Podcasting vs. Public Speaking: Why Your Voice Doesn’t Translate to the Stage

Podcasting and public speaking are not the same skill set — and assuming they are is why so many podcasters struggle on stage.

In this episode, I break down the real differences between speaking on a podcast and speaking in front of a live audience. After attending Podfest and watching talented podcasters deliver flat stage performances, I realized this conversation needed to happen.

You’ll learn:

• Why podcasting skills don’t automatically translate to stage presence
• The biggest mistakes podcasters make when they step onto a live stage
• How to shift from “information mode” to embodied, engaging delivery
• What it actually takes to command a room, not just a microphone

This episode is for podcasters, coaches, and content creators who know their message is solid — but want their delivery to land with confidence, energy, and authority on stage.

I also share how to start building stage-ready presence through Standing O, where we craft signature talks and speaker identity, and SpeakEazy, where speakers practice live delivery, pivots, and presence in real time.

Your podcast proves you have a voice.
 This episode shows you how to turn it into stage presence.

Transcript

0:00

Welcome back to the Public Speaking Icon podcast. I'm your host, Coco Gunn, also known as the Voice Architect, and we are deep diving today into the difference between podcasting and public speaking. And let me tell you guys something, the reason I'm bringing this up is I went to podcast about a few in January and you know, I, I love going to events where we've got, you know. Speakers on stages that are really just going after a speaking career. But I noticed there was a lot of difference between the way that POD podcast speakers speak on stage and regular speakers. I mean, everyone has a podcast, but most, some people, not everyone has a podcast. Let me rewind. There are speakers that have podcast, but there aren't podcasters that are speakers. And there's a difference, you know, being behind the microphone, you know, behind, you know, a computer screen or you may be on Zoom, like you're, maybe you're doing on Zoom is very different than the live action version of that maybe, maybe episode on a stage. So. I want to, of course start off by, you know, giving you guys an idea of why, why this conversation actually matters. Right. And it's, you know, due to the fact that what I'm seeing a lot is, you know, one speakers will say, oh, well I'm a speaker because I was on a podcast. And that's not necessarily true. Yes, you're using public speaking skills to be on that podcast. But there's a lot of editing and things that go into creating a great podcast where you don't get that editing option when you're live on stage. So when I was watching some of these speakers at this event, you know, they're strong podcasters. Like I listen to their episodes and in my mind as a speaking coach, right, sometimes I tie those two together and say, all right, well, they sound good on their podcast, but they don't necessarily sound great on stage. And that's typically because. When you have the ability to edit, you can create the delivery right, in a podcast. So you can edit things out, you can take away the filler words, you can, you know, edit so much to the point where it sounds smooth and seamless. So when you hit transition that to the stage, the delivery isn't the same. The same. So I was seeing a lot of speakers where their delivery was flat and there was no emotion. It was just, you can see the nerves, you can see that there was a lack of preparation because it's very, very different. Then being, you know, on the mic behind, you know, an an audio recording platform, right? Versus being on a stage. So I want, of course, set the expectation. This is not shame, okay? This has nothing to do with one's better than the other, or this is more of a skill development that I think a lot of podcasters really need to work on, especially because your podcast can get you on stages. But the energy that you carry, where the podcast has tons of value and good downloads, you have to understand that you don't get to edit on a stage when it's live. You have to have the same energy consistently throughout the timeframe that you're speaking on stage, and you know the uh, uh. A micro, you know, a podcast microphone. And of course the stage require different muscles when it comes to the engagement that you want. And so I wanna preface that because I definitely don't want, I'm not here to offend podcasters. I am myself, am a podcaster, but. I want you guys to understand that the opportunities for you to get on stages or even to do your podcast live on a stage is there, but I wanna give you some skill sets that you can start working on now. So when the opportunity presents itself, you are already ready to go. Right. So let's just break this down really quick. Podcast speaking versus stage speaking and the difference. So, but podcast, it is definitely more intimate, right? Like, I feel like right now I'm having a one-on-one conversation with you guys. I feel just like I'm, I am here with my Celsius Energy drink and my ring light. I'm actually in a sweatshirt. I'm comfortable, right? So it's more relaxed and I, you know, can just chill. There's no, sometimes you guys have camera, you have video. I'm not doing video today, but. You know, sometimes you have videos, so, but most of the time when you see a podcaster, they're chilling. They're on a couch. They're in a, in a, in a very warm space, which creates that intimate environment because sometimes you are listening to this on the drive to work, or, you know, while you're doing your self care day or why you're doing laundry. So you don't really wanna feel like there's this high energy coming through the speakers. You wanna have that chill. I'm having a conversation with my friends at home, so you can always, you know. Edit in, in podcasts. You can, you can pause, you can restart, you can add little, little nuances here and there so you can create and craft it to where it is an experience for a listener. You know, most of the time it's very, you know, it's chill. We're seated, we're controlled, and it's