Episode Transcript
Adam O'Leary (00:01.057)
If you're a business owner struggling to overcome your fear of speaking and leverage it as a powerful business growth tool, then our guest, Lori Ann is about to give you a simple win you can implement today. My guest today is Lori Ann Marabiti. Mi repito, sorry. A speaking and visibility coach. Yeah, I'm trying. Who helps coaches and service-based entrepreneurs leverage speaking to attract clients and be seen as the expert.
Laurie-Ann Murabito (00:17.698)
Here we go. Just say it fast.
Adam O'Leary (00:29.165)
With over 25 years as a professional speaker and author, she knows firsthand that speaking is the fastest way to grow your business. Laurieanna, big welcome!
Laurie-Ann Murabito (00:39.662)
Thank you so much. I've been so looking forward to having this conversation with you on simple tips. what? Simple wins.
Adam O'Leary (00:46.031)
Simple wins, you see? I say you wrong, you say me wrong. I love it. This is gonna be so much fun. This episode's just gonna be us laughing for about 15, 20 minutes.
Laurie-Ann Murabito (00:56.844)
Yeah. Yeah. And here's so I just want to like drop like a note for people. You don't have to be perfect. This is this is like, you know, I didn't do this on purpose. I I certainly didn't want to mispronounce the name of your podcast, which I did. But I just want people to know that a lot of times people are afraid of getting on stages because they do feel like they have to be perfect. And when you do have
Adam O'Leary (01:05.068)
Yes.
Laurie-Ann Murabito (01:25.134)
a little bit of a flub, whether it's intentional or unintentional, your audience just feels like, oh my God, she's just like me. I do that all the time.
Adam O'Leary (01:36.175)
I love it. Yes, there we go. We're starting off strong here. So tell me, Lorien, so why do you say that speaking can instantly position somebody as an expert and how does it really solve that problem of low type of lead generation? So low quality leads.
Laurie-Ann Murabito (01:37.518)
So I'm going to use it as a teachable moment.
Laurie-Ann Murabito (01:57.836)
Okay, let's take in-person events. You go to a conference, let's say you are one of the many breakout sessions that happens to be going on right then and there. We'll just say, for example, there's six of them going on. Your conference attendees are deciding between those six rooms. They have already said a micro yes when they walk into your room. Yes, I'm interested in this topic. Yes, I have this problem. Yes, I'm predicting that I'm gonna have this problem.
in the near future. So now they're sitting down and all eyes and ears are on you. You are the expert. They are looking at you as, my God, like I don't know what to do about AI right now. Like I'm going into this room. me fix that. This person that's in the front of the room is the expert who's going to teach me that. And of course this also does come down to how you present yourself, not just your, your physical stance.
but also what you say in your presentation. I call this your authority section that lets the audience know they're in the right room. Now let's take a virtual, a virtual presentation. mean, I'm still taking time from my day and that's still a micro yes. Like I'm gonna sit down and watch this masterclass, watch this webinar, watch this video where they're teaching me something. That's a micro yes that I have this pain.
and I want to solve it. And they're watching you versus social media. I mean, if you picked up your phone right now and you started scrolling on Instagram, how many different posts do you think you could go through?
Let's just say a half a second per post. That's 120 different air quotes speakers that you could be micro paying attention to. But when you're in the audience, you've got 100 % of that audience's attention.
Adam O'Leary (03:50.678)
I love that.
Adam O'Leary (03:59.235)
That is bang on right there. Holy smokes. Okay, now we're gonna dig in here because I want to go through this step by step. Let's say if I'm a business owner and I'm like, okay, you know what? I might want to speak from the stage. The hardest part is obviously how do you get on the stage? I don't have a speaking bureau. I don't have anything like that. How am I going to get up there in the first place?
Laurie-Ann Murabito (04:24.012)
Okay, so first off, no speaking bureau is even gonna look at you if you're brand new. Dollar is here. I have clients all the time who come to me and say, yeah, but are you gonna book me to speak, Laurieann? And they answer, no, but I'm gonna teach you how to do it yourself. And if you can't sell yourself, what makes you think a speaker bureau is gonna be able to sell you? So I want you to get out there. for the type of people that I'm working with, like I'm helping you showcase your expertise. You wanna become a
a very well-known opening keynoter, that's different. I'm teaching the coach, the consultant, the service provider how to leverage speaking opportunities as your best way to get leads. Now, here's a very fun stat for you, Adam. There are 20,000 speaking events that are happening today. Globally and tomorrow, there'll be another 20,000.
Now in 2020, that stat actually came from 2018. 2020 because of Zoom and everything that happened in the world, it opened up this whole new virtual world. So I actually believe that 20,000 is actually an underestimation of what's actually happening. Now, according to that stat, the US had nearly half. The US's conference and meeting industry is huge. We have on average, according to that stat, 75,000
100 events every single day. That's 150 meetings that require speakers per state per day. So there's a lot that's going on. You just have to know where to look. That's the thing. And I talk a lot about when you're just brand new and you're just getting started, you want to start with your warm market. You want people who already know you, like you, trust you.
