Most speakers are working hard. They're creating content, building relationships, showing up consistently, and still wondering why the enquiries aren't coming in the way they should.

The issue usually isn't effort. It's what the effort is pointing at.

In this solo episode, John Ball diagnoses what he calls the discovery trap: the pattern that keeps speakers waiting to be found rather than building a business that produces results, whether or not anyone finds them. It's a pattern John recognises from his own experience, including a very honest hour after recording one of his best ever interviews.

In this episode:

• Why the discovery trap looks like a strategy but isn't one

• The hopium question most speakers ask constantly -- and the better question to replace it with

• The permission problem: how a year 5 drama disaster held back John's performance for years

• Why the market rewards repetition while speakers reward novelty -- and who pays the price

• The real reason shiny objects appear (it's not weak discipline)

• What John did the afternoon after the interview, instead of waiting

Also: a teaser for an upcoming conversation with Dominic Eldred Earl from the London Speaker Bureau -- the inside view on how bureaux actually work and what speakers consistently get wrong about the relationship.

Links and resources:

• Known, Booked and Paid Accelerator -- https://www.presentinfluence.com/kbpa

• Subscribe to the Serious About Speaking newsletter https://www.linkedin.com/build-relation/newsletter-follow?entityUrn=6882642444815519744

Chapters:

00:00 Post Interview Spiral

01:03 Discovery Trap Defined

03:31 Hopium Versus Evidence

05:38 Owning Your Edge

08:13 Repetition Beats Novelty

11:21 Shiny Object Avoidance

16:29 Direct Moves That Work

18:29 Closing And Offer

FAQ Section

Declarative, third-person, self-contained. Structured for AI search and featured snippets.

What is the discovery trap for speakers?

The discovery trap is the pattern of building a speaking business strategy that depends on something happening that cannot be directly caused, such as being found by a bureau, going viral, or receiving a referral. John Ball defines it as mistaking hope for a plan and identifies it as one of the most common reasons speakers with genuine talent and consistent effort fail to build a reliable pipeline of bookings.

What is hopium in the context of a speaking business?

Hopium is the term John Ball uses for the question Could this work?' -- a question most speakers and creators ask constantly when evaluating new ideas or activities. Because almost anything could theoretically work, this question provides no useful filter and creates the impression of strategic thinking without actually requiring any. The more useful question is: 'Is this likely to move the needle?' -- which requires evidence rather than optimism.

Why do speakers keep chasing shiny objects?

According to John Ball, shiny object syndrome in speaking businesses is not primarily a discipline problem—it is a pipeline clarity problem. Shiny objects appear most reliably when the pipeline is thin, rejection has been accumulating, and the direct move feels uncomfortable. A new strategy, tool, or offer feels like action without requiring the vulnerable conversations that might actually change the situation. When there is a clear pipeline with specific next actions, the shiny object loses its appeal because the direct move is already obvious.

What is the difference between navigating gatekeepers and depending on them?

John Ball draws a distinction between using gatekeepers such as speaker bureaux, referral networks, and event organisers as part of a broader strategy, versus depending on them as the primary route to bookings. Navigating gatekeepers means engaging with them while maintaining a business that functions regardless of whether they deliver. Depending on them means the business stops growing if they do not act. The latter, according to Ball, hands control of the business to people with no obligation to exercise it.

Why should speakers repeat their core message instead of creating new ideas?

John Ball argues that the market rewards repetition while speakers reward novelty -- and that speakers are usually wrong to prioritise novelty. Audiences need to hear a message multiple times before they internalise it and associate it with a specific speaker. The speaker who becomes known for one clear idea gets booked more consistently than the speaker with multiple interesting ideas that no one can easily attribute to them. Repetition is not creative stagnation: it is how a speaker becomes referable.

What should speakers do instead of waiting to be discovered?

John Ball recommends focusing on direct actions that can be caused rather than outcomes that might happen. This means identifying specific people in the pipeline, having direct conversations rather than hoping content reaches the right person, following up with warm contacts, and asking for referrals explicitly rather than waiting for them to materialise. He contrasts this with passive content creation, tool-building, and relationship nurturing that feel productive but have no direct line to a paid booking.

Visit https://strategic-speaker.scoreapp.com to take the 2-minute Strategic Speaking Business Audit and find out what's blocking you from getting more bookings, re-bookings, referrals and bigger fees. There's a special surprise gift for everyone who completes the quiz.

