West Coast (Bureau) Innovation (ft. Ken Sterling)

West Coast (Bureau) Innovation (ft. Ken Sterling)OPENING QUOTE:“I'm a homeless kid from New York who wants to connect and wants to be around people, and wants to be safe myself, and wants to make the world a safe place. And really my true north is people and living a positive, collaborative lifestyle with the people that I care about and that help make the world a better place.”-Ken SterlingGUEST BIO:Ken Sterling is Executive Vice President and Chief Learning officer of BigSpeak, the largest speaker bureau on the West coast. Ken is famous for designing BigSpeak's Bureau Alliance Program, which has revolutionized the way speaker bureaus collaborate and work together to create more abundance and exposure for their exclusive speaking clients.Ken holds a PhD in organizational leadership, an MBA, a master's in communication, and a JD. In addition to his leadership role in the speaking industry, Ken also teaches marketing and business ethics and law at UC Santa Barbara.Links:WebsiteLinkedInCORE TOPICS + DETAILS:[15:09] - Disruptive InnovationHow BigSpeak built and scaled unlike anyone elseIf you want to innovate and truly make your speaking career into something powered by rocket fuel, you can’t take five half-steps. You need to choose one or two pursuits, and then pursue the hell out of them with an all-in mindset. Don’t half-embrace new technologies or new ideas. Embrace them all the way, then pivot if you need to. That’s how Ken helped BigSpeak innovate in a big way.[22:22] - What a Buyer WantsIt’s more than the topicsBuyers today want authenticity. They want unique perspectives, including those from diverse voices. They want speakers to demonstrate their capability not just onstage but in writing and other areas of your career. It’s about more than just matching a specific topic. It’s about representing something that a buyer can’t find in any other speaker. [23:33] - The Other Pandemic“Unprecedented times” indeedEveryone focuses on COVID as the biggest shift to the speaking industry in recent memory. But to Ken, the bigger transformation was the shift toward more diverse and inclusive voices. In a world post-George Floyd and other events spurring conversations about marginalized voices, the speaking world is finally moving beyond the “white old guy in a suit” model for all speakers. There is — and has to be — room for diverse voices.[29:40] - The One ThingSetting yourself apart as a speakerKen advises that if a speaking topic is too broad, an audience won’t feel like they’re getting something new out of the hour they devote to your performance. Meanwhile, having a “one thing” which Ken calls your “zone of genius” helps set you apart in a crowded market, more than being the 1,000th speaker promising to simply “boost productivity.”[35:24] - Find Your True NorthThe missing ingredient for many speakersToo many speakers begin from a place of identifying what’s hot in the speaker world, then trying to go after that. Instead, Ken advises that speakers start with what they truly own and have mastered — and are excited by! — and then finding a way to match that message to the current zeitgeist. Buyers want someone who truly owns their message, not someone who is following the latest trend.RESOURCES:[1:30] About BigSpeak[23:07] Ken’s INC ColumnFollow Ken Sterling:Website