Practicing Delivery Techniques

Public speaking comes up a lot in my conversations - so I wrote down the tips that have helped me the most. Some of what I know came from being a Radio-TV major and Psych minor. Most of it came from standing at the front of many rooms as early as elementary school, watching audiences closely, and learning the hard way what works. ⚡️ Practice like it matters (because it does). You have to practice the material - you can’t just wing it, champ. Write the talking points and actually practice saying them out loud, so your edits improve the flow of what you have to say. I’ll practice 10–15 times depending on the content, the stakes and the variables. Tip: Learn how much practice you need to feel confident at the podium. ⚡️ Read and respond to the room. 50% of the speaking success equation is listening and responding to what you observe, as you speak. Notice when people lean in - or begin to drift. Observe body language. Remember that a lost room can usually be brought back. Tip: Deliver the content AND stay in lock step with your audience. ⚡️ Be ready to pivot. Know your material so thoroughly that you’re well positioned to let parts of it go for the sake of (1) getting to the point, (2) keeping your audience engaged and/or (3) mindfully managing time. Tip: Being pivot-ready means you won’t stumble if/when the moment calls for a change of plan. ⚡️ Find your rhythm. Because I once dreamed of delivering the news, I studied broadcasters like Wendy Chioji, Pam Oliver, Tom Brokaw, Oprah, etc. All unique in their styles - their pauses, points of emphasis, and presence. The speakers we love to listen to have a cadence that feels natural and true. Tip: Borrow techniques from speakers you admire, while keeping your voice authentic to you. ⚡️ Know your point - and get to it. Audiences decide quickly whether to tune in or tune out. And transparently, many of us are desperate for reasons to tune in. Be clear and unwavering in emphasizing your key takeaways. Tip: Don’t bury the lead. Use your time to tell a story that actually lands. <> When you’ve done your homework - and the moment arrives to speak - take a deep breath. 😮💨 Remember that you have a voice worth listening to and that your voice belongs in the room. If you have a tip that’s served you well, would love to hear them in the comments!

If you’re pitching your #startup, there’s a sure-fire way to improve both your slides and your delivery. I call it a “stream of consciousness review,” and I’ve used it to do pitch coaching for years. Here’s how it works: ¶ You’ll need one or two reviewers who are not familiar with your pitch. They should have general business experience, but no special subject matter expertise is required. ¶ If you have two reviewers, you first have a content-only review, then fix what that uncovers, then have a second review focused mostly on delivery. With only one reviewer you skip the content-only review and do one that covers both. ¶ For content-only, send your deck to the reviewer and let them work asynchronously. They go through the slides one at a time, in linear order, writing down their first impression as each slide appears. For example: i) “this slide is busy, don’t know where to look,” ii) “what is acronym XYZ? hope it will be explained later,” iii) “am wondering at this stage what the business model is,” iv) “market size seems really high, I’m skeptical,” or v) one of my favorites, “why is this slide here?!?!” There can also be positive observations, like vi) “ok now I see what the business model is!” Recording the first impression as it’s experienced is key. There will be things that are unclear at slide 5 and that get clarified by slide 15 - if you only get feedback at the end you won’t know about those. They’re important though: they affect how the audience receives your story and how they feel about you as a founder. You want to keep your audience on the correct path at every step, not let them wander off then draw them back. ¶ For delivery+content, you present live to the reviewer. The reviewer interrupts - frequently - to state what s/he is seeing, hearing, thinking and feeling. For example: “i) you lost me at the first sentence. after that I wasn’t paying attention bc I was trying to figure out what you meant,” ii) “why mention X? not relevant to your case” iii) “what you just said is important, it needs its own slide,”Two more that I use all the time are iv) “say that again in half as many words!” and v) “that’s too abstract, what’s a concrete example?” In this live session, you, the presenter, are the one who takes notes. The reviewer needs to be completely in the moment. You can also have one of your team members join to take notes. Be aware, though, the reviewer is going to destroy your presentation, so you have to be ok with a team member seeing that. I find it takes about 4x the presentation length to get through this - for a 30 minute presentation you will need two hours. Even then you may not get to the last slide, but you will be able to extrapolate from the feedback and finish the rest yourself. When done right the session is exhausting for both the reviewer and the presenter. It’s worth it though - you’ll be amazed how well it smooths the rough edges off your pitch!

