Mastering the Art of Speaking with Lubna: Confidence, Connection, and Team Spirit

In this episode, we’re joined by the inspiring Lubna Ismail, a Public Speaking alumna who captivated audiences with her eloquence and energy. After earning silver at provincials, Lubna went on to achieve national success, winning gold at the 2024 Skills Canada National Competition in Quebec. Lubna shares her journey from competing on the provincial stage to excelling at the national level, offering valuable insights and advice for aspiring speakers. As she says, "It’s not about what you’re saying; it’s how you’re engaging with the audience." She also gives us a behind-the-scenes look at her role in winning the Team Spirit Award alongside fellow alum Euan MacKinnon, helping bring energy and camaraderie to Team Alberta. Whether you’re looking to improve your public speaking skills, boost your confidence, or be inspired by Lubna’s story, this episode is for you. Tune in now and discover how to elevate your public speaking game.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Welcome to Skills and Thrills, Alberta's Trade and Tech Youth Podcast, brought to you by Skills Canada Alberta. We feature alumni, volunteers, and more from the Skills community to share experiences from skills competitions and how they've impacted their careers. Join us for casual, unscripted conversations exploring the stories behind the skills and the journeys that followed. I'm Danny and I'll be your host. Let's dive in to today's episode. Today we're thrilled to be joined by a very special guest, Lebna Ismail. She recently took home silver in public speaking and then gold at Nationals in the beautiful city of Quebec. We'll be chatting about her incredible skills journey, everything she's learned, and what it takes to succeed in public speaking. Lebna, what motivated you to compete in public speaking?

SPEAKER_00 0:50

I've always been a big talker. Since I was a little girl, I've always loved talking to strangers, friends. You can even ask my family. They could never get me to stay quiet. That's always been something that I've really been interested in since I was young. But as I grew up, I really grew an interest in doing it in more so like a debate and theater rather than just casual talking. So I really took it seriously in elementary school and theater. And then once I got into middle school, I started more with debate. And then once I reached high school, I really got interested in public speaking presentations, talking at schools, talking at my school. I really grew an interest towards it. And then I found out about the skills competition, the teacher who was running the program. He actually asked me to get involved in it when I was in grade 12. I was so thrilled because it was just like one of my favorite things to do. So I knew that it was something that I would find interest in. It was just such a great place. Like I was at the I was in the right place at the right time. It was so awesome.

SPEAKER_01 1:50

That's so cool.

SPEAKER_00 1:52

So what was the prep like for the competitions leading up to the competition? I started prep about six months before meeting with my coach once a week for about three hours. We started actually by going through previous year's topics and practicing impromptu speaking, as well as writing out my own speech of the previous year's topic and performing that and deciding what to focus on and what was important for me as a speaker. Another big thing that public speakers have to decide on is whether they want flashcard when they're speaking, or if they're just going to go up and, you know, improv their way through it a bit. So there was a lot of prep that went into it. And I also did do a lot of stuff just on my own time. Speaking is one real skill, but you practice every day. It was really interesting how my daily life got to play into my training to see like how those skills can develop and how I can further my skills. Ennunciation is also a huge part of it. People don't notice how much we might stagger our words and how how much we falter with our words a bit. So learning to really enunciate and understand that small mess ups in our words can really change the things that we're saying. So it was really important to focus on those small things that you might not notice as much, but just in in your day-to-day life, it's not as important, but in a public speaking setting, it became really important.

SPEAKER_01 3:24

Yeah, I don't think people really understand how much goes into being a good public speaker. My degree was communications, and a few of my classes were learning how to be a really good public speaker. And there's just so many levels and things you need to know enhancing your words. So even just body language is so important. For sure. Yeah. 100%. Yeah. I was wondering too, how different is it from provincials to nationals?

