166: Reimagining Our Businesses, Industries, and Public Speaking with Carol Cox and Diane Diaz

We've been hosting virtual office hours on Zoom for our clients and it's been so good to chat, commiserate about the situation we're all in, and talk about strategies for our businesses.

One of the women remarked that she appreciated coming on because none of us was in a state of fear.

Instead, we're focused on how we can meet our clients and audiences where they're at and innovate around our businesses.

This pandemic and the economic fallout is going to affect the speaking and events business (it already has), which means it’s also going to affect my business, Speaking Your Brand, too.

We’re all in a state of uncertainty right now about our businesses, our industries, our communities, the economy, plus the health crisis itself.

We can get tunnel vision - and when that happens it gets hard to see beyond either what you’ve always done or what’s possible.

I’m an optimist by nature, with a strong dash of realism and practicality, so I know whatever changes happen, it will be ok.

Join me and Diane Diaz for an honest and real conversation about:

• What we learned from our improv class and how we’re all improving right now
• How the pandemic will impact Speaking Your Brand’s business, offerings, marketing, and sales
• The future of public speaking and events
• Reimagining our business and industry, even society and government
• Exercises for how you can reimagine your business and industry
• How we can innovate with online events to make them more useful and interesting
• The revenue model around webinars and virtual events (can you charge for webinars?)

About Us: The Speaking Your Brand podcast is hosted by Carol Cox, joined by our top speaking coach Diane Diaz. At Speaking Your Brand, we help women entrepreneurs and professionals create their signature talks and gain more visibility to achieve their goals. Our mission is to get more women in positions of influence and power: on stages, in businesses, on boards, in the media, in politics, and in our communities. Check out our coaching programs at https://www.speakingyourbrand.com.

Links:

Show notes at https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/166

Watch our free webinar “How to Repurpose Your In-Person Presentation into an Engaging Webinar” at https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/webinar/

Get our LinkedIn for Speakers online masterclass at https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/linkedin.

Connect on LinkedIn:

• Carol Cox = https://www.linkedin.com/in/carolcox
• Diane Diaz = https://www.linkedin.com/in/dianediaz

Article mentioned: “Amid Coronavirus Fears, Startups Rethink the Virtual Conference”

Related Podcast Episodes:

• Episode 162: Why We’re #ChoosingWomensVoices – and You Should Too with Carol Cox and Diane Diaz
• Episode 163: A Feminist Approach to Public Speaking with Carol Cox
• Episode 164: Mindful Leadership in Uncertain Times with Puja Madan
• Episode 165: How to Repurpose Your In-Person Presentation into an Engaging Webinar with Carol Cox and Diane Diaz

Become Bookable Live Online Workshop - April 15, 2026
If you want to speak more but you’re not sure where to start or your efforts haven’t produced the results you want, I’m hosting a live online workshop called “Become Bookable: How to Get Speaking Invitations” on Wednesday, April 15th.

A lot of brilliant women assume they just need to pitch themselves more. But the real reason speakers get invited isn’t because they pitch harder — it’s because they’re positioned as bookable.

In this 3-hour interactive workshop live on Zoom, I’ll show you how speakers actually get invited — and help you clarify the positioning that makes event organizers say yes.

As a podcast listener, use the coupon code “Podcast100” to save $100 on your registration.

Learn more and register at https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/bookable