I used to believe preparation led to confidence. If I wrote everything down and polished every sentence, I’d be ready. Then I stepped on stage and realized something was missing. People spend hours perfecting their words but overlook the most important part—how they deliver them. They fall into three common traps: • Writing a speech for the page instead of for the stage. • Rehearsing in their heads but never saying it out loud telling themself they don’t want to sound “overly rehearsed”.   • Walking into the moment cold, without warming up. The message may be clear, but if the delivery feels distant, it won’t land the way it could. Preparation isn’t complete by just knowing what to say. It’s about stepping into the moment ready to engage deeply with the audience, practicing out loud, and finding a natural rhythm that connects with people. That’s why I am rehearsing and rehearsing for my keynotes these days. Over and over! My intention is to show not explain my ideas. Small shifts in tone, pacing, or presence can transform how a message is received. When speakers focus on connection instead of perfection, people don’t just hear the words—they remember the experience. #PublicSpeaking #Keynote #Coaching #Mentoring #Training

As an Actor and now a Public Speaking Coach, I’ve discovered that unforgettable communicators share one thing in common: They train like Performers. That’s exactly what we talked about this week during my Masterclass, where I taught the Triple P Performer's Method. It's my signature style to help leaders go from unsure to unforgettable. Here’s a behind-the-scenes look at what we talked about: P1: PRECISION Clear, confident speech that keeps people listening. We focused on how to bring clarity, purpose, and vocal variety — especially if English isn’t your first language. P2: PRESENCE You own the room before you say a word. Using posture, breath, and grounded energy, we practiced commanding attention with your body language alone. P3: PERSUASION This is where the magic happens. Emotional storytelling, authentic delivery, and real audience connection: because people don’t buy your idea unless they feel it. Whether you’re pitching investors, leading teams, or preparing for a high-stakes keynote, these skills matter. And they matter a lot. Especially when decisions are made in the first 30 seconds. Stop feeling unsure. Start controlling your communication. And become unforgettable! #Leadership #CEOCommunication #PitchTraining

I've taught thousands of people HOW TO SPEAK WITHOUT NOTES. Here's the STEP-BY-STEP method: If you’ve ever frozen mid-speech because you forgot your next line, you’ll love this. The Accordion Method helps you internalize your talk so you can deliver it naturally: no scripts, no panic. Here’s how to do it: Step 1 – Find Your Core Message 1️⃣ Start with full time – e.g., 5 minutes. Deliver your entire talk with all the details and examples. 2️⃣ Halve the time – 2.5 minutes. Keep only the most essential points. 3️⃣ Halve again – 1 minute. Focus on key messages and their strongest supports. 4️⃣ Compress to 30 seconds – Distill it down to your North Star: the absolute core message. Step 2 – Expand Like an Accordion 1️⃣ Start from your 30-second version – just the essence. 2️⃣ Expand to 1 minute – add only the most vital supporting details. 3️⃣ Expand to 2 minutes – bring in key stories, examples, and evidence. 4️⃣ Return to 5 minutes – now add richness and color, but only what supports your core. Key Reminders ‼️ 1. Set a timer before each run. 2. Speak out loud. No need to think through ahead of time. 3. Never stop mid-rep, even if you stumble; keep going. 4. Stick to time limits to force clarity and focus. ✅ By the end of your practice, you’ll be able to deliver your content in a way that feels deeply natural and intuitive. You'll look spontaneous but feel prepared. No notes required 😅 🎥 Want to see a video example? I’ll send you a video of me coaching a speaker through every step of the method. Comment 'Example' and I’ll DM it to you!

