One of our favourite things is hearing from our members about how our program has helped them build their speaking confidence and achieve an important professional or personal speaking milestone, like being more vocal at work or delivering a big presentation.

That’s why, we created our Speaker Spotlight series. To celebrate members who’ve participated in our training and have gone on to reach a speaking goal that – at one point, – felt virtually impossible due to the intense feelings of nervousness and anxiety they experienced while speaking.

Today’s Speaker Spotlight celebrates Lucy Wang. Lucy is an application developer who, when not working, loves Zumba, gardening and catching up on her favourite Nextflix shows

What problem were you trying to solve when you contacted Speak for Success?

“I contacted a Speak for Success to solve two problems. The first one is that sometimes I get nervous when I speak in public. So I tried to boost my confidence level. And the second problem I was trying to solve is that sometimes I found myself having trouble articulating my thoughts. So that’s why I contacted Speak for Success to try to solve these two problems.”

How did Speak for Success work with you to solve this problem?

“I had five one on one coaching sessions with one of the facilitators. She really tried to find the root cause of why I wasn’t confident when I speak at work. So we identified each issue, and then we solved them one by one. For the second problem, where I had trouble articulating my thoughts, we practiced with some frameworks. Every time I’m in certain situation, I can think of a framework to structure my message so that I can deliver my message clearly. That’s how I worked on those two issues with Speak for Success.”

How has communication skills training changed your level of confidence at work?

“The communication training really changed my confidence a lot. Before I started the training, I was really nervous when I spoke in public, I was always afraid of speaking in public, and I avoided meetings. Once I started the communications training, I tried to use all the strategies I learned and put that into practice every time when I had a meeting. And eventually I found myself very comfortable speaking in public. And I was actually enjoying those meetings because I was able to use the strategies that I learned. So I found the training really helped me to boost my confidence level at work.”

What advice do you have for people who are just starting their public speaking & comms journey?

“The advice I have for people who are just starting to learn how to communicate effectively, is more about taking action – don’t procrastinate! Sometimes it’s easy to put it off. But don’t wait. Just take action right away and find a mentor and practice with other people.”