Carol Cox: Carol Cox: If you want to shift your speaking from just
Carol Cox: Carol Cox: giving tips to delivering inspiring messages,
Carol Cox: Carol Cox: you're going to love hearing the journey of
Carol Cox: Carol Cox: our guest, Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur,
Carol Cox: Carol Cox: on this episode of the Speaking Your Brand
Carol Cox: Carol Cox: podcast. More and more women are making an
Carol Cox: Carol Cox: impact by starting businesses,
Carol Cox: Carol Cox: running for office and speaking up for what
Carol Cox: Carol Cox: matters. With my background as a TV political
Carol Cox: Carol Cox: analyst, entrepreneur,
Carol Cox: Carol Cox: and speaker, I interview and coach purpose
Carol Cox: Carol Cox: driven women to shape their brands,
Carol Cox: Carol Cox: grow their companies, and become recognized
Carol Cox: Carol Cox: as influencers in their field.
Carol Cox: Carol Cox: This is speaking your brand,
Carol Cox: Carol Cox: your place to learn how to persuasively
Carol Cox: Carol Cox: communicate your message to your audience.
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: If you're someone who has an idea for a talk,
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: or maybe you've even created your talk
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: already, you might be wondering,
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: well, what now?
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: How do I get out there and start speaking?
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: How do I promote myself as a speaker?
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: How do I start getting speaking gigs?
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: It's one thing to have that talk ready,
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: but it's a whole other thing to actually
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: start doing the talk, getting out there,
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: delivering it and finding speaking
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: engagements that you want,
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: places you want to speak to and places where
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: you can deliver this fantastic message that
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: you created. So how do you do that?
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: What are the techniques for doing that?
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: Well, that's what we're going to talk about
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: today with our guest on the Speaking Your
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: Brand podcast, Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur.
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: And so let me start by just saying if you're
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: new to speaking your brand,
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: welcome. If you are returning,
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: welcome back. I'm Diane Diaz and I am the
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: marketing and communications strategist and
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: lead speaking coach at Speaking Your Brand.
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: And today we are going to talk about all the
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: actions and steps that you can take to take
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: the talk that you've worked on,
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: practice it and get out there and start
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: delivering it so that you can start making
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: the impact that you want to make with your
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: message. Now our guest today,
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: as I said, is Elaine Schaumburg LaFleur,
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: and she is senior project engineer at AOA
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: here in Orlando. And she's going to tell us a
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: little bit more about that and what she does
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: at AOA. Now, Elaine worked with me in a VIP
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: day way back in August of 2024 because she
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: had a specific speaking engagement coming up.
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: So we worked together,
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: and then she attended our in-person speaking
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: workshop, where she was able to practice her
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: storytelling, practice her messaging,
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: practice her delivery.
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: And so then that launched her on this,
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: these additional speaking engagements that
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: she's been doing, which we're going to hear
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: about. So welcome, Elaine,
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: to the podcast.
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: Thank you so much, Diane. Glad to be here.
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: Yes, I'm so excited for our audience to hear
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: from you. Now, you and I were chatting,
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: um, briefly.
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: Well, we'll get into that in just a minute.
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: Let me start by just saying if you can just.
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: I said you work at AOA,
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: but you've actually had a long history
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: somewhere else before that.
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: So if you could take a short,
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: a short little bit and tell our audience what
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: you do now and sort of what your background
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: is and how you came to this work that you do.
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: Absolutely. So my background is engineering.
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: I'm a mechanical engineer by trade that has
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: used that to go more into the project
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: management side to balance the,
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: the technical and that idea of loving people
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: and solving problems.
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: So very excited.
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: I've been in the theme park industry for over
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: 22 years. I worked for Walt Disney World for
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: many of those years, but recently have
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: started, like you said,
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: with AOA, which is a company that actually
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: started from Disney to former Imagineers
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: started this small company,
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: um, that still brings these wonderful stories
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: to life here and all around the world.