Two things I do to get over nerves of a big presentation or a talk (like my first TEDx coming up) is to rehearse with photos of a crowd in front of me and to power through the entire presentation no matter what distractions happen. Before I had this little multi-monitor set up, I’d actually print photos of crowds and pin them up. There’s a strange but pretty realistic thing that happens when you do this. Like exposure therapy, this brings up very real emotions of what it actually feels like on stage. I’ve learned that I need a mix of photos: ✅ Central image of a crowd being a normal crowd right before you get started. It makes me take stock of the moment right before I start and my energy in the first 30 seconds. This makes or breaks whether people will engage with you. ✅ A side image of an engaged crowd. When I feel like I’m in rhythm, my eyes tend to go to this one more to simulate flow. ✅ A side image of a bored crowd. This one I glance at for two occasions. If I’m feeling lost or nervous, I’ll look at this image to practice getting back on track and back to the engaged audience. Or, if I’m still in a state of flow, I’ll practice NOT getting thrown off by people who appear disengaged. The second thing I do to improve my practice is that I complete my run through no matter what. 🟢 Kids knocking on my office door 🟢 Text message or phone going off 🟢 Dog barking at the Amazon delivery In every real presentation I’ve done, there is ALWAYS some unplanned distraction that comes up. You have to practice getting back on rhythm when sounds and movement distract you. A bonus tip: record yourself and then watch it back as if you were an audience member. Adopt the mindset of someone sitting in the audience and cue up their “What’s In It For Me?” moment. ➡️ I hope this is good ➡️ I need inspiration for ______ ➡️ The last speaker was great/not so great ➡️ A “dementia advocate” is speaking about the future and innovation? Why? The audience isn’t there for you. They are there for them (even when they’re there for you). Serve them. Speakers, what advice would you add for the week prior to your big engagement? Assuming you’ve got the rehearsal of content down, what’s your next focus and why? 👇🏼

The first time you say it out loud should never be in front of the customer. I see this all the time — smart, talented people with amazing ideas… who wing it when it matters most. Because in their head, it sounds perfect. But when they finally say it? It’s unclear. And thinking through what you’ll say is not the same as saying it. Here’s what you can do: Start by practicing out loud. ✔️ Use a mirror — full length, bathroom, whatever works. Because body language communicates 55% of your message. Watch yourself. Notice your posture, gestures, and tone. Then graduate to live practice. ✔️ Ask a colleague to be your audience. ✔️ Or record yourself — it’s awkward, but incredibly revealing. You’ll be amazed at what you learn. 👩💼 Manager Tip: Volunteer to demonstrate before your team presents to a customer. It’s a powerful role-modeling and a great coaching tool. 👩💻 Individual Contributor Tip: Ask your manager to listen and give feedback before the real call. It builds confidence and credibility. 💡 The takeaway: The first time you say it out loud is practice. The second time is polish. The third time? That’s when you own the room. ___ 📣 If your team struggles to communicate with clarity and confidence — I help leaders and sales teams master high-impact conversations through practical coaching. 👉 Comment “COMMUNICATE” or DM me “practice” and I’ll send you my framework for turning rehearsals into confident delivery.

The way most people rehearse makes stage fright WORSE. Here are three keys to getting it right. I talk a lot about how a great talk requires a ton of practice. But the way most beginner communicators practice delivery actually makes stage fright and anxiety worse...and delivery more clunky. 👇 Here are the three most common mistakes: ❌ 1️⃣ Attempting to make every single sentence sound perfect. → This will keep you ALL up in your head the entire time. → You'll be so distracted by trying not to mess up... that you will consistently mess up. → Vicious cycle. ❌ 2️⃣ Trying to remember every single granular sub-point. → Your audience doesn't know your outline. They won’t notice if you forget something. → If you feel like you need to nail every tiny detail, you’ll put so much pressure on yourself that you'll crumble. ❌ 3️⃣ Fixating on all the reasons people might not like you. → I've never met a beginner communicator who felt completely qualified. → We all get up there worried about the people who might agree with our secret fear that we don't deserve to be there. → But if your mind is on the haters, you'll feel even less confident and more insecure. ❌ This is a recipe for a massive bowl of stage fright. Deep breath. The more you practice with those three negative factors in place... the worse your delivery can get. What's the antidote? 👇 These three keys: ✅ 1️⃣ Give yourself permission to mess up. → If your content is great, your audience won't care. → Usually, they won’t even notice. → Remove the pressure to be perfect, and you'll end up making fewer mistakes anyway! ✅ 2️⃣ Imagine you’re talking to your biggest fan. → This will produce natural confidence... and win you more fans. → If you show up like you're talking to people who already like you, you'll be your most natural self without the pressure to pretend. → Which (unsurprisingly) will make people like you even more. ✅ 3️⃣ Focus on the big ideas, not the tiny details. → Practice by focusing on your big ideas, saying them in whatever way feels natural and intuitive. → Yes, use the basic metaphors, analogies, and stories you've created to support your points. → But just talk about them like you're chatting with a friend over coffee. Deep breath again. ✅ If you lean into these three things, your rehearsal will actually make you better. When your rehearsal starts feeling good, you're on the right track. That's the time to lean in, get the reps in, and build the muscle memory. You've got this!

