The Truth About Extemporaneous Speaking

I’m typically a plain spoken word kinda gal, but today we’re getting fancy. The word?  Extemporaneous. The meaning? Spoken or done without preparation. Said another way — speaking “off the cuff”.

As someone who makes money teaching others how to intentionally structure a message, it would be easy to dismiss the power of this word.

But the truth is— extemporaneous speaking is one of the most powerful skills you must develop as a business owner. And today’s episode will get you started 

Here’s a sneak peek at some of the topics we cover:

• The power of extemporaneous speaking and why you should make this a priority
• What happens when you just focused on getting every words right and missed to see the bigger picture→ Heather spills the beans on her own cringe-worthy experience
• The challenge most business owner face when it comes to extemporaneous speaking (aka speaking of the cuff)
• How understanding the overall structure of your talk (vs knowing the language sequence) can make a huge difference for you as a speaker
• Exciting changes coming up with our training program→ we know what you need to amplify your message + get the results

EPISODE  SHOW NOTES👇
https://heathersager.com/episode229

Chapters

• 0:00 Message Structure for Speaker Success
• 11:40 Power of Extemporaneous Speaking
• 19:53 Lessons in Public Speaking Adversity
• 29:20 Extemporaneous Speaking
• 36:23 Hint of Hustle Podcast Promotion

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

One of the challenges that I find when it comes to working with business owners is I hear oftentimes that we just want to know like, what should I say? What is the recipe? What is the structure? If I had the right structure, then I'll feel more confident and then the leads and success will flood in. And I'll say this carefully that is partially true. Having the right structure and having the right message is a big part of the equation, but it is not the only part. It is by far not the only part. Structure of the message, the topic, the subject of the message, the structure of the message that's just a piece of it.

Speaker 1: 0:51

This is the podcast for the entrepreneur who wants to make a big impact, who doesn't shy away from hard work but also wants to enjoy life along the way. Hi, I'm Heather Sager, former executive-turned-entrepreneur, and I've spent the last 20 years working with premium brands on sales, marketing and communication, and I've learned that when you become a magnet with your message, you only need a hint of hustle to achieve your goals. Get ready to be inspired and ignited each week with tangible strategies on sales, speaking, marketing and so much more. This is the Hint of Hustle podcast. Let's go Well. Hey friends, welcome back to another episode of the Hint of Hustle podcast. I am stoked to ramble on you a bit today about a topic that we need to address. First and foremost, let me just say the last episode. It was two weeks ago. I took a little bit of a hiatus last week. I needed a little bit of space for lots of things going on in my life this month, but the last episode I left you on a little bit of a cliffhanger around. All right, what is this change that Heather is making in her business slash program Today? I'm going to talk about it a little bit and let you know what's coming down the path. But this episode is really the stemming of well, not the only reason, but one of the reasons why I am making a change. So here's what the change is. I'll just hit it off the top of the episode.

Speaker 1: 2:34

Last year I made the decision and very boldly and very publicly declared multiple times that I was sectioning out two parts of my program, my existing program that I have been running for five years in a couple of different iterations, but I carved out the part where I taught people how to create a signature talk. This is what I was hearing over and over and over again of what people wanted was how do I build the damn talk, heather, and how do I do it quickly? So we carved it out, I taught it live, we did it a couple of times and I'm like, yes, I'm going on maternity leave, let me just put this thing on autopilot and build this sustainable, scalable business that grows whilst I take care of this beautiful new baby. Sounds right, it sounds great, right, and here's the thing it is great. The course that we put together is super freaking awesome and I've had a big epiphany Epiphany, that's a fun little fact here.

Speaker 1: 3:32

Words with my hearing loss, I hear words and I actually don't know the letters within words. Am I? Because it an M? Is it an N? Is it a? How does it go? And then I start second guessing myself and then I go on this little random. I'm like, oh my gosh, did I get the word right? Did I get it wrong?

Speaker 1: 3:47

Stems from a very traumatic memory I had back when I was like 21, competing for Miss America. I was standing up with all the other girls and we were taking a photo by the pier in Seattle. I know I just went to a very specific story here, but this is like stemming of a trigger for me, where we're all standing there and somebody made a comment like look how beautiful, like you guys are all so great. And I said something like oh my gosh, we're all so eloquent. And some broad who had like a very fancy degree was like I think the word you're after is elegant. Elegant is when you're using written language, and I remember in that moment one feeling super stupid for getting a word wrong, and then two was like bitch. You know what I meant? That is the birth of how I adopted this rule that I've used for years with my team around. Did you know what I mean? Cool, Like why are you going to bring someone down by correcting them? So anyways, side note of the whole word for it. We went on a real good side to the end, right there. Anyways, back to you.

