Fearless Presentation

Welcome to 30 Tips in 30 Days! Over the entire month of November, I will be releasing a short, bite sized episode of Fearless Presentations every morning covering things that are absolutely essential to being a better presenter. Whether you've been speaking professionally for years and years or are looking to just start your public speaking journey, applying just these 30 tips I cover here will instantly and easily make you improve as a speaker. The title of your presentation is the very first checkpoint your audience goes through of deciding whether or not they're interested in hearing what you have to say. If you give them something super vague, general, or even hyper specific it's very likely that you'll lose them before you even start talking cause they'll start off confused. Make your title something that gives the entire concept of the presentation while still allowing enough room for the details of the presentation to fill in the gaps.Show Notes: 101 Public Speaking Tips For Delivering Your Best Speech(https://www.fearlesspresentations.com/101-public-speaking-tips-for-delivering-your-best-speech/)

Welcome to 30 Tips in 30 Days! Over the entire month of November, I will be releasing a short, bite sized episode of Fearless Presentations every morning covering things that are absolutely essential to being a better presenter. Whether you've been speaking professionally for years and years or are looking to just start your public speaking journey, applying just these 30 tips I cover here will instantly and easily make you improve as a speaker. Not all speeches are the same amount of time, but that doesn't mean you can't make all of your stories work each for them. Finding different ways to convey the same information in more and less time without sacrificing any content or making the whole thing drag is a vital skill for new speakers. Learning to develop it through making different length versions of the same story is a great way to train that. Show Notes: 101 Public Speaking Tips For Delivering Your Best Speech(https://www.fearlesspresentations.com/101-public-speaking-tips-for-delivering-your-best-speech/)

Welcome to 30 Tips in 30 Days! Over the entire month of November, I will be releasing a short, bite sized episode of Fearless Presentations every morning covering things that are absolutely essential to being a better presenter. Whether you've been speaking professionally for years and years or are looking to just start your public speaking journey, applying just these 30 tips I cover here will instantly and easily make you improve as a speaker. We use these stories for a very specific reason. Stories in a presentation are not just there for speech dressing to make it more fun, they are there because they also need to convey something necessary. With the end of the story being the moment that the most people will be captivated (they've already sat through the whole thing, might as well hear out the end), that is the moment that you need to be putting the mean that matters the most to your presentation. In almost all cases, that's an action or benefit statement.Show Notes: 101 Public Speaking Tips For Delivering Your Best Speech(https://www.fearlesspresentations.com/101-public-speaking-tips-for-delivering-your-best-speech/)

Welcome to 30 Tips in 30 Days! Over the entire month of November, I will be releasing a short, bite sized episode of Fearless Presentations every morning covering things that are absolutely essential to being a better presenter. Whether you've been speaking professionally for years and years or are looking to just start your public speaking journey, applying just these 30 tips I cover here will instantly and easily make you improve as a speaker. Stories are all about captivating the audience and then conveying information through that captivation. The problem comes if the story that you are telling isn't even captivating to begin with. One of the safest ways to ensure that a story, even with subpar detailing or energy, is captivating, is to make it feel like it's building to something. Even a good story with a nothing, rushed ending is disappointing, so making sure you are building to something is vital.Show Notes: 101 Public Speaking Tips For Delivering Your Best Speech(https://www.fearlesspresentations.com/101-public-speaking-tips-for-delivering-your-best-speech/)

Welcome to 30 Tips in 30 Days! Over the entire month of November, I will be releasing a short, bite sized episode of Fearless Presentations every morning covering things that are absolutely essential to being a better presenter. Whether you've been speaking professionally for years and years or are looking to just start your public speaking journey, applying just these 30 tips I cover here will instantly and easily make you improve as a speaker. Okay, now that you have established the who, what, when, and where of your story, now is the time that you can start getting to the fun. A good storyteller can completely convey a world purely with words. Nothing enthralls and engages an audience more than allowing them to paint a complete picture of the story that you are telling, so make sure to include just enough interesting details to make that picture easier to paint. Show Notes: 101 Public Speaking Tips For Delivering Your Best Speech(https://www.fearlesspresentations.com/101-public-speaking-tips-for-delivering-your-best-speech/)

Welcome to 30 Tips in 30 Days! Over the entire month of November, I will be releasing a short, bite sized episode of Fearless Presentations every morning covering things that are absolutely essential to being a better presenter. Whether you've been speaking professionally for years and years or are looking to just start your public speaking journey, applying just these 30 tips I cover here will instantly and easily make you improve as a speaker. Whenever you're starting to give a presentation or speech, it's really easy to get carried away. Jumping right into the details of the story you are wanting to tell, or present the clever way you thought of to connect the story you're telling to the point of your presentation. But before you get into all the details and cleverness you're excited about, it's important to establish the setting. The who, what, when, and where are all necessary to make sure the audience has a complete understanding of the situation before any of the fun details can be told to them.Show Notes: 101 Public Speaking Tips For Delivering Your Best Speech(https://www.fearlesspresentations.com/101-public-speaking-tips-for-delivering-your-best-speech/)

Welcome to 30 Tips in 30 Days! Over the entire month of November, I will be releasing a short, bite sized episode of Fearless Presentations every morning covering things that are absolutely essential to being a better presenter. Whether you've been speaking professionally for years and years or are looking to just start your public speaking journey, applying just these 30 tips I cover here will instantly and easily make you improve as a speaker. As we learned in the tip yesterday, stories can be one of the most powerful tools in a speakers tool belt. However, it's completely possible to make a story hurt your presentation. Even if the story is told well, if it's not at all related or able to be related back to the point of your presentation, it can leave everyone even more confused and uninterested than they would have been without the story. So make sure to go into every story with a clear point and a clear way to connect it back to your general presentation.Show Notes: 101 Public Speaking Tips For Delivering Your Best Speech(https://www.fearlesspresentations.com/101-public-speaking-tips-for-delivering-your-best-speech/)

