"You did everything wrong Heather. But it just...worked. Please don't ever becom
By Accessible Ai · October 13, 2026 · Curated by George's Blog
"You did everything wrong Heather. But it just...worked. Please don't ever become slick." - Jeremy Nicholas, Speaking Coach, last Friday
I headlined two amazing financial adviser conferences last week: Aegon's Engage 2026 in London and The Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment (The CISI)'s Financial Planning conference in Windsor.
It's not too often you see someone like me on stages at events like this. Bright red hair, thick Brummy accent, and brimming with nervous (excited) energy.
I’m meant to speak slowly, and leave...big...gaps...between...gah, I can’t even type it. I get too excited, I’ve got so much to say!
I’m meant to stroll on boldly and hook you in with something compelling before I’ve introduced myself. I don’t, I sort of skip on and jump straight into it.
I’m meant to have perfectly rehearsed slides and a clicker. I dont. For some (masochistic) reason, I bring my own laptop do live demos almost every single time. Things go wrong when using AI. I think it’s important to see that*
I’m meant to be confident too, aren't I? Speakers = confident. Nope. Experience means I now give an Oscar-worthy performance of masking my nerves, but behind that grin is a heart beating 5x its normal rate, probably a poor night's sleep and sweaty palms I pray nobody tries to shake. It never goes away, I've just got sort of...used to it.
But, as Jeremy said, despite all this, it (somehow) really works. I’ve had nothing but glowing feedback from my speaking gigs over the last 4 years, and an unbroken 5/5 client rating.
People can genuinely feel how much I care what that audience thinks. That they’re listening, and really learning useful stuff. People can smell a fraud, and I think my passion for all things AI bursts out of me.
What I’m saying is: don’t be afraid to do things your own way. Pattern interrupt. Break the mould. Be your weird self. It's quite refreshing in a line-up of perfect speakers. You definitely don’t need to be slick to be successful.
I’m now taking bookings for 2027, with Vegas, Vienna and Bangkok already in the diary for Feb/March. Drop Sharona Hutton a DM if you’d like to book me in.
*Let’s all forget Marketing Meetup’s Campfire Stories where things when a little TOO wrong, but hey...we live, we learn, we cringe every time we think of it