Public Speaking for Creatives: Start Small, Build Confidence

In this solo episode of Creatives Like Us, Angela Lyons discusses the often daunting topic of public speaking, emphasising its importance for small business owners and freelancers. 

She shares personal experiences and practical tips for building confidence, starting small, and effectively communicating ideas. The conversation highlights the significance of visibility, authority, and clarity in public speaking, while also addressing common fears and the value of authenticity.

Angela encourages listeners to embrace opportunities for public speaking, whether through networking events, podcasts or local meetups, and to practice their skills to enhance their professional presence.

Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction to Public Speaking
• 2:49 The Importance of Public Speaking
• 5:37 Starting Small: Building Confidence
• 8:47 Tips for Effective Public Speaking
• 11:26 Overcoming Fear and Embracing Authenticity

Transcript

Hey everyone, welcome back to Creatives Like Us and it's episode 22. Woohoo! Today it's a solar episode with me, Angela Lyons, and I'm a brand marketing graphic designer. Today we're talking about something that makes most of us want to run for the hills, public speaking. Now, before you skip this episode and think I'm not going to do any TEDx talks, does not interest me at all, just hear me out, stick with me, because as small business owners and freelancers, whatever you want to call yourself, solopreneur,

We're actually speaking publicly all the time. And that could be through client presentations. It could be networking events, your Instagram stories, and even that pitch that you're crafting. That's all a form of public speaking. Obviously the public, the pitch email one you're crafting is a one that's written down, but here's my view on it. And this is coming from a place where I hated public speaking. And again, you don't need to start by booking.

a conference stage, don't think of that public speaking is a big TEDx talk straight away. You're going to start small and you can build your confidence when you start small. And when you do that, you let your speaking skills grow with you and with your business. So why does this matter? Why should we care about public speaking? I've kind of come up with three reasons. And the first one is for visibility, when you can articulate your ideas and they're clear.

and you speak confidently, people remember you. Say for example, you're at a networking event and yeah, you're making small talk and that's great and that's brilliant. And that's maybe your audition for future opportunities. See, that's starting really small. And the second one is authority. There's something about seeing someone speak and especially if they're on stage, I know again, talk about stages in a minute, but if you see them speak, it builds trust and that can be even faster than seeing their work online. So as soon as you meet them.

You hear their voice and then you go and check out their portfolio online or you read their testimonials. So when people see you, you can share your process. You can become an expert in their minds. And I suppose thirdly, it's the one that I suppose you need for yourself and it's clarity for yourself. When you have to explain what you do and you say it out loud to real people, it forces you to believe in yourself and also get bit clearer on your message. Crystal clear in fact.

That's what we should do really, shouldn't we? I know it, again, it does take time. I know I'm still doing it after 13 years in business and 30 years of doing graphic design over that. We still have to work on it. But when you go to a networking event or you meet new people, maybe just start practicing your elevator pitch. So thinking about starting small. Why don't you do it, as I said, get in front of some humans, start really, really small. And that could be the local networking event, as I said, or it could be podcast interviews.

and they are perfect for this. And seriously, you're just having a conversation. There's no live audience, no one's staring at you. And if you stumble, and I know I stumble in this podcast sometimes, so sorry, you can edit out. That's the great thing about podcasts, you can edit out. Sometimes I keep my edits in, but sometimes I don't. Anyway, but you are practicing, you are articulating your thoughts, you're telling your story, and you're thinking, I suppose, on your feet. And again, it's a conversation, and try and have fun. You loosen up, enjoy the process.

but you know what you're doing, you're building your network and you're getting content out of it. You can share that content wherever you've got your social platforms or even your website and it's great. I've got this podcast that I interview people on, but I've also guested on other people's podcasts and I've put my voice out there because I've wanted to get more brand awareness about what I do and how I work with people. But also I wanted to reach out to other communities and sometimes that's the best thing that can happen.

When you put your voice out there and people find out about you, you tell people about you. So it's actually worked for me. I mean, even the ultimate, ultimate out of it is that you get work out of it. I've been on a podcast and I was recommended by one of the listeners to somebody else and they booked a call with me and they hired me to work on their branding for their company. So see, even though you're building your authority and getting your voice out there, the bonus could be that you could even get work on it. So if you want to be on a podcast, why not contact them? What's the worst they can say? No. So.

Why not? Just try it. Why not? But please do have a listen to it first. There's nothing worse than pitching to a podcast and you've not read the byline or you've not listened to the trailer and you don't know what the podcast is about. Listen to a few episodes first, find out what they're about and find out there's a way that they accept pitches. Again, find out if they do guest episodes. There's nothing worse if you don't know that. And guess what? They might say yes. So try it.

Why don't you go contact a podcaster. If there's a favorite one that you'd love to be on, try it. What's the worst thing? As I said, what can they say? So what else can I say about this? Don't forget to tell the podcaster that you want to go on, that you'd love to be on their podcast, but also say to them in the pitch what you'd bring to them and their audience. Give something back to them. It's not all about just wanting to get your name out there and be on them, their podcast. Okay?