Welcome to 30 Tips in 30 Days! Over the entire month of November, I will be releasing a short, bite sized episode of Fearless Presentations every morning covering things that are absolutely essential to being a better presenter. Whether you've been speaking professionally for years and years or are looking to just start your public speaking journey, applying just these 30 tips I cover here will instantly and easily make you improve as a speaker. One of the absolute most powerful tools in a public speakers tool belt is the story. There's nothing that incites us, keeps us engaged, like a good story. Even if the presentation is over a topic that really interests us, just showing graphs, stats, and data won't keep anyone's attention for long. Learning how to communicate everything in the form of a story (and a good story at that) is one of the absolute fastest ways to start excelling as a presenter. Show Notes: 101 Public Speaking Tips For Delivering Your Best Speech(https://www.fearlesspresentations.com/101-public-speaking-tips-for-delivering-your-best-speech/)

Welcome to 30 Tips in 30 Days! Over the entire month of November, I will be releasing a short, bite sized episode of Fearless Presentations every morning covering things that are absolutely essential to being a better presenter. Whether you've been speaking professionally for years and years or are looking to just start your public speaking journey, applying just these 30 tips I cover here will instantly and easily make you improve as a speaker. And tip number 7 of November is entirely about your physicality. How you present yourself to the audience can be just as important as the words that you say. So if you are trying to be clear and evident in your appeals for attention, the very least you can do is stand up in a room of people seated. Standing also has other benefits that come with it like allowing you to move around the stage, change your speed for emphasis, and project your voice better.Show Notes: 101 Public Speaking Tips For Delivering Your Best Speech(https://www.fearlesspresentations.com/101-public-speaking-tips-for-delivering-your-best-speech/)

Welcome to 30 Tips in 30 Days! Over the entire month of November, I will be releasing a short, bite sized episode of Fearless Presentations every morning covering things that are absolutely essential to being a better presenter. Whether you've been speaking professionally for years and years or are looking to just start your public speaking journey, applying just these 30 tips I cover here will instantly and easily make you improve as a speaker. Tip number 6 of this month is to speak on topics that you are actually an expert on. No matter if you're an excellent presenter or a terrible presenter, audiences are really good at sniffing out who knows what they're talking about. A great presenter trying to lie their way through a speech on a topic they know absolutely nothing about will usually be worse than an average presenter speaking passionately and knowledgeably about what they know. So choose your topics carefully.Show Notes: 101 Public Speaking Tips For Delivering Your Best Speech(https://www.fearlesspresentations.com/101-public-speaking-tips-for-delivering-your-best-speech/)

Welcome to 30 Tips in 30 Days! Over the entire month of November, I will be releasing a short, bite sized episode of Fearless Presentations every morning covering things that are absolutely essential to being a better presenter. Whether you've been speaking professionally for years and years or are looking to just start your public speaking journey, applying just these 30 tips I cover here will instantly and easily make you improve as a speaker.One of the biggest falsehoods people hold whenever they get up to give a speech is that the audience doesn't want to listen to you. "Why would these people want to listen to me, they're clearly against me from the moment I start speaking.". The truth is though, if you have an audience listening to you, it's obviously because they actually do want to know what you have to say. Now you can absolutely lose that interest through a bad speech, but looking for interested audience members to boost your self confidence from the beginning is a great way to keep confidence throughout a speech.Show Notes: 101 Public Speaking Tips For Delivering Your Best Speech(https://www.fearlesspresentations.com/101-public-speaking-tips-for-delivering-your-best-speech/)

Welcome to 30 Tips in 30 Days! Over the entire month of November, I will be releasing a short, bite sized episode of Fearless Presentations every morning covering things that are absolutely essential to being a better presenter. Whether you've been speaking professionally for years and years or are looking to just start your public speaking journey, applying just these 30 tips I cover here will instantly and easily make you improve as a speaker. Few things calm the nerves like a good deep breath. Not all tips have to be some crazy secret you've never heard before. Some tips are simple things that people often overlook or think won't help much. In the case of having a good breathing exercise before going on stage, it is one of the quickest and easiest ways to diminish nerves. So just start doing it!Show Notes: 101 Public Speaking Tips For Delivering Your Best Speech(https://www.fearlesspresentations.com/101-public-speaking-tips-for-delivering-your-best-speech/)

Welcome to 30 Tips in 30 Days! Over the entire month of November, I will be releasing a short, bite sized episode of Fearless Presentations every morning covering things that are absolutely essential to being a better presenter. Whether you've been speaking professionally for years and years or are looking to just start your public speaking journey, applying just these 30 tips I cover here will instantly and easily make you improve as a speaker. Tip 3 is building off of yesterday's tip. Reciting a speech word for word is a waste of effort as so much of your energy that should be focused on the delivery of the speech is spent on remembering the words. And if anything happens, your speech completely falls apart.Show Notes: 101 Public Speaking Tips For Delivering Your Best Speech(https://www.fearlesspresentations.com/101-public-speaking-tips-for-delivering-your-best-speech/)

Welcome to 30 Tips in 30 Days! Over the entire month of November, I will be releasing a short, bite sized episode of Fearless Presentations every morning covering things that are absolutely essential to being a better presenter. Whether you've been speaking professionally for years and years or are looking to just start your public speaking journey, applying just these 30 tips I cover here will instantly and easily make you improve as a speaker. Our second tip this month is to never write your speech word-for-word. Speeches are about passion and clear knowledge about a topic. Writing your speech word-for-word allows for little of that passion to come out in the actual presentation of the speech. It also can be quite a waste as writing a speech word for word leads to you remembering it word for word which, as you'll learn tomorrow is also a mistake. Show Notes: 101 Public Speaking Tips For Delivering Your Best Speech(https://www.fearlesspresentations.com/101-public-speaking-tips-for-delivering-your-best-speech/)

