Maximizing Your Impact On Stage with Toni Caruso
Whether you’re speaking on a stage in front of 1 person or 1,000 people, it’s always important to show up with your A-game. My awesome guest today, Toni Caruso, works with speakers to amplify their voice and maximize their impact on stage – something that I’m also very passionate about. When you show up as your best self on stage, it can always turn into an opportunity. Sometimes just reaching that one person from the stage is all you need to accelerate your business.
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Transcript
Erin marcus
Hi, I’m Erin Marcus, former corporate executive turned entrepreneur and Founder and CEO of Conquer Your Business. Welcome to the Ready Yet?!?! podcast. We’re excited to bring you more than a hundred episodes of interviews and insights designed to help entrepreneurs get the financial and emotional freedom they need in order to build a business and a life they’re proud of.
Hello, hello and welcome. Welcome to this episode of the Ready Yet?! podcast. I am so excited. This is a long time coming. My new friend, Sisters from another Mister, right? I am excited today for Toni Caruso to be with us because I met Toni when I was speaking at an event in Dallas, we happened to sit next to each other and we just had, “I know I like you” type of vibes. Right? I don’t know anything about you. I don’t know why, but this seems like something that has to be explored a little bit more and we’ve chatted for months and stayed in contact for months and celebrated everything that each other has going on. And I’m gonna see if I can get this correct, the fancy new title, the very exciting, exciting new venture, Executive Director of eWomen Speakers Network and all of the amazing things that I know eWomen has wanted to do for some time, but now has the person who can make it happen. So why don’t you give everyone a little bit more formal introduction to who you are and what it is that you do?
Toni Caruso
Well, Erin, thank you so much for having me. I just love you. Yes, we did click and then we started talking on a Zoom and I think that we went way over our time and you know, when you meet that person that you just connect with and it just flows, it’s kinda like a little love affair. So I love you. So anyway, me. My name’s Toni Caruso and I have spent like 30, 40 years as an event producer and been in the back of the room and I’ve seen hundreds and hundreds of speakers go up onto multiple stages. So I’ve seen the good and I’ve seen the not so good. And then 2020 hit and of course live events died. And I decided that I would pivot – I don’t even like that word – that I would just kind of switch and go to build my Academy4Speakers.
And it’s where I teach the business of speaking. There are things that speakers don’t know. You don’t know what you don’t know. So I just thought, you know, no, one’s really telling you how to maximize your impact, monetize your message and build that community of raving fans that we’re all dying to have in our business. So I have now taken that Academy4Speakers and eWomenNetwork, which I’ve been a part of for seven years, has brought me under their wing. So now I’m going to be doing it with them on a higher level with a larger platform. So I’m very excited to help more women step onto those bigger stages.
Erin marcus
Love it, love it. And what I love about what your business did and does is there’s so many people out there teaching or trying to teach how to be a speaker but they completely focus on the stage. And the truth of the matter is you do need to be good at what you do in order to grow your business, whether it’s speaking or bookkeeping. Right. I mean, but just like what I say to my clients, doing what your business does for a living and knowing how to grow a business are two completely different things. And I don’t know any speakers that decide they really wanna be on stage because they just can’t wait to negotiate a contract.
Toni Caruso
Exactly. Or they don’t even know that they’re supposed to negotiate a contract. They’re just so – everyone’s like, oh, I’ve gotta get on that stage. I’ve gotta get on that stage. Well, you know, “Is it the right stage?” should be your first question. You know, there are so many things that you need to know before you even pitch to even be on a podcast. Like is this my ideal audience? Am I talking to the right people? Simple.
Erin marcus
Yeah. And it’s one thing when you’re brand brand brand new and you just need some practice. But if you really wanna grow your business speaking or anything else, you have to figure out what works and then throw a ton of intention behind it. You can’t stay in that “random acts of marketing” and “random acts of speaking” mode.