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: Um, so we get to partner with Disney and
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: other theme parks as well as museums,
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: uh, you name it. It's just if you can think
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: of a themed opportunity,
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: that is what our team does when it comes to
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: creating storytelling and,
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: uh, the engineering and project management
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: side, which is ties so well into what you do
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: as well as teaching us how to tell stories,
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: whether those are through the projects that
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: you create and or through speeches that you
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: give.
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: Well, that's such a great point. You're so
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: right. Because I was looking at the website
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: for AOA, and I saw that it had been started
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: by former Disney Imagineers,
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: and that it was really about building
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: experiences.
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: And so that's what we do when we speak,
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: right? We are building experience.
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: We're telling a story.
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: And so, I mean, that's interesting.
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: Your job is storytelling basically through an
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: engineering lens, right. Creating that
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: experience. But also when you're a speaker,
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: your job is storytelling,
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: creating experience for the audience.
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: So I know, um, back in August of 2024,
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: you had reached out for a talk that you had
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: coming up. So what was your what was your
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: speaking experience before?
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: And we'll talk about working together then.
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: But what was your speaking experience before
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: we worked together in that VIP day?
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: So before that VIP day,
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: I had given more of your short type of talks
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: somewhere around 15 to 20 minutes,
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: um, on very topics that I know really well,
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: etc. and when I reached out to you,
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: it was because I got my first opportunity to
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: do a keynote. And so I was taking this 15 to
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: 20 minute thing that I do to an hour.
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: And it was quite the it was quite the jump in
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: time, as well as the jump in the amount of
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: people who were going to be attending. And I
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: really wanted some advice from you on how to
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: take what I know and turn that into an actual
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: keynote. And that session with you was
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: amazing. You really helped me first get out
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: of my head.
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: When it comes to always just having to bring
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: tips, right? Like I'm the tip girl.
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: Let me share all the things I've learned in
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: my 22 years, and you've taught me how to put
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: those in to the speech,
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: so they're there. Um, but with that comes the
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: storytelling. And what was so funny is I do
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: that so often, but I kind of lost that idea
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: of needing to bring that storytelling aspect,
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: that beginning, middle and end throughout
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: everything, especially during an entire hour
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: presentation, and really appreciate what you
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: helped me create.
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: And just the confidence that I had going into
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: that speech was wonderful.
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: And then once that once I did that,
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: then I just got the bug of I need to continue
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: doing this more. And, um,
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: so I appreciate that because that was the the
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: gateway. Yeah.
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: Like the gateway drug to speaking.
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: Right? Yes.
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: You know, it's so funny.
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: Like I did notice that that once you did that
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: talk. And then, of course, we'll talk about
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: the workshop you came to, but I noticed you
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: kind of got that bug of speaking.
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: So we we are the gateway.
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: If you work with us, you're going to we're
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: going to push you to do more things,
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: get out there more. And like we were talking
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: about before we started recording,
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: actually pitching yourself to to speak,
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: which will again, we'll we'll touch on that
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: and more in a little bit, but I love two that
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: you mentioned that, you know,
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: you had kind of been sort of like the tip
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: girl. And so that's that expert trap that we
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: talk about, right? Where you get stuck just
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: sharing tips and all your expertise,
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: but also you forget, like as you said,
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: your your job is storytelling in the
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: engineering work that you do.
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: And so but we don't realize sometimes we
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: can't use our superpower on ourselves.
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: So we forget like, oh,
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: we actually do this in our work.
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: But then how do we translate that to a talk?
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: Right. And so that's where,
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: you know, when we worked in the VIP day, I
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: remember you sharing some of your amazing
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: Disney stories with me and things projects.
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: You had worked on that of course.
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: So just for background,
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: for everyone listening,
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: Elaine and I both live in the Orlando area,
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: and so I've lived here for a long time,
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: and so I'm extremely familiar with Disney,
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: as is anyone who lives here.
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: And so as we were working together and you
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: were sharing your stories with me about these
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: different projects you worked on,
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: You know, these are things that are familiar
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: to me. And so hearing kind of the background
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: of these things and your involvement in them
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: and those the power of those stories,
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: and I believe the talk you were you were
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: going to give that keynote talk was to a
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: group of young women engineers in college.