So tell them what you can bring to them. Another way to do public speaking is go to a local meetup. Could they be your next step? Find a creative meetup, maybe a small business breakfast, a freelancer breakfast, or an industry group that you might want to connect with there, people there. And sometimes these are low pressure environments where everyone's just there to connect and they won't judge you. Start small by introducing yourself. Again, that's a bit of public speaking there. And then.

They might even have a group where everybody has to say their name, what they do. That's a good place to start. know some of these places have opportunities to do maybe something like a workshop or do a talk. I know the cowork crew have a full day of coworking in a really lovely space and at lunchtime they have a speaker talk on their industry. And I've done it before where I spoke on having a consistent brand for your business and the

Molly was a lovely host of that cowork crew. So that's a cowork crew run by Joe and Penny Pickering and they're based in the UK. And when they have their speakers, they're short informal talks and everyone is so chilled. So that could be a really good place to do some practice in a smaller environment. And the beauty of starting it small is that you can come away from it and say, I've done this. I've done that. I could put it on my CV. I could put it on my website. I can get, again, get some content out of it. But more importantly, it adds to your confidence.

and you should be really proud of that. So give that a go maybe. And this bit now is for actually speaking on stage. I know sometimes people say, practice in front of mirror or imagine the audience in the underwear, which I don't get that and slightly freaks me out, but hey, I suppose it may work for you. Again, I'm no expert on public speaking as there are a million public speaking tips out there. Look at YouTube.

and look at even Spotify. I know there's some videos there that I follow some people there and they've been great. So what I'm about to share with you is tips that I've picked up myself and whilst I've listened to people on stage speaking. So first up is your opening closing. You can always add the middle bits, but nail the first 30 seconds, get people engaged and also work on the last 30 seconds. I think that's what kind of people remember. It sounds really sad. So like Festa said, they do remember the

beginning and the end and the bits in between sometimes, but the opening should hook them. Is it a question? Is it a bold statement? Is it a story? And then the closing should look back to that and give a takeaway. And I've seen people do that and it works out brilliantly. And they're the talks that I remember. Another thing is embrace the pause. We all feel like we need every second word and that pause is very powerful. Let your point land and let them take a breath. gosh.

That's what I should do. I'm talking really fast now, because part of me wants this episode. I love recording all these episodes, but part of me wants to think, my God, I'm talking too fast. My friend, Mel, told me, be more Obama. Calm, slow, and considered. Now, I'm thinking now if I rush through this episode, I'm going to slow down now. All right, let's slow down. Okay, another thing is tell stories, not facts.

Oh my gosh, I went to a presentation recently and I nearly fell asleep. In fact, I did fall asleep. Nobody remembers statistics or your three-part framework. Oh my God, sometimes that can be boring. Please don't make them fall asleep. Be you, try and tell a story. Try and tell something that people will resonate with and know your audience. Again, going back to Festus last week, he gave great tips on storytelling and repetition and he also talked about, talk to the people, not at them.

So imagine that you're on stage and imagine you're having a coffee with one person, maybe make eye contact instead of you instead of one or people and keep it conversational, not too, I suppose like you've been on stage and acting like a performance. And then with your body language, it can either amplify or undermine things that you're saying. Notice a lot of people walking on stage, walking up and down stage, walking up and down the stage.

And sometimes I wish they could just stand still. I don't get why they do it, because obviously they want to engage in the audience. But I get slightly annoyed when the slides illuminates their face and then we could lose what they're talking about and I'm following up and down the stage. I get it. I do get it. But maybe make eye contact with them in, especially in smaller settings, connect with the individuals, especially they might want to come and talk to you afterwards. So that's a.

good place and in larger rooms, maybe scan the section of the room. I've seen people do that when they're speaking on stage. And if you're on a podcast or video, look at the camera lens like it's a person. I know I forget to do that sometimes. And this weird thing in AI recently where it corrects your eyes, but that's just a bit odd. So don't rely on that. Try and look at the camera if you can, especially if you're doing a video. And here's something I've learned also is that when you're nervous, it shows up in your voice and you can get a bit croaky and like, so just take breaths.

In through the nose, out through the mouth. Before you speak, take three deep belly breaths. It calms your nervous system and it gives your voice more resonance. my gosh, I've even done it just now. Again, I was talking too fast, but let's be real. Fear doesn't go away. I know I'm in the comfort of just recording this by myself right now, but I know tomorrow morning I'll be like, my God, is it going to be sad? All right. Let the fear go away.

Please try and let calm the nerves. Don't worry about what people think. If you're comfortable, if you're ready for it, your body and your voice, it will all come out in your body and your voice. And it's hard to say, but try and enjoy it. People are there for you. They want to hear what you've got to say. And that's exciting. So just relax, try and relax. And then once you relax, energy shifts and then you start enjoying it.

