The worst speech I've ever given

This is embarrassing ….

Please don’t make the mistake I made when I did my first ever keynote.

I was invited to train an audience of high-level executives on confident public speaking.

The event organized reached out to me and said,

“Hey, we’ve seen you speak at TEDx, you’re great! Can you come and share with my team how you did it?”

I said “OF COURSE!”

This was my first ever keynote.

But secretly… I was deeply insecure.
I had never trained executives before.
I had never been on a stage that big before.

Can you relate?

I thought “YOU HAVE TO LOOK CONFIDENT! THEY MUST THINK YOU KNOW YOUR STUFF!!!!”

I had so much to prove.
Not just to them, but to myself.
Imposter syndrome was in top gear.

So I watched every Tony Robbins and Brian Tracy video I could find to amp myself up.

“Wow, what an amazing message they have! I can’t wait to regurgitate this to those executives. This will work wonders!”

I trained and I rehearsed. A million times over.

I listened to Tony Robbins so much I even started whispering his name in my sleep (My girlfriend had a lot of questions about this … but we’ll save that story for another time)

Finally, the day arrived.

I walked in with my chest up, chin high, and confidence soaring.

I began my talk.

“Today, I’m going to give you 5 tips on how to become an excellent speaker….”

and then I continued into my talk.

I was dropping gem after gem after gem….

… but then I noticed ….

…. someone rolling their eyes….

… someone else on their phone….

… another checking the time…

I’m thinking, “What is happening?! I’m sharing these amazing tips, why aren’t you listening.”

I eventually finished my talk with a lacklustre unenthusiastic clap.

I couldn’t believe it….

I shook the organizer’s hand,

I wrapped up,

Got my stuff, and left the venue.

I remember sitting in the cab on the way back,

I felt so defeated …. but I couldn’t figure out why.

“What did I say wrong? Why didn’t they buy into the material?

TONY ROBBINS SHARED THIS AND PEOPLE ATE IT UP!!”

The next day, my question was answered.

The event organizer sent me feedback and this is what she said,

I’m not going to lie, when I read that, It HURT.

Even though her feedback was spot on.

But …

it taught me such a valuable lesson that I’ll never forget:

People need to trust the messenger before they believe the message.

You can say all the right things,
You can have all the amazing tips,

But if they don’t trust you, the source of the information,
They will reject your message.

People believed it when Tony Robbins and Brian Tracy said it because they are already recognized as recognized experts.

I was not. I hadn’t earned that reputation yet.

Now, before I ever begin sharing tips and tricks with my audience and position myself as an expert.

I always start with a story about what my life was before I learned what I’m about to share, and how it changed my life.

This builds trust with the audience, and only when I have their trust, do I then go into tips and tricks.

This has been one of the biggest lessons I’ve learned in all of public speaking …

Here’s the lesson:

If you want to persuade and influence the audience,

Remember: They must believe in you before they believe in your message.


-Yasir Khan

P.S Some big news coming soon,

My private public speaking membership has been closed but I’m excited to announce that we’ll be opening enrolment soon!

I’ll be making a surprise announcement in the coming weeks only to the waitlist.

If you want to be one of the first to get in and get all the bonuses, put your name on the waitlist here.

If you’re already a member, plenty of new trainings in the pipeline for you!