This article gives a brief interview/profile of Linc Trimble, currently Senior V.P. of Torus Specialty Insurance, who began his career truly fearing public speaking worse than death yet learned to conquer his fears and achieve a great deal of business success with public speaking. Linc’s story should inspire readers to stop avoiding speaking to groups and offer a new perspective on business success.
Lily: So, when did you begin public speaking?
Linc: Well, I really started when I had to give oral presentations in junior high school. I was desperately afraid of public speaking, and I truly did fear it worse than death. It was a total, irrational fear.
Lily: How did you handle your fear?
Linc: I worked around my limitation by doing everything I could to avoid public speaking!
Lily: When did that change for you?
Linc: Finally, after college, I got into a job where I couldn’t avoid it anymore. I was 25 years old. My job was to fly around the country presenting a product to banks, so I had no choice. I had to learn how to do public speaking or face unemployment. Once in those early years I had to do a presentation to the Board of Directors of a major company, and I remember even now how scared I was. As I sat there waiting to be called in to give my presentation, I could see my tie moving because my heart was beating so fast!
Lily: How did you tackle the problem?
Linc: Well, I developed a couple of tricks on my own that made me feel a lot better about public speaking. First, I started topractice my presentation out loud to myself three times, which I still do today. I even use that technique to prepare myself for important phone calls or interviews. Practicing three times did two things for me. First, it uncovered what I call “logic traps” or snags where I’d make a statement and later in my talk accidentally contradict myself. Second, practicing out loud helped me latch onto touchphrases that felt right or flowed for me. Doing this also helped me realize that I didn’t have to remember to say everything the “right” way, so that took a lot of the pressure off for me.
Lily: Has public speaking advanced your career?
Linc: Absolutely! At any conference where you present, people in the audience just assume you’re an expert. Every time I go onstage, I’m approached afterward with multiple business opportunities. This has brought in millions of dollars worth of business over the years. Once you’re seen regularly and become known as a good speaker, you’re asked to speak more often, which leads to getting even more business, and so on. The bigger the audience, the better. Now I regularly prepare and give presentations for my team, my bosses and prospective business partners. We’re facing 30 presentations in the next week alone. And I enjoy it.
At the present time, Linc is working with Boomerang to lose a dependence on Powerpoint and become an invincible public speaker under any circumstance!
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