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Aren't Ya Tired Of? Smart Conversations for Living & Working Well
Join Mark Benton — VP of HR with experience at companies like PepsiCo and now McKesson — and Patti Johnson, former CEO, Board member, bestselling author, and strategic coach and advisor — for smart, funny, and real conversations about the things we’re all tired of — and, most importantly, what to do about them.
They first worked together at Accenture and now bring their humor, honesty, and experience to topics that hit home — like being addicted to busyness, expecting too much of yourself (and everyone else), and finding your voice.
It’s not their first rodeo — which is exactly why their insights and fresh ideas work in real life, helping you work and live just a little better.
Aren't Ya Tired Of? Smart Conversations for Living & Working Well
Presentations – What If I Mess This Up?
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
Ever think, “I’m just not good at presentations”… or worse, “What if I mess this up?”
In this episode of Aren’t Ya Tired Of…, Patti and Mark break down the real reason presentations feel so stressful—and it’s not what you think. It’s not just nerves. It’s how we’re approaching them.
They share the shifts that actually build confidence: stop performing and start connecting, focus on your message (not your slides), and practice in a way that makes you sound natural—not scripted.
If you’ve ever overprepared the wrong way, rushed to get through it, or avoided speaking altogether—this will change how you think about presenting.
Because great speakers aren’t born—they’re built. And you can get there too.
Please subscribe and share this with anyone who needs to hear this conversation! Check out Aren't Ya Tired Of on YouTube, and follow us on Instagram at arentyatiredof_social. Send your topic suggestions to podcast@pattibjohnson.com or through DM on LinkedIn or Instagram.
Welcome everybody to our Gitarno podcast. Today we're going to tackle one of our top five fears. Yeah. And that is speaking to others, speaking in public.
SPEAKER_04Dun, dun, dun, there's a name.
SPEAKER_00Glossophobia. Oh, I didn't know that. Did you even know that? I didn't know that. I think that's right. I have that's what I was told. That's what I what is it?
SPEAKER_02Glossophobia.
SPEAKER_00Glossophobia. Who knows? Because right up there with snakes.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_00I mean fear of heights, fear of heights. Spiders. I mean, all of that.
SPEAKER_02What about like clothes, like claustrophobia? Claustrophobia. Okay. Yeah, it's got to be a little bit more. That's one of them, but yeah, but this is glossophobia.
SPEAKER_00Scares people a lot.
SPEAKER_02Speaking.
SPEAKER_00A lot. Speaking in public. And so today, we want to give you some tips and suggestions how to make it simpler. Mark and I have been through this. Um, we want to give you some of our lessons learned, what's really worked and helped us. So we're going to talk about that today. Welcome to the Aren't You Tired of podcast, as I said, where we talk about all the things that we're tired of. List keeps growing and growing.
SPEAKER_04It's getting long.
SPEAKER_00It's getting longer. But most importantly, what to do about it? Yeah. Right. That's what we're focused on. And I'm Patty Johnson with my co-host Mark.
SPEAKER_02Mark Benton. I'm here. Hello.
SPEAKER_00Yes. Hello, everybody. And we're so glad you're going to hang out with us today. So let's, what are we going to do? How are we going to go about this, Mark?
SPEAKER_02Well, you know, this is one of the biggest causes of anxiety for people, like you said. And it doesn't matter if it's in a work setting or if it's, you know, speaking at, you know, the parent-teacher organization or some, you know, committee group that you're a part of, or if, you know, you're a student or uh doesn't matter what age, you're just a student and you have to give a presentation in front of class. We we spend a lot of time and energy on helping people learn how to uh not be anxious and to really be effective as a speaker. Uh so, you know, I don't know that I was always completely comfortable speaking in public, but I've learned through uh just you know, naturally getting over, you know, a couple of things and getting there and just doing it. Uh, but also through repetition, I feel like, you know, I've gotten a little bit better at it. I still get nervous, but I don't know. How about you?
SPEAKER_00Same. I used to get really nervous. Uh, I have learned some habits that help me a lot and that make me calmer. And so that's really what we want to share with you guys today, sort of our, you know, tips and tricks that have helped make speaking just something we're more comfortable with, but we both still get a little bit nervous. There's nothing wrong with that.
SPEAKER_02Still, still uh and we can talk more about it as we we get into this. But before we do, in this episode, we've got a little quizzy quiz.
SPEAKER_00Let's do it.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, you're right. We love quizzes. So we love a good quiz. And so if any of these feel familiar to you, you might need some tips on speaking in public. So I'll I'll start out here. Do you have a hard time sleeping the night before because you are so anxious and nervous?
SPEAKER_00Number two, do you spend time more time worrying about how you'll be received than on your actual message?
