Speaking Business Podcast

In this episode, Maria Franzoni welcomes Niall Ratcliffe, co-founder of the story-driven marketing agency Noticed, to share proven strategies for speakers to get noticed on LinkedIn. Niall explains why LinkedIn is essential for reaching key decision-makers and reveals how consistent storytelling can set speakers apart. They cover practical tips for crafting content that keeps you top of mind, using lead magnets to convert followers into clients, and building genuine authority through your unique experiences. If you're looking to attract more bookings and grow your speaking business, this episode is packed with actionable advice on mastering LinkedIn.

In this episode of the Speaking Business Podcast, host Maria Franzoni sits down with award-winning speaker and Professional Speakers Association founder, Rikki Arundel. Rikki shares their inspiring journey, from early beginnings to receiving the Speaker Awards' Lifetime Achievement Award, revealing valuable lessons for speakers at all stages. They discuss the power of finding your niche, the importance of resilience through career shifts, and what it takes to craft a message that truly resonates. Tune in for Rikki's insights on building a brand, making an unforgettable impact, and navigating the challenges of a speaking career that speaks volumes.

In this episode of the Speaking Business podcast, I sit down with world-renowned futurist and keynote speaker Nikki Greenberg. With a background in real estate and technology, Nikki transitioned from designing skyscrapers to designing impactful keynote speeches on the future of cities and innovation. Nikki shares how she built her speaking career from scratch, including the challenges she faced, the strategies she used to stay ahead in a competitive market, and the importance of being both relevant and memorable. Whether you're a seasoned speaker or just starting out, Nikki's insights into breaking into new industries, using technology to amplify your message, and mastering the art of storytelling are not to be missed. Join us as we explore how to take your speaking career to new heights—literally and figuratively!

In this episode of the Speaking Business Podcast, Maria Franzoni reconnects with her very first boss, Steve Sumner, a trailblazer in high street sports retail and a pioneer of online business strategies. With over 40 years of experience, Steve has helped build multi-billion-pound businesses and launched five successful startups. In the episode, he's sharing his insights on how speakers can unlock growth in their own businesses. From navigating the challenges of legacy mindsets to leveraging digital tools like LinkedIn, Steve provides actionable advice for speakers looking to stay ahead in a rapidly changing market. Whether you're just starting out or looking to take your speaking career to the next level, this episode is packed with valuable lessons on innovation, strategy, and staying true to yourself. Tune in to learn how you can apply the principles of business growth to your speaking career and keep your audience coming back for more.

Join us in this exciting episode of the Speaking Business podcast as we dive deep into the world of leadership, resilience, and high-performance teamwork with multi-award-winning speaker Mark Denton. Mark shares his incredible journey from leading a team to victory in the world's most challenging yacht race to becoming a sought-after keynote speaker. Discover how Mark turned a standing ovation at a corporate conference into a thriving speaking career, captivating audiences across diverse sectors. Learn about the techniques he uses to make his speeches unforgettable, including the use of multimedia, gripping storytelling, and powerful music scores. Mark also opens up about the challenges he has faced in the speaking industry and how he stays adaptable in a constantly evolving market. He shares valuable strategies for securing consistent bookings and the importance of treating speaking as a business. Whether you're an aspiring speaker or an established professional looking to grow your business, Mark's insights

In the latest episode of my Speaking Business podcast, I interview AI expert Ben Gold, delving into his extensive experience in technology and AI. Ben shares insights from his 20-year career in tech sales, particularly focusing on the transformative impact of generative AI. He discusses practical applications of AI, emphasizing how speakers and businesses can harness these tools to enhance productivity and engagement. Our conversation touches on the ethical considerations of AI, the future of AI in professional speaking, and the innovative ways Ben uses AI to streamline his own speaking business. This episode provides valuable perspectives for anyone looking to integrate AI into their professional toolkit.

My guest today is the Founder and Director of Behind The Mic, a speaker management and consulting agency in London. With over 15 years experience in the speaking industry, she has worked in both the US and UK markets. She has made a career out of helping inspirational, thought-leaders share their expertise on stages across the globe."    

