In fact, trying to cram all your insight into a 45-minute keynote took serious willpower. You wrote, you rehearsed, you cut. You reworded. And you slashed again. A story you love had to go. That example that upleveled your central concept? Just not enough time.

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It hurts. And yet—something inside you is defiant. “There’s a place for these gems somewhere,” you think, and you console yourself by saying, “I’m not done with these ideas.” Or maybe they’re not done with you.

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That’s the first signal of ripeness when it comes to turning a speech into a book. Your speechwriting has left you with a surplus of ideas looking for a place to call home. That small mountain of gold that didn’t make it into your speech? It’s prime book fodder.

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But that’s just the first of five tell-tale signs that indicate your transformational speech is ready to become a bestselling book. Now, you don’t need to check off all five. But if you have at least three, then you’re probably more prepared than you might think to commit to your book-writing journey.

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People keep asking: “Do you have a book yet?”

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Sometimes the universe sends subtle signals. This is not one of them. If you ever get asked “Where can I buy your book?” this is an in-your-face invitation to do something about it.

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Your speech resonated with them and they want to dive deeper. That causal link is a strong indication your speech has the substance needed to become an excellent book.

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You may also get juicy follow-up questions during Q&A after your speech. You love it. Sometimes it’s the best part of the gig. But those ten minutes feel like speed-dating with people who want to marry your ideas. You do your best, but it’s inevitable. You settle for partial answers, ending with half-hearted encouragement to visit your website for “more.”

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When what you couldn’t say onstage starts to weigh heavy on you, you have your next signal of ripeness. Where speeches are pithy, books are where you can spread out and bask in the space to give a full answer.

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You want to preserve your speech—beyond the live speaking gig

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Let’s be real: as great as your speech is, you’re not going to want to give this same talk forever. But that doesn’t mean your current ideas should disappear when you pivot to your next topic.

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Think about your favorite band. They tour. It’s fantastic. The energy, the sweat, the crowd—it’s an indelible live experience. But if there were no recorded albums? No way to replay or revisit or share their music. Wouldn’t that be rather tragic?

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A book is your record. It lets your unique point of view live long after you’ve moved on to the next keynote. We’re all familiar with the idea that the unlived life is not worth living, not because Socrates was a great speaker, even though he was. It’s because someone wrote his words down.

Full Transcript

Don't

check in on your conviction level: Do you believe your ideas are vital enough to live beyond your speaking gigs?

You’re ready to amplify your speaking success

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Sometimes the reason to write a book is not only for the book itself, but because it helps you succeed at the profession of speaking. Are you looking for ways to boost the number of times you get booked, or the fees you receive? A book can do that for you.

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Writing your book will sharpen your message. The process forces intellectual rigor. It also shows you where the logic works, where examples land, and where the gaps are. And in turn your speech will get stronger too.

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On the other hand, as you harness the energy you generate from speaking to audiences in person, you can use it to fuel your book-writing journey. Let’s say you just wrote a chapter on the plane to your next gig in Phoenix. You test a new phrase from the stage and the audience gives you real-time feedback. There’s no more immediate place to discover the line that makes people gasp—or groan.

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Just for a moment, try on the idea that speaking and writing are creative co-pilots. Together, they can create an upward spiral that solidifies your thought leadership.

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You need to plant a flag in the territory of your intellectual property

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Even if you haven’t formalized it yet, chances are good you have a process, a perspective, a distinct way of thinking about your topic. Writing the book helps you distill and stake claim to it.

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You name the steps. You create language around it. You shape how others will use—and cite—your work. You enter a long tradition of thinkers who didn’t just say smart things… they wrote them down, and shaped how those ideas were remembered.

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A masterful speech is a stunning, in-the-room experience like no other. It can warm the hearts of an entire room. But a book can get tucked into a backpack, passed to friends, quoted in boardrooms, underlined in café corners. It can spread your message and your intellectual property farther than ever before.

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A book will reach people who’ve never seen you speak, and never will. While you’re home with laryngitis, or dozing on a chaise longue somewhere, the book you’ve written will work the night shift.

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The book-writing process overlaps with the speaker journey

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There are a lot of misconceptions about this part: writing your book doesn’t require you to pause your speaking career or take away from it. In fact, book-writing can thrive alongside it.

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You're already workshopping your material onstage. You’re discovering what hits, what moves people, what metaphors land. If you can capture that momentum, organize your content wisely, and build in some structure and feedback—you’re on your way to a real book manuscript.

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This isn’t about adding a giant side project to your plate. It’s about squeezing the juice from the orange in your hand. What you need is a smart process, clear guardrails, and wisdom from people who’ve traveled the road before.

Don't

isolate your writing process from your speaking career.

consider writing a book and iterating your speech in tandem. Each enhances and refines the other.

Is your speech ready to become a book?

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Well, how many did you check off the list?

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You have a surplus of ideas you want to share.
People are asking you: “Do you have a book?”
You want to preserve your speech—beyond the stage.
You’re ready to amplify your success as a speaker.
You need to solidify and protect your Intellectual Property.

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If you’ve checked off at least three of those boxes, then yes. Your speech is alive and teeming with energy. It's evolving. It's creating reactions from audiences. This is all the stuff that books thrive on. So yes, your speech is almost certainly ready.

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The real question is, are you?

Don't

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Not sure about what your next move is for becoming an author and/or speaker? Our team could help.

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Not sure about what your next move is for becoming an author and/or speaker? Our team could help.

Thank you! Your submission has been received!

Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.

You’re ready to amplify your speaking success

‍

Just for a moment, try on the idea that speaking and writing are creative co-pilots. Together, they can create an upward spiral that solidifies your thought leadership.

‍

You need to plant a flag in the territory of your intellectual property

‍

Even if you haven’t formalized it yet, chances are good you have a process, a perspective, a distinct way of thinking about your topic. Writing the book helps you distill and stake claim to it.

‍

The book-writing process overlaps with the speaker journey

‍

There are a lot of misconceptions about this part: writing your book doesn’t require you to pause your speaking career or take away from it. In fact, book-writing can thrive alongside it.

‍

Dont

isolate your writing process from your speaking career.

consider writing a book and iterating your speech in tandem. Each enhances and refines the other.