speaking Archives - Excellerate Associates

Stop Winging It: Maximize Your Speaking Opportunities by Design, Not by Luck

July 31, 2025 by Lisa Mininni Leave a Comment

Whether you’re presenting to an audience of ideal clients, being interviewed by an influential podcaster, or rallying your internal team, each speaking engagement holds immense potential. These moments are opportunities to promote your brand, communicate a powerful idea, or advance an important initiative. They can become game-changing milestones—or missed chances—depending on your approach.

Recently, a client called thrilled about being invited to speak at a conference filled with her ideal prospects. After celebrating with her, I asked the one question every leader should ask before stepping up to the microphone:

“What’s your strategy?”

Her response? “I don’t have one.”

It’s easy to get swept up in the excitement of being invited to speak, but without a clear plan, you risk missing the mark. Together, we quickly crafted a strategy—complete with talking points—not just for that conference, but for future interviews and presentations as well.

Here’s the truth: You can try to wing it, but that rarely works. Without a strategy, you’re more likely to forget key points, come across as unprepared (or worse, arrogant), or share sound bites you later regret.

When you get intentional, everything changes. A well-thought-out strategy ensures that you communicate clearly with your desired audience, stay aligned with your purpose, and create outcomes by design—not by luck. Whether you want to capture the attention of your ideal clients, gain buy-in for a big idea, or inspire your team into action, it starts with knowing your strategy, including the transformation you want for your audience members.

Invitation to Elevate Your Speaking

If you’re ready to develop a clear, compelling strategy, develop your signature story, and align your memorable messaging and presentation, I invite you to join me at the Speaker Lab on August 13, 2025, with feedback sessions on August 27 and September 10. Register by August 1, 2025 at https://www.excellerateassociates.com/speaker-lab.

Presentation Tip: Connect With Your Audience From The Start

May 18, 2023 by Lisa Mininni Leave a Comment

Whether you address groups in your organization, present to new prospects, or are booked to speak in front of large conferences or associations, connecting with your audience from the start is key. While there are many ways to engage your audience, an effective way to connect with them is to share a core story or message that is an authentic expression of you. Sharing a signature story is the secret that all engaging presenters have in common.

Over time, you become known for this story and even famous for it. You become so good at telling your story that people will request you to present over and over again. My tire iron story, for example, is one that ties into many lessons and one that I’ve used for years and have become known for. I’ve had audience members who have seen me speak on many occasions share that my story inspires them each time they hear it.

There are many ways to create your signature story. Your signature story can describe:

1. A great loss or even hardship and how you overcame it. Stories that demonstrate a challenging time help you to connect with your audience on an emotional level. When presented with authenticity and grace, you create a circle of comfort that envelops your audience.

2. An embarrassing situation or misunderstanding that snowballed out of control. Some of the funniest signature stories are born from the most humbling moments and offer important learning lessons.

When choosing a story to connect with your audience from the start, remember to stick with personal stories. Because you’ve lived them, you can recall details and provide insights that make your story come alive. When it is the reason you got into business or leads you to your chosen profession or passion, it helps to develop your credibility. Your story is what makes you unique and others will be inspired by it.

What can be seen as an ordinary experience becomes a memorable story especially if you tie it into learning a life lesson, a turning point, and even overcoming adversity. When you weave your story with key points, you leave your audience connecting with you and wanting more.

Invitation

If you’re inspired to level up your presentation skills, I invite you to the Speaker Lab on June 13, with online feedback sessions on July 11, and July 18, 2023.

You will:
• Create your signature story and signature presentation,
• Learn ways to engage your audience both in person or online, and
• Learn a 3-step framework to map out any presentation whether it is a keynote, seminar, decision-making, or interview presentation.

More information and learning objectives at ExcellerateAssociates.com/Speaker-Lab

The First Step To Becoming a Better Speaker

May 27, 2021 by Lisa Mininni Leave a Comment

When I started my business, I added speaking to my marketing mix. It seemed like a natural extension of the training I had done for decades.

At first, it didn’t go well. By not going well, I spent a lot of energy but not results to show for it.

There were annoying things I was doing, too. Quite frankly, I was completely unconscious of these annoyances until one person brought it to my attention in an evaluation. Nobody likes to hear negative feedback, but, in retrospect, his feedback was a gift.

What was so annoying? I paced.

Have you ever watched a speaker pace back and forth and back and forth? It’s distracting. Rather than focusing on the message, they were preoccupied with an easily-controlled quirk.

Recently, I had a client share her experience listening to a speaker. Rather than learning the training points, she started counting how many times the speaker said, “you know what I mean?” Apparently, the speaker said “you know what I mean” 45 times in 45 minutes. While the teaching points might have been good, they were lost in that speaker’s unconscious habit.

Let’s face it, we all have mannerisms or things that are missing in our speaking process that could be shifted. We’re human after all.

The first step to becoming a better speaker is awareness. Grow your awareness to elevate your effectiveness.

Invitation

If you’re inspired to elevate your speaking, join us for Speaker Lab Master Class on June 18 with online feedback sessions on June 25 and July 16. In this experiential class, you’ll walk out with your Signature Story, Signature Talk, and a strategy for getting in front of your ideal audience. You’ll be professionally coached through your presentation, so you deliver it with grace, peace, and ease. You will also get experience delivering it onsite and online.

For more information and registration, please visit: https://excellerateassociates.com/speaker-lab/

The Speaking Process

May 20, 2021 by Lisa Mininni Leave a Comment

Picture this: You just made the decision to add speaking to your marketing`. You are thrilled because you have a shot at getting in front of a room filled with your ideal prospects.

You spend some time working out the content. You figure you’ll wing the rest.

You deliver your speech and are quite pleased with your presentation. You’re relieved to finish your talk, the audience claps, and some people take your card.

Then you wait.

And wait.

You check your phone to make sure it’s working.

Confusion turns into frustration.

You simply don’t understand why you’re not getting calls because so many people came up to you and loved your message. Your time, effort, money, travel and nothing to show for it.

If you added speaking to your marketing mix and wonder why you’re not getting leads, you’re not alone. Many experts add speaking to their marketing mix so they can get in front of their clients but miss out because of important elements of making speaking work in generating leads.

While speaking may seem easy, it takes more than being comfortable presenting in front of a group. There are key strategic and tactical elements to develop a connection and trust with your audience.

From naming your talk to the delivery and engagement of the audience, your talk should be designed to speak to your ideal client. If you’re wanting to authentically connect with your audience, it takes a commitment to the speaking process.

The speaker who prepares will be the one relaxed and at ease. It’s this authenticity that will have your audience wanting more.

What would have you be relaxed and at ease with your next presentation?

If you’re inspired to create an engaging talk that connects and leaves your audience wanting more, join us for Speaker Lab Master Class on Friday, June 18 (with feedback sessions on June 25 and July 16, 2021).

Master Class Information and Registration at: https://excellerateassociates.com/speaker-lab/

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