Nathalie Lussier

This week’s Storytelling Spotlight features Nathalie Lussier, owner of Nathalie Lussier Media, a digital strategy company that offers trainings on building and optimizing your first website.

Lussier helps her clients build their online presence. But it is her in-person speaking engagements that have helped her create meaningful connections with audience offline. In the following Q&A, Lussier shares more about engaging and audience and the power of using your voice.

Q: What was your first speaking engagement and how did it come about?

Nathalie Lussier (NL): One of my first speaking engagements was for a local health food store, back when I was building my first business in the health-coaching realm. I emailed the health food store and pitched a talk that was related to Halloween and healthy eating. They checked out my website and booked me.

Q: Were you nervous? How did you overcome that fear?

NL: I was nervous up until the talk started. For me, something just clicks when I’m on a stage or need to be fully present to give people my best, and the nervousness drops away. But working up to it, I remember trying to breathe slower and just allow myself to feel the nerves and not let them get to me.

Q: You were a new business owner, but thought it was important to speak in front of groups. Why was it important to get out there and use your voice?

NL: It’s really important to use your voice, and to be yourself, too. For my first speaking gig at the health food store, I wore my witch’s hat because it was Halloween time, and I also made sure to let my little quirks shine. No one wants a fully polished “non-human” robot speaking to them. We want to connect with real people, and that’s what using your voice is about to me. If you make jokes without meaning to, awesome. If you get on a rant and preach, go for it.

Q: How has speaking benefited you and your business?

NL: Speaking publicly has really changed my perception of myself, because it showed me that if I could speak to a room filled with hundreds of people, I could do anything. But most importantly, I’ve seen that speaking from the heart about topics that can help others really has an impact on the people who hear you.

Public speaking changes the way people perceive you. It’s not just about the “cool factor” of being a speaker, but being able to hear someone’s story in person really changes how you think of them. I love webinars and livestreams and all online forms of speaking, but in-person events and speaking have created connections for me that wouldn’t have been possible online.

Q: What advice can you share with people who are just getting started with speaking?

NL: Flesh out a few potential talks that you want to present, and write a sales page for these talks. You can then post these on your website or send them to conferences when they open submissions for speakers.

Now it’s your turn. I’d love to hear about how speaking at live events has helped you connect with your audience. Leave a comment below!