The Safety Net of the Stage Persona

To be fair, that persona was convincing. Always cheerful. Lightly surprised. Never rushed. Never rattled.

For a long time, I justified it by telling myself I’d come to show business late — in my mid-twenties — and needed to catch up with performers who’d been honing their craft since childhood. They’d grown naturally into who they were on stage. I’d had to manufacture it.

And for a while, it worked. My emcee career took off quickly, my confidence grew, and so did my pay.

The Wake-Up Call

But when I tried to move beyond social and lifestyle events into serious corporate work, I hit a wall. My growth as a performer had plateaued.

Then came the wake-up call: a few tough gigs, some unkind feedback — and one agent who said bluntly, “It doesn’t always have to be the Peter Miller Show.”

That stung — but it was true.

If I wanted to progress, something had to change. And the truth was, the only thing holding me back was the mask I thought I needed.

“Be a Bigger Version of Yourself”

My mentor, Ron Tacchi, once told me, “Be a bigger version of yourself.”

Simple advice — but following it was the real challenge. Because the question became: Who exactly was myself?

At the time, my biggest fear was that my real self wasn’t good enough. That if I dropped the act, the audience would see the cracks — see me as unqualified, or worse, as an imposter with low self-esteem.

But if I wanted to upgrade my career, I had to upgrade my self-image. Otherwise, I’d stay stuck exactly where I was.

The Shift

That decision marked the start of a long journey of self-discovery — one that continues today.

Everything changed when I finally allowed myself to just be me on stage. To stop saying what I thought the audience wanted to hear. To say what I actually felt in the moment.

That’s when I started to truly enjoy my work — and when audiences began to respond with genuine respect.

“Public speaking isn’t just about expressing your message — it’s about discovering who you are while expressing it.”

The Real Gift

Every time you step on stage, you meet a more honest version of yourself. That’s the real power of communication — it’s not performance, it’s discovery.

Public speaking is one of the most powerful forms of personal development you can ever experience. It forces honesty. It builds courage. And eventually, it reveals the person you were trying to play all along.

When you stop hiding behind your stage persona, you stop performing — and start connecting.

Resistance Always Finds a Good Excuse

There’s always a reason to wait. A better camera, a newer website, a more perfect script. But what we’re really waiting for is the fear to go away — and it never does.

So resistance wins. Quietly. Respectably. Hidden behind productivity that doesn’t actually produce anything.

Perfectionism Is Fear in a Fancy Suit

Perfectionism feels noble — but it’s really just control. We think if everything’s flawless, no one can criticise us. But audiences don’t want perfection — they want honesty, personality, and clarity.

Your “rough draft” version is already more useful than your “never published” masterpiece.

“You don’t beat resistance by waiting to feel ready — you beat it by doing the work anyway.”

Start Messy, Then Improve Publicly

The trick is to launch ugly. Publish something small, unfinished, human. Then fix it in public. That’s how trust is built — not through polish, but through progress.

Every course, every post, every performance gets sharper because you showed up before you felt perfect.

Teach What You Know, Learn as You Go

You don’t have to be the world’s best expert — just a few steps ahead of the people you want to help. Your experience, your mistakes, your perspective — that’s your curriculum.

Once you realise your story is the content, resistance starts to lose its grip.

Final Takeaway

Resistance never disappears — it just waits for the next big thing you care about. But you’ve beaten it before. You’ll beat it again. Every time you show up, speak up, or hit “publish,” you prove that courage is stronger than doubt.

Done is better than perfect — and courage always creates momentum.