5 Takeaways From My First Race That Will Improve Your Public Speaking

After many unsuccessful attempts to get into running, this year I finally cracked it. With the help of the “None to Run” program, I went from zero to running 3k (and enjoying it) in just a few months.

(Read more about that story here: 3 Powerful Public Speaking Lessons From My Journey of Learning to Run.)

Last month, I hit another running milestone - my first race.

It wasn't something I’d planned or prepared for. An opportunity arose, and I went for it. And in this post, I want to share five lessons I took from that experience and how you can apply them to your public speaking journey.

1. Define your version of success

Because I hadn’t expected to run in this event, I definitely wasn’t prepared enough for a seven-kilometre race. So defining what success looked like for me was a little challenging. Then there was the fact that the race was in Brisbane, Australia, two days after I was due to arrive in the country after travelling from the other side of the world.

I had to consider that I wouldn’t be in top physical form for this. I would definitely be tired; I’d probably be dealing with jet lag. I wasn't in this race to win it. I wasn't even in it to compete. My goal was just to complete it. To get around that course, walking, running - whatever it took to finish the 7k.

If you’re at the start of your public speaking journey, it’s crucial to think about what your version of success looks like. That doesn’t have to be “making a perfect speech.” Why put yourself under that much pressure? 

Set a public speaking goal that will stretch you but is achievable for you. Maybe that’s remembering to keep eye contact with your audience or cutting down on the number of “ums” and “ahs” in your speech. It doesn’t matter what target you set as long as success represents an improvement for you.

Recommended Reading: How to Swap “Perfect” for “Good Enough” the Next Time You Speak (And Why It’s a Good Idea)

2. Things may not go according to plan - and that’s ok.

I didn’t have any serious goals in mind for the race. We were heading to Brisbane to visit family, and my decision to compete was a bit of a last-minute one. I had a rough idea of the time I wanted to complete the course in, but I was realistic enough to know I might not hit that. 

And though I didn’t achieve the time I’d hoped, that was ok because competing in the race was huge progress for me. My main aim was to finish it, and I did. I had to walk more than I would have liked, but that was fine. There was no point berating myself because I did my best, given the circumstances on the day.

The same goes for your speeches and presentations. Don't focus on what went “wrong”, and kick yourself for not doing better. Instead, accept that things may not go as planned, but know you did the best you could at the time. Then think about how to move on from there and refine and improve the next time you speak.

3. Focus on your achievements, not your flaws

During the first part of the race, every time I had to slow down and walk, the voice in my head was loud and insistent.

“You should be doing more. Why are you walking? Come on! You should be able to run more than this!”

But when I gave myself a second to think about it, I realised I was walking/running seven kilometres. Seven kilometres! In January this year, I couldn’t run for 30 seconds without needing to stop. So instead of concentrating on what I was doing wrong, I switched my mindset and started thinking, "Well done me for challenging myself and entering the race in the first place."

If your speech or presentation doesn’t go exactly how you wanted it to, don’t beat yourself up over that. Instead, think about all you’ve done so far. You've put yourself out there; you're speaking in front of an audience. All that is progress you can develop into even better results next time you speak. 

4. Learn from your mistakes and then move on

One of the “mistakes” I made in the race was not keeping an eye on my time. Instead, I decided I would just enjoy the experience of competing. Now, I know I said speed wasn’t a key element for me, but I was slightly disappointed I hadn’t realised just how close I was to my target time. If I’d known, I would have pushed myself that little bit harder and enjoyed the extra celebration of achieving my race time goal.

But that’s a piece of information I can use to improve my performance in my next event - and you can do the same with feedback when you speak. Review your talk or presentation when you’re finished. You can use my feedback checklist and read my blog post on getting effective feedback to help you with this. You can also enlist a supportive colleague to give you their honest thoughts on your speech. Identify the areas you did well on so you can build on those. But also look at those elements you’d like to work on to make it even better next time around. You can change it; you can improve it. This is your starting point.

5. Celebrate the win!

This is so important. My 7k wasn’t a marathon or even a half marathon. But I’m so proud of the medal I got for completing it because I know how much effort I put in to get to where I could achieve that.

Every time you speak, you’re progressing along the journey to becoming a more confident and accomplished public speaker. And it doesn’t matter how small those steps seem, what your path looks like compared to anyone else’s or how long it’s taking you to hit your goals. Celebrate every one of those steps along the way because you’ve worked hard to get there, and you deserve it.

If anything I’ve written here strikes a chord, and you’d like to feel happier and more confident about how you communicate and present yourself to others, I can help. I offer group programs, team coaching and individual sessions to help you unlock your speaking confidence - book a complimentary intro call here to find out more.

Hi!

I'm Maureen McCowen and I work with individuals and teams to help them unlock their speaking confidence.

To explore how this can support you or your team, email me or use the contact form here.

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