Business Insider UK spoke with the 2015 Toastmasters International World Champion of Public Speaking, Mohammed Qahtani, a security engineer in Saudi Arabia.
Qahtani grew up with a stutter and still deals with it occasionally, but speaking on a stage empowers him and rids him of the impediment. He said that his confidence grew from advice he received from a speaking coach, which was to tell himself that he’s better than the people in the audience.
«I don’t mean that in an egotistical way!» he said. Rather, he tells himself that he’s «better» in the sense that he’s courageously speaking in front of people who are sitting there to listen to what he has to say. It’s a mental shift that removes the fear of humiliation. «You don’t need to be afraid of them because they’re the ones admiring you,» Qahtani said.
You can watch Qahtani’s full speech entitled The Power of Words on Business Insider UK.