We started Speak with Heart because most public speaking advice tells you to hide the human part of yourself — stand up straight, don't fidget, sound confident. Our club nights have taught us the opposite. The speakers who move a room aren't the ones who erase themselves. They're the ones who bring more of themselves onto the stage, not less.
Here are eight lessons pulled straight from what we've watched work, night after night.
1. Before you present, breathe — slowly, on purpose
Nerves live in the body before they ever reach your voice. A slow, structured breath resets your nervous system faster than any pep talk. Try a 4-4-4 count — four seconds in, four seconds hold, four seconds out — a few times before you walk on stage.
Watch: The 4-4-4 breathing technique →
2. Don't memorize — anchor with bullet points
Word-for-word memorization is fragile. The moment you drop one word, the whole script can collapse, and now you're performing panic instead of your point. Work from key bullet points instead, with a simple intro and outro that tie the whole talk together. Anchors hold. Scripts snap.
3. Use the nervousness — don't fight it
That jittery, heart-racing feeling isn't a malfunction. It's energy. The speakers who try to suppress it read as stiff; the ones who let it move through them read as alive. Nervousness, unedited, looks a lot like authenticity.
4. Slow down
The most common mistake in public speaking is believing you need to speak fast to hold attention. It's the opposite. Speed is what audiences tune out of. Clarity and simplicity — delivered slowly — is what lets people actually connect with what you're saying, instead of just hearing it go by.
5. Your hands are a superpower
Public speaking isn't just what comes out of your mouth. Gesture is language too. Use your hands to underline a word, a phrase, a turn in the story — and then pause. A well-placed pause after a gesture gives the room a second to actually receive it.
6. Repeat yourself, on purpose
Repetition isn't a flaw — it's a tool. Circling back to a point you made earlier isn't redundant; it's how people remember it. Audiences have short memories. Give them the same idea twice, in two different moments, and you'll be doing them a favor they didn't know they needed.
7. Embrace who you are on stage
If you're an introvert, speak in your soft voice — don't perform a louder version of yourself. If you feel things deeply, let that show. Public speaking is a physical manifestation of how you feel. The version of you that shows up authentically will always land harder than the version doing an impression of "confident."
8. You have all the power — use your eyes
Eye contact puts you in command of a room, quietly and immediately. People respond to speakers who are slow, patient, and unafraid to look at them directly. And here's the part that changes everything: public speaking is for you. You're saying, "I have something to say." Whether the room agrees, disagrees, or even fully listens is beside the point. If you said what you meant to say — calm, passionate, honest — you already won.
Two full talks from recent Speak with Heart club nights, for anyone who wants to watch these lessons play out in real time — plus one more from the club floor.
From the club floor
Overcoming Social Anxiety as a Creative
Hollywood Productions
Speak with Heart meets online, with multiple dates each month. If you want to work on your voice in a room full of people who are working on theirs too, come join us →.