The ABC of Public Speaking

I couldn't speak for years.

Not that I lost the ability. But after seven years in bed, after months of not talking to anyone, after the dysautonomia made my voice unreliable — I didn't know how to show up in front of people and say something true.

Then I had to. I was invited to speak. And I had no choice but to figure out how.

This book is what I learned.

Most public speaking training assumes you've always been able to speak. That your voice is stable. That you have experience showing up. For people who've lost access to that — whether through illness, trauma, isolation, disability — standard speaking advice doesn't land.

This book is for people rebuilding. For people who don't trust their voice. For people who have something true to say and are terrified they won't be able to say it.

The ABC isn't a formula. It's a framework. A is about attention — yours and theirs. What you need to do to be present enough to speak, and what you need to do to hold their presence while you're doing it. B is about breath. The literal mechanics of speaking when your body won't cooperate. When anxiety takes your breath. When you have limited energy. C is about clarity. Not clarity of language. Clarity of what you're actually trying to say. Why you're saying it. What you want them to leave with.

Most speakers know how to do language. Very few know how to speak from somewhere true.

I learned to speak standing in front of rooms full of people who could hear. Who didn't need me to perform. Who just wanted the truth. And I learned that speaking — real speaking, from a real place — is one of the most powerful things you can do.

This book teaches that. Not techniques. Permission. Permission to speak even if your voice cracks. Even if you lose your place. Even if you're scared. Especially then.

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