Welcome to 30 Tips in 30 Days! Over the entire month of November, I will be releasing a short, bite sized episode of Fearless Presentations every morning covering things that are absolutely essential to being a better presenter. Whether you've been speaking professionally for years and years or are looking to just start your public speaking journey, applying just these 30 tips I cover here will instantly and easily make you improve as a speaker. To kick off this series, our very first tip is to design your presentation first...then design your slideshow. One of the biggest mistakes beginning speakers (and even some advanced ones) make is that they rely on having the structure of their presentation already thought out in their head and jump ahead to making the PowerPoint. Both your presentation and your slideshow will turn out so much better if you draft out what the structure and topics of your speech will be first, then leave making the slideshow for the very end. Show Notes: 101 Public Speaking Tips For Delivering Your Best Speech(https://www.fearlesspresentations.com/101-public-speaking-tips-for-delivering-your-best-speech/)

Last week, I did a quick session on why people feel nervous speaking in front of a group -- even though, they are doing things to reduce that nervousness. This week, I cover what to do if you just absolutely bomb a speech.If you just delivered a terrible presentation and feel like yo fell on your face, take heart. The tips I give at the end of this episode can help.But first, we'll talk about how even the most embarrassing and difficult challenges you face public speaking can be something to learn from.I'm not saying these challenges are necessary. But, if and when they do happen, changing you attitude about the speech and using it as a stepping stone to presentation success can really help.Show Notes: How to Recover from a Terrible Speech (Bombing on Stage)(https://www.fearlesspresentations.com/how-to-recover-from-a-terrible-speech-bombing-on-stage/)

One of the most common things I still hear from people who are talking to me about public speaking is "why do I still get nervous when I'm giving a speech?". Now the preamble to the question is always a little different. The person may have already gone to classes or toasting clubs, maybe the person had already been speaking for years and years and years, but for some reason they still suffer with nervousness every single time when they're trying to deliver a speech.It doesn't matter if they've had the best coaches and the best training, for some reason with all that practice the base level nerves still persist and this can cause them to get frustrated. They might start feeling like nothing they have worked towards has mattered or that they'll just never become a great public speaker cause, to them, great public speakers never get nervous. Well on today's episode I'm gonna dive into the reason that basically everyone still has this question, why you still suffer from it, and how to either fix the problem at it's roots, or find comfort in it.Show Notes: Why Do I Still Get Nervous When I Speak in Public?(https://www.fearlesspresentations.com/why-do-i-still-get-nervous-when-i-speak-in-public/)

I'm gonna do something a little bit different in this weeks episode. This week, we're covering the top 5 biggest public speaking myths, and I'm also debunking each and every single one. Just so you can get an idea of the myths I'll be debunking, this is a look at what they will be. 1. Good speakers are naturally good. 2. You are way more nervous than every other speaker out there. 3. Constructive criticism is the best way to improve at public speaking.4. Video feedback is really valuable for learning. 5. It takes years and years to become a great public speaker. If you have ever been told any of these myths or find yourself believing they make sense, than stick around, and find out just how wrong these seemingly sensible ideas can be.Show Notes: 5 of the Most Common Myths about Public Speaking Debunked(https://www.fearlesspresentations.com/top-5-myths-about-public-speaking-fear/)

Last week, on the first over glossophobia we went over what the fear actually was. We discussed how phobia may not be the best way to describe it and how a terror is probably more accurate. It's intense, it's dramatic, and it's something does effect your everyday life. If you believe after listening to last weeks episode that you are one of the many that may suffer from glossophobia or symptoms that align with glossophobia, this week, we'll work on solving that. This week, we will we be discussing and looking at a few excellent ways to actually tackle that public speaking terror you and many others suffer from. While fully eliminating the fear can be and impossible task, there are certainly a few things that have helped millions control their fear, even to the point of being able to give speeches.So if you're interested in solving that issue and making public speaking a manageable concept, stick around for a few excellent ways to tackle that fear. Show Notes: How to Overcome Glossophobia (The Fear of Public Speaking)(https://www.fearlesspresentations.com/how-to-overcome-glossophobia-an-irrational-fear-of-public-speaking/)

Last week, I discussed the fastest and easiest way to solve public speaking fear (utilizing stories and examples), and I mentioned on that episode that most people have some type of nervousness when they stand up to present in front of others. But what do you do if your fear is more intense than just little jitters. Well, on this episode I'm going to tell you all about glossophobia, the extreme fear of public speaking. I'll tell you a lot of the misconceptions people seem to have with this "phobia", how many people really have it, what the symptoms are, and how you can know if you truly have it or not. Public speaking is a vital part of most working people's day to day life and knowing the difference between typical public speaking nervousness and actual glossophobia can make treating your fear correctly way easier and save you wasted time. So stick around as I go over Glossophobia, the fear of public speaking, and keep an eye out for the next episode later this week where I tell you all about how to treat it.Show Notes: How to Overcome Glossophobia (The Fear of Public Speaking)(https://www.fearlesspresentations.com/how-to-overcome-glossophobia-an-irrational-fear-of-public-speaking/)

One of the absolute fastest and easiest ways to reduce your public speaking fear is to start introducing stories and examples into your formal presentations or PowerPoint deliveries. So when participants first come through our public speaking classes or our training classes, we introduce this technique and, a lot of times, a lot of folks will sort of resist it. They'll say things like "my presentations are a lot more fact focused/data driven/number oriented, I don't think people will really be interested in hearing stories they just want the numbers. What they don't realize is that they are completely missing out on a way better way to solidify the data they are sharing and better convey the statistics they are using. Stories make your presentations easier to follow, easier to understand, easier to deliver, and way more memorable. So stick around for a few reasons you should really start implementing stories, a few tips to start implementing them, and a few ways to come up with the stories in the first place.Show Notes: How Stories and Examples Reduce Public Speaking Fear(https://www.fearlesspresentations.com/stories-and-examples-reduce-public-speaking-fear/)

