The best way to find your voice and confidence when public speaking is to speak publicly. There aren’t always opportunities to practice speaking in front of a safe audience and get constructive feedback.

In the Public Speaking Open Mic (not comedy, not poetry), host Colin Ryan will briefly share one or two lessons learned from over 1,000 speeches to help you increase your confidence, connection and clarity. You will then have the chance to either practice speaking or be a supportive audience member. If you volunteer to speak, you’ll walk away with constructive feedback and hopefully, more confidence. If you plan to join this event as a supportive audience member, you will play a key role. Organizers will have feedback slips for you to write down helpful notes that the presenters will get to take home.

Speaker sign-up slots will open on the event day at 11:30 a.m. at the registration table. Eight speaker spots will be available for those of you who would like a chance to share. You will have the floor for three minutes, so plan to bring something you want to practice—this can be your elevator pitch, your founder story, your workshop intro story or a key point in your presentation. Make sure your talk fits into the three-minute time limit and has a takeaway point.