DJ Glenn Burke | 29 November 2025

Every Great Speech Begins With a Journey Inward

Two years ago, I was sitting where you are today.
I thought speaking was something people were just meant to write down and practise — especially when the moment really matters.

On that day (29th November 2023), I wrote a blog post about how to craft a speech. It was good… but it wasn’t any better than every other article out there. I genuinely believed I was giving people something useful — tips, structure, reminders. A tidy list of things to do. Tone, length, do’s and don’ts. A process to tick off.

It helped, but it didn’t change anyone.
It told people what to do, but not how to find their voice.

The truth is simple:
Whether it’s a wedding speech, a heartfelt thank-you or a few sincere words you want to share, you sit down to write and suddenly realise the real challenge isn’t nerves or public speaking. It’s having so much to say — yet no language that feels big enough, honest enough, or you enough to carry it.

So you shrink. 🌪️

I learned that the hard way.
When I first tried to write or speak about anything with emotional weight, the words always came out smaller than the feeling behind them. It wasn’t that I didn’t know what I wanted to say — it was that I hadn’t yet developed the language to hold it.

Most of us never learn that part.
We’re taught grammar, structure and technique, but nobody teaches you how to express love, gratitude, admiration or vulnerability in a way that comes straight from your inner-being.

Then I found A.I. 🧩

Not in the “write my speech for me” sense, but in the quiet, unexpected way it gives you space to explore language — to ask questions, try different tones and shape the emotion behind your thoughts until something finally clicks. It becomes less about writing a speech and more about uncovering the words that were already inside you, waiting to be found.

A great speech doesn’t need external validation or a magic broomstick 🧹 — it needs you.

🧠 Your intellect gives it structure.
🔍 Your curiosity gives it depth.
❤️ Your heart gives it life.
🦁 Your courage gives it meaning.

And when you let yourself question, explore, seek guidance and chase wisdom —
and follow your own path —
And even here on the Emerald Isle — a place built on stories — when the hardest one to tell is often your own…
that’s when you discover your soul.

The words were always inside you. 🔮

Start by telling your story — fully, honestly, and without worrying about structure

The first step in developing your voice with AI is simply to tell your story. Not the polished version you think you should say — the real, human version. The version you’d tell a close friend over a quiet conversation. How you met. What drew you to the person. The early memories that still carry warmth. The turning points. The inside jokes. The imperfections that became part of the charm.

The more you share, the more the AI has to work with — and the more accurately it can reflect the tone, humour, warmth and emotional texture of your voice. Think of it as opening a door a little wider each time. Your story gives AI the emotional parameters. It shows the AI what matters to you.

Write as much as you can. Don’t hold back. At this stage, more is better — even if it feels too long or too unfiltered. You’re creating a foundation you’ll eventually sculpt, and a strong foundation makes everything easier later on.

Use AI to explore the language that expresses your feelings with clarity

Once you’ve shared your story, this is where the real transformation begins. You can ask the AI to rewrite parts of your draft using different tones: more romantic, more heartfelt, more humorous, more poetic or more grounded. You can even ask AI to use seductive language for your wedding speech. Seductive language isn’t sexual — it’s the kind of language that gently draws people in, warms the room and makes the moment feel intimate and human.

You can ask it to explain why certain sections carry more emotional weight. You can ask it to soften a line, amplify a moment or help you understand why something feels almost right — but not quite.

This is where you learn.
This is where your voice starts to grow.

You begin to understand why one word feels gentle and another feels firm. How a shift in rhythm can deepen emotional tone. How a single sentence can change an entire moment. You start to notice the difference between language that sounds pretty and language that feels true.

AI doesn’t give you new feelings — it gives you new ways to express the feelings you already have. It helps you build a vocabulary that matches the depth of your thoughts. And naturally, as you do that, you gain more confidence in your ability to speak.

Write more than you need — because confidence comes from abundance

Most advice says “keep your speech short,” which is absolutely true — but only at the very end. At the beginning, you want the opposite. You want more material than you’ll ever use.

If you have ten times more to say than you need, you never have to worry about forgetting anything. You don’t freeze, because the story is already in your bones. The final version of the speech becomes the distilled truth — the clearest, strongest parts of everything you explored.

And that’s the kind of confidence people feel when they hear a great speech. Not confidence from memorising lines, but confidence from knowing that every word you kept is grounded in something real — something you could talk about for hours, even if you only speak for a few minutes.

Shape your final draft with intention — keep only the parts that matter

When you feel like you’ve explored your language fully, this is where you begin to refine. You can ask the AI to help you choose the most meaningful lines, smooth the transitions and remove anything that doesn’t feel essential. The goal isn’t to make the speech shorter — it’s to make it stronger.

A good speech feels effortless. It reads as if every word landed exactly where it needed to. There’s no clutter, no filler, no unnecessary stories. Just the core truth you really want to share, expressed in a way that feels warm, honest and unmistakably yours.

And, remarkably, by the time you reach this stage, the speech doesn’t feel like something you’re memorising — it feels like something you’re remembering. And that’s when you know you’ve found the right story.

The Way You Write Is Not the Way You Speak — Don’t Try to Make Them Match

When you start practising your speech out loud, you’ll notice something almost immediately: the way you write and the way you speak are not the same — and they’re not meant to be. This article isn’t written in my speaking voice. It’s written in my writing voice — more structured, more intentional and far more refined than how I’d sound naturally. I would sound like a total ass-helmet if I spoke like this in a real speech. Your writing voice expands your language and helps you explore deeper emotion, but when you stand up to deliver your speech, you just need to sound like you.

