Named both Top Speaking Coach of the Year and Top Motivational Speaker of the Decade, Communication Confidence Coach Marjorie Saulson is still going strong at 80 and intends to be the most fabulous 100-year-old babe you ever met!
Author of the #1 international bestselling book, Empowering Business Owners to Overcome Speaking Fears Whether You’re Talking with 1 Person or 1,000, she is also one of 50 women (including Oprah Winfrey and Melinda Gates) who are contributing authors to the book, America’s Leading Ladies – Stories of Courage, Challenge, and Triumph.
For over 40 years Marjorie has coached reluctant speakers to find their voice, overcome their fear of public speaking, and communicate with confidence and skill so they can reach their professional goals and make an impact in the world.
Watch the video here. You can read a summary of the interview and get the link to her free offer below the video.
Who do you serve, who are your clients? 1:03
I serve people in business–coaches, authors, and a category I call “reluctant speakers.” consultants, and authors who have a message to share with the world and they literally can change someone’s life.
What is their problem, their need, and what are the symptoms of that problem? 1:15
Fear of speaking is problem #1. And I define public speaking as any time you talk to someone other than yourself. People might have problems picking up the phone, with networking, with video — people have different issues.
3 major fears I help people overcome are:
- Fear of being criticized
- Fear of rejection
- Fear of feeling that you didn’t do a good job
What are the common mistakes people make or obstacles they face when trying to solve that problem on their own – or with others’ solutions?
To me, the basis of confidence is your message. I help people clarify who their ideal audience is, what is the language that will resonate with them, put together that will make sense and is compelling, and then, how do you present it? Don’t read it in a monotone voice!
I help people with all sorts of techniques for dealing with the fear before but also how to handle the last-minute nerves.
What is unique about your solution that helps people avoid those mistakes or overcome those obstacles so they can finally solve their problem? 4:15
I consider speaking a 3-legged stool: What, How, and Allow.
- What’s your message? — is it authentic and does it representer you well?
- How are you presenting it?– with vocal variety so you don’t put people to sleep
- Allow means getting over the fear
We do a lot of rehearsing so by the time someone is ready to speak, they can feel secure.
What is one high-impact free action that you recommend that the audience can implement that will help them solve that problem? 4:01
Understand that when you’re feeling nervous, you’re feeling excitement. How you interpret that is all in your mind. Use the excitement. You have something valuable to share and you’re excited to do it.
Deep breathing helps a lot, too.
What is one valuable free resource that you can direct people to that will further help with that problem? 6:47
Yes. It’s at vibrantvocalpower.com/ellen. It’s an e-book, “Communicate with Confidence.” I go into some depth about those 3 fears of criticism, rejection, and failure.
What’s the one question that I should have asked you that would give great value to our audience? 7:51
At my website, www.vibrantvocalpower.com, there is a lot of other information that I’m happy to share.
Next steps
Get Marjorie’s e-book, “Communicate with Confidence” here.
3 replies to "How to overcome fear of speaking–interview with Marjorie Saulson"
Wow, this is amazing. The interview was short but full of wisdom. I hope to apply the lessons to myself before this year ends.
I have all those kinds of fears mentioned. And I would love to overcome them especially next year when I have some speaking gigs to attend to. I hope there’ll be a longer version of this with more tips. But thank you!
I agree in breathing when I feel nervous and I agree that nervousness is just actually energy. So I turn it into a positive energy an use that to power me up especially when I’m talking on stage in front of many people.