And like, look at me now, my voice has calmed down because I know I'm coming towards the end of the podcast. Remember, people want you to succeed and your audience isn't hoping that you fail. They are pretty much, I mean, it'd be horrible if they're not, but they are rooting for you. They showed up to your talk because they're interested in what you want that you have to say. So you don't have to be perfect. You might stumble on words like you can say,

and you can lose your train of thought. I've seen people do that on stage too, but you know what? Somebody in the audience might even like encourage them. Then they end up laughing about it. And honestly, they're all there rooting for you. So perfection sometimes can be a bit boring and it can be a bit robotic, especially if you memorize a script. So just be more you and just relax when you're there. So before you even get to that stage and on that stage, one of the biggest things I'd say, and I said not to be robotic, but practice.

kind of work out what you're going to say. Not kind of work out, know what you're going to say. Again, Festus last week was kind of special because he's one of those people that are blessed who can just roll up on a stage. He knows what he's going to talk about, but he has no notes, no slides, and he will just talk. I can't do that. I need to practice quite a bit and I have to make time for that practice.

As I said, I got lots of tips. There was a video on Spotify and I've tried to search for it before this episode, but I think they might've removed it. But it was a really good episode with two people giving advice on talks. If I find it, I'll link it in the show notes. I think her name was Charlotte Lewis. She was pretty good and she's been featured on podcasts and she was really good at giving tips. So before you do anything, just practice and maybe take notes from other people.

I know there's also my friend Ella, she's used a lady called Jackie Goddard as her coach to speak. And I know Ella does a lot of public speaking. I know Gus does a lot of public speaking. Again, we watch these people on stage and they look like they're smashing it. And they really are, but you know, they've practiced, they've had coaching. So maybe that's something that if you want to do that as part of your business, that might be an investment that you might want to do. As I said, you don't have to be perfect. And I prefer to have conversations and not presentations.

And that's why I enjoy this podcast a lot because it's not about me being on stage. And you know what? I'll be honest here. Public speaking on the stage is not one of my favorite things in the world. I prefer to be on a panel or do a Q and A if I'm actually on a stage in front of people. I don't mind, as I said, being there, but I don't feel comfortable if I was doing a presentation and all eyes are on me. And plus I'd have to remember everything.

And one of the things I prefer to do is have conversations, not presentations. And that's why I enjoy doing this podcast. So how about you? Do you want to do it? Do you enjoy public speaking? Do you want to try? If you want to try the first things, as I said, maybe find a podcast that you'd love to go on. Maybe some, do some interviews with people in the industry, reach out to be a guest or you know what? You could even start a podcast. Start the conversation. Why not?

Step two maybe, go to local meetups in your area, creative groups, as I said, small business or freelance or gatherings, street associations, see what's out there. Just show up to one. You don't have to speak the first time, but go, they might ask you to do an elevator pitch. That could be your first introduction into public speaking. And as I said, part of step three is your elevator pitch, practice it. Sometimes all it is is who are you and what you do.

And then maybe you can just say it out loud or write it down before you go. And then until it feels natural and it just flows and just, know what, you can use it everywhere. You can use it in your bio for LinkedIn. So last one I'll leave you with, if you're feeling brave, why don't you record yourself? Look at your phone, see if it's got voice note memo on there. Listen to it and play it back. It does feel uncomfortable the first time hearing your voice. It's really weird. I didn't like doing it, especially when I was on a podcast. I hated it, but

As it goes on, you get comfortable with it and you don't mind. So wrapping up, I public speaking isn't one that people just jump out and say, yes, I'm going to do public speaking. I think it's a skill you can build on and you can use it for your business and show people that your voice matters, that you're an expert at what you do. And you know what? People will want to hear what you have to say. Try it. You never know.

bit of personal housekeeping here. I found out this weekend, I did not win at the Black Podcast Awards. Actually, I should rephrase that and say that I did win because I was nominated and that is a massive win for me. But I did not come away with the main awards. But you know what, my name and the name of this podcast was up there on a screen in America. And that is a massive win, especially from, especially for me coming from a place where I did not ever want to public speak and coming from a place where

I didn't know if I wanted to start a podcast. I started in January this year and I was up for an award, two awards, International Podcasts and Best Art Podcasts, the Black Podcast Awards. So I just wanted to say, you can do it. And also I want to say thank you so much for listening and thank you for your encouragement. And I do get excited when I see episodes on the downloads in my Buzzsprout account. It's just so cool. So thank you so much for that.

And thank you for tuning in to Creatives Like Us. And if this episode resonated with you, please leave a review. You can share it with a fellow creative who needs a confidence boost or a fellow business owner who might be interested in it. And you know what, if you take any steps in what I've talked about today, why don't you DM me and I will give you a shout out on the next show. Here you go. See a bit of public speaking for you there. Yeah. So I'll leave the notes and show notes where you can find me.

Thank you for listening and please keep being creatives like us. Bye.