Free Your Voice from Speaking Anxiety
The only newsletter you'll ever need to overcome the crippling fear of public speaking and gain the self-confidence you've always desired. (Loved by 800+ readers every week)
I found silver lining in my public humiliation
47TH Issue of Newsletter Free Your Voice from Speaking Anxiety I am preparing to tell a 5-minute personal story at The Moth StorySLAM at Denver on December 13. Reader, I want your opinion before I go up on the big stage again. Which part do you think stinks and should be changed/removed so the story comes out well-balanced? By the way, the theme for the story night will be Silver Linings. . . . The year is 2019. It's the last Saturday of September, right before Covid …when "social distancing"...
Insights learned from telling a personal story to audience of 300+
46TH Issue of Newsletter Free Your Voice from Speaking Anxiety October 18th, 2024. It's 8 p.m. on Friday night. I'm sitting in the audience at The Moth StorySLAM event in Denver ...along with 300+ strangers who preferred listening to other strangers personal stories over EVERYTHING else they coulda been doing ...including movies, video games and sex. So, the stakes are high. My name gets called on stage. I'm the 4th storyteller of the night. I get up on stage amidst clapping and cheering....
Science behind your speaking nerves...
45TH Issue of Newsletter Free Your Voice from Speaking Anxiety Reader Let's find out what happens inside your body when you stress about something ...whether it's your upcoming presentation, a meeting with an important client, or any other stressful situation. I'm no medical doctor, but let's try :) Your adrenal glands release 2 kinds of hormones, known as stress hormones: Cortisol Dehydroepiandrosterone (let's call it DHEA) Adrenal glands sit right on top of each kidney [Source: link] Both...
How your body responds to speaking anxiety...
44TH Issue of Newsletter Free Your Voice from Speaking Anxiety You know, Reader Your speaking nerves and anxiety make you respond in 2 ways? Yeah, 2 totally different ways... The response we all know very well is called Threat Response and The response no one would tell you about is called Challenge Response. Wanna know how to differentiate between both if you're having one before or during your next talk or presentation? Let's dig. First off, as the name suggests Threat Response is triggered...
:format(gif)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/55279403/tenor.0.gif)
4 ways to start your next talk or presentation...
43RD Issue of Newsletter Free Your Voice from Speaking Anxiety Reader, Do you care... What my name is. Where I came from. What degrees and awards have I collected in the past, what I do for a living, and what my job title is. Simply put, people don't care about me... ONLY I DO. Therefore, conventional intros are a surefire recipe to put your audience to sleep... right in the beginning. Try any of the following 4 ways to start your talk and grab their attention right off the bat. 1 - Ask an...
First Day of School...
42ND Issue of Newsletter Free Your Voice from Speaking Anxiety August 20, 2024. It's my son Rayan's first day of preschool. He wakes up hours earlier than usual... But he's excited and happy with a BIG smile on his face. I guess he doesn't know what he's signing up for... In a couple of hours his freedom is gonna go away FOREVER ;) My wife and I are excited and proud of him on his first day as it's a big moment for the entire family... My son is finally ready to kick some butts, and I cannot...
The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly
41ST Issue of Newsletter Free Your Voice from Speaking Anxiety Reader, Your stress or speaking anxiety falls into three buckets... The GOOD The BAD And the UGLY. Now you might be thinking... How the heck can stress be good for someone? Before you conclude that it might be a typo or Waqas might be drunk or worse and hit that unsubscribe button... Hear me out for a sec. Stress can be GOOD for you... Even when it doesn't feel helpful as in speaking anxiety. I'm not just making this stuff up,...
2 Models to Fight Your Fears and Anxieties...
40TH Issue of Newsletter Free Your Voice from Speaking Anxiety On the last week of September in 2019. I was attending an event organized to celebrate cultural diversity at our university in Rolla, Missouri. A reporter from the university media team put me on the spot by asking this question: "How did you find living in Rolla so far?" ...and placed mic in front of my face. My chronic social and speaking anxieties rear their ugly head. This simple question seemed like a deep philosophical...
An English-speaking contest... Yeah, it's a thing in Pakistan
39TH Issue of Newsletter Free Your Voice from Speaking Anxiety I'll be participating in a MOTH StorySLAM (live, in-person storytelling event) on October 18th in front of an audience of 300+ ...the largest for me thus far. Therefore, the stakes are high... highest ha ha. But I'm up for it. Here's the story I'll be telling. . . . I'm about 8 years old and the year is 1997. It's summertime! I'm visiting my grandparents' house in my hometown back in Pakistan after a long while. It's a big...
Exposing my approach to mindset coaching...
38TH Issue of Newsletter Free Your Voice from Speaking Anxiety Reader, Before we talk about the ABCs of coaching, Lemme tell you this... I was conversing with my good friend and a seasoned confidence coach, Scott Ballard, and learned TWO things from him. And I have been doing this all along without even realizing it. The first thing... Mindset coaching is 80% listening. Yes, 80% active listening and 20% asking the right questions. Thought-provoking questions. The questions you've never asked...
The only newsletter you'll ever need to overcome the crippling fear of public speaking and gain the self-confidence you've always desired. (Loved by 800+ readers every week)