Toni Caruso
Well, it’s like just, you know, you take the spaghetti and throw it against the wall. You know, it’s like, I know I’m supposed to be doing it. Well then, okay. Let’s sit down. Just like with the business, what’s your foundation, you know, where do you wanna speak? Who do you want in the audience? What do you wanna say? How do you wanna say it? How do you wanna present yourself? And then it’s the business around that? Think simple things like, you know, do I get an exhibit table? Who’s gonna be in front of me? Who’s gonna be behind me? Are they offering programs that are high-end programs and I’m gonna be offering, so it’s a pitch Fest? So, you know, there are – I’m throwing things out there. You know, we can go on this forever, but there are so many questions that you need to ask before you say yes, you know? And then once you say yes, there is a series of questions you need to ask to make sure you’re getting everything that comes to you because you’re speaking or paying to speak on that stage.
Erin marcus
And I think what happens – and I’ve been there, I get it. I think what happens is we just get so excited. Someone said, “yes, you can speak on my stage”, and we give away our agency the same way you see entrepreneurs do that in their business, where they take on clients even if their gut tells them it’s not a good fit, because we’re just so excited. Somebody said yes to us.
Toni Caruso
Exactly. And is it the right yes? My biggest question – well, that’s a little pet peeve. I don’t like the speakers who think they’re so big that they show up 15 minutes before their time, they get mic’d up. You see ’em in the back, getting all hopped up. Then they jump onto the stage. They do their thing. Come back to my table, ask your questions. And then a half hour later they’re gone. I believe that most – And I think most speakers, especially, you know, if you are not Tony Robbins and you know –
Erin marcus
There’s a place for that.
Toni Caruso
Because you can’t stand around, you’ll be there all day with people just wanting to take your picture. I get that. But you and me, you know, we’re not those people.
So our job is to be there when the event starts and stay there till the event ends. Because Nancy Matthews who’s head of WP and Women’s Prosperity Network. She’s brilliant at this. She sits in the audience and she starts talking to people. Then when she gets up on that stage, she goes, you know, I was talking to Erin. Yes, Erin, she’s a realtor. And amazing. She gave me an interesting insight. And then Toni, over there said…it makes you part of the event. Oh, she’s here. She’s one of us. You’re already one of us. And then you go to lunch, you sit in the bar and you have a drink afterwards. That’s where you close your deals. You’re not gonna close them on the stage. You don’t know how many people, when you’re in the back of the room and the speakers left and they’re coming up and they’re asking me questions about your program. I don’t know your program, your team’s not there to answer those questions. I can’t close that person. You’ve just lost that sale or people that come up with the papers that go, well, what am I supposed- Stay there, close the deals you’re missing. You’re missing clients when you leave too early.
Erin marcus
Absolutely. Because most speakers that I know aren’t the high ticket, keynote celebrity version. And you know, that’s a great business model, but you don’t get to start with that business model. You have to kinda work your way up to that business model. And to your point, a lot of people see that business model and they want that.
That’s a really long – you will run outta money trying to create that business model if that’s where you start.
Toni Caruso
Well, and I believe that your business takes you to that model. So as you build your business, the opportunities come. And I always say, you know, as an event person, I love events. I love having my own events. Have your own event. And in this world of zoom, just open up your computer and say, Hey guys, I’m doing a happy hour. I’m gonna interview people, come on between four and six o’clock tonight. You know, start building your community that way. As soon as you get your following, get onto a stage and then have an event because,the best way to build your community is to find someone who’s doing something that’s not competitive, but it’s collaborative. And they’re having an event and their ideal audience is your ideal audience. Then you switch stages. You go, Hey, Erin, speak on my stage and I’ll speak on your stage.
Erin marcus
Exactly. And it’s so much more fun –
It’s a little, it’s a good confidence builder. You know, the one thing we always say about entrepreneurs – it’s so lonely. Entrepreneurship can feel so lonely. So it’s a way to not feel so lonely. It’s reciprocal, which is how humans behave in general. And I love what you’re saying about, you can start out by creating your own stage. It’s never, oddly enough, it’s never been easier and or harder to create your own stage. The access is completely there, but you gotta break through the noise. And it’s kind of, I know in the book business, the publishers don’t want you until you have your own following. Well, the speaking business is kind of the same way. You don’t get the $25,000 speaking fee until you come with your own status, right? Your own celebrity status.