We often talk on the podcast about how to improve your presentation skills or how to reduce nervousness so that you feel more confident or poised when you stand up to speak. But one of the things that we haven't covered a lot, or at least in a while, is why you should improve your presentation skills.The time and money you spend on improving your presentation skills has the highest return on investment compared to basically anything else you can do. For instance, let's say you go out and buy a new piece of equipment for your company. That equipment will bring your company new profit for a certain amount of time but eventually that equipment will age. The maintenance costs on it will go higher than the amount you're making from it. And it will no longer be worth your investment. Presentation skills are evergreen, growing them once improves your personal growth and profitability to the company for the rest of your life. So find out just a few ways to advance in your job and career by just learning this one set of skills!Show Notes: 7 Ways to Advance Your Career Using Presentation Skills(https://www.fearlesspresentations.com/7-ways-to-advance-your-career-using-presentation-skills/)

There's something really special about group presentations.Group presentations are way, way more different than a normal presentation than most people believe. In fact, I've spent years and years (really the better part of a decade) studying everything that I could about presentation skills and how to deliver powerful speeches and then years later, that study kinda led me to becoming a presentation coach. I felt confident in my ability as a presentation coach and had proven success training hundreds of people, but on one random day I got a very interesting call. It was a prospective client that said "hey, we've got a group of 5 presenters that are competing for a 300 million dollar contract, this contract is vital for the companies success, can you make sure that the team gives the best possible group presentation they can. That one call started me down a multi-year road that's been a fantastic accomplishment for hundreds of groups looking to give presentations together. Let me tell you a little bit about how to run an exceptional group presentation I have learned on that long, long road of experience.Show Notes: Group Presentation Guide: How to Give Presentations As a Team(https://www.fearlesspresentations.com/group-presentation-guide-how-to-get-your-team-on-the-same-page-for-a-group-presentation/)

On today's episode we're gonna talk about designing training and development  programs for employees in 2025, and it's interesting. Even several years after the COVID-19 pandemic has ended, it really left a lasting mark on the way we kind of do things. It significantly altered the way people communicate, the way that we interact, and while some of the most extreme changes were more temporary, many have caused long term shifts in how we still do business. One of the absolute biggest changes the pandemic left behind for business is how we kind of structure our training programs for employees. In the past how we did it was companies would create a product or fill the need for a service then bring it to market and see how it does. Now companies are constantly having to adapt. Changing every aspect of their internal structure and way they do business and the product or service they provide at a really, really rapid pace. Let's look at some of those modern examples and practices of training and development within companies that can help you stay ahead of the curve and not fall behind. Show Notes: Creating the Best Training and Development Programs in 2025(https://www.fearlesspresentations.com/modern-examples-of-training-and-development-programs-for-employees-2020/)

A couple of years ago, I was teaching a public speaking workshop in Detroit and three of the people in that class happened to be job placement coaches.Throughout the course, I noticed a couple of really interesting things as the class went on. First the three of these folks that all did the same thing kept mentioning over and over again how the lessons I was covering in the public speaking class were similar to the lessons that they were teaching, one-on-one, to the people in their job development sessions. And then the second thing I noticed was the three of them, these three folks that were in the class, had picked up everything I was teaching way quicker than usual people. I realized later that those three in particular picked up everything so quickly because they all already had great communications skills one-on-one in the workplace.There are very, very few skills you can learn for the workplace that are more important than communication and presentation skills. Today I'm gonna cover just five ways those skills can help you in the workplace in ways you may not have thought of. (And also one way that they can help you land the job in the first place)Show Notes: The Importance of Presentation Skills in the Workplace (https://www.fearlesspresentations.com/the-importance-of-presentation-skills-in-the-workplace/)

Today I'm going to show you use the way that you speak to become a better leader because if you want to strengthen your presence and really motivate your team to a higher performance. One of the fastest ways to do that is to be able to deliver inspiring speeches that energize, engage, and really align with your team. So in this session I'm going to teach you how to turn your standard business update into an inspirational speech that leaves a more lasting impact. Even though people like keynote speakers or motivational speakers probably are the ones that come to mind for having to speak inspirationally. Every manager, leader, or even team member can really benefit from the strategies that those types of speakers use.Let's learn a few of those techniques and strategies motivational speakers use to really connect with their audience more effectively. Show Notes: Deliver Inspiring Speeches at Work(https://www.fearlesspresentations.com/deliver-inspiring-speeches-work/)

Today I'll give you 7 compelling reason why you should focus more on improving your presentation skills. And, I know that I'm preaching to the choir because you're listening to the podcast.However, most people who subscribe to Fearless presentations typically subscribe to solve a single issue. Perhaps they have a big speech coming up and they want to feel more comfortable.Then, once that person feels like they conquered that challenge, they may stop listening. I get it. There are only so many hours in a day. We have to prioritize.Well, that's why we created this episode. Once you understand how developing this one specific skill can open up doors to success and additional income, it will likely move developing this skill up on the priority list.Folks who go through our public speaking classes will often reach back out to us six months or a year after attending telling how they got promoted or their company's growth exploded shortly after taking the class.What we cover in this episode will explain why that happens and why it is so common.Show Notes: The 7 Best Reasons to Focus on Presentation Skills Training(https://www.fearlesspresentations.com/top-5-reasons-to-improve-your-presentation-skills/)

On this episode, I'm going to share with you the most popular tool that we ever published on the Fearless Presentations website. And it's funny because, in the 300+ episodes of the show, I don't think I've mentioned this tool more than a couple of times -- and it's always in passing.So, I apologize for that. But with all of the new AI tools like ChatGPT and Grok, I think it's time to tell you a little about one of the best tools designing a presentation in minutes versus hours or days.It's called the Online Speech Creator, and it is by far, the most popular page on the website. Tens of thousands of people from around the world use it each day to help them organize their thoughts and create a compelling presentations. On today's episode, I'm going to walk you through it.Show Notes: Online Speech Creator(https://www.fearlesspresentations.com/online-speech-creator/)

