Daily Habits to Build Long Term Public Speaking Confidence
Liam Sandford
Liam Sandford is a public speaking coach, marketing leader, and 2x best-selling author, including the book Effortless Public Speaking. He helps introverted professionals and leaders take control of public speaking anxiety and use speaking to market themselves, build influence, and communicate with impact.
Developing long term public speaking confidence is a process built on intentional daily practice. It is not about delivering a perfect talk in one go, but about consistently applying small, structured exercises that gradually transform nervous energy into authoritative stage presence. Confidence grows when you repeatedly experience success, reflect on your progress, and scale your practice in ways that challenge yet support you.
This article provides actionable daily habits, physical and mental techniques, and scaling strategies that enable speakers at any level to build sustainable confidence. You will learn how to incorporate repeated Nano Speech practice, embrace silence, avoid comparison traps, and scale presentations safely, all while turning anxiety into controlled performance energy. These habits create a foundation that supports clear, engaging, and authoritative public speaking over the long term.
How to Develop Public Speaking Confidence
Public speaking confidence is the result of repeated, deliberate action. It develops when you combine structured practice, reflective habits, and consistent exposure to speaking situations. Confidence is not the absence of anxiety; it is the ability to harness nervous energy, maintain focus, and convey presence consistently. The principle confidence is success remembered emphasizes that every successful delivery, no matter how small, reinforces your ability to perform under pressure.
Anxiety often arises because speakers measure themselves against high level presenters rather than their own journey. Avoiding this trap is crucial for long term growth. Confidence grows best when you define progress in terms of personal improvement. Each successful Nano Speech builds and the more recent that successful rep is, the easier it is for your mind to recall that success. That is confidence.
Avoiding the Circle of Doom
Many speakers get trapped in what I call the circle of doom: trying to avoid a negative speaking experience happening again. This turns public speaking into a defensive, fear-driven activity, where every talk is done in avoidance mode rather than as an opportunity to grow.
Breaking this cycle requires deliberately focusing on building from past successes, rather than fearing past mistakes. By reflecting on moments that went well, whether it was a clear point, an effective pause, or positive audience feedback, you create a mental library of competence. Each successful micro-practice, Nano Speech, or presentation becomes a foundation to build confidence.
Daily habits like performing ten Nano Speeches per day, scaling in settings and topic complexity, and celebrating small wins keep you out of the circle of doom. Over time, nervous energy shifts from avoidance to performance energy, reinforcing confidence and creating a virtuous cycle of growth.
Using the Nano Speech to Build Daily Confidence
The Nano Speech is the most effective framework for building confidence systematically. It divides any message into three core parts: Open, Body, and Close. This simple structure allows speakers to focus on clarity, delivery, and presence without being overwhelmed by content complexity or stage dynamics. Daily practice using Nano Speeches reinforces clarity, timing, and vocal control while enabling you to build recent reps that accumulate into meaningful confidence over time.
Practicing Nano Speeches in multiple contexts, from casual conversations to work updates, builds confidence in a safe, pressure free environment. The repeated success reinforces the principle that confidence is success remembered, providing a foundation of self-assurance that can be applied when facing larger, higher pressure audiences.
Ten Nano Speeches Per Day
Incorporate ten Nano Speeches into your daily routine for maximum effect:
Morning Practice: Use your ‘good morning’ conversations as a nano speech. It’s just 20 seconds of starting a conversation.
Workplace Practice: Use brief opportunities such as team meetings, stand ups, or phone calls to deliver concise messages structured using the Nano Speech. Each interaction is a safe chance to build confidence and clarity.
Evening Reflection: Mentally review the day’s Nano speeches. Replay moments where delivery felt clear, or focus was maintained, and note how energy was harnessed effectively. This reinforces recent reps and stores positive performance memories.
Consistency with this routine ensures that speaking becomes second nature. Over time, anxiety diminishes as your brain associates practice with repeated, manageable success, transforming nervous energy into performance energy you can rely on under pressure. You don’t actually need 10 reps, but if you set the target and end up delivering 5 nano speeches throughout the day you win by creating a consistent daily speaking habit.
Scaling Up Your Practice Gradually
Scaling is a core principle for long term confidence. Beginners often try to tackle all aspects of public speaking at once, eye contact, stage movement, storytelling, advanced engagement techniques, which can overwhelm and trigger anxiety. The key is to start small and scale across three dimensions: settings, topics, and duration.
Settings: Begin in low pressure environments such as one on one conversations, small team meetings, or informal virtual calls. Gradually increase audience size as confidence grows.
Topics: Start with simple, familiar topics. Progress to work related insights, personal reflections, and eventually more complex subjects. Scaling topics ensures you build competence and comfort without feeling exposed.