Toni Caruso
Well, and you’re talking about the speaking fee. Everybody goes, I wanna be a paid speaker. Well, there’s –
Erin marcus
I make so much more money not getting paid to speak.
Toni Caruso
Like, oh my goodness, you get paid like, oh, I got paid $250 to be at this event. Yeah. Well, did you, were you able to offer anything? No, I go, well, your offer, your lower item is already $997, right? If you were able to pay to be on that stage, let’s say you paid a thousand dollars to be on the stage and you sold five of your $997s to the audience. You know, you’re walking away with $4,000, you know, I mean, let’s do the math here. You can pay yourself. Don’t look for other people to pay you.
Erin marcus
Loving what you’re learning here and interested in, more, check out our free Facebook group and join us at Conquer Your Business community to find even more tips and tools designed to help you get out of reaction mode and into conquering your own business.
Erin marcus
Absolutely and to that note. One of my pet peeves, because you mentioned once I’ll share one, um people who get offended again, assuming they’re normal human beings like you and I and not the celebrity status version of a speaker. People who get offended by a sponsorship model and tell you, why should I pay to be on your stage? And the only people who’ve ever said that to me are people who’ve never had to try to fill a room.
Toni Caruso
And to that point, I love that you brought this up to that point as an event planner, I get so mad at speakers. You wanna be a speaker, you’re on my stage and I’m having you on there for free because I just recently did this and I had five amazing speakers on my stage. Why are you not promoting that you’re speaking on my stage? Why am I not seeing it in your newsletters? Why are you not sharing the pictures? And the copy that I sent you.
And let me tell you, if you put five people in my room, I’m gonna have you back.
What is the easiest way to get asked back? Help fill the room. Why is it my job to give you clients? It’s my job to have the platform and to put out the cost of it, but you know, help me out a little bit here.
Erin marcus
There’s all these things. And I think some people just don’t know. Truthfully, some people don’t know what to do. That’s why I love that you have not just a, “how do you give a good presentation” business, but a, “how do you do this” business? Some people just don’t know. Some people are still stuck with visibility issues about their own, let alone somebody else’s. You know, you promote yourself. There’s a million reasons for it to not happen, many of which aren’t of ill intent, but the end result is the same.
Toni Caruso
Right. Right.
Erin marcus
The end result is the same, you know, how can you – one of the best pieces of advice. And I just got what I consider the hugest compliment because I did what I was taught to do – one of the best pieces of advice. I’ve gotten this back in my corporate, I’ve gotten this in sales training. It’s the same piece of advice. When I was becoming a professional speaker myself: be easy to work with. Be easy to work with. So I’ll share this because I was so freaking proud of myself. So I spoke last week at an international conference and it’s the international conference of patient advocates. So these are like ex nurses who are now helping patients navigate the medical field. Like these are really great humans, right? These are good people. So it’s a very welcoming environment because they’re salt of the earth people. And I was speaking after lunch and I went in there half an hour early and I moved the things on the stage that I wanted moved. And I met with the AV people and I asked them what they needed and they asked me what I needed. And they’re like, you’re the most professional speaker that we’ve worked with at this conference. I was so excited. So proud of myself.
Toni Caruso
And I love that because it’s so important because as a team and you’re putting together this event, you know, it’s that head that’s talking all the time. Well, where do I get this? And where do I get this? You know, ask the questions ahead of time. What kind of mics are available? What time do you want me there? What’s the background gonna be so that my outfit doesn’t blend into it?
Are you going to be videotaping it? Do I have the opportunity to have that? Is there a break after me ask all the questions and by all means hit the deadlines. If we ask for your picture, your bio, your description, whatever, don’t say to me. And I have heard this a million times, well, I’m getting new pictures taken, you know, and they’ll be next week. And then I’ll get – no! Because the sooner you get your picture to me, the sooner I get you up on my website and the sooner you get promoted.
Erin marcus
The other thing I hear, and again, it’s often not coming from a place of ill intent. I’ve spoken on many, many, many, many, many, many stages that didn’t “live up to the promise”. They said, there’d be a hundred people there. There were 50. They said, there’d be 20 people at the mastermind. There were three. They said there’d be 500 people in the room. There were 100 people in the room. And I understand your gut reaction might be to be disappointed.
