Advice
Why Most Public Speaking Training Gets It Completely Wrong
The bloke running the corporate presentation skills workshop last month told us to "just imagine the audience in their underwear." Seriously? In 2025? That's when I knew the training industry was still stuck in the dark ages.
After seventeen years in workplace training and development—first as a terrified junior consultant who could barely order lunch without stammering, then as someone who now speaks to boardrooms across Melbourne and Sydney without breaking a sweat—I've seen more public speaking disasters than a blooper reel. The real problem isn't that people fear speaking. It's that we're teaching them completely the wrong things.
Here's my unpopular opinion: Most public speaking training is absolute rubbish because it focuses on performance anxiety instead of genuine communication. And frankly, some of these expensive courses are making things worse.
The Three Lies Everyone Believes About Public Speaking
Lie #1: "Picture Everyone Naked"
This tired old chestnut needs to die. When you're already nervous, the last thing you need is to be distracted by inappropriate mental images of your colleagues. I tried this technique exactly once during a presentation to the Brisbane office of a major accounting firm. Spent the entire first five minutes trying not to laugh at mental images of Margaret from HR.
What actually works? Look just above people's heads. To them, it looks like direct eye contact. To you, it's less intimidating than staring into actual eyeballs.
Lie #2: "You Need to Be Perfect"
Perfectionism kills more presentations than stage fright ever could. The corporate world has this bizarre obsession with flawless delivery, as if one "um" or forgotten statistic will tank your career.
Last year, I watched a pharmaceutical executive absolutely nail a product launch presentation—engaging stories, clear data, perfect timing. Then he stumbled over one word and spent the next ten minutes apologising. The audience had stopped listening after apology number three.
Real audiences prefer authenticity over polish. Stress management training programmes spend way too much time on eliminating nerves instead of channelling them productively.
Lie #3: "Everyone's Judging You"
Here's a reality check: 73% of your audience is thinking about their own stuff during your presentation. Their grocery lists, that difficult conversation with their manager, whether they left the iron on. They're not scrutinising your every gesture for signs of weakness.
What Actually Makes the Difference
The game-changer isn't confidence—it's preparation that serves your message, not your ego.
Start With Why Anyone Should Care
Most presenters begin with an agenda. Wrong move. Start with the problem your audience faces right now, today, that your information solves. If you're talking about quarterly figures, don't lead with "Today we'll review Q3 performance metrics." Lead with "Three months ago, we made some bold predictions. Here's whether we were right."
Ditch the Corporate Speak
"Leverage synergies to optimise outcomes." What does that even mean? If you can't explain your concept to your neighbour over the fence, you don't understand it well enough to present it.
I once sat through a forty-minute presentation about "enhancing stakeholder engagement paradigms." The speaker was actually talking about answering customer emails faster. Could've saved us all thirty-five minutes.
Use Stories, Not Statistics
Numbers are forgettable. Stories stick. Instead of "Customer satisfaction increased by 23%," try "Last Tuesday, a client called specifically to thank Sarah from customer service for following up on a problem that wasn't even her department's responsibility."
The team development training crowd has known this for years—humans are wired for narrative, not numerical data.
Master the Pause
Most nervous speakers rush. Slowing down feels excruciating when you're up there, but it sounds perfect to the audience. Practice your pauses like they're part of the script.
The Melbourne Test
Here's my personal quality check: Can you deliver your core message while stuck in a Collins Street tram delay to someone who's never heard of your industry? If not, you're not ready.
I learned this the hard way during my early consulting days. Spent three weeks perfecting a presentation about change management methodologies. Delivered it to a room of senior executives who looked increasingly confused. Turns out, they just wanted to know how to stop their staff complaining about the new software system.
Sometimes the simplest approach wins. Though I'll admit, there's something deeply satisfying about watching a room full of sceptics gradually lean forward as you build your case. Like that scene in Jerry Maguire where he wins everyone over, except with less shouting and better PowerPoint slides.
The Technology Trap
Another controversial take: Stop relying on slides as crutches. Too many presenters use PowerPoint as teleprompters, reading bullet points to educated adults who can bloody well read for themselves.
Your slides should support your story, not replace it. One concept per slide, maximum six words if you're using text at all. Better yet, use images that reinforce your point.
Best presentation I ever saw was delivered by a property developer in Perth. Forty-five minutes about urban planning challenges. Used exactly three slides: a photo of traffic, a photo of a crowded train, and a photo of families in a park. That's it. The audience was riveted because they had to actually listen to understand the connections.
Practice Like You Mean It
Most people "practice" by reading through their notes. That's not practice—that's wishful thinking.
Record yourself on your phone. Yes, it's uncomfortable. Do it anyway. You'll spot filler words you didn't know you used, notice when your energy drops, and identify parts where your logic jumps around.
Better yet, find someone who doesn't work in your field and deliver your presentation to them. If they're confused, your actual audience will be too.
The Goldfish Principle
If you can't hold a goldfish's attention, you won't hold a human's. Modern attention spans are brutal. Front-load your best material, assume people will start checking phones after ten minutes, and end with something memorable rather than a weak "Any questions?"
I once watched a finance director lose half his audience by starting with the methodology behind his calculations. Same presentation, rearranged to start with the unexpected finding that the company was overspending on coffee by $47,000 annually? Standing ovation.
When Things Go Wrong
They will. Your laptop will crash, the microphone will feedback, someone will ask a question you can't answer. Managing difficult conversations training teaches you to acknowledge problems directly rather than pretending they didn't happen.
"Well, that's not supposed to happen" followed by a genuine laugh works better than frantically clicking while muttering technical explanations.
The presentation that made my career was actually a disaster. Half the slides wouldn't load, the projector kept cutting out, and I'd forgotten to bring backup handouts. So I scrapped the entire agenda and turned it into an interactive discussion about the challenges we were all facing. Afterwards, three people asked for my business card.
The Real Secret
Want to know what separates memorable speakers from forgettable ones? They care more about the audience's experience than their own performance.
Great speakers are having a conversation, not delivering a monologue. They watch for confusion and adjust accordingly. They speed up when people look bored and slow down when they look overwhelmed. They remember that communication is a two-way street, even when only one person has the microphone.
The fancy suits and polished delivery mean nothing if your audience walks away unchanged. Focus on transformation, not performance.
Actually Useful Tips
Instead of breathing exercises (which help approximately nobody when they're already panicking), try these:
Arrive early and chat with people as they arrive. Once you've had actual conversations with five audience members, they stop being an intimidating mass and become individuals you're helping.
Have a backup plan for your backup plan. Technology fails, but humans adapt. Know your content well enough to deliver it without any aids if necessary.
End stronger than you start. People remember the last thing you say more than the first. Don't waste that moment on housekeeping announcements.
After all these years, I still get nervous before big presentations. The difference is I've learned to interpret those nerves as excitement rather than fear. Your body can't tell the difference—the physical sensations are identical. Might as well choose the interpretation that serves you better.
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The training industry will keep selling you complicated solutions to simple problems. But speaking to groups is just having conversations with more people in the room. Stop making it harder than it needs to be.