Speaking Business podcast
From Flight Deck to the Stage: Building a Speaking Business with Captain Emma Henderson
Published: 4 June 2026 at 07:00 Europe/London
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Episode notes
In this episode of Speaking Business, I'm joined by Captain Emma Henderson, international keynote speaker, leadership expert, founder of Project Wingman and creator of the AVIATE decision-making model.
Emma shares how she moved from aviation and charity leadership into building a successful speaking business, and what changed when she stopped treating speaking as something she did on the side and started treating it as a business.
We talk about positioning, selling yourself without feeling cringe, raising fees, building relationships with speaker bureaus, bringing personality into your brand, and why clients increasingly want practical tools they can take back into the business, not just inspiration.
Emma also shares the systems she uses to run her business, how she decides when to say yes or no, what she would do differently if she were starting again, and why relationships, relevance and doing the work still matter in a world where everyone is trying to automate everything.
A generous and practical conversation for speakers who want to build momentum, charge properly and create a business that is commercially solid as well as enjoyable.
