So—you’ve just been invited to give your first keynote address.

What an honor! A major conference has recognized your expertise and wants you to speak to their people.

There’s just one problem…

You have no idea how to write or deliver a keynote.

And the sad reality is: most first-time keynote speakers flop.

Their talks come off as either mind-numbingly boring or (even worse) self-indulgent.

Is this because they’re bores or egomaniacs? Absolutely not!

(Well… not most of them.)

The truth is, keynotes are full of traps—even experienced speakers fall into them.
Today, I want to talk about two of the biggest traps—and how to avoid them.

Trap #1: The Honor of It All

Getting invited to give a keynote is a huge honor. And yet—that’s where the first trap lies.

Many first-time speakers become obsessed with proving they’re worthy of the opportunity.

They ask themselves, “How can I prove my competence in this field?”

The result? A talk that’s competent… but deadly dull.

Or worse—a speech th...

School is officially out for summer—woohoo! Now’s the time for fun, sun, and relaxation.

But if you're like me… while I love a lazy beach day as much as the next gal, come July, the bookworm in me starts to get itchy.

Relaxation is great, but if I go too long without feeding my curiosity, I get antsy.

As a kid, this was the moment I’d bust out my summer reading list and pick a big, juicy book to devour.

Can any fellow bookworms out there relate?

Maybe you're craving a little light professional development this summer. But between travel plans, family visits, and childcare, it can be really hard to commit to a class or coach.

You’d love to do some skill-building—but your schedule is all over the place.

Good news, fellow nerd: I’ve got you covered. 🤓

I built Speak Masterfully 101 just for you!

Speak Masterfully 101 is a self-paced online course that will help you build the foundation needed to step confidently into any room. Whether that’s a courtroom, a board room, or a Zoom room. ...

Here’s a question for you:

When was the last time you were blown away by a presenter’s slide deck?

Too high a bar?

Okay, how about this:

When’s the last time you thought, “Wow, that was a solid slide deck”?

Still drawing a blank?

You’re not alone. Because, let’s be honest, most slide decks are deadly boring.

Which is wild—because most presenters spend the majority of their prep time designing those very decks!

So why is this happening? Why are presenters spending countless hours honing a slide deck that does little to support their goals?

I have a theory: most of the “best practices” we’re taught about building slide decks are, frankly, bad practices.

Starting with those first three slides.

Slides 1–3

As a public speaking coach, I’m often asked to help clients prepare presentations that include a slide deck. And almost without fail, the first five minutes of these presentations follow the same tired format:

• Title slide
  
• Bio slide
  
• Agenda slide
  

And listen—while there a...

Spring is in the air!

Unfortunately, that means, so are allergens..

If you're like me, you’re excited to enjoy some outdoor time as the weather warms up. But with the beauty of spring also comes an onslaught of seasonal allergies that can leave us feeling phlegmy and, worst of all, voiceless.

Losing your voice is never fun, but it’s especially frustrating if your livelihood depends on speaking.

So today, I want to share my go-to three-step vocal reset to help you find more vocal ease, even in the thick of allergy season.

This quick warm-up takes just five minutes and follows a simple progression: Breath, Body, Bubbles.

But before I walk you through this warm-up, let's get scientific, shall we? 

Pick a test phrase. It can be the days of the week, a favorite song lyric, even a line of Shakespeare if you're feeling fancy.

(My personal favorite is "If music be the food of love, play on!")

Say your test phrase out loud and assess how your voice is feeling today. 

I'll wait.

.....

I have some potentially upsetting news to share…

If you want to become a better public speaker, at some point, yes—you’re going to have to speak in public.

I know, I know. It’s tempting to wait until you feel ready before stepping onto a stage, announcing a webinar, or submitting that TEDx application.

And to an extent, I support this! If you have a debilitating fear of public speaking, I wouldn’t recommend applying for a TED Talk today. Getting some foundational techniques under your belt first is a great idea.

However...

More often than not, I see people hiding behind “Not Ready.”

They’ll endlessly put off scheduling their webinar or turn down the opportunity to speak on a panel—not because they lack skills, but because they don’t have experience yet.

And here’s the tricky part…

Skills can be developed in private—experience can only be gained by doing the dang thing.

So how do we solve this conundrum? How do we get from not ready to ready without throwing ourselves into the ...

