Are you ready to step up to the mic? In today’s episode, I’m welcoming Dr. Stephanie Dorworth back to the podcast, this time to talk about creating impact as a speaker. We’re diving into the details of her Speaker Spotlight event, plus the power of on-stage experiences to amplify your message. 

On Quianna Marie Weekly, we’re chatting about business growing pains, finding genuine connections, and celebrating wins of all sizes through the lens of a photographer at heart. Sprinkled throughout stories and interviews with past clients, photographers and other business owners this podcast is designed to help you step into your purpose and to truly create a life you’re proud of, a life worth photographing and sharing.

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Today’s episode is brought to you by The Green House, my resource garden for photographers! Let me help you AMPLIFY your heart online and in real life to turn bridesmaids into future brides through templates, workshops, and freebies!

Review The Show Notes:

The Creation Of Speaker Spotlight (4:34)

Creating A Space Where Everyone Feels Like They Belong (9:03)

Who Joins The Speakers At Speaker Spotlight (13:47)

How Speaker Spotlight Leads To Future Speaking Gigs (18:24)

The Power Of Speaking On Stage (23:33)

What To Expect From The Speeches (26:31)

Making A Bold Ask To A Keynote Speaker (32:44)

Marketing Yourself As A Speaker (40:22)

The Future Of Speaker Spotlight (46:07)

Connect With Stephanie (50:28)

Mentioned In This Episode:

Episode 108 Making Money With UGC Featuring Stephanie Dorworth: quiannamarieblog.com/2023/10/16/108-making-money-with-ugc

Connect with Dr. Stephanie:

Website: sunnycreatorco.com

Dr. Stephanie Instagram: instagram.com/stephdorworth

Connect with Quianna:

Website: quiannamarie.com

Instagram: instagram.com/quiannamarie

Review the Transcript

Quianna: According to Google, the definition of microphone is an instrument for converting sound waves into electrical energy variations, which may then be amplified, transmitted, or recorded. Now that’s just the stuffy Google version. My version of that definition to me is having a microphone in your hand is a beautiful way of speaking your truth.

Sharing stories, empowering and inspiring the room. It shifts the energy, turns your thoughts into words that then make a ripple effect of feelings, emotions, and actions around you. Imagine those sound waves that turn into energy shifts that not only impact the room while you’re speaking into the microphone, but with technology today, having a video recording of your speech to then reach even more people online is where the magic happens.

Yes, yes, yes. Being in the room, hearing these lessons and vulnerable stories is the place to be. We have to get in the room right. But having the opportunity to amplify your voice online makes an even bigger impact with lasting impressions. Today I have the honor. I’m introducing you to one of my business besties, Steph.

This will be her second time back on the podcast and I’m honored to bring her back to chat all about Speaker Spotlight. She was recently on the podcast and we chatted all about the power of video. So now we’re going to literally amplify that, light it on fire and chat all about her recent event, the speaker spotlight.

So she just wrapped up her third speaker spotlight and I’m confident this is an opportunity more aspiring and successful speakers need. Speaker Spotlight is a Phoenix, Arizona based event designed for speakers, leaders, and business owners to step into the spotlight, sharpen their voice, and amplify their message.

Not only does Steph curate an empowering stage experience, but she’s also behind the camera capturing powerful videos that help speakers walk away with assets they can use immediately to become well known in the speaker industry. Steph has built an incredible reputation for blending strategy with creativity, helping entrepreneurs be seen, get booked, and make genuine connections that lead to future referrals and even more opportunities.

Together we’re chatting all about the behind the scenes of the event, the power of getting in the room and asking some bold asks, like emailing Jen Gottlieb’s team to ask her to be a key note speaker, and she said, yes. Oh my goodness. I am still a fangirling over the fact that I got to meet Jen. Holy smokes.

So let’s dive right in with a warm welcome and tons of confetti. Please welcome Steph Dorworth!

Welcome to Quianna Marie Weekly, a podcast for creatives who love to celebrate wins big or small by dancing in the kitchen. Photographers who are excited to. Serve their clients and friends who are ready to chase really, really big dreams.

You can find all of the resources mentioned in this episode at QuiannaMarie.com/podcast. Join me as I share weekly motivation, chat about growing pains, finding genuine connections, and celebrating your wins. Through the lens of a photographer at heart, come join me for a dance party. Ready? Let’s go.

Alright. All right. Welcome back to the podcast. Oh my goodness. Stephanie, it is such an honor to have you back here on the show for a second time. And right now we are in the hype, the excitement, all of the fun energy swirling around the most recent speaker spotlight. You’re editing videos. I see those popping up and delivering.

I just sent over the gallery to you, girl. I am so impressed. This event was fantastic.

Dr. Stephanie: Thank you. I know y’all listening. Hello. I’m so excited to be back on the pod with Kiana and Kiana. Literally like an hour ago, just sent me the photos from the event. I am blown away. She always over delivers and I couldn’t do Speaker Spotlight without Kiana.

You’re just the perfect woman to capture every single aspect of the event, so thank you for having me, and thank you for being such a big part of the event.

Quianna: Yes, absolutely. It is such an honor, and especially coming back for a third time. This was a. Triple like Decker. This was just so incredible. It’s been so fun to watch it grow and expand.

So I wanna know from you, Steph, what was the spark that made you want to create Speaker Spotlight?

