Are you hiding, or not speaking up, because you’re concerned people might disagree with you?

Well, chances are, someone will! After all, if they already agreed with you, you wouldn’t need to say what you have to say, right?

So in this episode I’m sharing some techniques to manage disagreements and conflict.

Listen in to hear:

• Why disagreements are not as bad as you think

• How conflict is NOT tied to your professional value, though, how you manage it could very well increase your professional reputation

• How to pace out objections to dissipate conflict before it happens

• How to use agreements frames to manage and acknowledge differing opinions as they arise

• Why getting comfortable with conflict is a really powerful skill to have if you want to influence change

Book NOW for the Goldilocks effect.

Ask me a question here and I’ll answer in an upcoming episode.

Listen to episode 97 - Building the confidence to NOT be liked, a fabulous interview with Kate Toon.

Ever feel like you’re tired of the sound of your own voice? Or the sound of your message? But you’re still not making the impact you want?

Yep, I get it.

Influence and making a difference is an endurance sport, so in this episode I’m sharing my top 3 ways to have making long term impact feel easier.

Listen in to hear:

• How you can plan out your long term influence using the same techniques you might use for a presentation

• How I influenced elected officials and other stakeholders through the smallest of conversations

• Why connecting your personal elevator pitch and ‘what you do’ stories to your long term impact outcomes can be a powerful way to weave your message in everything you do

• How to shift from feeling like your nagging your teenagers to being powerful and impactful in your messaging

• Why patience and self-compassion is required, in spades, to make long term impact

Book NOW for the Goldilocks effect.

Ask me a question here and I’ll answer in an upcoming episode.

Episode 140 - How to showcase your talents (and make long term influence) with the storytelling canvas.

How do you recover a presentation where your slides don’t work, you’re not feeling great, and when you see audience members sleeping during your presentation?

Well, that’s exactly the scenario Lauren experienced recently, and so I’m providing some guidance and answers to help her feel a little better about the whole thing … and what to do if it ever happens again.

Listen in to hear:

• How to hack your preparation if you’ve been unwell or just don’t have time to prepare

• My hot tips for slides that work that I’ve learned the hard way after years and years of tech hiccups

• How to wake up sleepy audience members - really - without sounding like a cranky school teacher

• Engagement techniques to beat the post-lunch, post-conference-drinks slump

Book NOW for the Goldilocks effect.

Ask me a question and I’ll answer in an upcoming episode.

Other episodes mentioned

Episode 164 - How to Engage Your Audience

And

Episode 74 - the powerful frame your thinking method (how to write your speaking notes)

In honour of World Smile Day today I want to share the simplest, and most under-rated way to boost your confidence …

Yes, SMILING

Before you think, ‘oh, that’s ridiculous, if it were that simple … ‘

Consider this a little gift to you to make you smile today.

Listen in to hear:

• Why smiling really does make you feel more confident

• My little experiment, that you can do while listening to prove the power of smiling

• The backstory of world smile day, and how it’s a thing

• Why sometimes, it’s the simple things (like smiling) that are often the best ;)

Register NOW for my Goldilocks Effect workshop.

Other episodes mentioned:

Episode 158 - How to ground yourself before a gig.

Episode 11 - How to calm your nerves, once and for all.

Ask me a question, and I’ll answer it in an upcoming episode. Send me a DM on Instagram.

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.

I was recently asked this question:

“How to engage the audience? I love watching speakers who engage the crowd but don't put people on the spot?’

Putting people on the spot is NOT an engagement technique and it can often have negative impacts on the audience.

So, in this week’s episode I’m sharing my top tips for engaging your audience without singling people out, or putting them on the spot.

Listen in to hear:

• How to build rapport and engagement in your opening statements

• My technique for asking questions that your audience WANTS to respond to

• Important body language and hand gestures that invite responses (for both stage and online conversations)

• How to phrase your questions to elicit audience responses

• How to build engagement momentum

Curious about my Impact Club, the collective for humble leaders? See if it’s for you, here.

Have a question you’d like to ask me? Chat with me here on Instagram.

That episode about your opening 2 questions? Episode 163 - How to make my audience relax (it’s the episode immediately before this one!)