Top 5 Insider Tips Every Speaker Needs to Know with Tyler Foley.

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.

When it comes to any art or science, certain things establish a foundation that you absolutely have to know. In this episode, Tyler Foley shares five insider tips every speaker needs. Tyler has been acting in film and television since he was six years old and is an accomplished film and stage performer. He is also the managing director of Total Buy-In and author of the number one best-selling book The Power to Speak Naked. Here's my conversation with Tyler Foley.

You're Not Afraid of Public Speaking

Peter: There's no better place to start than the beginning. Let's talk about stage fright. Where does it come from, and how can people get over it?

Tyler: I'm going to unpack that in reverse. The first way to get over stage fright is to recognize that you don't actually have stage fright. Everyone says they're afraid of public speaking — but you and I are having a conversation right now, and although we're probably not physically near each other, we're still in public. What we're really afraid of is public judgment. We're afraid that the words we're going to say will be received wrong, or that we don't trust ourselves as the authority to be delivering that message.

That usually happens when someone is voluntold to give a presentation in a boardroom, or has to give a speech at a wedding. And what they need to know is: if you've been asked to do it, it's not because your boss or your friend wanted to torture you. It's because they saw you as the authority. You were the right person.

I work a lot with bridesmaids and groomsmen who've been asked to speak and are terrified. I ask the maid of honor: who knows the bride better than you? And she lights up — fifteen years of friendship, thick and thin. I say, well, just tell that story. You can't get tripped up telling your own story. You can tell it a thousand different ways, and it will always carry the same theme. No one can say that's not how it happened — because it's your remembrance.

And remember: you don't always have to do all the talking. Audience engagement sits at 78% during a monologue — but jumps to 92% when the audience is participating. That's a 14-point boost just from asking questions. If you're in a boardroom and don't want to do all the talking, good news: you don't have to. You're the authority. You just need to guide the conversation.

Why Storytelling Is So Powerful

Peter: You mentioned storytelling. Why is it so powerful, and how can listeners become more compelling storytellers?

Tyler: Storytelling works because it universalizes us. When I share an experience — how something affected me, what I went through — you naturally sympathize. It puts you in my shoes. You take on my perspective, understand my fears and goals and ambitions, and share in that experience with me. That's how storytelling gets an audience on your side.

One of the things I talk about in my book is this: the thing you're most afraid to say is very likely the thing your audience needs to hear. When you expose yourself, when you open up and are genuine and raw, people connect. Every one of us has been in an audience when someone said something so vulnerable and authentic that it stopped us cold. That moment impacted you — because we as humans are wired to be in sync with one another.

Story is also how you sell. Testimonials work not because they brag, but because they tell the story of how something impacted someone else. As Les Brown says beautifully: never make a point without a story, but never tell a story without a point.

Peter: That's exactly it. When clients are developing a story, I always ask: before you go any further, what's the moral? If they can't tell me, I tell them that's an anecdote — something that happened, but without a point.

Tyler: Yes. A story without a point is an anecdote. A story with a point is how you land and create real impact. And the more specific and detailed you make the story — the more niche you drill it down — the more universally it will communicate to an audience. Specificity is what makes a story land.

How to Find Your Ideal Audience

Peter: The working title of a book I'm developing is It's All About the Audience. How does a speaker go about discerning their audience and finding their ideal client?

Tyler: I have two methods for this, and they're so simple you're going to laugh. The first one came from a speaker I've worked with — Aaron Sky Kelly — who said to me: your audience is you five years ago. And I stopped cold. Of course. Because you want to speak to the person you once were. What were you struggling with five years ago? What was the big obstacle you couldn't get around? What did you learn to overcome it? That's your audience. Go speak to your younger self.

If you were struggling with stage fright, if you didn't know how to find your niche, if you were trapped in the everyman syndrome — come talk to me. I've been there. I've walked in those shoes. And your story, told through that lens, will draw like a moth to the flame the people who need to hear your message.

My second avatar, I call Mary. She's a director of a nonprofit doing important social work, but she has a hard time communicating her mission — both to solicit funding and to reach the people her charity could help. I discovered that avatar simply by looking at who came to me most often, what questions they were asking, and where I was getting the highest praise and the best results. Who was I helping — and how? The answers were right there in my client roster.

How to Deliver a More Engaging Presentation

Peter: How can a speaker deliver a more engaging presentation?

Tyler: A few ways. First, use transition phrases — words and phrases that signal to your audience that something important just happened or is about to. Things like write this down, to recap, or and now we're going to cover. These cue the brain that it needs to pay attention.

Second, tell story — and use trigger phrases to get the audience inside it. Open with imagine this or picture this or think of a time when. Those phrases invite people to personalize the story and walk through it with you.

Third — and this works at any point in any presentation — say this: now turn to your partner and share one key takeaway from what we've covered so far. It doesn't matter what you're presenting. That single instruction does several things at once: it forces your audience to identify what they've learned, which reinforces your authority. It gets them talking, which boosts engagement. And when they share it out loud, they're reinforcing your message to someone else — which means you've doubled its reach without saying another word. Meanwhile, you get a moment to collect yourself, check your notes, and decide what comes next.

Peter: Does it also give them a repeatable phrase to take with them when they leave?

Tyler: Absolutely. When people reaffirm what you've already said, those become the phrases they write down and carry home. I always work in two lines no matter how long I speak: authenticity is synonymous with self-awareness, and the thing you're most afraid to say is the thing your audience needs to hear. By having people repeat those phrases, you cut your own workload in half.

Networking That Actually Works

Peter: To get more speaking opportunities, effective networking is essential. How can listeners become better networkers?

Tyler: Stop going into networking events looking for clients. That should not be your focus. What you need instead is this mindset: I'm looking for ten strategic partners I can align myself with so we can grow our businesses together. That changes everything about how you show up.

Instead of pitching, try this: Hi, my name is Tyler Foley. I'm a speaker coach. How can I be of service to you? If you can't help them directly, say: I have a large network — let me take your card, and if I know someone who does what you need, I'll connect you. Then you actually do it. Because here's what happens: you solve two people's problems without selling a thing, and both of them remember you as the person who came through. That's how your network becomes your most valuable business asset.

Your net worth is your network — not because you spam people on LinkedIn, but because you give to receive. The more you introduce people to each other and bring them into your circle, the larger your network grows and the more valuable you become. When you're the nexus — the person everyone knows will come through — people will find you.

Peter: Tyler, this time has flown by. Where can listeners find you and learn more?

Tyler: They can visit SeanTylerFoley.com — that's S-E-A-N-T-Y-L-E-R-F-O-L-E-Y dot com. In the upper right corner, there's a free 11-page download called The Method — five insider tips that compress 35 years of public speaking knowledge into simple, actionable steps. I hope your listeners enjoy it.

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.