SPEAKER_00 3:51

My competition area wasn't terribly different. The biggest difference was at provincials. I did my impromptu on day one and my prepared speech the second day. But when I got to nationals, I did my prepared speech the first day and impromptu the second day. The impromptu topic is different, but it's kind of in the same format, and you expect the same things, but you read your same prepared speech that you've been preparing for the past couple of months. That was a really nice process, just to keep practicing that. And that was even part of the prep about a month and a half before provincial. We get the topic for our prepared speech and then write a five to seven minute speech. That process was a lot of fun for me. I was also working on my writing skills and understanding what is important about this topic. And the topics, a lot of the time, they're really up for interpretation. This year, my topic was about the use of AI in the skilled trades and how we can utilize it. Very awesome topic because it is something we are working through in our day-to-day lives. Um, a lot of people choose to use um AI in our work. I took more of a path of the idea of technology itself rather than AI tech per se. I talked about how advanced technologies have provided great benefits, and we see that from the 1900s to now. So we shouldn't be as scared of these big technologies and these big advancements coming our way because we've already seen that they they help us out and they do really good things for us. It's not as terrible as it might seem.

SPEAKER_01 5:26

Interesting. That'd be such a cool debate. Talk about the pros and cons of AI.

SPEAKER_00 5:32

Yes, definitely. I think it might be 50-50 where some people are like, oh, AI is incredible for our work, and the other half is just nope. I don't want it, I don't, I don't want it taking my job. It's a very interesting discussion. I'm keen on listening to people in those industries and what they have to say because you know, a baker's perspective might be very different on a bricklayer or a welder. I even chatted with a baker, with one of the baking judges at nationals for our impromptus. We have to discuss with the other sections of the competition and see what they're doing and use those observations for the content of our impromptu and chat them with a baker. Yeah, and it was so interesting to really get to watch people in their element and really see what they were doing. Oh, I bet. Yeah, it was amazing. And I had a conversation with one of the judges for the baking competition, and I asked him, um, what are your thoughts on technology in your department? And do you think technology could ever do what you do for your career? And he said, our taste palettes can never be replicated by a machine or AI. And it's something completely human. The way we taste, the way we create flavor, the way we provide emotion through food. He said that was something that can never be replicated. And it's incredibly interesting to hear that perspective for somebody else. They might say AI could generate um new flavors, imitate food making, but to somebody who's done this their entire life, they have a different perspective.

SPEAKER_01 7:10

Were there any major challenges or fears you had to overcome when you first started public speaking?

SPEAKER_00 7:16

There is definitely fears and lots of emotions that come with public speaking. I think I was fortunate enough to not be as nervous when I first started public speaking. So it wasn't much of an issue for me, but I've seen the different emotions, especially in that five minutes before you go up. Minerves start flowing and the adrenaline is going. You just got to calm yourself down. Those feelings definitely do exist among everybody. For some people, they're much stronger than others. Just getting into your element and doing it rather than thinking about it. Because when you think about doing it, it makes it a lot harder than just doing it. Can't think about it. Exactly. Don't even think about it. But think about something else. Think about what you'll have for dinner or something.

SPEAKER_01 8:05

Just don't think of literally anything else. I totally agree with that. Do you have any other advice for someone wanting to get into public speaking?

SPEAKER_00 8:13

I always hear, but I'm scared. What if I'm not good at it? My advice is just do it, do it, do it. Like, yeah, for some people, it's an absolute no. But for that small percentage of people who are kind of on the fence or kind of thinking about it, do it, start practicing, start trying. Because chances are if you feel even the tiniest bit of confidence in your ability to public speak, you have an incredible amount of potential going into it. Because definitely for some people, just they cannot do it and don't want to do it, and that's totally okay. And the, you know, the worries that come with it. And for those people, I say start and just try to practice, even in small settings, like with your friend group, talk a little bit louder, more at the dinner table with your family, speak up a bit and really try to see how you feel in those scenarios where you have eye on you, where you have people's attention. For a lot of people, it's it's really nerve-wracking in the beginning when all eyes are on you. But eventually you start to get used to it and you start to realize that it's not as bad as you've felt like this entire time having all these eyes on you.