SPEAKER_02Are you filled with self-doubt and second guessing yourself before you even start?
SPEAKER_00Number four, do you find yourself rushing just to get the presentation over with so you will feel some relief?
SPEAKER_02Yes. Number five, do you use lots of filler words to avoid any pauses, the dreaded pause?
SPEAKER_00Number six, uh, do you have to rely so much on your notes that you do you hardly ever look up to the people listening to you?
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Uh number seven here, during the presentation is your mind wandering and you're thinking, oh, I hope they like me. I hope they really like me.
SPEAKER_00Yes. Number eight, do you ever avoid speaking to a group because it makes you nervous, even if you know it would help you and your cause? Okay. Yeah. So those that's a good quiz. If you answered yes to at least half of those, there's a pretty good chance that speaking to others when there's more than a couple gathered makes you nervous.
SPEAKER_04Makes you nervous.
SPEAKER_00So Mark and I have identified our favorite tips and tricks, and we're going to walk you through them. We kind of go through it, starts with mindset, prep, prep. And then actually when you're giving the presentation. All those three matter. And I'll start off and and and Mark and I'll just talk our way through it. The one thing I think, and this has helped me, I think stop trying to be someone else.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Oh, you know, be who you are. If you're funny, be funny. If you are someone who likes to go in and you're you're informal, be that way. Be who you are. And there is not one right way to be a great speaker. You can go out and look on look at YouTube, at TEDx, all these. There's a million examples. And you're like, that person's so interesting. And every single time it's somebody different. And they all are bringing themselves.
SPEAKER_06Yeah.
SPEAKER_00And I think I don't know about you, Mark, but I have seen so many interesting people. We're talking, you're you're fun, you're interesting. They go stand up in front of a room, yeah. They put on a speaker disguise. Yeah. And you're like, is that the same person? Well, you know?
SPEAKER_02It's important. I yeah, I I I agree. And I've seen that happen, and it it's a little surprising, but what that really is, is it's a mind barrier. It is. It's it's a it's all of a sudden you're just still talking. It's just now what has changed? Well, maybe you're on stage, you have a mic, uh, there's more people. There's more people out there, and that makes you more nervous. That's natural. That's okay. But the the point is, is kind of know what you're saying is know your strengths, and then just accentuate those. Be you, yeah.
SPEAKER_00Be you. I agree. That is a big one because if you're not, if you are thinking of it as a performance, yeah, it's gonna, it's gonna be a problem. I I want to mention a a second thing in terms of mindset. For me, this has been, this was my biggest unlock.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_00And that is to go from looking for approval, don't look for approval, but focus on contributing. Oh, and what I mean by that is if you go in and you're talking to a group, and as you gave in your your quiz example, if the whole time you're thinking, I hope I'm good enough. Ah, I hope, I hope this is gonna be good. Do they like what I'm saying? Are they getting it? If that is all that's going in your mind, then it is clogged. You cannot possibly think about how how am I contributing to this group. And so for me, my unlock was don't let your mind go there. Instead, think about I hope I can bring something interesting to this group. Or if I'm speaking to a bigger group, I hope a couple of people walk away with something. Yeah. I hope it gives them some idea, encouragement to try something that they wouldn't have otherwise. And I think if you keep your mind on how can I have an impact here?
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_00How can I contribute and not I hope they like me and I hope they approve of me, it'll make all the difference. For me, that was the biggest mental unlock.
SPEAKER_02I think that that's a great unlock because also you have to flip that, or I I would flip that because I've had that same exactly same thought, same, you know, second guessing and fear. But I was well, somebody asked me to do the talk. So I must be bringing something. I've done something. There's something I'm bringing to this conversation that they asked me to do this. Now, that can bring other stress and and anxiety, but sure, I'm I'm the one that's here. So whether they approve of me or not, I'm the one that got asked to do it. Exactly.
SPEAKER_00I'm here to contribute. I'm not here looking for everybody to think I'm great and get your approval. If you go in with that mindset, to me, it just made all the difference.
SPEAKER_02Now, I think I want to make sure we anchor back to and frame. I was just thinking when you were saying that this is if it makes you anxious, right? If this is if the presentation, the public presentation, the speaking or whatever, if it makes you anxious, there's some people out there that you could give them the phone book and they will be up on stage and they will educate you on whatever. And I just used a reference that some people may not know. Like, what's a phone book, Mark?
SPEAKER_05Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Anyway, but this what we're talking about is this may help you if you're comfortable and you just want to, you know, get some tips on how to get better, but this is really for that person that like I have to do this, or I've been asked to do this, or I want to do this better.
SPEAKER_01Right.
