Transforming Fear into Confidence: Montana Von Fliss on Effective Public Speaking

In this episode of Pivot to Joy, host Dele Downs Kooley sits down with her coaching client Montana von Fliss, public speaking coach, actor, and TEDx Bellevue Women speaker. Montana shares her journey from a lifelong love of acting and teaching to speaker coach, ultimately stepping onto the TEDx stage herself. Together, Dele and Montana explore the universal struggle with confidence, the science behind nerves, actionable tools for managing self-doubt, and what it truly means to move from fear to confid... 
 
Tune in now! 
 
Timestamps: 
[00:01:04] Introduction to Montana von Fliss and her background as an actor and coach 
[00:03:52] Montana’s journey from coaching to speaking at TEDx Bellevue Women 
[00:07:09] How Montana’s talk and coaching intersect in helping others find confidence 
[00:16:25] The “silent sentence” technique for managing nerves and shaping self-talk 
[00:25:24] Montana’s biggest takeaway from the TEDx experience and her personal growth 
[00:34:08] A powerful story on the impact of her TEDx talk and connecting with her “one person” 
[00:39:23] Advice for overcoming self-doubt and the process of creating constructive self-talk 
[00:43:28] The link between body language, confidence, and practical speaking hacks 
[00:50:11] What’s next for Montana and her ongoing passion for coaching and performing 
 
Quotes: 
“The words that you say silently to yourself before your talk... an example, one that I use, I have several, but one that I say often, it's in the talk, is something along the lines of I invite you to be here with me while I am here with you so that I can help you to the best of my ability.” [00:17:21] 
“You are not alone. That is totally normal. That is completely, as far as I can tell, a universal human experience. It's really what you do next, I think that matters the most.” [00:39:23] 
“I believe that we can set up the conditions where it's more likely that we'll feel better, maybe feel more confident. But mostly what we're setting up in this repeatable, reliable process... is making this repeatable process to help us manage through whatever feelings come.” [00:48:11] 
“I don't think I'm ever going to want to retire because I kind of love this too much.” [00:50:00] 
 
Resources: 
• Montana von Fliss: Website and LinkedIn 
• Listen to Montana’s TEDx Bellevue Women talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVFzbxmKNUw 
 
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• Journaling Worksheet & Complete Show Notes: https://delekooleycoaching.com/podcast 
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