May 6, 2025 • 52 mins
If you’ve ever wondered how public speaking could help grow your online business — or felt too nervous to even try — you’re in the right place.
In today’s episode, we’re talking about how public speaking can open doors for your business, how to get started even if you’re terrified, how to choose the right topics, and when it’s okay to say no to speaking gigs. I’m joined by Juanita Wheeler, an experienced public speaking coach and CEO of TEDxBrisbane, who has helped hundreds of speakers share their ideas with confidence and impact. Whether you’re just starting out or looking to take your speaking skills to the next level, this conversation is packed with practical advice and fresh perspectives to help you find your voice and grow your business.
Connect with Juanita Wheeler
Juanita Wheeler has coached over 100 TEDx speakers in addition to CEOs, entrepreneurs, authors, researchers and change-makers to deliver presentations worthy of their great ideas. Juanita is a public speaking coach, speechwriter, the CEO and Head of Curation at TEDxBrisbane and the Founder of Full & Frank. Juanita has over two decades of speaking experience, is an Adjunct Lecturer at the University of Queensland, and a Global Fellow with the Atlantic Fellows based out of Oxford University. Juanita has three Masters degrees (two in business and one in social change leadership). She’s the speaking coach you want if you’re serious about having your voice heard.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Public speaking may not be the first thing you think
of when you think of strategiesto grow your online business,
but today's episode is going toinspire you to step into your
voice and share your messagewith confidence Whether you're a
seasoned speaker or the thoughtof a mic makes your palms sweat
.
And we talk about how you cangrow your online business
(00:21):
through speaking.
Grow your online businessthrough speaking.
Today, I'm joined by JuanitaWheeler, a powerhouse in the
world of public speaking.
As CEO of TEDx Brisbane andfounder of Full and Frank,
juanita brings deep insight intowhat it takes to become a
compelling, confident speaker.
Whether you want to land moreclients, grow your authority or
(00:41):
build real trust with youraudience, public speaking can be
one of the most powerful toolsin your business toolkit, and
today, juanita is here to showus how.
If you've ever wondered what tosay, where to start or whether
you're even good enough to speak, this episode is for you.
Welcome to the eCommerce MadeEasy podcast.
I'm your host, keri Saunders.
(01:02):
When we started this business,all I had was a couch, a laptop
and a nine-month-old my maingoal To help others.
Now, with over 20 years in theecommerce building industry and
even more than that in webdevelopment, I have seen a lot.
I love breaking down the hardtech into easily understandable
bits to help others besuccessful in their online
business.
Whether you're a seasonede-commerce veteran or just
(01:24):
starting out, you've come to theright place.
So sit back, relax and let'sdive into the world of
e-commerce together.
Welcome back to the show.
Today we have a special guest,and her name is Juanita Wheeler.
She has coached over 100 TEDxspeakers, in addition to CEOs,
entrepreneurs, authors,researchers and change makers to
(01:44):
deliver presentations that areworthy of their great ideas and
help businesses grow as well.
So welcome to our podcast today, juanita.
I'm so glad to have you on here.
Speaker 2 (01:55):
Thank you so much for having me.
I'm really excited to be here.
Speaker 1 (01:59):
So I gave a little brief introduction of who you
are, but I know there's a lotmore to Juanita Wheeler.
So, in your own words, let usknow a little bit more about
Juanita and how you came to youknow being a speaking coach and
just anything else you want totell us about you.
Speaker 2 (02:15):
Well, I came to being a speaking coach because I am a
screaming introvert and publicspeaking does not come naturally
to me it certainly didn't, andso my preferred format was in
writing.
I wanted to persuade people inwriting all the time, and then I
found myself professionally insituations where I had to accept
(02:37):
not everybody likes to readcomprehensive proposals and
decisions aren't always madethrough documents.
Quite often, you know,decisions are made not in the
boardrooms but around watercoolers, as people will make
compelling arguments, whichannoyed me.
But you know, I got to thepoint where I was, you know,
whinged about that for a littlebit and then realized that
(02:58):
wasn't doing me any favors.
So I decided that I would,despite it not feeling
comfortable for me to do, if Icared about my ideas, if I cared
about my business, if I caredabout my career, then this was
something I was going to have tolearn to do and step outside my
comfort zone.
I knew that the type of publicspeaking I wanted to do which,
(03:20):
by the way, if you step outsideof your house, you're public,
and speaking in public, you'republic speaking.
So it's not preserved just tostages.
So if anyone says, you know, ohmy gosh, I'd never public speak
.
I'm like do you talk whileyou're in public, outside your
house?
You're public speaking.
Let's just learn how to step itup a little bit so you can also
(03:43):
do it in discussions with yourboss or with your team, or in
pitch meetings or on stages, orwith your team or in pitch
meetings or on stages.
So the type of speaking I knewI didn't want to do was that
dramatic monologue glee clubspeaking.
You know all arms.
It's not a dramatic monologuethat I was interested in.
I'm not looking to be aShakespearean, you know theatre
performer.
I wanted to do persuasivespeaking, speaking that results
(04:03):
in somebody saying yes to myidea or my plan or my proposal
or to buying a product or aservice or investing in my
company, whatever it was at thetime.
And so, being a screaming geekand nerd, I dove into all the
neuroscience I could find.
So I was looking into studiesabout neuroscience,
neuroeconomics, the science ofdecision-making, behavioral
(04:25):
psychology, advertising politicsanything I could find about
what makes people go fromhearing a message to truly
listening, taking it on board,being persuaded and saying yes.
And so then I applied that as aguinea pig to myself.
At the time.
I had different roles, but oneof which was working in a
(04:46):
multinational based out of Texas, and I just kept finding that
my ideas, if I wasn't preparedto stand up for meetings and
champion them, then they weren'tbeing heard.
So I used myself as a guineapig.
It started working, and thenother people would come to me
and say, can you teach me how todo that?
And so I was doing itinternally while still in
(05:09):
working in corporate, and then,about 12 years ago, I decided to
go and start my own company,which is called Full and Frank,
because I am and that's morecatchy than comprehensive, but
blunt, which would be the otherway to describe my style and so
(05:33):
now that's what I'm driven to doAlong the way.
I also started.
I was a TEDx speaker myself anda volunteer, and then I started
running TEDx Brisbane here inAustralia.
So all of these things cametogether, and so now I'm just
dedicated.
You know the reason I do what Ido, and my purpose is to help
other people who have greatideas, great research, great
products, great services, greatbusinesses that they're looking
(05:56):
to champion, to learn how toarticulate that and present it
in a persuasive way that getstheir target audience to say yes
to whatever their strategicobjective is.
Speaker 1 (06:08):
Wow, like that is just like I just can't even
believe, like everything yousaid there that is so useful,
and like it's just you kind ofblew my mind there, juanita,
because I hadn't really thoughtabout needing to learn how to do
public speaking in in a facetlike that in your job, talking
(06:30):
to your boss.
You know doing sales, you knowtalking to your customers.
I mean I know we do a lot about.
You know how do you communicatewith your customers verbally or
not verbally, but in writtenform on a website.
But to be able to do it in averbal form, I mean it makes
total sense, of course, becauseyou know you do need that
neuroscience behind it.
You do need the strategies andthe techniques and the steps you
(06:53):
know to follow to make yourwhat you're saying persuasive.
But I hadn't really put it alltogether quite like that.
I just I love how you reallyput that together and made it
such a valuable, useful tool forbusiness owners and I love how
you're sharing your knowledgewith others.
Speaker 2 (07:11):
I think that's just perfect and an underutilized, I
feel like skill that a lot ofbusiness owners aren't learning
or using 100 percent, which andI understand why because, like I
say, that was the last thing Iwanted to do, but reluctantly
and begrudgingly I had to get tothe point where I realized this
(07:33):
is not an optional skill.
If you are serious about beingheard, about building your
personal brand, aboutchampioning your company or your
products or your services, ortrying to get distribution deals
, or trying to get your productinto a department, your services
, or trying to get distributiondeals, or trying to get your
product into a department store,or trying to get investors all
of these things you need to beout there championing your ideas
(07:53):
.
And that's going to requirepersuasive speaking, whether you
like it or not.
But don't panic, it is notsomething.
You were not born a goodspeaker.
You know there's thismisconception out there that
some people are just born goodspeakers and some people aren't.
That's complete rubbish.
It is a skill.
It is a skill just like anyother skill.
(08:14):
It's like plumbing.
If you wanted to be a plumber, Iwould go and find the best
plumber I could to teach meexactly how to do it like a
master, and then I wouldpractice and practice and I'd
get it wrong a few times andthen I'd practice some more
until I got really, really good,and that is how I would learn
to be a really great plumber.
And public speaking is just thesame.
(08:34):
I think the only really bigdifference is the fear that's
associated with public speaking,and so that really holds people
back, and there are a wholerange of reasons, but the most
important takeaway is and I'mbiased full disclosure.
But public speaking is one ofthe best ways to grow your
(08:56):
business.
For a range of reasons, and Ican talk a bit about those, but
we're not doing it.
The vast majority of people arenot out there championing
themselves and their businessthrough public speaking, and yet
it is one of the best ways toestablish yourself as a leader
in that field, as a knowledgeexpert, as somebody who should
(09:17):
be the first person people thinkof whenever they think about
what your business or yourcompany, the field in which you
work.
And yet the vast majority ofpeople aren't doing it.
Speaker 1 (09:29):
So then, playing off of that, then how can could you
give us some examples?
How can public speaking help usgrow our online businesses?
Because we have a lot of onlinebusiness entrepreneurs that
listen and traditionale-commerce listeners.
So how can they use this skilland grow it?
Because it's certainly notsomething you normally hear
about.
So I feel like, for a lot ofpeople listening, this is going
(09:51):
to be a new concept to them.
So how do you go about doingthat?
Speaker 2 (09:57):
So first of all, I will put a link in the show
notes because there are a coupleof free guides on my page that
I think will really help people.
One is how to get started inpublic speaking and the other
one is how to grow your businesswith public speaking.
That talks exactly about allthe ways in which you can do it.
But to give you a couple ofexamples of how this works
really well, first of all, ifyou are smart and strategic
(10:21):
about where you speak, then youget a pool of target audience,
of your ideal target audience,your ideal customer avatar, in a
particular room that you didn'thave to organize.
So if I go and speak at aconference and these are my
people and I've done my researchyou know and I know exactly
where they are.
So a lot of people talk aboutyou know I'm doing these great,
(10:45):
you know lookalike audiences andmy social media advertising is
all extremely targeted.
And then I will say to themgreat, what are the major
conferences and events that yourtarget audience attend each
year?
And they don't know the answerand I'm like, hmm, somebody else
who is not you is marketing tothose people, is selling them
(11:06):
tickets, is bringing themtogether, is organizing their
accommodation, dealing withtheir dietary requirements and
bringing them all into the sameroom.