As presenters, we often focus on how we look, what visual aids we will use, and how we sound to the audience. But Sight and sound are just two of the senses. On today's episode, I'm going to show you how you can add a few simple things to your presentation to enhance the additional senses of touch, smell, and even taste.Now, obviously, if you are presenting the financial report to the board of directors, you can probably just move onto the next episode. But, if you are wanting to create a memorable experience for your audience, been seen a different from other presenters, or if you are trying to win your audience to our way of thinking, some of these ideas can be a great way to set yourself apart.The goal is to engage the audience in a way that most boring presenters don't. If you want to be seen as a capable presenter, you'll want to do things a little different. And many of these ideas are small and memorable. And they also allow your audience to participate in the presentation.Show Notes: Use Audience Participation to Engage All the Senses(https://www.fearlesspresentations.com/audience-participation-in-business-presentations-inspires-the-senses/)

Even great content can fall flat if it's delivered poorly. One awkward phrase, one outdated cliché, or one moment of uncertainty can derail your entire presentation. That's why knowing what to avoid in a speech is just as important as knowing what to include.You might have years of experience or the perfect PowerPoint presentation, but if you open with a weak phrase, or worse, a cringe-worthy one, you risk losing your audience's attention before your message even begins.In this episode, we'll go through the phrases to avoid in a speech, why they're harmful, and how to replace them with stronger, more effective alternatives. Whether you're presenting to a small group, a packed auditorium, or a few coworkers in a meeting room, this guide will help you become a more effective speaker. Show Notes: 13 Phrases to Avoid in Your Speech at All Costshttps://www.fearlesspresentations.com/6-phrases-you-should-avoid-in-your-next-speech-at-all-costs/

I taught a public speaking class in Houston last week for a great group of people. We had an absolute blast. But the class was a little smaller than normal. And it got me thinking about a topic that I covered a couple of years ago, but we haven't really delved into a lot -- public speaking coaching.If you'd listened to a few episodes, you'll know that I am a big fan of public speaking classes because classes allow participants to practice speaking in a controlled environment. They are a safer way to experiment and try different techniques out. And, since everyone in a public speaking class is working toward the same goal, they are typically very supportive.But what about public speaking coaching? Especially, one-on-one coaching. Is that really effective? So, on this episode, I give you the pros and cons of public speaking coaching.Show Notes: The Pros and Cons of Public Speaking Coachinghttps://www.fearlesspresentations.com/public-speaking-training/presentation-coaching/

This week, I'm covering how to master Q&A Sessions in a speech. This is the part of the presentation that most people dread because it is spontaneous and unplanned. And, because it is spontaneous and unplanned, it can be terrifying for new presenters. So on this episode, I'm going to show you how this couple of minutes can be your secret weapon as a presenter (especially if you are trying to sell or persuade your audience.) I also give you five tips to help you master the Q&A session of your speech. The key to performing well in a Question-and-Answer Session during a presentation is to prepare in advance. If you just try to "wing it," and someone stumps you with a tough question, your confidence can shatter. And, since this is the last thing the audience sees, you'll have a tougher time recovering and leaving the audience with a good impression of you.

This week, I'm going to give you a very simple, step-by-step process to help you improve your public speaking skills in just one week. This process is very similar to the one we use in our public speaking classes. And itis designed to help presenters create new habits that lead to better presentations.If you follow the process, you'll only need to put in 10 to 30 minutes of work on each of five workdays. And by the end of the work week, you will have created a pretty good persuasive speech that will be easier to deliver.If you are listening to this episode on an audio podcast like Apple or Spotify, I'd suggest listening to the entire episode once from start to finish. Then, go back to day one and follow the assignment for the first day. Next, pause the episode until day two and resume the episode.If you use this process, the episode will stay on top of your listening schedule so you can come back to it as you put more of the strategies together.Show Notes: How to Improve Your Public Speaking Skills in One Week (or Less)(https://www.fearlesspresentations.com/how-to-improve-your-public-speaking-skills-in-one-week-or-less/)

A couple of weeks ago, I started a series on how to get paid to speak. In week one, we talked about different types of motivational speakers and what a professional speaker is. Then, last week, I covered a few things that you absolutely need to do in order to get clients to pay you as a speaker.This week, I'll show you how to cash in on one of the most lucrative industries on the planet. We'll cover three ways to get clients to pay you to speak. Remember what we covered in the first session a couple of weeks ago -- the expertise that you have is very valuable. If you play your cards right, you can use that expertise to generate additional revenue for you.You can make a fortune speaking for a living by doing these three things.First, solve a difficult problem for your audience.Second, catalog your knowledge and repurpose your content and collect money for it.Finally, you have to position yourself as the “Go To” expert on your topic.We'll cover each of these things in detail on the episode!Show Notes: Get Paid to Speak: How to Make a Fortune Speaking for a Living (https://www.fearlesspresentations.com/how-to-make-a-fortune-speaking-for-a-living/)

Last week I started a series on how to get paid to speak. And if you are a new listener to Fearless Presentations, you might be thinking, "How can I get paid to speak if I'm scared to death to stand up in front of a group?" If that is the case, just go back to some of the earlier episodes for tips on how to reduce nervousness. In this episode and the next couple, I'm going to show you how you can cash in on one of the highest-paid professions in the world.This week, I cover the five things you will need to do to become a professional speaker or a motivational speaker. These five things are not non-negotiables... But they are pretty close.The first couple of tips are about your presentation skills. A couple of the tips are about your confidence, attitude, and how to become the expert in the room. And one of the tips is a way to increase your income on each gig. In fact, in some cases, you may give the speech away to generate income in a totally different way.Show Notes: How to Get Paid to Speak (https://www.fearlesspresentations.com/want-a-career-as-a-public-speaker-ways-to-build-public-speaking-credentials/)