SPEAKER_01 9:18

Yeah, we always make it so much worse in our heads, 100%. Exactly.

SPEAKER_00 9:21

Yeah, exactly. It's it's not as bad as we've made it out to seem, but sometimes, you know, you get in your head and you got to get past it.

SPEAKER_01 9:30

Yeah. I was always super shy and hated public speaking, but it ended up being a rush for me. It's just exciting after you get over that hurdle of being so scared of it. So definitely worth working through to a point where it's exciting.

SPEAKER_00 9:43

For sure. Yeah. And I've always said that in those scenarios, for the people who are who do have that bit of fear in the beginning, the reward when you've completed a speech, when you've completed one of those presentations, it's so much bigger than for people like me who just enjoy it anyways, because not only have you successfully completed your speech, you've gotten past this fear that you've had coming into it. And to really be able to overcome that and have the courage and strength to go through with it, even though it is something that's outside your comfort zone. It feels so good to really get through that and to complete that task.

SPEAKER_01 10:23

What's the most memorable speech or presentation you've given and why? Easily my valedictorian speech.

SPEAKER_00 10:31

Yeah. Ooh, tell us about it. I graduated high school a couple months ago. I was really young when I found out what a valedictorian was, set my mind to it. I started talking with a teacher who kind of oversaw that process in like September. And I was like, hey, how can I get into that? And applied for that. Um, in about February, the process started. It was basically a speech competition. They look into your grades a bit and your extracurriculars, but for the most part, they get 10 teacher judges and 10 student judges. You prepare a draft valedictorian speech and you present it to uh the judges, and then your graded based on it, and then high score will get to be valedictorian. So it was such a huge honor for me to be selected as valedictorian. Um, there was so much that made it very special for me compared to any other speech. Um, I was the first Muslim to be the valedictorian at my school and you know, like six years of history. So that was such an incredible honor. And yeah, it was so amazing. And being able to represent my class, it was, it was like I can't even describe the honor that come with being able to represent such a big class. And when when people started telling me that they were happy that I was their valedictorian, and when they started saying, Oh, I knew it would be you, that feeling can't even be put into words of when people validate that you were the right choice for them. Because ultimately, being valedictorian, that's not just something that I get to put on my resume. It's and I'm representing a big group of people. And at something as big as your high school graduation, I wanted to do it right. So to have that honor and to be able to write a speech that spoke to my graduating class and spoke of my graduating class and really touched every single one of one of the graduates, that was something that was so incredibly special to me.

SPEAKER_01 12:29

Wow, what an honor. And just like everyone recognizing that and coming up to you and saying, I'm so glad it was you. Like that's so sweet.

SPEAKER_00 12:36

Yes, it was like I can't even describe how amazing it feels for your peers to appreciate your representing them. My biggest worry was, what if I don't do it right? What if people aren't happy with my speech? There's so much that goes into a valedictorian speech. You've been awarded this honor and you're talking about your own experiences, but you're also speaking to your classmates and representing their graduation. So I really wanted to make sure I highlighted that that part of the speech because it's not about me, it's about us as a collective graduating together, going through this process together. Some of them I knew them since I was literally in elementary school. And so being able to graduate with 500 plus people was just so incredible. And being able to talk for them and to them, it's a feeling I could, I don't think I could ever replicate it.

SPEAKER_01 13:24

Oh, that's so amazing. I'm so glad you got to do that for your class. That's awesome. Thank you. You and Ewan McKinnon, a Steam Fitter Pipe Fitter competitor, were awarded the Team A B Spirit Award for demonstrating exceptional team spirit and energizing the crowd. Oh my god. About your time being a part of Team Alberta this year.

