Everyone tells you the studio's going great. Meanwhile you've been rehearsing one conversation with one staff member in the shower for three weeks. If that's you, this episode was made for you.

👉 Grab Annelise's workbook and write the shit down as you listen: https://bit.ly/p-the-studio-owners-workbook-for-backing-yourself

👉 Then book your free discovery call and let's look at what's actually keeping you stuck: https://bit.ly/p-your-studio-check-up

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Communication coach Annelise joins Sophie and me to unpack why the scariest parts of running a studio, the tough conversations, the camera, the sales calls, have nothing to do with speaking at all.

Annelise grew up a shy kid with a speech impediment and went through speech therapy. Now she's got 15 years of training people to speak behind her and delivers keynotes on stages in the US. I know that climb personally, because I had a hectic stutter as a kid myself, and Sophie was so quiet when she trained at my studio that members genuinely asked if she was on mute. None of us got here by finding confidence. We built it, rep by rep, like a muscle.

Annelise reckons the real blocker is the fear of being perceived. It's the same fear behind the conversation you keep putting off, the camera you keep avoiding, and the sales call you keep fumbling. She walks us up the ladder she takes every client through, from desire to discipline to evidence to trust, and shows why you already coach your members through this exact process every day. You just haven't turned it on yourself yet.

In this episode you'll hear:

The banana bread trap: why one botched conversation convinces you you're "just not a leader" and what to do instead
Three questions that turn confrontation into conversation: "help me understand", "what would it take" and "would it be helpful if"
Why saving the big moments for the big moments is exactly why you're shit at them
The evidence list: a two-minute Monday morning habit that changes how you walk into your business
"Learn to love all doors": the lesson from Annelise's dad that rewires how you handle rejection, on sales calls and cancellations alike

If this one hit a nerve, queue up "Why Outsourcing your Confidence is the FASTEST Way to Close your Business" next. It's one of our most downloaded episodes ever, and it's the same wound from a different angle.

And if you're done borrowing confidence, book your free discovery call. Sophie went from members asking if she was on mute to coaching hundreds of studio owners, and I went from a kid in speech therapy to a sold-out room of 300. The reps work. Let's map yours: ⁠https://bit.ly/p-your-studio-check-up⁠

CHAPTERS

00:00:00 The accidental leader problem 00:04:02 Your fear has nothing to do with speaking 00:07:47 My stutter, Toastmasters and The King's Speech 00:13:29 Three frameworks for hard team conversations 00:20:43 Stop saving the big moments for the big moments 00:23:00 Desire, discipline, evidence, trust 00:24:37 "I'm not a runner": the 1k lesson 00:30:28 Writing your evidence list 00:36:11 Borrowed confidence and finding your leadership voice 00:44:30 Sales calls and the fear of rejection 00:46:16 Learn to love all doors 00:53:12 When cancellations feel personal 00:56:35 Rapid fire: speaking up, firing and being on camera 01:12:06 Three Monday morning steps