Speaker 1: 4:48

So this idea with my program right, it was really great to say let me get the core structured and I'm so freaking proud of the Sigitzer Talk Accelerator on demand. We've had, I think, 25 business owners who have signed up specifically for the on demand version and have powered through. I'm getting direct messages from people left and right that have completed it in the three weeks. I'll give you an option to do it in three weeks or in 60 days. People who are flying through it and they're getting their talks done, they're using it, they're getting out in the world. They're even coming into my speaker society, which is my coaching membership, to get feedback on their talks, and it's awesome. So the question is okay, heather, if it's all awesome, why are you doing something different?

Speaker 1: 5:31

And here is the like big truth that I knew deep down that I have built my business around and it is this I'm here to help you become a better speaker, so that when you show up on any kind of stage, you have the confidence in what the hell is going to come out of your mouth, that, even if it's weird or you say the wrong word, that you feel steady in what you have to deliver, you're able to speak extemporaneously. Now, that is a big word that I just nailed. What does that word mean? It means that you're speaking seemingly off the cuff, you are unscripted, you have a game plan going into it. I mean, don't be confused here. You're not just making shit up as you go, but you know your message and you deliver it confidently. That is the skill that I have developed and that is the thing. When I talk to business owners, that is what they're after. When we put blinders on and think that the solution to everything is, if I just had the message, if I just had the talk, then, oh my gosh, I'm going to be so magnetic. That's true. The talk is a big, big piece of the puzzle in helping you better communicate, better show up for your audience.

Speaker 1: 6:53

I realized I was doing a huge, fat disservice by breaking down my program for parts. It's like a car you break it down for parts or sell it for parts or whatever. My car, my program is not totaled. My car was awesome. There is no reason for me to break it down for parts. What does that mean? It means I'm going to do what I have been doing for the last five years in my business and for the last two decades before. I'm going to do what I do best and I'm going to follow my gut and I'm going to teach the thing that I know that you truly need and give you exactly what you want. You know that saying right Give them what they want, teach them what they need, sell them what they want, give them what they need, whatever the saying is. You know that I'm following here. I'm putting the signature talk.

Speaker 1: 7:41

Accelerator is a course that is now back inside my program, the Speaker Society. The Speaker Society that is my coaching program. When you join, you get access to mentorship and incredible curriculum and incredible community where we share speaking opportunities. We teach you not only how to build a talk, but then we also teach you how do you build the system for finding aligned stages and booking them and how do you amplify your message. There are specific strategies that you can use to not only attract clients when you're speaking on stage, but amplify the effects of the stage. That is what I am most passionate about. I mean, I made some choices. I know here I am. I pull it all back together because I know that is exactly what you need in your life in 2024.

Speaker 1: 8:27

You do not need me to solve your very specific problem of a signature talk. I say that with going. I know you need a signature talk, but beyond the signature talk, you need direct, tough love feedback to tell you how you're actually showing up in your communication. Because the thing is, even if you build a damn sexy talk and you get on that stage. If your storytelling skills, if your delivery skills, if the topic that you choose independently, if those things are not jiving, you're going to be exactly where you are right now.

Speaker 1: 9:01

But now going? Should I spend all this time and effort building this talk? Why isn't it working for me? And then my biggest fear is you're going to start second guessing and saying shit. What's wrong with me? Maybe my talk isn't good enough, maybe I'm not cut out for this, maybe I wasn't meant to be the person who's the thought leader in this industry and I do not want to add to your garbage for second guessing yourself Around here. We second guess and we take action anyways. But I know my gift as your tough love coach and biggest freaking cheerleader. That's why they call me your stage mom.

