How ADHD Shapes the Way I Prepare for a Presentation

In this episode of Speakery Notes, Marcus John Henry Brown explores one of the most important Speakery principles: Do the work. Not glamorous work. Not visible work. Not the kind that earns applause on social media. The quiet, consistent work of showing up — especially on the days you don’t feel like it.Recorded on a groggy, pollen-filled morning in Munich, Marcus reflects on discipline, purpose, creativity, and why the best communicators build confidence through repetition, research, journaling, testing ideas, and turning up when nobody is watching.In this episode:Why confidence is a result of preparation, not personalityHow to build speaking skills through tiny daily habitsWhat Marcus Aurelius and Jerry Seinfeld teach us about consistencyWhy your presentations suffer when your “palette” is too smallHow ADHD, executive paralysis, and resistance can be worked with — not againstNo shortcuts. No magic tricks.Just the work.

What if the biggest risk you can take as a speaker… is simply being yourself?In this episode of Speakery Notes, Marcus John Henry Brown explores one of the most difficult — and most overlooked — principles of communication: knowing yourself.Drawing on personal experience, from hiding behind online personas to navigating a late diagnosis of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Marcus reflects on what it really means to show up authentically on stage.In this episode:Why hiding behind “clever” storytelling can disconnect you from your audienceHow ADHD, burnout, and rejection sensitivity shape the way we communicateThe long, often invisible work of becoming comfortable with who you areAnchored by a line from Hamlet — “to thine own self be true” — this episode is a quiet but direct challenge:Stop performing. Start showing up. Start showing the world who you really are.

What if the way you prepare for a presentation isn’t about discipline — but about how your brain actually works?In this episode of Speakery Notes, Marcus John Henry Brown shares the five-step process behind his presentation preparation — and how it was shaped by the coping mechanisms he'd developed for the neurodiversity he didn't even know he had. From deep research to playful experimentation, from structured storytelling to obsessive rehearsal, Marcus breaks down a method designed not to fight distraction — but to work with it.This isn’t about perfection.It’s about building a system that allows you to show up calm, prepared, and ready to perform — whether you’re stepping onto a conference stage or into a quarterly meeting.In this episode:The difference between practice and rehearsal (and why it matters)How to use “practice playtime” to unlock better ideasA five-step framework for preparing talks without last-minute panicWhy consistency beats intensity when it comes to speakingWhether you identify as neurodivergent or not, this is a practical, human approach to preparing presentations that actually work.

What if getting better at speaking had nothing to do with talent — and everything to do with turning up?In this episode of Speakery Notes, Marcus John Henry Brown explores one of the core principles of Speakery: continuous improvement.Not the dramatic, overnight kind.Not the “hockey stick” fantasy.But the quiet, often invisible work of getting a tiny bit better — every single day.Drawing on examples from driving, stand-up comedy, and his own failures with this very podcast, Marcus breaks down why most speakers stagnate — and what it actually takes to improve.In this episode:Why your first presentation felt terrifying — and why that mattersThe myth of overnight success in speaking and communicationWhat comedians like Jerry Seinfeld and Jimmy Carr understand about practiceHow to build a simple habit of incremental improvement that actually sticksNo shortcuts. No big leaps.Just the work.

Speakery Notes returns with a solo episode — and a single question:Why?After a quiet hiatus, Marcus John Henry Brown explores what he calls a growing crisis of why — a subtle but widespread failure at the heart of modern communication.From keynote stages to corporate presentations, from podcasts to panels, something is missing. Not content. Not confidence. But clarity.Drawing on thousands of hours spent analysing and training speakers, Marcus breaks down the one question most people avoid — and why it matters more than anything else you say.In this episode:Why audiences disengage (even when the content is “good”)Why most presentations fail before they beginA simple framework — W-H-Y — to help you reconnect your message to meaning

