Have you ever wondered what really goes on behind the scenes of a high-pressure, time-limited public speaking presentation—and how a communication coach turns even his own missteps into teachable moments? In this special episode of Speaking with Confidence, I pull back the curtain on my recent experience presenting a Pecha Kucha at PodFest 2026, while offering you practical coaching advice you can apply to your own speaking journey.
As we celebrate the podcast’s two-year anniversary (with a special giveaway—don’t miss the details!), I reflect on what it means to embrace confidence, resilience, and the power of vulnerability on stage. This episode is a bit different: using my own Pecha Kucha talk as a case study, I break down the presentation, highlight what worked, where I stumbled, and how you can learn from real-life examples. If you’ve ever let fear hold you back from speaking up, stepping onto a stage, or pressing “record” on a podcast, this one’s for you.
I’m joined at the top of the show by Roddy Galbra, who introduces me before I launch into my presentation breakdown. From that point, I take you step-by-step through everything: prepping the talk and building slides under a deadline, battling nerves, and the moment-by-moment coaching insights I’ve gained both from experience and good old-fashioned trial and error. Along the way, I share how tools like ChatGPT can be a feedback partner (and sometimes a brutal truth-teller!) when preparing for big moments.
Here’s what you’ll get in this episode:
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The inside story of my Pecha Kucha experience with only five minutes and 20 auto-advancing slides
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Candid reflections on starting too fast, handling nerves, embracing pauses, and managing mistakes as they happen
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Why humor, humility, and authenticity work better than perfection on stage
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Recognizing the importance of connecting your story to a clear call to action
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The value of critiquing your own performances—and the difference between authority and arrogance in public speaking
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Insights into how your fears might be tied up with your identity, and how to use that to fuel growth instead of hesitation
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Why your audience doesn’t connect with perfect—they connect with “messy,” real stories
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Actionable advice on what to improve in any talk: punching up your openings and closings, planting your feet, letting silence do the heavy lifting, and giving your audience a repeatable mental model they’ll remember
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Encouragement to step up, take action, and use your unique voice, regardless of nerves or previous stumbles
If you’re ready to move past fear and into progress—not perfection—this episode will encourage and challenge you to take your next speaking risk. Don’t forget, I’m running a special giveaway: leave a review for Speaking with Confidence, share it on social media and tag me, and you could win a free three-hour coaching package with me focused on communication and leadership skills.
Tune in, learn from my journey, and remember—your voice has the power to change your world.
Talk soon,Tim
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Transcript
Tim Newman [00:00:00]: The Speaking with Confidence podcast turns two in February, so one special listener will get a present. I'm excited to announce a special opportunity. I'm giving away one free, three hour, one on one coaching package that focuses on communication and leadership skills. To enter, simply listen to the Speaking with Confidence podcast and leave a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Then take a screenshot of your of your review and share it on LinkedIn, Facebook or Instagram. And don't forget to tag me. You have to tag me to be entered. You can earn additional entries by purchasing my new Book Connections account and leaving a review on Amazon and posting that as well. Tim Newman [00:00:44]: Again, don't forget to tag me. The Contest closes on February 16, 2026, so don't wait to take action. Implementing the insights from these podcasts can elevate your career and who knows, you might just win that coaching package to help you further now onto the show. Welcome back to Speaking with Confidence, the podcast that helps you build the soft skills that lead to real results. Communication, storytelling, public speaking, and showing up with confidence in every conversation that counts. I'm Tim Newman, a recovering college professor turned communication coach, and I'm thrilled to guide you on a journey to becoming a powerful communicator. Last week I attended PodFest 2026 multimedia expo and conference and gave a 5 minute Pecha Kucha presentation. For those that don't know what Pecha Kucha is, Pecha Kucha means chit chat in Japanese. Tim Newman [00:01:47]: It is essentially a storytelling presentation. This version of Pecha Kucha I had 5 minutes and 20 slides. The slides automatically advance every 15 seconds. I wanted to tell my story of overcoming my fear of public speaking and to encourage others not to let their fears stop them from either starting a podcast or or becoming a guest on podcasts. Today I'm going to go through the presentation and give coaching advice just as if I were coaching one of you. The presentation was on January 15th, but I had to submit my slide deck no later than December 15th. So I had to script the talk, practice the talk, make revisions, et cetera, then build the slide deck. Over the months between when I submitted the slide deck and the presentation, I really felt like I needed to make some changes. Tim Newman [00:02:43]: I was able to make some changes, but not big ones. And overall I probably practiced the presentation for