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Recently I had 3 public speaking gigs in the space of a month, you can read about the first one here.
The second one was the yoga festival. It didn’t quite go to plan this year, although my talk was well received, I ended up getting sun stroke that afternoon, so the Sunday I was barely functioning, and it took me the rest of that week to properly recover. But I knew the “in between” weeks were for self care, so I took it easy and put my energy into my piano tuition only for that week.
But what I want to focus on is the bigger festival, and the 3rd of my speaking gigs.
I’d been looking forward to Womanifest since the previous festival in July 2024. When I attended last summer, I knew I had to be a speaker at this year’s festival. I applied to host a workshop as that seemed to be the first step into speaking at this festival. I’d never done a workshop before, but I did a trial run at the Yoga festival. (They weren’t expecting to interact, but that gave me the opportunity to improv with little anecdotal stories, which went down a treat!)
It was all preparation for the bigger festival. The one about empowering women and teen girls. My stories of finding confidence are both relatable and inspirational, and I know I can help many people find their way out of anxiety. At the same time, I’m by no means a “life coach”, and I said that in my workshop. I said I can help and sign post people, but the key is to find your own tribe and ask for help.
My journey to confidence is unique, and the way I did it was very different to anyone else. Anxiety is such a complex thing, and even though I have extensive lived experience that makes me an expert so to speak, my life is as a piano tutor. My students do come to me for help on occasion, and I love that they feel my studio is a safe space to talk. (young and older inclusive)
That said, my mission to help people with their confidence is through public speaking, and I’m always grateful for the opportunities that come my way.
Last year at Womanifest, I did as much as possible, and this year I pretty much did the same. I booked 3 “experiences” and attended as many workshops and talks as I could manage. And of course my highlights included Sophie Garner’s Pop up Choir, Chi Chi fitness who got me dancing (that’s unheard of!). Not forgetting the Silent Disco. Last year I was one of a few hula hooping, but this year there were no hula hoops “lying around” so I brought my own from home.
Other highlights included featuring on the Visible’ish’ podcast by Melissa Howard, and chatting to Kimberley Ashwin (Autism Oxford) about Neurodiversity and what it meant to me. My overall mission was to meet as many people as I could, and chat to people I’d never met before. Mission was certainly accomplished! 🌟
Here’s a gallery of pictures from the weekend:
My talk was one of the final workshops of the festival, at 4.30pm on the Sunday. Grateful to Kirsty who came as my guest and supported me, and Heather who came to watch my talk and took most of the pictures for me <3
My talk was called “Fear to Fierce”: Transforming Anxiety into Unshakable Confidence.
I didn’t plan the story bits, and my tasks were all on hand made “flash cards”.
I was quite proud of myself with my impromptu closing line… “I was bullied for being Chinese in reception, but now I’m a (fierce) proud Chinese Tiger!”
the crowd applauded, questions were aplenty, and I sold a handful of copies of my book.
I was buzzing after, and can’t wait to do it all again one day.
I’ve already set my intentions for my public speaking in 2026. I want to speak ON STAGE at Womanifest 2026, and also want to investigate the possibility of TEDx… Because I work in steps, and that’s the next level with my public speaking! Watch this space! 💜
I can’t leave this blog without a massive thank you to Lisa Williams, Tracy Cawthray, Sara hughes & Anne-Marie Jones for stepping up into Jodie’s shoes and bringing the festival above and beyond! Can’t wait to see what they do next year!
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