SPEAKER_02Right. So we've talked about the mindset. Now let's talk a little bit about the prep. Because this is where I found several unlocks for myself. You know, and I think when you whatever you're asked to talk about, and no matter how long you're asked to talk, you know, I've been asked sometimes TED Talk style, you have 15 minutes, and then sometimes it's been two hours, right? And in either situation, the clear message uh that matters to the listener is what's so important. Instead of worrying about my slides or all of that, I I sit down now and I start and I think, okay, and I had a great speaking coach one time that that gave me a great framework. What do I want these listeners to know, believe, and then do? So as I'm prepping, that's how I'm framing up whatever it is. And that's how I start. So I used to sit down and I might, you know, on my laptop start creating, or, you know, if I'm handwriting it, now, you know, with copilot and other AI tools, I just start, you know, that way. But what do I want them to know, believe, and do? And then I begin to create basically my outline. You know, and that's how I start and I prep and I just make sure that I'm really spending the right amount of time to understand the intent and what I want from them, you know, what I want from them to to really take away. And then the other thing is know your content cold. You know, um now I used to think I had to memorize, you know, like, okay, I need to know this whole entire speech, you know, from front to back, back to front, you know, so that I can do that. But now, if when I started with that framing of, you know, know, believe, and then do, that's what I want, then I just kind of I just start telling the story. I just start talking. And I'll sometimes, even if it if it makes sense, I'll start saying, This is what you know, here's what I'm here to talk about, and here's the topic, and here's some background. This is what I want you to know. And then I'll start. And then if you know that, then I want you to believe X, Y, and Z. Now let's talk about what we do about it. Right. And I'll even say, um, sometimes that's the way you and I talk about prepping for our episodes. You know, what do we want our listeners to know, believe, and do? And so uh, you know, being having a clear message and then knowing that content cold so that you can just kind of not worry about the other things is really key.
SPEAKER_00Right. I think you know it's one thing you I love that you're starting there. You're starting there with your message.
SPEAKER_06Yeah.
SPEAKER_00I would say one of the most common things that I coach leaders on, how many times? Let me show you my slides. Start with the slides. Yeah. And I think because there's such a a slide a deck mentality business today, that's often the starting point.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Instead of what you're you're sitting down, I'm not gonna do anything else. I'm not gonna worry about materials, anything yet. I'm gonna start with what's my message. If you do that, then you know, do I even need slides?
SPEAKER_02I might not. I mean, I I would be happy and refreshed if I didn't also have to reference some slides. Or how about you're talking about something that might be a pretty dense topic and like you just have a nice picture of a mountain behind you? I mean, like what? You know, that'd be great.
SPEAKER_00Exactly. I I've always thought I used slides for one of two reasons. One, if if I needed it, it was more detail than I could possibly cover verbally, and they needed to understand. You can't do too much detail in a presentation. Or secondly, as a little prompter to me, ah, I see the mountain. I know after the mountain, I'm going down the river. Whatever it is, I know what's coming next. It's just a mental prompt. Um but I love that you're starting with what do I want them to believe and understand? That's the message, the core.
SPEAKER_02And if you if you have that anxiety, right, about the speaking and okay, I know I need to do this, and now oh no, now I need to do this. If you start that way, you know, and just knowing what you want to say and being intentional about that, that really will help.
SPEAKER_00It helps a ton. Yeah. And I think, you know, just to to piggyback on that, uh, about knowing your content well, for me, yeah, practice the heck out of the thing. And for me, people will say, Oh, you're such a relaxed, you know, conversational presenter. Guess what? I've been practicing it. Yeah. Not practicing it because I'm practicing, um, like I'm not memorizing. Yeah. But if you practice what you want to say, then you can think on your feed. That's right. You can be comfortable talking because I know the stuff. I know it. And I think that is for me the number one thing. Um and I have with my clients, I I will say, you know, use video. Video yourself. Have someone, you know, set the an iPad up at the back of the room, have your friend, you know, yeah. It is the number one thing. Because somebody can say, Mark, you know, I think you ought to du-da-da-da-da. Uh-huh. Not like watching yourself. I will say for me, one of my biggest learnings, yeah, I hate podiums. Don't put me behind. I'm not gonna do it. I'm gonna do it. So consequently, I'm kind of a roamer. So I a few years ago watched myself and I was like, oh my gosh, stop. Traveling. I was traveling. I was traveling and moving and roaming too much. And so I did that and now I don't do that again. So I know I I can move. I like to walk a little, but I need to stay in a space. Likewise, one of the people I coached recently, she used filler words a lot, more than she realized. And so we could talk about it, but when you watch on video and you hear a lot of and uh kind of like, and something people do all the time now, right? At the end of a statement, right?