Dr. Stephanie: Speaker Spotlight is not even a year old. The first ever Speaker Spotlight was last September, 2024. It hasn’t even been a year, but there’s already been three events. Because it was an event that needed to be birthed, and somehow I got the download and the idea and made it happen.

I’m an action taker, so the, the little spark or the download happened when I was at the expanders retreat. I’ve shared this story on my Instagram, but I’ll kind of share it with your listeners here in case they have no idea what Speaker Spotlight is. So I was attending expanders, it’s a retreat hosted by Lindsay Marie, and we were in California sitting in this room of like 30 other, really high level, like seven figure earning business women, and I signed up to attend this retreat.

Feeling a little out of place, like I didn’t deserve to be in that room. I didn’t make as much as these women, I wasn’t as successful. All the things, you know, imposter syndrome, and I’m sitting in the back of the room and instead of Lindsay just starting the event and getting right to it, she took at least an hour for every woman in that room to get the microphone in her hand to say who she was, share why she joined that retreat.

Quianna, I sat back there with chills because I saw these women go from sitting there feeling the way I felt like they didn’t belong. Oh, I don’t know if I’m supposed to be here. And they got the mic in their hand. They lit up. They felt seen. They felt heard. They felt the love women were watching, listening and really listening to their story and why they were there.

So I’m just sitting there observing. One of the last women to go, but as soon as these women got the mic, it’s like they lit up and when their turn was done, they felt like they belonged, they felt loved, they were ready to start the event, all because they had a moment with the microphone. These mics are powerful.

And so after that expander retreat, I went home and I had this idea starting to simmer, but I just kind of let it, you know, simmer on the the, so for a little bit. Not really sure what it was or what it could be, but I knew some way I wanted to use my videography skills to capture women with a microphone speaking some way somehow.

And eventually, after a few months of just letting the idea simmer, I started to put it to paper and write more of a business plan. Okay, what could this event look like? What would it include? What can I do to make it a really special one of a kind event? And. Then it happened September last year, and there’s now been three events and for the people listening that have no clue, you haven’t even seen any videos.

You’re like, what is Speaker Spotlight? Here’s the gist. It’s a one day event for iconic women to get to book a spot as a speaker and get 15 minutes on stage to shine, share their story, get it all captured on video, and photo be by Kiana. Get testimonials from the audience and just have a full day of speaking and also supporting other female speakers there so you can walk away with all of the marketing materials and receipts.

You need to book more speaking gigs. That’s what it’s about.

Quianna: Yes, I feel like that is like a. Quick little mic drop moment. Like this is the vision, this is what you created. And Stephanie, it is so much more than that. It is so much more like to be in the room. And so this is, this is where I would love to take the conversation because you had this download, you felt this realization, you understood that there was something missing in this industry or.

Just that women were craving this opportunity to hear themselves speak right, to feel elevated on stage, and just know that they belong. And so to witness you, literally for me, as you’re behind the scenes bestie, capturing all the content and just watching the day unfold, you’re doing it all. You’re hosting, you’re recording the event, and there’s just so much love and attention to detail.

And one thing that I really wanna highlight is the fact that you have curated this safe. Encouraging and just beautiful space. How are you, like how are you doing that when you’re juggling all these things at once? How are you making every single woman that, and we had a couple gentlemen this last time, but every single woman come through that door.

Feeling like they belong and feeling safe, that they, they can step on stage and possibly make a couple mistakes, or maybe they walk in the room and know no one, but after leaving that event, they feel like they belong. So can you share a little bit more about that magic touch that you have?

Dr. Stephanie: Oh. Have you ever like, walked into an event you signed up for and you didn’t feel like you belonged, like you weren’t good enough?

Um, you weren’t dressed up enough, you didn’t know anyone. You felt out of place. I’ve done that many times and I am someone who in the past has struggled with some severe social anxiety. I don’t talk about it a lot ’cause I have, for the most part, overcome it. It still creeps up here and there, but, you know, I, I was the shy girl and even into my late twenties, early thirties, social anxiety would creep in when I’d walk into an event, especially if I didn’t feel any love.

If I didn’t feel seen or heard right away. I’d really start to doubt why am I here? I’d go to the bathroom and like hide in the bathroom or pretend like I was on the phone. So for me, especially, I share that because for me especially, it’s very important that every single woman in the room at Speaker Spotlight feels immediately seen.

Feel so heard, feel so loved right away. Like I just wanna wrap my, literally, I wrap my arms around them, run up, hug them, give them so much love. The first time I see every single woman that attends. Because I never want any woman there to feel out of place. I really want everyone to feel so loved. So I purposely do things when curating this event to make sure that everyone feels that love.

For example, this event, Charlene Bayer, she was the sponsor and she was my welcome girl. It was her task to stand near the front door and specifically give each woman that walked in so much love immediately. Then when I saw them, more love, more hugs, more support, more compliments, so they feel truly seen right away.

And then this event, I also did something where in the very beginning I had every woman stand up, said her name, gave her gratitude for being there. Like I do those things purposely because I want everyone to feel like they belong there. And then you know, more than just feeling seen and heard. I also want them to feel safe.

And when a woman signs up and trusts me enough to invest in Speaker Spotlight and she’s planning to share her story, there’s some vulnerable stories that get shared. You’ve been there for all three of them. You’ve heard some vulnerable. To women’s journeys, some traumatic experiences, stories, things they’ve been through that have formed them into who they are, and I hold that, the pressure of making them feel safe enough to share those stories.

