Speaking with Confidence, with Mary Cheyne – TPW314

In this week's episode Mary Cheyne and I talk about finding your voice, speaking with confidence, and how to bypass your inner critic. Even if you have no interest in speaking from a stage, Mary has some great tips for speaking confidently in any situation.



Speaking with confidence--and cultivating your environment for meaningful productivity

Mary Cheyne is a Transformational Public Speaking Trainer & Coach who has trained over 15,000 people in 30 cities internationally. She’s the 2009 World Champion of Public Speaking first runner-up, out of 25,000 contestants from 14 countries, and is also the author of the book "Present” Yourself in Public Speaking – Tell Your Inner Critic to SHUT UP! And the Real You to SPEAK UP! Mary holds a Karate Black Belt rank and plays the ukulele. Mary was born in Hong Kong but was raised in Australia. She moved to the United States in 2001 and currently lives in Boston.

Mary's first job out of college was as a computer programmer. She was shy and reserved, never eager to speak up in meetings. She was never open to sharing unless directly asked. Over time, she realized if she wanted to progress in her career, she would need to learn to speak up and speak well. She began researching public speaking and challenged herself to get outside of her comfort zone. That led her to enter speech contests and begin learning from mentors who had won public speaking contests. After 4 years, she got to the World Championship stage herself, which was a huge accomplishment and showed her what she was truly capable of. Now she teaches others who struggle with public speaking with confidence, helping them to grow by using the skills and experience she has acquired.



A typical day

A typical day for Mary is based around a daily routine, which provides her with meaningful productivity and energy management. Mary has run her own business for 5 years now and knows that a routine is essential to being successful.

She begins each day by waking up between 6:00 and 7:00, getting herself ready, and waking her 6-year old son. She gets him breakfast and then takes him to a child care center for the day.

Mary then spends the next couple of hours focusing on herself and getting her energy right. She'll go for a run or walk for about an hour, then return home for stretches and strength training. She will then do 30 minutes of meditation, where she will sit quietly and observe her breath and thoughts.

After meditating, which is an important part of her morning routine, she will then journal. She likes to begin by gratitude journaling by writing down 5 things she is grateful for. She then writes in her self-empowerment journal, giving herself positive affirmations and making personal declarations.

After her journaling session, she has some coffee and starts her day. At this point, it's about 10:30 in the morning. Her mind and energy are centered and she can focus on what's ahead.

After work is done for the day, Mary focuses on evening activities, which include her karate training three times a week,  or perhaps preparing for, or leading an event for her business. Even after a full day, Mary is naturally a night owl but understands how important rest and sleep are to success. She has found over time that if she doesn't get enough sleep, she is irritable and just doesn't function as well.

Your body is the hardware, your mind is the software, and the results you produce from all your hard work are like the printout. Even if your progress takes time and you aren't noticing a lot of change, stick with what you're doing. You're on the right path and change will happen over time.

Biggest productivity challenges

Mary's biggest challenge is recognizing that she can't...