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: Is that correct? Correct.
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: That is correct, yes.
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: And yeah, so the whole goal was to sort of
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: let them see what's possible,
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: inspire them, you know,
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: show them where they might be headed in their
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: in their career.
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: And that's what we ended up with is these
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: amazing stories that you of these projects
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: you had worked on. And so,
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: you know, I love that storytelling aspect,
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: because then when you came to the workshop,
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: that was an opportunity to actually practice
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: those things. So, well,
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: let let me ask first, though,
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: once you when you delivered that talk,
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: how was it received by that audience of young
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: women soon to be engineers?
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: I I've made so many good contacts and friends
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: through that. I love all of them reaching out
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: that are taking some of those stories and
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: applying that feeling empowered themselves in
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: the future that they can do in this industry.
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: You and I had talked that my love of talking
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: to fellow women in engineering comes from the
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: fact that here I've been in this industry,
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: like we talked over 22 years and we're still
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: less than 20% of the industry.
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: And so I appreciate you helping me because I
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: want to keep encouraging and empowering
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: people. So they see it.
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: They it's hard to be what you can't see.
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: And so we get out there to kind of inspire
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: and encourage. And I think what I was able to
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: do was reach that group and just continuing
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: to reach others to say,
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: we can make a difference in this industry.
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: Yes. I love that.
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: You know, that just reminds me of something
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: that just an experience I just had recently
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: where I attended a scholarship social for a
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: group that I'm a part of,
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: and one of the young women receiving one of
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: the scholarships was a she's studying
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: aerospace engineering and wants to be,
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: I believe she told me she wants to be a test
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: pilot and then a commercial pilot,
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: and then she's already done all all of these
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: internships all over the country in things
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: related to aerospace engineering. And I was
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: really blown away by that.
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: But the conversation I had with her was to to
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: that point of the fact that it is a very male
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: dominated industry.
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: And so as a woman in engineering,
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: you have all these opportunities, but also,
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: of course, then you've got to, you know, work
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: that much harder. But getting your voice out
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: there, you know, being seen,
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: having the visibility.
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: And so hearing from women like you who've
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: been in the industry for a long time,
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: for these young women to hear from someone
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: like that, I think is so empowering because
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: like you said, you you can't be what you
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: can't see. But when they see it,
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: they're like, oh, I didn't.
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: Maybe they have never thought about working
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: at a theme park. You know,
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: maybe that's never occurred to them.
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: But so there's those opportunities.
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: So that's how important.
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: And for everyone listening, regardless of the
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: industry you're in, that is how important
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: your message is.
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: Absolutely. Absolutely.
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: And being able to show and and guide and show
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: that there's ways to show empathy in any type
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: of industry. So.
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: Absolutely.
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: Yes.
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: Yeah. Storytelling.
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: Yes, exactly.
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: And I'm so I'm so glad that you were bitten
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: by that bug, because then you attended our
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: in-person speaking workshop where that was an
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: opportunity in an in-person setting with,
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: I think we had about 13 or 14 other women
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: there. And then it was a whole day workshop
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: where we gave hands on feedback.
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: So there's an opportunity for you to get on
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: the stage, tell your story,
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: share a story, get feedback from myself and
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: Carol, giving you feedback on not just the
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: delivery, but also the stage presence,
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: use of the stage, your body language,
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: all of those things to make the story as
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: impactful for the audience as possible so
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: that it can really it can really create the
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: impact you want to create with your message
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: through that story? How?
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: Tell us about that experience in the
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: workshop, what it was like,
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: what you walked away with it,
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: what you walked away from it with?
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: I encourage people to attend these.
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: To me, it was so nice to hear so many
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: different voices and to remind myself that
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: there's many ways to give presentations.
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: Some people do humor really well.
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: Some people don't feel authentic in doing the
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: humor approach, and I really love that you
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: work through different techniques that helped
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: you think through what feels authentic to
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: you, what feels like it's going to get your
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: message across, and getting to hear all these
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: different women give those different
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: perspectives and hear that and hear their
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: story and hear why they're up there and just
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: getting to take little bits from them like,
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: oh, that works for them,
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: I love that. Or oh, I could do that too.
