Coaching advice
Hi y’all — first time poster. I could benefit from some guidance but am struggling to find the right coaches and resources for my specific needs and goals.
A bit about me: I was approached to give my first keynote in late 2023. I didn’t envision it as a career pathway at the time, but that one speech has since resulted in numerous organic, paid bookings. I am now eager to take a more proactive role in pursuing opportunities, and just delivered my first TEDx talk this weekend.
By trade I’m an award-winning podcast/narrative audio producer and oral historian. Most of my speaking to date has been at travel conferences centered specifically on Route 66 and cultural preservation. This has been greatly rewarding, but I have more to offer and am ready to grow beyond this niche. I’m open to the college and university market, and have also been told by multiple people that I have real potential in the corporate keynote space. This is a world I’m genuinely interested in pursuing, though I’ll be candid that it’s not my native habitat and I need help translating my work into that language.
For what it’s worth, I’m also a trained stage actor with years of professional performance experience, so the delivery side of speaking is not where I need development. Most of the courses I’ve encountered so far feel fairly generalized and cover a lot of ground I already feel secure in, which is part of why I’m turning to this community.
What I’m really looking for help with is twofold. First, the pivot itself — how do I take a body of work rooted in oral history, cultural preservation, and American storytelling and translate it into something that resonates with audiences and event organizers outside my current niche? Second, the business side of speaking — positioning, packaging, and proactively pursuing opportunities rather than waiting for them to come to me. That second part is frankly foreign territory, and I suspect I’m leaving a lot on the table.
Any coaches, books, courses, communities, or hard-won advice would be genuinely appreciated. Thanks in advance.