Why Hitting Pause Can Lead to a Smarter Speech, a Better Book, and More Revenue

You feel pressured to write your book… 

… now… like, immediately…

… but you need to hit the brakes!

Just because the FOMO is eating away at you, it doesn’t mean that you’re ready to start penning your next bestseller.

In fact, postponing the book (for now) can give you the time and space you need to write a really awesome book, develop an even better speech, and then expand that IP into a larger business model for increased income every year.

Give yourself some space to ask the right questions and fully develop your ideas.  This is exactly what I’m urging both of our “Year of Transformation” speakers to do.  With that, let’s take a closer look at why this is smart business.

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Ask Better Questions, Solve Bigger Problems

It doesn’t matter if you are a new speaker like Michelle, thinking about your first book… or an established speaker earning well into the six-figures like Dan… both of our “transformation” speakers are feeling the pressure to write.  

For Dan, his next book won’t be his first.  He already has three books on customer service, including The Experience Maker.  His newest book will be on a different topic of business leadership and aims to help CEOs promote the right types of people from within their organization.

And he’s ready to get started right away… this way he can have a book ready to publish in 2026.

The cost of the research… $35,000.

The timeline… 5 months.

So, you can see this is no small matter. That’s why I suggested to Dan that he put this proprietary research on hold for now.  Before he spends the time and effort, he needs to be absolutely certain he is asking the right question.

Otherwise, the solution he finds may be completely unrelated to the real problem that is plaguing businesses across the country.

I respect and understand Dan’s desire to do research for his new book. There’s just one problem…

Many of the ideas Dan has put together for this new talk identify symptoms of a problem, but not the true problem itself.  There is a difference between surface level “expert” understanding of a topic and the deeper “visionary” vantage point.

That’s why I asked Dan to complete the same exercise I gave you last week…

As a result of our discussions together, the questions Dan would ask in his research have completely changed.  Instead of just looking for a list of characteristics CEOs look for when choosing promotions, he is now looking deeper at the very process leaders use to assess their employees’ skills.

(I won’t share more than that for now, because Dan is still putting together all the pieces… and one day you’ll hear his fully developed ideas in his keynote… and in his book.)

Do the Hard Thinking Before the Pricey Research

When you're first developing your ideas, it can be tempting to jump into the research. 

Before you spend the time and money on expensive research, do your own personal research to think deeply about an issue.

Start building the speech. 
Ask questions. 
Talk to audience members. 

Let the ideas evolve over time. This will ensure the contents in your book are deep and meaningful instead of just surface level.

I find it very difficult when somebody rushes through an idea just to come up with a simple solution.  This is often what results in an “expert-only” speech that lacks the referral power to earn stageside leads.

Often, the deeper problem you uncover is much harder to solve.  Rather than just listing out a bunch of solutions, you’ll need to think completely outside the box… 

But that’s what makes your speech visionary.  That’s what gives it the power to transform the way your audience thinks.  And that’s what makes people in your audience sit up and take notice… and make referrals!

So, what did Dan decide about his research?  Well, he is listening to advice and postponing the research for now.

During a monthly check in with Rachael, Dan shared these thoughts on my process:

“I’m following Andrew because that’s what I’ve been told to do for the next year.  So, basically, I’ve hit pause on the book, which unfortunately I think means I'm not going to have a 2026 book. I think it's probably going to be a 2027 book by the time it's all said and done. 

I’m doing my best to believe in the process, and he’s telling me to do it this way, so I’m listening.”

Don’t worry, Dan. The book (and the speech) are going to be awesome.  You just wait!

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Meanwhile, Michelle’s journey looks a little different…