Ina Coveney
Thank you for tuning in to the Superhumans Podcast! Today, I am with Bobbie Carlton, who's the founder of Innovation Women, and her mission is to get more women on stage.

Bobbie, I am so happy you’re here. Thank you! Thanks for the invitation. Why don't you tell everybody what you do right now and who you help?

Bobbie Carlton
Well, I actually have many jobs. My day job is running a PR and marketing firm.

Ina Coveney
That’s how you make an actual living.

Bobbie Carlton
Exactly. For many years, a lot of folks knew me as the person who ran Innovation Nights, which was a monthly new product launch event. So, I have a day job, a night job, and then my dream job—Innovation Women. It’s the dream of getting more women on stage at conferences and events. And I consider it my job to get women to say yes to public speaking.

Ina Coveney
I love that! I actually met you at an Innovation Women event where you were talking about getting up on stage and speaking.

Bobbie Carlton
Yes!

Ina Coveney
That event actually opened up so many doors for me. I ended up having a corporate deal with Staples. I was featured in one of their brochures. There’s still an article of my podcasting tips on the Staples Connect website—all of that because of you.

Bobbie Carlton
All of that because of you! Because you went to one of my events.

Ina Coveney
Right! So before we get started, I want to know—how did you even come up with the idea to help women get on stage?

Bobbie Carlton
I think some of it stems from frustration. I had been working primarily in the tech and startup space for many years—probably the first 20 years of my career. And as a public relations person helping executives get on stage, I realized I never had any female clients.

Ina Coveney
No!

Bobbie Carlton
Yeah. All of my clients were older white men. And not just mostly—I mean, literally 100%.

Ina Coveney
And like they needed any help getting on stage, right?

Bobbie Carlton
Right! But it was my job, and part of my job was to get visibility for the companies I worked for. And those companies? The senior executives were primarily older men.

Ina Coveney
Yeah, and that’s what we see everywhere. That’s what we see at every conference. What bugs me the most is knowing that when I see a panel full of men with a single woman, I already know that the woman is getting paid less than everybody else on that stage. I just know. And that bothers me.

So, how did the idea for Innovation Women actually come about? You were in this job helping old white dudes get on stage, and you thought, Okay, this doesn’t feel right.

Bobbie Carlton
Anybody else would have just found another job or done something else, but I turned it into a movement. Innovation Women is actually my third company. At that point, I had already gone out on my own—I had hung out my shingle, was doing PR for startups and small companies, and I was attending a lot of events.

When you run events, people invite you to their events, especially because Innovation Nights was a social media-powered event. So, I was kind of walking around with a large community and network in my pocket—on my phone, really.

Ina Coveney
Right!

Bobbie Carlton
And people would say, “Oh, she gets all kinds of visibility for her events—let’s invite her to ours.” So, I’d go, and I’d often be sitting in the audience next to other women. And we’d have conversations about what we call “manels.”

Ina Coveney
Manels?

Bobbie Carlton
Yes! Manels—a term for an all-male panel. And by the way, you cannot fix a manel by putting a woman in as a moderator. That doesn’t count.

Ina Coveney
Is that the trick? Like, “Oh, we’ll add a female moderator, so it’s balanced”?

Bobbie Carlton
Exactly. But it doesn’t work. We know. And I’d sit in the audience, and the women around me would always ask the same questions: Why wasn’t I invited? How do I get myself on stage?

And because of my background, I’d spend time explaining that not everyone is invited—sometimes, you have to apply. The basic currency of speaking at industry conferences is the call for speakers.

Ina Coveney
The call for speakers?

Bobbie Carlton
Yes! It’s basically the event organizer waving their arms and saying, Hey! Come to me! I want to hear what you’d like to speak about!

Once people understand that, they can start looking for these calls and applying. That’s why Innovation Women was first a platform designed to directly connect event managers with speakers.

Ina Coveney
I love that.

Bobbie Carlton
It also has an educational mission. We have what we call The Green Room, which is where all of our educational materials live. And in speaker vernacular, the green room is where speakers prepare before going on stage—so it made perfect sense.

