Episode 269
Why Confident Speakers Still Don't Get Rebooked
Taki Moore recently wrote that conviction is a shortcut to charisma. It's a clever line. It's also only half right, and the other half is quietly costing speakers bookings.
In this episode, John unpacks why confident, polished speakers still fail to convert rooms into clients, referrals, or rebookings. The issue isn't delivery. It's the gap between creating a feeling of value and creating actual change, and those two things are not the same.
What you'll take away:
- Why audiences stop looking for substance when the signals are right (and why that's a trap for strong speakers)
- The Toastmasters case study: total conviction, zero argument, room completely sold
- The Monday morning test: the one question that separates speakers who get applause from speakers who get booked
- How to tell whether you're performing or actually shifting the room
- Why "I loved it" is three words that feel like a win and mean almost nothing
If you're getting great reactions but not great outcomes, this episode is for you.
CHAPTERS
00:00 Conviction and Charisma
00:32 Mmmbop and Emotion
01:28 Toastmasters Wake Up
02:24 Applause Without Action
03:33 Design Monday Changes
04:30 Reframing Takis Quote
05:02 Next Steps and Outro
Next episode: A conversation with multi-Emmy-winning comedy writer Beth Sherman, who is also a professional speaker. Don't miss it. Follow the show so you don't.
Visit https://strategic-speaker.scoreapp.com to take the 2-minute Strategic Speaking Business Audit and find out what's blocking you from getting more bookings, re-bookings, referrals and bigger fees. There's a special surprise gift for everyone who completes the quiz.
Want to get coached for free on the show? Fill in the form https://forms.gle/mo4xYkEiCjqtz9yP6, and if we think your challenge could help others, we'll invite you on.
For speaking enquiries or to connect with me, you can email john@presentinfluence.com or find me on LinkedIn
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Transcript
Taki Moore said something in an email recently that stopped me.
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:Conviction is a shortcut to charisma.
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:Is it though?
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:Now Taki is one of a very small
group of people who's thinking on
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:coach marketing, particularly I have
paid close attention to for years.
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:So when he drops a line like that,
even casually, I tend to sit with it.
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:I've been sitting with this one
for weeks because I think he's half
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:right, and I think the other half is
quietly costing speakers bookings.
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:Lemme tell you why, and it
connects slightly strangely
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:to the song Mmmbop by Hanson.
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:Do you know the song if I asked
you what, Mmmbop actually means?
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:It doesn't.
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:It is a sound and it's been
living rent free in people's
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:heads for nearly 30 years.
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:Well, maybe just mine, but here's
what songs like that understand.
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:We don't experience things
necessarily intellectually at first.
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:We experience them emotionally.
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:The feel lands before the meaning,
and by the time we stop to ask
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:what's actually being said, if
we do at all, we're already sold.
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:Now, that's not just music.
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:That's how audiences work as well.
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:If something feels right, confident,
clear, certain, we assume it is
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:right, because it saves effort.
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:We don't question it, we go with it.
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:And on stage that looks like charisma.
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:Now I saw this play out at a Toastmasters
club, an experienced speaker there, very
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:strong delivery, total conviction, the
room was completely with her in her hand.
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:The problem.
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:The problem was the talk made no
sense, no clear argument, no takeaways,
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:nothing you could actually use.
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:Just brilliantly delivered confidence,
and the room for the most part, didn't
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:question it because when the signals are
right, people stop looking for substance.
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:Now, if you're a speaker who
gets great reactions, gets
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:told, oh, that was brilliant.
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:Nothing happens afterwards.
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:No re bookings, no
referrals, no follow ups.
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:This is going to land because the
issue might not be your delivery.
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:It might be that you've learned
how to create a feeling of value
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:without creating actual change, and
those two things are not the same.
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:So here's the hard truth.
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:If nobody thinks differently after your
talk, if nobody does anything differently.
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:You didn't influence anything you
performed and performance isn't gonna
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:get you booked and rebooked and referred.
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:Now, to be fair to Taki,
conviction does matter.
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:We're wired to trust certainty.
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:If you sound like you know what you're
talking about, people assume that you do.
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:That's the engine.
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:But charisma.
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:Hmm.
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:That's just what it looks
like from the outside.
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:And if you think you are chasing
charisma, you start focusing on how
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:you sound instead of what you change.
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:Because conviction doesn't guarantee
relevance, clarity, or impact.
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:You can be completely certain
and wrong and you can still say
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:something that leads nowhere.
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:And when that happens, you
get applause, not action.
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:I loved it.
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:Three words that feel like a
win and mean almost nothing.
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:So here's the shift.
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:Stop asking.
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:How do I sound more confident?
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:And start asking what changes on
Monday morning because of this talk,
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:not vaguely specifically, what will
someone in that room say differently?
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:Challenge.
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:Differently, think differently.
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:Stop doing, start doing.
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:For example, not they understand
better communication now, but
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:they stopped opening meetings with
updates and started with decisions.
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:That's a change that gets noticed, that
gets you rebooked, gets your workshops
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:booked, and this could be where it
gets uncomfortable because now the
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:question becomes, where am I performing
instead of actually changing something?
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:Where am I trying to impress
the room instead of moving it?
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:That's the line, the line between
speakers who get applause and the
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:speakers who get booked again.
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:So coming back to Taki's line,
conviction is a shortcut to charisma.
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:I'd put it a little differently.
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:Conviction is a shortcut to sounding
like the speaker clients want.
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:It's not a shortcut to being one.
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:Most speakers need more conviction.
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:That's true.
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:But conviction on its own.
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:It can fill a room, it
can build a following.
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:It can also leave people exactly
as they were or even worse off.
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:And if nothing changes,
nothing was delivered.
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:Now if this landed, I've
got two things for you.
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:First, there's a short
diagnostic in the show notes.
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:It'll tell you whether this
gap between reaction and result
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:is what's holding you back.
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:Takes two minutes and you'll
get a straight answer.
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:Second, I'm working with a small
number of speakers right now who are
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:strong on stage, but not seeing that
translate into regular bookings or fees.
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:Now if that's you, the
link to talk is there too.
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:No pressure.
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:You'll know if it fits for you,
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:Do join next time though.
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:I'll be sharing a conversation with
multi Emmy award-winning comedy writer
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:Beth Sherman, who is a professional
speaker and she is fantastic.
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:It's a very valuable conversation.
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:I encourage you not to miss it, so do
make sure you're following the show.
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:And if the show made you think today,
well share it with a friend and go
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:do something worth talking about.
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:See you next time.
