Liam Sandford

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From fear of public speaking to guesting on Podcasts

Liam Sandford

You can find my latest podcast appearances via the media page on the website.

Heart racing, sweaty palms, trembling with fear. Public speaking used to get me down. But here is the thing — the thought of speaking was far worse than actually doing it. The worst case-scenario’s really did not play out, by practicing in comfortable environments I grew to be a confident speaker.

Fast forward 10 years from a defining moment at university where I found the fear of public speaking too much, I have:

  • Delivered a speech to a room of 3000 people

  • Designed and delivered public speaking training

  • Coached 25+ people on public speaking

  • Hosted over 150 Twitter Spaces

  • Become the selling author of Effortless Public Speaking

  • Made an appearance as a podcast guest

I want to focus on the last one in this article, but if interested in hearing about the others connect with me via my website — liamsandford.com

The Speaking of Impact Podcast with Bob De Pasquale

Since going on a personal development journey I secretly wanted to start my own podcast. Having conversations with just one other person about a topics I care about sounds like fun! In fact I have been doing this in Twitter Spaces for the past 18 months.

This is where I became friends with Bob De Pasquale, host of the Speaking of Impact Podcast. After writing my book Bob invited me on the podcast.

You can listen to the episode here:

Speaking of Impact: EP #144: Effortless Public Speaking with Liam Sandford on Apple Podcasts

It is okay to be nervous

Having never been on a podcast before I was nervous and I didn’t know what to expect. But hey, I had hundreds of previous speaking practice to recall upon to gain confidence to deliver. On top of that I know Bob extremely well having hosted the Creators Unwind Twitter Space with him for the last 15 months.

When it comes to speaking, nerves are not the same thing as lacking confidence. Nervousness means you care about the delivery, in fact I would be concerned if I wasn’t nervous before public speaking.

It is okay to mess up

Nobody expects you to be perfect when speaking in public, and even more so in a conversational podcast. It is okay to mess up, in fact I did during the recording. I simply lost my trail of thought and rather than rambling on trying to get it back on track I acknowledged it. I am human and that is an important side to show your audience.

The creator world is full of people trying to show their ‘best life’ but actually succeeding in creating and business comes with struggle, setbacks and challenges. The best creators and entrepreneurs acknowledge and share those things. It is okay to not be perfect. If someone comes across as perfect you should know that there are several pieces of the puzzle they are not sharing.

When it comes to public speaking perfect does not exist. If you are guesting on podcasts don’t try to be the perfect guest. Instead, just be you. You are your superpower — nobody can do that better. That is your personal brand and that will be your competitive advantage.

If you have a fear of public speaking

  • Start where you are comfortable, with short speaking reps. A 1 second nano speech (use the open, body, close structure) is all it takes.

  • Only scale up to speaking for longer when you are comfortable with short speaking bursts.

  • Build a daily speaking habit. Practice is the only way to become a confident speaker. Reading about speaking is only getting ready to get ready to speak in public.

  • Join social audio, get a nano speech in, and leave. This is a great forum to start building speaking confidence.

  • Have conversations — if you know a podcast host, see if you can guest on their show. Endless opportunities can come from appearances on podcasts.

  • Listen to my podcast episode with Bob — we talk through the basic steps you need to take action on to become a stress-free speaker.

  • Reach out to me — if you have some specific questions about public speaking I am always happy to help.

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