about 15 to 20 hours. So let's start and I will stop the video periodically and give coaching. I also gave the transcript from the presentation to ChatGPT. They weighed in on the good, the bad, and the ugly. And just so you know ChatGPT hit some of my exact points and had some other opinions as well. So make sure that you use it as well to help you get better in your presentations. So as my coach, Roddy Galbra says, off you go. Roddy Galbra [00:03:23]: Next up, a recovery policy advisor, as well as an actual leadership strategy certified speaker to your coach and extra facilitator. Welcome, Tim. Tim Newman [00:03:33]: You know, thanks. I am so glad this hotel is not one. Tim Newman [00:03:38]: So I'm gonna stop it here first. My first critique is I started too fast and should have waited for the applause from the audience. And just one other quick thing. This was on the main stage and There were approximately 300 people in the audience. Tim Newman [00:03:54]: Those high rise hotels, you know, with the glass elevators, those things are terrifying. I actually have to turn around and face the wall like I did when I was a kid and used to get in trouble. Anybody else here scared of heights? Anybody? Tim Newman [00:04:06]: Next, I would not suggest that you turn your back on the audience. I can probably get away with it because I was demonstrating something, but turning your back is generally not a good idea. Tim Newman [00:04:17]: There you go. I see you. Believe it or not, I went against all of my survival instincts that I had and became a paratrooper. See, I was part of the 82nd Airborne for three years, scared to death of heights. Still scared. And people say, tim, well, why did you jump out of airplanes? You're so scared. There's a couple reasons. First, you know, my dad was a paratrooper, so why not? And two, I got to do it before my big brother. Tim Newman [00:04:46]: So I became number one in the family for a minute. But what people don't understand is when you get in that plane and the jump master says, go, you're going out that door because somebody behind you is pushing you. So whether you're scared or not, you're. You're falling. And the other thing is the army does not negotiate with your fear of gravity. So I got out of the army when I was 21. And everybody knows at 21, you know absolutely everything there is to know. Tim Newman [00:05:16]: All right, so I had a good opening. Comparing the glass elevator to being a paratrooper. I established fear and credibility without. Without bragging. I also got a few laughs, which buys me a little bit of grace. The not so good parts here is I didn't tie the fear of heights into my call for, call to action. And so at this point, the audience. We're a minute and 20 in, and the audience is still kind of waiting, you know, for. Tim Newman [00:05:46]: For. Tim Newman [00:05:46]: What's the point? Okay, Chachi. PT says I need to Keep the line. The army does not negotiate with your fear of gravity forever. I'll kind of keep that in mind. Tim Newman [00:05:57]: And I went to college ready to dominate life, but I had no plan at all. My freshman schedule included Public Speaking 101, but as you can tell, I already knew how to speak, so I didn't need that. Class dropped it. You see, confidence is great until you have to back it up. Tim Newman [00:06:19]: All right, so this was a good use of the pause, and I'll talk a little bit more about pauses later. But, you know, when. When I go through this presentation, that is probably, for me, one of the best uses of the pause. And, you know, we've talked about that over and over again in different episodes. Use the pause to your advantage. Tim Newman [00:06:44]: Fast forward. My senior year, my advisor says, tim, if you want to graduate, you got to take the class. So now I'm faced with my next enemy. Required coursework, because nobody tells Tim what to do. So I took the class. Right? Day comes for my first presentation. Nervous? I'm a wreck. I'm sweating, I'm shaking. Tim Newman [00:07:05]: My knees are knocking together like they're ready to do the electric slide. And again, this is before you could become an influencer on TikTok, right? I had my. My slides printed on transparencies. You guys, older people understand where the teacher had to slap the thing to keep the bulb working. Yeah, I put my notes on the lectern. I squared up to the class, and my body said, nope. I proceeded to throw up in front of the entire class. You guys are okay right. Tim Newman [00:07:37]: Now at this point, I'm 2 minutes and 39 seconds into the presentation, and I stayed in this section a bit too long. Okay, so again, I'm more than halfway through, and we have two fears, and the audience still doesn't know why I'm telling the story. Okay, so again, you know, go back to why are they listening? What's the point of the overall presentation? Tim Newman [00:08:05]: Whole class got to witness transformation from paratrooper to projectile speaker. Okay. Professor was horrified. The rest of the students were laughing, and I walked out of the class thinking, cool. I guess I have to become a mind now. You see, up to that point, I'd always been able to outwork everything. I was never the strongest, the smartest, or the fastest. But if you ever hit me with I bet you won't. Tim Newman [00:08:33]: I proved you wrong every single time. This wasn't about work ethic. This was about fear versus identity. Tim Newman [00:08:45]: Okay, so now we're at the 3:20 mark, and this is where I make the pivot this is more about fear versus identity. And again, I need to get to this point quicker. I would say probably at least a minute quicker. Easy. But keep that in mind. We're 3:20 in of a five minute presentation, and now I'm finally starting to get to the point. Tim Newman [00:09:11]: And that voice in my head telling me I couldn't do it was mine. And that voice was winning. On top of that, I'd always wanted to be a teacher. So how was that going to work if I can't give a five minute presentation without redecorating the floor? Eventually, I realized the