The public speaking secret you did not know you needed

Speaking
Written By Liam Sandford

In a world of hacks and quick wins, secrets of the trade is what everyone wants. Something that will get you from point A to B as quick as possible. The reality is that this is not usually the quickest route to sustainable growth or success.

If you think of public speaking as a ladder. Every speaking rep you have is one rung. With every practice you move up the ladder being able to build on the last and steadily improve. If you take hacks you have a bigger gap to close every time you speak, and if you fail you end up lower on the ladder than when you started. The bigger the gap you are trying to close the more likely is you will fall off the ladder.

The question then becomes how can you get speaking reps in quickly to start climbing the ladder in a sustainable way? The secret answer you didn’t know you needed: Twitter Spaces.

Removing all of your barriers

Fear of judgement or not performing very well are two of the highest reasons people hate public speaking. The ‘what if I screw up in front of people’ feeling is what you are trying to avoid. In Twitter Spaces that becomes way easier because:

  • Nobody can see you

  • You can be at home, or in a comfortable environment

  • You have chosen the topic

  • You don’t have any pressure to speak for a long time

  • You can have your notes in front of you

Your barriers to speaking in public are removed, making it a great place to get your first reps in. Until you are comfortable speaking you may even just want to listen into a Space to see how they run — you will come to know quickly that it is the easiest way to get your early successful public speaking reps in

The transfer to different environments

The transfer of skills in Spaces to other environments is amazing. I have hosted 174 Twitter Spaces in the past 18 months, and I have grown in confidence through constant reps and that shows in other areas of my life too.

I used to find it hard taking questions I didn’t know the answer to but with Twitter Spaces I found I was doing that every day. Now I don’t feel nervous or stressed about questions I receive that I don’t know the answer to. This is just one benefit. Twitter Spaces will help you:

  • Use the nano speech to build a structure around everything you say. Works in Spaces and works in a presentation.

  • Get comfortable facilitating rooms. Grow confidence in Spaces and chair meetings better at work.

  • Show up at your best every time you speak in public. Reps daily in Spaces create recent successful reps to recall before a presentation.

The endless (non-speaking) benefits

Twitter Spaces are a goldmine of learning, connections, and opportunities. I wouldn’t have predicted that to be the case but once I started connecting with people I was hooked on Spaces. I have used Spaces to build an audience on Twitter and to connect with lots of great creators who are looking to achieve similar things to me. It is a community that understands the entrepreneurial pursuit and that is a great place to spend time.

The opportunities to come out of Spaces have been incredible. In the past 18 months I have:

  • Been interviewed in Spaces on various topics about the creator economy

  • Been an invited guest on 2 podcasts due to my Spaces contribution

  • Written a book with my co-host of the Public Speaking Space, Derek Moore

  • Began exploring some exciting opportunities with my co-host and team at the Creators Unwind, Bob DePasquale & Craig Misewicz

You never know what opportunities are around the corner with Twitter Spaces. Whether you are looking to improve your public speaking or open some doors, it is a great platform to check out.

Actionable takeaways

  • Use Twitter Spaces to build your early successful public speaking reps — there is nowhere easier. If you are looking for a Space to join, I co-host the Creators Unwind every Wednesday at 4pm BST.

  • Always open your contribution with a nano speech — a quick open, body, close — this is the way to transfer your Spaces experiences and conversations into relevant experience for presentations.

  • Get comfortable speaking first, then scale up — remember the ladder. Keep to one rung at a time, rather than looking for a quick fix. One step at a time is your sustainable quick fix.

More from me


Liam Sandford
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