With such fragile hands, like I do not want to be the one that gets in the way of them feeling uncomfortable. Sharing those stories, like I need to make sure that these women feel so safe and loved, that they can share whatever is on their heart and they’re not gonna be judged. They’re not gonna be made to feel like they shouldn’t have said it.

Everything that comes out of their mouths, they know that it’s a safe place to share. I think it really comes down to the energetics of the event and just. Some the things I do to make them feel comfortable and make sure it’s all women in that area where the stage is. So we really all feel safe with sharing our stories, some of which are a little scary to share.

So if you feel safe, then you’re gonna be more comfortable sharing it without the fear and anxiety that comes along with speaking in general.

Quianna: Yes. No, this is so beautiful and I’m so grateful that you are providing this space. And, and women need to truly feel that, right? We hopefully feel safe, comfortable provided for in our own homes.

Unfortunately, not all of us feel that way. We’re working towards that, but having a space where you can walk in the room and not know anybody, you are really pulling out all of the stops so they feel comfortable. They feel welcome. So tell me a little bit more about who’s in the room. So we’ve mentioned that we have, we have you making sure that you are directing, hosting, and just like being the hostess with the mostest and also recording.

So we do have cameras in the room and you mentioned sponsors. Who else is in the room besides speakers?

Dr. Stephanie: I have so many people always asking Steph, can I be there? I wanna attend. I don’t wanna speak, but I wanna attend. And the thing is, I don’t let just anyone pop in the room. I’m sorry ladies, but part of it being such a curated, safe environment is me being a little picky and choosy about who I led into the room.

And for good reason because like we said. I want the women to feel comfortable sharing their stories, and I want every single woman in the audience to be someone that I know, without a doubt will be comfortable sharing a hug with them after giving them a positive affirmation saying that they, they love them, like the women in the audience are the women that are meant to be there because they’re meant to be like the cheerleaders.

They’re the women who support other women because of that mission. Typically, the women in the audience are one of two people. They’re either past speaker Spotlight speakers who have already spoken. They already know what it feels like to be on that stage and share their story and how vulnerable that can be.

And they had two cheerleaders themselves, so they know the importance of being a positive loving light. And the other women are friends who I know, who I know are comfortable giving that love and those positive affirmations. So it’s really a lot of very specifically curated women in the room who are lifting other women up.

We rise together, especially as female speakers. It’s such a male dominated industry, so us female secrets, we gotta stick together. And so I only let women in the room who I know are going to like really love and support each other so we can all rise together as speakers.

Quianna: Oh my gosh. And I just think that’s genius, especially being in the room with a handful of very familiar faces.

Some women that I’ve never met before has just been such a gift, and I love that you are being picky and choosy, right? I mean. It reminds me of just your daily life and having a strong tribe and circle around you of women you can trust and lean on. And I’m just so happy that you are being this mega connector that allows the, the guests, the speakers, the cheerleaders, everyone to truly leave with new friends, like leave with hype girls in life, in business, like it can these connections.

They continue. They don’t just stop once we give each other a hug and a cheek kiss goodbye. Like we’re connected now and it is just, oh yeah. So awesome. They’re

Dr. Stephanie: deep connections. And I wanna add, I specifically keep the event really small because I then I know with so much confidence that every single woman is gonna get time to meet and talk to everyone in the room.

I curate and craft these events that I want. For me, I prefer small events that are under 30 people because I know I’ll get one-on-one time with everyone in the room and really be able to walk away saying I now have a, now have a couple new friends. If it’s a big event, I love big events too, but I don’t wanna host a huge event and it’s really hard for me to attend big events ’cause it’s sometimes overwhelming.

There’s too many people and I feel too much pressure, like I need to see this person, this person, this person, this small event. It just feels safer to me for some reason. So I do purposely keep it small without just inviting the public in as an audience for that reason as well. I think small and intimate allows for deeper connections.

Quianna: I a hundred percent agree, especially as you are sharing these vulnerable stories. Right? All of the things. Oh my goodness. Okay. So I would love to shift the conversation to visualizations. Okay. When you step on stage, you are literally declaring that you are a speaker. You’re not thinking about it. You’re not, oh, maybe one day or, oh, somebody asked me to speak in a mastermind, so I guess I’m a speaker now, right?

Like, those are all incredible opportunities, but when you step on stage, you are, you’re literally declaring that this is who I am. I am now a speaker. I just, I love that. And so I would love to take the conversation a little bit deeper. What is it about your stage and speaker spotlight that makes it a catalyst or a launching pad for future speaking gigs?

Dr. Stephanie: I see. I love that you said launching pad, ’cause that’s kind of what I was visualizing as well. It’s like so many women have it on their hearts to start sharing their story more, their story more, and that often begins in a small, simple way, like hopping on their Instagram stories and Instagram live a reel.

Maybe progresses to hopping on a podcast like we are right now, right? And eventually speaking in some small rooms. However, a lot of times it’s not always like the best environment or space to capture it so that you can start sharing the photos and videos of your experience and show people that visual proof that you can be a speaker.

So I’ve really crafted speaker Spotlight. To be a blank slate of a launching pad instead of hosting the event in a room that was like a huge theatrical stage and said, speaker Spotlight everywhere and red and all my branding. I said, no. I want this to be a blank slate so it can be very crisp, clear footage of these women on a stage, and it can match with their own branding and their own vibes.

So I specifically keep it all white vibes, white stage, white lighting, no branding behind them. And I want it to feel like it’s like. The birth, call it, it’s like the birth of their speaking career, but it is like this launching pad. It’s like their little first little baby speaking on a a stage and getting it all captured with just this beautiful, clean blink slate for them to start their speaking career with.

