Let me let you in on a little secret: most people aren’t afraid of public speaking—they’re afraid of sounding fake.
They’ve seen too many robotic presentations. Too many “perfectly polished” speakers who left no real impact because everything they said sounded rehearsed. And so, they overcorrect. They ramble, they rush, they shrink. But here’s the truth I live by: confidence doesn’t come from memorization—it comes from meaning.
When I step on stage, I don’t carry a script—I carry a story. I bring my whole self: the spoken word poet, the entrepreneur, the dreamer, the disruptor. And that’s the key to becoming a confident public speaker without sounding scripted: you stop trying to remember what to say, and start remembering why you’re saying it.
Confidence is a byproduct of connection. And you can’t connect when you’re disconnected from your own message. That’s why I always tell my clients—whether I’m working with CEOs, TED speakers, or Fortune 100 execs—your words should never be a performance about passion. They should be passion. Speak what you believe, not what you think they want to hear. That’s when your audience stops checking their watches and starts leaning in.
Now don’t get me wrong—structure is important. You’ve got to know your beats. You’ve got to rehearse. But you don’t rehearse to recite—you rehearse to release. To embed your message so deeply into your soul that when it’s time to deliver, it doesn’t sound scripted… it sounds true.
In my Stage Might speaker training, I teach people to build their talks like spoken word poetry: with intention, emotion, and authenticity. You learn to listen to your own rhythm, to trust your voice, to deliver not with perfection, but with presence. Because here’s the thing—when you sound too scripted, it’s usually because you’re trying too hard to be someone you’re not. But the best speakers? They amplify who they already are.
Your quirks? Keep them. Your accent? Embrace it. Your awkward laugh, your natural gestures, your pauses when you think—that’s where your real power lives. That’s where your audience says, “I can trust this person.” Because when you’re human on stage, you give others permission to be human too.
So if you want to become a confident public speaker, stop asking, “How should I say this?” and start asking, “What do I want them to feel?” Stop chasing polish and start choosing purpose. And remember: you’re not here to be perfect. You’re here to be powerful.
And power, my friend, comes from owning your voice—not memorizing your lines. So breathe deep, speak from the gut, and let the truth in your voice do what a script never could—move the room.