So, instead of pitching to oneperson or 10 people, if you get
to speak to someone somewherewhere there's 50 or 100 or 1,000
people in a room, you'veimmediately dramatically
increased the number of peoplein your target audience that you
(11:28):
are speaking to from a stage.
So, first of all, scale is oneof the immediate values getting
those people in the room and youdidn't have to deal with the
drama of getting them there.
Secondly, anytime somebodyinvites you to step on a stage
and talk about what your area ofexpertise is, they are
(11:49):
immediately elevating yourstatus as an expert in that
field.
And the more reputable theorganization is that's hosting
that event assuming it's not you, because then it doesn't really
work but if it's the peakindustry body or somebody who is
incredibly reputable, when theyput you up on that stage, you
know the peak industry body orsomebody who is incredibly
reputable.
When they put you up on thatstage, then everyone in the
audience goes oh, this person isincredibly credible, they
(12:13):
absolutely have expert status,because they wouldn't have put
him or her on that stageotherwise.
And there are many, manyreasons.
But the other great thing isthat when you get up and you get
the opportunity to championyour ideas and, by the way, if
you think about public speakingas selling, it's not going to
work you immediately have toreframe and think of public
(12:36):
speaking as serving.
It's a chance to serve youraudience and then they will, as
they say, know, like and trustyou, your audience, and then
they will, as they say, know,like and trust you.
Give them something of value,show them you, understand them,
show them your expertise, givethem a taste of it.
And then everyone in that room,the next time they need X, y, z
services, the first personthey're going to think of is the
(12:59):
person who another entity hadsaid was an expert, put up on a
stage and helped them.
Speaker 1 (13:08):
I love that.
That totally makes sense.
And like, as you were speaking,I realized I accidentally did
this earlier this year.
I actually spoke at an adsummit and it gained me so many
like newsletter, new newslettersubscribers and new people into
my Facebook group.
I was a bit blown away.
I didn't really expect it andthey stayed.
Like that was like the moreshocking thing.
(13:29):
You know, I had like 50 or 80people join my newsletter list
and I kept an eye on the numbersand majority of them did not
leave my newsletter.
You know, after you know theevent was over and so I think
those the listing I think youknow think about outside the box
kind of like I accidentally didearlier this year.
I spoke at an ad summit and formine it was a bit it could be a
(13:53):
and you can talk to this too,anita, but for mine it was a
pre-recorded one and it wasvirtual.
So that's kind of a bit maybeeasier way, cause I know some
people have a fear of speakingand we'll talk about that next,
but you know that might be agood way to get your feet wet.
If you're a bit afraid of doingit live, you could do a
prerecorded virtual summit LikeI did.
(14:15):
What do you think about that,especially for people?
I know some people get soafraid of speaking in public.
I still get nervous sometimes,even though I've done that a lot
, for you know, in my career andin my schooling, with being an
engineer, we would get up andtalk a lot about our projects
and stuff.
So what, how do you help peoplecome over the fear of public
speaking and do you think thinksomething like I did, where it's
(14:38):
a virtual prerecorded, might bea good first step?
Or or do you think they justshould dive right in and just go
ahead and do a live type ofevent?
Speaker 2 (14:47):
They're both really good questions.
First of all, in terms of fear,I think there's something that
we really need to just call outstraight away.
People assume that fear ofpublic speaking is bad.
Fear is just completely normal.
So if you're you know, they sayglossophobia, which is the fear
of public speaking.
Experts say up to 75% of thepopulation have some level of
(15:11):
glossophobia, so you're in goodcompany.
But I think the important thingis to know fear of getting up
and speaking in front of peopleis absolutely normal.
Fear to me, what you don't want.
You don't want paralyzing fear.
You don't want fear to thelevel where it incapacitates
your ability to do it.
That's not what we're talkingabout.
(15:31):
We want to get rid of that.
But healthy nerves, which ishow I frame it healthy nerves is
a good thing.
Healthy nerves is natural.
Healthy nerves says I careabout this issue and I want to
do a good job.
Healthy nerves says Iunderstand the importance of me
(15:52):
speaking and what potentiallywill come of it.
Healthy Nerves says I respectthe audience and I want to do a
good job for them.
And Healthy Nerves says I careabout this topic when people.
I am far more concerned andoften don't work with speakers
if they tell me I have no fearor no nerves about public
(16:13):
speaking, because what that saysto me is you're not, you know,
dialed in to making sure youdeliver for that audience.
You are no longer excited aboutthe work you do and you are
just dialing it in.
You know, the opposite of fearis complacency.
So that's what I find far moreworrying in potential speakers.
(16:35):
So if you have fear first ofall, totally normal, and we'll
talk about, like, the differentstages of fear in a second but
completely normal but what youwant to do is make sure you
transition that from you know,paralyzing fear if you have that
to healthy nerves, which isvery, very good.
It can help you, you know, geta jolt of you have that to
healthy nerves, which is a very,very good.
It can help you, you know, geta jolt of adrenaline before you
walk on the stage.
(16:56):
It helps you, you know, do agood job.
It means that you care and italso can help give you that
shove to do the preparation thatyou should and that your
audience deserves prior to goingand speaking.
So, just in terms of fear,that's a really important
preface.
There are lots of different waysthat you can tackle fear, which
(17:17):
, again, perfectly normal.
But some of the things.
The first thing is you've gotto own the fear.
People say I have a fear ofpublic speaking and I try to
shut that down as soon ashumanly possible when I'm
working with clients or TEDxspeakers.
Speakers, because the fear isnot of public speaking that's a
really vague term and it justwhen people say that.
It sounds like it's final, itsounds like it's forever, it
(17:41):
sounds like it's absolute and itsounds like it can never be
changed.
And none of those things aretrue.
Typically, when people saythey're afraid of public
speaking, they're not reallyafraid of public speaking.
They're afraid of what willcome as a result of them public
speaking.
So you know some really commonones.
I usually I have 10 that I mostcommonly see in people.
(18:03):
I won't go through all of thembut for example, there's, you
know, imposter fear which is I'mnot good enough to be here, and
that is actually not a fault ofyou.
The actual original researchyou might be really familiar
with.
This was done by a couple oftwo fabulous researchers who
(18:23):
these women were investigatingwhy women, more so than men, who
were extremely high performing,didn't think they were good
enough and kept downplayingtheir achievements.
And it was called imposterphenomena is how they labelled
it, and that's really important,because the reason they chose
phenomenon and not impostersyndrome is A it's not a
(18:43):
psychological condition.
And B the problem is not you,the problem is society.
The problem is that society hasput all these pressures on you
since before you could talk infull sentences, saying don't
speak unless you're spoken to.
You know children should beseen and not heard.
Don't take up space, don'tinterrupt.
You know be smaller, take upless space.
(19:04):
None of these things say jumpup on a stage and share your
ideas.
So you know it's reallyimportant to own your fear, but
to understand that's.
You know, imposter fear.
You've got people who are afraidthat they are going to be
exposed as a fraud.
You know people are going tofind out I'm a fraud People.
You've got people who havecredibility fear in that they
(19:26):
have spent 10, 20, 30 yearsbuilding up this credibility in
the industry and they're worriedthat if they get up and make a
mistake, that they're going tolose all of their credibility
with one mistake.
So you know their fear isn'tpublic speaking, their fear is
losing their credibility.
You've got people who areafraid of being judged based on
a whole range of factors.
They don't like how they look.
(19:46):
You know they're not currentlyhappy with their appearance.
So many people I understandI've been there and they're
worried they're going to bejudged about it or people will
be cruel.
The trolls online are going togo to town.
You've got people who arelegitimately afraid of success,
and they have success fear likewhat if this goes really really
(20:06):
well?
And I'm just not ready for whatcomes next?
I'm not sure I want my life tochange really well and I'm just
not ready for what comes next.
I'm not sure I want my life tochange.
You've got people who have, youknow, fear that the opportunity
fear which is, you know it'slike eight mile M&M.
You know I only get one shotever, and so do I really want to
blow my one shot on thisparticular thing if I'm not
ready?
And that's not true.
(20:27):
There's not only ever one shot,but there.
So there are all thesedifferent types of fear.
You're not afraid of publicspeaking.
No one I have met or workedwith has ever.
Really, when we get into it,are they afraid of public
speaking?
They're afraid of somethingelse that public speaking might
potentially expose and once wego through it, work through it,
name it and then we go.
(20:48):
Excellent, there are strategiesfor all of these things that we
can work on.
So, for example, someone whosays and I get them to do like
we do a spreadsheet, I'm a nerdand we have two columns and one
is okay.
What are you legitimately, veryspecifically afraid of?
And then what are you going todo to minimize that happening?
(21:08):
So, someone who has credibilityfear.
They're worried, they're goingto blow their credibility with a
single line or an error.
I'm like great Not great thatyou have fear, but great that
we're now enabling it.
And they might say I'm worried,I'm going to use an incorrect
reference or a piece offactually incorrect information
and then all my credibility willbe blown.
I'm like great, col, know,column one, use an incorrect
(21:31):
source or an incorrect piece ofdata and lose my credibility.
Okay.
I'm like great and column twowhat actively are we going to do
with the time we have betweennow and then?
It's, you know, 40 days away.
You can get up half an hourearly or an hour early every day
and make this work.
What are we building in?
We're going to fact, check thisout, the wazoo.
You're not going to use areference unless you've got two
(21:52):
peer reviewed source referencedata.
You're going to also give it topeople who you trust in the
industry to also double checkyou.
Cool, now we have a plan, so wedon't have to, like, have this
vague thing permeating our brainwhenever it wants to walk in,
you know, inciting fear aboutthe public speaking.
No, no, now you have a plan,you're in charge.
(22:20):
So, yes, fear you can.
You can overcome it, you know.
You need to know what you'reafraid of.
Then we need to formulate aplan and then we need to put it
into action.
And in terms of your secondquestion about you know, is a
recording a good place to starta pre-recorded thing?
Absolutely.
There are a variety of things,you know.
I talk about mindset shifts asa real starting point for if
(22:40):
you're going to do publicspeaking.
And the first one is no inanefear, like really like we just
talked about.
But one of the others is letthem, you know if you're worried
that people are going to judgeyou.
Just you know, let them is.
Let them, you know, if you'reworried that people are going to
judge you, just you know, letthem.
Let them do that and do itanyway.
But there are some things youcan do that are going to help
you make you more comfortable.
(23:01):
If you're just not there yet,you know one of which don't get
a really great outfit.
You know, just one that makesyou feel good.
You know, and for some of uswho you know, that's going to
mean a horrendous trip to theshops and you know bad lighting
and, in your face, mirrors.
But you know, if you can findone outfit that makes you feel
good, then that's going to help.
Podcasting is a great way tostart if you are really, really
(23:25):
nervous, because, particularlyif you're concerned about how
you look or you're worried aboutbeing in front of an audience,
you're not there yet.
You know, because that's a verypersonal journey.
Start with audio only podcasts.
