Overcoming those public speaking gremlins with Speaker Coach Karen O'Donnell

On episode 66 I'm chatting with speaking expert and personal coach Karen O'Donnell. Back in the day, Karen would frequently be asked to give workshops or speak at events, but the thought terrified her and she would feel physically feel nauseous!

Realising that she needed to overcome this lack of confidence with speaking in public, she embarked on a journey to learn the skillset and mindset of communicating in public. She joined Toastmasters, an international organisation for public speaking and in 2016, she achieved the highest award in Toastmasters of Distinguished Toastmaster. In 2018 she became a certified World Class Speaking Coach and in 2019, her book ‘Discover your Inner GPS’ was published. As many of my clients struggle with the idea of public speaking, I thought it was high time to get Karen on the podcast for a chat! We discussed public speaking and how to overcome the fear of it, including:

- Karen's journey from being terrified to speak in public to becoming a Distinguished Toastmaster

- The elements required to turn a good speech into a great speech

- the characteristics or traits needed to develop good speaking skills

- Karen's tips for people who'd like to create a signature talk to present in front of an audience but are not sure where to start

- the mindset techniques Karen recommends we can tap into when we have a bit of a wobble mid-presentation or in those couple of minutes before we start talking

- how Karen helps women get over their fear and speak with confidence to an audience

- how speakers can keep their audience engaged throughout their talk

- how effective communicating through public speaking can impact your career or business 

Check out this weeks podcast on Apple Podcasts at https://apple.co/3BnHeJL (feel free to leave a 5 star review if you like!) and on Spotify at https://spoti.fi/3lnibgH

To find out more about Karen, you can follow her on LinkedIn and on her website  thespeakercoach.biz, and her book ‘Discover your Inner GPS’ is a great read - I'd highly recommend it!