281: 6 Winning Ways to Open and Close Your Talks with Carol Cox

How should you open and close your talk?

When we work with our clients on their signature talks using our framework, we always make sure to have a strong opening and closing.

In the beginning, you want to make a good impression and set the right tone.

You may also be nervous, so feeling confident about how you’re going to open your talk can make you feel better.

At the end of your talk, you want to leave the audience feeling satisfied AND wanting more.

In this episode, I’m sharing with you:

• 6 ways you can open your talk
• Examples from my own talks and from our clients
• How to choose which way to open your talk depending on the format of the event and the size of the audience
• What to do when you get to the event and you realize your planned opening isn’t going to work
• How to close your talk, including what not to do!

Register for our Summit Speakers Reunion on June 21 (it’s free): https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/reunion/

Speakers from our past Brave. Bold. Beyond. Live Virtual Summits are joining us to talk about:

• What is was like to create a transformational TED-style talk
• Being vulnerable with their story and any concerns they had - and whether they had any vulnerability hangovers afterwards!
• How delivering this kind of talk (transformational vs. informational) helped them to see themselves as a different kind of speaker than they may have been used to
• How the coaching they received from us helped them to create their talks
• What they’ve been doing since the summits

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/281/

Register for our Summit Speakers Reunion on June 21 (it’s free): https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/reunion/

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

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

Related Podcast Episodes:

• Episode 137: The Missing Ingredients in Your Stories [Storytelling Series]
• Episode 153: Threading a Story Throughout Your Signature Talk with Amber Hawley [Coaching]
• Episode 193: Five Kinds of Stories to Share in Your Thought Leadership Content with Carol Cox [Storytelling Series]

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