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: And it helped me kind of tweak and become
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: stronger just by being around them and or
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: just getting some of the accolades from them
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: as well. Like, oh, that was a fantastic
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: story. And sometimes you just need that
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: reminder of you're making you're helping
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: others just as much as they're helping you in
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: this day workshop.
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: Yeah. You know, that's such a good point
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: because when you're practicing your talk in
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: front of a mirror to yourself,
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: right, you don't have the feedback of someone
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: else saying, oh my gosh,
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: that really made an impact on me. And I do
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: remember on that day, all of the women there,
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: you and everyone else,
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: when they would get up to tell their story.
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: So many of the other people in the audience
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: were moved by it or reminded of some
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: experience they had or,
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: you know, just gave some piece of feedback
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: that was just like, oh, this was really
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: meaningful when you said this.
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: And it is a great opportunity to get
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: validation for the story,
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: validation for, you know,
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: the way you're delivering it, and also tips
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: for making it stronger.
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: But also, I love the point you made about the
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: fact that everyone has a different speaking
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: style, right? You might be a more reserved
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: speaker where someone else is more
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: boisterous. Someone else might use humor.
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: Another person might, like you said,
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: not be comfortable with humor in that way,
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: and so everyone can use their own unique
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: speaking style. And we saw that on that day.
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: We saw many different styles of speaking,
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: all of them amazing.
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: But then it's just amplifying whatever your
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: natural style is to make it as powerful as
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: possible for the audience.
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: Absolutely. And I love that you balance
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: pushing us out of our comfort zone with the
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: idea of still being authentic.
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: And it's it's a perfect day for that to where
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: you make us get up and do some improv things,
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: which for introvert engineers like myself,
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: you make that a little challenging,
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: which I appreciate.
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: Yeah. And and all the while,
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: like you said, just being able to encourage
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: each other and know that we're making a
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: difference together and becoming stronger
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: when you leave that day,
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: that session.
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: Yes. Yeah. That's a really good point about
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: pushing you outside your comfort zone,
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: because, you know, on that day we want you to
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: to try some new things that maybe you've
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: never tried before. And to full disclosure,
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: Carol and I, we love what improv can do for
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: someone who was a speaker. We don't love
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: improv per se, because we are both not very
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: good at it, and I'm not speaking out of turn.
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: I'm sure Carol would admit to that as well.
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: I love to hate improv.
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: But with that said, I do recognize the,
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: um, skills that I've taken from having taken
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: an improv class and those exercises that we
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: do during these workshops where Carol and I
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: also participate them, even though we aren't,
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: we aren't good at it, but it does get you
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: outside your comfort zone.
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: It also, it forces you to think outside the
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: box of what you think is possible.
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: It gets you into your body because you're
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: moving around on the stage.
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: And so that's one thing I love about these
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: workshops is, you know,
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: we can tell people, Carol and I can get in
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: the expert trap, right, and tell people all
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: these tips. Instead, what we do is we get in
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: a room with the women that attend,
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: have them practice these things so they can
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: feel it for themselves.
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: So instead of us just telling,
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: they're actually doing and then they
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: experience the power of being in a room with
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: other women, getting that feedback, getting
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: the validation, doing the exercises,
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: moving on the stage.
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: And there's some I think you saw it that day
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: to some really big breakthroughs that happen.
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: Yes.
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: In that day. Yeah.
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: And you could and you could just celebrate
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: with them on that. And it's so much fun.
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: Absolutely.
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: Yes. Yeah. You know, we laugh,
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: we cry, we dance, we have fun,
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: we get serious, we get silly,
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: we do all the things.
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: And it's it's just the one thing that I love
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: the most about it is seeing everyone in the
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: beginning be a little reserved and timid and
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: watching them just.
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: It sounds so cliche, but literally blossom
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: before our eyes to the end of the day where
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: they're on the stage with power telling this
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: story. It is incredible.
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: I've connected with a bunch of the ladies who
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: were in that session through LinkedIn.
