Comfort Zones, Conferences, and Clients: What I Learned This Summer | Ep 438

0:00Today I want to take you inside my summer because it was full of lessons I didn't even see coming. We're going to be talking about clients, conferences and comfort zones. I'll share what happened with some of the incredible people that I got to work with this summer and the takeaways that you can apply to your own career or business right now. And stick around for the end because that's what I want to talk about comfort zones and trust me. You don't want to miss this. If you're new here, I'm Laurie and Maribito, a reformed, painfully shy girl who accidentally said yes to a speaking opportunity. That one yes changed everything. It taught my nervous system something new, earned me five figures for keynotes and hearing I am 26 years later. Now I host the B&M and actually the B&M show is over six years old now. This podcast is about leveraging your public speaking skills to grow your career and your

1:01business because when it comes down to decision time, whether you're pitching a client or you're up for promotion, you want to be the one that they think of first. Let's get on to the show. So interesting summer here and happy Labor Day everyone. For me Labor Day is that last long weekend of the summer. Hello or why summer 2026 and hello fall. Usually I tell you about when I'm on stage the different conferences and speaking events or corporate events that I've been fortunate enough to be on the stage for. But today I want to share with you about being in the audience. And this particular conference that I attended just last month and August with some friends, it's sort of funny but I traveled all the way to Florida to Fort Lauderdale to attend a virtual conference with a couple of friends. We've done this for a few years and why stop tradition, right?

2:01So we plan on doing this again next year. But here's the thing whenever I am in the audience and people know that I'm a speaker, literally after each speaker, people will like whip their heads to me and be like, what did you think? And I think the reason why I get asked is because I do see speakers from a different perspective. I'm really watching how they move, how they connect with the audience, the introduction because I'm going to talk about that in a moment. And how they relay their message and their voice, do they vary their voice, do they yell to the audience because it's a large room. So this particular conference was on leadership and it was a two day conference and one of the things that I noticed on day one, there were no speaker introductions. I've no idea what happened. I do remember that last year they had a lot of tech issues.

3:04So I'm guessing if you were live in the audience, but this particular event is simulcast around the globe. You probably heard the introductions if you were in the room. However, being in the virtual audience on day one, there were no speaker introductions, which really does take a lot away because the whole purpose of a speaker introduction is to get the audience excited about what's to come. So whenever I'm working with clients, I always share with them. Here's an example of what my speaker introduction is. Just to get the audience excited, not be a dull, LinkedIn resume. Because we don't want to bore the audience at first. We want to get them excited about what they're about to listen to, well, who they're going to be listening to, get excited about the material. So that's what an introduction is for. Day two. Day two, they did have speaker introductions.

4:05And here was my big takeaway on day two. I had a speaker emergency. Now I have never been in an event where a speaker who was supposed to be speaking didn't show up. We have no idea what the emergency was, but something happened, but they had a plan B. And so I was really impressed with the organization. Now, I've only been attending this conference for the past three years. So I'm not sure if they've ever had an emergency before that would compel them to have, always have a plan B, but I did like how smooth this was. They ended up interviewing this woman. And I had a feeling that she was nearby so that she could fill in. And she's also a podcaster. So she gave an example of how she does things on her podcast. And it really was like a dramatic demonstration as Dan Kennedy would call it. Now I have been asked to speak on the spot.

5:09And I've also been called the night before like, hey, our speaker can't make it. Would you happen to be able to be at our meeting tomorrow? And okay, sure. That's what happens when you get known for your skill, for your craft. And being able to say yes, helps meeting planners. Helps them in a way that they don't have to be like, oh my god, what am I going to be doing? Now when we had that airline crisis earlier this year, this was something that I told speakers, the clients that I work with, like reach out to the different conferences that are happening. Let the meeting planner, let the organizer know I'm a local speaker. Here are the topics that I speak on. If you find yourself in a pickle, your speaker cannot show up. Please let me know. All right, so back to the conference. One of the speakers. I felt like she was reading a script. However, in keeping an eye on the room, I'm not sure where the script was.