So. That’s kind of visually like why I’ve crafted the stage and the setup that way so that they can kind of add their own brand colors and vibes through what they wear and what they share and how they edit it and such. I want them to be able to have footage that they can use. Everywhere, and I’m sure we’re gonna talk more about that, like the ability to market yourself with all these things after speaking.

I’m sure we can get into more details of that later. But for now, yeah, I think it was just really important to me to visually give them a clean, beautiful space to be able to get great footage of them speaking. I remember, let’s see, it was earlier this year, I was hired to speak at an event. I was told there was gonna be video there already, so I said perfect.

Got my hair and makeup done. Looked great. It was the biggest speaking event I had done in a while, and I was trusting that the video would turn out fine, right? And ultimately it came back like over a month later. Took so long it was blurry and grainy and had all of their branding behind me. Right. And so it just kind of, this is a little disappointing because I wanted to use that as one of my biggest speaking gigs and use it as, um, with photos and videos to market myself as a speaker.

But I was disappointed. So it’s my goal as a videographer for women to give a beautiful blank slate stage. And beautiful high quality footage to these women who sign up to speak at my event.

Quianna: I think that’s brilliant and I’m so happy that you pulled in your own experiences where you’re looking around and thinking, okay, this is working, this is not working.

This is how I can make it different. So smart.

Dr. Stephanie: Good point. Yeah, like I’ve, I’ve filmed a lot of events and speakers now the past two years, so I know it looks good and what doesn’t look good. I’m trying to set these women up, women up for success.

Quianna: I wanna talk a little bit more about this stage that you’re creating and going back to the launching pad, because I have had the honor of meeting these incredible speakers in the room.

Some of them have, this is their first time stepping on stage and being micd up to share their stories, and some are very well seasoned speakers that are currently getting paid and paid well to speak. But they may not have the footage or really it’s just an opportunity to practice, and I don’t even wanna use the word practice.

It really is just standing in your conviction, right? Like it’s just standing in your power. So let’s go back to that opportunity that is right in front of you, being in a circle in a small space with these powerful. How are these connections, like the ripple effect after this, right? Because I mean, you get to make these connections where people are pitching for past opportunities.

All these events are swirling around. There’s so much power in being in the room and being connected to these like super connector ladies. So let’s chat about that. What are some of the benefits of speaking on the stage?

Dr. Stephanie: Because it’s such a small room. People are listening to every single word These women are saying.

I just had this flashback to the last speaker spotlight in January. I remember Kayla Adamson had just spoken and she’s like, something like, you know what? Stuff I’ve, I’ve spoken in front of hundreds of people at conferences. And this was harder at Speaker Spotlight ’cause I knew that every woman in the audience was listening to what I was saying at conferences.

Some people are like on their laptops, they’re like distracted. They’re talking whatever. Secret spotlight. The women are truly listening, truly acknowledging you on stage so they can feel it. They are relating to your stories. You get off the stage and you have women just com immediately connect. Because we’re actually listening to each other.

So for example, um, this past event, Adriana on BOGO was fantastic. She shared about how she’s a divorce coach and she shared some stories about how she’s been married twice, but really only had ever had one husband. And it was so powerful to hear and she got off stage. Immediately. One of our friends, Jillian Murphy, goes up, gives her love and praises, and then is like, I wanna hire you.

Like, that’s what happens at Speaker Spotlight because these women are so attentive and so supportive of each other. When you hear someone’s story and you relate to it, you can’t help but wanna work with them, right? So there’s so many beautiful connections being made, whether it’s it’s new friendships, blossoming.

Or old friendships getting closer, or new business relationships developing, or women meeting that have podcasts and they decide they wanna get on each other’s podcasts. Um, we have a lot of women who sign up who are authors. For example, coach Court is launching a book soon and we’re all like, okay girl, we’re ready to like, you know, help you launch this book, share it with everyone.

So this is more than a one day event and. Being in the room of speaker Spotlight is so powerful because it is forever friendships, forever new connections in which we’re all supporting each other and there’s no competition. It’s literally us just saying, I love you so much. I’ve now heard your story and seeing you like there at all on stage.

Like just share it all. And we just love each other so much that we can’t help but wanna support each other.

Quianna: So one question that just popped in, ’cause I’m just obsessed with all of this. For someone who has never been before. What are the speeches about? What, who, what, what, what are they saying? And if you can sum it up, what can they expect?

Or if someone is interested getting on your wait list. Trying again. I know we have so much to talk about, but what are some of the stories? These are, these are vulnerable shares. Do you have a curriculum or like a checklist or any type of, um, guidelines that the speakers need to kind of stand by?

Dr. Stephanie: I love that you asked that because.

You would expect me to say yes, Kiana, I’ve got a checklist for those ladies because if, if you know me, if anyone that knows me, I love a checklist. I’m an organized girly. I like to have control over like every aspect of everything. So it might shock you when I say that. When the women decide what to say on stage and they have 15 minutes to get on stage.

I have zero rules for them. No checklist. I say, it’s your stage to shine. Girl. Say what you want. I don’t give them any rules. I, I don’t tell them what they can say and what they can’t say. I really leave it up to them to decide what they’re comfortable sharing and because I know it’s such a small, safe, loving space, I think so many of them immediately know that I can go deep.

