355: Any Presentation You Give should be a Signature Talk - Here's Why [Thought Leadership Series]

We’re continuing our new podcast series on thought leadership.

Today we’re going to take a look at what exactly a signature talk is and what it should be doing for you.

Any presentation you give *should* be a signature talk.

Why?

Because any presentation you deliver should be a combination of your expertise + your thought leadership + your personal brand.

Your signature talk isn’t a bunch of information on your topic.

Your signature talk has a specific purpose for you and for your audience; it should be doing something for you.

You’re not there to pass along information and to train your audience, unless you’re doing a workshop, which if you are, that’s great and you should be getting paid for that.

This is where I see speakers get stuck in what I call the expert trap.

They think they have to train and teach in order to provide value; but when you’re speaking at a conference or at a local group or as a keynote, you’re there to share an experience with the audience, to get them to think about something in a new or different way.

In this episode, you’ll hear:

• Determining what you want your signature talk to do for you

• The elements that make a transformative signature talk

• How to put your signature talk together using our Signature Talk Canvas® framework

• Ways you can repurpose your signature talk

• Whether you can have more than one signature talk

• The signature talk I’m working on

Get our Signature Talk Canvas® framework and a lot more in our 24-page FREE guide and workbook on Developing Your Thought Leadership at https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/guide/.

Links:

Show notes at https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/355/

Discover your Speaker Archetype by taking our free quiz at https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/quiz/

Enroll in our Thought Leader Academy: https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/academy/

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

Related Podcast Episodes:

• Episode 353: The Power of Frameworks: How Sharon Ehrlich Found Her Voice and Message with Sharon Ehrlich
• Episode 288: A Framework for Creating a Signature Talk for Income and Impact
• Episode 290: [Coaching] Get More Leads from Your Presentations with Monica Young

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