SPEAKER_02I do the right thing a lot. Like you know, right? Right.
SPEAKER_00Right. And and then all of a sudden you're saying it after every sentence or paragraph. It becomes like, I'm not listening to you anymore. I'm counting how many times you say right.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I'm distracted.
SPEAKER_00I'm distracted. And so when you watch yourself on video, then all of a sudden you can realize I got some little habits that are gonna get in my way. So I do think that is super important. Practice a lot so you're so comfortable. That content you need to code, practice is a way, I think, to internalize it.
SPEAKER_02I really like, I really like that. And one thing I just thought about is you were talking, and it kind of goes into, you know, kind of how you manage your time.
SPEAKER_01Yes.
SPEAKER_02The if I'm like, you know, for instance, I'm supposed to give a 15-minute talk, right? Impactful, wanted to be TED talk like, then actually I plan, and this is gonna sound crazy, but I I plan for eight minutes of content. Now I'm I'm using a small amount of time, but that's what I'll do. I'll just plan for eight minutes, you know, of conversation and and remarks so that if I end up going long, if somewhere in the middle of it, like I I go blank, right? We'll talk about this in a little bit, but you can handle that. And it's not like, well, I planned a bigger meal than people actually want to eat.
SPEAKER_00That's so important. You know, that's so important. And one of the ways you can really run off the rails, because back to your purpose, yeah, if you're like, I want to accomplish these things, but oh, by the way, I've only covered a third of what I was supposed to cover. I the group doesn't understand now. They haven't bought in. Right. And so, and but my time's up. And so I think that's super important. And I think the other thing too, Mark, on management of time, yeah. Now this is it depends on who you are.
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_00For me, before a big presentation, yeah, I do not want to be in three meetings beforehand, running in, sweating, becoming in hot. Coming in hot, I need a little bit of just regroup time.
SPEAKER_02I will say this. This is so interesting. Because we're we talked about the mindset and then we talked about the prep. And I think you brought up a great point. Like, don't don't come in hot for a presentation if you can avoid it. I really, if if you know you're asking me to speak and I'm supposed to, you know, what time do I go on if nothing changes in the schedule? You're on at 10. Okay. I'm gonna be there at 9:15. And I'm gonna look at the environment. Okay, well, okay, we got this going on. We got this going on. Oh, more people here, less people here. Oh, they said that there was gonna be this, but they got me behind a podium, right? You know, or whatever it is. So you can get a lay of the land and plan your strategy. It's so important if that's the kind of physical environment you're in. If you're presenting like most of us do now virtually, so you're somewhere and everybody else is somewhere else, it can also create different dynamics because a lot of times, you know, if you're presenting and you have your slides and all that kind of stuff, you're trying to manage all those dynamics. So allow yourself time. Don't come in hot. No, you know, and just give your time as as I, you know, I heard the term the woo-saw. You know, just allow your yourself to kind of get in there and get yourself prepared. I like to sometimes, if I'm there early, um, can I speak to the A V crew, please?
SPEAKER_00Let me tell you.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_00One bunny trail. Yeah. The most stories I've ever witnessed. Yeah. I don't know that I've had a really bad experience.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_00The A V doesn't work.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_00The thing isn't hooked up. And you, I have seen, and it's happened recently, a leader wanted, she needed her, she had a video, she had wasn't working.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Frazzled.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Frazzled. I'm so glad you said that.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Don't assume there's, there's, it's all set up. It's good. I need to see it. Yeah. I need to see it.
SPEAKER_02I've learned something in what you're saying. Uh, I've watched like C-suite leaders that sometimes they'll they'll come in, you know, you know, 10 minutes, 15 minutes before, and then what they'll do is, you know, they can walk right up on stage. And I was like, wow, that's great that they can do that, that this individual can just run up on stage. Well, what I now realize is many of them Well, I came down this morning.
SPEAKER_00Somebody or somebody else.
SPEAKER_02And and they have a little bit of help. And so when Patty comes in to speak, here's her video. Um, she's gonna have some slides. Um, doesn't do a handheld, wants a lapel.
SPEAKER_05Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Right? Now tell me, is she gonna click or are you gonna click? So all of these things may sound like if you're a speaking pro or do it all the time, you're like, no duh. But for someone that this is anxiety provoking for them, we're telling you, these are all the things you should be thinking about. So you're not worried about that. All you gotta do is talk.
SPEAKER_00Is talk. And I I I love that you brought up check out the room. And it doesn't have to be that for me is ooh, anxiety anxiety just goes way down. Now, if it's a big presentation and I come in the night before, I'm gonna go see the room the night before. I'm gonna even if it's not completely set up.
SPEAKER_06That's right.
