Public Speaking Coaching With David Julian Price
The Rookie Mistake That Kills Good Presentations
Here’s a question worth sitting with. You’ve spent hours crafting your content. Every fact checked. Every slide polished. Every word considered.
So why did the audience switch off?
Because content without delivery is like a parcel that never arrives. Doesn’t matter what’s inside the box — if the delivery fails, the whole thing is irrelevant. And that’s exactly what happens when new presenters fall into the most common trap: obsessing over what to say, and forgetting entirely about how to say it.
The Science Backs This Up
Professor Albert Mehrabian of UCLA proved it decades ago. The actual words you use account for just 7% of your impact on an audience. The remaining 93% comes down to how you deliver them. Your voice. Your presence. Your body language.
Read that again. Ninety-three per cent.
Most people preparing their first presentation spend 90% of their time on the 7%. That’s not a preparation strategy — that’s an upside-down approach that leaves your message stranded at the kerb.
Fear Is Not Your Enemy
Public speaking is ranked among the greatest fears in the western world. Yet effective communication is simultaneously the most powerful skill you can have — in your career, your relationships, and your life.
The great irony, right?
Here’s the reframe that changes everything: fear is just suppressed excitement. Every great speaker has felt it. The difference is they learned to turn it from a foe into an uncomfortable friend — and eventually into a powerful ally.
Will you feel uncomfortable for five minutes? Yes. But consider this: exercise is easier once you’ve started the workout. Conversation flows once you’re already talking. Public speaking gets easier once you’re in the middle of it.
The opportunities you’ll miss by avoiding that five minutes of discomfort? Those are the ones that sting.
Step 1: Building Confidence First
At the core of all great presentation coaching is confidence. Not bravado. Not performance. Genuine, grounded confidence — the kind that grows when you learn new skills and then practise them.
The art of speaking is relatively easy to teach. Having the confidence to speak really well is the key. That’s where we start.
You’ll work through confidence-building exercises designed to get you standing in front of people, finding your voice, and discovering that you have more to offer than you ever gave yourself credit for.
“David can be direct, but in the nicest way that actually makes you feel really good. Because you know he’s doing it because he wants you to be the best that you can be.” Jennifer, Albany City Council
Step 2: Adding Layers of Competence
Once confidence is established, we build competence — using a tried and tested roadmap developed across 35+ years on the platform, speaking to audiences of over 2,000 people.
Competence breaks down into three parts: Physiology. Design. Delivery.
Each is worked on separately until the concept is grasped, then all three are integrated into one polished, powerful whole.
Why Physiology Is the Secret Weapon
For many speakers, physiology is the missing link. It’s everything about how you look when you speak — how you hold your body, your hands, your head. How you use your voice, your eyes, your energy.
What sets my coaching apart is the specific focus on non-verbal communication, because this is where the real power lives — particularly when you need to influence.
If your body language is incongruent with your words, your audience will sense it instantly. They may not be able to name it, but they’ll feel it. An effective coach sees the misalignment immediately and corrects it.
Once you know you look confident, your confidence quotient rises sharply. And when that happens, everything else becomes easier to build.
Step 3: Think Like an Actor
Every great actor learns their lines. But the craft — the real work — is in how they say those lines. The pause before the punchline. The drop in volume before the reveal. The eye contact that makes a room lean forward.
Your job as a presenter is no different. Prepare your content, absolutely. Then invest equal — or greater — energy into your delivery. That’s where your message either lands or gets lost.
Think of building your presentation like building a house. You need solid foundations before you put up the walls. A great coaching session gives you the site map — and helps you build something that stands up.
Step 4: The Method — Demonstrate, Practise, Coach
Everyone has different needs. Your presentation style is diagnosed first, then we target the area requiring the most immediate attention.
This isn’t a generic workshop. It’s personalised. Practical. And it works fast. One session with me will improve your presentation skills immediately.
What Happens When You Get It Right
Marlene had been avoiding her fear of public speaking for months. When the reckoning day finally came, she froze in front of a room full of colleagues. Couldn’t speak a word.
Fifteen minutes of on-the-spot coaching later, she was speaking confidently, her colleagues leaning forward, laughing along. She received a standing ovation.
Her colleague put it best: David had freed her from the feeling that she’d never be good enough — and given her the gift of knowing she absolutely was.
Kyle Saltmarsh had one coaching session with me the week before the Young Person’s World Lecture Competition in South Africa. He went on to win the world final — one of his proudest achievements.
That’s the difference delivery makes. At every level. In every room.
Ready to Walk Taller?
Whether you’re presenting to a team of five or an audience of five hundred, the principle never changes. The best content in the world, delivered poorly, will never have the impact it deserves.
I’m David Julian Price — Australia’s leading presentations coach, with over 35 years of experience helping people find their voice, own their space, and walk tall when it counts.
Explore my other workshops and/or download my free e-book “10 Steps to Prepare & Deliver a Powerful Presentation“ and get a head start today.