They don't even have to see you, but you can practice
articulating your message.
Then step up to video podcasts.
I mean, we get to record, weget to decide our lighting, what
(23:48):
we wear, and you get to do itin comfortable pants, which is
also a bonus.
So you know, choose that.
And doing pre-records for aconference is exactly the same.
You get to do your publicspeaking.
You're honing your message.
It's not out there in publicyet.
That's going to be your goal,but you're just if you're not
there yet.
(24:08):
This is a really great way tostart honing your message and
then work on the steps that youneed to take to feel comfortable
getting there.
And I think the other thing onthat journey is to know if
you're uncomfortable, don't haveyour first thing necessarily
going and speaking on a stage infront of 400 people.
You know, start some smallthings.
Ask your boss.
(24:28):
Hey, can I present a 10-minuteworkshop or a 10-minute update
or a five-minute update at thenext staff meeting?
There's lots of small littlethings that you can do.
Or can I talk at the nextparents and citizens meeting or
my next, you know, mum and totsgroup about a particular topic?
(24:50):
You know, create opportunitiesto start speaking small and then
grow the size of the audienceand also the importance of the
topic as you feel more and morecomfortable.
Speaker 1 (25:03):
Well, and so you really broke it down there and I
, as you're talking, I couldtotally visualize, okay, what
would be my fear in talking infront of people and how do I,
you know, overcome that.
And so I love how you reallybreak that down for people who
work with you, because I feellike that's so important and so
empowering for them to have, youknow, a real solution that they
(25:27):
can use to feel morecomfortable and feel more
confident and just know thatthey can get it done and can do
it.
So I love how you nerd outthere because I'm a total nerd
too, as I know, you know, andI'm actually a total introvert
too.
So we're kind of pretty similarthere, although I can be
extroverted sometimes but I lovehow you really look at your
(25:49):
client's perspective and look atthe person you know trying to
learn how to speak more and andpull, pulls apart a little bit
about their brain and and howtheir brain works, so that you
can help them, you know,accomplish this wonderful goal
and get past those fears.
Speaker 2 (26:06):
Yes, I think it's really interesting because I'm
all about evidence-based.
So you know everythingevidence-based and I'm like
there has to be a formula, therehas to be a framework that will
work and I'm going to test iton me and then, you know, as it
turns out, help others with it.
But in the original, when I wasfirst doing it, I was looking
at persuasion techniques andstrategies and articulating the
(26:29):
argument, and all of that isincredibly important If you, you
know what you actually writeand then say, so the actual
persuasive arguments that youmake, understanding your
audience where are they?
What do they need?
How can you help them and thenarticulating that in a way that
is clear and compelling, whilealso making them care and being
(26:49):
authentic, is incrediblyimportant.
What I didn't realize when Ifirst started doing this work
was one of the things you knowwhen we're talking about fear
and we're talking about all thishesitancy speaking is I tell my
clients and the people I workwith okay, we need to start with
owning your awesome, becauseyou have awesome.
That's why you're going tospeak.
(27:10):
You don't have to be awesome.
Everything doesn't have to beperfect, but here, in this
particular aspect of your lifeand the thing that you do, and
you do extraordinarily well.
You are awesome in terms of youinspire awe.
People see what you're doingand think, oh my gosh, I wish I
could do that in that way.
I wish I had that skill.
(27:30):
So, you know, in the literarysense, you inspire awe.
And what shocked me was that assoon as I did this work with
people which was not how Istarted it, you know, took me
years to realize okay, this isactually a really a personal and
professional development has tohappen first, before we can get
(27:51):
into the technicals of this ishow you write a speech.
You know, that's like you know,six steps down the road, but
everything gets easier.
They are much better at writingspeeches, they are much better
at finding their voice and theyare much better at memorizing,
presenting the stagecraft toolsthat we teach them.
(28:12):
If they can get over this veryfirst step of owning their
awesome, which is all aboutaddressing their fears, naming
it, changing their mindset,understanding that when you step
on a stage or when you step upin a boardroom or when you speak
to your boss, it's not actuallyabout you, it's about the
audience.
What do you need them to say?
(28:32):
Yes, to Get into their head,think about.
What are they thinking?
What do they need to hear to bepersuaded?
And as soon as you startrealizing that it's about
serving them and helping getthem to yes, you become far more
confident because it's not allfocused on you.
And I always say look, Iapologize to the narcissists in
(28:53):
the room who think that publicspeaking is all about them but
it's not Persuasive.
Speaking done well is all aboutserving your audience and
getting to that yes, and thattakes off a lot of pressure.
But everything about publicspeaking becomes easier if you
do that work at the beginning toreally understand what is
(29:13):
holding you back from doing it,because it is one of the
hands-down best ways to growyour business, build your
personal brand and champion yourideas.
So why aren't you doing it?
And for far too many people,you know, one of the fears that
holds them back is fear of thehaters, and I'm like you.
Just, you just have to let themhate and do it anyway, because
(29:35):
they don't get a vote, theydon't get to hold you back from
being the absolute best personthat you can be, from growing
your business as robustly, asquickly, as fabulously as you
possibly can, because the hatersare holding you back.
Nope, they don't get a vote.
Speaker 1 (29:59):
It's not okay.
So I love your owning, yourawesome.
I think we need to make a quote, a social media quote, out of
that one.
I just love that little phraseyou came up with of owning your
awesome.
Speaker 2 (30:06):
That might be a book title and I might have it on
mugs.
Speaker 1 (30:09):
Oh, but really that's awesome.
I didn't realize that.
Yeah, so that's awesome, so,like and I use, actually use the
word awesome myself, so I findit funny.
So when somebody is ready toown their awesome, how about
let's go there?
You know, how do they know whatthey should be talking about?
Speaker 2 (30:28):
Yes, that's a really, really great question.
Actually, I get it a lot.
I have a workshop coming upcalling how to Find your Big
Idea, because I get thisquestion so much and there are
lots of different ways to do it.
But typically, when I sit downand talk to people, some of the
first things that we'll talkabout is what do people come to
(30:49):
you and ask you about?
Whether that's your sister,your brother-in-law, a friend,
somebody at the local school,people will be asking you about
how did you do this?
Or what you know, and maybeit's in a professional setting,
it might be in a personalsetting, but people will say, oh
nothing, no one ever asked meabout anything.
And you actually, you know,apply a little full and frank,
(31:12):
tough love and we keep asking.
I'm like, well, I've had a lookat your stuff and this is what
I see that you are particularlygood at, and this is what I've
seen people ask you about onsocial media, or this is what
you know I've seen you writepapers about, or you know it's
amazing how belittlingparticularly are of their, of
(31:35):
their, their value and theirexperience.
There's a an amazing first ofall, the dunning-kruger effect.
If you don't know about this.
It was a really interestingstudy that said people who are
really un incompetent they arenot good at all, they think
they're great, they think theyare absolutely fabulous and yet
people who are really competentand highly talented they have a
(31:59):
very solid understanding ofexactly how much there is to
know in the world, how muchthere is to know in their
particular area of expertise,and so they think they're really
ordinary, they think they'renot competent, and actually the
reverse is true.
If you're the person thinking Idon't know enough about this,
chances are that's an indicationthat you're smart enough to
(32:19):
know how big a scope that topicis and you actually probably are
almost certainly the person whoshould be speaking.
It's the people who are like ohmy gosh, I've got this, I know
everything about this topic thatare the concern, and that's
done in Kruger.
So that's one of the thingsthat holds people back.
So naming that and knowing thatis good.
There's also another study thatwas recently done here in
(32:44):
Australia, but it replicatesstudies that have been done
overseas by Dr David Riley whichyou're all going to have a
heart attack and die when I tellyou this but showed that when
they explained to a group ofpeople how IQs work and gave
them the stratification oftypically who falls into which
IQ bracket, and then theyactually gave each of them
individually an IQ test andasked them separately to giving
(33:06):
them the results.
What they estimated their IQwas Shocker.
Men dramatically overestimatetheir IQ compared to their own
individual IQ actual and womendramatically significantly
underestimated their IQ based onthat and we see this
consistently throughout things.
So women are far more likely todownplay that they have an idea
(33:28):
that is worth sharing, but theydo.
I am yet to work with someoneor have someone come through my
door that we do not find here.
Is your idea worth spreadingbecause you have one?
I was talking to a woman alittle while ago and you will
hear things like I'm nobody,which hurts my soul every time
it happens because it's not true, or I have nothing but I'd
(33:51):
really like to speak, or I thinkI have 27 ideas and what is my
one?
That's really quite common.
But there was this one woman Ispoke to and it's just stuck
with me, and she was Americanand she said you know, I don't,
I didn't finish school, I don'thave any qualifications, I have
nothing, but I've gone out andI've started my own business
(34:13):
where I am coaching people howto get out of financial debt and
fix their finance scores.
And she's like but I just don'tknow, I feel like an imposter,
I don't feel like I have anycredibility.
And then I talked to her for awhile and asked her questions.
And you know, in truth, thewoman had been working in the
(34:33):
sector on the other side, withdebt collectors for 20 years.
So, you know, by the end of itI'm like cool.
So you're telling me you have20 years' worth of experience on
the dark side of debtcollection and you know all of
the secrets that they don't wantpeople to know.
And so now you've come acrossthe light side and you're
helping people, using all ofyour 20 years of knowledge,
(34:55):
wisdom and experience to helpthem get themselves out of debt.
And she's like oh, like, yes,then that's your great idea.
You might have 20 others, butat this point in time, because
you don't have only one greatbig idea in your life, most
people don't, most people willhave several, but at that
(35:15):
particular time, you know herfriends, her family were asking
her hey, you know, hey, you know, I'm having a little problem
with debt or my credit score.
Have you got any tips and shehad heaps of tips.
So that's one way.
Is A what do people ask youabout?
(35:36):
B what is something that youknow?
If I lined up 10 people in arow that would be different
about you and your experiencethat you could add value to to
somebody in need?
And three, what are youpassionate about that you would
like to help and you also haveexpertise in that area in some
form, and that expertise doesn'thave to be three degrees.
(35:57):
You know my family laughs aboutme liking to collect degrees as
my hobby.
I've got three masters, but youdo not have to have degrees.
You know you might have livedexperience.
You know people who have caredfor elders.
You know with degenerativeillnesses, or people who have
lived experience.
You know people who have caredfor elders, you know with
degenerative illnesses, orpeople who have lived in five
different countries and haveexperiences being multilingual
(36:20):
and living overseas, or peoplewho can cook an amazing vegan,
whatever.
These are all experiences andskills and qualifications they
have that they could share.
It doesn't have to be degreeson the wall.
Speaker 1 (36:35):
I think that you gave quite a few really good nuggets
and reminders in there too forus listeners and even myself and
I can even think of some of myfriends and my business friends
that really need that reminderthat there is something in you
that you're really great at andyou don't have to have a degree
for it.
You don't have to have X, y orZ certifications or anything.