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: We stay in touch.
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: We encourage each other.
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: Uh, it's so much fun to get comments from
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: them, or to be able to comment on their stuff
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: on LinkedIn and see them taking what they
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: learned from that day and applying it.
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: It's it is. So the word encouraging just
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: doesn't give enough to to show what you get
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: out of that day. It's it's more than just a
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: day. It's building your own confidence.
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: It's getting out of perfectionism.
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: And it's it's making connections that are so
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: special.
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: Yeah, that's a great point about getting out
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: of perfectionism. I think that's one thing
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: that we're all probably guilty of is trying
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: to make the talk perfect before we can go
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: deliver it, but we know that you have to
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: deliver it in order to be able to perfect it.
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: Right, and to be able to make it better.
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: Now, Elaine, were you I'm curious.
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: Were you, um, coming into that workshop,
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: were you nervous?
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: Unsure. Not like what was.
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: What were you feeling like coming into it?
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: And then what was it like at the end?
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: I was definitely nervous,
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: uh, especially being around some people who
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: have a lot more experience.
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: Um, and, and those who have given bigger
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: Talks, done things for,
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: um, getting paid for some of those things as
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: well, which you're encouraging us to do. So a
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: little bit nervous coming in,
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: but I think what you helped us see is what
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: each of us brings and what each of us is
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: going to learn. And so getting that that
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: growth mindset of coming in and what you're
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: going to get out of that,
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: uh, is so valuable.
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: And I think, like you said,
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: those sessions of just loosening up,
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: getting to know each other,
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: bonding, um, getting to hear what other
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: people are trying to work on themselves and
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: being able to be encouraging and help or even
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: ask like, okay, how could I work on this?
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: Um, how could I get this story across
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: without, uh, emotions coming through things
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: like that where we, we started just forming
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: this effort of helping each other,
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: and it was so uplifting.
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: And like you said it from the moment through
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: lunch, through the end of the day, it was
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: just I didn't even want to leave. Like, I
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: just wanted to stay around and be encouraged
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: and like, wait, I got so much energy.
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: How do we how do we keep this going?
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: I know it's such a fun day and it's fun for
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: for me and Carol as well. And we don't want
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: to leave either, because it is so much fun.
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: Um, and the bonds that everyone forms during
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: that day, you can see those kind of happen
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: before your eyes as well,
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: which is so lovely to see.
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: And if, if we need anything in this world,
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: it's people supporting each other more,
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: right. And so seeing, seeing professionals
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: and, and, uh, you know,
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: women supporting each other on LinkedIn when
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: we watched that too, like we see you all
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: connecting with each other. We love to see
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: that. Um, okay.
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: So I've been following you on LinkedIn,
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: of course, and I've seen you posting about
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: other talks you've been giving.
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: So I've noticed you have been bitten by the
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: speaking bug and that you've been speaking
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: more. Can you share a little bit about some
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: of the speaking engagements you've had since
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: that last talk that you gave where we worked
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: together? Like, what have where have you been
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: speaking? What has been the topic? What has
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: it been like?
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: No, I appreciate it because you're you helped
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: us think through how to reach out more and
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: encouraging us to do that more. And I had
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: kind of stayed in my my colleges,
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: especially University of Central Florida.
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: Things here that I am happy to support will
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: always support, but I appreciate that you
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: helped us try to branch out.
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: Um, so, you know, I got I found this whole
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: group called Empowering Women,
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: which is wonderful. And being able to reach
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: out and apply and get selected to speak there
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: was an amazing thing.
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: And, um, then even the stuff,
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: when you get rejected, I think you've really
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: helped us build resilience through that.
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: Um, so like, for instance,
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: I had applied to the Society of Engineers the
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: big conference that happens in October, and I
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: didn't get selected.
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: Um, but what I took from that was,
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: um, you know, Carol gives lots of great tips
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: on how to use AI, and I,
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: I, I've learned from her for doing that.
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: So I took some of the sections that were
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: selected, copied those in and I,
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: you know, saying, hey, you know, here's the
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: topics I like to talk about.