SPEAKER_00Uh, the morning of, is it set up? Now, even if you're speaking at a small group, you know, it doesn't have to be some big massive presentation. Like, do are we a are we sitting around a table? Yeah. What what's going on? What are we doing? What are we doing? And I think that is because it helps kind of like what what brings anxiety is lack of certainty.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_00And the more you can take away the question marks, yeah, the more, ah, the speaking seems a lot easier.
SPEAKER_02All you gotta do is come in and talk.
SPEAKER_00Come in and talk.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, that's right. That's right. You know, so we're talking about, you know, kind of prepping. So if you know, if we kind of get into the actual presentation itself, so now you're you're doing the thing, right? I I think one of the things also that could come across that that is a fail for speakers is when you're not in the right mental or physical space, that physical presence and that confidence. So, you know, how you stand, um, you know, how you bring yourself to even get there to have the energy, because many of us have listened to presenters, they may know their information cold. It may be structured well, but the energy is very flat and they're talking just like this, and they got their arms crossed and they're not really moving. And that that can also come across as the nerves that might just be who you are. But if you feel like you could be a dynamic speaker and you feel like I can really crush this, right? Then if you do all these other things to get prepped, you know, you need to make sure that now you're in a good mental space. And one of the things I do, I I'm interested in your process is I think about my brand. There's two things I do, but my brand. I want to come across as confident. I want to come across as knowledgeable, I want to come across as fun. Right. And then that's also in my mental as I you know think about the no, believe, do. How about you? How do you prepare mentally?
SPEAKER_00Well, we've talked about some of the things, but I want to ask you a question because when we were prepping for this, you talked about the physical confidence. Yeah. And I want you to explain. You said one of the things you do is almost like deep breath, hold your shoulders back. Tell me about that because the reason I'm Asking as you're commenting, yeah, is you know, sometimes body language, all this stuff can can make you feel like, oh, I have to come and be somebody I'm not, I have to be fake. Right. And and you're saying, no, but how do you build that physical confidence? So when you walk in the room, whether it's five people or a hundred, yeah, and you feel yeah, ah, okay.
SPEAKER_02Well, let me tell you, I used to get super nervous in speaking, as I said. I I knew it. I I just get really nervous. And I had a speaking coach, had the benefit of a speaking coach one time, and they took me into another room because leading up to it, I was like, oh, like, you know, I'd be like, ah, you know, what's going on? Yes. And they're like, come here. And so we went into a side room. And the first thing that they did, and some of you out there may know about this, is they said, Um, I want you to give me your best Superman pose. And I was like, What? And they're like, Your best how does Superman stand? And uh, well, like when when he's when you see these, you know, images of him, I said, Well, you know, he has his hands on his hips and his chest is up and out, and he's looking, you know, off into the horizon. And and she said he's getting ready to fly off.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, he's getting ready to fly off.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, he's getting ready to go. And she said, Do that. I was like, What? They go, do that. So I didn't feel comfortable, but I, you know, hands on, you know, hips and chest up, and I looked out, and she said, and now I want you to say, I am great. I'm going to crush this. And I was like, This is weird. She says, do it. And I was like, I am great. I'm going to crush this. And she said, do it again. And she made me do it five times. And she said, We just did the power pose. And I said, What is that doing for me? She goes, You are your um uh neurons in your head, you're building yourself up, you're getting physical presence to walk out there to be big. Now, in this situation, there was a big crowd and I had a job to do, and she's like, You're all up here. You know all this, you're prepared. Now, what I want you to do is be ready to command the space. So it was a power pose, and I do it a lot now.
SPEAKER_00I love that. I do it a lot now. I don't do that. I don't do that. But I I think uh for me, a couple of things. I I I try to clear away any of the physical anxieties, some of those we've mentioned. Yeah. I know how things work, I understand the technology, I know where my uh you know, my space I'm in, I know what it looks like. Am I standing in front of a tight table? Am I what's going on? I I could I get rid of anything that when I get started, yeah, might distract me. Yeah. That's done. So I I've got that. The other, I think, thing that I do in terms of um mental confidence, I don't care who you're speaking to. If it's 10 people, if it's 200, there's gonna be somebody out there that's checking their phone and is not interested.
SPEAKER_04That's right.
SPEAKER_00Do not focus on them. Find uh for me, I will find the four or five people, different parts of the room that are nodding, that are interested. You can tell they're engaged. I will tend to focus on them because I also know I'm gonna get feedback and reaction of, okay, they got that. I can I can pick up the pace a little. Yeah. And I don't get distracted of wondering why is Mark on his phone? Yeah. What is he doing? Is he not interested? Not is he not interested in this?
SPEAKER_02I mean, this is well, and then in your head you're like, I saw.