SPEAKER_00 13:46

Ugh, Team Alberta is the place to my goodness. Oh my goodness. Team Alberta is so incredible. The vibes are unmatched. People are there to succeed. They have so much passion, so much drive, so much spirit. Just, oh my goodness. It was incredible working with all of those people in such different areas. We had a collective purpose to represent our skill, to succeed in our skill and to show all the hard work that we've worked for for a lot of us our entire lives, some of us maybe just a year. So it was really awesome to see how incredibly passionate everybody was. And I'm such a huge fan of passion. Everybody deserves something in their life that makes them happy. Working with everybody was so incredible. And winning the Team Spirit Award was such a huge honor. And you and oh my goodness, that guy, he was so proud of him. I was so happy to see him win gold. His ability to amp up a crowd was like nothing I've ever seen. He makes it easy for other people to be excited. Sometimes you don't want to stand out in the crowd, but he loved standing out and it made everybody comfortable to stand out. And Alberta stood out in that crowd. Like we really were, we were a moving force. I loved working with Team Alberta everywhere we went, you know, seeing a lot of them coming from provincials to nationals. It's so much fun to work with them again. And just to see that passion went full force, it was so cool.

SPEAKER_01 15:17

Probably the coolest thing I've ever seen, how excited everyone was, the energy in the room, it was amazing.

SPEAKER_00 15:22

Our team building activities, you know, getting to just spend time with them outside competitions was so much fun. Once we're competing, we're in our element. There is there's no room for distractions, there's no room for games. But before the competitions, when we got to spend time with each other and meet each other and have a good time and get to know each other and explore Quebec City. Yeah, it was such a good time.

SPEAKER_01 15:46

Oh my gosh. Oh, yeah, loved it. So you won gold at nationals in public speaking. Tell us about that experience. Did you think you were gonna win gold?

SPEAKER_00 15:57

Not in the slightest. Um, I won silver at Provincial, which was already such a shock to me. Like, I went into it expecting to just do it for the vibes, just to have fun. I like speaking. I wasn't expecting much, but to win silver was a huge honor. My teacher came to me about a week later and said, Gold can't go to nationals. You're next in line. I was nervous and I was like, oh my goodness, I might let team Alberta down. I'm like, no, no, no, don't even think about that. Are you? You gotta come, you gotta come. So I was like, I guess I'm going to Quebec. So that was such a cool process. And I remember telling my coach, like, hey, I don't know if you've heard the news, but we got a couple more weeks of training ahead of us because we're like, oh, we're done, you know, no more training. But so that was really cool. But then getting to national, I was content with being at the bottom because I was like, I'm sure a lot of these people have worked a lot harder and a lot longer than me. And that is okay. I am here for the vibes, I'm here for the fun, and I'm here to meet people in the country who are just as passionate as I am about public speaking. So the people I worked with were absolutely incredible. The other competitors, incredible. Their skills are so incredible, so amazing to watch that same pattern in other students. I wasn't expecting much. And at closing ceremonies, I had an itch that I might be somewhere up there, but I didn't want to play into it. I heard third place and it wasn't me. I was like, all right. Then I heard second place and it wasn't me. And I was like, oh my goodness, either I was way too over my head and I didn't get on the podium, or they're about to call my name for a goal. Then I hear gold, and it is really hard to hear them in that stadium.

SPEAKER_01 17:51

But I know I was like, who'd they say?

SPEAKER_00 17:53

I knew it was it's impossible. But all I heard was burda. I erupted. I was so excited. I couldn't believe I had done it, that I had one gold in Canada. That feeling of adrenaline gets you going. It's like a fever dream when I think back to it. I couldn't stop smiling. I knew my friends and family were watching the live stream. I was wondering how they were reacting. I was just so excited to represent Team Alberta because Team Alberta has a running streak in public speaking for years. So I was like, oh no, am I gonna be the one to break it? But to keep that streak going, I was so proud of Team Alberta.

SPEAKER_01 18:30

Oh, that's so cool. I didn't know we had a streak. Yes. Oh my gosh, that's so cool. Awesome. Well, thank you to Love Netflix for keeping it going. Still going strong. All right. I've heard you're currently attending university. What does your life look like after nationals? What's your plans? What's your career path?