Speaker 1: 9:36

I am going to be there every step of the way and that's why I'm going to go back and say I help people through my program. It's transformational. Yeah, it's about skill building, which means it's not a quick like whoop. You're going to be done in a week, although I will tell you you can have your signature talk within three weeks slides done, stories done everything, because the curriculum is built for that. But you won't be alone in it, this online business world. You're alone, anyways. Right, when you're building your own business, we do it in silos, but when it comes to using your voice, you need trusted coaches, trusted peers, who are going to give it to you straight, with compassion, knowing your goals, knowing what your unique speaking persona is, to give you feedback that's going to help you make the impact that you're after. So that's exactly what I'm doing. I'm going to be pulling everything back together.

Speaker 1: 10:29

I have one program. That is the program that I help people become magnetic speakers so they can be the face of their business and confidently share their message and attract clients into their world. It's the speaker society. That is it. That is the one thing. Now, of course, I still have some smaller workshops that I sell. I have a few things that I'm only going to do a couple times a year, so there'll be some more stuff coming out in 2024. But I feel more aligned with this decision than I have felt in the last three years. I'm really excited to pull you in.

Speaker 1: 11:02

So, hey, if you want to learn more about the speaker society, how it works, what the cost is, what the time commitment is, is this a great fit, based of where you are at right now in your business. Just send me a direct message on Instagram. Just say, hey, heather, I heard your podcast episode. I'm super interested in the speaker society, and then you can also say something like but I'm totally honest, I'm a little terrified because you got me riled up and I'm thinking like, holy shit, is this for me? Heather comes to mind just either voice message me or just give me a little texty text and let's talk about if it's a good fit and we'll go from there. So let's talk about the thing, though what this episode is around today.

Speaker 1: 11:40

I mentioned the word. It is around extemporaneous speaking. I want to talk about the power of that and why I want to encourage you to make this a priority for yourself as that ambassador and advocate, that's, that front person in your business. So take a breath here and take a sip of my smoothie, because I'm going. That was real fast. Are you fired up yet? Like, how would it be in 10 minutes in this episode? Just look at the clock. Yeah, 10 minutes into this recording. So here we go. I extem extemporaneous speaking. I'll be honest with you. This is a very fancy term. When I first heard it on my Google. That's really fancy.

Speaker 1: 12:20

One of the things you need to know about me is I actually hate super fancy words. It was funny. I was listening to Claire Pelletrone she's got the Get Paid podcast and I was just randomly listening to an episode yesterday as I was curling my hair and she was talking about her love of language and the specific episode she mentioned. She'd mentioned the first time she had heard the word hubris, which essentially means ego, and she was like she loved the word because of she loves language and in times there's like a big juicy word. She's obsessed. And I giggled for a moment because I realized about myself I am the absolute opposite Opposite Ooh, that was a hard word to say because I like hiccuped at the same time. Opposite I hate complicated big fancy words To me. I'm like but why? What are we trying to do here? Like talk to me in English. So hubris, I'm like ego, you got a big ego. We don't need to say hubris, that just sounds like very hoity-toity.

Speaker 1: 13:23

I don't know if there's some like baggage issues of me being raised as a kid that didn't have a lot of money who shopped at Value Village for back to school clothes. We had some food stamp situations one year, like we did not have money growing up. So I always aspired to be like the girls in high school who had clinic makeup. That was like a big deal. So there's probably, yes, some traumatic baggage issues that I bring to it.

Speaker 1: 13:47

But just personally, my communication style is I keep it real, I use plain spoken language. Plain spoken words, I mean, if you're listening to me you're probably pretty similar and now you're understanding like, ooh, that's maybe a little bit more of why I like Heather is. She doesn't try to sound smart and fancy, she just says farts and unicorn poop, I don't know. Great, usually you play. Spoken language doesn't mean you have to say weird shit like that. Right, it just happens to also be part of my personality. But back to the fancy word extemporaneous speaking. I heard this word the first time. I probably heard it before, but the first time I really noticed it was back when I was teaching.

Speaker 1: 14:25

I have this workshop series that I did at corporate. It was the VP of learning and development and my team was a training team and the events team who put on all of these conferences for our private practice doctor clients all over the country. So we were running training sessions live in Las Vegas and Phoenix and Florida, like wherever. And one of the things is we had employees, all of the company. It was like a company of 200 employees and when we would have these really large scale events, a lot of our team members in finance, in marketing, in operations, in human resources, all over the company. They would lead a lot of the workshops and sessions because we needed to teach on all these topics. My training team we spoke on very specific things. It was around patient experience, sales leadership, answering the phone, those types of things for these practices. But we as a company, we were a management firm for these organizations, so we were the experts in all of these other topics. So when it came time for us to lead the trainings at live events, we would need to call upon all these experts.

