291: Speaking for Income & Impact: The 3 Key Elements You Need (and What’s Getting In Your Way) to Go from Commodity Speaker to Thought Leader with Carol Cox

If I take a look at your slide deck or presentation outline and I can’t tell that the content is yours (vs. another speaker on your topic), you’re in danger of being a commodity speaker.

Commodity speakers are undifferentiated and interchangeable.

This means that, as a commodity speaker, it will be harder for you to attract higher-profile speaking engagements, raise your speaking fees, and generate quality leads at your presentations.

As more conferences, groups, and associations are returning to in-person events, they need speakers who can deliver engaging content and present ideas that get them to think differently, not speakers who share the same-old stuff their audiences have heard on countless trainings over the past few years.

As a thought leader, you will have a much bigger impact on your audiences and your speaking will be an effective marketing channel and revenue stream in your business.

How do you know if you’re in the commodity speaker category? What can you do to position yourself as a thought leader? Listen in!

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• The moment I recognized I was a commodity speaker and what that had cost me
• The changes I made, the results I got, and what I learned that surprised me
• 3 key elements you need to go from commodity speaker to thought leader
• What’s getting in your way from making this shift, including some tough love about all the time and energy you’re spending on social media
• 3 things you can do now to start making this shift to thought leadership
• Examples of how our Thought Leader Academy clients have shifted from commodity speakers to thought leaders

Join our Thought Leader Academy to develop your speaking skills and create your signature talk: https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/academy/

This is the audio from a live training we did on Crowdcast last week. You can watch the video at https://www.crowdcast.io/e/syb-3-elements-speaking-income-impact.

About Us: The Speaking Your Brand podcast is hosted by Carol Cox. At Speaking Your Brand, we help women entrepreneurs and professionals clarify their brand message and story, create their signature talks, and develop their thought leadership platforms. Our mission is to get more women in positions of influence and power because it's through women's stories, voices, and visibility that we challenge the status quo and change existing systems. Check out our coaching programs at https://www.speakingyourbrand.com.

Links:

Show notes at https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/291/

Apply for our Thought Leader Academy: https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/academy/

Connect on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carolcox

Related Podcast Episodes:

• Episode 290: [Coaching] Get More Leads from Your Presentations with Monica Young
• Episode 285: 4 Speaker Archetypes: Learn How to Market and Sell Your Speaking with Carol Cox
• Episode 271: Providing Transformation vs. Information with Carol Cox

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