SPEAKER_00 18:51

Yeah, I am currently in Ontario studying health sciences at McMahon University, one of my dream universities. Definitely a big win to be here. Public speaking plays a huge part because I'm looking forward to getting involved in a ton of stuff around campus that involves speaking, being outgoing, and having those abilities to display opinions and perspectives. So very excited to do that. As well in my program, it's an inquiry-based program. So rely strongly on questioning and being able to question things. So my speaking really does come in handy with the hundreds of group projects being able to speak up and voice your opinions and bring really thoughtful, insightful commentary to the discussion. It's something I'm really excited to do. I'm excited to work with students in my program. So definitely does play a big part in my journey. And I'm hoping there's more public speaking opportunities while I'm here. I've I've only been here for a couple weeks, so still on the hunt, but it plays a huge part in my journey for sure.

SPEAKER_01 19:55

That's so cool. I'm so excited for you in this new journey. Before we get into public speaking strategy questions, I just wanted to ask if you had anything else you'd like to share or highlight from your skills story and what you went through with public speaking and nationals and provincials.

SPEAKER_00 20:14

At the end of the day, it's your main priority shouldn't be winning a medal when you're going into skills. It should really be about performing to the best of your ability and pushing your limits. It really does push you towards great things and it gets you into the spots that you want to be in. It's really about your experience as a skilled person, really growing your skill and working on your skill and training towards something. There is something for everybody. So I strongly urge students from every background, any student who's interested in anything, to look into skills, see if there's teachers who are willing to coach you and prepare you for that competition. It's those things that people might not really recognize they can do at skills, but they should do at skills.

SPEAKER_01 21:01

Yeah, I agree 100%. It's such a great way to really hone your skills. All right, let's get into some fun public speaking strategy questions. What strategies do you use to engage your audience and keep them interested? Definitely.

SPEAKER_00 21:16

So one of the biggest things about your speech, most people would think it's the content and what you're saying, but to keep an audience engaged, it's actually more about your body language and eye contact. Eye contact is such a big thing when you're speaking to an audience because when you are making eye contact with individual people in the audience, they're more willing to listen to what you have to say because they feel like they've made a connection with you and they feel like now you're speaking to them on a one-on-one basis. For you, you're looking at an audience of three people, 10 people, hundreds of people. But for them, they're looking at one person. So when you're able to make eye contact, they become more involved as well because the crowd has a collective focus on you as the speaker, as well as your body language. It becomes really easy to freeze up there. But one of the biggest things that happen when you're practicing as a public speaker is learning to multitask, I call it. Learning to let your body do its own thing while your mouth does its own thing, while your face does its own thing. While you want to make eye contact, you also don't want to pick one person to stare at the entire time. You want to staring into their soul. And then they're just looking around like, does anybody else use this different? Yes. I've definitely done that a couple of times, but then you notice that you're staring at that one person. But yeah, and just even your the way your face looks. So a lot of the time when we're speaking, and this definitely happens with impromptu, it happens to me all the time. You get so focused on what your next word is gonna be because an impromptu, you haven't prepared it. You don't have a speech grid, you don't know what your next word is gonna be. So you stop focusing on your face, you stop focusing on your body, and you're just focused on the word coming out. So you end up looking scared and stoic, and it's not a good look. I've seen a video where it's it's not great, but through that practice and practicing impromptu. It was that was probably my least favorite part of the preparation, but I knew how important it was, and yeah, you will mess up. And for a lot of people, that aspect of messing up is really tough to deal with, but it's better to do it in practice and having those freeze moments where you just can't even talk. It's better to have those in practice than in real sessions when you're actually getting graded, when you're actually being judged, things like that. So it's definitely a big part of it, really understanding what your face looks like when you're talking. And one of my favorite ways to practice is by talking in a mirror. It is so awkward. You feel so weird, but you gotta do it. You have to talk to yourself in the mirror and record yourself, recording yourself really allows you to hear your enunciation and what your words are sounding like. Because a lot of the time, like I said, you start to slur your words during conversations and people will still understand what you're saying. But when you're talking to a big group, it becomes hard to understand what you're saying when they're sitting quite awoke quite away back from you. So it's important to understand that your words must be enunciated. And that also comes with talking slower because, as well, when people are sitting farther away from you and you start speaking really fast, your words will quite literally just jumble together and nobody will understand what you're saying at all. And what's worse than freezing during your speech is nobody having a clue what you're saying. So definitely it's that's one of the most important things is really making sure that your words are pronounced very well so that even if people don't really understand what you're saying, like a professor, if you don't understand the content, at least you can still hear and at least you can still listen to it and just get it in your brain. My biggest takeaways from public speaking. It's not necessarily about what you're saying, it's about your ability to engage your audience because ultimately when they feel engaged, they'll be able to understand your content and the importance of what you're saying as well.

