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The Professional Speaking Show Is Changing (Here's Why)
Bonus Episode • 2nd September 2026 • Professional Speaking: Known. Booked. Paid. • John Ball | Speaker Coach for Paid Keynotes & Professional Positioning
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This isn't a normal episode. It's an announcement about where The Professional Speaking Show goes from here.

John explains the decision behind moving the podcast from weekly to fortnightly, why the numbers that once looked promising dropped off a cliff earlier this year, and why he's stopped trying to force a recovery that isn't coming.

He talks honestly about what it means to admit a show isn't finding its audience, why the podcast is becoming more of a personal passion project than a professional growth channel, and where his time and energy are moving instead: focus on coaching clients and speaking gigs, daily short-form content, and a new exclusive to YouTube content strategy.

He also shares a review point. At 300 episodes, he'll decide whether the show continues at its current cadence, drops further, or ends altogether.

If you're a speaker weighing up whether podcasting is the right growth channel for you, this episode is a candid look at what that decision actually costs, and how to know when a passion project should stop pretending to be a business strategy.

In this episode:

  • Why John moved from weekly to fortnightly episodes
  • What happened to the show's numbers this year, and why he stopped chasing a fix
  • The difference between a passion project and a professional growth channel, and why the podcast is shifting to the former
  • Where John is redirecting his time: prospecting, coaching clients, daily short-form content, and a new YouTube strategy
  • His honest take on whether podcasting is the right move for speakers starting out
  • The 300-episode review point and what happens next

Links mentioned:

Subscribe and follow on your podcast platform of choice. Rate on Spotify, review on Apple Podcasts, and subscribe on YouTube.

CHAPTERS:

00:00 Announcement Intro

00:25 Why The Change

00:57 Stats Drop Reality

01:49 Passion Versus Business

02:24 New Content Strategy 03:22 Podcasting Lessons

04:37 Six-Month Review Plan

05:08 How To Support

06:35 Back Catalogue And Coaching

07:15 New Cadence Farewell

Want to get coached for free on the show? Fill in the form https://forms.gle/mo4xYkEiCjqtz9yP6, and if we think your challenge could help others, we'll invite you on.

For speaking enquiries or to connect with me, you can email [email protected] or find me on LinkedIn

You can find all our clips, episodes and more on the Present Influence YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@PresentInfluence

Thanks for listening. Rating the show 5* on Spotify helps their algo recommend the show, so please take a moment to follow the show and leave a rating.

Mentioned in this episode:

The Known, Booked & Paid Blueprint (Founding cohort)

Get all the information on the Known, Booked & Paid Blueprint at https://presentinfluence.com/kbpb to see if it's the right fit for you.

Transcripts

John:

Welcome to not exactly the Professional Speaking Show, but it is.

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Not an episode though,

this is an announcement.

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And this is to let you know, especially

if you didn't catch the end of last

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week's episode, which you may not

have, you should go and listen to

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that episode with Suzanne Reay.

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It is fantastic, all about frameworks.

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Every speaker needs that.

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But I s- made an announcement about

what's happening with the show going

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forward, how things are going to be.

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And I had made a decision at the end

of:

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cut back on my podcast output and move

from weekly episodes to fortnightly.

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Now, there was some stuff that happened

at the start of the year that was

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actually very encouraging with the

show, and numbers were rocketing up.

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I thought, "Oh, great, yeah,

this is maybe the right decision.

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I'll keep it going for a while."

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And then at some point this year,

everything just dropped off a

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cliff and is not recovering.

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In fact, if anything, it, the

things are still going, the

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way that I don't want them to.

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Now, I don't know if that stuff's going

on in the world of podcasting or if that's

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stuff particularly to do with my show.

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I really couldn't tell you.

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And having done so much work on

promotion, on SEO, and so many other

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things, it's been very disheartening.

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And so the decision point came up

for me recently, seeing my stats and

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seeing how things were really just

continuing to drop off that cliff, that

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it was time to not be tied to those

feelings anymore and make a decision.

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Did I want to continue the show or not?

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I've been here before, and I've

come very close to canceling.

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realistically, I have to be able to

see that the show is worth doing,

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that it's finding its audience, and

it, at the moment, it just isn't.

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I love doing the show.

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I love doing the interviews.

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I love creating solo content, and I'm

gonna keep doing that, but I'm not

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gonna be doing it on the same level.

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I have to cut that back to make

what is more of a, a personal

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passion project, which I have to

decide that's what this show now is,

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rather than a professional project.

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This is a passion project now, and so

as such, it has to be treated that way.

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Business has to come first.

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My time has to be spent on finding

clients for my coaching program and

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helping and working with them, and,

spending time prospecting for my own

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speaking opportunities, which really

is the business of speaking, right?

