The world’s worst podcaster returns with episode 2 of Speakery Notes. This time I’m chatting to the wonderful ⁠Vikki Ross⁠ about her ⁠Isolated Talk⁠, her struggle with speaking words (she’s very good at writing them), about anxiety, stress, wine and swearing more than Mark Ritson.

Vikki shares her experiences with public speaking and self-perception. She discusses her participation in “isolated talks,” where she faced the camera alone without any technical enhancements, relying solely on her ability to work with a Word document. Despite her extensive experience, Ross confesses to feeling more nervous recording herself in her living room than speaking on stage. To maintain focus and avoid veering off-topic, she meticulously wrote and read her speech word for word.

Ross also reflects on her participation in the Melt event in Mumbai, where she experienced intense nervousness from the invitation until her performance. Despite her anxiety, when she reviewed the video of her talk, she was surprised to find that she appeared calm and in control, speaking slowly and engaging with the audience, contrary to her self-perception at the time. She admits to having printed her speech and followed it closely during her talk, fearing she would appear nervous and speak too quickly. This experience highlighted a discrepancy between her self-perception and reality, leading her to always prefer using notes, as she distrusts her ability to speak without them.

I adore her, and I know that you will too. Hope you enjoy it. It’s sweary.