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.

I want to tell you about something that happened recently

2

that I wasn't entirely proud of.

3

Recently, I finished recording what

I genuinely think is one of the best

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interviews I've ever done for this show.

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Uh, my guest was exceptional, sharp,

generous, said things in ways that I

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hadn't heard before, and he told me

afterwards he'd really enjoyed the

7

conversation and, and has even agreed to

come back, which was such a nice surprise.

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In the hour that followed, I

caught myself doing something

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that I thought I'd outgrown.

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I wasn't doing anything dramatic.

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I was just sitting there quietly

letting my mind run forward.

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Maybe his audience would find the episode.

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He's got a big audience.

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Maybe it would get shared

in the right places.

15

Maybe things would really

take off in a new way.

16

Perhaps the right event organizer

would hear it and reach out.

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Maybe this was one episode that

would really shift things I've

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been doing this long enough to

know exactly what that voice is.

19

It's the voice that's

waiting to be discovered.

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And I genuinely thought I dealt

with this a long time ago,

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but apparently not entirely.

22

I'm gonna come back to that story

because what happened in that hour

23

was a near perfect illustration

of something that I see in almost

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every speaker I've ever worked with.

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A pattern that looks harmless,

sometimes even looks like optimism,

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but quietly costs bookings,

fees, and months of momentum.

27

I'm calling it the discovery trap,

and if you're a professional speaker,

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there's a very good chance that you're

in it right now without realizing.

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I'm John Ball, welcome to The Professional

Speaking Show The discovery trap is

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this, building a business strategy

that depends on something happening

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that you can't directly cause.

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It shows up in different forms

depending on where you are.

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If you're earlier in your speaking

career, it might look like submitting

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a profile to a speaker bureau and

waiting, checking your email, wondering

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when they'll come back to you, telling

yourself, "Oh, they must be busy.

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They get a lot of submissions.

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It'll happen."

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I'm actually doing an episode

soon with Dominic Eldred-Earl

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from the London Speaker Bureau.

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so we're gonna get the real inside view

on how that process actually works,

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what bureaus are genuinely looking

for, and what speakers get wrong

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about that relationship, and that one

is, I promise you, worth waiting for

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But whether you're working with a

bureau or not, the pattern has the

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same shape at every career stage.

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Mid-career, it looks like creating content

and hoping the right people find it.

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Posting something on LinkedIn

that maybe gets you seven or 47

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likes and three comments saying,

"Oh, so true," but zero inquiries.

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It felt productive.

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It produced nothing commercial.

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More established speakers

aren't immune either.

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It, it looks like waiting for a referral

someone promised after a conference

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in March, waiting for a relationship

to turn into a recommendation, waiting

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for the right connection to make the

right introduction to that person

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that you know that they, they must

know you want to be introduced to.

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None of these are irrational.

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Bureaus matter, content matters,

relationships matter, really matter.

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The problem is when they become

the strategy, When the actual

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plan is put good work out there

and wait for someone to notice.

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Because then you're not running a

speaking business, you're running a

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lottery with a professional speaker page.

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And the question I keep coming back

to, the one I had to ask myself that

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afternoon after the interview is

this: what am I doing that might

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happen against what am I doing that

I can directly cause and influence?

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The mechanism underneath the discovery

trap is a question most speakers ask

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constantly without even noticing it.

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Could this work?

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Could this episode bring in clients?

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Could this collaboration lead somewhere?

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Could this talk on a smaller stage get

me seen by someone who books bigger ones?

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The answer to all of those questions is

almost always technically yes, and that's

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exactly why the question is useless.

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It requires no evidence to answer that.

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They could happen, but it creates

the feeling of strategic thinking

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without actually doing any.

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And it gives you permission to keep

doing whatever you're currently

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doing without interrogating

whether it's actually working.

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So let's refer to it as hopium, and

I'd say this as someone who's been

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addicted to the stuff for a long time.

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Hopium, living on hope,

and it's addictive.

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And let me be specific because

vague confessions are easy.

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In the past year, I've built

multiple interactive tools for my

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website, a free speaking audit, a

prospecting planner, a positioning

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tool, a LinkedIn profile auditor.

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Each one felt like building.

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Each one felt productive.

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I put genuine thought into them.

