FROM:TODAY
Hosted by Jonny de Mallet Morgan, Chief Vision Officer at leadership and communication consultancy FROM:TODAY, this podcast is where leadership meets inspiration. Join Jonny as he engages with thought leaders, entrepreneurs, and innovators who share their dreams, challenges, and the stories behind their leadership journeys. With a passion for people and business, Jonny uncovers candid insights and experiences to inspire both current and aspiring leaders.
Each conversation serves as a powerful resource for anyone looking to grow, lead, and create meaningful change in their organization.
Mini-Series Feature: The With INTENT: mini-series, led by Chris Wickenden, Chief Creative Officer, offers a weekly dose of inspiration. In 5-minute deconstructions of the latest business and leadership trends, Chris sparks new thinking and encourages practical, constructive action.
FROM:TODAY is a leadership and communication consultancy dedicated to building high-performing teams that thrive on strong communication and a shared purpose. We help organisations create environments where people feel they belong, grow, and deliver their best work. Whether you're tackling talent retention, engagement, or burnout, we work with you to provide the tools and strategies to future-proof your business and elevate your culture. Learn more at www.fromtoday.com.
FROM:TODAY
Public Speaking: Why Tips And Tricks Are Costing Your Influence
With INTENT: our 5 minute deconstructions of the current trends to inspire healthy rethinking and reconstructive action.
by Chris Wickenden, Chief Creative Officer at FROM:TODAY.
We help a lot of people with their public speaking.
Something that comes up all of the time is a desire for tips and tricks - ultimately a short cut to being good.
In this week's episode of With INTENT: Chris reveals why tips and tricks are undermining your influence. Say goodbye to surface-level advice and embrace authentic connection to truly unlock your potential and influence your audience.
[00:00:00] Hi, Chris here from From Today. One of the things that we want to use this platform to do is to address any of the questions that you have and also pick up on certain things which come up for us as we're working out in the field, whether it's coaching, workshops, whatever it is. And something that comes up an awful lot is a desire for tips and tricks when it comes to public speaking.
You know, how do I value my speaking to come across as a confident and engaging speaker? Maybe I want to be like that person or they're really good. How do I do that? And we as a business have always quite actively worked against that because we believe that every opportunity to speak in public is an opportunity to do much more and also to do something far more authentic.
And, I think that the key distinction comes between Delivering a performance on one hand, which would mean that actually tips and tricks come in quite handy. And [00:01:00] building a relationship on the other. And if you're looking to build a relationship, an audience wants you to be completely authentic and present and at ease, just being yourself.
And they also want to know that you're there to serve them and their needs. And if you're looking at applying tips and tricks and you're too focused on your own delivery, it means that you're not having enough space in your head to really focus on your audience. And the only reason that you're asked to speak is not about you and your performance, it's about them and their needs.
And it means that you don't have space to take that into account. And I'll use an example, say for example, we heard. You speak, and we noticed that you were a little bit quiet, you looked quite nervous and stayed frozen behind the lepton, and you said um and uh a lot. So one approach could be for us [00:02:00] to not really get to the roots of why those habits happen, but instead say, hey, let's nip this in the bud.
You need to speak louder, project your voice to the back of the room, really work on that. Every time you want to say um and uh as you're practicing it, replace it with silence, you'll get used to it. And make sure that you work the stage in your presentation. Maybe move here for the first bit, here for the next bit.
And that will allow you to sort of add a bit of dynamism. Now, the problem with that, maybe you fix those things, but the problem with that is that there's a huge amount of energy that is exerted on yourself. You're focusing on you and the opportunity cost of delivering that performance is being present in the room.
Really being able to pick up on the nuance of what's going on, read the audience and their needs. That's a massive opportunity cost and it's the reason that you're there in the first place. And all of the best public [00:03:00] speakers are incredibly generous. And afterwards, you will probably say, yeah, they had a really good voice.
They seemed confident, engaging, and present, all of this stuff. They whipped out a few anecdotes. It kind of felt like they were speaking in the moment, but they would not have been exerting any of their energy focusing on those things. Instead, they'll be trusting the power of their message and serving their audience and trusting that their voice and body will come along for the ride.
And if you think about those situations in your life where you feel Most comfortable, most at ease, you're with people that you care about, you're talking about something you're very passionate about. You don't give any conscious consideration to your voice, your body, how much eye contact you're giving them, the so called soft skills, you don't do that.
Instead, you're focusing on the conversation, [00:04:00] serving them, your reason to speak. And I would say that in those environments, those are the environments that you have your most influence. You're the most influential in those environments. So for those people that are after tips and tricks, I would say that your focus is wrong.
It's much better to do the longer term work. Trust me, you know how to move, you know how to stand up, sit down, look at people, not look at people, use your voice. You've got all of that stuff in abundance. How do you unlock it? How do you get into that state of flow? in that public speaking environment. And what's most important is to strengthen that audience focus reason to speak.
So often people don't have that. And on the other side of things, factor in some time to relax into the environment. How can you find a way to feel more relaxed, more at ease and more present before you speak? So that you can effectively forget you and focus on your audience. So I'll [00:05:00] leave you with five key things to keep in mind before your next speaking gig.
Number one, you are enough. Number two, it's not about you. It's about them. Number three, you have to care more about your reason to speak. Number four, no, why have to be really clear about what you're looking to achieve with your audience. And number five, it's just a conversation. Go and have it. Take the pressure off.
So we would love to hear your thoughts on this. As always, uh, you can contact me on LinkedIn, LinkedIn. Or chris at from today. com. Thank you. I look forward to hearing from you.
