Episode 194 Becoming a Successful Speaker with Grant Baldwin (Part 1)

John sits down with Grant Baldwin — speaker, host of The Speaker Lab Podcast, author of The Successful Speaker: Five Steps for Booking Gigs, Getting Paid, and Building Your Platform, Founder and CEO of The Speaker Lab, husband, and dad. Grant shares advice on finding the right speaking engagements, connecting with event organizers, and the importance of relationships, trust, and communication in business. Listen to this episode to learn more: [00:00] - Intro [01:15] - Grant's bio [05:18] - Pursuing hobbies and relationships [06:37] - Grant's journey to becoming a speaker and entrepreneur [09:30] - Grant's transition from ministry to speaking [12:56] - Getting his first speaking gig  [15:53] - How Grant gets clarity on target audiences and topics [18:24] - The value of relationships, trust, and communication in business [20:21] - The big mistake that speakers make [22:09] - Building relationships before selling [24L32] - How Grant improves as a speaker NOTABLE QUOTES:  "The work that I do in a professional sense really matters to me, but none of it matters if I'm not a good husband or not a good father." "I knew I wasn't the best speaker, I knew I wasn't the worst speaker, but I knew there was something there. I wanted to pursue this thing for me." "Good, healthy relationships have hobbies. But if your hobby becomes this all-encompassing, all-consuming… then at that point, it's crossed over into something that becomes unhealthy. And so you have to have a balance of both." "People do business with people they know, like, and trust." "Part of what they're hiring you for is what you deliver on stage. And part of what they're hiring you for is how you are to work with off stage." "You're providing a solution to a problem they already have if they are hosting an event and planning on hiring a speaker. You're not trying to convince them to hire speakers. They are already planning on hiring a speaker." "Part of being a speaker or an entrepreneur, whatever it is that you may do, is you have highs and lows, and big ebbs and flows throughout life." USEFUL RESOURCES: https://grantbaldwin.com https://thespeakerlab.com https://www.instagram.com/gbaldwin/  https://www.instagram.com/thespeakerlab/  https://www.facebook.com/grantbaldwin  https://www.facebook.com/officialspeakerlab  https://www.linkedin.com/in/grant-baldwin/  https://twitter.com/grantbaldwin  https://twitter.com/thespeakerlab  The Successful Speaker: Five Steps for Booking Gigs, Getting Paid, and Building Your Platform (https://a.co/d/fDMEop1) CONNECT WITH JOHN Website - https://thejohnhulen.com     Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/johnhulen     Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/johnhulen     Twitter - https://www.twitter.com/johnhulen     LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnhulen     YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLX_NchE8lisC4NL2GciIWA     EPISODE CREDITS Intro and Outro music provided by Jeff Scheetz - https://jeffscheetz.com/