Story podcast. We sure do appreciate it. If you haven't done so already, make sure you're subscribed to the show. This way you'll get updates as new episodes become available. If you feel so inclined, please leave us a review. We sure do appreciate it. Signing off from the podcast, launchlab.com studios. We'll talk to you next time.