(36:58):
You just have to haveexperience and passion for it,
and I think that's a greatreminder for us, for you know,
what can we speak about?
You know what are.
What are you passionate about?
What are you know?
What do people ask you?
I just love that how you remindpeople and lift people up,
because we need that, and I feellike it's really easy in
society, especially for women,to get minimized and to get, you
(37:22):
know, told we're not as smartand we, you know, shouldn't be
speaking up and things like that.
So I just I love how you'rejust so supportive of others, no
matter their gender, but alsoespecially of women, who are in
our typical society.
You know is told we're not assmart, we're not as bright,
we're not as successful.
So I just love how that you useyour job to help others, you
(37:45):
know feel good about themselves,and in a healthy way.
Speaker 2 (37:50):
Thank you so much and I think you know I'm a great
example of exactly what I justsaid, in that you know I've come
from.
You know I've previously workedin biotech and I've worked in
other leadership roles and I'veworked in nonprofits.
But when I got to the pointwhere I said, well, you know,
what should I be focusing on,and then thought, you know,
(38:10):
applied to myself, what arepeople most asking me about?
You know, what does it make mehappy when I lay my head on the
pillow at the end of the day andI feel like I did a really good
job and it was helping otherpeople find in themselves what
is their big idea and then beingable to champion it in a way
that was strategic andpersuasive, because otherwise
you're just flapping your gums.
(38:30):
I'm not interested in flappingyour gum.
Public speaking I'm interestedin and you know people go.
I'm like how did it go?
And you know I talk to people.
They go, I'm a great publicspeaker.
People always applaud at theend and tell me I did a good job
.
I'm like, yeah, I don't reallycare about that.
Did they say what was yourstrategic objective?
Like were, were you looking toadd people to your funnel Like
what did you want them to sayyes to?
(38:52):
And did they?
Because that's the successmetric I care about.
So when I worked out, well, whatam I going to focus on?
What am I going to go out thereand speak on?
What is my big idea?
And there were so many things Icould have done my TEDx talk
from a decade ago it has nothingto do with this.
It has with what I was workingon at the time, which was, you
(39:15):
know, funding models fornonprofits.
But if you ask me today what ismy big idea, well, my big idea
is all about how to help everysingle person find out what is
their big idea that could maketheir neighborhood, their
community, their industry or theworld better, and how to help
them champion that idea, whetherthat's big or small.
(39:36):
Because you know, oh my gosh,even when I approach people to
give TEDx talks for my eventpredominantly, overwhelmingly,
women and I will say and, by theway, we've watched them for two
or three years and readeverything they've ever written
before we approach people, wehave a very serious vetting
process and then I will reachout to somebody and invariably
(39:57):
50% will say, oh my gosh, I'vealways wanted to give a TEDx
talk, I'm so excited.
But 50% will say I think you'veemailed me by mistake and I
haven't.
And overwhelmingly they're thewomen, not all, but
overwhelmingly.
And when you go and speak tothem, for example, someone will
say you know, I think this isand I'm like, well, my
(40:20):
understanding of what you'redoing.
This is somebody who runs amedical innovation.
I'm like I understand that youfound an extract of an
Australian native plant that inyour lab, if you introduce it to
mammalian cells that have theZika virus in the lab setting,
it's killing 100% of the Zikavirus without any damage to the
cells.
It's not in human trials yet,but if it happens and it works,
(40:43):
then there's not going to be anymore birth defects around the
world for kids with Zika.
And she's like yes, I'm likeyou know what?
Yes, you are the person that Iwanted to speak to.
By the way, you need to come andspeak on my stage.
But you know, people seem tothink you have to either have
cured cancer, gone to Mars ordone something incredible.
(41:04):
You know that no human hasactually achieved.
There is no human who's tickedthose boxes.
But that seems to be the metricof what people think, and
predominantly women, unless I'vedone one of those things I have
no awesome to share which is sowrong but yet so prolific.
(41:25):
So you know that's my purpose.
My purpose is to use all theskills that I have to ensure
that people understand publicspeaking is an amazing tool that
you should be using to spreadyour ideas and grow your
business and make things happenand establish yourself so
everyone knows you're an expertand hears your voice, to help
(41:46):
them overcome their fears andchannel it into healthy nerves
so they can be absolutelyfantastic and make compelling
arguments, and to totally changethe way that they champion and
speak about their ideas, notjust on one stage, on one day,
but going forward, for the restof the career and the rest of
their life, so they never, everfeel this diminutive or
(42:11):
self-doubting way ever again.
Speaker 1 (42:15):
So after listening to you, I feel personally more
empowered and more compelled topursue this and to do this more
myself, and I can totally seethe value in it, and I'm hoping
our listeners too are feelingthis from your passion and your
energy behind.
You know everything that you do.
So if somebody is listening andthey want to get started on
(42:38):
public speaking in some formatand you know whatever that might
be comfortable for them tostart off with, how, how should
they get started?
What are the first few stepsthey should do to get started on
that journey?
Speaker 2 (42:50):
Well, I think there's think there's a couple of
guides that are going to helpthem.
It will really walk themstep-by-step through starting.
So if they're interested, theycan find that at fullandfrankcom
forward slash tools.
There are some free tools there.
Just grab them.
They're very good.
They're the things I wishsomebody had told me 20 years
ago.
But the thing you need to do tostart is, if you're just going
(43:13):
to start with one thing likegrab out some pen and paper,
find yourself some quiet timeand just really ask yourself
what are you afraid of?
You haven't been doing this.
You haven't been out therepublic speaking to champion your
business, your products, yourservices, your ideas, what is
holding you back?
What you know?
Because we hate that guy, thatguy in your head who tells you
(43:35):
you're not good enough or thereare reasons not to do that.
You know, beep, that guy we'renot.
He has no place here.
So write down what are youactually fearful about and then
own it and then go.
Excellent, there are things.
What can you do to stop thathappening?
So you know, is it that youdon't feel you're worried that
(43:57):
you're not going to be able tomemorize it?
There are totally things youcan do to help you memorize.
Are you afraid that you knowyou're going to be exposed as a
fraud?
Well, let's you know, talkabout all the things you know.
Or you know you sit withyourself like all the things you
know.
Or you know you sit withyourself like how many things
you know.
What do you know that somebodycould, that it would make a
(44:17):
difference to somebody, and Ithink, like so, write down what
you're actually afraid of.
Just naming it has incrediblepower, because you're not afraid
of public speaking.
You're afraid of what thatmight, you know, result in.
And then I think the otherthing to do is you have to
completely change your focusabout public speaking being
(44:39):
about you, because it's not.
I want you to sit down and writedown who would benefit from
your big idea today if you toldthem and your big idea, by the
way, might be just somethingthat saves somebody 10 minutes
in the morning when they'remaking their kids' lunches, but
that's 10 minutes every day forthe rest of while their kids are
at home.
It doesn't have to be curingcancer, it doesn't have to be
(45:01):
going to Mars.
Who needs to hear your idea andhow is it going to make their
life better?
And then if you do have an ideaand you do or an experience or
a piece of knowledge that couldhelp somebody in this world and
it's going to make their day,their week, their life better,
then don't you have anobligation to share that with
(45:25):
them?
And given that you do, isn't itworth it to put in the work to
A get that information to them,which has the completely
fabulous by-product of helpingto establish you as an expert
and grow your business?
Speaker 1 (45:45):
So, in summary, what I'm hearing you say is we are
speaking to serve others, and Ijust I love how you wrap that
all together is it's not aboutus, we're speaking to serve
others, and I just I love howyou wrap that all together is
it's not about us, we'respeaking to serve others?
Speaker 2 (45:58):
Absolutely.
We get the lovely by-product.
We will, at the same time,elevate our status as experts
and grow our businesses.
But speak to serve and I thinkyou know if there's one thing
that you absolutely, I finishwith every person when I do a
first initial consult.
We talk and every single timeit ends with you know two words
(46:20):
just start, just start.
Put all the excuses over here.
We're not, you know, we're notlistening to that guy.
Before somebody can convinceyou in the back of your brain of
all the reasons why youshouldn't do it, that guy, they
don't get a vote.
Just start, Start, small Startwith a podcast, Start with a
pre-record, Start with a teammeeting, five-minute briefing,
(46:43):
Whatever you have to do, butstart.
Speaker 1 (46:47):
I love that just start.
That's how I got, honestly, howI got started on the podcast.
We just celebrated two yearsjust a few days ago and I just
had to start because I had someof these fears I had.
I didn't really have fearsabout what strangers thought
about me.
I actually had more fears aboutwhat is my family and friends
who might listen to the podcastgoing to think about.
(47:08):
So it was more of that than Icould care less what a stranger
thinks about me personally.
I mean, obviously I want themto like me and get value out of
what I say on the podcast, butit has less emotional connection
than like your family andfriends, and so I completely
agree we just got to get startedand don't worry about that.
Speaker 2 (47:29):
No, and that's actually really common.
That people will care aboutfamily.
They'll care about colleagues.
No, and that's actually reallycommon, that people will care
about family.
They'll care about colleagues.
They'll care about colleaguesthinking they're uppity.
Sometimes, with our TEDxspeakers, we'll be booked and
once it's announced they'respeaking, they've actually had
colleagues come and say well,why on earth would they want you
to speak?
And then I have to sit themdown and remind them all the
reasons why we want them tospeak and why what they have is
(47:51):
value.
But yes, there's so manydifferent types of fears.
And the other is, you knowpeople are like well, what if I,
through this process, discoverthat my idea isn't as good as I
think it is?
Or you know what if I proveeverybody who said a bad thing
to me my entire life andunfortunately this is really
common People who have said topeople, often when they're
(48:21):
children or in inappropriate andcoercive domestic situations,
that they've said you're nobody,you don't speak correctly.
We have problems with peoplewho've had stutters, people
who've been told they're uglytheir whole lives, amazing
things, and we just we're goingto kick that to the curb and we
go through the process.
But the diversity of thereasons that people are held
back and aren't public speakingare incredibly diverse, because
(48:43):
no two human beings are exactlythe same way.
So any kind of cookie cutterapproach that says this is
exactly how every person shouldprogress through public speaking
it just doesn't work, becausepeople are diverse.
The reasons holding them backare diverse, but the reasons
that they should be out theredoing it and the brilliance of
their individual ideas are justas diverse.
(49:05):
So embrace it, just start Ownyour awesome and get out there
and start sharing it with thepeople who you can serve, who
will be valued by what you haveto say.
Speaker 1 (49:18):
I just love that, juanita, and I just hope that
you have greatly inspired thoselistening to our podcast to just
get started and serve.
So thank you so much for beingon our podcast today.
I thoroughly enjoyed ourconversation and learned so much
from you.
Speaker 2 (49:34):
Well, thank you so much for having me.
I truly appreciate it.
I love all the work you'redoing.
Speaker 1 (49:39):
Thank you, juanita.