6:10But she just sounded like a robot. And I just noticed being in the virtual audience, how the camera just focused on her from her waist up, where some of the other speakers, they actually showed their entire body as they were walking from side to side on the stage. This woman was standing still and sounded like a robot. While others, you could tell they had honed their craft. And they were just really powerful, great speakers. So that's my update on conferences. Clients. I got to work with some great this summer. And some people actually started booking me ahead of time for the fall. If that's something that you're interested in doing, the follows upon us, this is conference season, you can find that link down below to book a call with me. So one client used AI plus my methodology to write their speech.

7:15Now remember, my methodology, the In Demand Sincere speech, is designed to take the audience through an experience while they are listening to you. That's why In Demand Sincere speech is built in blocks. It gets them their attention with their opening. Then we have to give them a reason why they need to listen to us, especially if they've never heard of us before. That's your authority section. Then you become the lawyer in your value section, the different points that you are sharing with your clients. Then we tie it up in a beautiful bow with your clothes. So with this client, this is the first client that I've had that has written their speech with my methodology along with AI. And I just kept exing out stuff because the thing with AI, those two things. One you have to memorize a speech that was written by somebody else. When you write it yourself, that's half the memorization.

8:18And the second thing about AI writing it, it's so bland. It's vanilla. It's not even French vanilla. It's just generic, store brand ice cream vanilla. There's nothing lovely about it whatsoever. So that was one client. Another client is a lawyer that I got to work with, speaking of lawyers. And he has an opportunity to speak to an audience of 80 people this fall. And these are 80 of his ideal clients. And he knew the ROI of having even 50% of the room as future clients. So he invested in a coaching program. And it's a newer program of mine. I'm calling it like more of a two month intensive because it's my video trainings from In-demand signature speech plus four different coaching calls. And we crafted something so beautiful, so eloquent with lots of case studies and examples

9:24and analogies that I know. And I can hardly wait to hear the result when he gives his speech this fall. And I'll let you know about that. And if you would like to know more about this two month intensive program, the link is down below for you to book a call with me. And just let me know that this is something that you're interested in because you could have your In-demand signature speech written with my help in eight weeks. And another client that I got to the joy of working with, she got asked to speak overseas. And this is her first big presentation. She's got a podcast so she already has a stage. And she wanted to make sure if I'm going to travel halfway around the globe, I want a really great speech. Now she did something a little bit different. She didn't do the two month intensive because of all the other things that were going on in her life. Her business, her mom, her husband, and also looking for a new home to move into.

10:31So she opted for my DIY program. And also got the upgrade of two coaching calls. Plus she then got some additional coaching calls. And she just crafted something so beautiful, so beautiful. With moments of humor that I absolutely loved. Now the funny thing is, like when I'm working with clients, I'm hearing their speech again and again and again. And I will have them redo parts. Say that again. Let's go back to the beginning. Let's go back to that first tip. And even though I've heard it so many times, the parts that were she added humor, they still make me laugh. That's how well done it was. So she had the videos. She had a total of three hours of coaching. And she, like, it was just filled with her personality and she's a gut expert. This is what whole speeches about is about your gut and how it impacts your hormones.

11:34And if she's listening to this podcast, she knows that I'm talking about her. And there was one session where I could just tell that her energy wasn't there. And so she had finished her authority section and I said, hold on. What's going on? I said, your energy is so different today than it was last week. And there was a lot that was going on personally so that she can get ready to leave for Italy. And this is one of the things about working with me. I did stop her and I said, let's reschedule. What are you doing in two days? And we rescheduled it for first thing in the morning. And what a difference. Now we were 20 minutes into the coaching call. And I could have just said, let it go. But I knew that that wouldn't serve her. I've done this before with other clients and just like stop, stop. Like I can tell like you got other things on your mind. Let's reschedule this for another time because I always want my coaching calls to serve my clients.

