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Episode 11

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Published on:

3rd Nov 2025

Episode 11: How We Survived Our Biggest Speaking Flops

Failure happens on stage and off.

In this roundtable, Brian Miller, Ioana (Jo) Jongsma, and Francisco Mahfuz share their most painful speaking fails from a joke that died in the opening line, to a mass walk-out mid-talk, to offending a client with a poorly framed stat, and the exact fixes they use today. You’ll get practical tools to prevent repeats, recover in the moment, and turn misses into material.

What you’ll learn:

  • Why opening with humor often backfires (and how to signal it so it lands)
  • Where to test new material (hint: never first or last)
  • How to use stakes and statistics without triggering guilt or defensiveness
  • Reading the room: audience, culture, and context cues to adjust on the fly
  • The “great talk, no bookings” trap and how to set success metrics upfront
  • Simple recovery lines and pivots when the room goes cold (or leaves)

🎙 The SpeakerPath® Podcast is from Clarity Up, a boutique message design firm that teaches smart people how to explain their big ideas to the rest of us.

Connect with our hosts:

Brian Miller, Founder & Principal Messaging Consultant:https://linkedin.com/in/brianmillerspeaks

Ioana (Jo) Jongsma, Presence & Performance Coach: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ioana-jongsma/

Francisco Mahfuz, Story Specialist & Lead Consultant: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fmahfuz

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About the Podcast

The SpeakerPath®
Ideas don't speak for themselves. People do.
Discover the art and business of professional speaking. Your host is Brian Miller, a former magician turned international keynote speaker and award winning speechwriter, who now runs Clarity Up, a message design firm that teaches experts how to explain their big ideas to the rest of us. Joining Brian is his team of world class consultants, including Francisco Mahfuz, a storytelling specialist, and Ioana (Jo) Jongsma, a presence and performance coach. Together, they'll explore the vast and nebulous world of professional speaking, both on and off stage.

About your hosts

Francisco Mahfuz

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Story Specialist & Lead Consultant

Francisco Mahfuz has always loved speaking, even before he had anything useful to say. He's been telling stories in front of audiences for a decade, and even became a National Champion of public speaking.


Today, he’s a keynote speaker and storytelling coach trusted by global organizations to inspire teams and individuals to communicate more effectively through intentional storytelling, and his clients include PepsiCo, HP, the United Nations, Santander and Cornell University.

He's the author of "Bare: A Guide to Brutally Honest Public Speaking”, the host of The Storypowers Podcast, and he teaches communication at IESE, one of the top 10 MBAs in the world.

Francisco is certified to take clients through Conquer the Red Dot®, and also supports The SpeakerPath™ by helping program participants find, clarify, and tell their stories.

Brian Miller

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Founder & Principal Consultant

Brian Kenneth Miller abandoned a PhD track in analytic philosophy to do card tricks for a living. Today he is one of the most sought-after voices in multiple fields, from corporate culture to public speaking to message clarity.

With a career spanning 18 years and five continents, Brian has honed his skills in engaging and transforming audiences worldwide. He’s worked with hundreds of teams as small as 4 and as large as 100,000, plus as a private consultant for dozens of industry experts.

Brian’s work has touched fields as diverse as education, cybersecurity, psychology, marine biology, the law, professional sports, marketing, healthcare, wealth management, climate communication, animal rights, data analytics, and mental health.

As a human connection specialist, he has profoundly influenced organizations and educators, helping them create cultures where every individual feels heard, understood, and valued. His influential TEDx talk, 'How to Magically Connect with Anyone,' has garnered over 3.6 million views, igniting a global conversation about the essence of human connection.

Today Brian is the founder of Clarity Up LLC, where he is still the principal consultant. There, Brian and his team teach experts, leaders, and speakers to clarify their communication, earn buy-in from the people who matter most, and drive action on their Big Ideas.

Brian’s philosophy is, "everything that can be said, can be said clearly,” - and he holds himself, his team, and his clients to that highest standard.

Ioana (Jo) Jongsma

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Ioana (Jo) Jongsma
Presence & Performance Specialist
ICF Associate Certified Coach
Gestalt Professional Certified Coach

Ioana (Jo) Jongsma is an introvert who loves Public Speaking - and is on a mission to help leaders and experts have Speaking experiences that they absolutely LOVE.

Jo has been helping speakers find their words since 2008.
To date, she has worked with over 400 leaders, experts, founders, and policymakers of 47 different nationalities and across industries ranging from Tech, FMCG, Pharma, and Energy to Finance, Logistics, Agribusiness and European Commission Agencies.
She has also supported 24 speakers at 9 TEDx Events across Europe, the US, UK and India.

Jo's belief is that talent is overrated. Public Speaking and Leadership Presence are not just for the lucky few. Anyone can be a compelling communicator, once they understand themselves – their brain and body – and get their biology to work for them, rather than against them.

Jo is a NeuroMindfulness Master Practitioner certified by the Neuromindfulness Institute and a Gestalt and ICF Certified Coach.

Jo is the Presence and Performance Specialist at Clarity Up LLC.
As part of The SpeakerPath™️, she helps program participants express themselves confidently, authentically and with impact.