Public Speaking Tips Archives - JOHANNA WALKERJOHANNA WALKER

Getting negative feedback isn’t the end

May 1st, 2020

One of the biggest reasons people don’t take the leap and get on stage to speak is because they’re afraid of negative feedback. What will people think of me? Will they judge me if I mess up? What if people laugh at me? Or discover what an imposter I am? What if I fall flat on my face…

To PowerPoint or not to PowerPoint?

October 22nd, 2019

Here’s a little pop quiz: You have a presentation to give. The date is on the calendar and getting closer. You sit down to work on your talk. What’s the first thing you do? A. Go to the kitchen and eat some potato chips, then see that the garbage needs to be taken out but…

When Public Speaking Fear Gets the Best of You

October 7th, 2019

At the National Speakers Association “Influence 2019” conference for professional speakers this July, I discovered a t-shirt that read: “Your greatest fear is how I make a living.” I knew I had to buy one. I wore it the next time I flew and was amazed by what a conversation starter it was. Everyone wants…

How to Make Your Big Vision a Reality

September 3rd, 2019

Last week in Speaker’s Playground, we shared what the big vision was for each of us. If you got that speaking thing totally dialed in, and the nerves or the fear or the heebie jeebies or the running & hiding was more like a little fly you got to flick off your shoulder rather than…

Be Yourself?

April 16th, 2019

One of the things I talk about with my clients all the time, and you probably hear often from business coaches (and speaking coaches and life coaches and inspirational leaders and middle school teachers and self-help books and best friends and anyone who has anything to say to anyone about how to make sense of…

How to be authentically YOU on stage AND grow as a speaker

December 6th, 2018

“But it doesn’t feel natural! It doesn’t feel like me. It feels awkward, inauthentic, yucky. NOT ME!!” I hear that all the time from my clients. When I ask them to do something that they haven’t done before, or try something different with their arms, or their focus, or their body language, or their voice….

You ARE being judged

August 20th, 2018

One of the most common concerns I hear from people who are on the path to speaking is “I’m afraid I’m being judged!” I hear it all the time. The same fear comes in all shapes and sizes. They’ll say I’m not an expert. They’ll roll their eyes. They’ll ridicule me. They’ll be bored. If…

What to do when you go [BLANK] on stage

July 20th, 2018

A few weeks ago I wrote about different ways to use a pause when speaking. One of the best pauses to get friendly with is the “I’ve gone totally blank and can’t remember what the heck I was gonna say next” pause. In Tuesday’s Speaker’s Playground, that got us talking about that exact moment… The “I can’t remember what…

What should I do with my freakin hands?!?!

July 5th, 2018

When I got rolling on my newsletter habit this spring, I made a list of questions people often ask me. One question on the list was “What should I do with my hands?” So I sat down to write the newsletter and wrote this whole intro about how people ask me that question all the…

Pause… and let everyone know you’re in charge

June 22nd, 2018

A couple of weeks ago I talked about how to lose the dreaded (or beloved, as the case may be) filler words. (Um, and, so, uh, y’know, really…etc). Here’s that post if you missed it. One of the key ways to get rid of filler words is to PAUSE, so that’s what I’m gonna talk about today……