An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis
Purpose: To be an effective public speaker, it helps to figure out what you want to say and why you want to say it. What’s the point of your talk? I write down all my ideas well in advance; it helps me not to write full sentences, though. I did that in the beginning of my speaking career and found a strong temptation to read verbatim from my notes. It just felt so comforting! Now, instead, I write key phrases or ideas. It forces me to do some adlib, which makes for a good presentation and prevents me from giving a boring speech.
At some point in our lives, many of us will have to give a talk to a large group of people. What does it take to be a highly effective public speaker? How can you improve your public speaking skills? How can you overcome a fear of speaking in public? What does it take to give a very interesting and engaging public talk? In this interview series called “5 Things You Need To Be A Highly Effective Public Speaker” we are talking to successful and effective public speakers to share insights and stories from their experience. As a part of this series, we had the pleasure of interviewing Liz Thomas.
Liz Thomas is a professional hiker and speaker who held the speed record on the 2,181-mile long Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine. Her public speaking engagements include Good Morning America (national TV), Capitol Hill, Yale, MIT, and numerous national non-profit conferences with hundreds of people, including billionaires, in attendance. She’s Editor in Chief of Treeline Review, an outdoor gear review website where she holds regular live events for people across the world.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Our readers would love to get to know you a bit better. Can you tell us the story of how you grew up?
Believe it or not, I grew up a very shy person! I’m Japanese-American, and like many first-generation children of immigrants, some of the old country’s ways of thinking influenced how I grew up. I was raised to think that children were meant to be seen, not heard. Speaking up and sharing my stories and opinions with others did not come naturally. I never raised my hand in class, which continued until graduate school. It wasn’t until I set the speed record on the Appalachian Trail that I realized I had stories worth telling.
Can you share a story with us about what brought you to this specific career path?
I became a public speaker because I wanted to inspire other people — especially other women and People of Color — to go on an extraordinary adventure. As a professional hiker, I saw too few women holding the spotlight for their adventures. I saw too few People of Color on the trails at all. We weren’t seen in marketing for outdoor brands. We weren’t seen in outdoor gear companies’ board rooms. I knew that if I shared my story, I could help change the narrative of who belongs outside and who belongs in the seats of decision makers.
Can you tell us the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?
One interesting thing about being a public speaker is that you never know who will be in your audience or what ideas they may have for working with you. I spoke at the Trust for Public Land National Leadership Conference in Atlanta, Georgia, about my speed record on the Appalachian Trail. An audience member was familiar with another body of my work — urban thru-hiking. Urban thru-hiking for me consists of walking hundreds of miles in a city to highlight something that makes the city special, like the public stairways in San Francisco or the breweries in Denver. The audience member invited me to create a 225-mile walk in all five boroughs of New York City that highlighted a 20-year-long project to bring green spaces and playgrounds to public school students. That urban hike ended up being one of the most important outdoor experiences for me; I’ve used it to talk about the connection between cities, pedestrian infrastructure, and traditional hiking and backpacking. I’m grateful for the serendipity that being a public speaker brings.
Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
When I’m talking about a subject I love, it’s easy to go overboard. One of my first talks was an evening presentation at Yale University to a student outdoor group. I was more interested in ensuring I covered all of the relevant material than staying within the time limit. My hosts were gracious — and still interested in my PowerPoint long after the end time had passed. I learned that less is more when it comes to giving talks. It’s more important for the audience to take away a few key points than to give them a comprehensive view of every possible detail.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
I’m enormously grateful to the organizations and individuals that repeatedly have me come back to speak to their organization. In 2018, BikeTexas, a pedestrian and bicycle advocacy group, asked me to speak at the Texas Trails and Active Transportation Conference. It was such a success that they asked me to speak again at their next conference…two years later. Well, we all know what happened to most conferences in 2020. However, they invited me to speak virtually — one of my few speaking opportunities that year. It helped me keep my head in the game and stay motivated during a dark time, which has allowed me to continue growing to where I am today.
You have been blessed with great success in a career path that can be challenging and intimidating. Do you have any words of advice for others who may want to embark on this career path, but seem daunted by the prospect of failure?
If you want to become a public speaker, start small. When I say small, I mean speak to small groups of people at local events. Choose a topic that you’re passionate about, where you have a unique perspective and can inspire others to take action. Invite family and friends to attend. You won’t have money or future gigs on the line when you start small, so it’s impossible to fail. The repeated process of having these talks go well will give you the confidence and courage to go after bigger opportunities.
What drives you to get up everyday and give your talks? What is the main empowering message that you aim to share with the world?
Spending time moving outdoors gives people a space to grow, heal, process, and learn to be better versions of themselves. Getting outside is easier to do than we may think. My goal is to reduce the barriers to entry for spending more time outside. But we, as a society, also need to prioritize building spaces where all people feel comfortable doing this.