Hey, I'll give you a chance. Yeah, come speak at this chamber. Come speak at this association. Come speak to my mastermind. Because masterminds count also. Podcasts, to me, this is a form of speaking. I'm speaking on your stage to your audience. So there's a lot of opportunity that's
Adam O'Leary (06:42.614)
I love this. Okay, so you're saying to start with your warm audience, which I totally agree with. I think that is the fastest and simplest win. But let's just say if I don't know anybody who's hosting conferences, I don't know anybody who's hosting an event. Maybe I know people who go to an event, but how am I going to get on stage if that's the case?
Laurie-Ann Murabito (06:58.695)
Great.
Laurie-Ann Murabito (07:04.086)
Okay, you're still gonna start with your warm market. And this is what I talked a lot about on one of my podcast episode. I think it's number 262. It's about using your warm market. You are going to make a list of all the different associations, groups, Facebook groups, friends that have podcasts. You're just gonna make a long list of all these groups that you belong to, that you are paying a membership to. Then I want you to go through and check off, do they bring in speakers?
Have you ever seen a guest speaker in that group? Check it off. Because then what you do is you want to approach them and you use what I call open the door to the conversation. You don't want to say, hey, Adam, you should bring me in to speak to your mastermind that's next month's meeting. You know, that just sounds desperate and you're just going to be like, yeah, sorry, Lorraine, I've another meeting to go to.
But instead by using the open the door to the conversation, I would be saying, hey Adam, know, I have been a member here at this group, we're just gonna pretend that you're like the president or you're the person that arranges all the speakers. I've been a member here at this association, this group for the past three years and I noticed that we are always having amazing great speakers on a variety of topics. What's the?
process for finding and booking speakers and they will tell you.
they will tell you exactly how they do that. Now, if you're talking about a big conference, they'll also tell you, this has been the best answer I ever heard when I used to do this. Basically, I was cold calling. We've already finished booking that event that you're calling about. We actually take 18 months to plan our yearly conference. 18 months. Now, that's not something that you can find on a website.
Laurie-Ann Murabito (09:05.708)
So that's why I firmly believe in this, like, open the door to the conversation. People will share with you what their process is because it varies from group to group. It's not like all meeting hosts book their speakers and book their events exactly the same. So do what you. Just do what they tell you.
Adam O'Leary (09:23.798)
I love that. Yeah. That's insane. mean, it's pretty simple. But it makes sense.
Laurie-Ann Murabito (09:31.362)
Yeah. Yeah. And so I've been sharing this with my clients, my private clients, and also my groups. You know, you just never know. So I was at an event with my husband and I was like, you know what? Here I am at a plastic show. I'm going to find out. Yes. Plastic, plastic recycling. I'm going to find the people who book other meetings and somebody introduced me to a group of men.
And I had a conversation with one of them and he said, well, goes, he goes, actually, I do have a business conference that's in a couple of months, but I already have all of my speakers. So here's the next question that you ask when you hear that I'm already done booking. When do you start booking for the following year? And he told me, he said it was November. Fantastic, I'll reach out to you the end of October. He called me two weeks later because one of his speakers had to drop out.
Now speakers drop out for many different reasons, scheduling conflict, an injury, a family emergency, it could be weather. So being able to fill in, you're literally going to save the day. What I spoke about at the time was on leadership. My topic and what my keynote actually slipped in perfectly to the session that they already had planned. That event.
that that was a no fee event. They just paid for all of my expenses. That event, I had a conversation with the CEO of a recycling center here in the US. And six months later, and I sent him a copy of my book. That's what I did. Six months later, he wrote to me and said, Lori, and I loved your book so much. I bought a copy for everyone in my company. Made me an Amazon bestseller. Six months later, he called me again and said, Lori, and I do a leadership retreat.
for my top team, what's it gonna take to bring you out to Oregon? And I went to Oregon. So I'm sharing this story because a lot of people say, I won't speak for free. And I'm not an advocate for speaking for free, but you can speak for no fee because there is always an exchange of value. And so me saying yes to a no fee event turned into thousands of dollars and making me an Amazon bestseller.
Laurie-Ann Murabito (11:55.724)
there is, I call it that speaking is the gift that keeps on giving. And that's exactly, that's a great example of that particular situation.
Adam O'Leary (12:05.623)
That's amazing. That's fantastic. Thank you so much for sharing that. I really appreciate that. And so let's say if, okay, now we've gone ahead and spoke and maybe it's no fee or it's for a fee. How does that equal money at the end of the day? how does that equal leads? Like what happens usually after you speak? Is there a way that somebody could go out and maybe is it you're getting leads from the audience? Are you getting leads from the host? How does that happen?
