Coffee with Jon: Successful Speaking with Ashley Stahl

In this episode of Coffee with Jon, Jon talks with Ashley Stahl, the CEO and founder of Wise Whisper Agency. They discuss the art of crafting a powerful signature talk and building a professional speaking business.

Key concepts for a successful talk:

• Original Thinking: Ashley explains that the most impactful speakers write from their own original perspective rather than just to a title or a generic message (1:21-3:05).
• Structure and Bones: A strong keynote typically includes a captivating opening, two to three clear, research-backed talking points, and a powerful call to action (8:33-10:45).
• The ""Soul"" of a Talk: To truly connect, speakers should focus on the underlying conversation, using questions and memorable sound bites that invite the audience into the narrative (11:12-13:00).
• Performance and Consistency: Professional speakers treat their talks like a performance. Ashley suggests newer speakers focus on a 20-minute, well-memorized talk to ensure consistency and mastery (13:19-15:08).
• Building a speaking business: Ashley shares her personal journey, noting how a viral TED talk (12-18 minutes) can act as a catalyst for authority, book deals, and lead generation (16:43-19:50).

Wise Whisper Agency assists individuals—often corporate professionals or entrepreneurs—in crafting their talks and navigating the industry through intensives and proprietary software designed to help them book paid gigs (24:24-26:38).

Ashley Stahl is the international bestselling author of the National Indie Excellence Award Finalist book YOU TURN: Get Unstuck, Discover Your Direction, Design Your Dream Career, former host of the You Turn Podcast, ranked on Apple in the top 100 mental health shows in the US, and a keynote speaker with her TEDxLeidenUniversity talk in 2019 among the top 100 most viewed talks on the TEDx YouTube channel. With a Master’s degree from King’s College London’s Department of War Studies, as well as a Master’s in Psychology from University of Santa Monica, Ashley started her career in counterterrorism under the Obama administration and learned speech writing while working for the government.

After pouring tens of thousands of dollars into her own personal brand, Ashley realized that many entrepreneurs are spinning their wheels and wasting their budgets on personal brand and PR efforts that are not actually moving the needle forward in their careers.

After speaking at TEDxBerkeley in 2013 and TEDxLeidenUniversity in 2019 and seeing both talks go viral, Ashley attracted business opportunities directly from those speeches that led her to believe that speaking on big stages and YouTube channels is THE superhighway to launching and scaling your personal brand, whether you want to amplify your authority, leave a legacy or create exponential opportunities for yourself.

For this reason, Ashley’s creative team at Wise Whisper Agency has coached more than 100 clients craft their signature talk and land spots on stages like the World Business Executive Coaching Summit, Small Business Expo, C200, Monetize Your Expertise Summit, MGM’s annual event, People 1st, American Dental Association, Corporate World Intelligence, and South by Southwest (SXSW).

While Wise Whisper is not affiliated with the TED or TEDx brands, our team has specifically coached more than 100 clients who have landed their spot on big stages.