Contagious Confidence Podcast

Speaking With Confidence: How to Break Unconscious Speaking Habits That Undercut Your Credibility with Marianna Swallow, Speaker, Public Speaking Coach & Instructor

• Katie Hawkes • Season 5 • Episode 22

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Do you wish you were more confident when it comes to speaking? Whether we’re in front of a group or a single person, a lot of us struggle with feeling confident when we speak. And there might actually be things that we’re doing or saying if we speak that immediately undercut our credibility.

Maybe your voice shakes, or you sway a lot. Or if you’re like me your chest and neck start getting red and your throat starts tightening up. Or maybe you avoid any sort of speaking opportunity like the plague. If you’re listening you might be struggling with feeling comfortable and confident when you’re speaking or giving a presentation and that’s okay! We’ve all got to start somewhere and listening to this podcast episode is a great first step!

I am overjoyed to introduce you to my guest, Marianna Swallow. Marianna is The Speak Easy Coach. Her mission is to make public speaking easy and enjoyable for everyone – one speech at a time. Since 2014, she’s transformed thousands of individuals and teams by teaching them to develop and deliver clear and confident presentations while making the process fun. 

A lifelong performer, she’s a graduate of the Second City Conservatory. She currently performs stand-up and storytelling in Chicago. She holds a BA from Northern Illinois University and an MFA from Goucher College. She splits her time between Chicago and Charlotte.

Marianna goes above and beyond in this episode delving into how to identify some unconscious speaking that we have, how to work on them, create more speaking opportunities for yourself and so much more. Get ready to walk away from the episode challenged and inspired to tackle those speaking fears. 

In this episode of the Contagious Confidence Podcast, we talk about:

  • Unconscious speaking habits you need to break
  • Things that undercut your credibility as a speaker
  • How to stop apologizing 
  • How conditioning affects how we present ourselves
  • How practicing is important to gain confidence as a speaker
  • The difference between thinking and preparation 
  • Tips for practicing public speaking 
  • How to create more opportunities to practice presentation skills or public speaking 
  • Tips for getting over the fear of public speaking 

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