I can go deep. For example, for me, at the first speaker Spotlight, I took 15 minutes because I wanted to do a speech. I was new to speaking, I wanted my time. I said, so I took a whole spot and I did my speech and I shared parts of my story that were very vulnerable, that I had never shared publicly. I only told a couple close friends what had happened with the falling out between my parents and I.

So on that stage, I, I shared more details. It was scary and I teared up a little bit, but it felt, it felt so good afterwards to get it out and just know that some of my friends better understand now why I am the way I am. It’s just, it’s, it’s really freeing to be able to get your story out. This past event five days ago, one of the women, um, she shared a very vulnerable story about how growing up she had a lot of.

Judgment on the way that her skin looked, how pale she was. People called her Casper and she teared up. She actually struggled to get that story out. It was hard for her because she has spoken once before and got on stage and just froze and couldn’t really do it. So seeing her up there actually get through telling that story, I was like, proud mom moment back there.

Like, oh my God, yes girl. You did it. You did it. You didn’t freeze up. And at the same time, just seeing everyone in the audience like. Oh, they’re, they’re like, you got this girl. Like she’s, she’s taken some moments to pause and gather herself, but the, the audience and the women are so loving and cheering her on and she got through it and she did it.

And Kiana, after her speech, I sat down with her and she was a new woman. She was Oh, she felt so, so good to finally tell that story. She had so much more confidence. She said, Steph, I didn’t think I could get through it. I did it. I’m ready to start speaking more now, like I’m ready to get better at as as a speaker and practice more.

And she just felt so much freer. And I could see that in the way she was moving, the way she was interacting with the women, like she was a new woman. And I was so proud of her. So, you know, to go back to your question, what do the women say on stage? Well, it’s really up to them, but a lot of them love to share their story and what molded them into the woman they are today and how that has impacted their mission with their business, with their coaching business or brick and mortar business, or the services they offer, how their story has impacted their mission.

And why they are so passionate about what they do now. That’s typically what most women share. And it’s really, really beautiful. ’cause everyone’s speech is so different. You know, you’ve, you’ve been there over all three of ’em. It’s like they’re all a little different, right?

Quianna: They are. And you know, it’s so funny when Jillian first walked in Jillian Murphy, when she walked in, of course, you know, we’re screaming like, you know, high school besties.

Ah, we’re just so excited to see each other. And she asked me, she’s like, girl, what’s like, what’s going on? Right? Because this is her first time attending, and she wasn’t too, she was a cheerleader. And I told her I, yes, she was a cheerleader. And I told her, I’m like, Jillian, I said, you are literally gonna leave a better person.

Like, I know, like, like I know that’s like really heavy or like a bold, bold statement, but I straight up told her, I said, you’re gonna hear these stories that are gonna rock your world. And the best part is, is, and this is what I was so excited to share with you today too, is. I get nervous, right? Like I felt like it was, you know, bringing back to a past life.

It feels like a wedding day to me, right? Like I have my own checklist, I have my needs, right? Making sure my batteries are charged, making sure I have everything I need, my water pack, my snacks. I anticipate all the fun and energy. That’s gonna be a exchange. But the one thing that always blows me away is the stories.

The vulnerable shares, the laughs, the tears. And we literally walk away with like, not just with those deeper connections and these new friendships, but actually feeling inspired and wanting to take action and, and reflecting on our own life and our choices and our daily habits and our education and investments in our business.

Oh my gosh. Like that. Like, that’s why I said it was pretty bold to tell her you’re gonna leave a better person. But that’s how it feels. That’s how the energy feels at Speaker Spotlight.

Dr. Stephanie: Thank you for sharing that. Again, it feels so good to put on an event that is more than just the cute outfits and the videos and the content.

It really is changing the lives of the women who are speaking as well as the women attending and hearing their stories.

Quianna: Well, I wanna chat about the keynote speaker because when you announced that Jed Gottlieb was coming, heart racing, like sweaty pits, I was like freaking out thinking, oh my gosh, Steph, this is huge.

So I, I wanna know like, how did you even go about inviting her? Like how was that bold ass? Because having this event and having that microphone in your hand, like definitely like elevates a lot of confidence, but holy smoke, this is a big deal. So how did that even begin?

Dr. Stephanie: So first of all, when it comes to crafting these events, each speaker spotlight has a little different energy to it.

For this one, I was noticing that more of the women signing up initially had a little more experience speaking, so I wanted to bring in a keynote speaker that was a little more polished experience and could perhaps talk a little more strategy on stage too, to help these women who were already getting booked to speak, but perhaps help them get booked and get paid even more to speak.

I really curate who I ask based on who is signing up. So I noticed she was signing up and I have a couple names in the back of of my mind of who I might ask, and I was really feeling drawn to ask Jen Gottlieb. The reason is I learned a lot from her this year. I was in her program called Stage Leaders, and it’s an eight week like group coaching program.

To help speakers craft their message and learn how to get booked as a speaker more. And I just transformed so much in my speaking abilities and marketing myself as a speaker that I knew she was the dream keynote for this event. And here’s the thing, as women, it can feel really scary to make any ask, especially like, I’m eldest daughter, miss Independent.

I don’t need to ask for help from anyone. So to ask anything is really scary for me. But I am leaning into that more this year, and the reward of making the ask more has been really beautiful. So even though it’s scary, I’m getting better at it. In Jen Gottlieb’s case, I shot her team an email ’cause I knew that’s how she liked to be pitched.