12:38And that's what we did. And I got to tell you 48 hours later, it was a different person who showed up. And it was going to be more like she was going to be presenting when she's over in Italy. So if you are interested in the DIY program, that link will be down below as well. Now let's talk about comfort zones. I got to admit, I even get a little too comfortable. Uh huh. And that means I've been sort of on autopilot. My workouts, the everyday things that I do, I just feel like I've been a little bit on autopilot. So Jesse Itzler, I guess recently did the 29.092. I know that there's probably a different name for it, but it's essentially hiking the elevation of Mount Everest in 36 hours. They find them out in with a Gonzola so that you hike up and then you go down the Gonzola and then you let you keep doing this.

13:39And so you got to do a little over 29,000 feet within 36 hours, I believe. So this led me to listening to one of his books, the book on Living with a Seal, which is David Goggins. So a couple of things came up for me. I did listen to a podcast recording with Jesse talking about his Musogi, which is a great big goal that you want. Like his belief is that you should have a Musogi for every year of the 365 days. It ends up changing. There's like a meaning. So if you have an event, that means the other 365 days or however many days is outside of that event, changes the meaning of those days because you're focused on that goal. And you put it on your calendar. So here's my Musogi for next year.

14:39It has been years since I have run a half marathon. I prefer to run half marathons than 5Ks, 10Ks. I just figure if I'm going to go out running, I want to go do some distance. It has probably been about 20 years. I'm embarrassed to do it, but that. And my Musogi is next September. There is a half marathon that's in Maine, in Acadia National Park. And what I love about this, I've done it twice already, is it's nine miles in the carriage trails. And it's just absolutely lovely. So that's why Musogi. So Jesse has inspired me to set this Musogi and listening to this book of living with the seal also contributed to this because I'm listening to this book. And the seal is David Goggins, which you probably already know. And the way that he just talks, the way that the workouts were just like, get up, go do it.

15:42I just felt like, oh my god, I need to get out there and go running. And I was down in Florida and it is 91 degrees. So I needed to get to the park early so that I could start running. And you know, here's the thing about doing something hard. You do end up finishing something that's hard. Like there's a beginning to heart and then there's an end. And when you're done, you get to feel so proud, so accomplished for yourself that I did it. Guess what? It's been five days now that I've done this. It was three days down in Florida because we were selling our townhouse. And then I've already done this two days here in New Hampshire. And I live in a hilly neighborhood. So that added to my heart. But this morning after I finished because I ran longer. And I just like ran back up my driveway, steep driveway.

16:43And I just sat in the chair and I was just like, but I did it. What I just did. I felt so proud and so accomplished. So my question for you is, where are you too comfortable? Is it in your career? Is it in your business? Is it when you're speaking? Is it in relationships that you have in your life? Where are you getting too comfortable? Because here's what I want you to do. I want you to pick your heart. I want you to do your hard. And I want you to feel proud of your hard. Go do it. I mean, David Goggan says if it doesn't suck, we don't do it. Go do something that's hard. Who do something that sucks that you know in your mind? This is going to be hard, but you'd go and you'd do it anyways. I mean, I'm 58 years old and it's never too late to do something different. So I'll be 59 when I do that half marathon next year. Before I let you go, I want to tell you about something special I'm offering right now.

17:48And it's called in demand, the membership inside. You get access to a video training library where you can go deep on the skills that matter most. But the real magic happens twice a month. When we get together for live mastermind calls and it's me answering your questions directly, not some other coach. Here's the thing. This is exclusively for my email list. So if you want in the link to join my email list is right below on the show notes. Just a heads up. This offer closes on September 20. So if you're listening to this episode after that day, you can reach out to me personally. And I'll see if I can make some magic happen. But I am only allowing 10 people. So it's a first come first serve. And until next week, I want you to be in demand.