SpeakerCon 2019 Interview with Brian J Olds of Black Speakers Network

Interview Replay: http://www.spreaker.com/episode/19960427

I had the opportunity to attend the inaugural #SpeakerCon2019 in Arlington, VA in early November. The experience was next level as speakers, authors, and podcasters came together to educate, network and celebrate each other. A conference like no other, SpeakerCon brought people who had connected online to space where they could connect offline. During the conference, I had the opportunity to do a quick interview with Brian J Olds who is the founder and CEO of Black Speakers Network.

Brian shared some great insight into the journey of a speaker, including the process of finding your niche in the speaking industry. The story of his first speaking opportunity will resonate with many that have that fear of speaking. It led him to his passion for helping other speakers to not just get started but to sharpen their skills. I hope you know this, that it is only when you begin to sharpen your skills that you are able to generate revenue from your speaking.

Prior to organizations like the Black Speakers Network, newcomers to the industry had many obstacles. A few of the biggest obstacles were trying to find worthwhile speaking opportunities and receiving speaker training that you could do on your own schedule. These took the dream of speaking and made it an actionable goal. There, of course, are levels of becoming a successfully paid speaker.

When this little introvert finally took a big leap to be a speaker I ran into many of the common pitfalls. That was one of the dominating reasons why I chose to start the #SpeakEasy Podcast in 2017. At the time there was a huge shift and boom. The boom was in online coaching and the shift was that people were going to coaches instead of a therapist, instead of college and even instead of working a job. Coaches became the golden ticket to shifting your legacy and the legacy of your family.

We all felt like Charlie from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory but soon found out that we were the other characters instead. Many were left stretched, engorged with information or our dream had been shrunk. (You know what I’m talking about…don’t you?) I found myself wanting to great but quickly becoming a grump.

Here is why my mood towards being a speaker turned sour:

Didn’t research the audiences that I would be in front of and in return had little to no conversion
No clear niche or goals so I found myself saying yes to everything and that meant spending money without an ROI
I wasted a lot of time, energy and money following the hype (Nuff said)
I stretched myself way to thinly which affected my health and home life
My results didn’t match that of the numerous strategies that I was paying for

When I started to become deliberate in what I was doing as a speaker everything changed. Who and what I listened to played a huge role in me being able to make this shift towards a tailor-made journey for my success.

What will you need to do to create a shift for your own success? Whom will you begin to start listening to or talking to?

More about Black Speakers Network:

SPEAK UP! YOUR AUDIENCE AWAITS…

” No matter if your speaking journey has been a life-long calling or a newly kindled interest, Speak Up! The Ultimate Guide to Dominate in the Speaking Industry is here to serve as your road map to the next level.”

-Brian J Olds, Founder Black Speakers Network

Black Speakers Network (BSN) is a membership-based speaker development and empowerment company with over 5,000 members globally. Our mission is to equip, connect and inspire the next generation of black professional speakers through providing access to speaking opportunities, training, and resources to start or grow your speaking business.