Tips for Speaking on Stage and TV with Stephen Brooks.

Welcome to Public Speaking with Peter George. Do you want to be calm, confident, and credible every time you speak in public? Then stay tuned as we discuss public speaking tips, techniques, and tactics that help you increase your impact, influence, and income.

If speaking in public is the greatest fear, then speaking in front of a TV camera must be off the charts. I've seen many experienced speakers freeze the moment that little red light comes on. Many years ago, it happened to me — my first time on television, a guest spot on a Miami morning show. I didn't freeze exactly, but let's just say it wasn't my finest public appearance. If that sounds familiar, my guest Stephen Brooks is here to help bridge the gap between speaking on stage and speaking on TV. For over 35 years, Stephen has been immersed in all things retail, traveling to 57 countries and working with retailers, landlords, and retail-affiliated businesses of all sizes. He's an author, speaker, and TV commentator for the TD Ameritrade Network. Here's my conversation with Stephen Brooks.

Two Very Different Experiences

Peter: What was your first experience on stage, and then on TV?

Stephen: Stage came first — and it came early. Back in junior school in the UK, I was always putting myself forward for school plays and class plays. I was fortunate enough to land starring roles on more than one occasion. That feeling of connecting with an audience, feeling their energy coming back at you — that started very early for me.

Television didn't come until my late 30s. And that was a completely different experience. There's so much that can go wrong — the technology, the lighting, the pressure of all those lights bearing down on you and looking into a camera without feeling any energy coming back from an audience. Those two experiences could not have been more different.

Peter: If you had to choose, do you prefer stage or TV?

Stephen: Always stage. There's an element of danger in it — in the best possible way. You can see whether the audience is with you or not. I'm always conscious of the person two rows from the back who hasn't looked up in ten minutes. That's when I direct all my energy their way. I want everybody in that room. Television just doesn't give you that immediate, visible connection. I can't wait to be back in front of live audiences.

There's also the variable of who you're following. In a conference setting, somebody's always coming off just as you're going on. How did they leave the audience for you? I'm always conscious of how I leave the room for the person coming after me — I want to send the audience out energized. And I've followed speakers who left the room flat. For the first ten minutes, you're working just to bring them back. That challenge is part of what makes live speaking so exciting.

Preparing for Stage vs. TV

Peter: Is there a difference in how you prepare for TV as opposed to stage?

Stephen: For stage, preparation is much more physical for me. Voice exercises, getting the adrenaline going — sometimes I'll disappear down a corridor and jump up and down. Of course there's the content preparation as well. Any good speaker, whether doing television, stage, or virtual, needs to prepare hard and rehearse thoroughly.

With television there's more visual support available. When I do segments for TD Ameritrade, what viewers don't see is that I have Post-it notes arranged around my screen with the points I need to hit — because it's live coverage, and data from the stock exchange or retail reports can change up to fifteen minutes before we go on air. The preparation never stops.

Peter: What do you say to people who don't want to rehearse because they think they'll look rehearsed?

Stephen: The answer almost everyone gives is the right one: nobody knows what you're going to say. So there's no such thing as looking too rehearsed. If anything, knowing your material signals respect for your audience. People don't know you were up until two in the morning reworking a line that wasn't working. They just see someone who knows their stuff. Preparation is everything — whether you're getting ready for a football match or stepping on a stage. I learned that lesson early in my career by leaving things to the day before and paying the price for it.

Keeping Your Content Fresh

Stephen: Even if your core message stays the same, you have to keep it fresh — and I don't just mean for the audience. I mean for yourself. There are people who follow speakers from conference to conference, and if you're delivering exactly the same thing every time, you're not adding value. What's the cutting-edge angle right now? What's changed? When I update my content, I come on stage with more energy, more conviction. The freshness is contagious. And honestly, I'd be bored with myself if I didn't change it up.

Connecting with a Virtual Audience

Peter: How can someone become more comfortable presenting to a virtual audience?

Stephen: Engage them as quickly as possible. On Zoom, I don't like cameras being turned off — I want to see faces, read body language, pick up on expressions. So first, get those cameras on. Then, if you can feel the energy isn't there, stop waiting for it to build and just dive in. Start asking questions. Get people talking.

I did a guerrilla marketing workshop for Rotary International on Zoom — a large group, fairly reserved, lots of new content. I could feel the silence shifting from engaged to uncertain. So we changed direction: I started asking questions directly. The moment people began talking, the whole dynamic of the room shifted. Engagement went from passive to active in minutes.

Your virtual room is your stage. Treat your setup with the same care you'd give to arriving early at a venue, understanding the stage layout, knowing where the audience is sitting. If you're not comfortable in your environment, that discomfort will show in how you perform.

When the Red Light Comes On

Peter: For someone in a studio setting — how do you cope when that little red light comes on for the first time?

Stephen: In a studio, there's a lot coming at you all at once — cameramen, people with scripts, someone talking in your ear telling you you're about to go live. The first time I experienced it, there was that moment of panic: where am I looking? Who am I speaking to? What I do in almost any high-pressure situation is take a deep breath, center myself, and remind myself I know my material. And then I reframe that red light. Instead of red for danger, it's red for excitement. That's my cue. Off I go.

Peter: A business associate called me recently — she was about to appear on a local morning show. I told her to connect with the producer in advance and go over the questions. She did. Then she called me the morning of the show and said: they didn't ask a single question we prepared.

Stephen: That happens more times than anyone cares to admit — and more often than when they actually do ask the prepared questions. The other challenge is when you're on a panel and someone makes a comment that sends the conversation sideways, and the follow-up question lands on you. You've been so focused on queuing up your rehearsed answer that you weren't fully listening. Suddenly there's a tenuous connection to your topic and you're scrambling. The remedy is preparation — broad preparation, not just scripted answers — combined with genuinely listening to everyone else in the room. Take a breath. Answer the best you can. And stay in the game.

Peter: What's one final piece of advice you'd leave with our listeners?

Stephen: Enjoy it. If you're not enjoying what you're doing, why are you doing it? People are there because they're interested in what you have to say. So go out and enjoy it. If you go off script, if you find yourself sparking with the audience in a way you didn't plan — that's not a problem. That's the best thing that can happen. That's adding value in real time. Just enjoy it.

Peter: Stephen, where can listeners find you and learn more?

Stephen: You can find me on LinkedIn at Stephen A. Brooks. If you Google "the pop-up retail expert," I'm the top result — or you can go directly to thepopupexpert.com. You can also find me on Instagram at the retail specialist.

Thank you for listening to this episode of Public Speaking with Peter George. Are you ready to be calm, confident, and credible every time you speak in public? Then visit petergeorgepublicspeaking.com and let's make it happen. I'll see you next time.