What’s scarier than being in the spotlight?

This week the Cornell Keynotes podcast from eCornell revisits one of its earliest and most popular episodes.

Acclaimed actor, physician and professor at the Cornell College of Arts & Sciences David Feldshuh joins host Nick Phillips to share methods for speaking with confidence and moving past fear into connection.

"Ultimately, executive presence is about a relationship. Can you make the other person feel as if they are the most important person in the room and that you really want to connect with them? That you believe in what you're saying and you want them to get it? It doesn't matter what your accent is. It doesn't matter whether you speak even loudly or softly, as long as you can be heard, and if you can speak with a purpose. And this kind of training is not magic. When you think of public speaking, one of the reasons it's frightening is it seems like you don't know what is going on. It's a skill set. There's a series of skills that you can get to give yourself a way to move past the fear into connection."

—David Feldshuh

Learn how to manage stage fright and connect with listeners in our recast episode, Conquering Our Biggest Fear: Public Speaking.

eCornell offers more than 200 online certificate programs to help professionals advance their careers and organization. Ready to develop new skills for public speaking and leadership? Explore David Feldshuh’s online Executive Presence certificate program from eCornell.

Visit Simplecast to read more about this episode, and join Cornell’s most celebrated scholars and industry experts for candid conversations on trending topics and current events by subscribing to the Cornell Keynotes podcast.

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Quotes have been edited for clarity.