In this episode of Expertise Made Real, Kristin N. Spencer continues her conversation with Bobbie Carlton, founder of Innovation Women, about what happens after the applause: how speaking turns into business.

Bobbie shares two concrete examples from speakers in her community. One was a workshop presenter whose modest stipend turned into a $5,000 educational video series a year later, shown to an entire organization’s membership. The other was a financial planner who runs quarterly workshops inside women’s groups at a few companies and has built a client base that generates roughly $173,000 a year for her. Neither speaker earned much on stage. Both earned plenty from the connections the stage created.

Kristin and Bobbie also dig into why speaking is such a powerful way to demonstrate expertise in a world full of AI-generated content. Bobbie explains what Mark Cuban calls the “Millie Vanilli effect,” and why answering audience questions off the cuff is one of the best ways to prove you really know your stuff. They close with practical encouragement for nervous speakers: take an improv class, reframe nerves as excitement, and remember that introverts often make fantastic speakers.

In this episode:

• Two real-world examples of speaking that led directly to revenue
• Why you can’t predict which relationships a room will create
• How live speaking demonstrates competence when AI makes online expertise hard to verify
• The “Millie Vanilli effect” and why live Q&A builds trust
• How a 1970s survey turned into the myth that public speaking is our biggest fear
• Why nerves mean you care, and why introverts often outperform extroverts on stage

Connect with Bobbie:

• Join Speaker Friend Fridays, open to everyone, at innovationwomen.com. Click on Events.

Links referenced in this episode:

• innovationwomen.com
• bit.ly/expertisemr