Duration: Start with short Nano Speeches lasting 10–20 seconds. Extend to 1 minute, 5 minutes, and eventually full presentations. Each incremental increase strengthens endurance, control, and adaptability under pressure.
Don’t Throw Yourself in the Deep End
Jumping into large presentations before readiness amplifies anxiety and can undermine progress. Avoid this by prioritizing low pressure practice first. Gradually increase audience size, complexity, and duration as comfort grows. This approach prevents overwhelm, allows you to build confidence incrementally, and ensures every stage of your journey reinforces positive experiences.
Remember Get Comfortable -> Get Confident -> Get Competent.
When it comes to public speaking, this is the best way to become a great speaker. Build the foundations first, and do it in environments that are easy to build success.
Recent Reps and Confidence Memory
Confidence is reinforced through recent reps. The more often you successfully deliver structured messages, the stronger your confidence becomes. Each successful delivery, whether in conversation, a meeting, or a rehearsal, acts as evidence that you can perform under pressure. By focusing on frequent, achievable reps, you steadily build an internal library of confidence that supports larger, higher stakes presentations. Without recent reps you will feel rusty if you haven’t presented for a while. Recent reps ensure that you show up at your best every time.
Mindset Habits to Support Long Term Growth
Mental habits complement physical practice in building lasting public speaking confidence. Daily focus on mindset helps speakers manage anxiety, embrace incremental growth, and prevent negative self-comparison.
Avoid Comparing Yourself With Other Speakers
Comparing yourself to professional or seasoned speakers creates unrealistic expectations and can erode confidence. Instead, measure progress solely against your own starting point. Each improvement, no matter how small, represents real growth. Focusing on your journey allows you to celebrate incremental wins, avoid unnecessary self-criticism, and reinforce confidence in your unique abilities.
Focus on Incremental Wins
Breaking presentations into small, achievable goals reinforces progress. Successfully delivering a strong opening, a key point, or a controlled pause is a “small win” that builds internal confidence. Over time, these accumulated successes reinforce the confidence is success remembered principle, making each new speaking opportunity feel less intimidating and more manageable.
Mindful Reflection
Take a few minutes daily to reflect on practice sessions and speaking experiences. Note where nervous energy was controlled, clarity was maintained, or presence felt strong. By mentally cataloging these successes, you reinforce confidence memory and internalize lessons, turning reflection into a tool for sustained long term growth.
Physical Habits to Reinforce Confidence
Your body communicates authority and presence as strongly as your words. Incorporating daily physical habits strengthens composure, reduces anxiety, and reinforces public speaking confidence.
Posture and Presence
Stand tall, align shoulders, open your chest, and hold your head high. Practicing posture during your nano speeches, reinforces internal confidence while signaling authority externally. Physical presence directly impacts how others perceive you and how you feel internally during presentations.
Breathing and Pauses
Diaphragmatic and box breathing regulate adrenaline and calm nerves. Intentionally pausing during Nano Speeches improves pacing, clarity, and audience comprehension while giving your mind moments to recalibrate. These pauses strengthen presence, making delivery appear deliberate and composed.
Movement Practice
Even without an audience, practice purposeful gestures, walking across a stage or room, and moving between focal points. Controlled movement increases spatial awareness, reinforces authority, and reduces nervous energy when speaking in front of others. Physical familiarity with movement creates a sense of control that translates to calm, confident delivery.
Getting Comfortable With Silence
Embrace brief moments of silence, even when they feel uncomfortable or boring. Learning to pause allows your mind to slow down, process ideas, and respond in the moment. These pauses enhance thinking under pressure, create dramatic effect, and reinforce presence, ensuring that nervous energy is directed toward thoughtful, controlled performance rather than rushing through content.
Measuring Progress and Maintaining Long Term Confidence
Long term confidence requires monitoring growth, reflecting on successes, and maintaining structured daily habits. Track Nano Speech practice, note the increasing difficulty in topics, settings, and duration, and observe how nervous energy is increasingly channeled into controlled performance.
Regular reflection reinforces recent reps and confidence memory. Over time, these habits create a self-reinforcing cycle: daily practice leads to small wins, which strengthens confidence, which supports more challenging presentations, which produce further wins. This process ensures that anxiety becomes a productive force rather than a barrier. Want to continue increasing your confidence with public speaking? Check out the Ultimate Guide to Public Speaking article.
More From Liam Sandford
Read my book: Effortless Public Speaking. Learn how to speak confidently, reduce stress, and turn public speaking into your competitive advantage. These actionable public speaking tips will help you improve your presentation skills for any audience.
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