SPEAKER_00Then you go spiral. Yeah. So I just kind of don't focus on those people because they're there will be some in every crowd. Yeah. Just accept it. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02It's also it's where we are now.
SPEAKER_00Absolutely.
SPEAKER_02You know? Yeah. Patty, um, you also used to always talk to me about, you know, making your time count.
SPEAKER_00Right. Right. I think the um we've talked you talked a little bit about that. Uh, I think for me, those first five minutes, it's true. And we talked about first impressions. When you meet somebody new, got about a couple of minutes.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Um, same if you're presenting, people kind of decide pretty quickly, is what you're talking about, is this going to be relevant for me? Are you going to be a good speaker? Are you going to be interesting? Yeah. So I think get your first five minutes down. And it might be a story. Yeah. It might be a um an example, a way you start. You know, we know you don't take the first five minutes to say, Hi, I'm Mark Benton, and I'm here to talk to you about do-to-do. And let me tell you about my bio and background.
SPEAKER_02Is that is that the way I sound?
SPEAKER_00No, it isn't. But we don't want you to sound that way. But you know what needs to be. I just check it. Yeah. First five minutes of just, you know, all about me and set up and I'm gonna talk and I'm here and do thanks for having me. And, you know, that's not the way to start a presentation. Start right in. And that first five minutes will determine whether they hang with you, I think. And that first impression, just like anybody you meet, you know, it matters a lot.
SPEAKER_02And in those first five minutes, what I'm hearing you say is also make it about them. Remember, make it off you. It's about them. I am so excited to be here with all of you. Don't you look great?
SPEAKER_00Yes.
SPEAKER_02Listen, we're here to talk about X, Y, and Z.
SPEAKER_00That's right. Yes. And start with that, that kind of energy. I also think back to nerves for me. Even now, once I get that first five minutes under my belt, I'm rolling. Okay. I think. And I think then you're kind of, ah, okay, I've got it. So that matters really a lot. Related to that, I want to say use stories and examples to give meaning to your topic in terms of making it relevant for the audience. You know, for those of you in business, you hear storytelling all the time. That's a good idea. Tell a story. Use your data to tell a story.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_00But I do think it is a way that brings whatever you're talking about makes it like experiential. Oh, what do you what does the impact? What, you know, does that really, really mean? So if you're no matter what you're presenting on, you know, uh our sales have increased in the Western division by 15% this year, which has been, you know, in prior years we were okay. All right, you might that might be what you're sharing. What you want to say is let me tell you what happened in the Western division this year.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00We had a brand new approach and the way we were, we realized we needed to really treat our clients as individuals. So our stock, our pro we changed everything. And we started, you know, going out with with clients and checking in with them regularly. And here's what happened. In one of them, we learned, dude, let me tell you a story about when we when we went out and we talked to ABC Company. And those small decisions that just it multiplied. And then we went over and we tried da-da-da. And give a few little stories because then all of a sudden the listener is like, oh, uh, it's not just about the numbers. That's really interesting. Not only am I interested in what you did, maybe I could duplicate that.
SPEAKER_02That's right.
SPEAKER_00You know?
SPEAKER_02People actually people love a good story.
SPEAKER_00And that's how they learn. They do.
SPEAKER_02That's how that's how we learn right now. I mean, that's right. I'm thinking, you know, you talked about a business setting. I'm thinking about um parents and teachers organization, PTO, and you're like parents and teachers. We're we are gathered together today because we are seeing a decline in the summer carnival that raises money for X, Y, and Z. And let me tell you about some great, great experiences that a couple of you know, people have told me they've had. And then I want to extrapolate that and how we make this um an experience situation for people. Maybe they'll come. So now you're grabbing people, you're giving them something to hang into, right? If you're a student and you have to present something, start with a good story.
SPEAKER_01Yes.
SPEAKER_02Trying to prep for this, I didn't know what I was gonna say. And you can kind of speak to, you know, I'm really not good at presenting. I don't like it, but here we go. Right? You know, just get in. Relax a little bit. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00I do think that, you know, figuring out what's the story, the real life example that is going to make people. I mean, I will say in some of the um a couple of the nonprofits that I've been involved in, man. You know, they'll they are masters at, you know, we're just not here for a fundraiser. Let us l have you hear from a student who this program got them through high school and got them into college. And it's because that's great of the tutoring and the support. And and that speaker, I will say, it was like all of a sudden, you know, when I listen to her story, man, this is some great work happening here.
SPEAKER_02I'm having a a quick thought. Yeah. You're talking about letting the situation and circumstances also do the work for you.
SPEAKER_00Maybe.
SPEAKER_02Maybe and if it's appropriate. Yeah, if it's appropriate, let the situation and circumstances do the work for you. For sure.
