Miranda Barrett is the Owner of Capacity to Scale, which helps business leaders generate ROI from speaking engagements. With over 25 years of experience collaborating with senior leaders and entrepreneurs, she helps people amplify their impact through speaking and storytelling. Before Capacity to Scale, Miranda was the Vice President of External Engagement at the Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO), where she helped double its size and geographic reach, spoke at industry conferences, and wrote for various publications as a member of the association executive committee.

Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:
- [2:57] How an entrepreneurial itch led Miranda Barrett to start Capacity to Scale
- [7:45] The shared responsibility between speakers and audiences to create an impactful experience
- [11:43] Miranda talks about her services for associations and speakers
- [15:35] Miranda’s favorite part about working with speakers — and her core values
- [18:25] Impactful speaking engagements Miranda has attended
- [21:36] Advice for on-stage speaking
In this episode...
Have you ever attended a conference where the speaker was visibly unprepared for the speech? Unfortunately, this can happen often, dismantling trust between the speaker and their audience. How can you create impactful speaking experiences?
With immersive learning at the forefront, capturing and maintaining audiences’ attention has become increasingly difficult. Speaker coach and entrepreneur Miranda Barrett notes that both speakers and their audiences are responsible for making speaking engagements worthwhile. Audience members must show the speaker respect by remaining present and attentive during the speech and trusting the speaker’s authority. Likewise, speakers must venture beyond merely capturing attention to study their audiences’ profiles and the association’s culture.
Tune in to this episode of the Lead Like a Woman Show as Andrea Heuston chats with Miranda Barrett, the Owner of Capacity to Scale, about scaling your personal brand through speaking engagements. Miranda discusses bridging the gap between organizations and speakers, advice for women speaking on stage, and her personal core values.
Quotable Moments:
- “Clarity comes through action.”
- “Being on stage is a privilege, and you have to earn and be worthy of it.”
- “You just have to get comfortable with discomfort and do it.”
- “The more you practice public speaking, the more comfortable you get, enabling growth and fun.”
- “I am an instigator. I make stuff happen.”
Action Steps:
- Embrace discomfort as a path to growth: Being willing to step out of your comfort zone, especially when speaking publicly, is key to self-improvement.
- Prepare thoroughly for public speaking opportunities: In-depth preparation shows respect for your audience and ensures you can confidently deliver your message.
- Trust in your capabilities: Miranda Barrett’s mantra of “trust your feet” can be applied to believing in your expertise and skills.
- Focus on building relationships over lists: Developing genuine connections is more effective than casting a wide, impersonal net.
- Be strategic with your learning: Staying current with industry trends and innovations helps you maintain expertise and relevance.
Sponsor for this episode…
This episode is brought to you by Artitudes Design by Andrea Heuston. Artitudes Design is an award-winning creative agency that has been creating visual communication for Fortune 500 companies for over 25 years. They have worked with notable companies such as Microsoft, Starbucks, Expedia, and have also served startups and nonprofit organizations.
They specialize in connecting speakers with audiences by creating visual value with presentations and through the creation of motion graphics, video, and content.
To learn more about Artitudes Design, visit their website today. Checkout their portfolio to see their previous projects, and contact them today to find out how they can help you bring your business a cut above the rest.