Hi there, 

This is human person Sara Glancy, here. 

I feel the need to clarify that because, frankly… it seems like every third email I’ve received this week was written by AI. And I’m guessing your inbox might be similarly devoid of humanity at the moment.

Indeed, one of the biggest small business trends of 2024 appears to be outsourcing writing to AI.

And look, I have all sorts of complicated feelings about that—which I will not go into right now.

But it does lead me to make a bold prediction for 2025:

In 2025, the only winning strategy for business owners will be to become MORE human.

You’ll never be able to write a blog faster than ChatGPT—but you can write one with more humanity.

And while I might be biased, I predict public speaking will become an increasingly crucial part of every business owner's marketing plan.

We’re drowning in a sea of AI-generated newsletters, blog articles, and LinkedIn posts.

Who’s going to cut through the noise?

The people who are vulnerable...

As we wrap up 2024, I want to share with you the 3 words that completely shaped my year.

For a little context: around this time last year, I attended a workshop led by one of my all-time favorite coaches, Jen Waldman. The workshop, “Name it to Claim it,” was all about reflecting on the prior year to activate some juicy goals for the year ahead.

(To learn more about Jen’s framework, check out this episode of her fabulous podcast: “The Long and the Short of It.”)

Towards the end of the workshop, we were challenged to activate our goals by distilling them into a quick theme for the upcoming year—something short, snappy, evocative, and, most importantly, tied to our goals and values.

My mantra for 2024 was: Tend the Campfire.

Why? Well, it wasn’t because I was doing a lot of backpacking.

Here’s the deal:

On the most basic level, to build a lasting fire, you need two things:

1. A well-constructed foundation
2. A flame

If you don’t have a solid foundation with the proper mix of large...

Hey there!

Actually, sorry—maybe the exclamation point was too much...

Hey there,

No, that still doesn’t capture my enthusiasm...

Howdy!

Okay, now we’ve gone too folksy.

Tone is tricky, isn’t it?

One of the hardest things to master in both blog writing and public speaking is tone.

Maybe you’ve been on the receiving end of, “I don’t like your tone,” as a teenager.

That’s often our first lesson about tone: whatever we’re doing, it’s wrong.

Many of my public speaking clients wrestle with this. They say things like, “I feel like my personality doesn’t translate to Zoom,” or “I’m not sure if I’m striking the right tone in meetings.”

But I’ve found that 90% of the time, when I ask them to define what “the right tone” is, they can’t answer that question.

When it comes to tone, so many of us are trying to aim at a target we cannot see.

We believe there is such a thing as the right tone—but we haven’t yet put words to what that is.

And this is where things get messy...

I recent...

I’m doing something scary next month…

It’s something I train my clients to do every single day, but as I see it looming on the calendar, I’ve got to admit—it’s still scary.

In one month, I’m taking the stage.

Not as a public speaker delivering a talk…

Not as an actor performing someone else’s piece…

In one month, I’ll be taking the stage as an actor in a show that I wrote. 

And while I’m wildly excited to put the show in front of an audience, I’m not ashamed to admit that every step of the process has been SCARY.

Few things feel as vulnerable as standing up on a stage and sharing a message you’ve written and are passionate about. 

I’ve found myself grappling with many of the same questions I help my clients work through every day.

“What if I have nothing to say?” 

“What if this joke doesn’t land?” 

“What if I crack on the high note?!?”

(Okay, that last one isn’t usually a concern for my clients, but to be fair, they don’t typically have to sing during their TED Talks. 😉)

I...

I have a confession to make…I’m tired of repeating myself. 

This past year, I’ve realized that there are certain concepts that I teach to every single client that I work with. 

And with good reason! There are certain technique fundamentals that are prerequisites for becoming a world class public speaker. 

When people don’t have access to those foundational ideas, they can waste a tremendous amount of effort and money. 

• They’ll spend weeks laboring over their TEDTalk application without knowing the basic storytelling mechanics that would make them stand out
  
  
• They’ll spend thousands of dollars on a Speaker Reel, without learning the on-camera techniques that will make that a worthwhile investment
  
  
• They’ll practice their upcoming presentation to within an inch of its life, but be unable to quiet their nervous system enough to deliver on it 

It kills me to see this.

I’m tired of watching people build their houses on sand. 

That’s why I am so excited to announce the launch of Spe...