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Since 2023, I have spoken 59 times.

—> Keynotes
—> Training workshops
—> Facilitation
—> Podcasts
—> Webinars
—> Lunch and learns

“If you speak once a week for a year, your life will dramatically change.” – Col Fink

Cool, speak 52 times in 1 year. Got it.

I ended up speaking 59 times … in 2 years.

Not bad for a kid that was too scared to put their hand up in class.

Although my life didn’t dramatically change, I did become a much better speaker.
 

Now, I have Lifestyle Medicine humans asking me for their feedback on their speaking gigs (sometimes their first one!). #FullCircle

 

THE ONE THING

There is one thing that will make you a better speaker (or better at anything).

What’s the one thing?

Focus on reps (repetitions).

“The difference between a good speaker and a great speaker is 1,000 presentations.”
– Eric Chester (Hall of Fame Speaker and Best Selling Author)

It’s that simple.

If you speak in public over and over, and you do it a lot, you will get better.
 

Here’s the one thing I would add to this one thing:

Commit to becoming a little bit better each time.

• Can you tell a story differently?
• Can you work on pausing between sentences instead of saying “um”?
• Can you try a joke?
• Can you try going for an hour, with no slides?

If you speak a lot, you will get better.

If you speak a lot and improve each time, you will get even better, faster.

If you speak a lot, improve each time, and do it for a long time (3-5-10+ years), now you are on the path to mastery.
 

P.S You can replace speaking with any other skill.

P.P.S Everything is a skill (even happiness – I wrote a book about this skill!) .
 

WHAT I’VE LEARNT FROM THIS ONE THING

Here are 19 things that I have learnt from this one thing 🙂

1️⃣ Be a student

Speakership is a craft.

Commit to learning this craft.
 

Some spend years mastering this craft, and then write books about what they have learnt.
 

Here are 4 of my favourites.

2️⃣ Don’t attend networking events, speak at them

I learnt this in Thought Leaders Business School.

Networking events need speakers. Why not you?

You get to speak and it levels up your networking because you are positioned as the speaker.
 

3️⃣ Replace “um” and “urr” with silence

Ums and urrs steal from the clarity of what you are saying.  

Instead of saying um or urr, just say nothing. 

Let silence do the heavy lifting.
 

4️⃣ You can get your reps, quickly

Let’s take 2 people who speak 10 times:

• The first person speaks once a year for 10 years.
• The second person speaks once a day for 10 days.

Everything else kept equal, after speaking 10 times, who’s the better speaker?

100% the second person.
 

Why?

It’s not just about reps. It’s about frequency.

If you speak more often, you build on the learnings from the previous presentation.

If you speak once a year, it’s like presenting for the first time, over and over.

The easiest way to speak 10 times in 10 days?
Record 10 videos.
Get better each time.
No permission required.

Gotta love 2025 🙂
 

5️⃣ Practise moments, not speeches

Let’s say you’re running a 1 hour workshop.

If you practise what you’re going to say for the full hour, you may practise the wrong things – scripts, reading off slides. 

Speakership is about creating an experience.

To create an experience, you need to be:

• Present
• Spontaneous
• Flexible

How do you practise this?


Focus on moments.

—> How you introduce a workshop exercise
—> The first 60 seconds
—> Approaching a sensitive topic
—> Explaining a metaphor that encapsulates your whole intellectual property

These are all moments.

You can be prepared, but not scripted.

6️⃣ Slides are overrated

Since primary school, people are conditioned to use slides.

Step out of this conditioning to explore what else is possible.

Here’s a big idea:
Do you even need slides?
 

7️⃣ Give value in the first 60 seconds

Attention and trust in your audience is highest at the start.

Respect this by giving them something valuable in the first 60 seconds.
 

8️⃣ The 5 year rule

When I speak, I ask myself:

“How can I create an experience people will remember in 5 years?”

A few years ago, I sat down with my speaking coach Col Fink.
He asked me to draw a treasure map with pirates, mountains, and goblins.
Then, he asked me to note where I was and where the treasure was.
Finally, I drew a dotted path from where I was to the treasure.

The treasure represented WHY the audience should care about what you have to say.
The map itself represented WHAT the audience needs to know.
The dotted line represented HOW the audience can get from where they are to where they want to be (the treasure).
As soon as I did this exercise, I knew I would NEVER forget it and that I would teach it for the rest of my life.

A few weeks ago, I repaid the favour.
I showed him this model for relationships.

I was about to run a workplace wellbeing program for a group for 80ish teachers.

The whole session was around this model.

“I just want to say that this is a brilliant piece of IP. I already know that I am going to use this for the rest of my life.” – Col. 
 

You never know whether your presentation is going to be remembered for years to come.

Setting the intention to make it memorable will increase your chances.

9️⃣ Start with the exploding boat

What’s better?

