The SpeakerPath®
The SpeakerPath®
Podcast Description
Discover the art and business of professional speaking. Your host is Brian Miller, a former magician turned international keynote speaker and award winning speechwriter, who now runs Clarity Up, a message design firm that teaches experts how to explain their big ideas to the rest of us. Joining Brian is his team of world class consultants, including Francisco Mahfuz, a storytelling specialist, and Ioana (Jo) Jongsma, a presence and performance coach. Together, they'll explore the vast and nebulous world of professional speaking, both on and off stage.
Podcast Insights
Content Themes
The podcast explores themes of storytelling, verbal communication, and effective messaging, with episodes discussing essential storytelling techniques and the relevance of speaking skills in an AI-driven world. Specific focuses include the impact of narrative on audience engagement and techniques for enhancing verbal communication in professional settings.
Discover the art and business of professional speaking. Your host is Brian Miller, a former magician turned international keynote speaker and award winning speechwriter, who now runs Clarity Up, a message design firm that teaches experts how to explain their big ideas to the rest of us. Joining Brian is his team of world class consultants, including Francisco Mahfuz, a storytelling specialist, and Ioana (Jo) Jongsma, a presence and performance coach. Together, they’ll explore the vast and nebulous world of professional speaking, both on and off stage.
Failure happens on stage and off.
In this roundtable, Brian Miller, Ioana (Jo) Jongsma, and Francisco Mahfuz share their most painful speaking fails from a joke that died in the opening line, to a mass walk-out mid-talk, to offending a client with a poorly framed stat, and the exact fixes they use today. You’ll get practical tools to prevent repeats, recover in the moment, and turn misses into material.
What you’ll learn:
- Why opening with humor often backfires (and how to signal it so it lands)
- Where to test new material (hint: never first or last)
- How to use stakes and statistics without triggering guilt or defensiveness
- Reading the room: audience, culture, and context cues to adjust on the fly
- The “great talk, no bookings” trap and how to set success metrics upfront
- Simple recovery lines and pivots when the room goes cold (or leaves)
🎙 The SpeakerPath® Podcast is from Clarity Up, a boutique message design firm that teaches smart people how to explain their big ideas to the rest of us.
Connect with our hosts:
Brian Miller, Founder & Principal Messaging Consultant:https://linkedin.com/in/brianmillerspeaks
Ioana (Jo) Jongsma, Presence & Performance Coach: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ioana-jongsma/
Francisco Mahfuz, Story Specialist & Lead Consultant: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fmahfuz
Disclaimer
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