WaveMakers Connect: Leading Conversations Authentically: Channeling Your Inner Oprah Recap

Leading conversations authentically is an important leadership skill — but it doesn’t come naturally to everyone. We have gathered some tips on how to lead public conversations regardless if you are an extrovert or belong to the softer spoken ones.

We hosted an interesting event “How to have authentic conversations in Public: channeling your inner Oprah!” together with Stephanie Horwitz, the creator and host of the What Should I Do with My Life? Podcast. She gave us useful tips and ideas on how to approach public speaking with more confidence and ease of mind.

For leading a successful conversation, Steph advised to embrace Vulnerability, Multitasking, and Connection.

It is fair to say that to most of us, public conversations don’t come naturally and can cause a large amount of stress. Especially if you are not an extrovert or belong to the softer spoken ones, Steph shared some useful tips to practice public speaking while staying true to yourself:

• “I don’t normally do this” — Letting people know that you are nervous and you are not doing this on a daily basis is OK and it is OK to admit this. There is a chance of people you are talking to being nervous as well.
• Connection pre-convo is key — Try to jump on a call before an actual conversation, that is how you can establish a common ground and human connection with the other person. It will be much easier for you to lead the actual conversation when breaking the ice and establishing trust before.
• Practice with your dog/succulent — Practice, practice, practice: Choose an object (or animal🐶) and pretend they are your conversation partner. Speak to them out loud — it might seem weird at the beginning but it has proven to work.
• Record yourself and start loving your own voice — Good old rule! You need to become comfortable with your own voice and how it sounds. What can really help you is starting to record yourself and observe fillers you use, so you can become better and learn from your own “mistakes”.

Hope these tips will help with your public conversations and don’t forget we are all humans and we are all figuring it out 🌊

Want to learn more from Steph? Listen to her podcast “What should I do with my Life” on her Website, Spotify or Apple.

And, as always, follow WaveMakers on LinkedIn and Instagram for more interesting content around leadership and self-empowerment!