So you can find all the linksthat Juanita mentioned in our
episode at our show notes atecommercemadeeasypodcastcom
forward slash 105.
Again, that'secommercemadeeasypodcastcom
forward slash 105.
I hope one of these words todaygave you that little spark to
(50:00):
just get started and own yourawesome.
Whether you're gearing up for akeynote or simply sharing your
story on a podcast or live video, your voice matters more than
you think and if this episoderesonated with you, hit that
follow button and make sure torate and review us on your
favorite podcast players, suchas Apple podcasts, so you don't
miss out on upcoming interviewsand episodes designed to grow
(50:23):
your online business, and weappreciate you joining us and we
will see you next week.
Public speaking may not be the first thing you think
of when you think of strategiesto grow your online business,
but today's episode is going toinspire you to step into your
voice and share your messagewith confidence Whether you're a
seasoned speaker or the thoughtof a mic makes your palms sweat
.
And we talk about how you cangrow your online business
(00:21):
through speaking.
Grow your online businessthrough speaking.
Today, I'm joined by JuanitaWheeler, a powerhouse in the
world of public speaking.
As CEO of TEDx Brisbane andfounder of Full and Frank,
juanita brings deep insight intowhat it takes to become a
compelling, confident speaker.
Whether you want to land moreclients, grow your authority or
(00:41):
build real trust with youraudience, public speaking can be
one of the most powerful toolsin your business toolkit, and
today, juanita is here to showus how.
If you've ever wondered what tosay, where to start or whether
you're even good enough to speak, this episode is for you.
Welcome to the eCommerce MadeEasy podcast.
I'm your host, keri Saunders.
(01:02):
When we started this business,all I had was a couch, a laptop
and a nine-month-old my maingoal To help others.
Now, with over 20 years in theecommerce building industry and
even more than that in webdevelopment, I have seen a lot.
I love breaking down the hardtech into easily understandable
bits to help others besuccessful in their online
business.
Whether you're a seasonede-commerce veteran or just
(01:24):
starting out, you've come to theright place.
So sit back, relax and let'sdive into the world of
e-commerce together.
Welcome back to the show.
Today we have a special guest,and her name is Juanita Wheeler.
She has coached over 100 TEDxspeakers, in addition to CEOs,
entrepreneurs, authors,researchers and change makers to
(01:44):
deliver presentations that areworthy of their great ideas and
help businesses grow as well.
So welcome to our podcast today, juanita.
I'm so glad to have you on here.
Speaker 2 (01:55):
Thank you so much for having me.
I'm really excited to be here.
Speaker 1 (01:59):
So I gave a little brief introduction of who you
are, but I know there's a lotmore to Juanita Wheeler.
So, in your own words, let usknow a little bit more about
Juanita and how you came to youknow being a speaking coach and
just anything else you want totell us about you.
Speaker 2 (02:15):
Well, I came to being a speaking coach because I am a
screaming introvert and publicspeaking does not come naturally
to me it certainly didn't, andso my preferred format was in
writing.
I wanted to persuade people inwriting all the time, and then I
found myself professionally insituations where I had to accept
(02:37):
not everybody likes to readcomprehensive proposals and
decisions aren't always madethrough documents.
Quite often, you know,decisions are made not in the
boardrooms but around watercoolers, as people will make
compelling arguments, whichannoyed me.
But you know, I got to thepoint where I was, you know,
whinged about that for a littlebit and then realized that
(02:58):
wasn't doing me any favors.
So I decided that I would,despite it not feeling
comfortable for me to do, if Icared about my ideas, if I cared
about my business, if I caredabout my career, then this was
something I was going to have tolearn to do and step outside my
comfort zone.
I knew that the type of publicspeaking I wanted to do which,
(03:20):
by the way, if you step outsideof your house, you're public,
and speaking in public, you'republic speaking.
So it's not preserved just tostages.
So if anyone says, you know, ohmy gosh, I'd never public speak
.
I'm like do you talk whileyou're in public, outside your
house?
You're public speaking.
Let's just learn how to step itup a little bit so you can also
(03:43):
do it in discussions with yourboss or with your team, or in
pitch meetings or on stages, orwith your team or in pitch
meetings or on stages.
So the type of speaking I knewI didn't want to do was that
dramatic monologue glee clubspeaking.
You know all arms.
It's not a dramatic monologuethat I was interested in.
I'm not looking to be aShakespearean, you know theatre
performer.
I wanted to do persuasivespeaking, speaking that results
(04:03):
in somebody saying yes to myidea or my plan or my proposal
or to buying a product or aservice or investing in my
company, whatever it was at thetime.
And so, being a screaming geekand nerd, I dove into all the
neuroscience I could find.
So I was looking into studiesabout neuroscience,
neuroeconomics, the science ofdecision-making, behavioral
(04:25):
psychology, advertising politicsanything I could find about
what makes people go fromhearing a message to truly
listening, taking it on board,being persuaded and saying yes.
And so then I applied that as aguinea pig to myself.
At the time.
I had different roles, but oneof which was working in a
(04:46):
multinational based out of Texas, and I just kept finding that
my ideas, if I wasn't preparedto stand up for meetings and
champion them, then they weren'tbeing heard.
So I used myself as a guineapig.
It started working, and thenother people would come to me
and say, can you teach me how todo that?
And so I was doing itinternally while still in
(05:09):
working in corporate, and then,about 12 years ago, I decided to
go and start my own company,which is called Full and Frank,
because I am and that's morecatchy than comprehensive, but
blunt, which would be the otherway to describe my style and so
(05:33):
now that's what I'm driven to doAlong the way.
I also started.
I was a TEDx speaker myself anda volunteer, and then I started
running TEDx Brisbane here inAustralia.
So all of these things cametogether, and so now I'm just
dedicated.
You know the reason I do what Ido, and my purpose is to help
other people who have greatideas, great research, great
products, great services, greatbusinesses that they're looking
(05:56):
to champion, to learn how toarticulate that and present it
in a persuasive way that getstheir target audience to say yes
to whatever their strategicobjective is.
Speaker 1 (06:08):
Wow, like that is just like I just can't even
believe, like everything yousaid there that is so useful,
and like it's just you kind ofblew my mind there, juanita,
because I hadn't really thoughtabout needing to learn how to do
public speaking in in a facetlike that in your job, talking
(06:30):
to your boss.
You know doing sales, you knowtalking to your customers.
I mean I know we do a lot about.
You know how do you communicatewith your customers verbally or
not verbally, but in writtenform on a website.
But to be able to do it in averbal form, I mean it makes
total sense, of course, becauseyou know you do need that
neuroscience behind it.
You do need the strategies andthe techniques and the steps you
(06:53):
know to follow to make yourwhat you're saying persuasive.
But I hadn't really put it alltogether quite like that.
I just I love how you reallyput that together and made it
such a valuable, useful tool forbusiness owners and I love how
you're sharing your knowledgewith others.
Speaker 2 (07:11):
I think that's just perfect and an underutilized, I
feel like skill that a lot ofbusiness owners aren't learning
or using 100 percent, which andI understand why because, like I
say, that was the last thing Iwanted to do, but reluctantly
and begrudgingly I had to get tothe point where I realized this
(07:33):
is not an optional skill.
If you are serious about beingheard, about building your
personal brand, aboutchampioning your company or your
products or your services, ortrying to get distribution deals
, or trying to get your productinto a department, your services
, or trying to get distributiondeals, or trying to get your
product into a department store,or trying to get investors all
of these things you need to beout there championing your ideas
(07:53):
.
And that's going to requirepersuasive speaking, whether you
like it or not.
But don't panic, it is notsomething.
You were not born a goodspeaker.
You know there's thismisconception out there that
some people are just born goodspeakers and some people aren't.
That's complete rubbish.
It is a skill.
It is a skill just like anyother skill.
(08:14):
It's like plumbing.
If you wanted to be a plumber, Iwould go and find the best
plumber I could to teach meexactly how to do it like a
master, and then I wouldpractice and practice and I'd
get it wrong a few times andthen I'd practice some more
until I got really, really good,and that is how I would learn
to be a really great plumber.
And public speaking is just thesame.
(08:34):
I think the only really bigdifference is the fear that's
associated with public speaking,and so that really holds people
back, and there are a wholerange of reasons, but the most
important takeaway is and I'mbiased full disclosure.
But public speaking is one ofthe best ways to grow your
(08:56):
business.
For a range of reasons, and Ican talk a bit about those, but
we're not doing it.
The vast majority of people arenot out there championing
themselves and their businessthrough public speaking, and yet
it is one of the best ways toestablish yourself as a leader
in that field, as a knowledgeexpert, as somebody who should
(09:17):
be the first person people thinkof whenever they think about
what your business or yourcompany, the field in which you
work.
And yet the vast majority ofpeople aren't doing it.
Speaker 1 (09:29):
So then, playing off of that, then how can could you
give us some examples?
How can public speaking help usgrow our online businesses?
Because we have a lot of onlinebusiness entrepreneurs that
listen and traditionale-commerce listeners.
So how can they use this skilland grow it?
Because it's certainly notsomething you normally hear
about.
So I feel like, for a lot ofpeople listening, this is going
(09:51):
to be a new concept to them.
So how do you go about doingthat?
Speaker 2 (09:57):
So first of all, I will put a link in the show
notes because there are a coupleof free guides on my page that
I think will really help people.
One is how to get started inpublic speaking and the other
one is how to grow your businesswith public speaking.
That talks exactly about allthe ways in which you can do it.
But to give you a couple ofexamples of how this works
really well, first of all, ifyou are smart and strategic
(10:21):
about where you speak, then youget a pool of target audience,
of your ideal target audience,your ideal customer avatar, in a
particular room that you didn'thave to organize.
So if I go and speak at aconference and these are my
people and I've done my researchyou know and I know exactly
where they are.
So a lot of people talk aboutyou know I'm doing these great,
(10:45):
you know lookalike audiences andmy social media advertising is
all extremely targeted.
And then I will say to themgreat, what are the major
conferences and events that yourtarget audience attend each
year?
And they don't know the answerand I'm like, hmm, somebody else
who is not you is marketing tothose people, is selling them
(11:06):
tickets, is bringing themtogether, is organizing their
accommodation, dealing withtheir dietary requirements and
bringing them all into the sameroom.
So, instead of pitching to oneperson or 10 people, if you get
to speak to someone somewherewhere there's 50 or 100 or 1,000
people in a room, you'veimmediately dramatically
increased the number of peoplein your target audience that you
(11:28):
are speaking to from a stage.
So, first of all, scale is oneof the immediate values getting
those people in the room and youdidn't have to deal with the
drama of getting them there.
Secondly, anytime somebodyinvites you to step on a stage
and talk about what your area ofexpertise is, they are
(11:49):
immediately elevating yourstatus as an expert in that
field.
And the more reputable theorganization is that's hosting
that event assuming it's not you, because then it doesn't really
work but if it's the peakindustry body or somebody who is
incredibly reputable, when theyput you up on that stage, you
know the peak industry body orsomebody who is incredibly
reputable.