SPEAKER_01 25:19

Yeah. And honestly, just practice makes perfect to make sure you're practicing a lot.

SPEAKER_00 25:24

Yes. Yeah, it's a top, definitely. Especially with impromptu, like just even if you mess up, you just gotta keep at it. You gotta keep at it.

SPEAKER_01 25:32

Yeah, I agree. That's good advice, all of that. That was awesome. So, what role does storytelling play in your speeches, and how can others incorporate it effectively?

SPEAKER_00 25:44

Definitely plays a huge part. We've all learned since we were little the methods of writing an essay. You start with your introduction, then you have your body, and then you finish off with a conclusion. You start with an introduction. My favorite introductions are anecdotes, short stories, not necessarily about the topic itself, but a personal story that connects to the topic in some way. And this doesn't have to be very clear yet, how the story relates to your topic. People love listening to other people's stories. Or you could also go for a question approach. Make the audience ask themselves how they apply to what you're saying. Through your body, you can really convey your information and display your knowledge, keep your audience engaged through what you're saying. And then my conclusion, I reserve that to rephrase what I've talked about, but also to bring back that story and whatever or whatever I've said from the introduction and using that to solidify my point. And this is where I explain the relevance of what I've said in my introduction. Because the story about my aunt might not make sense when I talk about my body paragraph, but if I use my conclusion to talk about why that story about my aunt relates back to what I've talked about this entire time, it sticks with your audience. They remember the main points and why you said what you said. That story will help them remember what you've discussed and why it's important what you've discussed.

SPEAKER_01 27:19

Yeah, I feel like anecdotes and just storytelling is so important because I feel like it really brings the audience on your level. And then everyone feels a little bit more comfortable and they're like, oh, I'm like really interested now because that anecdote was so good. And I just want to keep listening as to why it like connects to the speech. Definitely. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 27:36

And a lot of the time with a lot of speeches you might give and even school presentations, the information might not be interesting. Knowing your audience is such a huge thing. You know, depending on your audience, it might be especially hard to keep them interested in what you're saying, which is why that storytelling plays such a huge part, because that's what's going to keep your audience interested. Asking questions that make them think about how they relate to what you're talking, that's what's going to keep them interested and engaged through the content of what you're saying.

SPEAKER_01 28:08

Yeah, I agree 100%. So, what do you think makes a speaker truly stand out?