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That's what this-- That's

what I'm all about.

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That said I am now putting out

daily short form content on most

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of my social media channels.

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You can find the links in the show

notes, and that's even going to probably

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include a separate YouTube channel

that I'll set up for those shorts.

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And I am now implementing

a full YouTube strategy.

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I'm going to be creating

content that is just me, that is

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specifically just for YouTube.

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Some of it may make it into

the podcast output as well.

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I'm not sure about that yet.

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But most of it's going to

be exclusive to YouTube.

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So if you want to get that and you're

not following this show on YouTube, not

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following the Present Influence channel,

please make sure you give us a follow.

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That will also be linked

in the show notes for you.

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So plenty of places to still get

professional speaking content and help,

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possibly in a way that's going to be

more valuable for you and more beneficial

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to me, and give me much more, much more

potential feedback than the podcast does.

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And, this is potentially useful

for any of you who are thinking,

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"Oh, maybe I'll start a podcast."

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It probably wouldn't be my first

recommendation for you unless you

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really want to do it, or maybe you've

already got the following that will

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definitely follow you onto a podcast.

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Maybe you're already pretty well known.

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Perhaps you have the money to put

into working with the experts in

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the podcasting industry who can help

you get a channel up to those higher

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levels and rankings that will help

you find the right kind of audience.

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Something I'd love to do and really

just cannot justify giving that

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amount of energy to, but maybe at

some point in the future I will.

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It's a valuable lesson in making

sure that your resources are going

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to what matters, not just into

passion projects and creativity.

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They're great to have.

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my comedy for the most part, whilst

I get paid sometimes for doing

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stand up, is a passion project.

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I do it 'cause I love it, not

'cause I think I'm gonna be a

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professional standup comedian.

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the podcast as well.

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I had this dream of becoming a

professional full-time podcaster and,

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I've given it a go and that hasn't

happened, and now I've moved on.

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I've moved on to other things,

but I still love podcasting.

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That hasn't gone.

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But now this is more of a personal

project that I will continue

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for as long as it makes sense.

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I will review in six months' time when

we hit 300 episodes as to whether the

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show continues or whether we go back

to four episodes a, a month, or whether

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we stick at the two episodes a month.

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I'm gonna make that decision when

we get to 300, 'cause I think

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that would be a reasonable point

at which to say, "You know what?

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maybe the professional speaking show has

run its course and it's time to move on."

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And I feel like it would be

a shame, but what can I do?

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If you wanna help, definitely

please subscribe to the show.

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Make sure you're following on

whatever podcast providers you use.

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Rate the show Spotify will

allow you to rate the show.

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Apple Podcasts will allow

you to leave a review.

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If you haven't done that and you listen

on any of those platforms or are watching

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YouTube even, interacting and subscribing

on the YouTube channel will also help me

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a lot, even though the RSS feed for the

show doesn't actually go there anymore

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but that's where things are with the show.

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Sometimes things work

out, sometimes they don't.

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I'm being very philosophical about

it, but I also have to be practical

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about it and put my energy where

it is making a bigger difference.

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And where I'm seeing results right now

is daily content on social media, that's

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mostly having an impact on LinkedIn and

TikTok, which is a surprise to me 'cause

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I wasn't even using TikTok till recently.

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And, and also implementing other

strategies on channels like YouTube,

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where I'm gonna have much better

possibilities to get a return on

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my investment of time, energy, and

money, and help more people have more

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reach and make a bigger difference.

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And ultimately, it's a business decision.

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And if we don't make these business

decisions, we just find ourselves busy

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with the stuff we want to do instead

of the stuff that we need to do.

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And, so if, if this news makes

you sad, it makes me a bit

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sad as well, and I apologize.

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However, we're not going away.

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We will still be here.

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You'll just have a little bit less

of The Professional Speaking Show.

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Please do go and check

out the back catalog.

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Every week's episode may not

be for you, and that's the same

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with any show that goes out.

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But you will find multiple episodes that

probably will be a great fit for you and

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relevant to speakers all around the world.

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And if you are interested in working

with me on helping you either start your

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speaking career or develop your speaking

career so that you are becoming known,

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booked, and paid, you'll find a link to

the Known, Booked & Paid Blueprint in

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the show notes for this episode as well.

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Or go to presentinfluence.com/kbpb

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and you'll find all the

details of the program there.

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But that's it.

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That's the announcement.

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Probably a bit longer than it needed

to be, but next week I will be back

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with a solo episode, so do come and

tune in for that, and another guest

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episode a couple of weeks after that.

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That's gonna be the new cadence

for the show, and I hope that

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you'll stick with us for that.

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Wherever you're going, whatever you're

doing, have an amazing rest of your day.

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Go and do something worth speaking about.

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I'll see you next time.

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