What Does Puppy Training Have To Do With Being A Confident Speaker?

After two years of talking about it and deliberating, we  finally did it!

Three months ago, we brought home Bentley, an adorable Wheaten Terrier puppy!

And what does a puppy have to do with public speaking – which as you well know by now is my main focus in coaching?

Well, let me tell you. Bentley is our second dog. Our first dog was a Wheaten Terrier named Bueller.

Bueller lived till 15 years (he was such a badass – you should have seen him maneuver his way around with just three legs!). He was an amazing dog - loving, loyal and fun -- and incredibly badly behaved!

And that is because his owners (yours truly and my spouse) didn't do anything to train him properly. In fact, we went to a puppy training manual the other day because we wanted to train Bentley, and basically everything that it said NOT to do, we did.

So we were not confident dog owners when we had our first dog, and operated pretty much by the seat of our pants. But this time with a new puppy, we are completely confident because we've had experience, we've learned, we've studied, we've recalibrated, we've thought about our goals, and we've thought about the kind of dog that we want. And we've made certain commitments to his training to make him a more obedient dog.

So what does this have to do with becoming a more confident public speaker? Well, a lot!

Like being a confident dog owner, public speaking requires a plan, it requires commitment, it requires an openness to learn from your mistakes, and it's always about getting better.

So whether you are a first time dog owner or a public speaker or aspiring public speaker, it really is about the confidence that you get from learning from your experience and committing to do better, and taking advantage of all the resources that are out there.