emma's story

I felt it would be really useful to have slightly longer feedback from some people who have come on the course.


Emma, a marketing manager in her late twenties, writes about her experience.
"I have always had a fear of public speaking and after realising that my fear was having an impact on my work and life I thought that it was time to start looking for ways to overcome this. Previously I had spent lots of time thinking about ways of how I could get out of these occasions, but decided that I should put this time to good use and started to research the subject and discovered lots of statements that guarantee public speaking success. I have to admit I was very sceptical.

As part of my research I came across John’s website and felt that his statement about having a series of conversations made sense, plus I knew I could hold a one on one conversation, so thought how hard could this be! After exchanging emails with John, he made me feel more comfortable and I felt that he was very honest and I began to feel positive about the steps I was taking to overcome my fear. I should confess that after paying the fee I realised that “I really was doing this” and the panic started to set in, it had after all, only taken me about five years to actually feel I could sign up to a public speaking course. Now I was really going!

On the first day I felt a combination of pride (for actually turning up), but incredibly nervous. John is very good at creating a safe place and it was good to know that everyone else there had the same fears as me. I admit that my voice was shaking and at one point my legs went wobbly too, however, the support in the group allowed me to share how I was feeling with them and through this and realising that nothing bad was going to happen and it is actually me who is putting the pressure on myself I began to feel myself relax and, dare I say, even enjoy it.

John’s technique makes perfect sense and he turned me from feeling like I couldn’t cope into actually looking forward to testing out his theories to see if they work. I would fully recommend this course to anyone who feels as though they have no control over their nerves. I can’t say that I don’t or won’t get nervous, but I am not so worried and realise that it is actually me that stresses myself out and also that the techniques that I learnt I can use in everyday life. I have already started practicing them today and am discovering that taking my place in life is more fulfilling, than living with the anxiety and fear."