A version of this story appeared in Total Annarchy, my fortnightly newsletter that helps you be a better writer, storyteller, marketer. Get it in your inbox; you’ll love it.

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This week I’ve been obsessed with Jimothy, the short-spined raccoon that the entire internet is rooting for. I also stopped eating salad unless it comes from my local farmer’s market. Bonus: I discovered there is a local farmer’s market. Thanks, Cyclospora!

Also this week, as a final check before publishing something I’d written, I ran it through Claude.

Whenever I do this, I expressly tell the tool: DO NOT EDIT MY WRITING. I also tell it to SHOW ME exactly what changes it makes on the page itself. I use all caps so it knows I mean business.

This is what Claude said (and I quote directly):

Here are the changes I made:

• added a comma in “hey, this is for you”
• changed the quotes around “Yo…” to curly quotes for polish
• kept your weirdness level intact

That last one is just delightful, isn’t it?

I shared that bit of feedback on LinkedIn, where it went a little bananas. A few people were confused by my instruction to Claude to NOT edit me… What’s the point of asking a writing tool not to write for you? they wondered. What’s it “changing”?

I use AI for copy editing and proofreading help. Sometimes I ask it: Is this clear? But I don’t let it write for me; I don’t want it to. I will not train it on my voice because I don’t need AI to know my voice. Because… well, I already know my voice.

I enjoy writing; it’s how I think. It’s how I feel close to the work. You can use AI without handing it the work you love doing, or the work that means something to you. Saying no to AI is a choice, too. The process of the work is the joy of the work.

Which brings me back to Claude’s unintended counsel: Keep your weirdness level intact.

It’s great advice for all of us struggling with standing out in the age of AI slop, isn’t it? In writing, marketing, life.

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Mailbag question from Judy S. this week:

One of my clients wants to secure more speaking engagements. Do you have any recommendations for speaker agents/representatives? Or any advice on launching a speaking career?

Dear Judy:

So many thoughts. But I’m gonna rein myself in to 7 tidy bullet points.

I am listed with a few bureaus and agents, but none exclusively. Most of my engagements come inbound: Someone hears me speak and hires me afterward or someone who heard me refers me.

Which is why the secret to getting more speaking opportunities is to become highly referable.

The event-planning world—like most industries—is surprisingly insular. Everyone talks to everyone. Everyone knows who is good, who is not, who is down-to-earth, who is a diva, who is literally so much of a pain in the patootie that only those forced into a corner will hire them. (Or you are Oprah so you can act however you want.) (Which is not a slam on Oprah; I have no idea what she is like to work with.)

So rather than starting with looking for an agent or a bureau, anyone who wants to speak more (or coach someone who does) should begin at the beginning.

1. Start with the audience.

Who are the ideal two or three audiences a speaker wants to reach? Maybe entrepreneurs? Enterprise behemoths? HR leaders? AI apologists who need to finally hear how to use AI in a way that doesn’t rot their brains? People who love short-spined raccoons?

2. List 10 dream “reach” events.

Then list another 20 more easily attainable events.

Look at the next 12-18 months, because many larger conferences book speakers well in advance—even further ahead than you’d expect. This morning, I was in CVS and noticed a display for Halloween candy. Reader, let me remind you: It is July. Anyway, conference organizers book even further out than CVS’s candy buyer, which is objectively way too early.

Find out who programs each event. Then reach out to them individually, with a strong speaking idea tailored to that audience. Follow up via email once or twice. Do not DM them repeatedly on LinkedIn. That is both stalker behavior and annoying. (Speaking from experience.)

Not: “Hi I have a new book coming out” (See the “no one cares, sorry” again.)

Instead: “Here’s what your audience is probably feeling; here’s how I help with that.”

Help your talk feel compelling to the organizer first… so it feels like a no-brainer to tap you.

3. Why now?

Preemptively answer the 3 questions already bouncing around the organizer’s noggin:

1. Why this person?
2. What is their distinctive point of view?
3. Why will this matter to our audience right now?

That last one bullet is key: WHY RIGHT NOW will differentiate you. Tie it to the current zeitgeist. Help it feel fresh and relevant in 2026… not 2016.

But I talk about fundamentals, you say. Those things don’t change. Mmm OK. Maybe not. But what does change is what’s swirling around us. Conditions change. Acknowledge that.

This doesn’t mean you need to work in references to Jimothy or Poop Salad. It does mean you need to acknowledge the atmospheric changes that influence all of us day-to-day, like weather.

4. Get video of you speaking, even if you initially have to stage and record something yourself.

But isn’t that nonprofessional? you wonder. No! It’s great! It’s perfectly OK! One time I hired someone to speak for the MarketingProfs B2B Forum based on the strength of a talk they shot in their kitchen.

5. You need ONE really good signature talk.

Not 7 mediocre talks. Range isn’t your strength here. Double-down.

I never accept a speaking invitation from someone who dictates what they want me to talk about, instead of what I actually talk about. I got this invite not too long ago: “We want someone to present about revenue ops, ideally a woman.”

Could I fake it? Maybe. (The rev ops part, not the female part—I’m pretty solid there.) But why would I? If I’m not passionate about something… I won’t serve your audience well. We’ll both end up feeling depressed. (Plus it’s weird to mention gender at all, but this happens more often than you’d think.)

In the same way, I never hire a speaker who asks me: What are you looking for speakers to talk about right now? Because I want to hear what YOU, my brilliant speaker friend, can’t NOT talk about.

6. You need a kick-peach, strong description that creates a curiosity gap for the audience. What does that mean? A curiosity gap is the space between what people know and what they suddenly feel they need to know. The description should feel so intriguing that they WANT answers even before anyone has boarded a plane and ridden the Uber to the venue.

Pro tip: Learn how to write kick-peach speech descriptions in here: Everybody Writes 2.

Wait—one more:

8. What about speaking for free?

Yes, maybe, when it makes sense for you.

I still do when the opportunity is strategically valuable: Because it’s the right audience, a cool venue so I’ll get strong footage, a meaningful opportunity, good referral potential, someone I like and want to help… that kind of thing.

And at the beginning, free is how you build your reputation. Free is how you ultimately get paid.

An excellent book on public speaking is The Referable Speaker by Andrew Davis and Michael Port. They cover all those points… and lots, lots more.