Speaker 1: 15:29

Well, the challenge was these experts inside our company were not the best public speakers and as a company we were kind of known for our public speaking. The people on stage was myself, our other executives. We were all very comfortable on stage and when it got to the breakout rooms, like we needed our staff to have that same level of charisma and same level of impact. And they're training sessions. So my team and I my instructional designer, annette at the time we thought, okay, let's put together a training series internally for our staff. We titled it present like a pro and we put together this. I think it was like a six to eight week series that people in the company could raise their hand and say, hey, one of my goals is to become a better public speaker. They can get approved by their manager and then they could sign up for this workshop and I don't remember the first time we taught it we had a few people through it and then the next time we taught it, people were like asking for it. So we had a few dozen people in the company coming through this present like a pro series.

Speaker 1: 16:30

Fun fact, this was the beginning of what I teach today, because I got to like put a course together around public speaking. So, anyways, we were putting together. I rambled on Annette and said, okay, what do we want to teach? We start putting together a framework, week by week, of what the course would be, and I think it was on week number two. We use Martin Luther King's I have a Dream speech as the case study that week to talk about the power of that speech, both in the content but also in the delivery.

Speaker 1: 16:59

And she brought the word extemporaneous speaking to the party and I'm like but that's a really fancy word, what the hell does it mean? And she shared with me and I don't I don't have the definition in front of me, but here's the gist it's this idea of being able to speak off the cuff, where you're just delivering your message with such conviction but with poise, with polish, that you're just captivating. It just works. You're able to speak with or without planning. That is what extemporaneous speaking means.

Speaker 1: 17:30

And one of the challenges that I find when it comes to working with business owners is I hear oftentimes that we just want to know like, what should I say? What is the recipe? What is the structure? If I had the right structure, then I'll feel more confident and then the leads and success will flood in. And I'll say this carefully that is partially true. Having the right structure and having the right message is a big part of the equation, but it is not the only part. It is by far not the only part. Structure of the message, the topic, the subject of the message, the structure of the message that's just a piece of it.

Speaker 1: 18:11

What I want you to think about is have you ever had this experience where, maybe when you were younger and you had to give a speech and you were really nervous about it and you had to prepare for it? Maybe this was you, but if it wasn't you, let's just pretend you knew someone like this. Everybody knows someone like this who's super terrified of public speaking. And so you sit down and you write out the speech. In fact, a fun personal story right now. My nephew texted me two weeks ago that he actually made it to the State Speech Conference. I can't remember what this actually told, but essentially he has to deliver a speech at state competition and he's so excited and he's terrified nervous. So he mustered up the courage to text his Aunt Heather, who he said something along the lines of hey, aunt Heather, I know you're a pretty good public speaker. I have to give the speech a state competition. Would you mind giving me some feedback? I'm so cute, I'm like. Oh, my nephew called me a pretty good public speaker. That's great. So I told him not only am I good, I teach it for a living and I'd be happy to help him right, but I use this example here. I want you to think about a time where you are like, okay, let me get the speech right, let me write down all the words, and then when you get in front of a group, you're trying to remember all the words. Have you ever had that moment where you know the line in your head but you miss one of the words and then your brain gets totally thrown up off because you're like, oh, oh my gosh, what's next? Where do I go? Oh my gosh, what am I doing? How does this work? It is horrifying and I'll tell you, this happened to me. This is really embarrassing and I hate the fact that I'm about to tell you this story right now, but here we go.

Speaker 1: 19:53

When I first started my business this business that you see today when I took the leap from corporate as an executive into becoming an entrepreneur, one of the first gigs that I lined up was one of the professional speakers that I had been hiring multiple times to come into our organization to speak and speak at our large-scale conferences. We had kept in touch and I had caught wind. I connected with her, let her know I was looking to leave the company and start my own thing and I wanted to get into more public speaking. And she said, well, hey, I'm actually looking to expand because I have more speaking opportunities that I can handle. And, fun fact, because of our work together, I had given her feedback back when I was an executive. I'd given her feedback to up her rates, so she had increased her speaking rates and had made a lot more money through her work together. And so she's like I just love the feedback that you gave your energy. I'm just curious would you like ever be interested in speaking as my second string, mike? Tell me more. What is that? Well, it's because she upped her rates.

