Have you ever had a moment when you thought, “I think this is going to be an important moment in my life”?

I had one of those earlier this week.

I was at Jon Acuff’s first-ever Stage & Page workshop earlier this week. It was limited to 20 people. It was put on by Jon (one of my favorite speakers and authors), Bill Hampton (the guy who has helped Jon and Dave Ramsey build their businesses), and Caleb Peavy (who has helped Jon with all of his marketing and also helped launch over 200 books).

The three of them dumped everything on the table. It was radically transparent. No questions were off limits. It was two days of:

This is what I did and when. This is what worked. This is what didn’t. This is how I think through building presentations. This is how I found speaking gigs. These are lessons I have learned from things going wrong. This is how I write a book. This is how I sell a book. These are mistakes I made. This is what I would do differently.

They brought in people they know and trust to talk to us. Someone from a speakers bureau. Someone from a publishing company. They each covered various aspects of the business: when services were valuable, when they weren’t, what they look for in speakers or authors, and how payments and fees are typically arranged. It was very educational.

On top of it all was Jon’s deep, genuine, enthusiastic belief that this is the coolest, most unbelievable job in the world.

It exceeded all of my expectations.

I met some incredible people while I was there. A few are like me, at the beginning of their journey. Most are further along the way. Many are already professional speakers and authors who were there to get better.

There were a ton of things I learned and many things I need to do, but two were the clearest priorities.

 

First, get specific rather than general.

At the Meet & Greet the night before the workshops began, I ended up chatting with Caleb, Jon’s marketing guru. He asked me what I hope to do. “I want to speak and write on leadership. I want to help leaders be better leaders.”

I wish I had a picture of his expression. It was somewhere between confused and I-just-smelled-sour-milk-and-might-vomit.

“Oh no. That isn’t going to work. That’s way too general.” He went on to explain that people often fear that if they get specific, they will reduce their opportunities. He said it was the exact opposite. Getting specific focuses attention. It increases awareness.

After a few more minutes of chatting about my background, he suggested I concentrate on leadership in the technology space. I have continued to work on it since then and have come up with a few things.

• The Human Side of Technology | The more technology advances, the more important our humanity becomes
• “I help technology leaders lead people – not just technology – by developing communication, culture, and care.”

You can see what this looks like on my LinkedIn profile here.

This specificity has even helped how I feel about what I am doing. I feel more confident because I see the connections to my experience and my passions more clearly than when it was general.

 

Second, create a speaker reel.

It’s a standard, expected element. Over time, I will be able to gather video from speaking events, but until I gather enough, I will need to create one by asking friends to come listen to me speak while we record it. I’ll throw in a few wardrobe changes and — presto! — speaker reel. (Let me know if you are interested in being part of the audience!)

 

There is much more to do, but these two things are the most important.

One step at a time.

Thank you for being part of this journey with me. I am increasingly excited about the road ahead.