Not everyone is a fan of speaking in front of a crowd, even a small one. In fact, glossophobia – the fear of public speaking – is so common that it affects roughly 75% of the population.

However, speaking has become an essential skill and tool in the business world, and even I have been using it to grow my own business. As leaders and entrepreneurs, communication is key, and we have to get better at it.

But how does one become an effective and impactful speaker? How can speaking help scale your career?

Join me in today’s episode as I talk about:

• Why you should add speaking to increase visibility for you and grow your business
• The main reasons why people shy away from public speaking
• The steps you need to take to get started on your speaking journey
• How and where you can find places to speak, share your story, and generate leads for your business
• My development programs for anyone who wants to crush the stage and monetize their talks

I always say: your story...

The textbook definition of leadership is “the ability of an individual, group, or organization to lead, influence, or guide other individuals, teams, or entire organizations.” We all know, though, that leadership encompasses so much more than just this.

Our guest today is Sarah Young, founder and CEO of the Zing Collaborative. She spent eight years leading people, projects, and teams in the corporate world before she started her business in 2013. At Zing Collaborative, she partners with thousands of leaders across industries and geographies to go beyond the basic understanding of what a leader is and elevate their leadership capacity.

Here are some of what Sarah and I discuss on today’s episode:

• Her experience in the corporate world and what she saw as “the shadow and the light” that eventually led her to shift to what she is doing today
• Her book, Expansive Impact, and what the concept really means
• Where she sees the biggest gaps both in the corporate...

If there’s one thing I know to be true, it’s that our stories, when shared with the best of intentions, shine a light for others and show them they are not alone. And most importantly, stories provide inspiration, comfort, and hope that there is indeed light at the end of the tunnel.

Today’s special guest is my good friend, client, and LIGHTbeamer, Ashley DeLuca. At a young age and in a short amount of time, Ashley has gone through and come out of a situation that takes others years to overcome. She’s such an amazing person, and I can’t wait to dive into her story as she shares it with us today.

Here’s what Ashley and I talk about in this episode:

• Having huge expectations for herself, doing everything right by society’s standards, and still ending up in grief and sadness
• Standing in the middle of a video game conference, feeling lost, and realizing it was not how she wanted to feel for the rest of her life
• What it means to live life in a...

When I meet and talk to someone who is as passionate about storytelling as I am, you can be sure I’ll bring on that individual as my guest on the podcast. And today, I’ve done just that.

Mark Carpenter is a Chief Storyteller who aims to help people teach, lead, sell, and inspire through intentional storytelling for business. He and I both value storytelling as a skill that’s underrated but so critical, and we hope to encourage more people to share their stories and use them to make a positive impact on their audience.

Listen in as Mark and I talk about:

• How a history book made him realize that he not only loved history (he used to think he hated it!) and that stories have a huge impact on teaching
• Storytelling as a serious skill you should intentionally include in your business if you want to become a leader that people will trust
• My own recent experience with a sales guy who shared his story with the company he was representing and how that made an impact on me
...

Every week, I bring you inspiring inside stories of individuals from different walks of life, as well as prompts and strategies to help you get started on your own storytelling journey. And it is my hope that in some way, you become motivated and encouraged to also look inward, dig out your own inside stories, and realize that when you share them, you shine a light.

Storytelling, however, is not always easy and can be quite daunting. I often get asked: How do you know which parts of your story are the right ones to share, especially in business? Here's an easy 1-2-3 for you!

In today’s episode, I cover:

• The pitfalls to avoid when you share your story
• The three key elements of storytelling and how these can help you craft the kind of story your audience will want to listen to
• What I reminded my husband about serving clients when he recently went away for a business trip
• How being a good storyteller can make you a good leader and help build trust between you and your people

...

Sharing your story can be the one thing you do that changes your life. And that’s exactly what happened to our guest today, Madge Gillen. 

Madge – as she has always been known and called by her family, friends, and even inside the LIGHTbeamers Community and The HUB – began her storytelling journey not too long ago. Shortly after she took my mini-course, Find Your Story, she started to share her story with her audience. And since then, she has gone from doing Facebook Lives to becoming the Rising Star speaker at the 2022 Storytelling Symposium. She has also gone back to using her given name, Amanda Kae, and she shares the story behind this with us today.

So join me and Amanda Kae as we talk about:

• Her empowering transformation from being Madge to becoming Amanda Kae and becoming the person she was always meant to be
• The story of how her grandmother inspired her to embrace who she really was in order to do what she wanted and help others
• Transitioning...

I’ve said it a dozen times over: everybody has a story. And different people have different ways of sharing their story. Some choose to post on social media; others choose to do it in front of a live audience. Still others write a book to reach and inspire more people in a big way.

Catherine Nikkel is a sought-after storyteller, content creator, and ghostwriter known for transforming fact and circumstance into compelling words. She’s written books – biographies and memoirs – for other people and shares with us today her journey to becoming a ghostwriter and doing something she loves.

Join in on my conversation with Catherine as we talk about:

• What ghostwriting really is and how it can help women share their story out into the world
• How Catherine became a ghostwriter, and why she says it’s a privilege to write the words of someone’s story
• The two reasons why women hesitate or stop themselves from sharing their stories
• Her 5-point...

How many of us actually feel like we’re truly connected to our core? How would we even know that we’re aligned with what we really want in life and what we’re meant to do?

Today’s podcast guest, Jenn Henry, felt disconnected from everything and everyone for most of her life – even from herself. So much so that she allowed that disconnection to rule her life, making her dependent on and addicted to different substances and lifestyle choices that almost destroyed her.

I invite you to join me today as I talk to Jenn, find out how and when she finally decided to turn her life around, and discuss:

• How she became an addict, going into rehab, going through the whole cycle several times, and finally telling herself this wasn’t the life she was supposed to live
• What lifestyle recovery is, and how she came to build a program she needed but couldn’t find anywhere
• Being accountable for her whole health recovery and trusting herself, which was the real...

It’s easy to get lost in holiday preparations and all the hustle and bustle this season brings. Don’t get me wrong: I love the holidays, and celebrating with family and friends brings a different kind of energy and joy I think we all need.

But just before we usher in the New Year which is 2023, I’m inviting you to sit down with me to do a simple but meaningful reflective exercise. And my sincere hope and wish is that this gives you a clear vision of what you want your next twelve months to look like.

So grab your pen and paper and get ready for meaningful reflections as I share with you:

• My yearly exercise I do to reflect on where I am today and visualize something better and bigger for the coming year
• The Wheel of Life and the different categories I put in my wheel
• The practice of writing down the emotions and feelings I want to feel in the coming months and why it’s important to leave behind the ones that are no longer serving you
• How going through the...

There are numerous ways to 'get visible' with your story. And on today’s episode of The Inside Story Podcast, I’m giving you 7 fire-cracker ways to amp up your visibility, increase your impact, and build your authority. It doesn’t matter what industry you’re in; if you want to stand out, your visibility should be at the top of your priority list.

Before the year ends, take a quick assessment of these 7 areas and find out where the gaps are in your business. Then let's make a plan and fill those gaps in 2023!

Listen in as I discuss:

• The 7 pillars of visibility and what you can do for each area
• How these 7 pillars can give you the kind of visibility you’ve been looking to implement for your business
• My very own TICS Formula, which you can use to share your story and connect with your audience

The new year is just around the corner. Make a commitment to increase your visibility and expand your reach by sharing your story through the seven areas we...