SPEAKER_00 28:14

It can be difficult when you're surrounded by other speakers, and especially in a competition. But one thing that I found for me that really made me stood out was facial expressions and making eye contact with the audience, really creating that connection with the audience. Even more important was my sense of style and showcasing my own personal personality in my speech and in the way I present myself. What I did for provincial and nationals was I wore um color-coordinated suits and I picked scarves that had either sparkles or like little detailing on it, and showcased my personality through jewelry. I love wearing jewelry. So, you know, I had jewelry on. I picked my suits based off of how I was feeling that day. The content of my speech sometimes even came through, matching my shoes. And that really made me stand out against the others because I've shown my own personality and my own hobbies through the way I look. Because again, we're all such incredible speakers, and there's very small things that make us stand up by presenting your character and personality through what you wear, the way you address yourself, and chatting with the audience before and after whenever you do a speech or any other competition, go and introduce yourself to the judges and say thank you for their time. Because a lot of the time, these judges are volunteering their time, and they've put in a lot of time into their skill as well. That gives them the ability to judge public speakers and just all the skills. So showing your appreciation for their time really also shows your character as a person. Your skill is not only just your skill, you also have good character. Those characteristics that make you stand out from others. And that's not necessarily me saying, oh, say thank you to the judges and they'll give you a medal, but that's just a common courtesy to thank the people putting time and energy into making these competitions happen. Everywhere you go, facilitators, people that serve your lunch, just making sure that you give off that radiance of character and good characteristics.

SPEAKER_01 30:27

Yeah, and I feel like there's so many ways to show who you are to everyone with clothing, just how you're like all the energy you're putting out. Energy is such a big thing as well. Yes. Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_00 30:39

Especially the speaker. And you develop that energy from the moment you get off the plane, the train, whatever it is, from the moment you start talking to people and have a presence in the space that you're going to be working in, you've created an energy for yourself. Some people who don't want to talk to the competition or want to stay in their zone. But a huge part of these skills competitions is talking with other people and becoming friends with your fellow competitors because you're not fighting them for the gold medal. Your main goal should be to put yourself at the top rather than putting others at the bottom. You do that by establishing that energy and those characteristics with the people around you.

SPEAKER_01 31:21

Yeah, because we're all here to support each other and uplift each other, not spread negativity. Toning your skills is the important thing. Um, and everything else is a cherry on top. So yeah. Yeah, exactly. All right, so this one's really interesting. What's the biggest myth about public speaking you'd like to debunk?

SPEAKER_00 31:42

That it's terrifying and the worst thing you'll ever do. Believe it or not, it won't be. And nobody will ever watch you do a speech and think badly about you. People take too much consideration of what the audience is gonna think of them while they speak, and that's simply never the case. The your audience is there to listen to you. You've established why you're there to speak, and the audience is there to listen. So they're not there to judge you, and they're not there to make fun of the way you speak. They're there to listen and support you. That goes for 99% of audiences. Try not to be scared of the audience, as most people are. So the main fears of public speaking is what if people judge me? What if I mess up? What if they don't like what I say? That shouldn't be your fear. Making eye contact with your audience can be hard. You can feel like deer in headlights. If you have to zone out and stare at a random empty chair, that's fine. But that will allow you to focus more on your words, your breathing, posture, body language rather than eye contact. Eye contact makes a huge connection between two people. And that can be the thing that trips you up as a public speaker. But you know, being able to get past that and work past that in small baby steps.

SPEAKER_01 33:03

Yeah, I agree 100%.

SPEAKER_00 33:05

Also, no milk before speaking. It gives your tongue a coating and it causes buildup in your throat. That will happen during your speech because when you talk a lot, you're pushing air out of your lungs. So things are just gonna keep building up, and then you're gonna be on stage and then you're gonna choke on your word. Not to your fault, but because there's something in your throat, and then you're gonna be standing there coughing on the stage. So no milk. Interesting. I did not know that. Yeah, good. Good to know. Yeah. And also another big thing that my lovely coach taught me is blow your nose before you do a speech. And it really does help because if you don't, you can get really nasally. You might not hear it because it's progressive and it doesn't really show, but for an audience, they notice it. And also because your ears are right next to your mouth. We we often struggle to hear ourselves, like the audience. When you don't blow your nose, you can start get you can start to get really nasally, same with your throat. There's gonna be a lot of buildup, and then you're gonna struggle to get your words out because that air is just not gonna be able to escape. So blow your nose and no milk. Good advice. I never would have thought that. It's the funny thing that you know, people would never think to take into consideration, but you know, it helps.

