My podcast this week is from the Effective Public Speaking book. The book is in technical review, which always feels like I met a big milestone.
Enjoy!
The Podcast:
The Transcript:
This is 60 Seconds of Writing in Public with Johanna Rothman for May 23, 2025, where I read an excerpt of just a minute of some writing in progress.
This is from the Effective Public Speaking book.
Trap: We Never Pay Speakers
Early in my consulting career, before I'd even published a book, I drew the attention of a famous Fortune 100 organization. (The kind of organization that had plenty of money to pay for consultants and speakers.)
An administrative assistant called and said, “Our VP is very impressed with you.”
I said, “Thank you.”
She continued, “We'd love you to speak for us. But we have no money to pay you. We need you to come out to California and spend the day with us.”
I'm based in Boston, so I wasn't sure I had heard her correctly. I clarified what she said. But I had heard her correctly the first time.
I said, “I have a policy of only speaking for free for local meetups. This is not an issue of money–your organization makes oodles of money. This is an issue of what you value. I should not value my time and expertise more than you do.”
The Video:
Here's the link to the video.