But. The more you can make the most of the opportunity you have instead of attacking and being mad or disappointed or sad, but just, okay, what can I do with this? I’ve had audiences that didn’t pan out. I get it. And that same person when I said, “well, this didn’t pan out. I was really looking forward to this, is there something we can do” ended up putting me on another stage because you can come at it from a collaborative opportunity as opposed to a blame or a disappointment.
Toni Caruso
Well, and I get mad at event producers who don’t tell you the truth. I mean, you know, it’s like, we hope to have a hundred people in the room, you know, and we work our best. Like I’m doing an event in two weeks and it’s a big person that’s gonna be on my stage and it’s a 60 person room. And I am right now at 48. So I am kicking ass to get the 60 in there. But let me tell you if I have 50 or whatever, she’s still gonna be happy. She’s still gonna give her A-game. And even if there were 20, she still would. I said, because you have to come from that. I heard a speaker once and he was a big name speaker. I don’t wanna say who it was. But he said at one of his first talks, he was in a theater size venue and there were 10 people in the front row and that’s it. And he said, I could have walked away. I could have been mad. I could have gone up there and went, I’ll just throw this at them. He goes, I gave them everything. And you know, there was one guy in the front row that came up to me afterwards and said, you know what? You need to meet my mentor, BrianTracy. And he was like, what? You know, and it opened this whole world for him. You only need one.
Erin marcus
You only need one. And that to me was another piece of advice I got early in my speaking career that I have held onto and it’s never failed me. No matter what your thoughts are about the event and what you expected versus what you got, show up as your most unbelievable best version of yourself. And it will always turn into an opportunity. Plus, you can be really excited about your numbers. I had that happen where I was told there was gonna be a series of three masterminds and 20 people at each. And there were literally three, three, and maybe five people. And I got like eight clients.
Toni Caruso
Because you’re intimate. You’re a smaller group. And so take those 10 people and go, Hey, let’s have a conversation and screw the presentation and go, come on. And then start masterminding, what is your issue? They’ll walk away so filled up that they’re like going, they’re talking about you for days!
Erin marcus
For days. And then my big takeaway was I had a 50% closing rate. Technically I had a 50% closing rate, which they –
Toni Caruso
They don’t have to know there were 10 people in the room and five closed, but still 50. Percent’s pretty darn good.
Erin marcus
Oh My God. So good. So here’s the thing. Thank you So, so, so much for having this conversation with me, because it’s not a conversation I get to have and I’m sure there’s people out there like these people are annoyed, but if you just, you know, never mind the annoyance and listen to what we’ve been talking about and take those tactical – This conversation was actually really filled with a ton of tactical advice on the business side of speaking. It could make a difference. And I just go back to my own career and these little tips have made all the difference in the world for me –
And sometimes it’s not just your outfit and your stage presence, but all this other stuff is really what can make a difference in your career. So if people – not, if, but when people realize they need more information on this, what is the best way for them to reach out to you?
Toni Caruso
Right now just send me an email. I would love to connect tonicaruso@ewomennetwork.com. And if you wanna know more about our speakers network, just go to eWomenNetwork and go under speakers and you’ll find out more. I do training. I’m gonna be, mhe cheerleader for the speakers network. So we are gonna be doing a lot of great stuff there.e
Erin marcus
Awesome. And check out our show notes. We’ll have all sorts of links, make it really, really easy for people. Thank you so much for spending this time with me. I think our biggest concern was this was gonna be a seven hour podcast cause that would totally be possible.
Toni Caruso
Well because there’s just so much more, you know, I mean, just so much more we’d like to share, so thank you so much, Erin for having me.
Erin marcus
Awesome. And we’ll have to just do it again.
Toni Caruso
That’s it! That’s it.
Erin marcus
I hope you enjoyed this episode of the Ready Yet?!?! podcast. I truly enjoy bringing these stories of success and inspiration to you. Please join us in our mission to empower entrepreneurs, to be in charge of their businesses and in charge of their lives. By sharing this with anyone, you know, who would benefit from our tactical and motivating advice, leaving us a review and letting us know if there are any particular topics you would really appreciate hearing about see you next time.
