Motivation, humor, and honesty from a man actively dodging a midlife crisis so you can too.
Speaking on stage in front of thousands of people for 60 minutes can feel like a ridiculously long time.
This is what I do almost every week.
I've delivered over 400 talks to worldwide brands.
Sometimes the audience has thousands.
Other times it's hundreds.
Today I deliver talks without PowerPoint slides.
Just me, the microphone, and the audience.
It wasn't always this way.
When I began speaking on college campuses well over 10 years ago, I used PowerPoint presentations to guide me.
The slides kept me safe. They told me where to go next.
This is also when I learned an important lesson:
You don’t find out if you’re a professional speaker until the day the projector breaks and you have to deliver anyway.
About three years ago, I stopped using slides.
The talks became a live experience, not a corporate presentation.
Every room became its own show.
When you're tied to a PowerPoint, it’s hard to adjust.
You're stuck to the script.
Without slides, you can shift in real time.
You can remove stories. Add stories. React to the room.
Slow down. Speed up.
You're the pilot.
You decide where the plane goes.
Not everyone wants to be the pilot.
Even though my talks have consistent themes, stories, and arcs, if you saw me three days in a row, each talk would feel different.
Because I'm different every time I hit the stage.
The audience is different.
What the person said on stage before me can influence me.
Something topical in the news might come up.
Something funny might happen that I bring into the moment.
It’s like playing catch with the audience. Throw, react, adjust.
Again, an hour can be a long time.
Especially when things aren't going well.
It can feel like being naked in the cold.
I've had 60-minute talks that felt like two weeks.
I've had 60-minute talks that felt like five minutes.
You never know if the content will land or if you'll have to adjust mid-flight.
You never know if the audience will be with you.
Or sit there, arms crossed, silently saying “earn it.”
Something I had to learn the hard way is when it’s not going well, don’t force it.
Don’t get louder.
Don’t try to win the room.
Don’t panic.
Professionals trust the material.
They do their job.
Sometimes it can take ten minutes for the room to warm up with you.
Sometimes they never do.
Either way, you keep flying the plane.
A great speaker knows where they're going even when they have to be flexible getting there.
Life has its own stage.
It's good to have a foundation.
It's good to have a plan.
And there are seasons when the road ahead is open.
The stories that move you forward aren’t just the ones you rehearsed, but the ones that happen in real time.
What matters is the reps.
The work.
The trust in yourself.
My talks aren’t always perfect.
Some days I stumble.
Some days everything clicks.
The beauty is in doing it live.
Trusting what you know while staying open to what happens in the moment.
Antonio
Author - The 1-Day Method & Stop Living on Autopilot
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