A Blog Designed to Help You Become a Better Speaker

We've all sat through those presentations. You know the ones.

Slide after slide of charts, bar graphs, and statistically significant snooze-fests.

Here’s the thing: data doesn’t move people. Emotions do.

If you're a speaker—whether on a stage, in a boardroom, or pitching to a potential client—your goal isn’t to transfer information. It’s to inspire action. And that happens when your audience feels something.

🔁 Swap Stats for Stories 🖼️ Trade Graphs for Gut Punches 🎯 Use Visuals that Move, Not Just Inform

In the short video above (taken from my course "How to Add Creativity, Humor and Audience Engagement to Your Speech"), I break down exactly how to use emotionally-charged visuals in your slides to create connection—and convert audiences from passive listeners to raving fans. I show some of my ACTUAL slides, as an FYI. (AKA - You'll want to click and watch.)

Let’s break this down:

🔹 Why Stats Often Fail: Numbers don’t stick. What sticks is the emotion behind the message. A...

As motivational speakers, our ultimate goal is not just to entertain or inform — it's to inspire action. Whether you're helping an audience navigate uncertainty, embrace change, or overcome personal obstacles, the power of your message lies in its ability to move people into action.

But how do we, as speakers, tap into the psychology of our audience to create lasting impact? The answer lies in understanding the emotional and cognitive responses that drive human behavior.

1. Appeal to Emotion, Not Just Logic

The human brain is wired to respond to emotions before logic. While facts, figures, and logical arguments are important, they don’t move people the way emotions do. Research in neuroscience tells us that people are more likely to take action based on how they feel in the moment, rather than what they think.

As a speaker, your goal should be to create an emotional connection. You want your audience to feel something — whether it's excitement, empathy, or inspiration. When you e...

Want to be a better speaker?

When you give a speech, you can share a story OR you can invite the audience IN to the story.

 I don’t mean having them help tell the story with audience participation or communicating with them directly.

 It is more about “setting the stage” to invite the audience into the story so they are feeling and experiencing it at as you share. Much like a movie.

 A simple way to start is to utilize something called “focal points”. Focal points are where you look when you’re speaking.

 As an actor, you are never to look directly into the eyes of an audience member unless it something stylized. If you look an audience member in the eyes, that person may feel put on the spot. Some people LOVE this. I experience that performing in comedy clubs. However, most people don’t. I’m one who not only doesn’t like it – but is terrified of it. You’ll never see me in the front row of a comedy club for that exact reason.

Rather than staring at your audiences’ random eyes, yo...

I'm often asked how I became a motivational speaker. A complete accident! I didn't know there was such a things as being a motivational speaker.

It took a lot of hard work and dedication to learn the professional speaking / meetings industry. This is my journey. Video: https://youtu.be/jyZsFVXvNYk

Stacy's Speaker Coaching website and blog on how to become a better speaker: BoringtoSoaringSpeeches.com

Stacy Pederson is a #funny female #motivational business #keynote speaker who has almost died a bunch. Stacy is a full-time professional keynote speaker who has performed in front of 1,000's.

Contact Info or Follow Stacy:

-Website: StacyPederson.com

-LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stacypedersoncomedy

-Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stacypedersoncomedy

-Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stacypedersonofficial

-Twitter: Twitter's dead to me. We broke up a while ago. I only see Twitter at random family events and I act like I don't care.

Stacy entertains and ...

Update 2024. I have my EXACT sales process I use on, "The Bash" (formerly Gigmasters) available on my on-line course section.

You can find it here: https://app.kajabi.com/admin/offers/2149585513/checkout

**(Update-See Bottom of Post for Update Regarding My Experience With Each Through Covid.)**

I often see questions or threads regarding the validity of two online booking website, “GigMasters” and “GigSalad”. I’ve belonged to both for several years as a speaker and clean comedian and here is my honest experience and advice on investing in either.

The Difference I Found Between the 2 Sites:

GigSalad:

-Easy platform to use

-Most often much lower paying gigs compared to GigMasters

-Most gigs are direct inquiries so you are not competing against other people to be booked

-Easy to target certain areas of the country

-I met REALLY nice people who booked me through this platform that have become dear friends. Not sure why this site draws really personable people, but it does.

Above is a video that gives an overview of my morning routine for when I do motivational speaking for out of state events.

I have different routines I've developed over time. One for later in the day events, night events, in-state, out of -state etc. If you are new speaker or performer who is starting to travel you will develop your own over time.

I remember googling and trying to find ANYTHING that could give me an idea of what to do when I traveled. I found nothing. That's why I made this video.

If you'd like more videos on public speaking, performing (behind the scenes), then you can watch the video here and subscribe to my YouTube channel.

https://youtu.be/vKg69eDLIjc

Kindly, Stacy P.