Cara Paulan, Chief Operating Officer, Global Public Speaking
-A member conversation with Shannon Minifie, Box of Crayons
In August, I met with Cara Paulan, Chief Operating Officer at Global Public Speaking. Cara’s reflections on what’s powerful about the ISA gets at the heart of why I wanted to do these spotlights in the first place—as yet another way to share and connect with people who are generous and thought-provoking and whose learning I love to just soak up. I love the journey Cara’s been on with Global Public Speaking, and that she’s part of this community.
SM: Cara, we had the pleasure of first connecting two ABRs ago – I remember chatting around the fire and taking many MANY notes as you talked about all of the books you were reading and sales initiatives you were testing out. I remember also that you were new to ISA, and really to the industry. Can you share a bit about how you came to be leading sales and marketing at Global Public Speaking—and now leading as the Chief Operating Officer?
CP: My career trajectory looks like a series of random choices, but one consistent theme is my involvement in the speaking industry. I left college, fighting MBA candidates for entry-level jobs. So I went to a staffing agency and was placed in a role with a Speakers Bureau, the Harry Walker Agency, where I really discovered for myself for the first time an entire industry dedicated to linking the biggest minds to people. I was hired away by one of my speakers to work with them directly. This brought me back to DC, and then to Austin, where I supported this speaker as Chief of Staff.
Eventually, I moved back to the NYC area and reconnected with someone at the Harry Walker Agency who wanted to add someone to their team at a non-profit in DC. I’d been feeling that I wanted something mission driven, and I ended up taking that role and I stayed with them for 6 years. Just as I was coming up on my 6-year anniversary with that company, a friend who worked for Global Public Speaking reached out to me because she thought I’d be a good addition to the team as the director of sales. I hadn’t done that kind of role before, but I interviewed for it, and it seemed like a good fit. So I decided I was ready for a new challenge and I started working with Global Public Speaking.
SM: For those who don’t know, tell us a little bit about what Global Public Speaking’s focus or speciality is.
CP: We’re a spoken communication training firm, specialized in how to train leaders to speak. Not just narrowly “on a stage”; what we specialize in is really helping leaders speak with impact every day, from their1:1s to everyday meetings to Board meetings. So all of the frameworks we teach equip leaders the spoken communication skills they need to address the most common speaking situations leaders experience with confidence.
For about the last 10 years, the bread and butter end user has been the emerging and mid-career leaders: people primed for future leadership. And our Founder and CEO Allison Shapira focuses on Executive and C-Suite leaders.
SM: What are you working on right now that you’re really excited about? Or, what’s the most interesting challenge you’re grappling with these days?
CP: Well, in addition to fine-tuning our brand narratives, the team is growing: we just added a new person to our core team. From the COO seat, I’m working on how to optimize everyone’s day to day. We’re finally big enough to have systems and processes and have a need for them to be repeatable and sustainable.
I also currently run our marketing efforts. We implemented the EOS System, where we started to fine-tune our messaging and marketing needs. As part of that pivot we’ve engaged an agency to overhaul the website and messaging across the board.
I’ve been working closely with our VP of Sales, Kim Fredrich, to figure out what types of activities to do and prioritze. How to really get in front of the people we need to. Especially since we’re new to selling to L&D leaders.
SM: you might be the only org at the ISA trying to pivot away from the heads of lines of business to L&D buyer …
CP: Ha! Maybe so. Although we still do sell to heads of lines of business; we’ve just found that they want one-and-done workshops. We’ve never sold directly to L&D before. “communication” is a really flooded field. Questions we were grappling with are things like: does the market want one-off workshops, or do we go behind the cohort model and sell to someone with the budget for that broader scale, recurring workshop model?
SM: That’s a tough transition to manage, for sure. Box of Crayons has been on a 5+ year journey to evolve in just that way: from being built on many MANY one-off workshops and keynotes to a tight portfolio of strategic buyers doing large-scale learning and making real investment. The bet we placed was that pursuing that kind of work was the best way to grow, and was also helping us to stay on our toes more, be more innovative, and learn more about the impact of the work we’re doing with our clients. But it’s a big transition, and you always want it to be faster and easier than it’s going to be.
SM: What are some of the marketing tactics or strategies that worked for you last year, and what are you doubling down on, what are you abandoning?
CP: We’ve been hyper focused on building out our referral network. It’s probably not news to anyone at the ISA – to do this – but we’re really doubling down on it. When I was in sales, I was focused on testing “social selling.” We’re still experimenting with how to build relationships with cold prospects directly across various platforms but those relationships take a lot of time to build.. When Kim joined us at the end of 2023, she encouraged us to focus even more on people who are warmer than that, with whom we have some street cred already. So we’ve built out a referral network—flagging people in the CRM and on Linkedin that are fans of us and the program—and asking for direct introductions or referral business from those people. We’re spending lots of time there these days, sales-wise.
From a marketing perspective, I’m still trying to figure out the most strategic focus there. Our topics are flooded, and anyone can be a “thought leader”—
SM: —you’re self-appointed, rather than peer-reviewed—
CP: —exactly. And so I’m working on shifting us to focus on PR-related activities. My thinking is that the only way to really be distinguished as an expert is to be called on to comment on news stories (though creating original content is also important!). So getting our CEO/Founder to comment on pressing news stories and lending her expertise there. We’ve been testing this and saw a 500% spike after one of her timely news topic posts. So we’ll keep exploring this PR angle to differentiate ourselves in the market. I’m trying to figure out how to really automate and streamline this kind of short-form but impactful content.
SM: Interesting. Before we close, can you share what’s been most useful for you in being a part of the ISA community?
CP: I honestly can’t say enough good things about the events I’ve been to: I’ve participated in the like-size events, ABRs, two C-levels, and I’ve attended [Learning Series] webinars. I’d highlight two things. First, that the ISA consistently thinks about what info would be useful to its members. Sessions are interesting and thought-provoking and I walk away with a laundry list of to-dos and thoughts. I drop everything to attend the events. I’m more reserved, but even if I don’t participate, and just listen, it’s so helpful and great learning. Honestly, this association just does a great job of meeting members’ needs through programming. A real treat at the ABR was Pam Slim’s session, which was fantastic—something thought-provoking and new around how to think about and use strategic partnerships.
The second thing I love is that everyone is so helpful. My background is mostly in the political industry – and people frankly aren’t that helpful in that milieu. The support of the community at the ISA is second to none. It’s so amazing to me that the ISA has created this environment and attracted companies big and small and people aren’t competing or sizing each other up—they’re just sharing. The feeling isn’t one of scarcity but rather that there’s enough pie for everyone to go around. The knowledge sharing and willingness to help is just huge.
When I joined the ISA I was new to the industry—to training/L&D in particular— and I remember being at that first ABR and just finding it so refreshing to hear people that understand the situation and the challenges of the industry, and commiserate with you.
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DM: Member Benefits that are relatable and accessible for your entire team, derived from this conversation:
Learning Series Webinar Programs (past recordings are available under your member account):
UPCOMING 10/17/2024: “Make Your Business Repeatable with Proven Business Systems” with David Jenyns
4/26/2024: “Will You Play a Big Enough Business Game in 2024? The Sales Revenue Models Method” with Simon Bowen
11/14/2023: “How learning Professionals Can Play the Long Game in their Business” with Dorie Clark
