You’re brilliant at your job. You troubleshoot servers, defend against digital threats, or engineer solutions that make the rest of us wonder how you did it.

But when the attention turns to you in a team meeting, client call, or quarterly update… you freeze.

Sound familiar?

You’re not alone—and more importantly, you’re not broken.

In fact, if you’re a technical professional, your brain is wired for precision, problem-solving, and perfection—which can make public speaking feel like a risky leap into the unknown. The good news? You don’t need to become a different person to be a confident presenter. You just need a reboot.

Why Technical Brilliance Doesn’t Always Translate to Speaking Confidence

Most of my clients come to me with the same story:

“I’m totally fine in small conversations. But the minute I have to speak to a group—even if I know the content—I freeze.”

Here’s what’s really happening: it’s not a knowledge problem. It’s a context shift.

In your day-to-day work, you’re in control. You know the systems. You solve problems logically. You work behind the scenes and get results.

Public speaking flips that.

Now you’re not just delivering information—you’re exposed, vulnerable, and unsure how people will react. And for someone whose career is built on certainty, that’s deeply uncomfortable.

Why Traditional Advice Fails

You’ve probably heard a tip like:

• “Pretend the audience is in their underwear!”

Let’s be honest—this won't work when you’re prepping for a client-facing demo, or presenting a risk mitigation plan to your executive team.

What you need isn’t surface-level hype. You need tools. And that’s where most advice falls short.

The Confidence Reboot: Scale What You Already Do Well

This is where everything shifts.

You don’t need to “fake it” or become someone you’re not. The key to presenting well is this:
Scale what you already do well in small conversations.

One of my recent IT clients said it best:

“The biggest shift wasn’t in how I spoke—it was in how I saw myself. Leslie helped me believe in my own voice.”

She didn’t need to learn how to be confident. She needed to trust that the clarity, calm, and logic she used in 1-on-1s could work with a larger group.

And it did.

A Tactical Tool to Prime Your Presence

One technique I teach is part of my “Prime Your Presence” process:
Stop the spiral.

Most professionals ask themselves the wrong questions before a presentation:

“What if I mess up? What if they don’t understand me?”

Instead, ask:

“What if everything goes right?”
“What if I connect?”
“What if my voice is exactly what the team needs?”

This mental reframe—when practiced regularly—helps calm the nervous system and rewires your brain for presence, not panic.

Because confidence doesn’t come from knowing what to say. It comes from knowing you can handle whatever happens.

What About You?

• When’s the last time you froze, even though you knew your material inside and out?

• Where in your work do you already communicate clearly—and how can you expand that skill to group settings?

Ready to Reboot?

If you’re tired of overthinking every word and ready to show up with confidence, clarity, and calm, join my next free webinar:

👉 Prime Your Presence: How to Show Up With Confidence, Clarity & Calm

You’ll walk away with one simple ritual that changes everything.