Ina Coveney
That makes so much sense! But what if someone listening right now has never even heard of a call for speakers? What if they’re thinking, I’m not an expert. I don’t have experience. I have no business applying?

Bobbie Carlton
Number one, people wait too long to start public speaking. They look on stage and see CEOs, C-suite execs, celebrities, and thought leaders. But those people didn’t just vault onto the keynote stage. They worked up to it.

Ina Coveney
Right.

Bobbie Carlton
And there are opportunities at all levels. One of our first panels at Innovation Women was a panel of younger women talking about how they got their first jobs. And you know who that panel was for? College students.

No matter what level you’re at, there’s somebody who hasn’t had your experience yet. You’re an expert to them.

Ina Coveney
That is so powerful. Can we hear some stories from the public speaking world? I want to know—what should people expect when they start speaking?

Bobbie Carlton
Absolutely! In fact, you and I recently spoke at an event together.

Ina Coveney
Yes!

Bobbie Carlton
That event was a women’s conference, and when I first applied, I wasn’t from the area. But I saw it as a great way to spread my message, so I applied.

What I didn’t know was that many other Innovation Women members were also applying!

Ina Coveney
I love that!

Bobbie Carlton
So we had a little mini-reunion at this event. And that’s such a great example of why events aren’t just about speaking—they’re about connecting.

You don’t just connect with your audience—you connect with other speakers. And if you say something brilliant, people in the audience might help you spread your message even further.

Ina Coveney
That’s so true.

Ina Coveney
So, look at speaking opportunities as a way to make many, many new connections.

One thing I love about going to events is that I like going by myself. I know this is a thing for people—like, I don’t want to go alone! I won’t know anybody! But I’m like…

Bobbie Carlton
You meet everybody!

Ina Coveney
Exactly! Some of my best connections have come from just turning left, turning right, introducing myself, and seeing what happens.

Bobbie Carlton
Spoken like a true extrovert.

Ina Coveney
Ohhh, is this a thing? Like, 50% of the population is cringing at what I just said?

Bobbie Carlton
Yes! Extroverts love that kind of networking. But introverts? Definitely intimidated by it.

A lot of people self-identify as introverts, and I get tons of questions about public speaking for introverts. And this is where I have to say: Well, I’m an introvert too.

Ina Coveney
Really?!

Bobbie Carlton
Yes! When I go to a conference, I’m the person who looks a little awkward—until I get on stage. That’s where I feel most comfortable because I’ve practiced.

So if you’re an introvert, I want to encourage you to do more public speaking, even if you’ve been told, Oh, that’s not for you.

Ina Coveney
That’s such an important message.

Bobbie Carlton
Right? Because here’s the thing—introverts are actually great at speaking.

Ina Coveney
Why?

Bobbie Carlton
Because we practice! Extroverts, on the other hand, have been told their whole lives that they’re good at public speaking… so they often don’t practice. They get up on stage thinking, I got this!—but they don’t always.

Meanwhile, introverts prepare, and that makes them excellent speakers. So if you’re an introvert? Do public speaking. You’ll love it.

Ina Coveney
I love that. Now, can we talk about the benefits of public speaking?

Like I said, I had this huge opportunity with a major company just because I went to one of your sessions. And you said something that blew my mind—you said to make connections with event organizers.

I remember sitting there thinking, Who? Like, I wouldn’t even know who an event organizer is.

And right on cue, this woman walks into the room. She was the one who had rented the space to you. And she introduced herself—her name was Colette. And I thought, Oh, wait. This is an event organizer.

So I jotted down her name, tracked her down after the event—because by the time we were done, she was gone. I found her on LinkedIn, sent her a message, and said, Hey, I was at your event. I’d love to connect.

She responded, we got on a call, and that started a beautiful relationship.

Bobbie Carlton
That’s exactly how it works!

Ina Coveney
Right? So that one piece of advice—meet event organizers—was a game-changer.

So tell me, when people start public speaking, what kinds of doors open up?

Bobbie Carlton
Oh, there are so many benefits. I actually have a structure for this—I call them the Five C’s of Public Speaking.