really, really, really conversational. But speaking on stage, there's an embodiment that happens there. So you are standing, you are visible, it is live. So anything that you see on that stage. You can't take back, you can't delete, you can't start over. You have to keep going. So the energy on a stage requires a different level of energy, and that energy has to travel across the entire room. So it's, it's, it, it requires a little bit more in the sense of your control, of your mind, your body, and what it is that you say or your delivery. And this matters because audiences feel energy before they hear the words. Okay. So depending on the space, if you're having a bad day, the audience can feel that. If you're live on stage, where if you're having a bad day and something terrible just happened, you can edit that out on a podcast, right? So flat delivery on stage, it breaks trust even with good content. And I know, you know, we always say this, it's a phrase that I'm sure many people use, right? It's not what you say, it's how you say it. And that goes across the board. So when you think about. When you're listening to a podcast and then you're seeing a speaker on stage, you know the delivery matters the most when it's live. Because when it's not live, you can just, you can edit and you can craft and create the delivery style that you want. And so that's just a little bit of backstory on, of course. Podcasting versus speaking on stage. And so really quick, you know, this is, there's some reasons and things that I found especially going to podcast that I found, you know, why podcasters actually struggle on stage. And I wanna go over this with you guys because I know some of you. Are probably thinking about this, right? You're thinking, okay, I don't, I didn't even know there was a difference, like I thought because I wasn't behind a microphone and you know, I, I created this great podcast that that's gonna be transitioning to a stage and it doesn't. So the, when you do, when you're, when you're recording a podcast, most of the time you're staying in what's called information mode. So you're teaching whether I'm teaching you guys about podcasting or you're teaching about an event, and then you've got the entertainment podcast. But for the most part, you're just giving information, you know, and. Instead of, you know, instead of, instead of like lead, leading, leading a room, you're teaching, you're teaching about skill sets, you're giving them feedback. You're that, that's what podcasts really are. It's just a way for us to learn faster in, in any environment that we want to. So instead of, instead of explaining right, you're, well actually you are explaining instead of looking for those hard hit landing moments that will happen on stage. And you know, if you think about a conversation when you have a conversation with a friend or with a family member. It's information being exchanged, right? You're teaching'em or you're telling'em about an experience or you're teaching them how to open a can of a can of beer. I don't know. But you're teaching. You're in that conversation mode. And not to say that isn't transition to stage, but it's way more lax than it is when you're getting the stage right. There's also this lack of physicality, so I can't see the movement. So if you're excited and you don't have video with your, with your podcast, I can't see the energy coming off of you. So I can only go by what. You're what you're saying and, and how you're seeing it. And most of the time, you know, there's so, there's minimal movement because we don't see you and usually. You don't see podcasters moving anyway. They're mostly seated with a microphone and they're just casually, you know, chatting and having a conversation. So there's not, there's no moment in recording a podcast that there's any intentional pauses, and you need that for the stage. You need to give the time, the audience time to absorb the information on a podcast. They're just listening to the recording and it's up to the listener to decide if they wanna pause. Or rewind or go back to what you just said on stage, you don't have that option. And those two don't, they, they're, they're, they're completely different. So a speaker has to incorporate intentional pauses into their speech in order for them to get, to give the audience time to comprehend what it is that you just said. Or maybe they're taking a moment to breathe. And you don't have that in, in podcasting. And when that, when you don't have that, you, you miss, that's part of your delivery piece that's missing when you hit the stage. And you know, they struggle because they're treating the stage like a long podcast episode. So they're thinking of, okay, this is just a long episode that's, you know, that's easy for me to do, and there's more to it. So they're either talking too much, which I saw a lot of at Pod Fest, there was a lot of overexplaining that was going on, and it wasn't straight to the point. So the audience was getting bored, people were yawning, people were leaving the room. Because it's not a long podcast. Your podcast can be an hour, hour and a half, 30 minutes. You can determine the length, but when you speak to an audience, you only have a short amount of time to get them to get, to get them, to give them the value and get them to understand the value before their attention spans drawn into something else. And with podcasts, we can pause, we can rewind, we can come back to what you just said. We have the chance to take notes. And it's very much in control. The, the audience on a podcast has more control in gather in, in, in, in, uh, retaining the information than if you're speaking on stage live. Okay? So think about this. You know when you are, this is the struggle, right? So you, they struggle with being in information mode. They lack the physicality. So I can't see you're moving. I don't know if you're excited or, or you're not excited and. They're treating the stage as a long podcast episode, so they're talking too much and not enough experiencing what the audience experiences. So how do you translate podcast skills to the stage? This is really, really important. I want you to think about shifting your episodes to actual moments. So if you