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: Here's the topics that were selected.
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: What are some of the things that I could do
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: that maybe change up the title or change up
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: the content that stay authentic to me,
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: but seems to be what they're looking for at
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: this event. And that helped me get selected
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: for a local.
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: So it wasn't necessarily getting the big one,
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: but I got selected to talk at a local one,
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: which was exciting. So I really appreciate
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: all the tips that she does to stay resilient.
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: Don't take the no. What do you learn from it?
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: Yes. And how you can build and change still
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: being authentic to you, but change to make
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: sure you're hitting the content that's
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: important for those sessions.
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: Oh, that's so exciting. I'd love to hear that
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: you're using AI to help you with that.
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: Yay! We love that.
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: You know, I think as speakers,
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: we need to use whatever tools are available
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: to us to help us, you know,
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: craft a pitch or refine the pitch or like
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: you, like you did like look for where where
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: can I improve upon this?
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: To maybe submit to this other speaking gig or
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: conference or whatever?
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: And I mean, that's very smart and obviously
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: very effective. So now you got chosen for
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: another talk, which is great.
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: Love that. And what is that talk going to be
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: on or have you given it already.
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: No that's okay. So basically what it's able
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: to do on this case, it's it's taking a
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: political look at how to stay authentic to
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: you. Um, and some of the political
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: challenges, um, so very excited about it.
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: That's exciting.
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: Wow. I love you're also doing a nice job of
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: taking your core message and sort of
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: massaging it into other realms,
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: which that's another thing that we like to
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: see happen because, you know,
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: you don't have to just speak to like the one
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: type of audience all the time with the exact
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: same message. You can modify the message,
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: change it, which is the great benefit of
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: using the framework that we the signature
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: talk framework that we use. Because then you
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: can pull some of the same stories,
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: massage it into a different main message for
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: a different audience.
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: So well done.
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: I love to.
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: See. Thank you guys for empowering me for
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: that.
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: You're doing all the hard work, but I
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: absolutely love to see that now.
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: Um, what? So how have most of your speaking
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: opportunities come to you?
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: Have you been? Have they reached out to you?
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: Have you been pitching to different
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: conferences? How have those come about?
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: I've actually gotten it both ways, which is
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: kind of fun is, uh, I will say still,
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: most of it is me putting myself out there and
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: trying. But, um, you know,
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: I did get I did have somebody reach out to me
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: recently for an opportunity to speak in
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: September, and I was so excited to have
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: somebody reach out to me and say, I heard you
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: speak at the local conference for sweet.
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: Loved your topic. Would you mind coming in
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: and sharing that same thing?
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: And so it's going to be fun to see how that
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: continues to grow as the opportunities
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: continue to grow.
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: Yes. Well, and you're very good about posting
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: these things on LinkedIn, which I think helps
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: in your visibility. And so to everyone
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: listening to this as you're speaking,
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: post about these events.
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: Post about when it's coming up.
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: Post after it. You know,
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: as it's happening, post after it happens.
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: Because this is how we build visibility for
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: our speaker brand, right?
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: Like we you have the Elaine the engineer
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: brand, but you also have Elaine,
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: the speaker brand, right? And so you are very
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: good about posting content on LinkedIn that
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: demonstrates that you are a speaker.
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: Absolutely. And that's that's how that person
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: reached out to me, was through LinkedIn.
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: And so even those small tips that you and
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: Carol give, like just how to kind of go into
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: your title and just make sure that that's out
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: there, like you said, here's some here's some
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: snippets, here's some photos of me out here.
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: Here's me, um, and some of the people who I'm
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: talking to that I'm inspiring.
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: That matters. And so utilize that LinkedIn
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: and those connections.
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: Yes. Yes. Good, I love that.
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: You're absolutely right.
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: Um, I think LinkedIn is probably one of the
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: most important, uh, platforms that we can use
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: because it, it functions a little bit like a
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: search engine as well.
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: So when people because it is a professional
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: database, so to speak.
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: And so when people are looking for someone to
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: speak in a certain industry or on a certain
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: topic, that's they can go there in search.