I learned that in stage leaders, so I sent her team an email. And personally for me, I don’t like to use a template, a chat. GPTI don’t make it businessy at all. I go straight for the heart. Jen, I feel so deeply you are meant to be the keynote. Here’s why. Like right to it. The women in the audience are gonna be the perfect women for you to speak to that might wanna join stage leaders and all these things.

So I really tee it up. Writing like a love letter to her heart and also making it clear why, as a businesswoman she should consider saying yes. Because there’s many benefits to not only being the keynote at Speaker Spotlight, but also getting to meet other women that might wanna hire you or join your program.

Um, and you get all the content and photos from Kiana and videos from me, like there’s a lot of benefits. So I always make sure I throw that in so that in their business mind they’re like, okay, yeah, this feels good. This makes sense. That’s how it happened this time around. Shot him an email and right away it was like YES Yes.

Come in like, no doubt, no negotiating, just like, boom. I’m like, oh, right. So I, I immediately called, uh, Danielle McKinley, you, you know, she’s one of my besties. I was like, Danielle, you’re not gonna believe who just said yes, like freaking out. It was a really wonderful moment because. Not only does it confirm, okay, Steph, good job.

You made the ask and sometimes you get rewarded for making a scary ask. So that felt good. And second, it just felt really good to feel seen by her who, she’s a teacher and mentor to me. So for her to see me say yes to me, to be there and support all of the women at Speaker Spotlight, it felt really good and it was so fun.

It happened,

Quianna: and I do wanna highlight too, this is a testament to you creating this event. You had the footage, you had the experience from two prior events that you could ex, you know, if she had any curiosity or was curious about what it would look like or possibly what the benefits would be for joining.

Oh yeah, I

Dr. Stephanie: sent her a video too, so she could, right?

Quianna: Yes. And you know, and I feel like this is a beautiful reminder for anyone that’s listening, thinking, Hey, I have these bold ass. I want to put myself in rooms like we can start now. Get your foot in the room now. Show up Chase after those dreams. Because you never know when these opportunities and the perfect person is gonna come around.

And I’m just saying this, I know if you would’ve asked her for the first round, you know, she most likely would’ve said yes, but there’s always that possibility. So I just think that is fabulous, that you’re putting the reps in, you’re making it happen. I wanna like give you a round of applause and just give you a hug for the fact that you made that ask.

I’m like, we can’t skip over this yet. I’m like, you made that ask. She showed up. Jen shared her stories, and I loved, I did wanna mention this too before we move on, is you created a, almost like a little mini panelist, like a, almost like a live podcast event. So you were on stage with Jen. I love that because you were able to tee up questions for her and then she ran with it, so she also had keynote energy.

In delivering her speeches and delivering her answers while still being super conversational and educational. Like all those things that you, I know like were going in your head. I’m like, like you executed that. Like it, it came through. It was amazing.

Dr. Stephanie: Thank you. Well, yeah, she is just one of those incredible speakers where.

You can ask one question, she could go for hours, but like that made my job easy of asking questions. Right. She has so many powerful stories and so I think it was just so beautiful. Yeah. To get to have her as the keynote to get to ask her questions. And then also I was gonna go for like the whole time Kiana, and for some reason I was like, you know what?

I have questions. I’ve already been through stage leaders with her. I’ve asked her a lot of the questions that I have, and I just got the idea. I just wanna leave the, the floor open for a couple audience questions. I wasn’t really planning to do that. But I, I fell into it. I was like, oh, I think we have 15 minutes or so.

I could keep asking questions, but how fun it, would it be to let a couple other women come on stage with this dream keynote and ask her the questions? So I just ran with that and I, I think it was actually meant to be, because those final three questions for like, some really fire answers from her. So, so good.

Quianna: Oh my gosh, yes. I, well, I, like I said, I had to like highlight that ’cause I didn’t wanna just be like, whoop. And onto the next question. I do wanna chat about as we continue this conversation, what’s next? Okay, so these speakers are, they’re going to be getting their highlight reels, the video and all the content with photos B-roll galore.

Like there’s literally hundreds of B-roll clips in there. So many options to play with. So what’s next? How can these speakers start pitching themselves and what advice do you have to an aspiring speaker that, you know, we can’t just post this on Instagram, right? Like, what else can we be doing to really drive eyeballs, curiosity and engagement to the beautifully curated videos that you’re creating to really create some traction here.

Like let’s get on some more stages. How does that work?

Dr. Stephanie: Thank you for highlighting this, because when women go to learn about Speaker Spotlight and they’re interested, sometimes you see the investment, you go, whoa, woo. Okay, one day event. But they underestimate the power of all of the content that they are getting afterward.

And for the women who have signed up and have participated and been through Sphere Spotlight, they realize the value and they say, Steph, you should actually be charging five times that much for how much we get. Because when they walk off stage, they have over 400 iPhone B roll clips from Kiana. They have a full photo gallery from Kiana of photos of them headshots, photos, speaking on stage.

From me, they’re getting their whole speech on video as well as some reels edits by me. So they’re walking away with a lot of marketing materials to market themselves as the speaker that they’re ready to step into and be, and book more stages. So when it comes down to marketing yourself as a speaker, if you’re listening and you’re like, okay, I don’t, whether you do speaker spotlight or not, you know that you wanna speak more.

I think that your marketing materials can really be placed into three categories, one of which is how do you market yourself on your website? A lot of people have a speaker page in which they have their photos, a video of them speaking their speaking topics and how to reach out and book them. So I think that’s really important.