When they put you up on thatstage, then everyone in the
audience goes oh, this person isincredibly credible, they
(12:13):
absolutely have expert status,because they wouldn't have put
him or her on that stageotherwise.
And there are many, manyreasons.
But the other great thing isthat when you get up and you get
the opportunity to championyour ideas and, by the way, if
you think about public speakingas selling, it's not going to
work you immediately have toreframe and think of public
(12:36):
speaking as serving.
It's a chance to serve youraudience and then they will, as
they say, know, like and trustyou, your audience, and then
they will, as they say, know,like and trust you.
Give them something of value,show them you, understand them,
show them your expertise, givethem a taste of it.
And then everyone in that room,the next time they need X, y, z
services, the first personthey're going to think of is the
(12:59):
person who another entity hadsaid was an expert, put up on a
stage and helped them.
Speaker 1 (13:08):
I love that.
That totally makes sense.
And like, as you were speaking,I realized I accidentally did
this earlier this year.
I actually spoke at an adsummit and it gained me so many
like newsletter, new newslettersubscribers and new people into
my Facebook group.
I was a bit blown away.
I didn't really expect it andthey stayed.
Like that was like the moreshocking thing.
(13:29):
You know, I had like 50 or 80people join my newsletter list
and I kept an eye on the numbersand majority of them did not
leave my newsletter.
You know, after you know theevent was over and so I think
those the listing I think youknow think about outside the box
kind of like I accidentally didearlier this year.
I spoke at an ad summit and formine it was a bit it could be a
(13:53):
and you can talk to this too,anita, but for mine it was a
pre-recorded one and it wasvirtual.
So that's kind of a bit maybeeasier way, cause I know some
people have a fear of speakingand we'll talk about that next,
but you know that might be agood way to get your feet wet.
If you're a bit afraid of doingit live, you could do a
prerecorded virtual summit LikeI did.
(14:15):
What do you think about that,especially for people?
I know some people get soafraid of speaking in public.
I still get nervous sometimes,even though I've done that a lot
, for you know, in my career andin my schooling, with being an
engineer, we would get up andtalk a lot about our projects
and stuff.
So what, how do you help peoplecome over the fear of public
speaking and do you think thinksomething like I did, where it's
(14:38):
a virtual prerecorded, might bea good first step?
Or or do you think they justshould dive right in and just go
ahead and do a live type ofevent?
Speaker 2 (14:47):
They're both really good questions.
First of all, in terms of fear,I think there's something that
we really need to just call outstraight away.
People assume that fear ofpublic speaking is bad.
Fear is just completely normal.
So if you're you know, they sayglossophobia, which is the fear
of public speaking.
Experts say up to 75% of thepopulation have some level of
(15:11):
glossophobia, so you're in goodcompany.
But I think the important thingis to know fear of getting up
and speaking in front of peopleis absolutely normal.
Fear to me, what you don't want.
You don't want paralyzing fear.
You don't want fear to thelevel where it incapacitates
your ability to do it.
That's not what we're talkingabout.
(15:31):
We want to get rid of that.
But healthy nerves, which ishow I frame it healthy nerves is
a good thing.
Healthy nerves is natural.
Healthy nerves says I careabout this issue and I want to
do a good job.
Healthy nerves says Iunderstand the importance of me
(15:52):
speaking and what potentiallywill come of it.
Healthy Nerves says I respectthe audience and I want to do a
good job for them.
And Healthy Nerves says I careabout this topic when people.
I am far more concerned andoften don't work with speakers
if they tell me I have no fearor no nerves about public
(16:13):
speaking, because what that saysto me is you're not, you know,
dialed in to making sure youdeliver for that audience.
You are no longer excited aboutthe work you do and you are
just dialing it in.
You know, the opposite of fearis complacency.
So that's what I find far moreworrying in potential speakers.
(16:35):
So if you have fear first ofall, totally normal, and we'll
talk about, like, the differentstages of fear in a second but
completely normal but what youwant to do is make sure you
transition that from you know,paralyzing fear if you have that
to healthy nerves, which isvery, very good.
It can help you, you know, geta jolt of you have that to
healthy nerves, which is a very,very good.
It can help you, you know, geta jolt of adrenaline before you
walk on the stage.
(16:56):
It helps you, you know, do agood job.
It means that you care and italso can help give you that
shove to do the preparation thatyou should and that your
audience deserves prior to goingand speaking.
So, just in terms of fear,that's a really important
preface.
There are lots of different waysthat you can tackle fear, which
(17:17):
, again, perfectly normal.
But some of the things.
The first thing is you've gotto own the fear.
People say I have a fear ofpublic speaking and I try to
shut that down as soon ashumanly possible when I'm
working with clients or TEDxspeakers.
Speakers, because the fear isnot of public speaking that's a
really vague term and it justwhen people say that.
It sounds like it's final, itsounds like it's forever, it
(17:41):
sounds like it's absolute and itsounds like it can never be
changed.
And none of those things aretrue.
Typically, when people saythey're afraid of public
speaking, they're not reallyafraid of public speaking.
They're afraid of what willcome as a result of them public
speaking.
So you know some really commonones.
I usually I have 10 that I mostcommonly see in people.
(18:03):
I won't go through all of thembut for example, there's, you
know, imposter fear which is I'mnot good enough to be here, and
that is actually not a fault ofyou.
The actual original researchyou might be really familiar
with.
This was done by a couple oftwo fabulous researchers who
(18:23):
these women were investigatingwhy women, more so than men, who
were extremely high performing,didn't think they were good
enough and kept downplayingtheir achievements.
And it was called imposterphenomena is how they labelled
it, and that's really important,because the reason they chose
phenomenon and not impostersyndrome is A it's not a
(18:43):
psychological condition.
And B the problem is not you,the problem is society.
The problem is that society hasput all these pressures on you
since before you could talk infull sentences, saying don't
speak unless you're spoken to.
You know children should beseen and not heard.
Don't take up space, don'tinterrupt.
You know be smaller, take upless space.
(19:04):
None of these things say jumpup on a stage and share your
ideas.
So you know it's reallyimportant to own your fear, but
to understand that's.
You know, imposter fear.
You've got people who are afraidthat they are going to be
exposed as a fraud.
You know people are going tofind out I'm a fraud People.
You've got people who havecredibility fear in that they
(19:26):
have spent 10, 20, 30 yearsbuilding up this credibility in
the industry and they're worriedthat if they get up and make a
mistake, that they're going tolose all of their credibility
with one mistake.
So you know their fear isn'tpublic speaking, their fear is
losing their credibility.
You've got people who areafraid of being judged based on
a whole range of factors.
They don't like how they look.
(19:46):
You know they're not currentlyhappy with their appearance.
So many people I understandI've been there and they're
worried they're going to bejudged about it or people will
be cruel.
The trolls online are going togo to town.
You've got people who arelegitimately afraid of success,
and they have success fear likewhat if this goes really really
(20:06):
well?
And I'm just not ready for whatcomes next?
I'm not sure I want my life tochange really well and I'm just
not ready for what comes next.
I'm not sure I want my life tochange.
You've got people who have, youknow, fear that the opportunity
fear which is, you know it'slike eight mile M&M.
You know I only get one shotever, and so do I really want to
blow my one shot on thisparticular thing if I'm not
ready?
And that's not true.
(20:27):
There's not only ever one shot,but there.
So there are all thesedifferent types of fear.
You're not afraid of publicspeaking.
No one I have met or workedwith has ever.
Really, when we get into it,are they afraid of public
speaking?
They're afraid of somethingelse that public speaking might
potentially expose and once wego through it, work through it,
name it and then we go.
(20:48):
Excellent, there are strategiesfor all of these things that we
can work on.
So, for example, someone whosays and I get them to do like
we do a spreadsheet, I'm a nerdand we have two columns and one
is okay.
What are you legitimately, veryspecifically afraid of?
And then what are you going todo to minimize that happening?
(21:08):
So, someone who has credibilityfear.
They're worried, they're goingto blow their credibility with a
single line or an error.
I'm like great Not great thatyou have fear, but great that
we're now enabling it.
And they might say I'm worried,I'm going to use an incorrect
reference or a piece offactually incorrect information
and then all my credibility willbe blown.
I'm like great, col, know,column one, use an incorrect
(21:31):
source or an incorrect piece ofdata and lose my credibility.
Okay.
I'm like great and column twowhat actively are we going to do
with the time we have betweennow and then?
It's, you know, 40 days away.
You can get up half an hourearly or an hour early every day
and make this work.
What are we building in?
We're going to fact, check thisout, the wazoo.
You're not going to use areference unless you've got two
(21:52):
peer reviewed source referencedata.
You're going to also give it topeople who you trust in the
industry to also double checkyou.
Cool, now we have a plan, so wedon't have to, like, have this
vague thing permeating our brainwhenever it wants to walk in,
you know, inciting fear aboutthe public speaking.
No, no, now you have a plan,you're in charge.
(22:20):
So, yes, fear you can.
You can overcome it, you know.
You need to know what you'reafraid of.
Then we need to formulate aplan and then we need to put it
into action.
And in terms of your secondquestion about you know, is a
recording a good place to starta pre-recorded thing?
Absolutely.
There are a variety of things,you know.
I talk about mindset shifts asa real starting point for if
(22:40):
you're going to do publicspeaking.
And the first one is no inanefear, like really like we just
talked about.
But one of the others is letthem, you know if you're worried
that people are going to judgeyou.
Just you know, let them is.
Let them, you know, if you'reworried that people are going to
judge you, just you know, letthem.
Let them do that and do itanyway.
But there are some things youcan do that are going to help
you make you more comfortable.
(23:01):
If you're just not there yet,you know one of which don't get
a really great outfit.
You know, just one that makesyou feel good.
You know, and for some of uswho you know, that's going to
mean a horrendous trip to theshops and you know bad lighting
and, in your face, mirrors.
But you know, if you can findone outfit that makes you feel
good, then that's going to help.
Podcasting is a great way tostart if you are really, really
(23:25):
nervous, because, particularlyif you're concerned about how
you look or you're worried aboutbeing in front of an audience,
you're not there yet.
You know, because that's a verypersonal journey.
Start with audio only podcasts.
They don't even have to see you, but you can practice
articulating your message.
Then step up to video podcasts.
I mean, we get to record, weget to decide our lighting, what
(23:48):
we wear, and you get to do itin comfortable pants, which is
also a bonus.
So you know, choose that.
And doing pre-records for aconference is exactly the same.
You get to do your publicspeaking.
You're honing your message.
It's not out there in publicyet.
That's going to be your goal,but you're just if you're not
there yet.
(24:08):
This is a really great way tostart honing your message and
then work on the steps that youneed to take to feel comfortable
getting there.
And I think the other thing onthat journey is to know if
you're uncomfortable, don't haveyour first thing necessarily
going and speaking on a stage infront of 400 people.