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In the same period, the first thing

that actually produced a coaching

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client was a referral from someone I'd

had a direct conversation with, and

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the article that generated the most

genuine interest was one I wrote in

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October and followed up on personally.

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The tools didn't produce clients,

the direct conversations did, and

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that's not a coincidence, that's

evidence The question that actually

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serves you isn't could this work?

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It's, is this likely to move the needle?

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Not possible, but likely based on

what's actually produced results

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before, what works for you and for

others in similar spaces to yourself.

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What's converted?

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What's connected?

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What has a direct line to a paid booking?

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What might happen versus

what can I cause to happen?

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Those are more answerable questions.

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Could this work is not so much.

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There is a version of the

discovery trap that isn't about

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being found by the right person.

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It, it's about waiting for permission

to be the person you already are, and

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this one's a little more personal.

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I've, I've been doing stand-up

comedy for a while now, and, and

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it's part of how I think, how I

communicate, how I see the world.

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Now, my, my mentor, Neil, I've

mentioned him before, um, in

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videos, but more on him in a moment.

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He told me directly that integrating

comedy into my speaking and coaching brand

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is a strong differentiated positioning,

not a liability, as I'd been viewing

113

it, a genuine competitive advantage.

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Got me thinking.

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And for years, I didn't

fully own it on stage.

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I hadn't done that be- not because

I didn't believe in it, but because

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I was afraid of getting groans.

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You know the groan, that specific

low-frequency sound an audience makes

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when a joke lands badly because you

were trying to make people laugh.

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The kind that makes you want to quietly

leave the room and, and maybe even h-hope

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that the ground opens up and swallows you.

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I have a specific memory

attached to it as well.

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Me, 16-year-old me, in year five drama

class in front of all of my friends at

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school, for reasons I can no longer fully

reconstruct, I decide to stand up in front

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of my classmates, and it was abysmal.

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Not the sort of needs work abysmal.

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Actively, memorably, painfully abysmal.

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I still feel a little embarrassed

thinking about those terrible jokes now.

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And somewhere in the back of my head,

that 16-year-old version of me has

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been casting a, a quiet veto on how

funny I allow myself to be on stage or

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in front of other people ever since.

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That's a permission problem.

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Not waiting for a bureau to pick me,

not waiting for a referral, waiting

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for some internal authority to say,

"Yes, you're allowed to be this version

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of yourself in professional rooms."

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The permission never came because

it doesn't work like that.

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You don't get cleared for takeoff by the

committee that's been holding you back.

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You, you just decide to take off.

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I wonder how many bookings

that's cost me over the years.

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I don't really like to think about it.

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I mean, maybe not catastrophically, but

quietly, cumulatively, the rooms where

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I was slightly less than I could've

been, the impact slightly diluted,

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the memorability slightly reduced.

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What might have happened if

I'd owned it sooner versus

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what I'm choosing to cause now?

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Here's one I find the hardest to admit,

which is probably why it's going in the

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podcast rather than just the videos.

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I've been in the personal development and

communication space for over 15 years.

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In that time, I've worked as an NLP

practitioner, a hypnotherapist, a

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speaking coach, a keynote speaker,

a podcast host, a stand-up comedian.

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I've developed multiple frameworks,

multiple offers, multiple identities.

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and for a long time, too long,

I was running several of them

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simultaneously, half committed to

each of them, fully committed to none.

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And the thing is, every new

identity felt like a genuine

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evolution, and some of them were.

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Some of them were also a version of

the same pattern, starting something

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new when the current thing got

uncomfortable, which we'll come back to.

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Here's the diagnosis I landed

on, and it's not comfortable.

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The market rewards repetition.

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The social media algorithms

reward it as well.

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The speaker rewards novelty, and the

speaker is usually wrong with this

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People need to hear something multiple

times before they internalize it.

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This may not be the first time

you've come across this concept.

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Before they associate it with you, before

they think of you when someone asks, "Hey,

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do you know a good speaker on this topic?"

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The speaker who becomes known for one

clear idea gets booked more than the

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speaker who has 17 interesting ones.

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I know this from watching

it happen to other people.

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We can probably see it in the

professional world as well.

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Those people who seem to be at

the top of the sp- particularly

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the speaking industry, are often

known for one particular idea or

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concept more than anything else.

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We also know from watching it not

happen for me during the periods when

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I was spreading the message too thin.

