Further Resources
The Brutal Truth About Public Speaking: Why Most Training Misses the Mark
Our Favourite Blogs:
Here's something nobody talks about in those glossy corporate training brochures: most public speaking courses are teaching you to become a robot, not a communicator.
I've been delivering presentations for over 18 years now, from boardrooms in Melbourne to construction sites in Broome, and I can tell you that the biggest problem with public speaking isn't nerves—it's authenticity. Or rather, the complete lack of it.
The worst presentation I ever sat through was delivered by a CEO who'd clearly been through every executive speaking program money could buy. Perfect posture. Immaculate slides. Zero soul. The bloke spent forty-five minutes talking about "leveraging synergistic opportunities" without saying a single thing that mattered to anyone in that room. Meanwhile, the site foreman who spoke after him—with his rough voice and basic PowerPoint—had everyone leaning forward because he actually had something real to say.
The Confidence Myth That's Holding You Back
Here's an unpopular opinion that'll make some people squirm: confidence isn't the goal of public speaking. Connection is.
Most training programs obsess over confidence-building exercises. They'll have you practising power poses in mirrors and visualising success until you're practically floating. But confidence without substance is just arrogance with better marketing. I've seen plenty of supremely confident speakers who couldn't engage an audience if their lives depended on it.
What actually works is focusing on your message first, your delivery second. When you genuinely care about what you're sharing, the confidence follows naturally. Not the other way around.
The problem is that 73% of executives (and yes, I've seen the research) think charisma can be learned like Excel formulas. It can't. But authenticity can be unleashed, and that's infinitely more powerful.
Why Your Slides Are Probably Terrible
Let me save you some embarrassment: if your presentation has more than 20 slides, you've already lost half your audience. If those slides are packed with bullet points, you've lost the rest.
The best presentation I ever gave had seven slides. Seven. For a forty-minute talk to 200 people. Each slide had one image and maybe three words. The audience stayed engaged because they had to listen to me, not read along like it was story time at kindergarten.
Most people use slides as a crutch because they're terrified of having nothing to hide behind. Fair enough—public speaking is scary. But your slides should support your message, not replace it. Think of them as seasoning, not the main course.
I learned this the hard way when my laptop died five minutes before a major client presentation in Sydney. No slides, no notes that made sense without them, just me and my message. It ended up being the most engaging talk I'd given in years. Sometimes technology failing is the best thing that can happen to your communication skills.
The Body Language Nonsense Industry
Don't get me started on the body language "experts" who'll tell you that 93% of communication is non-verbal. That statistic has been so misquoted and misapplied that it's basically meaningless now. Yet every second training program still trots it out like gospel.
Yes, body language matters. But not in the way these programs teach it. You don't need to memorise which gestures mean what or practise your "confident stance" until it looks natural. What you need is to stop thinking about your body altogether and focus on your message. When you're genuinely engaged with what you're saying, your body language sorts itself out.
The most compelling speakers I know—from Eventbrite trainers to boardroom veterans—all have one thing in common: they forget about themselves when they speak. They're so focused on connecting with their audience that self-consciousness disappears.
Small Talk: The Underrated Game Changer
Here's something most public speaking courses completely ignore: the conversation before your presentation matters more than the presentation itself.
I always arrive early and chat with people as they file in. Not schmoozing or networking—just genuine conversations about their day, their work, their frustrations. By the time I start speaking, I'm not addressing strangers; I'm continuing conversations with people I've already connected with.
This approach drives some event organisers mad because they want you backstage, preparing and visualising success. But I've found that five minutes of real conversation beats fifty minutes of mental preparation every single time.
The formal presentation becomes easier because you already know your audience's concerns, their sense of humour, their energy level. You can reference the conversation the woman in the front row had about her team's budget constraints, or acknowledge the guy who mentioned his company's recent restructure. Suddenly, you're not performing—you're facilitating a discussion that's already begun.
The Perfectionist's Trap
Most presentation training programs are obsessed with perfection. They'll drill you on eliminating "umms" and "ahhs," memorising every transition, anticipating every possible question. This approach creates speakers who sound polished but feel hollow.
The truth is, a few imperfections make you more relatable, not less professional. When you stumble slightly over a word or lose your train of thought for a moment, the audience connects with your humanity. They relax because you're clearly not a corporate robot reading from a script.
Some of the most memorable presentations I've attended included mistakes. The speaker who spilled coffee on their notes and just laughed about it. The executive who forgot a key statistic and admitted they'd have to get back to everyone later. These moments created connection because they showed real people dealing with real situations.
Perfectionism in public speaking is like perfectionism in relationships—it kills the very thing it's trying to create.
What Actually Matters (And What Doesn't)
After nearly two decades of watching people succeed and fail at public speaking, here's what I've noticed actually makes the difference:
Matters: Having something worth saying. Caring about your audience's problems more than your own performance anxiety. Being willing to have a conversation rather than deliver a monologue.
Doesn't matter: Perfect pronunciation. Remembering every point in the exact order you planned. Having expensive slides or props.
The speakers who pack rooms and get invited back aren't the ones with flawless delivery—they're the ones who make people think differently about something important. They challenge assumptions, share hard-won insights, or simply articulate what everyone's thinking but no one's saying.
Most training programs focus on the performance aspects because they're easier to teach and measure. But communication isn't a performance; it's a service. You're there to help your audience understand something, decide something, or feel something. Everything else is just packaging.
The Real Work Begins After Training
Here's where most people go wrong: they think a two-day workshop or online course will transform them into engaging speakers. It won't. Like any worthwhile skill, public speaking improves through practice, reflection, and gradually pushing your comfort zone.
The best speakers I know didn't become great through training—they became great through speaking. They joined Toastmasters, volunteered for presentations at work, started conversations with strangers at networking events. They treated every interaction as practice for the bigger moments.
There's no substitute for standing in front of people and sharing something you care about. The nerves never completely disappear (and shouldn't—they keep you sharp), but your ability to work with them and focus on your message instead of yourself grows stronger with every opportunity.
Most importantly, they stopped waiting to feel ready. Ready is a myth. Everyone feels unprepared, even after decades of experience. The difference is that experienced speakers have learned to act despite the uncertainty, not because of its absence.
Why This Matters More Than Ever
In a world where most communication happens through screens and keyboards, the ability to genuinely connect with people face-to-face has become a superpower. Not because it's rare (though it is), but because it's irreplaceable.
No amount of digital sophistication can replicate the energy of a room full of people having their assumptions challenged or their perspectives expanded. No video conference can match the impact of looking someone in the eye and sharing something that matters to both of you.
The organisations that understand this—the ones investing in real communication skills rather than just presentation techniques—are the ones building stronger teams, deeper client relationships, and more resilient cultures.
The rest are just teaching people to be more polished versions of the same ineffective communicators they were before.
Related Articles:
Sometimes the best communication advice is the simplest: care more about your message than your image, and everything else falls into place.