Learning to effectively communicate my ideas through the written and spoken word is the most powerful and profitable life-skill I’ve ever developed. Throughout my career, I’ve had the opportunity to speak in front of audiences of various sizes—from small groups of around a hundred people, to larger audiences of a thousand or more. Over the years, I’ve learned a thing or two about what works and what doesn’t… And in this live training, I’m sharing some of my favorite ideas on public speaking. Whether you want to level up your personal growth, or move ahead in your career or business - you’ll benefit from this workshop.
Here’s what you’ll learn about:
How to overcome nervousness and speak with confidence—whether you’re addressing an audience of one or one-thousand.
How to take the ideas inside your mind, and transfer them into the minds of your audience—in the most impactful, empowering, and effective way.
A 5-part framework for organizing a speeches that motivate and inspire action in others.
I’ve split this training into two parts:
Part 1 is about overcoming nervousness and speaking with confidence.
Part 2 is about organizing and delivering a powerful talk to any group.
Ready to dive in?
Press that Play button above, then, scroll below to read the notes.
Part 1: Overcoming nervousness and speaking with confidence
1. Transform nervousness into excitement
The same thing you feel when you’re nervous is the same thing you feel when you’re excited. Your heart rate speeds up, your voice trembles, you make nervous movements, and your palms may get sweaty.
Transform that anxiety into excitement, by repeatedly telling yourself (in your mind or out loud) that your brain and body is preparing you to deliver a powerful speech, training, meeting, etc.
For example: “I’m funneling this exciting energy towards delivering a talk that enhances the life of each and every individual in attendance.”
2. Practice + prepare
Record yourself giving a speech. Then, review it in the following three ways:
Video only (no audio). Watch your recording without any audio. Doing this helps you identify and eliminate awkward body language. Put it on mute and observe your body language and mannerisms. You’ll find there are certain movements you make that aren’t helping you—ticks, nervous movements, hands in pockets, etc.
Audio only (no visuals). Listen with headphones and no visuals. This helps you catch your tone and identify whether you’re putting enough emotion or enthusiasm into your talk. If you get bored listening to yourself, others will be also. Take it as a sign to put a little more energy into your voice.
Have it transcribed, and ask to keep in all the filler words (um, okay, etc). After you receive the transcription, print it out and highlight every filler word you used. Now, you know what to work on eliminating.
3. Avoid memorizing—and actually know what you’re talking about
Instead of trying to memorize your talk, try this: think about the main points of your talk, and then brainstorm multiple different ways to say it.
This helps you understand the underlying principles of what you want to communicate, rather than getting caught up in saying it perfectly.
4. Know how you’ll open, and know how you’ll close
These are the only two things I’d recommend you memorize:
your opening remarks
your closing remarks—which you want to make as impactful as possible.
5. Use props (when appropriate)
If you’re giving a talk or conducting a training that calls for props—make use of them. Using things like a whiteboard and marker on stage has the unexpected effect of calming your public speaking nerves, because it takes a little bit of the focus off of you.
They almost serve as objects of comfort.
