STOP Memorizing Your Presentation Script (with Courtney Stanley) | Ep. 17

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Check out more at cvent.com/Jay

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🔗 Links / Resources Mentioned

• Courtney Stanley's website: courtney-stanley.com
• Courtney on social: @courtneyonstage
• Dare to Interrupt podcast (search on your platform of choice)

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If you've ever been asked to host a panel or present at a conference for the first time and immediately felt the dread set in, this episode is for you. Kristin Nagle sits down with Courtney Stanley, global keynote speaker and executive presence coach, to answer the question first-time moderators wrestle with most: what's the one thing you need to know before you take the stage?

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Courtney's answer covers why nerves are completely normal (and what happens to them once you're actually up there), why memorizing every line is working against you, and how the best speakers think about their role before they ever open their mouths. It's part mental game, part preparation strategy, and part mindset shift.

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👤 Guest Bio

Courtney Stanley is a global keynote speaker, executive presence coach, and the creator and host of Dare to Interrupt, a podcast featuring influential women in the events, hospitality, and tourism industry. She is the youngest person ever elected to Meeting Professionals International's (MPI) International Board of Directors and co-founded #MeetingsToo, the industry movement to prevent sexual misconduct at events. As CEO of Courtney Stanley Consulting, LLC, she has spent over 15 years helping professionals lead more authentically and speak with genuine confidence from the stage.

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✅ The Event Question

Asked by: Kristin Nagle, Host

The question: With all of your experience, what's one tip that you'd give anyone hosting or moderating their first session?

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📌 What You'll Learn

• The time leading up to taking the stage is the hardest part. Once you're in flow and in conversation, you'll fall into a cadence that feels more natural than you expected. Know that going in.

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• Public speaking is a mental game. Breathing through the nerves and staying as present as possible is the single best thing you can do, not just for yourself but for the people you're there to serve.

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• Know your material at about 80%. If your slides went down and your notes disappeared, you should be able to carry yourself through. That remaining 20% isn't a gap: it's what lets you ebb and flow, handle the unexpected, and actually be with your audience instead of just delivering at them.

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• Over-scripting is a trap. Spending weeks memorizing line by line, slide by slide, puts the priority on getting content out rather than being truly present in the room. Audiences can feel that difference, and they tune out.

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• Make the whole experience about the audience. Use situational awareness, social awareness, and emotional intelligence to pulse-check the room in real time. Are they excited? Zoning out? Distracted? The answer to that question should be shaping what you do next.

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• Public speaking is about resilience and the comeback. Things will happen that you cannot predict or plan for. Your ability to roll with it, change directions, and keep going is what separates a good speaker from an excellent one.

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• Start with an engagement activity. Get the audience talking to each other, laughing, or sharing before you get into the content. You're there to facilitate an experience, not deliver a monologue.

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🎭 The Ridiculous Question

Kristin asks: What's your most hype walkout song if you could choose one every time you take the stage?

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Courtney's answer, without hesitation: "Countdown" by Beyoncé. It has a built-in countdown at the top that gets people pumped, and she loves it so much she also builds music cues into her sessions throughout. Her position: music changes everything in a live experience.