"How did you get into public speaking?"

"How did you get into public speaking!?" Is something I've been asked a lot. I remember being an 18 year old football coach and giving welcome talks to a large audience of players & parents, introducing the activities and running through the safety guidelines. Its amazing how things that seem totally unimportant end up coming back around in later life.

In more recent times, the truth is I didn't want to. After grabbing a coffee with Damien Clarkson & Judy Nadel to offer some ideas for their Vevolution festival, they asked if I'd speak. At this stage in my career, i'd learnt a lot through experience but didn't have any formal education. Like many starting out, I had imposter syndrome and didn't feel worthy, unsure if I had anything to add. I compromised and decided to speak on a panel about entrepreneurship and business, on the premise that I'd answer moderator and audience questions speaking from my experience.

When I stepped on stage, despite the obvious nerves beforehand (most people list public speaking as the thing they're most scared of) it was just as simple as having a conversation. I felt alive and it was incredibly fulfilling to be able to connect with people in a way that I could so literally help, simply by sharing my thoughts on a question they had. Instead of falling asleep, people were waiting to speak to me and ask more questions. I thought I might have something valuable to say and I recognised that I'd found something I loved to do.

From that first talk, I was asked to speak at a university, so I drove up to Warwick and spoke to a group of students. I later published some of the talk online and begun sharing snippets on my social media channels. From there, I got asked to do more & started doing small monthly talks in venues around London. In that first year I said yes to every opportunity and probably spoke on stage 30 times. I even drove 6 hours round trip to Bristol once to give a talk to a room of 5 people (1 of which was the organiser.) I did 80% of the talks for free, paid my own expenses & for the ones I did get a fee, I donated it.

In those early talks, I was totally unsure if there was a "right way" of doing it. My thought process was simple; only speak about things I'm passionate about, I know about, I have experienced and I feel comfortable asking about. The juxtaposition here is that whilst you need an element of ego to stand on stage and speak, you also need to leave your ego at the door because if you make a mistake and you're associating with the image of yourself as the expert, you'll choke. Been there, done it. I gave talks on veganism once a month to largely non-vegan audiences and had to answer every "vegan question" you can imagine. At the time, this was difficult, now I recognise it was training.

The way I decided to learn was simple & logical. Watch my favourite speakers & make notes on what they do well. Cross-reference this with my own character & skill sets, then curate a style that enables me to connect to an audience, on the basis that 1) Im speaking largely about topics that are subjective (marketing, social media, hospitality marketing strategy) and 2) Im speaking on highly emotional, contentious topics such as veganism.

To find talks, I didn't have much of a strategy, and I think this comes down to being aware of why you're speaking in the first place. For me, it wasn't about becoming a full-time speaker or monetising the talks. It's been about connecting with people, developing myself and for the joy of sharing what I know, in the hope that it benefits people. This has meant I've done very little outreach in terms of selling myself as a speaker, but I do try to share content from talks in the hope more people will see it, and therefore value from it.

Last year, I spoke twice internationally for the first time. I found myself sharing stages with people I look up to. I was recently asked to speak at a TED event & had my sights set on scaling things up. As COVID-19 has hit and we're as yet unsure of the implications for the event industry, I'm now looking at how to take things digital.

There's been some difficult talks, and I've had to develop some rules to live by. I speak my truth, even if it challenges someone else's perspective, whether that be someone on a panel or in the audience. I also am open to getting things wrong or messing up, as naturally this will happen from time to time. If that does happen, I give myself permission to take a breath and start again. I only start, and progress, when I'm ready. I found at the start I was speaking too quickly and not moving enough, so now I ensure I walk and I breathe. Simple, everyday things that can easily be forgotten when there's a room full of people.

My advice for anyone wanting to start public speaking is to start now, during this lockdown period, by practicing into a camera. Read books like "Talk like Ted" and watch the best public speakers on YouTube. Build a talk, practice it on camera and publish it where everyone's attention currently is - online. By the time events have come back around, you'd have no doubt improved drastically and potentially have built an audience that would like to come and see you. Authenticity and purpose are the cornerstone, ensure you have both.