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: And so make sure you have and I'm saying this
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: to everybody listening, of course, make sure
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: you have speaker in your in your LinkedIn
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: bio. Make sure you talk about speaking.
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: Make sure you post about speaking because
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: again, that's how you build your speaker
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: brand so that people know you're,
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: oh, you do this, you know,
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: they can count on you to do this.
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: Well. So fantastic.
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: And so tell me a little bit about,
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: um, from the time we worked together in last
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: August in that VIP day and then through now.
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: And so we worked together.
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: Then you came to the workshop. Now you've
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: actually been speaking.
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: Tell me a little bit about how your how you
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: feel like you've changed as a speaker.
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: I Don't want to, like,
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: say this over again, but I really do
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: appreciate that. I think my message has
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: gotten better. And by not just sitting there
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: saying, here's your tips.
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: And it came across very engineering,
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: very here's the bullet points I've got out of
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: the bullet points and more into the the
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: storytelling. And I think that leaves people
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: more inspired on where they can go.
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: So I appreciate that you've helped me just
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: tweak my message, um, a lot better,
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: which gives me more confidence when I'm up
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: there. And then, like you said,
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: we're just continuing to grow all those
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: connections and allowing that to just reach a
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: bigger audience, which is just so much more
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: impactful.
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: Yeah, yeah. No, I love that that you
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: mentioned the storytelling component because
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: that is the you know, we all there's a
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: bazillion more engineers,
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: right. And so a lot of those tips will
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: probably be similar to what someone else
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: might share. But when you incorporate your
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: story. So for you, Elaine,
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: you know, these stories of having worked at
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: Disney, Not everybody has that story of being
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: a Disney engineer who can share those types
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: of stories to inspire an audience or show
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: them possibilities in that field,
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: or, you know, your personal stories with your
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: career growth and trajectory.
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: Those are yours. Those are very unique to
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: you, but they have a universal message to
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: them, which I'm sure you've found to be the
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: case. Right.
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: Agreed. Absolutely I agree.
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: And just those moments mean so much to me.
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: When I give a speech.
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: I've got the group that comes up to you
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: afterwards that wants to talk what their
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: takeaways are either just the connections on
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: LinkedIn afterwards when somebody tells you,
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: here's what I've applied, here's what I'm
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: going to do. It's so rewarding,
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: isn't it?
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: And it's so validating too,
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: that, you know, not only have you made an
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: impact on them, but also,
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: oh, what I have to say matters.
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: Yes. Yes, absolutely.
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: And knowing that it's given them inspiration
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: and taking them. That's why we do what we do.
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: Yes, yes. And this is for everyone listening.
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: This is the power, I think,
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: of this, uh, community where we work in this
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: workshop, and we.
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: It's like a community for the day.
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: But then it carries on after that,
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: and there's just so much support for all,
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: everything happening throughout the day, but
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: particularly everyone's individual personal
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: stories, because we share a lot of very
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: personal stories during this day in in an
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: effort to find those stories that are going
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: to make the best impact for the message.
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: And I just love the way you can see kind of
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: what your story does for your audience.
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: You can see that happen during the day of
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: that workshop. You can see it happen.
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: So it's almost like a live example of the
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: power of story right then and there.
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: But that, just like you said, just gives you
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: the confidence for then telling your story to
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: the audience once you deliver your talk.
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: Yeah, I love that.
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: No, I think you can't say that enough.
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: The more than four people from that,
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: that session I still talk to on LinkedIn.
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: Their stories matter to me,
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: the voice that they're trying to get across.
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: You can find what's similar in yours versus
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: what drives them, what's inspiring to them,
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: and then just being able to encourage them to
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: continue to get that message out has been
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: just as fun for me.
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: Yeah. That's a that's a really great point.
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: Like that support of everyone really,
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: really is so powerful because we you know,
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: we don't can we do this alone.