Speaker 1: 20:52

Organizations couldn't always afford her, so she wanted to have essentially a down sell, like okay, you can't afford me to come out into your keynote, but we can bring this content to you through one of our trainers. So I was like interesting. So I was like hell, yeah, that'd be fun. So we did a little trial run. I took her speech, we made it my own and I was about to go and deliver it for an organization. So here's the thing though I was delivering someone else's content, I was delivering their intellectual property.

Speaker 1: 21:23

It was her like everything that she created should have very specific way that it was communicated and I, as you probably gauge with me, I'm more of a free spirit on stage. I ingrain my message, it's in me to a core and it comes out because I know the message in and out. I have a plan, I have a structure and it flows. So I was put in a situation where I had to memorize and learn a script which I'm like oh cool, I can totally do this, like I'm a great speaker, I'm on stages all the time. But there was a very specific sequence and I think you can hear in my voice in the windup that's happening, that this did not go well. To the extent where I got, I got really comfortable. I was practicing, practicing, practicing, practicing and the sequencing of words. It was very specific and I had to freaking, nail it To the extent, the opening three minutes of this talk I talked at an exponential rate like super speedy, long zolles voice.

Speaker 1: 22:22

It was specifically designed on purpose, like we needed to do that to create this impact for the audience based off the topic I was teaching. But there were all these things that had to hit really, really fast. I all had to land and I had practiced my ass off and I remember flying to New York and then driving, I got a town card, drove to Upstate New York to deliver this talk for a very, very, very large pharmaceutical company, and I was a little nervous. No, it was some part of what we would call a company. That was a different one. It was a. It was like a hospice something or other company. Anyways, it was large, it was an audience of about 200.

Speaker 1: 23:00

And I was on stage and I start my bit, I start my speech, I start my ramble and I am there Loving me. They are laughing. We are going and here we go. We get 13 minutes into the presentation and my mind goes blank. I literally have no idea what the frick I'm supposed to say next. Like it's gone, that my next line is absolutely gone.

Speaker 1: 23:26

And because I don't know my next line, I actually don't even know what the next topic is, because I was so focused on the line hit the line and I remembered she'd given me the best piece of advice early on in our time together. She said hey, heather, once I turned 40, I realized my memory wasn't quite serving me so well. So I did this little cheat sheet thing where I started creating my like 40 under like 40 things because I'm 40 list. Essentially it was. She created a cheat sheet on stage for herself that was like a one pager and she would make this thing that she had to cough or something. Let me go get a sip of water and go to the little podium on stage, take a sip of water and look back at her sheet Now that I am well at the time, this air is officially 40, my birthday was yesterday, march 13th. I can fully appreciate what she was saying.

Speaker 1: 24:15

Also, mom brain, my brain is not like always remembering things. But back to that moment, I totally flopped. I had no idea, like I was like pause, staring at the audience and, granted, this was probably like a half a second, two seconds max, so they're just thinking of pausing. But I'm like hold the crap, I don't know what I'm supposed to say next. So I don't remember what I said. But I said something, played it off and made my way over to the podium to check my notes and be like, oh, thank goodness. And I made it through the rest of the presentation, okay, but when I got off stage and got back on my flight to come back to the Portland area, I remember thinking, holy crap, that has never happened to me on stage before.

Speaker 1: 24:57

What happened and what it comes down to is I had put myself, I set myself up for failure, and what I mean by that is I was so focused on getting the words right. I missed the opportunity to see the bigger picture of the message I was sharing and be present with that audience and share that message, because I had practiced it but I knew how to speak in a way that wasn't getting every word right. So from that day, I made the decision that I well, first of all, I was like I don't think teaching someone else's curriculum is for me. So I broke away and decided okay, I'm gonna do this full time for myself. My own message. That was number one. Number two I said all right, I need to go back to the way that I speak, and that's part of what I teach inside my programs is I'm gonna teach you language. For sure. I want you to be clear around the kind of language that you use.