Public speaking is one of (if not THE) highest-paid professions in the world.In this episode, I'll dispel the myth about what a professional speaker is. Basically, a professional speaker is just a person whom someone has paid to give a presentation. So, elementary school teachers are professional speakers. So are trial attorneys. So are salespeople, Realtors, and combat officers who give mission briefings.Each of these types of presenters delivers information in presentations or briefings that their audiences need in order to solve a problem. However, almost all of them give away this important information for free. So, in this series, I'll show you how you can generate an additional stream of income by speaking about your expertise.Next week, by the way, I'll give you a step-by-step process to help you refine your presentation to build up your credibility in the marketplace. Then, in future episodes, I'll show you how to market yourself as a speaker.By the way, if you are enjoying the episodes, I need a favor from you, please. Make sure to subscribe to the podcast and leave me a review wherever you download the podcast. Your subscriptions, downloads, and reviews help us keep the show's content free because they allow us to reach a bigger audience.Show Notes: How to Be a Motivational Speaker and Get Paid to Speak (https://www.fearlesspresentations.com/want-a-career-as-a-public-speaker-ways-to-build-public-speaking-credentials/)

This week, I explain the difference between the different formats of public speaking training in 2025. Communication has changed a lot in the last decade, and you now have every piece of information ever printed in the world at your fingertips. AI can now write speeches for you.With all this technology and information available, what is the absolute best way in 2025 to reduce public speaking fear? Is there an easier way to conquer this fear now than in the past? Well, maybe.You can listen to podcasts like this one, gain insights from online presentation classes, watch videos on YouTube or Rumble, get a public speaking coach, or even attend a public speaking class.In this episode, I explain the differences between all of these formats and let you know what you can expect from each. By the way, all of these formats can help. But some will give you a much better return on your time and effort.Full Show Notes: The Best Types of Public Speaking Training in 2025.(https://www.fearlesspresentations.com/public-speaking-training/)

In his episode, we're going to talk about filler words and how to reduce the negative fillers that can be annoying. Fillers come in a few different formats. Some are just sounds. These fillers are the ones that, when we do them, we tend to get more nervous because we think the audience is judging us.These are the ers, the uhms, the youknows, etc. How to stop saying Um is one of the most common public speaking concerns. Um is a filler word. And filler words are a natural part of everyday conversation. A surprising fact, though, is that you'll actually sound strange (or even fake) to your audience if you don't use any filler words.However, there is a negative impact of using too many of these vocal fillers. If um, you say um, too many um, ums in your speech, the repeated use over and over will become a distraction. This excessive use of these filler words has the potential to detract from your message.A funny example of this was in the movie, We're the Millers. Scottie P., the young girl's date, keeps using the phrase, “You know what I'm sayin'” over and over. And, Jason Sudeikis' character calls attention to each of these verbal crutches in a very funny way.The good news about Scottie P. is that what makes this scene really funny is that most people don't use these filler phrases in everyday conversation. They show up more often when we are speaking in front of a group or delivering a formal presentation. If you understand why that happens, you can fix this bad habit very easily.The best speakers in the world have trained themselves, over time, to minimize their use of fillers. (Notice that I said minimize, not eliminate.) Excessive use of um and other filler noises can frustrate the audience and make the speaker less credible. With a bit of practice, though, you can use fewer filler words as well.Full Show Notes at How to Stop Saying Um When Presenting(https://www.fearlesspresentations.com/how-to-stop-saying-um-when-presenting/)

On this episode, I cover seven easy ways for ESL presenters (presenters who present in English but English is their second language) to reduce nervousness. If English is your first language, don't worry, because most of the tips will help you as well. In fact, the first four of the seven tips are things that anyone can use to reduce public speaking fear.The remaining three tips are ones that are specific to ESL presenters (or presenters who are delivering presentations to international audiences.) One of the major benefits of reducing public speaking fear if English is not your first language is that your accent will, theoretically, be less pronounced as your nervousness goes down. In the episode, I explain why this happens and how to make it happen if you find that audiences have a tough time understanding you when you present.Full show notes are at We Help ESL Presenters Give Confident Presentations in English(https://www.fearlesspresentations.com/a-step-by-step-way-to-help-esl-presenters-give-confident-presentations-in-english/)

In his episode, I'm getting back to our roots -- so to speak. The topic is How to Overcome Stage Fright. In the past, we've covered different forms of this performance anxiety, like Imposter Syndrome, and I've covered how to reduce public speaking fear on a number of episodes. Stage fright is slightly different, though. It can come from public speaking fear or other types of stage performances like singing, playing music, acting, or performing in sporting events.While doing the research for this episode, I made an interesting discovery that I'll reveal to you at the end of the show. Here's a hint, though, if you try to take a shortcut to overcoming this fear, you might make your stage fright worse.Enjoy the three easy steps to eliminating stage fright. And if you enjoy the show, make sure to subscribe to the podcast and leave me a review on your podcast app. Full Shownotes: How to Overcome Stage Fright(https://www.fearlesspresentations.com/how-to-overcome-stage-fright-in-three-easy-steps/)

If you are scanning the internet for PowerPoint tips, it's most likely because something has happened recently that wasn't ideal. Perhaps you stood up in front of a group and forgot what you were going to say. Or, maybe, you got tongue-tied during the delivery. Or worse, your audience looked sleepy-eyed or even walked out of the room while you were speaking.These are all symptoms of related to a few of the biggest PowerPoint mistakes that almost every presenter makes at some time in their speaking career.But if you avoid these mishaps, you'll make a better connection with your audience. In fact, even if you don't consider yourself a great speaker, if you just eliminate these mistakes from your preparation, you'll deliver better presentations than 90% of business presenters out there.Shownotes: PowerPoint Tips-The 10 Biggest PowerPoint Mistakes and How to Fix Them(https://www.fearlesspresentations.com/power-point-tips/)

