103: [Coaching] How to Become a Keynote Speaker with Laura Gallaher

If one of your goals is to become a keynote speaker, this on-air coaching call will help you identify the stepping stones to get you there.

My guest in this episode, Laura Gallaher, was on the podcast about a year ago (episode 54), talking about how to build trust with your teams and audience, based on a powerful workshop experience I had had with her. Laura and I have worked together on her signature talk and, more recently, on her TEDx talk for TEDxOrlando (here's the intro).

Now, Laura wants to know how she can become a keynote speaker, including a paid one, as well as how she can find other speaking engagements where her ideal clients would be in the audience.

In this on-air coaching call, you’ll hear us talk about:

• What Laura and her company do
• Who her ideal clients are and where she can find them
• The types of speaking engagements that are the size and format for the work she does and that will generate the most interest in hiring her company
• How Laura can start positioning herself to be a keynote speaker
• Whether Laura should niche down even more (you may be surprised at my response)
• Speaking topics that could be good ones for conferences Laura wants to attend
• How to title her talks
• And more.

About My Guest: Dr. Laura Gallaher is an Organizational Psychologist, Executive Coach, and Licensed Human Element Practitioner. She began her career at NASA Kennedy Space Center. After the Space Shuttle Columbia exploded upon re-entry in 2003, killing everybody aboard, Kennedy Space Center hired Laura and a team of organizational psychologists to change the cultural influences that were deemed to play a role in the tragedy. She worked for 8 years with NASA to positively influence culture, develop leadership capacity, and improve organizational performance at Kennedy Space Center. She was also hired to help manage the change associated with radical changes in the performance management process and philosophy at Walt Disney Parks & Resorts.

Laura’s company, Gallaher Edge, works with executives who want an edge over their competition by looking inward, and pushing past the edge of their comfort zone in order to increase their awareness, alignment, and accountability. She helps executive teams have conversations they didn’t even know they needed to have. Organizations are just people. Gallaher Edge helps executives learn what it takes to be more profitable by truly putting people first.

About Us: The Speaking Your Brand podcast is hosted by Carol Cox. 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 and workshops at https://www.speakingyourbrand.com.

Links:

Show notes at https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/103

Visit Laura Gallaher’s website and download her free guide at http://www.gallaheredge.com.

Join Laura’s membership program at https://gallaheredge.com/join/.

Listen to Laura’s podcast “Expand Your Edge”.

Laura's TEDx talk: https://youtu.be/RUxT8wuDsG4

Join the free Speaking Your Brand community at https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/join/ or text the word SPEAKING to 444-999.

Sign up for a Strategy Session at https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/strategy.

Ready to create your signature talk and framework? Email me at carol@speakingyourbrand.com or click here to schedule a call.

Say hi to me on Instagram and Twitter: @CarolMorganCox.

Subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Google Podcasts and leave a review!

Related Podcast Episodes:

• Episode 8: [Coaching] Topics Worthy of a Keynote with Danielle Liss
• Episode 11: Creating and Preparing for a Keynote Presentation with LuAnn Nigara
• Episode 45: Your Visibility Roadmap: Build Your Business, Brand, and Influence
• Episode 50: The 3 C’s of Visibility: What It Takes to Get Known
• Episode 54: Building a Culture of Trust with Your Team and Audience with Dr. Laura Gallaher
• Episode 68: Getting Paid to Speak and Negotiating Speaker Fees

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