are, for example, if I am, I'm giving you guys a rundown on podcasting for, you know, the difference between podcasting and public speaking. Right now, I'm giving you tips and tricks on what's not working, what is working, what's not transitioning. But if I turn it into a moment, I can say, you know, I really, I really thought that as, as a podcaster, you know, I would love to be on a stage. I would love to, you know, share the story, share the episodes. However, when I got on stage, it just felt like the audience wasn't paying attention to me, and I know I was giving them valuable information. And I actually went over time by like 10 minutes because. I wasn't prepared as I thought I was. That's turning it into a story. So now you're taking the audience on a journey. So you want, when you think of it, what do you want them to remember? When you are talking about the story from this episode, what do you want the audience to remember right then and there? Because they're not getting the op, they're not going to have the opportunity to rewind, so you need to get them with the moment right then so they can remember, oh man, okay. I remember when she said this or when he said this. And where's the emotional peak in the moment? You know, where are you gonna tie in the emotions? When we're listening to podcasts, especially informative ones, there's not really emotional peak. It's it's fact and value and conversation. But on stage, you've gotta draw an emotion out of the audience. And what do you want that emotion to be? Sadness, happiness, you know, funny, uh, enraged anger, you know, enthusiastic, excited. Because if you are able to draw that, they're gonna be more engaged because now they can tie a feeling to what it is that you are saying on the stage. Also, getting out of the chair, I'm sitting right now, it's very rare that you'll see me stand to do a podcast, but I first, you can now get into a rhythm and start doing movement if you need to. That transitions over to the stage and it allows for your body to support the message. If you guys are watching me now, the body movement I'm using is the same I would use on stage. I'm using my hands. I'm it. It's as if I'm on stage. So I'm the both skill sets that I do behind the microphone, I also do on stage. And that's a good place to be in.'cause now I can do both and I don't edit my podcast. But for those of you guys that do practice. Body movement, using your hands when you're having the conversation. If that means you have to get a mic stand, then great. But practice these things. Get up out of your seat. Tell the audience, Hey guys, listen, I'm working on my public speaking skills, so if you hear a little commotion in the background, it's because I'm working on my body language. I listen to Coco's podcast and she said for me to stand and get moving. Okay, and lastly is build interaction. Ask rhetorical, ask rhetorical questions on stage. Give the audience a chance to respond, whether that's nodding or raising of hands. You can't do that on a podcast because you can't see the audience. But on stage you can say, Hey, you know, tell me a little bit more about why you enjoy podcasting, or who in here is on their very first podcasting journey? Raise your hand. And now you have the audience engagement and you can see that engagement and that response to the questions that you're asking. And then when you're doing those questions, give a minute for put a pause in there. Just ask the question and just take a minute, give the audience time to think and to respond to you. Because obviously podcasts, you can't do that. They're just running through the episode depending on if you have an ex episode timeframe. Depends on, you know, if you give the audience time to take notes, things along those lines. All right, so translating your podcast skills to the stage, here are the things that I need you to remember. Shift your episodes to moments. Get out of your chair. So I want you to start doing some body movement at home, wherever, recording studio, and give your audience a heads up just in case they hear a commotion. Hey, I'm listening to, I'm, I'm working on my getting on actual stages and Coco said in her podcast episode that I need to. Be standing and moving throughout my podcast. And then of course, build interaction. Find a way to start asking questions, right? And, and when you're doing even live episodes, if you decide to get in, if you're networking, start getting into that rhythm of asking questions and waiting for them to respond to you. All right, so that's just the rundown on the difference between public speaking and podcasting and how as a podcaster you can 100%. Be on more stages. You're just gonna have to shift a few things in how you do your in, in how you do your podcast to make sure that they are stage ready. And the funny thing is, is I do cover this and talk about this in my community, standing O, which is a speaker community for aspiring speakers, current speakers that really wanna work on their public speaking skills without the heavy load of working with any coach one-on-one. We have four calls a month. Two calls are two calls are. Just a review of the public speaking skills and the other two calls are the hot seat coaching calls where I will put you in the hot seat and give you feedback on whatever you're working on, speech content, podcast interview, panel interview just to make sure that you are ready. Also, if you are in the Orlando area, I am hosting my first in person. Speaker lab called Speakeasy Orlando, where you're gonna be getting roasted and information from me to make you a better speaker. That is happening on March 12th here in Orlando, Florida at Binks Orlando, which is in downtown Orlando from seven to 9:00 PM All the links to the community and to speakeasy will be in the show notes. So to close you out. Your podcast proves you have a message, okay? But the stage requires you to embody that message. And if you wanna be remembered, the audience has to feel you. Okay? So get to work podcasters on transitioning from behind the mic to on the stage, and use these skill sets that we talked about today to take your stage, experie experience and presence to the next level. Until next time, chat soon. Ciao.