Theresa Miller on speaking up and the opportunities it brings

From The Content Byte by Rachel Smith and Lynne Testoni

April 5, 2026 · 38 min · Season 18 · Episode 15

About this episode

Theresa Miller discusses the importance of public speaking for freelancers and shares strategies to overcome nerves and effectively engage audiences.

This week on the podcast, Rachel and Lynne discuss how public speaking can help freelancers become more visible and attract clients, despite battling nerves. We are joined by media trainer and journalist Theresa Miller to talk about her book Speak Up on becoming a successful presenter and media spokesperson. Theresa shares why knowledgeable people often stay quiet, why it matters to "speak up" in an era of misinformation and AI fakery, and how to manage those all-too-common nerves. She outlines practical strategies including researching your audience, tailoring your message to their needs and pain points, using structure and story (including the hero's journey), and ending with a clear, ideally dated, call to action. We also chat about pathways into speaking, the role of in-person events, as well as Theresa's career lessons and favourite tools of the trade. To buy her book https://www.theresamiller.com.au/books Her online course: https://www.theresamiller.com.au/online-course Ten tips to nail your media interview https://www.theresamiller.com.au/media-interview-tips Eight-attention grabbing openers for presentations https://www.theresamiller.com.au/openers Or connect with her on…

People in this episode

Hosts: Rachel Smith, Lynne Testoni

Guest: Theresa Miller

Topics covered

public speaking
freelancing
client attraction
media training
presentation skills
overcoming nerves

Keywords

public speaking
freelancers
media training
presentation skills
client attraction
overcoming nerves

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Speak Up