I'm Alex Perry, owner of Practically Speaking and host of the Practically Speaking podcast where we talk about what it takes to speak with confidence, whether you're speaking to one person or a thousand.

Let me tell you how all of this got started. I've been going to conferences, listening to top performers and speaking gurus my whole life.  For years, I watched people on stage always thinking "I could do that... man I would love to do that" and for years I didn't pursue that dream because I was scared.

I was scared that I didn't have enough talent or skill. I didn't want to do it wrong. I was terrified of making a fool of myself. And I basically didn't want to be rejected by society, so I worked hard to be what I thought others wanted me to be.

All the while spending years as a Speech-Language Pathologist, helping people regain the ability to speak after injuries or illness. When it comes to the ups downs, ins, and outs of speaking, there's a little I haven't seen or worked with before.

Then through an unlikely series of twists and turns, I started my own company Practically Speaking, where I've coached hundreds of speakers from CEOs to young graduates to TEDx speakers and all kinds of people in between, helping them become clear and confident speakers.  And in 2019 I gave my first TEDx talk.

I created the Practically Speaking podcast as a safe space where we can talk for real about what it takes to speak up in a world that's constantly telling us what, when and how we should speak.

Once a week, I'll be bringing you an episode that's designed around you, the person who longs to speak like a pro, whether that's in the board room, on a stage, or at home.

You can find that practically Speaking Podcast, wherever you get your favorite podcasts, make sure you hit the subscribe button,  share this with your friends and follow me on social media.

You can find me on LinkedIn at Alex Perry and on Facebook or Instagram at @pswithalex.  I know you, you have got something to say and I'm here to help.