You have ideas, you’ve been working your butt off for years gaining experience and insight, and now you want to share that with audiences. But, if you don’t have a lot of experience on stage or on mic, how do you become a public speaker? For interior designers, being able to guest on a podcast or speak at a conference can be huge for raising your profile and the profile of your business.

So today on the podcast, Darla and Natalie talk to the G.O.A.T., LuAnn Nigara, host of the A Well-Designed Business podcast. Darla opens the episode with an homage to LuAnn, who has been truly influential on her as she got her design business and the Wingnut Social podcast started. LuAnn began her career more than 30 years ago as a co-owner of Window Works, an award-winning window treatment and awning retailer in Livingston, NJ.

• [4:57] LuAnn thinks it’s insane to have a podcast

• LuAnn on Twitter

• LuAnn Nigara

Not every interior designer is like LuAnn, naturally gifted at speaking to crowds. But if you want to become a public speaker, LuAnn has two bits of advice for you. The first is to just do it. There’s no substitute for practice. The second is to make sure you’re confident in your content. The less secure you are in your ability to speak, the more confident you have to be in your content, so that your content becomes second nature.

LuAnn also cautions that you don’t have to become a public speaker. If it’s really something you’re not comfortable with, then you should focus on your blog posts, or your other social media, or whatever way works for you. But Darla and LuAnn do dig into the ROI of public speaking, and its ability to bring in new clients. So if you have the knack, or want to develop it, it’s a worthwhile pursuit.

If there’s one thing LuAnn said over and over again was at the root of her success: It’s her planning. She is a researcher by nature, so whenever she embarks on a new project, she researches it first, and then sets out a plan for how it’s going to go. The same thing applies to becoming a public speaker. You have to plan your approach, your content, and where you want to get your start.

Darla and Natalie asked LuAnn what her biggest mistake was as a public speaker, and though she admits to making mistakes, she views them as learning experiences that help her plan for the future. (She does cop to an ill-conceived “trinkets” venture, but other than that, it’s all learning experiences).

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