SPEAKER_01 34:25

Well, good to know. Can you share any resources such as books, courses, or communities that have helped you improve your speaking skills that can help others?

SPEAKER_00 34:34

Definitely. When it comes to resources, it's different for every public speaker. I was lucky growing up, I loved speaking, but a lot of people they decide to get started um later on in life, whether it's middle school or high school or even way later into adulthood. That journey of becoming a public speaker can look very different for everybody. So you will find people who you think are a lot better than you. And you're gonna think, oh, I could never be that good. Remember, they've had their own journeys. They could have been public speaking for 10 years and they practiced day and night. You might just be getting started. Keep that in mind. Watch TED Talks, watch people. I agree. Take note of their mannerisms, take note of their actions, take note of their body language, their style of speaking. So this isn't something that I necessarily do, but what a lot of public speakers choose to relay their content through a long story, whether they're making something or allude to their content through the story they're telling, it keeps the audience very encapsulated. That's not necessarily something that I like to do as a public speaker. It looks different for everybody. Utilize those talks on YouTube, on Google, see what people are saying. If you're interested in debate, watch debates because those are also a big thing that people learn to practice with, because debates not only bring in a large amount of knowledge, but also that impromptu speaking, that back and forth between debaters can become difficult because sometimes you get stuck, you don't know what to say, you don't want to embarrass yourself in front of your opponent. So watching debates and learning how other people handle those moments where they might not necessarily know what to say, that can be incredibly helpful, not only in a debate setting, but in an impromptu setting as well. Yeah, watching other people talk, that it is such a huge difference.

SPEAKER_01 36:26

Yeah, that's such good advice. I agree with everything you said. TED Talks really help the way they're talking, and everyone's so engaged. It's good to watch what they're doing, how they're saying their words and really getting people engaged throughout my experience in college, and it got me really into it and better at public speaking. Anyone who's scared to do a presentation and you're not really sure where to start might be a good place. Definitely.

SPEAKER_00 36:49

And that's interesting speeches. Yeah, and like so many amazing speeches. And you know, you get really interested and really involved in what those speakers are saying, but it ties into that same idea of those speakers know what they're there to do, and the audience knows what they're there to do. So exactly, you know, when you feel like, oh, the audience might judge me, the audience of a TED talk are there to listen, and the speaker of a TED talk is there to give a TED talk. You are in the right place, they are in the right place. You're not doing anything wrong, you're giving the audience what they've come for. It's not a matter of feeling like the audience is gonna hate you because that's not the case. They know what they're there to do, and you know what you're there to do.

SPEAKER_01 37:31

Yeah, again, like great advice. We all just gotta think that way and be like, nope, they're here to watch me, they're here to listen immediately.

SPEAKER_00 37:39

You are the main character and they are there to enjoy what you have to give them. Thank you so much, Lebnella. Is there anything else you would like to speak on? I'd just say get into public speaking, try it out. You know, you might you might love it.

SPEAKER_01 37:54

It builds so much confidence, even if you're not wanting to do it like in the long run, even doing it a little bit and learning to communicate in speeches or just in public speaking in general, it can bring you skill to talk with others and build community.

SPEAKER_00 38:09

Exactly. It does help with your sense of self and your confidence when you overcome that barrier and that fear and develop that skill. It really does feel good. So if you've been scared, just do it. Yeah. I agree. All right. Thank you so much, Lubna.

SPEAKER_01 38:26

Thank you so much for having me. It was so nice to talk to you. Yeah, you too. All right, that is the end of this episode. I'll see you in the next one. Thanks again for tuning in. We hope you enjoyed today's episode and gained some valuable insights from our amazing guest. If you'd like to learn more about Skilled Canada Alberta and our wide range of programs, be sure to check out our website at skillsalberta.com. From bringing skills right to your classroom to taking part in our competition programming, there are countless ways to get involved. And don't forget to follow us on social media at SkillsAlberta to stay up to date on our latest episodes and events. See you in the next one!