As CEO of Human First Ltd, Jaz Ampaw-Farr helps leaders who want to influence, inspire and motivate their teams with greater engagement in order to grow their businesses and leave a lifelong legacy. Jaz combines lessons learned from a challenging and often brutal childhood with those from her rise TV presenter, TEDx Speaker, stand-up comedian and Z-list reality TV star.  Her authentic honesty and humour consistently empower people to think differently about leading themselves and others. Jaz has managed to go from a market where she is highly established and a bit of a rockstar into a brand new market, and that transition, is not easy. We'll find out exactly how she did that and how she has now become very successful in her new market.  Jaz will also share how she runs her business and what her products and services are. Links Connect with Jaz on LinkedIn Learn more about Maria Connect with Maria on LinkedIn Listen Here Libsyn Itunes Stitcher

Intentional Storytelling Steve Ashton is an expert in Executive Presence and Storytelling.  He became an expert in both of these disciplines through personal experience of being the sales and marketing director of a business that grew from £7m turnover to £68m in 3 years, through thousands of hours of live tv, radio, theatre acting, stand-up comedy and podcasting as well as more than 30 years working in Learning and Development. He recently left a role as Chief Leaming officer for an international Division of American Express and has set up his own practice focussing his efforts on helping people increase their presence and ability to engage, connect and inspire people with storytelling. Steve shares why storytelling is such a popular subject these days, why it's important to be a good storyteller and some top tips and tools to use for storytelling. Links Connect with Steve on LinkedIn Learn more about Maria Connect with Maria on LinkedIn Listen Here Libsyn Itunes Stitcher Spotify

How every speaker could benefit from having a manager. Who better to be looking after your speaking career, than a manager used to dealing with bookers, promoters, and agents in one of the toughest of all businesses – the music business? QJ is very familiar with the notorious rogues, the dodgy dealings and the pitfalls that we come across in the speaking business – to this day. When he started out in the business, he was an artist, songwriter and producer signed to a couple of major record labels himself, but eventually ran his own record label, signing other artists, and dealing with the likes of record pluggers, radio DJs, in order to get publicity, exposure, and radio play for those he signed. He says, 'You really have to be pretty ruthless in the music business to get anywhere. So having honed my skills in that industry, I find that the challenges of making progress in speaking are not dissimilar, but a lot easier.' QJ shares his passion for 'other people's talent' and why he believes that a good manager

Finding your 'True Funny'  Paul Dornan has worked in the TV and film and comedy world for over two decades as a writer, producer, director, teacher and mentor. Specialising in character comedy and comedy-drama, he's written and helped create sketch shows, sit-coms, series and films that have won awards, stormed the box office and sold around the world. Along the way he's worked with a galaxy of stars – from Dame Edna to Mrs Merton aka Caroline Aherne from Boy George to Downton's Hugh Bonneville, from Lenny Henry to the Spice Girls. A natural collaborator and team player, he's acted as writing mentor for rising comedy talents and once co-wrote the massive Sunday Times No 1 bestseller 'The A-Z OF Behaving Badly with Simon Nye – one of the biggest comedy books ever. Away from page and screen, he has used his narrative skills in the business world too, helping a range of international brands with creative brainstorming and story. He's now the founder of a new venture – True Funny – a service offering creative con

Owning your own story. With a background in Public Relations, Lesley Woods has 20 years' experience of curating and creating compelling stories.  Her career has taken her around the world, working with international partners to shine a light on the work of her military colleagues, from celebrating Christmas in Kandahar to delivering humanitarian aid to the Central African Republic.   As a current serving senior Royal Air Force Reserve Media Officer, she shares unique perspectives gained from her operational experience.  Her mission is to get you out of the (communication) trenches and into new territory, to get you thinking differently about how you can emotionally engage your audiences.   In her civilian 'day job' role she leads campaigns in the UK Ministry of Defence Communications Directorate, a team that aims to 'give a voice to the men and women who serve so that their stories can be heard'.   To help the UK Armed Forces reach new audiences she has led collaborations with films, TV series and documentari

How Santa, chocolate, questions and acronyms help you be a better speaker George Nagle might be best described as a breakthrough thinker. He is a former executive director for multi-billion-dollar organisations and launched 19 products in 14 months at one point. George is also a bit of a nerd with a MS and MBA but also multiple certifications in different innovations. Currently he is a leading creative innovator as a consultant but also as a speaker. We are going to get a peek into how his creative approaches. Links Learn more about George Connect with George on LinkedIn Learn more about Maria Connect with Maria on LinkedIn Listen Here Libsyn Itunes Stitcher Spotify

Ditch perfection and create connection with Lisa Braithwaite Do you seek a more human connection with your in-person and remote audiences? Do you feel like you're holding yourself back from fully expressing yourself onstage? Do you hope to make a powerful impact and move your participants into action? If you answered yes to any of these questions, Lisa Braithwaite is here for you! Lisa Braithwaite is a speaking coach, trainer and author who started her speaking career more than 40 years ago at high school speech tournaments, presenting her controversial topic of "Brown Bag Lunches."  More recent achievements include publishing her first course on LinkedIn Learning and discovering that her speaker superpower is instantly and magically recovering from presentation mishaps. When she's not working with her coaching and training clients, she can be found cooking, eating, reading about cooking and eating, or managing her cats' Instagram account. (See show notes!) Lisa shares her tips for ditching perfection a