This is lesson number 12 of our 12-lesson series on how to win group sales presentations. One of the myths that we tackled in one of the earlier episodes was that the PowerPoint slideshow itself is the shortlist presentation. That one mistake can cause teams to lose the high-level sales presentation more than any other mistake. What we started with last week was a different concept. I began to show you how to create the verbal presentation first. This means that you want to figure out what you want to say first and then create your slideshow last.So, on today's episode, I'm going to show you how to turn that presentation outline that we created a couple of weeks ago into a fantastic and appealing presentation. We are going to do that with what I call our Impact Ideas. Counting the Case Studies that we really expanded upon weeks ago, there are a total of five Impact Ideas. These items will really make your shortlist presentation come to life and make you and the content that you cover more memorable.Then, finally, we'll show you how to create your visual aids -- which may or may not end up being a PowerPoint slideshow.Also, in the last couple of minutes of this session, I'll give you a few of my final thoughts. I know that we've covered 12 different steps in this process. And at this point, you may be thinking, "This sounds very complicated." The exact opposite is true, though. This process will save you so much time. It will also drop the stress level of your presenters a lot. The first time going through the whole process, it can be time-consuming. You have to get each presenter really good at determining what the absolute-most-critical, most-important things are to the audience. You also have to get your entire team to get really, really good at telling captivating success stories.But once you get your team skilled in these areas, the actual designing of a new shortlist presentation is very, very fast. For instance, I've been able to get experienced teams (meaning teams that have already done at least one shortlist presentation with me before) ready to present in a single three-hour morning.The process is very fast once you get the basics down. And hopefully, by the end of this episode, you'll be able to see that very easily.

This is lesson number 11 of our 12-lesson series on how to win group sales presentations. So far, we've covered a lot of the foundational concepts of group selling skills and ways to get buying committees to buy from your team after you get shortlisted. Just as a 30,000-foot recap, we started by covering many of the myths about shortlist presentations. One of those myths is that the slideshow is the presentation so you should start by designing your shortlist slideshow. That one mistake can cause teams to lose the high-level sales presentation more than any other mistake.Instead, you want to design the presentation -- design what your team will say -- first. Then, after you have a clear presentation designed, create your slideshow to enhance what is being said in the presentation.We also covered the power of case studies and success stories in a shortlist presentation. The best evidence that you can help this buying committee is past experience on similar projects. When you get really good add adding specific case studies as evidence that you can help this committee, they will trust your team more. These success stories also build rapport with the audience and reduce the nervousness of your presentation team. We also covered how important it is to research the buying committee. The more you know about what they want, the easier it is to design a targeted shortlist presentation. Then, finally, last week, we covered how to create a succinct presentation outline. This is your blueprint for a successful shortlist presentation.Now that we have a great presentation outline, in this episode, we're going to help you help your SMEs (your Subject Matter Experts) design their component parts of the presentation. In this process, you have to be a great coach. You have to help them design a very concise presentation-within-the-presentation. And the backbone of each of those mini-presentation will be... wait for it... Fantastic case studies.So, we are going to help your presentation team members create a mini-presentation within the big presentation. And we'll follow the same strategy that we used last week to help them create a compelling speech-within-a-speech, so to speak.We'll also show you how to help them turn that outline -- that blueprint -- into a compelling presentation by adding in case studies.Then, next week, in the final episode, we'll show you how to help them jazz up the entire presentation with what we call our "Impact Ideas." These are ways to enhance the presentation to an even higher level.I know that, counting these last two lessons, we will have covered 12 different steps in this process. And, at this point, you may be thinking, "This sounds very complicated." The exact opposite is true, though. This process will save you so much time. It will also drop the stress level of your presenters a lot. The first time going through the whole process, it can be time-consuming. You have to get each presenter really good at determining what the absolute-most-critical, most-important things are to the audience. You also have to get your entire team to get really, really good at telling captivating success stories.But once you get your team skilled in these areas, the actual designing of a new shortlist presentation is very, very fast. For instance, I've been able to get experienced teams (meaning teams that have already done at least one shortlist presentation with me before) ready to present in a single three-hour morning.The process is very fast once you get the basics down. And hopefully, by the end of this episode, you'll be able to see that very easily.

This is episode 10 of our 12-episode series on how to win group sales presentations. So far in the first 9 episodes, we've covered a lot of the foundational concepts of group selling skills. And we've spent a lot of time on how valuable case studies or success stories are in winning a committee over to hiring your team. In the last episode, I showed you how to pick the best presentation team. Then, we covered how to research the buying committee so that we can create a presentation based on specifically what they want us to cover. If you haven't listened to the last episode, make sure to do that before you listen to this one and what we cover next week.In these two episodes, we are going to pull together all of the foundation information from the first nine episodes and show you how to design a compelling shortlist presentation. This process will likely be totally different from the way you have designed these presentations in the past. This week, I'm going to help you design a comprehensive presentation outline. Then, next week, I'll show you how to coach and help your presentation team design each component part of the speech so that everything they create is focused on the overall presentation outline. Basically, we will help you determine what you will say -- first. Then, after you have a fantastic presentation that is compelling and makes the buying committee want to choose you, then -- and only then -- will we create the slideshow. Most presentation teams have their marketing people jump in right away and start by designing the slideshow -- the visual aids. That is the absolute biggest mistake you can ever make when creating a high-level sales presentation. So, today, I'm going to give you a better alternative.We'll cover how to create a great outline -- a roadmap for the presentation. Then, next week, we'll cover how to get your SME (your Subject Matter Experts) to wow the committee with their experience and expertise. Most likely, we will also cover session 12 next week. That will be the final part, where we put the entire process together into a Wow-worthy shortlist presentation.

This is episode eight and nine of our 12-episode series on how to win group sales presentations. So far, we've covered a lot of the foundational concepts of group selling skills. And we've spent a lot of time on how valuable case studies or success stories are in winning a committee over to hiring your team. Today's episode will be split into to parts. First, I'll give you some tips on how to pick your presentation team and how to divvy up roles for each speaker. I'll also cover the absolute biggest mistakes that presentation teams make. Just a hint... The biggest one is putting a qualified SME (subject matter expert) in front of a buying committee without any basic presentation or sales training.Then, in part two, I give you some tips on how to research the buying committee. Next week, we'll cover how to design a custom presentation based on what the committee wants or needs to hear from you. The better research you do beforehand, the better the committee is going to like what you say and how you present. But you can't wing it. You have to do some research.In the last part of this episode, we'll show you how.