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: Maybe. But it's so much more effective when
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: we have others supporting us,
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: especially someone who's been at that
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: workshop with you, seen you deliver the
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: message, seen how powerful your your story is
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: and then can give you the kudos,
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: give you the encouragement, give you the or
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: even, you know, share a resource with you in
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: some way, shape or form to help you,
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: you know, pitch to an organization or
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: something. So that's the other thing about
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: the workshop is just the bonds that are
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: formed is so amazing for us to see happen.
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: Very powerful. Very powerful.
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: Yeah. Now, um.
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: All right, so now you've been speaking.
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: You're posting about it on LinkedIn.
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: So what is next for you?
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: You mentioned to me when before we started
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: recording, you mentioned that you actually
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: have pitched for another speaking engagement.
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: But in addition to that,
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: tell us a little bit about that. And then in
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: addition to that, what else is on the horizon
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: for you in your speaking career?
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: I again, I think I was telling you that,
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: um, you and Carol will always be like little
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: voices in my head of where I've made a
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: commitment to myself on each quarter,
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: how many people I'm going to at least reach
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: out to, and making sure that I'm meeting
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: those goals for myself.
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: Uh, not getting in my own head or being just
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: concerned of it's. Oh,
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: it's not perfect. It's not the right time
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: yet. Um, and so I appreciate that.
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: I appreciate that your your voices are
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: helping me drive and encouraging me to reach
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: out more. Uh, because it sometimes it just
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: takes that to to get the yeses and be okay
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: with the no's, because the yeses are going to
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: be so much more powerful when you get them.
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: So yes, you're in my head and you're you're
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: encouraging me. And with that,
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: um, I got to I submitted,
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: uh, over the weekend for another one.
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: So I'll hear back in November and looking
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: forward to seeing if that's a yes as well.
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: Yay! Exciting.
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: And then do you have plans for any other
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: pitching that you want to do for conferences
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: or different speaking engagements?
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: I still need to grow that.
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: Um, right now, of course,
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: it's it's the quarter of UCF.
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: And so I've got a lot of time with them this
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: quarter. I'm going as they're getting back
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: into the season, um, the Society of Women
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: Engineers there. I'll be doing a speech for
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: them, the Asme, the mechanical engineering
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: group. I'll be doing something for them,
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: which is near and dear to my heart,
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: helping all of them grow and and just seeing
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: them as they graduate and get out to be these
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: new, brand new engineers out there.
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: So this quarter is really focused on them,
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: um, but also just continuing to apply to
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: other things as well.
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: Oh, that's so exciting. I also love seeing
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: and this a lot of the women that we work with
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: do this is they're supporting other up and
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: coming women in whatever industry that
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: they're in at colleges or in organizations
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: like that. And I do that as Carole does that.
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: And so we we like to see that as well,
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: because it's like inspiring those young
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: women, not just in the career field that
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: you're that you're in,
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: but also they see you speaking to them,
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: but then they also will follow you on
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: LinkedIn and see that you're speaking. And so
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: hopefully they will want to use their voices
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: as well. And so we're role modeling hopefully
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: that we'll see in them.
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: And so more of us sharing our voices just has
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: so much more power.
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: Great.
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: Yeah I love that.
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: Well Elaine, thank you so much for taking the
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: time to share with the audience your
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: experience working with us and also coming to
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: the workshop and your experience with
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: speaking and using your voice.
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: I really appreciate you taking the time to to
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: tell us about that.
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: Well, thank you. And I can't thank you and
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: Carol enough for helping me grow.
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: Helping me step out of my comfort zone.
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: Allowing me to meet other women who I get to
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: help support and be a part of.
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: Thank you for all you do.
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: For the women out there who have a lot of
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: great stories to share, and thank you for
Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur: empowering us.
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: Oh well, it is truly our pleasure.
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: All right. If you want to work on your talk
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: and practice your delivery and storytelling
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: with real time, hands on feedback from me and
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: from Carol Cox in a supportive environment of
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: other women, join us for our in-person
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: Speaking Accelerator workshop,
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: taking place soon, October 30th.
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: You can get all the details and register by
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: visiting. Speaking your truth.
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: That, again, is speaking your truth.
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: Until next time.
Diane Diaz: Diane Diaz: Thanks for listening.