It doesn’t have to be a website. It could also be a Canva, PDF of some sort, whatever. But something that’s like a very concise one page like here is who I am as a speaker. Your bio, your topics, right? They wanna people who are wanting to book speakers, they wanna know what you talk about, what your story is a little bit.

So having your, all of the things that these women have after speaker spotlight, the photos and the videos on there is really, really helpful. In addition to testimonials. Speaker spotlight walk, the women walk away with over 20 written testimonials as well. So like all of that can go on your website or your speaker page.

The second category is gonna be the social media content. All these photos and videos that you can start posting on social media. People need repetition event hosts who are looking to book speakers. If they see you post once, saying, hi, I am a speaker, hire me. They’re gonna forget about it. But if they see you post over and over and over and over again with videos and different audiences you’re speaking to and different outfits and different topics and different photos, the more repetition, the better.

So all of the content that Kiana and I provide is really helpful at just getting that repetition out there of you consistently showing up and saying, I’m a speaker, and look, here are the visual receipts to prove it. I’ve got what it takes. Right. So putting yourself out there as a speaker with some sort of website or page.

Social media and then finally a sizzle video. That’s the third one that I think is really important. So for anyone listening that doesn’t know what a speaker sizzle is, it’s basically like a two to three minute long. Typically, some are longer, but two to three minutes. Horizontal landscape size video of your best moments as a speaker.

If you’re an experienced speaker, this is probably like four or five different speaking gigs. You’ve had the best, like most powerful one-liners from each of those. It might include companies that you’ve spoken for, your speaking topics a little bit about who you are. It’s basically your visual resume for when you’re applying to speaking gigs.

Instead of saying, read this, you say, watch this. Take three minutes and watch this, and you will see why I am the best speaker to be on your stage. Right? So the speaker sizzle video is very, very powerful for speakers. ’cause you can say you’re a speaker or you can write it down. Unless people actually see you and see that you can confidently stand on stage and vocalize words in a cohesive manner without the nerves like they need to see and feel that you have what it takes to be a speaker.

And the sizzle video is very powerful in doing that, so I’ll leave it at that. That’s kind of the gist of what you need as a speaker to market yourself. And I will say that for anyone that signs up for Speaker Spotlight. All of my speakers, they get a a half hour like training from me. That’s an eight step process to market yourself as a speaker after the event.

So all these women who just spoke last week, they now have the eight steps to follow to be like, okay, I’m gonna get this, this and this up so I can start putting myself out there. So I go into a lot more detail for them, but for now, I’d. Kiana, anyone listening, those are the, the top three things to focus on.

Quianna: Yes. That is so helpful. And I’m living for that sizzle. I think that is so brilliant. It feels like an ad, I think of like, like the Super Bowl ad of your business, right? Like that’s where you just put it all out there. Yes. Okay. So I am just in awe of this. Culture of this movement that you are creating with Speaker Spotlight, and there were some whispers that this like may not be happening again, which I literally, I’m not even joking if you could hear my eye roll, like, no, she’s not.

Like she’s, yeah, exactly. I was like, no way. Like it has to happen again. Before we hit record, you mentioned, oh, I’m, I’m fine chatting about it on the episode. So tell me, tell me your thoughts. I would love some behind the scenes like workshopping because. This is so powerful and this is something that needs to continue to exist, but I am just so in love with your brain and the way you articulate things and the way you anticipate the needs of the market.

So tell me your thoughts. Are you really considering not doing this again?

Dr. Stephanie: I don’t know. I dunno what’s going on. Um, okay. I’m, I’m an open book. I’m honest. I’m not hiding anything. When it comes to Speaker Spotlight, it is one of the absolute joys of my life. It is such a passion and it feels so good to give women a stage to shine.

I have always hosted these events from my heart more than my mind. If my mind was running the show with these and the business woman and me was running the show, I probably wouldn’t do another event. Because I know how much time and energy it takes to plan an event and the cost to run an event, people don’t realize it’s not a super profitable, profitable business model.

Speaker spotlight, it’s not meant to be, for me, it’s more of a passion side project of mine. Like my videography business is where, where the money comes in. Speaker Spotlight is a passion, and so I want to continue to make decisions regarding Speaker Spotlight from my heart and not my mind. So my mind is like Seth, it’s just so much time and energy and money, right?

Yeah. Is like, girl, you gotta keep doing this in some capacity. So I’m just at, at the point where when people ask me, I don’t know what’s next. I like to give myself a few months to sort of, you know, get back into my groove, recharge my own battery, and then sit with a decision again. But I will say, from a very honest, a very honest answer would be.

If I host it again, I might do things a little different next time I might, which is a good thing. Like I think change is good. I have a couple different ideas, which I’m not gonna share about like a couple little changes I might make to make it an even more powerful experience. I think I’ll leave it at that.

I don’t wanna go into the detail, but there’s just something might change slightly because. I’m at the point, and I think anyone listening who has a business can probably relate in which when I share about my event, the first event and the second event was very easy to fill the spots because I had a very warm audience and it was a new idea.

This third event was a little harder for me to fill the spots by myself. I wanna point that out by myself. I had to ask for help from my friends and the women in my circle in my community, like you, like some of the past speaker spot, some other women I know. I said, ladies, I need help. I have this incredible opportunity, but my audience is small and they’ve heard about it, and I know more women need this.

