Today I’m pleased to chat with coach Simone Vincenzi of the UK, who left the restaurant business to become a speaker coach and coach for events.

Nick: Tell us how you went from working in Michelin-starred restaurants to coaching speakers?

Simone:  I started working in restaurants when I was 14, and at the age of 19, I was the youngest Michelin star restaurant manager in Europe. By the age of 22, I was burned out!  I knew I had to change but did not know what to do. So I started attending seminars, exploring my options, and I was captivated by the speakers on stage. After the first seminar I attended I knew I wanted to become a speaker, share my story, and help people to get more done and make the most of their lives.

Nick: What did working in a restaurant teach you that can be helpful to public speakers?

Working in restaurants taught me three valuable speaking lessons:

1) How to manage the audience: Sometimes I had to take orders to groups larger than 50 people. I needed to get full attention until the order was completed.

2) No space for fear: I never had a fear of public speaking because being a waiter helped me grow my confidence to communicate with individuals and large groups.

3) Entertainment is key: If I wanted to get a lot of tips, I realized that I needed to be funny, entertaining and helpful at the same time. It is the same for speakers. If you are entertaining, people will book and pay you more.

Nick: What is the most common issue your clients struggle with?

Simone: My clients want to know how they can create events where they can sell their product or services without compromising their integrity. I believe there is a way to create events that sell in an ethical way, moving away from the RARA of the speaking industry.

Nick: What trends do you see in public speaking today?  

Simone: I see speakers not taking the speaking profession seriously. Thinking that being a speaker is just holding a microphone and they do not invest time to craft their skills. As a result, 70% of the speakers I come across are neither engaging, entertaining or know what they are talking about from experience.

Nick: What makes you a good coach of speakers?

Simone: When people come in my room, I have two goals in mind. 1) Make sure they have a great time. 2) Make sure they not only learn concepts, but they experience and practice the content I am teaching. I prefer depth and real experience rather than width.

Nick: Tell us a little more about yourself, please.

Simone: I have a natural passion for speaking and entertainment, combined with a deep desire to make the personal development, speaking and coaching industry more honest. This lead me to co-found GTeX where we not only help speakers creating events that sell, but also we help manage and market those events for a full all-in-one service. I was blessed to share the stage with Les Brown, Gary Vee and delivered a controversial TEDx talk called Sleeping with your clients. I love playing the didgeridoo, and I have an obsession with basketball.

Nick: How can people get in touch with you?

Simone:  My Website: http://gtex.org.uk/  My Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/explodeyourcoachingbiz/ My Twitter and Instagram: @gtexuk.  And my Linkedin: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/simone-vincenzi-a886382a.

Nick:  Thanks, Simone!

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