283: How to Exceed Expectations as a Speaker at an Event with Jill Janecke

If you’re going to be speaking at an in-person conference, this episode has some excellent tips on how you can exceed expectations as a speaker to make it a win-win-win for you, the audience, and the event organizer.

Our guest is Jill Janecke, who is a mental health counselor and has opened and operates 15 offices in South Dakota.

Last year, Jill decided to host a conference for women around mental and brain health and recently held it for a second time.

As the organizer, Jill delivered a keynote address and joined our Thought Leader Academy to develop it with our lead speaking coach Diane Diaz.

In this episode, Diane and Jill talk about:

• What Jill does in her business and why she decided to create her own conference
• What it's like to speak at her own event vs. someone else's event
• The importance of practicing and envisioning your audience
• As an event organizer, suggestions Jill has for speakers
• Why Jill joined our Thought Leader Academy and what her experience has been

Get our free thought leadership workbook that has our event preparation checklist in it: https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/guide/

About Our Guest: Jill Janecke has been working in mental health since 2005 and started Rising Hope Counseling, a private practice, in 2013. Her passion to help people expanded as she created a group practice and has opened 15 offices across the state of South Dakota since March of 2020. Jill yearns to bring opportunities for people to have access to hope. Annually, she presents a Women’s Conference and also provides motivational, educational and inspiring speaking engagements making mental health an approachable topic with easy to learn concepts to apply to anyone’s life. Jill embraces learning to help people achieve their goals and grow from the inside out.

About Us: The Speaking Your Brand podcast is hosted by Carol Cox. This episode is hosted by Diane Diaz, our lead speaking coach. 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/283/

Jill’s website: https://risinghope605.com/jill-janecke-ms-lpc-mh/

Get our free thought leadership workbook that has our event preparation checklist in it: https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/guide/

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

Connect on social:

• Diane Diaz on LinkedIn = https://www.linkedin.com/in/dianediaz
• Jill Janecke (guest) on Facebook = https://www.facebook.com/risinghope605

Jill’s favorite books = “Switch on Your Brain” by Dr. Caroline Leaf: https://www.amazon.com/Switch-Your-Brain-Happiness-Thinking/dp/0801018390/ and “Happy Days: The Guided Path from Trauma to Profound Freedom and Inner Peace” by Gabrielle Bernstein: https://www.amazon.com/Happy-Days-Guided-Profound-Freedom/dp/1401965490/

Jill’s favorite TED Talk = Brene Brown: https://www.ted.com/talks/brene_brown_the_power_of_vulnerability?language=en

Jill’s favorite quote = “Don’t be afraid to fail.”- Sara Blakely, founder of Spanx

Related Podcast Episodes:

• Episode 245: How to Get Selected as a Speaker by Event Organizers with Sarah Soliman

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