I recently ran an internal AI training, and instead of slides I built an interactive website. Part of it lived on people's phones; the rest was on the big screen. I packed in everything I could: live quizzes, votes, word clouds, every bit of spice I could find. I even staged a moment where I left the room faking a phone call, leaving the audience facing an empty screen... until an AI assistant suddenly woke up and gave the next five minutes of the training itself, showing what's actually possible with AI. It worked. The audience loved it. This was the beginner session, and my goal was to open their eyes: the sky is the limit, and here's how you actually talk to an AI in a chat. Then I ran a second session for an intermediate audience. This one was harder. The topic was skills for AI, and it was tough to stage a "moment" that genuinely made sense. So I kept it simpler: a few votes and quizzes, plus one fully interactive section where the whole room built a skill together. But here's what nagged at me. I'd poured far more effort into my "website-slides" and the content than into the delivery. I moved around too much without intent, I didn't vary my pace, though I did use my body and hands a lot to carry the message. The whole time I felt like I was repeating myself over and over, and that I was boring people. The audience told me the opposite. They said it was amazing, that the first part felt like a show. The second worked too, because the more complex material needed concentration, so fewer effects and more focus on building together was exactly right. My takeaway: I need to prepare my speech even more than my slides. And I need to accept that the audience genuinely liked it. Out of 50+ people, I bored exactly one. :D So I'll ask you: how do you feel after you give a talk, and what's one concrete thing you do to improve for the next one?

Last week the wonderful @Egle Urbonaviciute came to our SPEAKERx event, and she brought a gift ❤️❤️❤️ This beautiful handcrafted cup, which is now my new favorite ❤️ (And the BEST business name: Slow Panic Ceramics 🤩🙌) Just wanted to say how much I appreciated this, letting me sip some caffeine while going into focus mode towards the evening.. What amazing gift have you received lately that meant something special to you? ✨

I've been playing with the idea a bunch of times.. Do a TEDx. But the same thing keeps holding me back: WHAT should I talk about?! I'm "no-one" "Why should people even listen to me?" "What do I have of value to say?" These thoughts eat me up from the inside. And they don't do me any well. Nothing good comes out of this thought pattern. And now with the competition coming up, I saw a comment about not knowing what to say and instantly recognised myself.. ..so I went into the course we've created for SKOOLx and had a look. If I was a competitor and was doing this, what help would I get? And I realised, it doesn't have to be so hard. Because every single one of us carries a story. Carries with us something of interest to others: 1. A turning point in your career or life 2. A mistake that taught you something valuable 3. An unexpected challenge you overcame 4. A belief you held that turned out to be wrong 5. A skill or mindset that transformed your life 6. The moment you found your voice Not knowing what to say in your talk might be holding you back.. but it shouldn't. Any of these 6 is a powerful story to be shared. Don't let fear of "What should I Talk about?!" hold you back. Sign up to SKOOLx today, break this belief about yourself and get started!

I suggest that we have a challenge for speaking 50 seconds via app What's your opinion?

Shoutout to the participants who have already signed up to SKOOLx 🔥 @Danny Hansen @Rodrigo Rios @Éva Raposa @Doa Kaptan @Sungsoo Choi @lori-ann-muenzer-2215 @Subhan Nair @Janet Little @Semih Yalap @Anil de Vries I know A LOT more of you have said "I'm In!" - I'm ready to add you to the list! 👉 All you need to do is either unlock the SKOOLx course here in The Public Speaking community for $199 OR join the Speaking Blueprint membership at $99/month (VAT added where applicable). This competition is going to be EPIC! 🤩