Why most public speaking advice is wrong—and how to finally overcome your speaking anxiety

Tristan de Montebello, co-founder and CEO of Ultraspeaking and a former fast-track finalist at the world public speaking championship, joins Lenny Rachitsky to explain why speaking is a meta skill and why most public speaking advice misses the root causes. The episode walks through practical habits, several live practice games, and two speech-building methods (the Accordion Method and the Bow and Arrow technique).

01Key learnings

• Treat speaking as a meta skill: improving it tends to lift confidence and results across work, relationships and daily life.
• Use enjoyment as a barometer; if practice or speaking feels unpleasant, you are probably overthinking or doing it wrong.
• Focus on root causes like pressure and self-trust rather than surface symptoms such as filler words or rushing.
• Cultivate a habit of looking up while thinking, which reads as thoughtful and confident and reduces interruptions.
• End strong: anticipate the drop in focus near the finish, and use summary prompts like 'So to wrap up' to land your point.
• Stay in character and avoid 'leaking' insecurities, since audiences usually cannot see the nervousness you feel.
• Practice through short, deliberate reps with immediate feedback, such as impromptu games, rather than only reading tips or giving occasional talks.
• Prepare talks with the Accordion Method (compressing then re-expanding a spoken talk) and the Bow and Arrow technique (one memorable takeaway supported by evidence).

02Frameworks mentioned

Summary and takeaways written by PM Atlas; quotes are short excerpts. © the original author.