Fireside with Voxgig

In this episode, Richard speaks with Mary Carty, co-founder of the ground-breaking Outbox Incubator and a professional keynote speaker. You will hear how Mary’s mother sparked her public speaking career by encouraging her to speak in church every Sunday, and how this fostered her self-confidence.

Mary gives interesting insights into how public speaking can come in handy when you are trying to present your vision to the people around you. She also shares the process that helps her improve her speeches: recording herself—even when it’s hard to hear.  

She also discusses Outbox Incubator, which she set up to give entrepreneurial women a place to go to build their business ideas. She explains that it is important for these women to be surrounded by other women who are similar to them so that they can encourage each other and lift each other up.

Learn more about Mary here.

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View all show notes, links, and more brilliant public speaking resources at voxgig.com.

If you like what you hear on Fireside with Voxgig, don’t be shy―tell everyone! Use  #firesidewithvoxgig on your social media.

Pat Dwyer is an award-winning improv comedian who is also a professional public speaker and facilitator. Earlier in his career, Pat moved to Chicago, where he worked and toured with the world-famous Second City Theater and iO Theater, among others. Now, in his speaking and facilitating roles, he works with organizations to show them how laughter and comedy can improve a company’s profit, culture and daily interactions.  

In this episode, Pat talks to Richard about how, in improv comedy, you have to accept that you will ‘bomb’ a little bit every single time! He describes his impulse reaction of nervously talking way too much when panic sets in. He also describes his career journey from teaching English in Mauritania, West Africa while serving in the United States Peace Corp., to what launched his improv comedy career, and how all of this eventually led to his career right now facilitating public speaking programs that he designs personally.

Pat describes how he’s always wanted to help people and that this has heavily impacted the trajectory his career has followed. He also describes touring to different colleges during his improv comedy career, which taught him about the importance of connecting with the audience. He uses this in his current career as a professional keynote speaker.

Learn more about Pat here.

To get a weekly dose of public speaking tips, information, videos of great talks, conference news, book reviews and more, sign up to the Voxgig newsletter.

View all show notes, links, and more brilliant public speaking resources at voxgig.com.

If you like what you hear on Fireside with Voxgig, don’t be shy―tell everyone! Use  #firesidewithvoxgig on your social media.

Natalia Wiechowski is a certified digital marketing professional and a Forbes Coaches Council member. She also holds a PhD in philosophy and social science. At age 29, Natalia decided to drastically change her life and career by moving from her native Germany to Dubai and becoming a personal branding strategist. Natalia believes that personal branding can be the key to having a dream life and a career of purpose.

In this episode, Natalia talks to Richard about how she found her quirky speaking style (by breaking the rules during her first speech, which was met with extremely positive feedback). She discusses how much of a role Toastmasters—a non-profit educational organization that teaches public speaking and leadership skills through a worldwide network of clubs—played in her development as a professional public speaker.

She delves into her worst public speaking experience, which involved an unbelievably small audience and ants! She also explains why she encourages everyone to do something that scares them every day, and how this applies to public speaking.

Learn more about Natalia here.

To get a weekly dose of public speaking tips, information, videos of great talks, conference news, book reviews and more, sign up to the Voxgig newsletter.

View all show notes, links, and more brilliant public speaking resources at voxgig.com.

If you like what you hear on Fireside with Voxgig, don’t be shy―tell everyone! Use  #firesidewithvoxgig on your social media.

Oisín Lunny is a professional public speaker, master of ceremonies (MC), radio presenter and journalist. He has hosted and moderated events and given keynote presentations at over 200 conferences worldwide, including TEDx, MWC and SXSW. He is a regular contributor to Forbes.com and is music editor for ‘The Phoenix’ magazine.

In this episode, Oisín talks to Richard about how his early PR career led him to public speaking and his ‘aha moment’, when he realized that speaking with authenticity and passion can make even a seemingly insignificant speech great. He also explains why stepping outside your comfort zone can be a brilliant way to learn; being put on the spot can sometimes lead to great creativity.

Being an MC has become a big part of Oisín’s public speaking career and life in general. Oisín shares with Richard his first MC experience—at a music festival—and the positive things he learned from the experience. He also shares his secret to remembering hundreds of people’s names: good old-fashioned printed notes!

Learn more about Oisín here.

To get a weekly dose of public speaking tips, information, videos of great talks, conference news, book reviews and more, sign up to the Voxgig newsletter.

View all show notes, links, and more brilliant public speaking resources at voxgig.com.

If you like what you hear on Fireside with Voxgig, don’t be shy―tell everyone! Use  #firesidewithvoxgig on your social media.

Danielle Brown MBE is a double Paralympic gold medallist and five-time World Champion in archery. She successfully transitioned from the United Kingdom disabled team onto the able-bodied team. Besides her sporting achievements, Danielle works to help others achieve their ambitions through her work as a professional public speaker, trainer and coach. She is writing a book titled Be Your Best Self.

In this episode, Danielle talks to Richard about how to deal with your mind going completely blank in the middle of a talk. She draws a connection between the adrenaline you experience in elite sports and in public speaking. Danielle and Richard also briefly discuss the isolation of archery and how it is actually very similar to public speaking.

She also gives very helpful advice on what to do when the person speaking before you is killing it: don’t let it intimidate you—use it as a learning opportunity! She also explains how practice is important but it is absolutely not the be-all and end-all of becoming a great speaker.

Learn more about Danielle here.

To get a weekly dose of public speaking tips, information, videos of great talks, conference news, book reviews and more, sign up to the Voxgig newsletter.

View all show notes, links, and more brilliant public speaking resources at voxgig.com.