You have such impressive work. What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now? Where do you see yourself heading from here?
My goal is to help more people come into the life-transforming power of a long-distance hiking experience. One project I’m working on prepares folks for that. Treeline Review is aimed at removing one of the biggest obstacles to getting outdoors — knowing what gear to carry. Outdoor equipment can be expensive. There are so many models available, it can be challenging for folks of all experience levels to know what the best way is to spend their hard-earned money. I founded Treeline Review with my hiking partner to break down those barriers to entry and get more people feeling confident about being outdoors. Although we started with a mission of getting folks inspired to take on long-distance hiking, the company has expanded to skiing, kayaking, mountain biking, and all sorts of other outdoor activities. From here, I see our goal expanding to get people to experience the life-transforming power of nature and being outside in general, as they discover the power of moving in their bodies.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
“You’ve got to ask for the order.” One of my closest friends works in sales — a job I would hate because I’m afraid of putting myself out there. Being a public speaker is fun when companies ask for you to speak at the event. But being a public speaker can be very scary when things are reversed: when I ask to speak at an event they may already have planned — or worse, an event that they create around me. Every time I have to ask to speak somewhere, I channel my friend. I know it won’t happen unless I “ask for the order.” It may not happen, even if I do ask. But it definitely won’t happen if I don’t get the courage to ask.
Ok, thank you for all that. Here is the main question of our interview. What are your “5 Things You Need To Be A Highly Effective Public Speaker?” Please share a story or example for each.
- Purpose: To be an effective public speaker, it helps to figure out what you want to say and why you want to say it. What’s the point of your talk? I write down all my ideas well in advance; it helps me not to write full sentences, though. I did that in the beginning of my speaking career and found a strong temptation to read verbatim from my notes. It just felt so comforting! Now, instead, I write key phrases or ideas. It forces me to do some adlib, which makes for a good presentation and prevents me from giving a boring speech.
- Practice: Before any talk I give, I practice many times to myself. I’ll practice just in front of my computer. Then, I’ll practice in front of family and friends, who can give me feedback. As I become more familiar with my material, talking about it becomes second nature.
- Planning: Something that has greatly helped me is determining what intimidates me about public speaking and planning for it ahead of time. I figure out how to tailor my speech or the event to address my fear. For example, I spoke at a conference in front of professional pedestrian infrastructure experts. I worried about what information I — a hiker and walker — had to offer these experts that they didn’t already know? I was concerned that the audience might not consider me enough of an authority on the topic. So, I planned for the discomfort. I asked the presenter to read my bio before my talk to establish authority. Then, during the talk, I acknowledged the expertise of those in the audience while offering that my perspective could give them a new insight into their everyday work.
- Humility. The Q&A section of a public talk is a prime place for flopping. After all, it’s a lot harder to prepare for this section ahead of time because you never know what will be asked. Practice saying, “That’s a great question. I don’t know the answer right now, but that is something I will look into.” There’s freedom in being able to admit that you aren’t always the expert. Having humility protects you from speaking falsehoods or embarrassing yourself by saying something wrong.
- Presentation (but only sometimes): Having a good talk doesn’t always require having PowerPoint slides. It’s possible to have a compelling talk without slides if you are a good storyteller. I’ve given talks with and without slides and have found that colorful and inspiring photos best serve my area of expertise (the outdoors and hiking). But depending on your topic of expertise, you may find that an audience is more engaged in your material when you don’t use slides.
As you know, many people are terrified of speaking in public. Can you give some of your advice about how to overcome this fear?
The best way to overcome a fear of public speaking is through practice. I recommend talking about a topic you feel passionately about and consider yourself an expert. Start with small groups and low stakes. Then, slowly ramp up the size of your audience.
You are a person of huge influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be?
Compassion. Life is hard enough to navigate without mean people. When we show grace to others and realize that we’re all dealing with something, it makes it easier to appreciate what we do have.
Is there a person in the world whom you would love to have lunch with, and why? Maybe we can tag them and see what happens!
I recently had a chance to see Ragen Chastain speak about size and weight stigma, especially as it relates to health and active people. She structured her talk in a way that balanced findings from rigorous scientific papers, lived experiences, and political insight. I found her argument moving and eye-opening, especially for someone like me whose mission is to get more people outdoors. I was also impressed by how well she structured her presentation to meet the audience where they were in terms of understanding fatphobia. I would love to sit down with her to learn more about her story craft and to learn more about her fascinating background and experience.
Are you on social media? How can our readers follow you online?
I’m running the social account over at @treelinereview on Instagram and Facebook. Check those accounts for updates on where I’m speaking, hiking, and traveling as well as tips on how to break down barriers to getting outdoors!
This was so informative, thank you so much! We wish you continued success!
Liz Thomas On The 5 Things You Need To Be A Highly Effective Public Speaker was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