The first one is Confidence.

A lot of people say, I’ll build my confidence first, and then I’ll do public speaking. But I tell them, No! Get on stage before you feel fully confident, because public speaking itself builds confidence.

Ina Coveney
Yes!

Bobbie Carlton
The second C is Competence.

Public speaking is a way to demonstrate that you know your topic. When you speak, you prove your expertise.

The third C is Connections—which we just talked about!

The fourth C is Credibility.

When you’re on stage, people automatically assume, Oh, she must know what she’s talking about! They see you as a thought leader.

Ina Coveney
So true.

Bobbie Carlton
And here’s a fun side note—when you’re on a physical stage, you’re literally elevated above the audience. That physical height gives you an added layer of credibility.

Ina Coveney
Oh, wow.

Bobbie Carlton
Yep! I always tell people, You don’t become a leader by sitting in the audience. Nobody sees you there. But when you’re on stage? Everyone sees you.

And the fifth C—the one everyone loves—is Cold Hard Cash.

Ina Coveney
Yes!

Bobbie Carlton
Some speaking engagements do pay, and research shows that people who are comfortable with public speaking tend to have higher salaries.

Ina Coveney
That makes so much sense.

Bobbie Carlton
And here’s another correlation—people who aren’t comfortable with public speaking tend to have lower salaries.

Ina Coveney
Okay, so public speaking is great for entrepreneurs, but what about people with jobs? How does it help their careers?

Bobbie Carlton
Oh, I love this question. This is the sixth bonus C—Career.

I once met a woman who was a VP at a tech company, and she told me, There are two ways I’m going to make it to Senior VP—either I cure cancer, or you help me become known through public speaking.

Ina Coveney
That’s amazing.

Bobbie Carlton
Right? She knew that speaking would make her more valuable to her company. They’d see her as an expert, someone worth promoting.

And even if they didn’t promote her, other companies would start noticing her—and her company wouldn’t want to lose her.

Ina Coveney
Wow.

Bobbie Carlton
So, public speaking helps you get promotions, raises, and even board seats.

Ina Coveney
I’m trying to think really hard about why someone wouldn’t do this.

Bobbie Carlton
Fear. People are intimidated.

We’ve all heard that public speaking is the number one fear—people say they’d rather die than speak on stage!

Ina Coveney
I hate that! Because the more we talk about fear, the bigger the fear gets.

Bobbie Carlton
Exactly. And people think public speaking is just one thing—standing alone on stage, giving a keynote. But there are so many types of public speaking.

You can be on a panel. You can be a moderator. You can do a webinar, a podcast, or even speak at a local school.

Ina Coveney
That’s such a great point.

Bobbie Carlton
Yeah! And here’s another thing—women, in particular, face systemic barriers to public speaking.

Women are more likely to work part-time. Women are more likely to work for smaller companies. And women are still more likely to be responsible for kids at home.

Ina Coveney
Right.

Bobbie Carlton
So, let’s say you’re a mom. You can’t be the morning keynote speaker if you have to put your kid on the bus at 8 AM.

Or let’s say you work part-time. You can’t take three days off to travel to a conference if that’s your entire workweek.

And if you work for a smaller company, there’s nobody to backfill your work, and the company might not have the budget to send you to a conference.

And let’s not forget—we make 80 cents on the dollar compared to men, so we can’t afford to take ourselves to these conferences either.

Ina Coveney
Wow. So, it’s not just fear—it’s a whole system working against women getting on stage.

Bobbie Carlton
Exactly. And that’s why I push back when people say, Women are reluctant to speak. No! That is not true. Women want to speak! They’re just facing barriers that men don’t.

Ina Coveney
That makes so much sense. Okay, let’s talk about the event organizers. Because I’ve seen this happen—they say, We’d love to have more women on stage, but they’re just not there.

What’s your take on that?

Bobbie Carlton
First of all, that’s lazy. If you say, We can’t find women speakers, you’re not looking hard enough.

That’s literally why I built Innovation Women! It’s a free database for event managers to find diverse speakers.

Ina Coveney
Right.