Speaker 1: 25:56

Words matter and the sequencing of that language matters, but what I'm more focused on with my clients is what is the overall structure of the talk, what is the goal that we're going after here? And one of the things I remember a client that I worked on early with my business. She flew to Portland, I brought her over to my house and we planned out her talk and it was a very technical talk. It was around neuroscience and the connection to hearing. And she was giving this talk for, I think, the local chamber of commerce and I remember teaching her my method and, as she had this big light bulb moment, she's like oh, we're gonna put my talk into sections, that if I can get from section one into section two, into section three, into section four, even if I lose my way or go off on a random side tangent or insert all these other scenarios here, I could always find my way back because I know the point of the section and I'm like, yes, that is exactly what I'm teaching you. So that is what birthed me, what I now teach as the magnetic talk outlining formula. It's a very specific sequence. You know five sections in your talk and I help you develop the confidence around what is the goal of the section so that you can speak exactly to the message within it. But it gives you the freedom that, should you want to speak more off the cuff, or if you do go on a side tangent, or you do get disrupted, or whatever else happens, you know how to get back on point.

Speaker 1: 27:21

So what I want you thinking about today is where in your business do you need to allow yourself to be a little bit more extemporaneous? Where do you need to be a little bit more? Okay, if I was a little bit more prepared and by prepared I don't mean, like detail planned. Prepared means a couple of things, right it's. Do I know the point of what I'm trying to talk about? Do I have a plan for like the gist? Do I know how I'm gonna open it, how I'm gonna close it, what like big, bold points I'm going to make? When we approach it in that way, like asking your business, okay, where am I being a little too rigid or where am I actually not showing up because I feel like I need to have all the details put together in a script? No, no, I want you to start thinking extemporaneously. But here's the second point I wanna make. Okay, I think we're all on the same page now that you know the power of extemporaneous speaking. Oh, let me add one more thing here. I want you to think for a second. We've been talking about the power of you being a speaker. But I want you to think for a second. Make this sit real within yourself. Think about the speakers that you admire.

Speaker 1: 28:25

When you go to a conference and you see a lineup of speakers on stage, how do you typically react when someone is being very scripted, where you can tell they're reading something or they're trying to get everything right, or ha ha ha. Here's the joke. I mean, let's be real and maybe this is just my personality, but I would think, if you listen to me, it's probably yours too that when you hear someone who is so scripted or so tied to sounding professional, I mean, is it as captivating to listen to? Are you hanging on every single word? I mean, here's the thing you might, despite of their delivery style, you might take action at the end, but you also might be like that was like an experience. I hope the course is better, or I hope that free be, or I'm just gonna grab that free be because that sounds good, but I don't think I can listen to that person again.

Speaker 1: 29:20

Ugh, sorry, these are all truths that we have. We have a very clear filter around how we perceive other people. We're building all these perceptions around them and, in my experience, when you're super freaking, scripted, the perception someone has is that's not as great as the alternate. And what is the alternate is when you are standing as lame as the sound in your power, delivering a message that is well-planned, well-timed, is well-rehearsed not scripted well-rehearsed and you're showing up in a really present way. You have magnetic delivery skills. Your tonality, your body language, your voice, everything about you exudes confidence, charisma and connection, and that's what I'm talking about here. That's what I believe true extemporaneous speaking is Is it infuses both the I wrote these down, let me read it Both the subject of what you're talking about, the structure of your message, the strategy behind why you're sharing your message, the style and the story. These are all the elements and I teach all of these for you inside the speaker society as we build your talk and grow your skills as a speaker. But remember that extemporaneous speaking you have to have this be top of mind for you as you go in the year. Okay, extemporaneous speaking Second thing that I want to point out here, on the coattails of that, if you want to become a better speaker in this way, if you want to feel confident, either pulling open your phone to do an Instagram story or jumping onto a podcast interview, or go in live with your group or answering Q and A's with your coaching students anytime you step up to this microphone virtual or in person, planned or impromptu.

Speaker 1: 31:13

If you want to be able to be an extemporaneous speaker, you have to shift from this idea that you can plan your success. I've used this metaphor all the time. It's very common but I can't do the push-ups for you, you can't plan away your fitness. You actually have to do the reps yourself.

Speaker 1: 31:34

I'm right now on my own little fitness journey here, trying to get myself back into shape post-baby, and I don't say that because I'm unhappy with the way that I look. I'm unhappy with the way that I feel I need to get my core back together so that my body is structured to support itself. I don't want my hips hurting. I don't want my knees hurting. I don't want my back hurting. I want to be able to keep up with my kids. In fact, they were just asking me the day they found out that mom played international soccer as a teenager, so they were asking if I would play soccer with them. And I can't right now. My body's out of alignment.

