Become an Irresistible Speaker & Grow Your Coaching Business With Colin Boyd
If you’ve been hiding behind your keyboard, hoping clients will find you, this episode is your wake-up call. Public speaking for coaches creates instant authority and positions you as the go-to expert faster than any other strategy.
Colin Boyd (author of “One Presentation Away”) breaks down exactly how to use speaking, physical, or virtual to attract dream clients consistently. Additionally, the specific frameworks that distinguish speakers who receive “nice feedback” from those who get fully booked.
The Instant Authority Effect
Ever sit next to someone at a conference, have a decent chat, then watch them get announced as a speaker? Suddenly, you see them completely differently.
That’s instant authority.
Colin nailed it: “When you stand on a stage, you get instant authority because you’re the one speaking.” This creates a halo effect that transforms how the market perceives you.
Want to know if someone’s a market leader? Check if they speak. Every major influencer speaks regularly—podcasts, stages, virtual events, and their own workshops.
The game-changer: Speaking makes you a leader. You don’t wait to become a leader first.
Most coaches believe they must reach an arbitrary success level before they “earn” the right to speak. Meanwhile, speakers are claiming market leadership by deciding they’re speakers and showing up.
The Core Premise: Your Presentation’s Red Thread
The core premise is that a single statement running through your entire presentation leads logically to your offer.
Colin’s core premise: “You are one irresistible presentation away from the breakthrough you want in your business.”
Notice the direct alignment with what he sells (speaking training). That’s why his presentations convert.
Biggest mistake speakers make? Creating content that doesn’t align with their offer. Your presentation wanders everywhere, covering random topics. When you make your offer, it feels disconnected.
Your core premise should be the one statement that, if your audience believes it, makes your offer the logical next step.
This framework transformed how I structure workshops. Instead of throwing spaghetti at the wall, I have a clear red thread making my offers the natural, obvious solution.
Niche Focus: How Specificity Tripled Income
For 11-12 years, Colin taught productivity, personal performance, career coaching, and mindset work. Good at all of it. Income stayed flat.
Then he made a decision: own one specific problem with one specific solution.
- Problem: Low conversion rates on presentations
- Solution: Building high-converting presentations
Colin went all-in on speaking and selling from the stage. Within 12 months, his income tripled. Opportunities with major market leaders followed.
The $400K/Month Example: Colin’s client used to teach general investing. Decent business, nothing remarkable. Then he niched to AI investing—just helping people invest in AI companies.
Now? Two webinars per month. $400,000 monthly. That’s hyper-specific positioning plus effective presentations.
Clarity Over Cleverness
Colin’s best quote: “The clearer you are, the more money you make.”
Too many coaches try sounding clever, unique, sophisticated. They use vague language like “I help people get empowered” or “I support transformation in health.”
These phrases worked when the market wasn’t saturated. Now they’re invisible.
Instead, articulate the exact problem you solve better than your ideal client can articulate it. When someone thinks, “How did you get inside my head?”—you’ve nailed it.
Colin’s formula: “You know how experts and coaches present and get really nice comments but very few clients? We help you build a presentation that gets you clients every time you speak.”
Clear problem. Clear solution. No fluff.
This specificity makes you referable. People remember what you do and recommend you. Compare that to the coach who does “everything” and helps people “live their best life.” Nobody knows who to send them.
Date Your Niche (Don’t Marry It)
Thinking, “What if I choose wrong?”
Colin’s advice: Just date it.
You don’t marry your niche immediately. Run a promotion around a specific problem with a specific solution. Test the market response. Adjust.
Colin tested multiple niches over 18 years. Each experiment taught him skills and brought him closer to the speaking focus that lights him up.
I started in health and nutrition coaching before evolving to business coaching for coaches. Those experiences weren’t wasted—they gave me skills, confidence, and insights I now share.
Confidence comes from doing, not endlessly planning the perfect niche from your couch.
The Rocking Chair Test
When I asked Colin what he wants readers to take away from his book, he went beyond tactics, renewed hope about what’s possible.
Colin uses the “rocking chair test,” imagining yourself at 90, looking back on your life. What would you regret not attempting?
This test led him to move from Australia to the United States. It pushes him to take speaking opportunities when fear shows up.
For those sitting on the sidelines, afraid to host your first workshop: When you’re 90, will you regret not trying?
Your Speaking Strategy: Practical Next Steps
1. Decide You’re A Speaker
Stop waiting for permission. Update your bio. Call yourself a speaker or workshop host.
2. Identify Your Core Premise
What’s the one belief that, if your audience accepts it, makes your offer the logical next step?
3. Own One Specific Problem
What problem can you articulate better than your ideal client can? Focus there.
4. Align Content With Offer
Everything you teach should directly support why someone should invest in your solution. No random tangents.
5. Start Small
You don’t need 1,000 people. Host intimate virtual workshops. Speak to small groups. Build confidence.
6. Test And Refine
Track conversion rates. Notice what makes people lean in. Use each presentation as data.
Books Position You, Programs Make You Money
Colin ran a successful business for 17 years without a book. You can absolutely build a thriving practice without one.
But books create powerful positioning that opens doors.
When Wiley approached Colin about writing a book, he took it seriously. “One Presentation Away” distills everything he’s learned about speaking and selling from stage.
Colin admits he needs accountability to get things done (don’t we all?). Having a publisher and deadlines helped him finish.
The problem with most speaking books? Dry, theoretical, barely addressing the mechanics of presentations that convert. Colin set out to write the best book on this topic—practical, story-driven, immediately applicable.
If you’re tired of “nice feedback” but not booking clients, this resource addresses that exact problem.
Speaking Works For Introverts Too
Colin’s confession: Standing in front of a small audience as a teenager, physically shaking, feeling like a three-minute speech lasted three hours.
Public speaking terrifies most people. But it’s a learnable skill, not an innate talent reserved for extroverts.
Colin built his entire business around speaking despite that shaky beginning. What changed? He recognized that speaking provided unique leverage, so he committed to developing the skill.
Many introverts make exceptional speakers—thoughtful, well-prepared, deeply empathetic to audience needs.
The question: Are you willing to develop this skill to grow your business and serve more people?
Virtual Stages Create Authority Too
When Colin started 18 years ago, virtual stages weren’t a thing. Now? Arguably more powerful than physical stages for most coaches.
Virtual workshops, webinars, podcast interviews, Instagram Lives, Zoom presentations—all create instant authority. Plus, they’re more accessible. You reach global audiences without travel costs or complicated logistics.
I’ve built much of my business through virtual presentations and podcast appearances. Colin’s principles apply whether you’re on a physical stage with 500 people or hosting a Zoom workshop for 20.
What matters: Quality of your presentation and clarity of your offer, not stage size.
Your Next Presentation Could Change Everything
Colin’s core premise isn’t just a catchy book title—it’s reality. One powerful presentation can lead to your next high-ticket client. One virtual workshop can fill your entire roster. One podcast interview can position you as THE go-to expert.
You genuinely are one presentation away from a breakthrough.
But that presentation needs strategic design, clear messaging, and proper alignment with an offer that’s the logical next step.
This episode gave you the framework. Colin’s book gives you the roadmap. Now decide: Will you be a speaker, or keep hiding behind “not ready yet”?
Every expert speaker you admire was once where you are now—nervous, uncertain, wondering if they could do this. The difference? They decided to be speakers and took action despite fear.
