Why most public speaking advice is wrong—and how to finally overcome your speaking anxiety | Tristan de Montebello (CEO & co-founder of Ultraspeaking)
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Why do most public‑speaking tips miss the mark?
People tend to get into a public speaking voice. We'll be in a class and they'll be chatting normally and look super normal. And then we'll say, okay, now just a timer. I'm just going to give you a speech. Just speak for 60 seconds so we get a baseline. And I click play and suddenly they say, the important part about doing this and they enter into silence. a different version of themselves, a professional version, whatever that would mean. It's so much more freeing, powerful, connecting, and effective to speak conversationally. So the cue I often give people is,
Today, my guest is Tristan de Montebello. Tristan is the co-creator of Ultraspeaking, which is the best public speaking workshop I have ever come across. In 2017, Tristan became the fastest competitor to reach the finals of the World Championship of Public Speaking and, based on that experience, built a very unique course that helps you quickly build the skills to become better and to become more comfortable speaking in public and especially speaking on the spot. I like to spend time on this topic on this podcast because becoming a better speaker is such an accelerant of your professional life. And in this episode, we delve into a bunch of tactics and also misconceptions about how to become a better speaker.
And to make it even more fun and interesting, we go through a few of the exercises that that Tristan and his team have developed live on the podcast. He goes through them, I go through them. It was a lot of fun. I'm excited to hear what you think. If you enjoy this podcast, don't forget to subscribe and follow it in your favorite podcasting app or YouTube. It's the best way to avoid missing future episodes and it helps the podcast tremendously. With that, I bring you Tristan de Montebello. Tristan, thank you so much for joining me. Welcome to the podcast. Thanks so much for having me. So I took an abridged version of this speaking course that you teach called Ultra Speaking, and it immediately made me feel more comfortable public speaking, which I've never felt doing any other course.
Public speaking is something I just like is very scary to me, as it is for a lot of people, but it's just something I really dread. Like even doing these podcast episodes, Every time I get nervous before doing these things, as much as it may not seem that way. So this is not my natural habitat, speaking, being in public. It may not seem that way to people, but it's true. And the way you approach this stuff is so unique and worked for me. And because of that, I thought it'd be awesome to just bring you on this podcast and basically try to teach people the stuff that you've learned about how to become a better public speaker. I know we're not going to do your course here, but just like, what are some very tactical things people can immediately start to apply?
And also, I want to make this super interactive, so we're actually going to do some of the exercises that you use in your class. So that's what we're here for. How does that sound? That sounds exciting. I'm in.
Great.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
Why do most public‑speaking tips miss the mark?
0:00–18:00
2
How does Tristan define public speaking as a meta‑skill?
18:00–30:52
3
What role does enjoyment play in becoming a better speaker?
30:52–46:01
4
Which practical games can instantly improve speaking confidence?
46:01–1:03:02
5
How does the “Conductor” game train emotional flexibility?
1:03:02–1:18:18
6
What is the “Triple Step” technique and how does it fight distraction?
1:18:18–1:34:35
7
How does the Accordion Method replace memorisation with speaking?
1:34:35–1:47:55
8
What is the Bow‑and‑Arrow technique for crafting a memorable one‑liner?
1:47:55–1:56:28
Speakers
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