Speaker 1: 32:06

So I'm in the process right now of getting into shape, putting my core back together post-partum, and I will tell you, it doesn't feel good. Hate it, I am like suckin' wind, like crazy. My butt is sore, I am, I'm in it, I'm in it and I hate every second of it and I have that feeling of ah why do I always do this to myself? Like I got out of shape. I stopped working out during pregnancy Two years ago. I was in super great shape when I did 75 heart a million times and talked about it on the podcast, but since then, not so great. I started pregnancy at my heaviest weight in a long time and that didn't feel good.

Speaker 1: 32:45

Also, it doesn't feel good to like say that, but it's the truth. It's the reality check that I've had to have of this idea that if I wanna get back in shape, I have to sludge through the crappy parts. And when it comes to you and your voice, the same is absolutely true. What I see so often is we're in this world where you have all these gurus telling you here's the fast way, here's the easy way, here's the shortcut. And I love you too much to tell you that there's a fast, easy shortcut to this. Granted, I can save you some time by showing you how to create a more effective message. Right, I can save you some time in all these areas.

Speaker 1: 33:21

But I'm not gonna BS you and tell you that getting better as a speaker is easy, because it requires courage. It requires you being able to sound like a little bit of an idiot or have that deer in headlights moment. You have to put yourself in these situations where you're going to be stretched and you're going to feel stupid. There is no shortcut for it. All you can do is plan, you can prepare so that you can handle them a little bit better, but you still have to show up and put in the reps. Now, if your goal is to speak on stage, you sure as hell better be putting the reps a lot. What does this look like? You better be going live. You better be doing video. You better be doing podcast interviews. You got to put yourself out there and speak all the time. That is how I got so good. I was on stages every single week. I was speaking at some capacity every single day for 15 years. That's why I'm so good, and while you don't have to take 15 years for you to become a really dynamic and magnetic communicator. You do have to commit to this.

Speaker 1: 34:27

Speaking is a skill and I would argue it is the single best skill that you can develop as a business owner, because you and your voice is the thing that's spinning between your person you want to help and them getting the transformation they want through your program and your support. So, my friend, I hope two things today. One, that you embrace the idea that extemporaneous speaking is something that is valuable. It's something that will help you be able to be more confident whenever, wherever you show up. And, as a side tangent to that but not really a tangent more of like a planned point, it's a skill.

Speaker 1: 35:05

Speaking, extemporaneous speaking, is a skill. So buckle up and say all right, heather, I'm ready to get uncomfortable, I'm ready to put in the reps, I'm ready to start making this a priority for myself. And hey, if you want to help, you want some help with that. If you want to join inside the speaker society, just shoot me a direct message on Instagram. Or if you're like Heather, I don't know about that, but I want to work on this skill a little bit more until I'm ready to be a little bit more like go hungry. What was that. I have no idea. But go, go, go inside. Maybe a program. Maybe you're not ready to invest in this area beyond your time right now. Still shoot me a direct message.

Speaker 1: 35:41

I will put together a playlist of the best podcast episodes from this year podcast that are designed to help you become a better speaker. We cover a lot on the show, but I'll send you the ones that are specific to listen to these episodes to develop the skill of speaking. So just shoot me a direct message on Instagram. Let me know that you want it. And, friend, I am cheering you on way more than that pageant girl was throwing me under the bus years ago. All right, friend, I hope you have an incredible rest of your day. I will see you in the next episode.

Speaker 1: 36:23

Well, thanks for listening to another episode of the Hint of Hustle podcast. That flew right by, didn't it Gosh? I hope I didn't say anything super embarrassing today, but if I did, it's pretty much on brand. If you love today's episode, be sure to scroll on down wherever you're listening from you. It would mean the world. Hit those five stars. Tell other people who are prospecting podcasts how awesome this show is. Give us a little love. We would appreciate that. And hey, if you're hungry for more of what we do here on this show, you can peruse all of the past episodes, grab the show notes and find out the latest free resources to help you get seen, heard and paid for sharing your expertise. Head on over to heathersakercom. You can also grab the link wherever you're listening to this episode, and we'll see you in the next one.