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And I still right now, this week, have

to actively resist the pull toward

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the next idea because interesting

is more stimulating than consistent.

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New ideas feel like progress.

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Repetition feels like stagnation.

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A real danger in the keynote speaking

industry when we're often giving the

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same keynotes again and again, why

we have to keep adapting and making

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small changes, playing with our

delivery, and adapting to our audiences

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in order to not fall into this.

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But repetition isn't creative death.

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Repetition is how your audience

learns to describe you to the

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person who hires speakers.

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And if your audience can't tell someone

what you stand for in one sentence, the

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problem probably isn't your audience.

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And if you find yourself regularly

pivoting to the next idea, just

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as the current one is starting to

slowly get traction, that's worth

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sitting with because that pivot might

be evolution, or it might be the

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discovery trap in a clever disguise.

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What might happen if I stayed with

this idea a little longer versus what

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can I cause by committing to it now?

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Which brings me back to Neil.

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Neil has become a good friend of mine.

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He's the person I very first learned

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and we reconnected several years ago.

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Now, he spent the better part of

three decades building businesses

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and has recently retired.

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He's not someone who gives up

easily or speaks carelessly.

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I, I don't even know if

he's really fully retired.

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He still, still loves to have good

chats about business and stuff.

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Last week at lunch, he told me that

he no longer believes that just

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anybody can be an entrepreneur.

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After all that time, after building all

the real things, he says he no longer

206

agrees anymore with all those voices out

there who are telling everyone that they

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can do this if they just want it enough.

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Music to my ears.

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It's a hard road.

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It's full of rejection, and most

people genuinely are not built for

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it, despite what people might say.

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And if the stars don't align, if

things don't happen more easily

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for people, a lot of people tend to

give up on these projects way sooner

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than they might with anything else

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Now, I didn't argue with Neil on

this because when he said it, I

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recognized something in what he said.

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And I feel for myself, and this is

what I said to him as well, that

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I've always floated somewhere between

employee and entrepreneur and, and

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possibly still do really, if I'm honest.

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The security of salary has always

had some appeal, and it's what I

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knew for most of my life as well.

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But that security has always been

appealing, even when I've been

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building something I believe in.

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And that ambivalence, that not quite

fully committed position is exactly what

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makes shiny object syndrome so appealing.

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Because if you haven't fully

bet on your path, every new idea

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is also a quiet escape route.

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It's a reset.

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Earlier in my career, I wasn't just

chasing one shiny object, I was

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running at several at the same time.

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I was doing multiple MLMs, multiple

tracks, marketing several businesses,

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multiple ideas, all going nowhere fast

because none of them had my full attention

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and none of them were addressing the

thing that I was actually avoiding.

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And they were all to do with

this need to make it and to

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make it fast, like something.

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I was doing all these things.

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Something, something has

to happen with all of this.

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And that is not what happened at all.

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Something didn't happen with all this

other than me kind of wiping myself out.

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And the realization came eventually

that I was good at starting things,

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not so good at the uncomfortable

middle bit, and pretty terrible at

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the actual follow-through and finish

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Here's what I eventually understood

about shiny object syndrome that nobody

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had told me directly, not even all

these gurus in personal development.

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You don't get it when

things are going well.

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You get it when the current things have

lost their shine, when the pipeline's

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thin, when rejections are piling up,

when strategy's working but it's so

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slow, it's, it's just not fast enough.

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When you feel like you're

running out of runway.

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The shiny object appears on a schedule,

and that schedule is whenever the direct

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move is available but uncomfortable.

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And it's not randomness, and

it's not weak discipline either.

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It's avoidance with a

business plan attached.

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Now, the new content format, the new

tool, the new content format, the new

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tool, the new offer, the new market,

all of which are more appealing, more

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exciting and shiny, the grass being

greener on s- on this other side of

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the fence, all more appealing than

calling someone who might say no to you.

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Now, at some point, I got tired of my own

pattern and realized I was avoiding sales.

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Not just uncomfortable with it, actively,

creatively sometimes avoiding it.

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So I did something that made

no obvious sense at the time.

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I went and got a job in sales, a job that

actually trained me in sales as well.

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And it wasn't so much because I needed

the money or needed to be in sales,

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it was because I needed to make myself

do the thing that I was terrible at

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until I wasn't terrible at it anymore.

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And it also happily coincided

with the time when I really

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wanted to be more involved in

the podcasting community as well.