If you like what you hear on Fireside with Voxgig, don’t be shy―tell everyone! Use  #firesidewithvoxgig on your social media.

Furkan Karayel is a software engineer, founder and CEO of Diversein.com, a global diversity and inclusion platform, and a professional tech speaker. Among the many accolades Furkan has received are the ‘Diversity and Inclusion Role Model in Business’ award by the International Diversity Leadership Awards, and the ‘Trailblazer’ award by the Women in Tech Dublin Awards.

In this episode, Furkan tells Richard how her interest in public speaking started as a child with her love of poetry in her home town in Turkey. Her first adult public speaking gig took place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, at Princess Nourah Bint Abdul Rahman University. She discusses the disastrous conference she had to organize at the last minute in winter in New York city and the important lessons she learned from that.

Furkan describes the difficulty she faces in finding diverse speakers and why they should be an integral part of all conferences. She also gives five encouraging points for budding speakers who speak English as a second language.

Learn more about Furkan here.

To get a weekly dose of public speaking tips, information, videos of great talks, conference news, book reviews and more, sign up to the Voxgig newsletter.

View all show notes, links, and more brilliant public speaking resources at voxgig.com.

If you like what you hear on Fireside with Voxgig, don’t be shy―tell everyone! Use  #firesidewithvoxgig on your social media.

Kevlin Henney is a professional public speaker and the highly regarded author of 97 Things Every Programmer Should Know. He also runs his own software consultancy firm.

In this episode, Kevlin tells Richard how he started his career as a software developer and quickly made the transition into public speaking. He explains the struggles he went through trying to figure out his unique speaking style, which he did without any guidance. He also stresses how important it is to learn from every talk you give.

Kevlin describes the evolution of speaking to tech audiences, including how technological advances like PowerPoint have made public speaking much more accessible to the general public and have allowed individuals to have more on-the-spot creativity.

Learn more about Kevlin here.

To get a weekly dose of public speaking tips, information, videos of great talks, conference news, book reviews and more, sign up to the Voxgig newsletter.

View all show notes, links, and more brilliant public speaking resources at voxgig.com.

If you like what you hear on Fireside with Voxgig, don’t be shy―tell everyone! Use  #firesidewithvoxgig on your social media.

Jim Gordon–universally known as “Flash”– is the founder of Boxworks co-working space in Waterford, Ireland, where Voxgig has its headquarters. Flash is also proprietor of the award-winning Revolution, a gastro bar and events venue in downtown Waterford.

In this episode, Flash tells Richard what it was like to fall into the business sector after many years as a hard-working chef. He describes the difficulties he encountered navigating murky business waters after the global financial crisis of 2008. Flash emphasizes the importance of being able to multi-task when you are running a business; this helps you to keep up with the learning curve. He also believes passionately that you are never above any job at a place you run.

Flash is full of wisdom about public speaking. A trick of his is to pretend that whoever you are talking to is your best friend. This helps you feel more comfortable. He also advises that speakers must always make sure to know the ins and outs of what they are speaking about so that they are able to confidently answer questions.  

Flash also gives fascinating insights into what life is like in Waterford, Ireland, home of Voxgig.

Learn more about Flash here.

To get a weekly dose of public speaking tips, information, videos of great talks, conference news, book reviews and more, sign up to the Voxgig newsletter.

View all show notes, links, and more brilliant public speaking resources at voxgig.com.

If you like what you hear on Fireside with Voxgig, don’t be shy―tell everyone! Use  #firesidewithvoxgig on your social media.

Florin Cardasim is a software architect, an Agile coach, a corporate trainer, and a community and corporate speaker. He is also founder of CodeCamp Romania, an initiative for young software developers in Romania and Moldova.  

In this episode, Florin and Richard discuss Florin’s trial-and-error style of speaking. Using this style taught him the importance of understanding the audience, and that it is important to speak regularly so that you do not end up back at square one: afraid of speaking.

Florin discusses how small things—like the time of day at which you are speaking—can impact the reception of your speech. He also explains why he prefers speaking to smaller groups and tells us that it’s okay to have a preference like this. He also describes the excitement and stress of finalizing a series of 12 conferences for CodeCamp, and where this conference’s future is headed!

Learn more about Florin here.

To get a weekly dose of public speaking tips, information, videos of great talks, conference news, book reviews and more, sign up to the Voxgig newsletter.

View all show notes, links, and more brilliant public speaking resources at voxgig.com.

If you like what you hear on Fireside with Voxgig, don’t be shy―tell everyone! Use  #firesidewithvoxgig on your social media.

Dov Baron is a consultant for Fortune 500 companies, a professional public speaker, and author of the bestselling Fiercely Loyal: How High Performing Companies Develop and Retain Top Talent and One Red Thread: Discovering the Purpose Already Woven Into Your Life.

In this episode, Dov describes his first speaking experience, which was comical and moving, yet surprisingly successful. He also explains that although it is important to be practised and rehearsed as a speaker, it is dangerous to lean on this too much, as it can make you come off as wooden and unauthentic. He delves into the different philosophies and psychologies that he weaves into his speeches, and discusses why communication is such an essential part of speaking.

Dov also gives an extremely helpful tip on how to turn the inevitable fear that most of us experience before speaking into excitement that is completely backed by science!

Learn more about Dov here.

To get a weekly dose of public speaking tips, information, videos of great talks, conference news, book reviews and more, sign up to the Voxgig newsletter.

View all show notes, links, and more brilliant public speaking resources at voxgig.com.

If you like what you hear on Fireside with Voxgig, don’t be shy―tell everyone! Use  #firesidewithvoxgig on your social media.