SPEAKER_00I will say one more. My personal, the best example I've had in my entire career, before we go to our last tip, yeah. Is I was involved in an organization that was very focused on they wanted more women leaders. And if you listen to the leaders that they happen to be male at the top, they were genuine in what they thought. They also thought we're we're making good headway, I think. You know, they believed that. And one of the things we did to get support from the broader group for this program, we just took a video of the audience of the, and it was almost all male. Okay. There were a few women, but it was overwhelmingly male. Okay. And we played that video with the words of the CEO on top of it.
SPEAKER_02Wow. That that gave me chill.
SPEAKER_00I mean, that was it was for me, it was one of my most memorable moments. And we did that, and let me tell you, got the support and it went on to have quite an impact on the organization. But it was a there we we knew there was a disconnect, and we could have gotten up there all day long and talked about the data and so on. Yeah. This was like, how about you watch this for a couple of minutes and then you see if you think we're in a good spot?
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Maybe not. The proof, yes.
SPEAKER_00Exactly.
SPEAKER_02The the one other quick tip I'll I'll bring up is you don't have to feel like, you know, however much time you have, I gotta keep talking, keep talking. I gotta fill all the space. I gotta give some pause. Allow some of your points that you've planned or your stories to land. Be comfortable with pause. You don't have to fill all the air because it also gives you an opportunity to pause, let a point land. This is when you, you know, start really getting more comfortable, right? Let the point land and then you know, kind of think, okay, think about that for a second while you think as a presenter for a second. Yes, right, and then get back into it, you know. So let pause be a friend.
SPEAKER_00How do you think that this is a common problem? Yeah, people get a little nervous and they they speed it up, right? They want to turn it up.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_00How do you think you can mentally slow yourself down even though you are nervous? And you mentioned one where you uh create it, like how you would like create a natural pause. Yeah. How do you think you can slow yourself down when you know my tendency is Yeah, to run through.
SPEAKER_02Well, I think one of the things you said a little bit earlier, and that's if well, first of all, self-awareness. No. I've I've presented before and I get nervous and I speed through, and then I'm not effective.
SPEAKER_01Yes.
SPEAKER_02Uh video yourself. Right? Just and and that's not even in the situation. I've also had a friendly in the front that would sit there and give me the cue.
SPEAKER_06Yes.
SPEAKER_02Slow it down, slow it down. Slow down. And then because I knew my content cold and I knew the timing I had and all, I was able to just, you know, kind of calm down and just, okay, I'm going a little too fast. Right now, I I don't need that now, but when I was first starting and and uh sometimes the stakes were high, they would give me the signal, just slow it down. You're okay. You got it. You know, and then that was so helpful.
SPEAKER_01Yes.
SPEAKER_02You know, so those are just some things that I've witnessed and experienced. Uh, how about you? What have you done?
SPEAKER_01Right.
SPEAKER_02I have you ever had that situation where, like, oh, I'm speeding through this and I'm running.
SPEAKER_00I have a lot of uh tendencies that's typically not one of them, but it's very, very common. And I think also it is that prep of back to you talking, some deep, just a few deep breaths before you go. If you to me, when I've coached people, if you know you have those tendencies, it's like it's like uh driving with Jim Johnson. If you know he's naturally gonna be going about 80, right? It's you slow it down. Yep. Okay, if you know your tendency is to go a little faster, yeah, then do set your own internal, it might feel mentally a little bit slow to me because I'm trying to hurry and finish.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_00But that's that's a better place. You know, before we we land this and talk about you know our takeaways, we should talk. Is there anything else we can think of that we've covered a lot of ground between prep, mindset, yeah, prep, delivery? And I'm wondering, is there anything else we can think of that we haven't touched on that we probably we probably should? I'm gonna give one and then well, I and that it is and I think that is know your audience really, really well. It was kind of assumed in some of our comments, but um if you know your audience, it will help you creating your core message. Who are they? What do they care about? Right. What's on their mind? Also, the other thing that like is related to this is if you are in a setting where you're gonna take questions, if you know your audience really well, you probably anticipate what some of those questions are gonna be.
SPEAKER_06Yep.
SPEAKER_00And that helps you think on your feet a little bit better. Yeah. So I do think knowing the audience, picturing them, yeah, and what do they care about? What do they want to know? Yeah, that will really that will really help you get your content together.
SPEAKER_02I think so. I while while you were talking, I I was I was listening, but I was also thinking um our um our cool producer today, Spider, said something not too long ago, and he said, I hate a fake performance. Now he he didn't quite say it that way, but he said, you know, be yourself, be authentic. You know, if you're a faker, they're gonna know they're gonna know it. They're gonna know. They are they're not gonna know. They're gonna know. So that's what he said, and that kind of hangs with me. Be yourself, be who you are. Yeah, right?