I just need your help to share it so these women can hear about it. And once I got some shares, woo, the seats went flying. Within like a week, they sold out. But I bring that up to say that sometimes we run out of our existing audience, we, we lose that momentum and we’ve gotta ask for the help to continue, keep it going.

So. That’s where I felt like Speaker Spotlight was so amazing this time, and the right women signed up. I had to ask for help, and so if I do another one, if I’ll probably do another one. Yeah, it might be slightly different or I may launch slightly differently knowing that I need to ask for a little more help to get the reach out there so more women can hear about it.

Quianna: I love this and I love your V like vulnerability to share that this is an expense, this is a passion project, and to put on a good event, and especially at the caliber of attention to detail and love that you’re putting into this. Yes. Like it comes with a price tag. So I love that you’re being so transparent to share that.

Dr. Stephanie: Yeah.

Quianna: Yes. So tell us, Steph, how can we get into your world? How can we get on that wait list for maybe some changes that are coming, and how do we hire you for video and just stay connected with you?

Dr. Stephanie: Thank you. I have my website. You can go to sunny creator co.com and on the website you can get on the wait list for if there are future speaker spotlights or iterations of it.

There’s also a free sign up there for anyone who is considering speaking more and wants to know a little more what Speaker Spotlight is like from someone else’s mouth besides mine. I have a little panel panel interview. That you can sign up for and get for free, where four women from Speaker Spotlight spoke on it and shared their experience from it.

So that’s really nice to listen to what other people have to say about it, not just me. So if you go to my website, you can check that out, sign up, get the free panel discussion to learn from, get on the wait list. And on my website, that’s where you can also learn more just about my own videography business, which.

Is really blossoming and it’s been beautiful to build this business. I just started it like two years ago at, you know, Kiana, you know me from when I was a fitness coach. Now I’m a full-time videographer and it feels really good to get to capture women and do something I love every single day. So I capture women for their events, their podcasts, their speaking gigs, as well as content days for some reels content.

And I’d love to work with any women who are. Open, creative, spiritual girlies who just really value having a female videographer behind the camera that shows some love and support during the shoot. For example, if you do a photo shoot with a male videographer or male photographer, it’s very different vibes.

The photos you get from that are probably gonna be a little stiff posed professional feeling. If you book Kiana for photos or B roll or me for video, you truly shine on camera. Your photos and videos are completely different just because of the energy behind the camera, right? And how we make you feel.

So if you’re someone who values working with other females, hire Quianna for photos and B roll. Hire me for video. We’ve got you. It makes a huge difference in your, your content. When you have a loving female behind the camera.

Quianna: Yes. I couldn’t agree more. It’s really boils down to energy, right? So I love to say we are, that’s something that Christie Hydro mentioned too, is that we are mirrors, right?

Like we are mirrors and we are here to help you shine and, and truly see yourself the way we see you. And so we just wanna celebrate you, help you book more clients and build your business and thrive through every season. So. Just so excited. Well, thank you so much Steph. It was such an honor chatting with you and, and truly celebrating Speaker Spotlight.

I know right now you are in your cave and you are in, you are like whipping these edits out. Girl. I am so proud of you. You are getting them done and it’s just so fun. So make sure that you follow along with Steph and check out all of these reels. Follow

Dr. Stephanie: me on Instagram. Yes. I didn’t even say my Instagram at Steph Dor Worth.

Follow me there ladies. Gimme a dm.

Quianna: Yes. Yes. Make sure you’re following along and stay connected because I know this, the future of Speaker Spotlight may look different, but whatever you do, girl, like I am here to cheerlead for you, so whatever is coming ahead, any way that we can support. You know, you have our love and support and any help you need to fill those seats or talk about it.

I mean, let’s take it on the road. Let’s go places.

Dr. Stephanie: I, we keep saying that like it would be so easy. No, it would not be easy. Like that would be quite the challenge.

Quianna: Right? Just getting upstairs in our Phoenix at bio refined, just going upstairs is a lot of work.

Dr. Stephanie: It is. Thank God for my husband. I could not do it without him.

But yes,

Quianna: we love Zach.

Dr. Stephanie: Thank you so much for having me and giving me a platform to share more about Speaker Spotlight. I am so grateful for you being such a big part of it. You truly are, and you will always be part of it no matter where it goes. Thank you.

Quianna: We’ll see. Oh my gosh. Well, thank you so much.

Beautiful. I hope you have a great day and can’t wait to see you soon. Wow. I am so thankful you were here with us to hear all about the behind the scenes of Speaker Spotlight, sharing a glimpse of this movement. Steph is building. Make sure to follow along with Steph on insta @stephdorworth and @sunnycreatorco

She has two, and you’re definitely gonna wanna follow both of those for more videos, reels, and brand strategy. If you’re an aspiring speaker and wanna help market your message, you’ve gotta connect with step. Can’t wait to share more highlight videos and photos from the Speaker Spotlight. Please make sure to get on her wait list!

I cannot wait to see what’s in store. Next. Thanks so much for tuning in. I know you have a million other podcasts to catch up with, and I’m truly honored to be right here in your ear. Until next time. Keep on dancing, baby. Maybe this time though, grab a mic. I wanna hear your story. Okay, love you. Bye. That’s a wrap on another episode of Quianna Marie Weekly.

Thank you so much for your listenership and support. You can find the resources and show notes for this episode and more at QuiannaMarie.com/podcast, I’d be honored if you’d show your support by leaving a review and rating on your favorite podcast app. Until next time, keep on on dancing.