Public Speaking Workshop and Mind Reading at NetApp's Pride Celebration in Cork

The Public Speaking Workshop

The idea behind the day was straightforward. Leadership in the corporate world often comes down to the ability to speak in public and NetApp wanted to give their employees something genuinely useful. I walked the room through the traps people fall into with public speaking and shared some of the techniques that actually help.

Two fears come up time and again. The obvious one is the fear of failure. Saying the wrong thing, forgetting your words, being judged by the room. But the one people don't always talk about is the fear of success. That quiet voice that says you don't really belong up there. Imposter syndrome. Both are real and both hold people back in ways that are worth understanding.

One of the things I always come back to is this: bravery isn't doing something without fear. It's being afraid and doing it anyway. You'll always be nervous before you speak. That's not something to fight against, because the nerves are there because you care about the outcome. The goal isn't to remove the fear. It's to channel it so it works for you.

There were some brilliant questions from the room and a real level of engagement throughout. People were sharing their own experiences and getting involved, which is exactly what makes a session like this actually land. You can feel when a group is genuinely open to it and this group absolutely was.

Lunch and the Second Half

After the workshop we broke for lunch. NetApp fed me too, which was really appreciated. It's always a good sign when an organisation has that kind of warmth toward the people they bring in.

Then came the second half: the mind reading show. I got to demonstrate the kind of presence and confidence we'd been talking about in the workshop and it was a nice way to close the loop for the room. Standing up and performing in front of people is one of the main ways I've built that confidence myself, so it felt like a natural way to bring the day together.

The Mind Reading Show

The crowd was fantastic. We had a psychic murder mystery that had the whole room gripped, someone's mind was read about a friend they hadn't spoken to in a while and one person discovered they were far stronger than they'd ever given themselves credit for. Real reactions, great energy and a room that gave everything back to me.

There's something that works particularly well about doing a mind reading show after a workshop like this. People come in already in an open, curious headspace and the show takes them somewhere completely different. The afternoon had a great rhythm to it because of that.

The Office and the View

I have to say something about the office itself. NetApp's Cork base is genuinely stunning. Panoramic windows looking out over the River Lee and right there in the water below, the new Spanish-style tall ship moored along the quay. It's one of those offices where you look out the window between conversations and just think: what a place to work.

Pride Month and What It Means to Belong

The whole day was built around Pride Month and I really loved that framing. The message at the heart of it was that people can belong and be completely themselves in the workplace. That's something people value more deeply than they sometimes get to say out loud and I really felt it in the room at NetApp. There was a genuine warmth and openness to the whole day from start to finish.

A workplace is somewhere you spend so much of your life and to be able to show up as exactly who you are matters enormously. I wish everyone at NetApp the very best and I'd genuinely love to be back for a future event.