Laurie-Ann Murabito (12:10.082)
You're welcome.
Laurie-Ann Murabito (12:34.274)
All of the above, all of the above. But let's talk about leads for your business because you are speaking on behalf of your business, you are showcasing your expertise. What I teach people is what I call the in-demand signature speech methodology. There is a certain experience that you take your audience on. You have to grab their attention. That's your opening. Your authority section is the answer to the question that your audience is thinking after you've grabbed their attention.
They then fold their arms, they start to sit back and they're thinking, yeah, but why should I listen to you? Especially if they don't know you. That's where your authority section sticks in. And then you wanna give them really good information along with teasing them about other ways that you work with people and how you work with people. I want you to step off the stage and I want your audience to understand.
Adam is so much more than just this one keynote that I saw. I want them to know the type of clients that you work with, maybe some of the companies that you've worked with. What are some of their case studies that you can use throughout your presentation? So it's done in a very non-salesy way. It's like telling a story. And then you have a call to action. You are basically giving the audience all this information. They come to the end of your presentation.
and that's when they have to make a decision. Do they want to continue to learn more and build a relationship with you? They're going to raise their hand. All the people who don't raise their hand are just like, yeah, this was great. They become referral agents for you or clients down the road. I cannot tell you how many times that it's happened to me and all my clients as well that somebody saw you speak.
they get on your email list. And then they're like, they send you an email saying, hey, I happen to be on a committee that's for this conference. I've seen you speak before. We'd love to invite you. Or I saw you speak. And now I find myself in this particular predicament with my business, with my career. I'd like to hire you. People remember the speakers.
Adam O'Leary (14:50.635)
That is amazing. That is so cool. Such great advice right there. And I guess for your clients that you've worked with, what sort of results have you seen them achieve?
Laurie-Ann Murabito (15:00.194)
my goodness, my clients on average, they will step off the stage, the in-person or virtual. And on average, at least three people will come up to them and hand them business cards. I need you to come and speak in our company. I need to talk to you all the way up to a book deal. Somebody got a book deal. Somebody got on TV while we were working together. And another woman, this is probably like one of the best ones that I have because I'm just so damn proud of her, that she stepped off the stage.
to 26 paid speaking opportunities for a bank. A bank wanted to bring her in and speak at all of their branches. So that's what's possible. There's so much that's possible when you are seen as that expert in the front of the room.
Adam O'Leary (15:51.287)
This is amazing. And how did you get into this, by the way?
Laurie-Ann Murabito (15:54.572)
my goodness, I accidentally said yes. So I'm actually, which I know that this is going to sound really hard to believe, I'm a reform painfully shy girl who couldn't even make eye contact with people. Yep. I looked down at the floor when you were talking to me and I was just an expert on what sneakers you were wearing. And I was in a small group of women and we were putting together a networking event. I had left my corporate job, you know, and I was like going to be a coach and you know, if I build it, they will come was my belief.
because I didn't know better quite then. And we were arranging this networking event because women network differently. We wanted education. And the other ladies looked at me and said, you do the speaking. And my head went up and down and inside I was like, what are you doing? You don't speak.
But self-integrity is one of my highest values. And because I said that I would do this, I showed up and I did it. Now, Adam, I don't know if this is a good thing or a bad thing, but at the time it was a good thing. I never think about what's gonna happen after the moment. I don't think about what if somebody asked me a question that I can't answer? What if somebody laughs at me? What if I forget what I'm gonna say? So I just showed up and I served.
There was no beginning. I just went into what I call college professor mode, which means I just gave out information, just sharing with them. And then there was literally no close. There was no call to action. I mean, I just didn't know what I know today and what I teach people. And people came up to me afterwards and said, so do you have a website? Do you work with clients? Because now people wanted to work with me I was just like, was I allowed to say that?
And that's how I started. I accidentally said yes.
Adam O'Leary (17:54.975)
That is amazing. That is so cool. Laurieann, where can people go to learn more about you?
Laurie-Ann Murabito (17:59.924)
The best place to learn more about me is right on my website is speakandstandout.com and from there you can follow me on whatever your favorite social media is or I also have a couple of podcasts. One is called Be in Demand, which is a weekly, two weekly episodes actually, and a new limited series podcast, which is called Public Speaking Monetization Tips and that just came out recently.
Adam O'Leary (18:25.472)
Woohoo! Well, thank you so much, Laurie, and this was such an amazing episode.
Laurie-Ann Murabito (18:29.752)
Thank you so much, Adam. I just want more people to get out there and use their voices because this is something that AI can't do right now. It can't make that connection. It can't be speaking for you in the front of the room. It can't tell your stories the way that you're going to tell them. That makes the audience fall in love with you.
Adam O'Leary (18:51.583)
Amazing. Well, thank you so much and thank you everybody for listening. We will see you on the next episode of Simple Wins.
