What do you do if your confidence in public speaking as a digital strategist is lacking?

I was always super shy growing up. I addressed this by forcing myself to do a lot of theatre classes growing up and improv. After university, I joined Upright Citizen's Brigade in Los Angeles and did a bunch of improv and other acting classes to work on public speaking. Those classes were only $400 but taught me how to think on my feet, be clear, be a great listener, and be in the moment. Now that doesn't really help you be confident at speaking for digital marketing. You should probably first actually become an expert at digital marketing before you start doing public speaking about it. I get that public speaking is nice to attract customers but don't be a snake oil salesmen -- learn your craft and be amazing, you'll have plenty to say.

Cultiva la confianza mediante la autenticidad y la empatía. Aprende a comunicarte desde la sinceridad y la inclusión, creando conexiones genuinas. En el ámbito del marketing digital, la voz auténtica y empática resuena profundamente. Además, la creación de estrategias de marketing inclusivo no solo fortalece tu confianza, sino que también amplía tu impacto, llegando a audiencias diversas. Así que, abraza tu singularidad, escucha activamente y sé un agente de cambio inclusivo en tus discursos y estrategias digitales.

You really can't practice speaking enough. I often recommend Toastmasters to co-workers who need help with confidence speaking in public. I have a hard time watching myself on video, but it really does help because you become aware of your body language, or lack thereof. :) One other tip I found invaluable for public speaking is to focus your attention on the top of everyone's heads you're speaking to. To the audience, you're making eye contact. For yourself, you now have a visual space to focus on. It's not as distracting as looking around the room, catching someone yawing, or checking their phone. That can throw you off mentally and create inner doubt. You can confidently deliver your message by focusing on a space you own.

Deep knowledge of your subject matter can significantly boost your confidence. As a digital strategist, ensure you're well-versed in the latest trends, data, and case studies related to your presentation topic. When you're confident in what you're discussing, it shows in your delivery and engages your audience more effectively. Additionally, prepare for potential questions and challenges, allowing you to handle them gracefully during your presentation.

People respond to people who are passionate about what they do. When you're demonstrating your knowledge and sharing it confidently, your peers will start to look to you first when they're looking for an expert.

If you've ever been in an audience and had a presentation read to you for 45 minutes, you've suffered through a lack of engagement and imagination. I like to put single-image slides with no text into my presentations with large audiences. It gives me a moment to pause, evaluate, provide context, and keep moving. The choice of image is based on the topic, the audience, and the energy I want to convey with each image. If you can do a live poll through an app or service, those are great ways to inform and engage the audience too.

Create a slide deck, but make it very visual. You can have images for cues, and some words, but never read off your presentation. Your audience can read faster than you can read off the screen. Don't bore everyone to death and make it feel like we're sitting through another freshman 400 person lecture. Figure out what you want to say, your message, use slides/visuals to remind you so you have some guardrails, and then just trust your preparation and experience.

Get a coach - i love public speaking but know how important every opportunity is. I recently gave a webinar on supercharging ABM with AI, and turned to my coach Teresa Dukes who really helped me simplify the framing of my talk for maximum impact. We relied on a series of three stories to tell a compelling story that continues to have impact.