The Speaker Transformation Experiment: Month #1

One Newbie. One Pro. One Year to Grow.

“Sure, Andrew…
That method works for you because you’re you.
It would never work the same way for me.”

I can’t even count how many times I’ve heard some version of that sentence after sharing business advice with other speakers.

(If I had a nickel for every time, I could probably book myself out for the next two years… without ever raising my fee.)

And look – I get it.

We all have our own challenges that dictate what we feel we can and can’t do in our speaking business.

But I’m not sharing some mind-blowing, never-before-seen formula. These are just tried-and-true ideas I’ve picked up the hard way – through experience – designed to help you run a smarter, more efficient, and ultimately more sustainable and profitable speaking business.

So, Rachael and I decided to run an experiment…

Over the next year, I’ll be coaching two speakers – both stuck at different points in their business – and helping them break through to the next level. That might mean more gigs. Higher revenue. A more confident speech. Whatever their ‘next level’ looks like.

(Don’t worry, no lab coats or Bunsen burners involved. Just good old-fashioned speaking strategy.)

The goal?

To show what kind of transformation is really possible… in just one year.

Two Speakers. Two Stages. One Big Experiment.

Obviously, there’s a huge difference between a speaker who is just starting out with their first speech and someone who has been on the circuit for several years.

That’s why we chose two different speakers at vastly different experience levels – one who is newer to the scene and looking to gain traction, and one who has already flown past the six-figure barrier and is hoping to climb off an earnings plateau.

Hopefully, both of these stories – which will unfold month-by-month over the next year – will help to inspire you in your own speaking business.  

Don’t worry.  We’ll still be sharing plenty of regular articles addressing the questions you send in and other important topics. 

This will just be one feature we will revisit every few weeks so you can see the progress these two speakers make over the next 12-months.

Ready to meet our first two candidates?

Let me introduce you to Dan and Michelle.

Meet Michelle: The Courageous Newcomer Finding Her Voice

First, let’s meet our developing speaker…

When Michelle Hutchings-Medina was a child, her mother used to call her “motor mouth.”  She always had something to say, but was never encouraged to speak.

Fast-forward to adulthood and Michelle launched into a corporate career within the cancer industry – helping to give presentations, conduct training, and work in sales.  But then life took a huge turn…

“Starting in 2018, I had some really profound things happen to me.  I lost my husband of 25 years to suicide, and that was absolutely devastating.  Then, a year and a half after that, I was diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer.”

These two events caused a huge shift in Michelle’s life.  She went on a journey to find more purpose in what she could offer to others.  Professional coaching wasn’t a good fit, but speaking felt like it might just be the answer.

“I’ve always loved speaking.  So that took me down this path of Heroic Public Speaking.  I knew I had something to share.”

After working with our pals Michael and Amy Port at HEROIC, Michelle found herself ready to really dig into her newfound career.  But even on graduation day, she admitted something to her fellow classmates. She still felt overwhelmed.

“One guy was already getting a $10,000 speech.  Another woman had developed a framework.  I felt behind.  While we were graduating that day, I was the one who just raised my hand and said, ‘This is all great and wonderful, but I’m scared.’”

(Let’s be honest… that might be the most relatable graduation speech ever.)

Luckily, that vulnerability and her willingness to do whatever it takes ultimately led Michael to recommend her to me for this year-long experiment.  In the course of our first chat, Michelle, Rachael, and I nailed down two main goals for Michelle’s speaking business this year:

Goal #1:  Increase revenue from speaking.  

Michelle’s original speaking goal for 2025 was $150K.  By early June, she had earned $10K, so we decided we’d see how close we could get to her $150K by December of 2025 and then reevaluate a yearly revenue goal for 2026.

Goal #2:  Develop a reliable and referable speech.  

It is not unusual for Michelle to get very, very nervous the night before a speech.  That’s why we want to focus this year on helping her to develop a speech in which she can feel confident.  We want to minimize those night-before jitters so she can go on stage feeling more calm and prepared.

Meet Dan: The Pro Who’s Hit a Plateau

Our veteran for this year-long transformation journey is customer service speaker Dan Gingiss.

20 years of corporate America form the backbone of Dan’s experience.  He began in the trenches working in marketing for big name companies.  It was a chance encounter during his time with the Discover Card company that launched his interest in customer experience.

“I was at a company, Discover Card… and I got recruited in my last role there to this role that was called Head of Digital Customer Experience and Social Media.  The funny thing was, I didn’t know what digital customer experience was.  I grew to love both social media and customer experience.”

While learning on the job, Dan quickly learned that customer experience is the best form of marketing.  It was the most effective thing he had ever seen.  Then, his boss said something to him that turned him into a speaker…

“He goes, ‘Gingiss!  Your personal development plan is easy.  You need to become a recognized expert in customer service!’”

From there, Dan started speaking at conferences on behalf of Discover Card telling audiences about the cool advancements his company was making.

“I realized over some period of time that I was decent [at speaking] and I definitely realized that I really liked it.”

Dan’s first ever public keynote earned him a fee of $10,000 and he’s only gone up from there.  In January of 2019, now separate from any company affiliations, he officially began promoting himself as a speaker and consultant.  And every year, for those first four years, his business grew and grew.

But now, for the last three years (since 2022), the business has been “flat.”

“It’s been flat at a high number, a number I’m happy with and proud of, but I know I can grow it.  I feel like the business could easily be twice the size it is.”  

This desire to move past an earnings plateau is what ultimately led Dan and me to connect for this year-long transformation.  During our initial chat, we identified the following goals:

Goal #1: Reduce the time and energy currently being spent on earning new gigs.

Dan is currently following a marketing model where he is earning around half of his gigs through traditional marketing efforts – think podcasts, content, exposure, and lots of hustle.  Our goal is to help him reduce this time and earn the majority of his new work through stageside leads.

Goal #2:  Increase revenue.

Over the last three years, Dan’s business has stopped growing.  I want to help him break past this plateau.  So, by Dec 31st, 2025, Dan wants to have earned $600k in booked gigs for the 2025 year.  Then, we will reassess and set another goal for the second 6 months.

Goal #3:  Improve speech and work on a book topic.

In order to achieve both of these goals, it will be important to strengthen Dan’s current main speech.  We will also spend some time developing ideas for a new speech on a brand new topic so he has more than one talk to offer his clients.

Just remember, your speech is your most valuable asset.