On this episode of Speakery Notes, we're joined by Will Rolls, a leading expert in creative effectiveness and marketing science. As a consultant and educator for Meta’s top clients in the DACH region, Will has a wealth of experience in driving creative strategies that deliver results. He’s the author behind the official Facebook Blueprint Creative Strategy exams and the Effectiveness Guidelines for GWA Effie Germany. With extensive jury experience, including the prestigious GWA Effie and Deutsche Digitalaward, Will has a unique perspective on what makes presentations really stand out. He also lectures at the Hamburg School of Ideas, sharing his insights with the next generation of creative minds. Beyond the world of advertising, Will recently embraced a new challenge: stand-up comedy, blending creativity and performance in exciting ways. Tune in for an in-depth conversation on creative strategy, and presentation techniques, with practical presentation insights that business leaders and marketing professionals can apply to their own work.

Natalia Talkowska is an award-winning serial entrepreneur and the CEO and founder of Natalka Design. She is a strategic communications specialist and a 6-time TEDx Speaker. Her company is trusted by the British government, the royal family, and Fortune 500. There are two parts to today's Speakery notes. In the second half, Natalia takes us through what she loves to talk about and her experiences as a six-time TEDx speaker and supplies us with helpful tips to help any struggling speaker. The first half, however, deals with scribbling, drawing and documenting the words and ideas of others. You see, I first saw Natalia sitting in the audience, apple pen in hand, drawing the words that were coming out of my mouth. We hope you enjoy this episode.

Tamar Broadbent is a writer, performer and musician. She has written and toured multiple comedy and theatre shows across Europe, North America and Australia, has written for BBC Radio 4 and was a main stage cast member at the renowned improv theatre Boom Chicago in Amsterdam. In the corporate world, she is a charming, funny and versatile MC who can sing improvised songs about winners of company awards or chair talk-show-style meetings to be broadcast across the globe. She has hosted everything from in-house partner conferences to large-scale forums like the Nordic Business Forum, with 7600+ attendees and special guests like Brene Brown and George Clooney. She's an absolute delight to work with. Her insights in hosting conferences and events and her take on improvisation and presenting are gold. I highly recommend that you book her if you're looking for a Speaker coach or a host for your event. You can contact her here at https://www.tamarbroadbent.com/ and on LinkedIn. Book her. She's aces.

Louisa Heinrich is the founder and Chief Consultant at Superhuman. As you will hear, she endeavours to put technology in the service of people. Louisa has been chipping away at the fuzzy grey coalface of technology for the past twenty-seven years. Last year, she returned to the speaker circuit with her remarkable new keynote, "⁠Not dead yet⁠, " because, thankfully, she isn't. She's wickedly wonderful, immensely talented, and on the podcast! In this episode, Louisa shares her presentation tips and tricks, how she uses conferences as a workshop for ideas and what it was like to finally stage in front of an audience after years of being away from the stage. Her new keynote, "Not dead yet", is powerful, insightful and highly relevant for individuals and organisations.

In this episode of Speakery Notes, I sat down with the artist ⁠Eric Drass⁠ to discuss presenting artificial intelligence, art, studio assistants and how anybody can use ChatGPT to have an argument.  Throw a stick at LinkedIn, and you'll hit a keynote or presentation about artificial intelligence, chatGPT or Midjourney. It seems that everybody and their line manager is an expert on AI–we all know that some prompters are more qualified than others to talk about what artificial intelligence is and what it means to contemporary living and working, so I thought I'd grab an actual expert, who has an actual track record for actually using the bloody stuff: Eric Drass.  Eric Drass is an artist making work in a range of media, from painting to music to machine-learning AI art. Some of his favourite themes are identity, consciousness, the philosophical ramifications of artificial intelligence, big data and the relationship between humans and machines. He likes to talk about these things whenever he is given the chance. He was recently part of The Royal Insitute's Christmas Lecture, ⁠where he presented AI art to hundreds of children⁠. He currently has two talks called AI WTF? and The Truth, Post-Truth & Nothing Like The Truth. ⁠So book him now⁠. He's incredible. Your audiences will adore him.