This is episode seven of our 12-episode series on how to win group sales presentations. Before the Christmas and New Years break, the last couple of sessions were about inserting case studies into your presentation as evidence that your potential clients can get what they want if they do what you want. I introduced a concept that I call an action/benefit statement. Just as a review, you'd tell a compelling case study. Then, add a call to action at the end. This call-to-action is another one of those breadcrumbs I've talked about in past sessions. You're leading the committee down a path. Finally, you tell the audience how they will benefit if they take this action. For instance, an action/benefit statement might sound like...When you hire our team, you'll have fewer change orders which will lower the overall cost of the project.Or, by having me as your project manager, you'll have fewer delays in the project.Today, I walk you through how to perform well during the Q&A session of the interview. This is the part of the presentation where you can really set yourself apart from the competition in a positive way. The good news is that the backbone of answering a question is to respond with a shortened version of a case study followed by the call to action and benefit that we talked about before the holiday.This response is very, very easy to master. And when you and your shortlist team use this technique, the committee will see you as a team of experts who really know there stuff.

This is episode six of our 12-episode series on how to win group sales presentations. For the last couple of weeks, we talked about how a case study is a story or example of how you've helped other clients solve similar problems to what this client has. And we showed how these stories help you show your experience to the buying committee throughout your presentation. We also showed how these stories capture attention, make your data memorable, build rapport, build credibility, build more of a team atmosphere, and help your presenting team reduce nervousness.So, you want to make the case studies the backbone of your shortlist presentation. Today, I show you how to take one of these case studies and show you how to make short persuasive messages out of them. This technique will be important when we get to the question and answer sessions -- by the way, we'll cover that next week. But this simple addition to the stories allows you to sprinkle calls to action throughout your presentation so that you are throwing breadcrumbs out to the committee. The goal is to get the committee members to follow these persuasive breadcrumbs until they come to the natural conclusion to hire you and your team.

This is 2nd half of episode five of our 12-episode series on how to win shortlist presentations or other types of group sales presentations. Last week, we talked about how a case study is a story or example of how you've helped other clients solve problems similar to those of this client. They are also fantastic ways to make details in your presentation memorable and a great way to build rapport with the selection committee.In fact, the only thing that makes you different from your competition is your experience. So, getting really good at delivering fantastic case studies during your presentation is the most important thing you can do to increase your closing ratio on these high-level sales presentations.In part two of this episode, we'll show you how these case studies help you build credibility with the committee. They also build more of a team atmosphere. And then, finally, I'll show you how these additions to your shortlist presentation or interview presentation are a fantastic way to reduce public speaking fear. Your presentation team is going to be nervous. So, as the leader of the presentation, you want to give your team members ways to feel more comfortable when they are presenting in a high-stakes presentation. Having them tell about past experiences in a story format will help dramatically.

This is episode five of our 12-week series on how to win shortlist presentations or other types of group sales presentations. Last week, we talked about how you can change the way that you introduce each team member when you present so that you edify each other and build their confidence.This week, we're going to cover how to get really, really good at delivering case studies. If you remember back in the very first episode, I talked about how most presentation teams create a bullet point called "our experience." In this session, I show you how to make the entire presentation about your experience. However, this way, you'll show how your team's experience can help the buying committee solve problems.Basically, what we are calling a case study is a story or example of how you've helped other clients solve similar problems to what this client has. They are also fantastic ways to build rapport, build credibility, and make your presentation more memorable. So these stories have a fantastic selling power for you.In fact, the only thing that makes you different from your competition is your experience. So, getting really good at delivering fantastic case studies during your presentation is the most important thing you can do to increase your closing ratio on these high-level sales presentations.

This is episode four of our 12-week series on how to win shortlist presentations or other types of group sales presentations. Last week, I gave you ten things you can do when preparing or delivering these presentations that will help you keep calm and poised. I also talked about how, in shortlist presentations,  it is important to "dig your well before you're thirsty," so to speak. High-level sales presentations have a tremendous amount of pressure, which causes a tremendous amount of nervousness and anxiety. If you throw an unseasoned presenter into a pressure cooker without any help, you can really hurt that presenter (and your team.)But that is one of the biggest mistakes that I see over and over again.This week, we will cover how to do the team introductions. I cover a few ways to introduce your team so that you actually look like a cohesive team. The main thing that is important to understand about shortlist presentations is that they are sales presentations. The technical presenters often forget this. They will want to score points in their introductions by just giving a laundry list of each team member's accomplishments.However, your shortlist presentation should focus on how you can solve problems for the committee. So, your introductions should be focused on how your experience can help the committee.And, if you want to really elevate your presentation, you can have your team members introduce each other. This was a technique that we discovered accidentally. But, once we tried it, we have used it in every single presentation since because it works so well.

This is episode three of our 12-week series on how to win shortlist presentations or other types of group sales presentations. Last week, I briefly overviewed the five biggest secrets I've discovered about these high-level sales presentations. These secrets are the things that have allowed us to win over 80% of the interviews that teams that I have coached have been on. This week, I will give you ten things you can do when you are preparing or delivering these presentations that will help you stay calm and poised. However, early on in this session, I tell a quick story about how important it is to "dig your well before you're thirsty," so to speak. High-level sales presentations have a tremendous amount of pressure, which causes a tremendous amount of nervousness and anxiety. If you throw an unseasoned presenter into a pressure cooker without any help, you can really hurt that presenter (and your team.)So, these ten tips can help reduce tension and nervousness. But you'll get a lot better results if you train your potential presenters well before they are under the heat lamp.