Bobbie Carlton
We have over 3,000 women speakers in our database. You can search by topic, industry, location—you can even search by where the speaker went to college!

But the bigger issue is that some event organizers put unnecessary restrictions on who they consider for speaking roles.

Ina Coveney
What do you mean?

Bobbie Carlton
Let’s say an event manager says, We only want Fortune 50 CEOs. Well, guess what? There aren’t many women or people of color in those roles.

If you only want speakers from the C-suite, you’re cutting out women from the conversation by default.

Ina Coveney
Oh wow.

Bobbie Carlton
And another thing—conferences are supposed to be about the future. They’re supposed to introduce new ideas.

But when I see a panel of the same four old white guys?

Boring.

Ina Coveney
YES!

Bobbie Carlton
They’ve been on stage together a hundred times. They already know each other’s stories.

Give me something new! Give me more women. Give me more people of color. Give me speakers with disabilities. Give me different voices!

Ina Coveney
Yes! Okay, so we’ve covered:
✅ Why women hesitate to apply.
✅ How public speaking helps your career.
✅ How event organizers need to do better.

What do we say to women who want to get started?

Bobbie Carlton
Start small. The easiest way to break into public speaking? Ask a question from the audience.

Ina Coveney
Ooooh! That’s good.

Bobbie Carlton
Right? Let’s say you’re attending a conference. The speaker wraps up, and they say, Any questions?

Raise your hand.

Introduce yourself. Say the name of your company. Ask a well-thought-out question.

Guess what? You just spoke to the same audience as the people on stage.

Ina Coveney
Mind. Blown.

Bobbie Carlton
Right?! And here’s the kicker—the event organizer is watching.

They see you. They hear you. And that’s an opportunity to start a conversation with them.

Ina Coveney
That’s brilliant. Okay, now let’s talk about getting paid.

I’ve spoken at so many events where they say, Oh, we don’t have a budget for speakers.

What do you say to that?

Bobbie Carlton
Oh boy. I could talk about this for hours.

When I started Innovation Women, I surveyed 360 event organizers and asked: Do you pay your speakers?

50% said no budget at all.

42% said they pay some speakers—usually keynotes, sometimes workshop leaders, but not panelists.

Only 8% said they pay all or most of their speakers.

Ina Coveney
Oof.

Bobbie Carlton
So, as a speaker, you have to decide:

✅ Do you only seek out paid opportunities?
✅ Or do you find other ways to get compensated?

Ina Coveney
Like what?

Bobbie Carlton
Here’s my three-part decision-making framework:

1️⃣ Say yes when you’re getting your "happy price."

Your happy price is the amount that fairly compensates you for your time, expertise, and value.
2️⃣ Say yes when you’re "auditioning" for people who can pay your happy price.

If the audience includes decision-makers who book paid speakers, it might be worth it.
3️⃣ Say yes when you’re getting something else of value.

Maybe it’s prestige (I spoke at the UN!).
Maybe it’s a high-quality video of you speaking.
Maybe it’s new connections or a testimonial.

Ina Coveney
YES. I always tell people—if you’re speaking for free, bring your own photographer!

Get professional photos. Get proof that you were on that stage.

Bobbie Carlton
Exactly! Those photos increase your credibility. And credibility leads to paid gigs.

Ina Coveney
Okay, last question—if someone listening wants to get started with public speaking in the next 24 hours, what’s the one thing they should do?

Bobbie Carlton
Go to Google.

Type in:
"Call for speakers" +
your industry + 2025

And commit to applying.

Ina Coveney
YES! Everyone listening—do this right now!

Bobbie, this has been amazing! Where can people follow you?

Bobbie Carlton
Find me on Innovation Women! If you’re an event manager, sign up for a free account to find amazing women speakers.

And follow us on Instagram and Twitter at @WomenInno or search Innovation Women.

Ina Coveney
Bobbie, you are a powerhouse. Thank you so much for being here.

Bobbie Carlton
Thank you!

Ina Coveney
And to everyone listening, make sure to follow and subscribe so you don’t miss another episode of The Superhumans Podcast!