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All right, I'm here with Dr.
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Kareem R.
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Ellis.
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And Dr.
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Kareem, I want to make this really quick because there are a lot of talented speakers watching us who know they have a message, but they're still not consistently getting paid to speak.
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What out of all the questions I get on a yearly basis when it comes to speakers, that's probably the question that comes up absolutely the most.
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And I got a really good response for that.
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What I've learned over the years is being a great speaker and building a profitable speaking business, those are two different skill sets.
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Like I think a lot of speakers focus so much on the message part, right?
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Making sure they can deliver the talk and get the applause.
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But I know a lot of speakers, include myself, that started out being great communicators, great orators, where we gave the, we gave the talk, we got the applause, but we weren't still booked and busy.
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So there's a difference between building a profitable speaking business and being a great speaker.
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And I honestly believe you can have a great message and still not understand how to properly position yourself, package yourself, price yourself, and prospect for yourself and how that turns over to creating great opportunities because talent will get attention.
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But strategy, see, strategy, that's the thing that turns that attention to an actual profitable business.
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You're absolutely right.
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I love that answer.
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So if there's somebody getting an applause, invitations, maybe even people telling them you should be getting paid for this, but the money isn't flowing.
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What are they really missing?
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Yeah.
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So with most speakers, they usually don't have what we call a business infrastructure that backs the message, right?
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In other words, in the 80s growing up, my mama made a mean hamburger on the grill and off the grill.
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But for some reason, my mama didn't have McDonald's type money because there's a business infrastructure that goes behind the skill set.
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So for most speakers, they need to know, number one, what they're selling, who it's for, why the organization should even pay for it in the first place.
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How do I position the value that I want to bring to the table properly?
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And then I would also say, how do I move from waiting for invitations?
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Because most people, most folks wait around to get invited to speak, versus intentionally creating opportunities that create a land bridge for all the for all the speaking opportunities and then some to start flowing to you, right?
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Yeah.
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So I think it I think it starts with that.
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Absolutely.
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It definitely does.
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And that brings me to my third question.
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You have definitely created a system, your GPS Speakers Academy, and you wanted to make sure you're so passionate about seeing other people locking on their God-given talent, but then also take their journey and expertise, package it into a message, and also build a pipeline of what I would call a speaking business.
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Now, you've done something incredible the last few months.
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You've created a smaller program of your GPS Academy that's called Paid to Speak, and you have a masterclass in the form of a boot camp.
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It's five extraordinary days with you, one directly in a group.
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It's not for everybody.
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Let's just face it, it's not for everybody.
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It's intense, but you're actually taking speakers and aspiring speakers step by step to how they can go from having a message to providing a full-blown meal so people can eat off of, and then they can also do something for their legacy and their family.
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Tell us about that masterclass paid to speak.
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Yeah, yeah.
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Because uh what I feel like uh is the masterclass is not about giving you more motivation.
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And I want to say that because I know there's a lot of classes that people sign up for.
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I know there's a lot of challenges out there whether speaking challenges or get more lead challenges or whatever have you.
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And a lot of them do involve a lot of motivation.
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Um, I don't think you need more motivation at this point in time.
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I think most people know where they are.
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They already got the gas inside the tank.
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What I want to focus on for this class is how we're gonna work on the business of speaking.
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I mean, I'm talking about how we're gonna position you, how we're gonna package your expertise, and then most importantly, how we're gonna create an actual strategy for getting paid.
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Uh, just like in the game of American football, every time they go between downs, every time they go into the huddle, they're not going in the huddle to give each other, you know, uh, bro moments.
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They're not going to say, bro, you smell like axe body spray.
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You know, they're going in there to come up with a strategy that's gonna move that football a minimum of 10 yards up the field.
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Why 10 yards up the field?
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Because that's all you need to do to keep the game in play.
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You get a first down to keep it going.
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So we're gonna discuss strategies that's the equivalent of moving that ball up the field consecutively until you get to the end zone and score multiple touchdowns.
