Public speaking is an extremely valuable life skill to have, however it doesn’t always come naturally to people. Fernando Miralles developed Saber Comunicar to assist these people in building their skills and allowing them to learn how to communicate ideas to an audience confidently and effectively.
With both online and in person classes available, students from around the world are seeing an improvement in their public speaking skills thanks to Fernando and Saber Comunicar.
Hi Fernando, what motivated you to start Saber Comunicar and when did it all begin?
I started Saber Comunicar with the idea of being able to help a million people to communicate better and to be able to feel the empowerment that comes with it.
Ever since I was a kid, I’ve always preferred to talk politics and engage in friendly debates with my parents and their friends instead of playing along with others my age, for example, playing soccer or things like that.
At school, I would always study political debates and did humorous monologues in class whenever I could.
However, it was really in college when I enhanced my communication skills and saw the enormous potential of knowing how to communicate effectively.
After winning the Spanish public speaking championship for Toastmasters International, I decided to give 100% to help a million people communicate better.
We all have a message to convey and learning to speak in public is giving your dreams a loudspeaker.
What is the most common problem you see in professionals needing public speaking coaching?
There are two types of people looking to improve their communication skills:
Those who are shy and suffer when it comes to getting their message across if there is more than one recipient; and those who speak very well but don’t know how to communicate, which are actually two very different concepts.
Those who are shy and get going in the world of public speaking tend to have no problem making progress and their difficulties are often solved in the first couple of sessions.
It’s very simple really: nobody cares about us when we go out and speak in public. The people listening to you are way more concerned about what is thought about them than thinking about you. Therefore, you must focus on enjoying yourself and bringing out your very best version, because the audience only really care about themselves. It’s the vanity of human beings.
From there on, I have an accelerated teaching method for you to learn with a 100% practical approach.
How does Saber Comunicar differentiate itself from other communication consulting firms?
Well, the main difference can be found at the root of the company. Saber Comunicar is not born from journalism or other common branches of communication. It’s born from the heart of competition in public speaking. From the search for excellence in every word. From the study in the impact of certain phonemes and how using certain structures are able to help us achieve a certain goal.
Furthermore, we believe and apply from our methodology a learning based purely on practice. We are firm believers that the only way to properly learn how to speak in public is by speaking in public. This makes the student the main character while the instructors remain as coaches and trainers. It´s taught in a very fun way. The valuation in all our trainings is maximum.
You recently created a TikTok profile to help people with speaking publicly, how do you help them via TikTok?
TikTok is a great way to reach a young audience… and not so young!
People believe TikTok is a social network for just kids and teens, but I have a great following from managers, businessmen and entrepreneurs from all over the world.
These social platforms allow us to “speak in public” in this new digital era. Where before you had to gather 50 or 100 people in one place to transmit an idea, a dream or a message, you now have the chance to communicate and impact the world just by clicking a button.
Therefore, taking advantage of this magical medium to train people, what I do is offer small “pills” of practical and simple knowledge so that they are aware that they can do better. I also analyze politicians, actors and famous YouTubers so my audience can visualize and understand every concept I explain.
This format is very popular and we’ve already come to gather 230,000 followers on TikTok (as of today).
To excel in public speaking, what would you say are the three most essential things speakers need to do?
In order to excel in public speaking there are 3 essential things you need to do:
- Keep it original. It is crucial as a speaker that you do not succumb to the temptation of falling into character. You will see many actors who, when playing their role, do not feel fear, nor suffer from the thought of what others may think, however, when they go back to being themselves they tend to have a really hard time. In 21st century public speaking, the audience is looking for the legitimacy and vulnerability of the speaker. They no longer want to see rock stars. They are looking for a normal, ordinary person.
- Think only about the audience. Another of the biggest mistakes speakers make is to focus on themselves. Presenting yourself for 20 minutes? No one cares. Why would your audience care? Hell no. Thinking about what could position you as the best in your field? Forget it. Again, the importance lies within the audience. If you want to succeed as a speaker you have to develop the art of thinking only about the audience and I guarantee, you will see great results.
- Always train, keep hustling. Usually people who are not aware of their problems or difficulties think they don’t need training, but they are gravely mistaken. People need to learn to take their communication skills to the next level. By attending trainings, we learn from all the knowledge of high-level speakers in a short period of time. The same goes for people who already think they know everything about an area: you can always learn from someone else and accelerate your improvement process.
By keeping it original when communicating, thinking only about your audience and being in continuous training, you will be a great speaker.
What are the benefits of choosing private coaching over group-based training? What is the purpose of each method?
Well, they are completely different things. When I am asked for a private training, it’s always people who greatly value their privacy and time, and who are aware that they need to improve a lot in the art of communication.
In my case at Saber Comunicar, I work with virtual reality and immersive scenario simulation experiences to be able to offer the individual client the feeling and adrenaline of an actual audience.
Disadvantages: It tends to be a little less realistic because you don’t have a real audience in front of you.
Advantages: You can receive more customised training.
In a group it’s different. You get less customised training, but by working in a group you not only learn from your own interventions, but you also learn from the interventions of others.
The combination of both is a very good option to be able to improve faster in the acquisition of skills.
Thank you Fernando for your time!
You can follow up with Fernando Miralles at https://sabercomunicar.com