SPEAKER_01Whatever that looks like.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_00So um, you know, I I think as you could tell, we went through this and we talked about mindset.
SPEAKER_03Yep.
SPEAKER_00Prep.
SPEAKER_03Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER_00And then the actual delivery. And, you know, that I think the prep and the mindset that those that's the differentiator between being pretty good and being great. You know, so I think those things, so and that happens before you ever get there. Yeah. So don't don't like throw something together the night before, roll in and think you've got it.
SPEAKER_02Um especially if it's not easy for you. Don't you think?
SPEAKER_00If it's not easy, don't do that to yourself. Because all the things can go wrong. It's like, what do I need here? What is gonna make it easier for me? The other thing I would say, uh, we laughed about this. Yeah speaking is not a gift you are born with. Okay. Some people are naturally more outgoing, maybe more comfortable in front of a group than others. Okay, I got that. But anyone can be a really good speaker, right? It's just just like it's like baseball or golf or painting or mahjong. What the heck? Everybody's doing mahjong. What is that even about? It's stressing me out. But anyway.
SPEAKER_02I don't know. But I'm confident. Maybe I should learn.
SPEAKER_00I don't know. That's a thing.
SPEAKER_02Are you doing wait, let's just are you doing mahjong?
SPEAKER_00Some people have been talking to me about it.
SPEAKER_02You're thinking about it though.
SPEAKER_00No, I'm trying to dodge it. No mahjong. No, I'm trying to dodge it. But I know if I practice it, okay. Might take me a long time. I could do it. And public speaking is the same way. Yeah. If you practice it enough, yeah, um, then it gets easier. So I'd say in the spirit of practicing, you know, go join Toys Toastmasters. I haven't ever done it, but yeah, practice, practice. One of my clients, she volunteered to speak at the uh women's resource group just every month. Practice. Somebody else said, I'll facilitate the leadership meeting. Whatever you need, practice, practice, practice. The more you do, yeah, the more comfortable it is, it is gonna get.
SPEAKER_02I I absolutely agree with that. I absolutely agree with that.
SPEAKER_00So that's my takeaway. What what takeaway will you have, Mark? You thinking about?
SPEAKER_02I'm thinking my my biggest takeaway is the the the little secret that I shared about the power pose. Yes. Superman. I am incredible.
SPEAKER_01I'm about to fly off here.
SPEAKER_02I think that that is a a good takeaway, listeners. That how do you get yourself in the mental and the physical space to be confident and present well? That that's important. It all matters.
SPEAKER_00It all matters. And I do not think this deserves to be in the top five fears. It meaning whatever it is not up there with you know gloss glossophobia. Glossophobia.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, the fears of the city.
SPEAKER_00Skydiving or present Oh god. Put me in front of 2,000 people. I'll do that before skydiving any day.
SPEAKER_02Put me on with the nation before I jump out of a plane. Yes.
SPEAKER_00I'm gonna address the nation before my fellow Americans.
SPEAKER_02I will do that. Do not push me out of a plane. Do not know I will I will do it all day with my fellow Americans.
SPEAKER_01Name your speaking prize. Yes. I'm gonna pay it. I'll do it. I'm not jumping out the plane. Oh my gosh. Anyway. Oh my gosh.
SPEAKER_02Well, this has been a good conversation. It'll be great. Really good conversation. Listeners, we hope that, you know, if something uh has been holding you back from speaking publicly, whether you know it's to a few or uh, you know, many, uh, we hope that these have been uh some good tips and that this has been a good conversation to help you uh not be tired of speaking and presentations and doing that in public.
SPEAKER_00Absolutely. You can do it. We encourage you. Just keep at it. Keep at it.
SPEAKER_02Don't be afraid of it. That's right. Well, as we close out, we uh always want to say that Patty and I love hearing from you. Yes. We we love when you reach out with uh the funnies or uh with a new topic or an insight that you had on something we're talking about. So we love that. You can find us on a platform that you listen to podcasts, so Spotify or Apple. Uh feel free, we invite you to join the Aren't You Tired Of community on Instagram at aren't you tired of underscore social. Uh follow. And uh if you have questions, you can also send an email to podcast at pattybjohnson.com.
SPEAKER_00Right. DM us on LinkedIn or uh or Instagram. We're there. Just reach out. We'd love to hear from you and appreciate all the advice, suggestions, and questions we've already gotten. So thank you so much.
SPEAKER_02That's right. All right. Well, this uh concludes this episode. You know, happy presenting, happy public speaking, and uh we'll talk to you all soon.
SPEAKER_01Have a great week.