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So cold calls, real rejection, sometimes

people screaming at me down the phone.

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Those things really happened repeatedly

until the fear of picking up the

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phone just stopped being a thing

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What I found on the other side of

that wasn't a sales superpower,

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it was just a bit of clarity.

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I knew what the direct move was.

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I knew that the fear of sales

is most quickly dealt with by

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picking up the bloody phone.

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And when you know what the next direct

move is, the shiny object loses most,

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if not all of its appeal because

you're not looking for an escape

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route, you're already doing the thing.

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Shiny object syndrome

isn't a discipline problem.

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It's more a pipeline and

activity clarity problem.

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What might happen if I tried this new

thing versus what can I cause to happen

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by doing the direct thing right now?

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So back to that afternoon after the

interview , I noticed that voice.

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I recognized the pattern, and I've

had enough practice at this point

284

that the recognition is fairly quick,

even if the feeling is still there.

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And I did the only thing

that actually helps.

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I went back to my pipeline and

asked myself, "What could I

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directly cause to happen that day?"

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Not what might happen, not what

could happen, what could I cause?

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There's a prospect I've been meaning

to follow up with for a few weeks.

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Someone who told me she wants to

work together when the time is right.

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Great.

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That's a warm contact sitting in a drawer.

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So I sent her a short, direct message.

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No pitch, just presence, just

checking in to see if there's

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a conversation to be had.

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Done in five minutes.

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Can't produce content from it.

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Doesn't go into a

portfolio, just the work.

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And also some calls with current

coaching clients that I'm going to

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have a specific conversation with about

referrals, so I can give them a clear

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description of who else I can help.

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So if they do know anyone,

know exactly who to think of.

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And that's it.

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Two things.

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Both direct, both things I can

cause rather than hope will happen.

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Now, will either of them deliver results?

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Again, I don't know for certain, but

are they more likely to create results?

308

Yeah, a bit.

309

So neither of them is as satisfying as

finishing a piece of content, which, you

310

know, feels very achievement orientated.

311

Neither of them gives me anything

to post about, particularly.

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Neither of them feels like building

in the way that writing or recording

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or creating feels like building.

314

But one client referred by a current

client would do more for my business

315

than any amount of content that might

find the right person if the algorithm

316

cooperates and the YouTube gods and

LinkedIn overlords smile upon me

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What might happen if I keep producing

great content versus what I can cause

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By having several direct

conversations this week?

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I know which one I'm betting on

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The episode with my guest

is going to be great.

321

Can't wait to bring it to you.

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That's gonna be out end of July.

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And I genuinely want it to bring

new listeners into this world, to

324

open doors and maybe even catch the

ear of someone who books speakers.

325

I'm just not running my business

as though it will, because that's

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the distinction that matters.

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Not between optimism and pessimism,

not between ambition and realism,

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but between what might happen and

what I can genuinely, actually cause.

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The discovery trap isn't about

being naive or undisciplined.

330

It's about mistaking hope for a plan.

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And most speakers I know, including me

on a regular basis, fall into it because,

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not because they're not smart, but because

the hopeful version of events is far

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more comfortable than the direct one.

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The direct one involves calling

people up who might say no.

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It involves following up with someone

who might get annoyed with you, might

336

lose patience, or having a referral

conversation that might feel awkward.

337

Asking directly for something

rather than creating the conditions

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where someone might hopefully,

fingers crossed, offer it.

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That's the work.

340

It's not glamorous.

341

It doesn't produce content, and it's

the only part of your business that

342

doesn't require anyone else's permission,

algorithm, goodwill, or timing to function

343

If you want to build a speaking

business that doesn't depend on being

344

discovered, one with clear positioning,

a direct route to the people who hire

345

speakers, and a pipeline that you

can see and act on, that's exactly

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what I work with speakers on in the

Known, Booked, and Paid Accelerator.

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It's not a course you sit through.

348

It's a structured coaching program where

we build the actual infrastructure.

349

So your next move is always something

that you can cause, not something

350

that you're hoping will happen.

351

We build a business engine.

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The details are in the show notes

or the YouTube description, and

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if it sounds like what you need,

please come and check it out.

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And if you want to talk it

through first, there is a link

355

there to book a call as well.

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In the meantime, next week I'll be

back with a great guest episode.

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. So until then, go and do

something worth talking about.

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See you next time