Does it ever feel like your brain and mouth are out-of-sync? You know what you want to say but your mouth just doesn’t play along?

That’s exactly the experience that’s been described by a regular listener, and they’ve asked me for some tips:

“You know, as much as I prepare myself to aid my confidence, it always feels like the right words won’t come out when presenting. Of course I am nervous, probably more than most but I know that presenting clearly is so important ( perhaps this thinking makes it worse?)

Anyway, I’ll do what I can to calm my nerves and tell myself to relax but what my brain thinks versus what comes out are just not in sync!

I end up constantly correcting what I said which completely destroys the message.

Either I’m losing my mind or I just need some advice or skills to almost switch into gear before presenting”

This is SUCH a common challenge!

Listen in to hear:

• The biggest mistake we make when this happens, and what to do instead

• Why it’s actually not about the words

• How to shift your focus to what your audience needs and wants from you, rather than obsessing over the perfect words

• Why you don’t want to ‘correct’ yourself, instead, focus on connection (don’t correct, connect)

• Why you can trust that you know your stuff

If you’d like me to answer your question on a future episode, chat with me on instagram.

Get my weekly newsletter here.

And if you’re listening before 12.30pm AEST on Thursday 25 September, register for my Elevator Pitch Practise Session here.

Ever been in the audience at a conference, asked a question of one of the speakers, and got completely tangled up in giving context?

Well, that’s EXACTLY what I’m addressing today - how to ask questions FROM the audience in a way that elevates you, gets the answer you want and doesn’t get you all tangled up.

This is in response to a listener question who said

Many times I hear questions in presentations be asked with a lead-in that links some of the themes of the talk to the question about to be asked. However each time I try to do this I really seem to make a mess of the lead-in and then by the time I get around to asking a question the speaker is so confused about what I’m asking so we just have this awkward exchange where I repeat the lead in and question but get super nervous which makes things seemingly worse.

Listen in to my (slightly rambly) answer to learn:

• How to frame a question in your mind, first

• How to connect it to what the speaker was saying

• Why it’s easy to over-think our questions, and how I do it too

• The difference between a general question that will benefit everyone in the audience, vs an advice question that relates to you

• How asking these kinds of questions is a powerful networking and profile building strategy

Register for my Elevator Pitch Practise Session here.

If you’d like me to answer your question on a future episode, chat with me on instagram.

Get my weekly newsletter here.

“Is it realistic to do a 20 minute speech without notes?”, that’s the question I’m asking in this week’s Speaking with Confidence podcast.

It’s a myth that we need to memorise our speeches, and it’s also a risk to take a stage with a script or highly detailed notes. The more details in our notes the more we’re looking at the lectern, instead of connecting with our audience.

Regular listeners will be familiar with my ‘post-it note’ method, where I encourage the use of a handful of post-its to keep you on track and on message, while giving you space to flow with your presentation.

Listen in to hear my answer to Sharon’s question, including:

• Why saying LESS really is more

• How to use your time in a 20 minute presentation

• Why what you say at the end of your presentation is actually more important than what you say in the middle

• Why it’s actually a mistake to focus on your content, and what you want to focus on instead

• How to craft a presentation that connects with your audience, delivers your key messages well and keeps it all focused for maximum impact

Register for my Elevator Pitch Practise Session here.

If you’d like me to answer your question on a future episode, chat with me on instagram.

Get my weekly newsletter here.

To learn more about my post-it note method, listen to episode 74 - The Powerful Frame Your Thinking Method.

And to learn more about the power of ‘cropping’ your message, listen to episode 85 - Cropping for Focus and Impact.