I first learnt the basics of public speaking over twenty years ago, when I joined my local Toastmasters group. Every two weeks, I went along to learn how to beat the nerves I felt whenever I was asked to stand up and speak. Yes, I was very shy back then! Toastmasters taught me how to stand (without crossing my legs), what to do with my hands (stop fidgeting!) and all about vocal variety, pace and volume. I’ve spent years putting it into practice, through giving talks at networking events, running workshops and, over the last few years, a lot of online presentations. The basics apply in all situations.

This year, I decided that it was time to learn more. Over the last couple of years, I’ve learnt how to be more ‘me’ – more authentic with less façade – and it’s made a huge difference to my speaking and its effectiveness as a marketing tool. There was still something missing though; there was something else that I needed to add to my speaking.

Standing Out

Marketing is a competitive industry – there are thousands of people out there who do what I do. I need to be able to really stand out from them. The same applies when you’re a coach – you have a lot of competitors, so you need to be able to show your potential clients what makes you different. It would be very easy to go on stage and perform the same way that everyone else does. One way to stand out is to stand up and speak out. Develop your speaking skills, so that they are better than other coaches when you’re on stage.

What was missing from my speaking? When I was invited to speak at an event called Impact in April 2023, I decided that it was time to learn how to make more of an impact with my speaking. It wasn’t about dramatically changing the way I speak on stage. It was about making some small changes to the impact I make when I’m in front of an audience.

You could shuffle onto the stage, telling your audience that you’re really nervous. You could look down at the floor, or look back at your slides. Or you could walk confidently into the centre of the stage, smiling broadly and then stop, planting your feet hip-width apart and looking out over your audience. You could take a deep breath and … when you’re ready … deliver your attention-grabbing opening line!

Stamp it Out

How many times have you sat through a talk or presentation, where the speaker starts by saying “Firstly, let me tell you about myself”? I’m not in the audience to learn about the speaker; I’m there to learn from them. I don’t want to be distracted by someone who doesn’t know their material, or who relies on reading a script. I don’t need to be subjected to hundreds of slides, covered in bullet points.

Do something different! For the talk I’m giving at Impact, I only have nine slides and none have a single word on them. They are there purely as prompts and to slightly intrigue the audience.

Plan ahead. I am lucky enough to be getting to the venue the day before the big event. I will spend time on the stage, to find the centre. I will rehearse my entrance, so that I know exactly where I will stand to deliver my opening line.

I will spend a lot of time, ahead of the presentation, doing something that I don’t ever do enough – rehearse! I will put on the boots that I’ll be wearing on the big day and stride across the bedroom floor to the full-length mirror. I’ll be my own audience, as I rehearse, smiling and delivering my opening line, before going on to give a talk that really helps me to stand out.