problem wasn't the speech. The problem was me trying to be perfect, trying to sound smart, trying to be impressive. I had to learn that. I had to actually listen to other people, take advice, take coaching. And worst of all, I had to admit that I wasn't the one that. Tim Newman [00:09:46]: Had all the answers. Tim Newman [00:09:49]: And the transformation that changed my life was the idea that people don't connect with perfect. They connect with messy. That allowed me to become a high school teacher, a college professor, a public speaking coach, and a podcaster. You know, the guy that helps people not throw up. Tim Newman [00:10:11]: Okay, so the time between 3:23:20 and 4:20 and 20 seconds. This is the the strongest section of the presentation. And this is where I shift from storyteller to coach. And it works. And there's three reasons why it works. I name perfectionism without shaming it. Number two is I model humility. And number three, I don't position myself as fearless, just functional. Tim Newman [00:10:45]: Now, in this section, an improvement that I could make is make a statement that is a repeatable mental model. And ChatGPT suggested something along the lines of, most people think confidence comes before action. It doesn't. Confidence is the receipt, not the price. And if you give them something that becomes a repeatable mental model that gives the audience the language they'll remember and that they will repeat. Tim Newman [00:11:20]: And I laugh because I still hear that voice in my head sometimes. It says, who do you think you are? Well, I'm the scared of heights podcaster now. Tim Newman [00:11:29]: And I know I just stopped it again quickly, but I just misspoke. I said, I'm the scared of heights podcaster instead of the scared of heights paratrooper. The real question here is, did the audience catch it? I don't know. I didn't stop. I just kept going. I didn't go back and correct myself. I just kept going. Okay, so remember that we're going to misspeak. Tim Newman [00:11:54]: We're going to say things that maybe not Necessarily make sense. Just keep going. Tim Newman [00:12:02]: Who threw up in speech class? Who built a career using my voice? And here's the reality. You all can do the same thing. Do the thing, whatever it is, do it messy. But you know, whatever it is, your voice has that power to change the world. All you have to do is hit record. Thank you. Anybody wants to connect with me, there's my information. Thank you so much. Tim Newman [00:12:29]: If you guys have a great weekend. Tim Newman [00:12:31]: Okay, so the closing to me, this is the weakest part of the entire presentation. I need to be stronger on the call to action with the purpose of the presentation. Chachi PT suggested closing with if you're waiting to feel ready before you start a podcast or say yes to being a podcast guest, you'll be waiting for it for forever. Fear doesn't disappear when you plan better. It disappears when you press record. You know, and I'm not really sure what that would be yet. I need to give that a little bit more thought. But what chatgpt suggested, it isn't bad, but not really my style. Tim Newman [00:13:13]: But I do need to be stronger in the clothes. Overall, I think I think it did pretty well. I had a conversational rhythm. I used self aware humor, not self pity. I have authority without preaching. I think I commanded the room, I commanded the stage. Some of the things that need work. Obviously I mentioned at the opening I needed to pause a little bit longer before I started. Tim Newman [00:13:44]: I also rushed punchlines after laughs. I should pause a bit more and let silence do some more work for me at the end. You know, I think I had the one good pause that I did point out. But overall, use more pauses. Use more pauses at the beginning in certain sections like laughing and then at the end. And you know, as you can tell, that final thank you section was really rushed. And again, I should take some time pause, let that rest with the audience at the end. And so my final comment on the end is I need to plant my feet, deliver the final line, pause and then thank them. Tim Newman [00:14:37]: But again, just things to look at. Overall, not bad. The message of don't let fear stop you from starting or guessing on a podcast is communicated, but it could be better. The point of this exercise is to show that watching it back and critiquing it will really help you improve. And if you want coaching, this is one of the ways I help people get better at public speaking. Remember, this isn't just just done on a stage. This can be done in many different scenarios. Reach out if you want help becoming a powerful communicator. Tim Newman [00:15:15]: That's all for today. Remember, we're looking for progress, not perfection. Be sure to visit speakingwithconfidencepodcast.com to get your free eBook, the Top 21 Challenges for Public Speakers and How to Overcome Them. You can also register for the Formula for Public Speaking course. Always remember, your voice has the power to change your world. We'll talk to you next time. Tim Newman [00:15:38]: Take care. Tim Newman [00:15:43]: I hope you enjoyed today's show and don't forget to enter the contest. Remember, I'm giving away one free, three hour, one on one coaching package that focuses on communication and leadership skills. All you have to do to enter is listen to the Speaking with Confidence podcast and leave a review on Apple Podcast or Spotify. Then take a screenshot of your review and share it on LinkedIn, Facebook or Instagram. And remember, don't forget to tag me. You're not entered unless you tag me and you can earn additional entries by purchasing my new book Connections that Count and leaving a review on Amazon and posting that as well. Remember, the Contest closes on February 16, 2026, so don't wait to take action. Implementing the insights from these podcasts can elevate your career and who knows, you might just win that coaching package to help you even further. Tim Newman [00:16:33]: We'll talk to you next time. Take care.