You know, start some smallthings.
Ask your boss.
(24:28):
Hey, can I present a 10-minuteworkshop or a 10-minute update
or a five-minute update at thenext staff meeting?
There's lots of small littlethings that you can do.
Or can I talk at the nextparents and citizens meeting or
my next, you know, mum and totsgroup about a particular topic?
(24:50):
You know, create opportunitiesto start speaking small and then
grow the size of the audienceand also the importance of the
topic as you feel more and morecomfortable.
Speaker 1 (25:03):
Well, and so you really broke it down there and I
, as you're talking, I couldtotally visualize, okay, what
would be my fear in talking infront of people and how do I,
you know, overcome that.
And so I love how you reallybreak that down for people who
work with you, because I feellike that's so important and so
empowering for them to have, youknow, a real solution that they
(25:27):
can use to feel morecomfortable and feel more
confident and just know thatthey can get it done and can do
it.
So I love how you nerd outthere because I'm a total nerd
too, as I know, you know, andI'm actually a total introvert
too.
So we're kind of pretty similarthere, although I can be
extroverted sometimes but I lovehow you really look at your
(25:49):
client's perspective and look atthe person you know trying to
learn how to speak more and andpull, pulls apart a little bit
about their brain and and howtheir brain works, so that you
can help them, you know,accomplish this wonderful goal
and get past those fears.
Speaker 2 (26:06):
Yes, I think it's really interesting because I'm
all about evidence-based.
So you know everythingevidence-based and I'm like
there has to be a formula, therehas to be a framework that will
work and I'm going to test iton me and then, you know, as it
turns out, help others with it.
But in the original, when I wasfirst doing it, I was looking
at persuasion techniques andstrategies and articulating the
(26:29):
argument, and all of that isincredibly important If you, you
know what you actually writeand then say, so the actual
persuasive arguments that youmake, understanding your
audience where are they?
What do they need?
How can you help them and thenarticulating that in a way that
is clear and compelling, whilealso making them care and being
(26:49):
authentic, is incrediblyimportant.
What I didn't realize when Ifirst started doing this work
was one of the things you knowwhen we're talking about fear
and we're talking about all thishesitancy speaking is I tell my
clients and the people I workwith okay, we need to start with
owning your awesome, becauseyou have awesome.
That's why you're going tospeak.
(27:10):
You don't have to be awesome.
Everything doesn't have to beperfect, but here, in this
particular aspect of your lifeand the thing that you do, and
you do extraordinarily well.
You are awesome in terms of youinspire awe.
People see what you're doingand think, oh my gosh, I wish I
could do that in that way.
I wish I had that skill.
(27:30):
So, you know, in the literarysense, you inspire awe.
And what shocked me was that assoon as I did this work with
people which was not how Istarted it, you know, took me
years to realize okay, this isactually a really a personal and
professional development has tohappen first, before we can get
(27:51):
into the technicals of this ishow you write a speech.
You know, that's like you know,six steps down the road, but
everything gets easier.
They are much better at writingspeeches, they are much better
at finding their voice and theyare much better at memorizing,
presenting the stagecraft toolsthat we teach them.
(28:12):
If they can get over this veryfirst step of owning their
awesome, which is all aboutaddressing their fears, naming
it, changing their mindset,understanding that when you step
on a stage or when you step upin a boardroom or when you speak
to your boss, it's not actuallyabout you, it's about the
audience.
What do you need them to say?
(28:32):
Yes, to Get into their head,think about.
What are they thinking?
What do they need to hear to bepersuaded?
And as soon as you startrealizing that it's about
serving them and helping getthem to yes, you become far more
confident because it's not allfocused on you.
And I always say look, Iapologize to the narcissists in
(28:53):
the room who think that publicspeaking is all about them but
it's not Persuasive.
Speaking done well is all aboutserving your audience and
getting to that yes, and thattakes off a lot of pressure.
But everything about publicspeaking becomes easier if you
do that work at the beginning toreally understand what is
(29:13):
holding you back from doing it,because it is one of the
hands-down best ways to growyour business, build your
personal brand and champion yourideas.
So why aren't you doing it?
And for far too many people,you know, one of the fears that
holds them back is fear of thehaters, and I'm like you.
Just, you just have to let themhate and do it anyway, because
(29:35):
they don't get a vote, theydon't get to hold you back from
being the absolute best personthat you can be, from growing
your business as robustly, asquickly, as fabulously as you
possibly can, because the hatersare holding you back.
Nope, they don't get a vote.
Speaker 1 (29:59):
It's not okay.
So I love your owning, yourawesome.
I think we need to make a quote, a social media quote, out of
that one.
I just love that little phraseyou came up with of owning your
awesome.
Speaker 2 (30:06):
That might be a book title and I might have it on
mugs.
Speaker 1 (30:09):
Oh, but really that's awesome.
I didn't realize that.
Yeah, so that's awesome, so,like and I use, actually use the
word awesome myself, so I findit funny.
So when somebody is ready toown their awesome, how about
let's go there?
You know, how do they know whatthey should be talking about?
Speaker 2 (30:28):
Yes, that's a really, really great question.
Actually, I get it a lot.
I have a workshop coming upcalling how to Find your Big
Idea, because I get thisquestion so much and there are
lots of different ways to do it.
But typically, when I sit downand talk to people, some of the
first things that we'll talkabout is what do people come to
(30:49):
you and ask you about?
Whether that's your sister,your brother-in-law, a friend,
somebody at the local school,people will be asking you about
how did you do this?
Or what you know, and maybeit's in a professional setting,
it might be in a personalsetting, but people will say, oh
nothing, no one ever asked meabout anything.
And you actually, you know,apply a little full and frank,
(31:12):
tough love and we keep asking.
I'm like, well, I've had a lookat your stuff and this is what
I see that you are particularlygood at, and this is what I've
seen people ask you about onsocial media, or this is what
you know I've seen you writepapers about, or you know it's
amazing how belittlingparticularly are of their, of
(31:35):
their, their value and theirexperience.
There's a an amazing first ofall, the dunning-kruger effect.
If you don't know about this.
It was a really interestingstudy that said people who are
really un incompetent they arenot good at all, they think
they're great, they think theyare absolutely fabulous and yet
people who are really competentand highly talented they have a
(31:59):
very solid understanding ofexactly how much there is to
know in the world, how muchthere is to know in their
particular area of expertise,and so they think they're really
ordinary, they think they'renot competent, and actually the
reverse is true.
If you're the person thinking Idon't know enough about this,
chances are that's an indicationthat you're smart enough to
(32:19):
know how big a scope that topicis and you actually probably are
almost certainly the person whoshould be speaking.
It's the people who are like ohmy gosh, I've got this, I know
everything about this topic thatare the concern, and that's
done in Kruger.
So that's one of the thingsthat holds people back.
So naming that and knowing thatis good.
There's also another study thatwas recently done here in
(32:44):
Australia, but it replicatesstudies that have been done
overseas by Dr David Riley whichyou're all going to have a
heart attack and die when I tellyou this but showed that when
they explained to a group ofpeople how IQs work and gave
them the stratification oftypically who falls into which
IQ bracket, and then theyactually gave each of them
individually an IQ test andasked them separately to giving
(33:06):
them the results.
What they estimated their IQwas Shocker.
Men dramatically overestimatetheir IQ compared to their own
individual IQ actual and womendramatically significantly
underestimated their IQ based onthat and we see this
consistently throughout things.
So women are far more likely todownplay that they have an idea
(33:28):
that is worth sharing, but theydo.
I am yet to work with someoneor have someone come through my
door that we do not find here.
Is your idea worth spreadingbecause you have one?
I was talking to a woman alittle while ago and you will
hear things like I'm nobody,which hurts my soul every time
it happens because it's not true, or I have nothing but I'd
(33:51):
really like to speak, or I thinkI have 27 ideas and what is my
one?
That's really quite common.
But there was this one woman Ispoke to and it's just stuck
with me, and she was Americanand she said you know, I don't,
I didn't finish school, I don'thave any qualifications, I have
nothing, but I've gone out andI've started my own business
(34:13):
where I am coaching people howto get out of financial debt and
fix their finance scores.
And she's like but I just don'tknow, I feel like an imposter,
I don't feel like I have anycredibility.
And then I talked to her for awhile and asked her questions.
And you know, in truth, thewoman had been working in the
(34:33):
sector on the other side, withdebt collectors for 20 years.
So, you know, by the end of itI'm like cool.
So you're telling me you have20 years' worth of experience on
the dark side of debtcollection and you know all of
the secrets that they don't wantpeople to know.
And so now you've come acrossthe light side and you're
helping people, using all ofyour 20 years of knowledge,
(34:55):
wisdom and experience to helpthem get themselves out of debt.
And she's like oh, like, yes,then that's your great idea.
You might have 20 others, butat this point in time, because
you don't have only one greatbig idea in your life, most
people don't, most people willhave several, but at that
(35:15):
particular time, you know herfriends, her family were asking
her hey, you know, hey, you know, I'm having a little problem
with debt or my credit score.
Have you got any tips and shehad heaps of tips.
So that's one way.
Is A what do people ask youabout?
(35:36):
B what is something that youknow?
If I lined up 10 people in arow that would be different
about you and your experiencethat you could add value to to
somebody in need?
And three, what are youpassionate about that you would
like to help and you also haveexpertise in that area in some
form, and that expertise doesn'thave to be three degrees.
(35:57):
You know my family laughs aboutme liking to collect degrees as
my hobby.
I've got three masters, but youdo not have to have degrees.
You know you might have livedexperience.
You know people who have caredfor elders.
You know with degenerativeillnesses, or people who have
lived experience.
You know people who have caredfor elders, you know with
degenerative illnesses, orpeople who have lived in five
different countries and haveexperiences being multilingual
(36:20):
and living overseas, or peoplewho can cook an amazing vegan,
whatever.
These are all experiences andskills and qualifications they
have that they could share.
It doesn't have to be degreeson the wall.
Speaker 1 (36:35):
I think that you gave quite a few really good nuggets
and reminders in there too forus listeners and even myself and
I can even think of some of myfriends and my business friends
that really need that reminderthat there is something in you
that you're really great at andyou don't have to have a degree
for it.
You don't have to have X, y orZ certifications or anything.
(36:58):
You just have to haveexperience and passion for it,
and I think that's a greatreminder for us, for you know,
what can we speak about?
You know what are.
What are you passionate about?
What are you know?
What do people ask you?
I just love that how you remindpeople and lift people up,
because we need that, and I feellike it's really easy in
society, especially for women,to get minimized and to get, you
(37:22):
know, told we're not as smartand we, you know, shouldn't be
speaking up and things like that.
So I just I love how you'rejust so supportive of others, no
matter their gender, but alsoespecially of women, who are in
our typical society.
You know is told we're not assmart, we're not as bright,
we're not as successful.