How to license your content to grow your speaking business. David Lim is best known for leading the 1st Singapore Everest Expedition in 1998. He delivers unforgettable presentations on leadership and bouncing back from setbacks. As a leadership coach, he delivers solutions in negotiation and creative teambuilding for groups of up to 12,000 at a time.  For over a decade, he was on the adjunct faculty for INSEAD business school's programmes, engaging leaders on self and team leadership. He excels in helping people believe they can be more than just ordinary. Often speakers are stuck when they're trying to scale their speaking business.  If they cannot be in two places at once, how do they grow their business?  David shares his tips about how to bring in revenue to your speaking business without you actually being there. Learn more about David's coaching Learn more about David's speaking Connect with Carole on LinkedIn Learn more about Maria Connect with Maria on LinkedIn Listen Here Libsyn Itunes Stitcher Spo

How to beat stress and avoid burnout. Carole Spiers is a leading international Business Stress Consultant who shows senior executives how to thrive under pressure. She has published books such as "Managing Stress in the Workplace" and "Show Stress Who's Boss!"  Carole is also frequently invited to comment on stress-related issues on TV and radio   She has a background in psychology, and  over 25 years of experience as an industry expert. She serves as CEO of the Carole Spiers Group, an international stress management and wellbeing consultancy. As an international Motivational Speaker, she has provided keynote addresses at international conferences in the UK, Europe, and Middle East.    Carole is Chair of the International Stress Management AssociationUK.  On their behalf, she founded Stress Awareness Day in 1998 and to recognise its anniversary in 2018, established International Stress Awareness Week.   Carole is a Fellow and past President of the Professional Speaking Association.  Learn the difference betwe

How to grow your (speaking) business Donnie Boivin is an entrepreneur and serves as CEO and Founder of Success Champions and Success Champion Networking. He is considered one of the leading global minds on sales, business development and business growth. He is described as the first person to make sales and business development relatable and human. A community builder at heart — he builds champions. Today he helps small business owners leverage sales and business development to grow then scale their businesses. In addition to running multiple businesses, he runs a full working farm with goats, chickens ,ducks, turkeys and geese. His podcast 'Growth Mode' ranks among the top podcasts globally. He is a five-time Best Selling Author and a highly sought-after public speaker. Learn more about Donnie Boivin Connect with Donnie on LinkedIn More about Maria Franzoni Connect with Maria on LinkedIn Listen Here Libsyn Itunes Stitcher Spotify

How to transition from low paid entertainer to highly paid keynote  Tim David dropped out of university to become a professional magician.  When 300 dates a year became too much, he turned his sights to the speaking world so he could work less, earn more, and help people in the process. His success in the speaking and publishing industries speaks for itself, which is why thousands of speakers from around the globe seek him out for advice on how to get speaking gigs and grow their following. He's the founder of GetSpeakingGigs.com and the host of the Next Stage Speaking Summit - at which I was a guest presenter this year. If you're looking to transition into the speaking world or just starting out with your speaking business, Tim has some great advice. Learn more about Tim David Connect with Tim on LinkedIn More about Maria Franzoni Connect with Maria on LinkedIn Listen Here Libsyn Itunes Stitcher Spotify

What is going on in the Speaking Industry in Canada, US and Europe? Tami Adams is a dedicated and passionate Speaker Agent, Manager, Coach & Events Professional who thrives in bringing people together for engaging and life-changing experiences. She believes that when people come together, that is where the magic truly happens! She loves using her voice to help raise others.  For those speakers wishing to expand their business internationally or for those already in the international market, this is an information packed podcast that will enrich your speaking business.  Find out what is happening in the Speaking Industry across Canada, US and Europe, the trends, virtual vs in-person, what it takes for a speaker to succeed in today's speaking world, what clients should be looking for in a speaker, why the industry needs to change when booking female speakers and what the future of speaking looks like. Learn more about Tami Connect with Tami on LinkedIn Learn more about Maria Connect with Maria on LinkedIn

What's happening on the international speaker circuit? Philipp Kristian has made some big changes to his speaking business and there are some lessons for us to learn from him and his transformation. His topic is pioneering human transformation for good and he's applying it to his own business. He's a global TEDx speaker, voice of Gens Y to Z and author of RESET and The Trust Economy.  He has been driving innovation and digital transformation for Fortune 500s in APAC and working with CEOs of Singapore's most successful start-ups on reimagining entire industries. He is deeply passionate about putting the human in transformation.  Learn more about Philipp Connect with Philipp on LinkedIn Learn more about Maria Connect with Maria on LinkedIn Listen Here Libsyn Itunes Stitcher Spotify