Blog

Most People Don’t Think This is Public Speaking

by Doreen Downing | May 24, 2021 | Authentic Speaking, Confident public speaking, Fear of Speaking, Fearless Public Speaking, Find Your Voice Blog, Personal Relationships and Speaking, Public Speaking Anxiety, Public Speaking Tips, Self Talk, Storytelling, Uncategorized

What Is Public Speaking, Really? You might think “public speaking” is about being on a stage with a microphone in hand. The audience sits with rapt attention, or so you wish. But the idea of speaking formally in front of an audience is only a narrow description of...

A Powerful Tool to Calm Your Nerves

by Doreen Downing | May 14, 2021 | Authentic Speaking, Essential Speaking, Events & Programs, Fear of Speaking, Fearless Public Speaking, Find Your Voice Blog, Public Speaking Anxiety

I received an email from one of my writing mentors, Naomi Rose, and I want to pass on to you a question she presented. It’s a powerful tool you can use to help calm your nerves whenever you have speaking anxiety (or any anxiety, really).

The Find Your Voice, Change Your Life Podcast

by Doreen Downing | Apr 26, 2021 | 7 Steps to Fearless Speaking, Authentic Speaking, Confident public speaking, Essential Speaking, Fear of Speaking, Fearless Public Speaking, Find Your Voice Blog, Inspiration to speak in public, Personal Relationships and Speaking, Presence and public speaking, Public Speaking Anxiety, Public Speaking Coaching, Public Speaking Tips, Self Talk, Storytelling, Uncategorized

The Birth of a New Idea Can you believe how drastically things changed during quarantine? We're not out of the woods yet, but hopefully, that time is coming soon. How different will our relationships look-- will our communication look-- once we emerge? For me, one of...

Zen Wisdom and Confident Speaking

by Doreen Downing | Apr 12, 2021 | Authentic Speaking, Confident public speaking, Fear of Speaking, Fearless Public Speaking, Find Your Voice Blog, Inspiration to speak in public, Leadership and Public Speaking, Mindfulness and speaking, Personal Relationships and Speaking, Presence and public speaking, Public Speaking Anxiety, Public Speaking at Work, Public Speaking Coaching, Public Speaking Tips, Self Talk, Speaking to Groups, Storytelling

Story of Zen Master The following Zen wisdom and confident speaking story, a favorite of mine, points to what I believe are the 3 secrets to confident speaking. A student came to Master Ichu and said, “Please write for me something of great wisdom.” Master Ichu picked...

How My Book on Speaking Got Its Title

by Doreen Downing | Apr 6, 2021 | 7 Steps to Fearless Speaking, Essential Speaking Book, Fear of Speaking, Public Speaking Tips

My book on speaking, Essential Speaking: The 7-Step Guide to Finding Your Real Voice grew out of a class I had been teaching in San Francisco. In early 2000, I opened the catalog of courses offered at the Learning Annex where I was a teacher, and my eye caught the...

Can You Say “No”?

by Doreen Downing | Mar 29, 2021 | Fear of Speaking, Fearless Public Speaking, Find Your Voice Blog, Inspiration to speak in public, Mindfulness and speaking, Personal Relationships and Speaking, Public Speaking Anxiety, Public Speaking Coaching, Public Speaking Tips, Self Talk

I want to share a note I received from one of my clients who participated in my 12-week Online Coaching program.

A Note of Encouragement…

by Doreen Downing | Mar 22, 2021 | Authentic Speaking, Confident public speaking, Essential Speaking, Fear of Speaking, Fearless Public Speaking, Mindfulness and speaking, Public Speaking Anxiety, Public Speaking Tips

...If You Dread Speaking In Public I wrote this a while back in a bout of inspiration. Or maybe it was exasperation. It’s unedited, but I wanted to share it with you anyway. If you dread speaking in public... remember this: You aren’t going to dieYou aren’t going to...

It Went BETTER Than He Could Have Imagined

by Doreen Downing | Mar 15, 2021 | Authentic Speaking, Confident public speaking, Essential Speaking, Fear of Speaking, Fearless Public Speaking, Inspiration to speak in public, Leadership and Public Speaking, Mindfulness and speaking, Personal Relationships and Speaking, Presence and public speaking, Public Speaking Anxiety, Public Speaking at Work, Public Speaking Coaching, Public Speaking Tips, Speaking to Groups

A client I worked with shared the good news about his success speaking at a conference (pre-pandemic). If you have struggled with speaking anxiety, read my client’s story below to see what is possible when it comes to dealing with extreme anxiety. I bet you will find...

Do you have this damaging habit?

by Doreen Downing | Feb 22, 2021 | Confident public speaking, Essential Speaking, Events & Programs, Find Your Voice Blog, Public Speaking Anxiety

The Habit of Not The other day I was reading a book by poet, Mark Nepo, called The Book of Awakening. There was a unique idea that I really liked… and I knew I wanted to share it with you as soon as I read it. It adds light and insight into why you might hold...