So I just love how that you useyour job to help others, you
(37:45):
know feel good about themselves,and in a healthy way.
Speaker 2 (37:50):
Thank you so much and I think you know I'm a great
example of exactly what I justsaid, in that you know I've come
from.
You know I've previously workedin biotech and I've worked in
other leadership roles and I'veworked in nonprofits.
But when I got to the pointwhere I said, well, you know,
what should I be focusing on,and then thought, you know,
(38:10):
applied to myself, what arepeople most asking me about?
You know, what does it make mehappy when I lay my head on the
pillow at the end of the day andI feel like I did a really good
job and it was helping otherpeople find in themselves what
is their big idea and then beingable to champion it in a way
that was strategic andpersuasive, because otherwise
you're just flapping your gums.
(38:30):
I'm not interested in flappingyour gum.
Public speaking I'm interestedin and you know people go.
I'm like how did it go?
And you know I talk to people.
They go, I'm a great publicspeaker.
People always applaud at theend and tell me I did a good job
.
I'm like, yeah, I don't reallycare about that.
Did they say what was yourstrategic objective?
Like were, were you looking toadd people to your funnel Like
what did you want them to sayyes to?
(38:52):
And did they?
Because that's the successmetric I care about.
So when I worked out, well, whatam I going to focus on?
What am I going to go out thereand speak on?
What is my big idea?
And there were so many things Icould have done my TEDx talk
from a decade ago it has nothingto do with this.
It has with what I was workingon at the time, which was, you
(39:15):
know, funding models fornonprofits.
But if you ask me today what ismy big idea, well, my big idea
is all about how to help everysingle person find out what is
their big idea that could maketheir neighborhood, their
community, their industry or theworld better, and how to help
them champion that idea, whetherthat's big or small.
(39:36):
Because you know, oh my gosh,even when I approach people to
give TEDx talks for my eventpredominantly, overwhelmingly,
women and I will say and, by theway, we've watched them for two
or three years and readeverything they've ever written
before we approach people, wehave a very serious vetting
process and then I will reachout to somebody and invariably
(39:57):
50% will say, oh my gosh, I'vealways wanted to give a TEDx
talk, I'm so excited.
But 50% will say I think you'veemailed me by mistake and I
haven't.
And overwhelmingly they're thewomen, not all, but
overwhelmingly.
And when you go and speak tothem, for example, someone will
say you know, I think this isand I'm like, well, my
(40:20):
understanding of what you'redoing.
This is somebody who runs amedical innovation.
I'm like I understand that youfound an extract of an
Australian native plant that inyour lab, if you introduce it to
mammalian cells that have theZika virus in the lab setting,
it's killing 100% of the Zikavirus without any damage to the
cells.
It's not in human trials yet,but if it happens and it works,
(40:43):
then there's not going to be anymore birth defects around the
world for kids with Zika.
And she's like yes, I'm likeyou know what?
Yes, you are the person that Iwanted to speak to.
By the way, you need to come andspeak on my stage.
But you know, people seem tothink you have to either have
cured cancer, gone to Mars ordone something incredible.
(41:04):
You know that no human hasactually achieved.
There is no human who's tickedthose boxes.
But that seems to be the metricof what people think, and
predominantly women, unless I'vedone one of those things I have
no awesome to share which is sowrong but yet so prolific.
(41:25):
So you know that's my purpose.
My purpose is to use all theskills that I have to ensure
that people understand publicspeaking is an amazing tool that
you should be using to spreadyour ideas and grow your
business and make things happenand establish yourself so
everyone knows you're an expertand hears your voice, to help
(41:46):
them overcome their fears andchannel it into healthy nerves
so they can be absolutelyfantastic and make compelling
arguments, and to totally changethe way that they champion and
speak about their ideas, notjust on one stage, on one day,
but going forward, for the restof the career and the rest of
their life, so they never, everfeel this diminutive or
(42:11):
self-doubting way ever again.
Speaker 1 (42:15):
So after listening to you, I feel personally more
empowered and more compelled topursue this and to do this more
myself, and I can totally seethe value in it, and I'm hoping
our listeners too are feelingthis from your passion and your
energy behind.
You know everything that you do.
So if somebody is listening andthey want to get started on
(42:38):
public speaking in some formatand you know whatever that might
be comfortable for them tostart off with, how, how should
they get started?
What are the first few stepsthey should do to get started on
that journey?
Speaker 2 (42:50):
Well, I think there's think there's a couple of
guides that are going to helpthem.
It will really walk themstep-by-step through starting.
So if they're interested, theycan find that at fullandfrankcom
forward slash tools.
There are some free tools there.
Just grab them.
They're very good.
They're the things I wishsomebody had told me 20 years
ago.
But the thing you need to do tostart is, if you're just going
(43:13):
to start with one thing likegrab out some pen and paper,
find yourself some quiet timeand just really ask yourself
what are you afraid of?
You haven't been doing this.
You haven't been out therepublic speaking to champion your
business, your products, yourservices, your ideas, what is
holding you back?
What you know?
Because we hate that guy, thatguy in your head who tells you
(43:35):
you're not good enough or thereare reasons not to do that.
You know, beep, that guy we'renot.
He has no place here.
So write down what are youactually fearful about and then
own it and then go.
Excellent, there are things.
What can you do to stop thathappening?
So you know, is it that youdon't feel you're worried that
(43:57):
you're not going to be able tomemorize it?
There are totally things youcan do to help you memorize.
Are you afraid that you knowyou're going to be exposed as a
fraud?
Well, let's you know, talkabout all the things you know.
Or you know you sit withyourself like all the things you
know.
Or you know you sit withyourself like how many things
you know.
What do you know that somebodycould, that it would make a
(44:17):
difference to somebody, and Ithink, like so, write down what
you're actually afraid of.
Just naming it has incrediblepower, because you're not afraid
of public speaking.
You're afraid of what thatmight, you know, result in.
And then I think the otherthing to do is you have to
completely change your focusabout public speaking being
(44:39):
about you, because it's not.
I want you to sit down and writedown who would benefit from
your big idea today if you toldthem and your big idea, by the
way, might be just somethingthat saves somebody 10 minutes
in the morning when they'remaking their kids' lunches, but
that's 10 minutes every day forthe rest of while their kids are
at home.
It doesn't have to be curingcancer, it doesn't have to be
(45:01):
going to Mars.
Who needs to hear your idea andhow is it going to make their
life better?
And then if you do have an ideaand you do or an experience or
a piece of knowledge that couldhelp somebody in this world and
it's going to make their day,their week, their life better,
then don't you have anobligation to share that with
(45:25):
them?
And given that you do, isn't itworth it to put in the work to
A get that information to them,which has the completely
fabulous by-product of helpingto establish you as an expert
and grow your business?
Speaker 1 (45:45):
So, in summary, what I'm hearing you say is we are
speaking to serve others, and Ijust I love how you wrap that
all together is it's not aboutus, we're speaking to serve
others, and I just I love howyou wrap that all together is
it's not about us, we'respeaking to serve others?
Speaker 2 (45:58):
Absolutely.
We get the lovely by-product.
We will, at the same time,elevate our status as experts
and grow our businesses.
But speak to serve and I thinkyou know if there's one thing
that you absolutely, I finishwith every person when I do a
first initial consult.
We talk and every single timeit ends with you know two words
(46:20):
just start, just start.
Put all the excuses over here.
We're not, you know, we're notlistening to that guy.
Before somebody can convinceyou in the back of your brain of
all the reasons why youshouldn't do it, that guy, they
don't get a vote.
Just start, Start, small Startwith a podcast, Start with a
pre-record, Start with a teammeeting, five-minute briefing,
(46:43):
Whatever you have to do, butstart.
Speaker 1 (46:47):
I love that just start.
That's how I got, honestly, howI got started on the podcast.
We just celebrated two yearsjust a few days ago and I just
had to start because I had someof these fears I had.
I didn't really have fearsabout what strangers thought
about me.
I actually had more fears aboutwhat is my family and friends
who might listen to the podcastgoing to think about.
(47:08):
So it was more of that than Icould care less what a stranger
thinks about me personally.
I mean, obviously I want themto like me and get value out of
what I say on the podcast, butit has less emotional connection
than like your family andfriends, and so I completely
agree we just got to get startedand don't worry about that.
Speaker 2 (47:29):
No, and that's actually really common.
That people will care aboutfamily.
They'll care about colleagues.
No, and that's actually reallycommon, that people will care
about family.
They'll care about colleagues.
They'll care about colleaguesthinking they're uppity.
Sometimes, with our TEDxspeakers, we'll be booked and
once it's announced they'respeaking, they've actually had
colleagues come and say well,why on earth would they want you
to speak?
And then I have to sit themdown and remind them all the
reasons why we want them tospeak and why what they have is
(47:51):
value.
But yes, there's so manydifferent types of fears.
And the other is, you knowpeople are like well, what if I,
through this process, discoverthat my idea isn't as good as I
think it is?
Or you know what if I proveeverybody who said a bad thing
to me my entire life andunfortunately this is really
common People who have said topeople, often when they're
(48:21):
children or in inappropriate andcoercive domestic situations,
that they've said you're nobody,you don't speak correctly.
We have problems with peoplewho've had stutters, people
who've been told they're uglytheir whole lives, amazing
things, and we just we're goingto kick that to the curb and we
go through the process.
But the diversity of thereasons that people are held
back and aren't public speakingare incredibly diverse, because
(48:43):
no two human beings are exactlythe same way.
So any kind of cookie cutterapproach that says this is
exactly how every person shouldprogress through public speaking
it just doesn't work, becausepeople are diverse.
The reasons holding them backare diverse, but the reasons
that they should be out theredoing it and the brilliance of
their individual ideas are justas diverse.
(49:05):
So embrace it, just start Ownyour awesome and get out there
and start sharing it with thepeople who you can serve, who
will be valued by what you haveto say.
Speaker 1 (49:18):
I just love that, juanita, and I just hope that
you have greatly inspired thoselistening to our podcast to just
get started and serve.
So thank you so much for beingon our podcast today.
I thoroughly enjoyed ourconversation and learned so much
from you.
Speaker 2 (49:34):
Well, thank you so much for having me.
I truly appreciate it.
I love all the work you'redoing.
Speaker 1 (49:39):
Thank you, juanita.
So you can find all the linksthat Juanita mentioned in our
episode at our show notes atecommercemadeeasypodcastcom
forward slash 105.
Again, that'secommercemadeeasypodcastcom
forward slash 105.
I hope one of these words todaygave you that little spark to
(50:00):
just get started and own yourawesome.
Whether you're gearing up for akeynote or simply sharing your
story on a podcast or live video, your voice matters more than
you think and if this episoderesonated with you, hit that
follow button and make sure torate and review us on your
favorite podcast players, suchas Apple podcasts, so you don't
miss out on upcoming interviewsand episodes designed to grow
(50:23):
your online business, and weappreciate you joining us and we
will see you next week.
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