A huge mistake I made as a beginner speaker: (This was a total waste of confidence) I focused too much on what to say and too little on how to connect. So, I created this dead-simple 3-step checklist to speak with confidence in less than 10 minutes, without rehearsing for hours or doubting yourself: 𝟭. 𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗽 𝗮𝘄𝗮𝘆 𝗯𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗽 𝗼𝗻 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗴𝗲 The legendary Brené Brown taught me this lesson. Your talk will always feel ready right after you finish writing it, because you just poured your heart into it! So you need to give it time to breathe. Coming back the next day, we have 2 goals: ✔️ Edit your talk for emotional clarity ✔️ Refine your tone for authenticity But instead of obsessing over every line (or avoiding practice altogether), we’re going to do it in 10 minutes or less. 𝟮. 𝗦𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗸 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗽𝘁 𝗮𝗹𝗼𝘂𝗱 This is the secret to great speaking, it doesn’t sound like a speech. When you say your script out loud, you’ll instantly catch what feels unnatural or forced. And if it’s hard to say, it’s hard for your audience to feel. Which is why the best advice I’ve ever heard is: Write for the ear, not for the eye. 𝟯. 𝗥𝗲𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗮 𝗱𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘀𝗽𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗿𝗼𝘁𝗲 This is the ultimate delivery hack and something most speakers overlook. Most people write and practice in the same quiet corner, never realizing that energy doesn’t travel the same way on stage. But rehearsing in a new space does 2 things: ✔️ Brings your physical presence alive ✔️ Helps you anticipate how your energy lands This is important. On stage, people don’t just listen. They sense. Then, they decide if they trust you. And if your presence doesn’t project ease and connection, they’ll tune out, no matter how good your content is. Back to their phones they go. So here are 4 little delivery hacks: ✔️ Use pauses to let your message land. ✔️ Smile before your first word, it resets your nervous system. ✔️ Stand still for your key message. ✔️ Rehearse the emotion, not the script. Now your talk feels human and powerful. All of this should take 10 minutes (or less). From there, you’re ready to speak, even if you don’t feel ready. 😊

🚀 One of my favorite presentation exercises is what I call "turning it up to 11." When practicing for a presentation, think about whatever quality you most want to convey, and do a practice run where you turn that quality up...wayyyy up. 🎤 Yesterday, I co-led a meeting for a group of early stage, high growth consultants and we did a brag session instead of typical intros. No surprise, a lot of folks felt uncomfortable bragging about themselves, so I suggested this version of the exercise: practice their next intro / pitch like a Dallas Cowboys cheerleader. Channeling extreme cheerleader energy behind the scenes can help you move the dial one degree further into confidence when you are next pitching or even just introducing yourself. It works in other ways too. For example, I was working with a founder who had extraordinary confidence in his plan, but some software challenges with his presentation had his delivery coming across as a bit unsure. I suggested he practice SHOUTING his presentation as if he were a general giving commands to an unruly army. 🗣️ Speaking is a physical act, and presentations have a lot to do with muscle memory. Practicing in an extreme tone can help your body remember what it's like to flex those muscles a bit and help you tweak your performance when it comes time for the real deal. 💪🏻 Next time you're gearing up for a presentation, try turning it up to 11 and see how it transforms your delivery! 🌟 #PublicSpeaking #PresentationSkills #ConfidenceBuilding #Consulting #GrowthMindset