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That's what I'm talking about.
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So this is not, you're not holding anything back.
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You're giving us that framework that can take us from message to strategy to marketplace.
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Am I hearing that right?
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From message to marketplace, from message to marketplace, ding, ding, ding.
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Yeah.
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There you go.
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The connecting tissue is absolutely there.
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Yeah.
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Um, this is about providing you with value, not more fluff.
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And there's a lot of fluff classes and courses out there.
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I want to give you actual value, but it's tangible so much, I'm giving the money-back guarantee on this thing.
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If it if it doesn't line up with what I'm saying to folks, I'll give money-back guarantee on it.
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I I stand behind my value.
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And I love it.
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And it's so worth it.
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You've done a couple runs before, got some amazing testimonials.
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Um, and two individuals actually booked speaking gigs within the first two or three weeks of them coming off the program.
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And one of them got two international spots.
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Look, that's just absolutely amazing.
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Hey, book booked them busy is better than bored and broke.
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Say that all day long.
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Booked them busy is way better than bored and broke.
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So I she keep using the formula, she's gonna get more and more speaking engagements.
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That's that's the gist of it.
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I absolutely love it, Dr.
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Kareem.
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And I had to get the laughter in there.
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So here's the thing: one last question.
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We want to get into give me three people who should be in this masterclass, Dr.
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Kareem.
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Give you three people.
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The speaker who's tired of speaking for free.
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I'm gonna say that off the bat because at some point in your journey, you gotta be absolutely tired of.
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You gotta be tired of handshakes, high fives, hugs, and and kisses, depending on how attractive you may be.
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Just don't kiss the wrong person.
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Right?
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Because we know that don't pay bills, right?
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You can't build legacy off of that.
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So, number one, the speaker that's absolutely tired of speaking for free, speaking for ego, speaking for compliment, right?
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Uh, the second one I would say would be the coach or the expert who knows their knowledge has value.
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I'm gonna say that again.
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The coach and expert who knows that what I'm sitting on right now, my expertise, it has value, but I'm not exactly sure how to position it properly to get on stages.
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And then the last thing I'm gonna say is the emerging speaker, the one who's come out of the darkest shadow and is now ready to build this thing correctly from top to bottom, from beginning to end, from alpha to omega.
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That's who should be inside this room this week, this event.
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That's who should be inside of there.
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Absolutely.
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So listen, guys, Dr.
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Kareem, tell us this.
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Then if somebody's watching and they says, that's me, what should they do?
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Tell us right now.
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Yeah, so one of my favorite catchphrases that I've been blessed to speak on and use on stages globally across the world is decisions determine destiny.
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I'm gonna run that back.
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Decisions determine destiny.
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Based on where you are right now, whether you like it, love it, hate it, can't stand it, you are there right now because of the decision you made or did not make that put you exactly where you are.
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So if you're ready to go in a different direction, I would say stop waiting on somebody to discover you.
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You've been waiting around long enough for that, and that hasn't worked just yet.
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So, what will make it work next week, next next month, next year, right?
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I would also say if you're ready to start treating your speaking business like a business instead of a hobby.
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Hobbyists don't get paid.
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Hobbyists get high fives and handshakes, but hobbyists don't get paid, right?
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So if you're tired of treating your business as a hobby and you're ready to treat it like an actual business, I encourage you.
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I I invite you to join me for the Paid to Speak masterclass.
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All you got to do is make a decision to click the link and secure your seat, and you're gonna sit back and figure out what happens with your destiny based on this decision that can change the trajectory of your life.
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Absolutely.
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You'll heard and hear your message, may be powerful, but your message needs a business model.
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We are looking forward to seeing one inside go to stop speaking for free and start building a business at paid to speak dotkareemlis.com.
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Again, that's paid to speak dotkareemellis.com.
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The link is wherever you're listening and watching this.
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Let's get to it.