"There is so much value in saying no because not every event is the right event for you."  This week, Brittany Richmond sat down with Nathan Wray, an inspirational speaker who speaks on teen mental health and substance misuse prevention. Together, Brittany and Nathan dig into dozens of practical topics including recovering from rough feedback, showing up for and supporting event planners, finding direction in your career as a speaker, and more! "So I'm going to go as far as I can go to help an event organizer to make sure that they're successful. And if that includes setting up 300 c ..read more

“I feel like I've always been Reggie's administrative assistant with our life. So it was kind of a natural transition just to slide into that.” - Patrice Wright  This week, Grant sat down with not 1, but 2 lovely guests to chat about building a speaking business with your spouse! You may remember Dr. Reggie Wright from Episode 471 last fall, but this week, we’re hearing from him AND his better half, Patrice. “My first year as a full time speaker, I wanted her to resign. I wanted her to retire the first year and come on board as my COO. And that was a little bit of some tension there, beca ..read more

"If you can align your expertise with a specific industry and then really bring tremendous value with a clear ROI, you're always going to win the game." This week, Grant’s on the show with TSL legend Erick Rheam. We’re a little late to this year’s state of the speaking industry, but better late than never, right? "It's not necessarily that budgets are cut, but what I would tell you is that event planners, they tend to be intentional with the money that they're spending. Instead of saying "I've got a $100,000 budget for this event," it's "Yeah, I've got $100,000, but I need to see a return on t ..read more

"The hardest part is just getting started, actually, because a lot of people say, well, yeah, I've got to make it perfect. I've got to do all these slides and presentations, curriculum, all this documentation. The best thing to do is just get started." This week, Grant sat down with Michael Patellis, the cofounder of Copecart, to talk about developing a course as a speaker. “A lot of people, they require that discipline of being able to follow a script and follow a syllabus of, okay, I have to do this thing this week, next week, etc. And then there's others that their courses are almost indepe ..read more

"People buy from you when they feel understood, not when they understand you." This week, Grant’s sitting down with TSL alumna Missy West to talk about her unlikely journey to public speaking and how her speaking career has taken off over the last few years. If you're wondering if you can overcome your fear of being on stage and be successful as a brand new speaker, this episode is for you!  “I made six figures in my first full year of speaking” In this episode, Grant and Missy get into:  03:18 How Missy overcame fear and seized opportunities through resilience. 06:20 Why encouragem ..read more

“In some ways, my story is a detriment. There's a pro and a con to having overcoming extreme adversity, because people feel disconnected from it. I've had people tell me multiple times after speeches, man, if I went through what you went through, I'd be as happy as you are. And I'm like, no, man, you're missing the point. The principles I just taught you are what you need to pay attention to.” Grant’s sitting down with the creator of The Miracle Morning, Hal Elrod to talk about how he got into speaking, if and when you need a book to complement your speaking efforts, and how to know if you’re ..read more

 "The biggest mistake that I repeatedly see speakers make is procrastination, just waiting too long to actually start developing the content and too long to practice the delivery." This week, Grant sat down with Eva Daniel to talk about one of the most important parts of being an effective speaker — creating and delivering an engaging speech. Eva is a speaker, storytelling expert, and communications professional, and the founder of the Speak Shop, where she helps speakers produce better content.  "I believe that every speech is alive in breathing and a work in progress. And so we're ..read more

We're so excited to announce the launch of our new podcast, Talk Speaker To Me! Talk Speaker to Me will bring you 10-15 minute episodes every Thursday filled to the brim with super practical, actionable advice. If this sounds like what you're looking for, search for Talk Speaker To Me on Apple, Spotify, and subscribe for weekly updates! P.S. Have no fear, The Speaker Lab Podcast isn't going anywhere. This is just a new way to bring you more content to help you book more gigs and grow your speaking business. -- Welcome to our first episode of Talk Speaker To Me! In this episode, TSL facilitator ..read more

"I remember you kind of making this decision to turn The Speaker Lab into what it is today. You wanted to scale it, you wanted to grow it, make a bigger impact on people, and you really did, man." - Shane Sams Today we’re celebrating a massive milestone on The Speaker Lab Podcast, so, here’s the deal! We invited Grant's good friend Shane Sams to interview Grant about his speaking journey, how The Speaker Lab came into existence, and what it’s been like to podcast for oh, you know, almost a decade. As we celebrate this episode, we want to thank each and every one of you who have subscribed, lis ..read more

We're just one episode away from the big one — #500! As we wrap up this series, we're bringing in the best speakers we know to share their #1 piece of advice for speakers who want to get to the next level. These speakers are the best of the best — combined, they've booked thousands of gigs and made tens of millions of dollars in speaking fees. If you're serious about growing your speaking business, this is an episode you don't want to miss. In just 25 minutes, you'll learn: How to serve the people who hired you well Why you can make more money off the stage than on it Why consistency matters ..read more