“When I lived in New Zealand, I had a neighbour named Brett. He was 72 years old at the time. He had a wife and her name was Gwen. One day, they went for a walk and Gwen collapsed. Back then, there were no phones so Brett couldn’t call for help. He picked Gwen up, put her over his shoulder, and walked all the way home. Then he called for help.”

(It’s a true story – I was only about 7 years old so I can’t quite remember what happened next. Apologies for the suspense.)

Ok, time for exploding boat style.

“It’s 8 degrees on a Tuesday. Brett, my 72 year old neighbour, is walking back in the rain with his unconscious wife over his shoulder calling “Help! Help!”

Tell stories like a movie trailer to an action blockbuster.
Start with the exploding boat.
 

🔟 Specificity breeds engagement

What’s better?

Earlier this year, I published my first book, Do Happy. I had been thinking about writing it for years, and then one day, I finally decided to write it. It became one of the hardest and most meaningful projects of my life.
 

Now, with some specificity.

January 23rd, 2025, I published Do Happy. From being bullied in high school, to being anxious in medical school, it’s nearly 20 years of pain, suffering, and learnings condensed into a 403 page manual on how to be ridiculously happy. After a 58,000 first draft and 4-5 rounds of editing, 1.5 years later I looked up and I had a book in my hand. It was ready to release into the world.

1️⃣1️⃣ Someone in the crowd is funnier than you

“What would you do if you were feeling anxious?” I asked.

“Urrrr. I don’t know, maybe kill someone.” He replied.

The whole room erupted in laughter.

The whole room erupted in laughter.
When someone opens their mouth to laugh, they open their mind to learn.

Humour is important, but you don’t have to be the funny one.
Create an environment where the class clowns can do their thing.
 

1️⃣2️⃣ Switch the teaching format at least every 20 minutes

There are 5 teaching formats:

—> Lectures to deliver book knowledge and takeaways from exercises
—> Small group discussions to grapple with nuanced learnings
—> Try it now for building hands-on skills
—> Scenario challenges to practise decision making and judgement
—> Q&A to address areas of confusion (and to ditch if you are running out of time)

Varying the teaching format boosts energy and attention, and thus learning.

For more on this, read How to design and teach workshops that work every time by Rob Fitzpatrick and Devin Hunt.
 

1️⃣3️⃣ Understand WHO is in the crowd

The price of entry is relevance.

So what’s relevant? Help them:

—> Move away from their problems
—> Move towards their aspirations
—> Identify and address roadblocks

You can only do this if you know WHO is in the audience and what their problems, aspirations, and roadblocks are.
 

1️⃣4️⃣ Personas

I recorded one of my speeches and asked Col to have a listen.


“It’s boring.” 

Ouch!

He continued, “The guy that ends his emails with ‘Much love and stay legendary’, the guy that pops and locks in the car…where’s that guy?”

We started working on personas.

We came up with 4 personas — the monk, the accountant, the relator, the dancer.

All versions of ‘me’ that I can flex depending on what the room needs.

• The monk is philosophical.
• The accountant is analytical.
• The relator builds human connection (and smiles a lot).
• The dancer is all swag (and can dance!).

Can you see how the monk and the dancer would deliver the same piece of IP completely differently?

It all depends on what the audience needs.

So, what are your personas?
 

1️⃣5️⃣ Watch tape

Elite athletes watch tape.

They watch themselves.
They watch the competition.

Speaking is the same.

A professional records themselves and watches it over.
They also watch and learn from the greats.
 

1️⃣6️⃣ Revealing vs Telling

When I started, I would tell people what I know.

Now, I try to ‘reveal’ what I know.

It’s one thing if I tell the audience that upstream of quality relationships is giving a sh**.

It’s a special gift for the audience if I guide them through a journey to realise it for themselves.

It’s also more likely to be remembered in 5 years.
 

1️⃣7️⃣ Don’t tell them what you are about to do, before you do it

“I’m going to tell a story about how I met my wife” –> Dude, just tell the story.

“There is this funny thing that happened to me” –> Just tell me the funny thing, please 🙂

If in doubt, start with the exploding boat!

1️⃣8️⃣ “No one is listening, you don’t matter, and no one cares” — Matt Church

People are so immersed in their own lives and problems, they are not thinking about you.

Seriously, it’s just a speech.
 

1️⃣9️⃣ Fix nervousness with service

If you are nervous, it’s because you are thinking about yourself.

• What will they think?
• Will I do a good job?
• What if they don’t like it?
   

Replace these nerves with service:

• What if I can change someone’s life today?
• What do they need to hear?
• How can I create something they remember in 5 years?
   

Make it about other people, and your ego dissolves.

Your nerves will follow.

 

💬 If This Helped You…

SHARE it with another Lifestyle Medicine practitioner who wants to get into public speaking. 
 

Much love to you and of course, myself.
 

Dr G
 

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