180. The currency of speaking - and why you need to invest.

Speaking is currency! It's a powerful medium of exchange.

Are you dealing in $100 notes or sputtering in silver coins?

This episode explains how ...

🪙 You don't need to be a professional to get amazing ROI on your speaking.

🪙 Money making isn't the only goal for investing in speaking coaching.

🪙 Your voice codes priceless value into yourself.

Transcript

Hey hey how are we?

It is so nice being back on the podcast waves.

And this episode will give a whole new perspective on speaking and your voice – or perhaps just confirm what you already know.

And if you’re a Soul Speaker (that’s my signature group coaching program) or you’ve worked with me one on one – you’ve experienced this first hand.

What am I talking about?

The currency of speaking.

And this concept came about because someone said to me, oh I don’t want to be a professional speaker so there’s no point me having a voice coach.

I almost choked on my decaf oat milk flat white.

Because if there’s a perception that voice coaches are only for people wanting to be professional speakers……. That’s like sending up the bat signal for me to don the old headphones and set some things straight.

Your voice is currency, and are you trading in 100 dollars notes or sputtering in silver coins.

Do you give value when you speak? And it’s so much more than the economy of words.

Speaking of words, the word currency mean something used as a medium of exchange and it comes from a Latin word which means “to flow.”

Your voice literally flows from you to another as a medium of exchange.

It’s powered by your air flow. You speak at your best when you’re in flow.

And every time you speak there is a transaction in play. And does it go cha-ching cha-ching?

Stay tuned to find out.

And if you want to learn the actual steps and exercises for how your voice can do this … then take my Make Money While You Speak Challenge. It’s super low cost, super easy to digest and implement and the link to that is in the shownotes.

So speaking is currency – why do you need to invest?

What’s the ROI? It’s actually a bit of a red flag for me when I get asked this on calls, because if you’re not clear on what the value of voice coaching is, then you’re not ready to jump on a call. My calls are those clients ready to move, they want to know is option A or option B best for me, let’s go.

So there’s a few levels with speaking as currency.

The first being direct transactions.

You speak, you get paid. Think of professional speakers like myself, I literally get paid to speak. Voice over artists, commentators, reporters, singers. I’ve heard Taylor Swift’s voice is insured for 85 million (her legs are also insured).

Now if you fall into this category, where you are getting paid to speak – including running workshops, speaking on stage, speaking online - you probably already have a speaking coach, because it is directly a tool of the trade and if you’re serious about your trade you have support. And lots of my Soul Speakers Advanced and private clients fall into this category.

Then it gets a little blurrier. The indirect transactions of speaking. So if you’re a professional perhaps you nail speaking in a job interview, which leads to you getting the job, perhaps you speak well in a performance review and it leads to you getting a promotion, perhaps you nail a conference presentation or a pitch and it leads to a big client.

If you’re a business owner, so you might not get paid to speak at an event, but you make an impression on a room full of your ideal client and it leads to people buying. Perhaps you have a podcast or guest on a podcast and that leads to more sales. Social media video content – unless you’re an influence you’re probably not getting paid to speak on camera, but said speaking is building your audience and growing your business.

Are you starting to see how speaking is currency – and these examples are just once removed. It’s where people really discover the magic of having a compelling voice and being confident on what to say. Because once you experience those results – a customer from a social video, or a podcast, or hearing you at an event.. that promotion, that job .. that’s when you go wow, my voice is a money maker and I didn’t even know.

And you can do the sums on this easily. How many clients would you need to get to cover Soul Speakers for six months? That’s how I do the sums on things I invest in, I back yourself- always and ask myself are the skills I’m going to learn, the connections I’m going to make and the brains trust I can tap into … worth this investment? Then boom. We’re on.

 Speaking is currency and it might be more than once removed…Could you do your job if you lost your voice? If the answer is NO. Your voice is a money maker, it is currency, it is a transaction. So if you’re a coach, how do you communicate with your clients to help them get amazing results, if you’re a teacher or facilitator or team leader or (insert your job here) likely you need to speak to not just DO the job, but be effective in the job – and what would it mean to be more effective in the job? Speaking is currency – are you trading in 100 dollar notes or sputtering away in silver coins?

Now there are some jobs that don’t need your voice. I had to think long about this. I was thinking thought about truckies. But then I remembered when I travelled from Rocky to Brisbane in a semi-trailer with my boyfriend at the time – there and back in one day mind you – there was so much chatter on the radio. And big shout out to you if you are listening to this in the cab of your truck.

Now let’s think about this differently we don’t just exchange in terms of money.

What about your speaking being the currency of affection – helping you have an amazing relationship. The currency of influence – getting people on board your ideas. Value is not just measured in terms of dollars. And in the Make Money While You Speak Challenge, spoiler, the first bit is all about getting clear on your definition of wealth. What is valuable to you?

Many of my clients don’t even care about making money back.

Many put value on their own energy and they want to have more flow in their speaking so they don’t waste said energy on stressing out about their speech. They put value on a good night’s sleep. They put value on not having the guilt of turning speaking opportunities down.

I’ve had a client who wanted to have that exchange, that conversation with her grandchildren, and her voice wasn’t strong enough for them to hear her on Facetime. She valued the connection with her family.

Reputation is a huge one. Many of my clients want to make a good impression in front of people they care about. Whether it’s a speech at a wedding or the opening of a company event. It’s the what will people think of me? I want them to respect me and look up to me as someone who knows what they’re talking about. Someone they’re proud to be friends with or work for or work with.

I just had a client last week who wanted to clear a voice block because she has a big mission here on earth and she needs to rally people for her cause. And she knows she needs to speak and speak well to rally that support.

Maybe it’s about boundaries, far out the value of being able to articulate your boundaries through your voice – when I learnt that one, woah it’s like my voice finally flowed.

So when we talk about speaking as currency – think about what it is you value?

And is your voice – what you say and the way you say helping you get that?

And here’s the kicker…

Speaking is not just a way to exchange value with others, it’s a way to exchange value with YOURSELF.

And this is why I always say caring for your voice and taking care with what you say and the way you say it, is an act of self love.

Your voice does impact yourself.

And I’m diving into some very interesting research in this area.

There’s a woman in New Zealand – Veda Austin, who’s found under a microscope your saliva holds the codes of the last words you spoke. At a molecular level we are 99 per cent water. The new science is showing we are coding our bodies through our voice.

In a few weeks I’m heading to California to experience some cutting edge research around the energy of our voice. I’m going to have my voice analysed to help identify a goal I want to amplify. It’s wild.

Your voice is a powerful weapon – and are you blindly shooting others? Are you shooting yourself in the foot? Or are you shooting for the stars?

You know most people don’t even realise they have this loaded gun, let alone know how to operate it.

You’re listening to this podcast so you are aware of the power of your voice.

The next step is to get the operating manual, so you can be the master of your voice so you can wield its power with positive impact and grace.

So you can experience the abundance and joy of high value exchanges.

The next step is to make a commitment with your intention, your time, your resources.

Take the Make money While You Speak Challenge.

Join Soul Speakers.

Apply to work with me privately.

Learn how to deal in hundred dollars notes.

Learn how to operate the powerful weapon you have.

Learn how to use your vocal currency, that current to create a ripple effect that matters.

Speaking is currency – and not choosing to invest to it, is like actively ignoring the tip of a lifetime.