When you speak, use the words that feel natural in your mouth — the ones you’d use in real conversation. The ones that match your rhythm, your tone, your habits and your personality. AI will over-correct you on how you “should” speak. Confidence comes from choosing your own words. You might write “however” in a sentence, but when you speak you’d naturally say “but.” That tiny shift is everything — because it sounds like a real person, not a script.

Everybody speaks more simply than they write, so speak simply. If you pause, gesture or laugh when you’re nervous, let that be part of it. The goal isn’t to recreate the polished sentences you crafted on the page — it’s to translate the truth behind them into your own voice.

Practise speaking with your new language — not to memorise it, but to inhabit it

This part is incredibly important, and it’s something people overlook constantly. You need to spend time rewording it out loud, not memorising it. Start saying a different version each time. You need to inhabit the tone, the rhythm, the flow of the language you’ve created. The more you speak your new language aloud, and the more you speak in general, the more natural it feels, and the easier it becomes to settle into the emotional shape of the speech when the moment arrives.

Writing refines your voice. Speaking reveals it.

Writing develops your language.
Speaking develops your presence.
They feed each other, but they aren’t interchangeable.

AI’s voice tool is handy instead of typing. You can brainstorm in the car, on a walk, while cooking — anywhere. It listens, reacts, gives feedback and helps you refine your ideas.

Speaking to ChatGPT out loud is like a bridge — it helps you get comfortable forming sentences in real time, reducing hesitation and training your voice to follow the emotional direction of your thoughts. It’s a powerful tool, and you’ll feel the progress quickly.

But the biggest leap comes from something nearly everyone avoids at first: recording yourself on camera.

You simply have to hit record and go for it.
No warm-up.
No perfect lighting.
No rehearsed lines.
Just press record and speak.

The first time will feel uncomfortable, especially if you’re not used to seeing yourself on screen, but the improvement is shockingly fast. The second attempt feels better. The third is almost fun. By the fifth or sixth, you’re no longer thinking about the camera at all — you’re just speaking. And that’s the whole point.

There are levels to speaking, and camera-facing practice is one of those levels you simply can’t skip if you want to grow quickly. It’s not as intimidating as a live audience, but it has just enough pressure to force growth — clarity, rhythm, presence — in a way writing alone never will.

Overcoming the spotlight effect

If you’re not used to recording yourself, one of the biggest barriers is the spotlight effect — that strange feeling that the camera is judging your every move. Every blink. Every pause. Every moment where you gather your thoughts. Your body reacts as if you’re under an actual spotlight.

But this fear is one of the easiest to overcome in all of speaking.

Most people think they “can’t speak on camera” because their brain freezes, their eyes widen or they suddenly forget what they were going to say. Not because they lack something — but because they’re not used to the artificial pressure of a lens.

And the people who speak confidently on camera? They aren’t inherently better communicators. They aren’t more articulate or more intelligent. I’ve seen people who can barely hold a conversation speak with total confidence on camera — and the only difference is repetition.

They hit record.
They talk.
They share.
They repeat.

They build a habit.
The habit becomes natural.
Natural becomes confidence.
And confidence becomes identity.

It really is that simple.

Speaking in front of real people is the biggest step — but you build up to it

Once you're comfortable speaking on camera and hearing your own voice, moving into real conversations becomes significantly easier. This is where you practise with a close friend, a small group or your fiancé — someone who will listen without judgement and give you honest feedback.

Speaking to a person is different from speaking to a camera.
Eyes are different from a lens.
Energy is different.
Presence is different.

But the skills transfer beautifully. The clarity you developed through writing, the comfort you built through speaking to AI, the steadiness you developed through camera practice — it all supports you.

Your friends and partner will notice immediately. They’ll see a version of you that’s calm, articulate, thoughtful and grounded — the version that has been quietly growing behind the scenes.

By the time you stand up in front of an audience, you’re not “trying” anymore. You’re simply sharing something you’ve lived, practised and embodied. And that’s exactly how a meaningful speech should feel.

1. Register with ChatGPT

Create an account you can access on all your devices. This keeps your writing, progress and drafts consistent.

2. Start with writing — but don’t write alone

Tell your story to AI. Email it to yourself. Copy everything into a Word document and save backup versions as it develops.

3. Talk to the AI (on the move, in the car, anywhere)

Use AI to refine your wording, clarify your thoughts and strengthen the emotional tone — this develops your language, but not your performance.

4. Record yourself on camera

This is the transformational step. It builds presence, confidence and removes the spotlight fear.

5. Practise with a friend — don’t skip this

You arrive prepared: grounded, clear and confident. Speaking to a real person anchors your progress.

6. Practise in front of your parents or someone you look up to

A wiser or more experienced audience grounds you emotionally and teaches humility and grace.

7. Rinse and repeat

Each layer reinforces the next. You’re not memorising — you’re becoming someone who can truly express themselves.

But reading this article won’t magically improve your speech. The difference between this piece and the one I wrote two years ago is simple: back then, I thought I was teaching people how to write a speech. Today, I’m showing you how to find your voice. It isn’t about structure, or nerves, or whether you think you’re “good at writing.” The real work is far more internal — the part nobody ever teaches. It’s the struggle to find the language for feelings that run deeper than the vocabulary you currently have. It’s the lack of clarity about what you truly want to say. It’s the quiet fear that your voice isn’t enough. It’s not knowing how to access something honest without feeling exposed.

That’s the real challenge. And that’s also where the transformation happens.

I’m not teaching you shortcuts. I’m showing you how to use AI as a tool for self-discovery, not as something that replaces your voice. AI doesn’t write the speech for you — it helps you become someone who can write and speak with clarity, with courage, and with emotional truth. When you write with it, you build your emotional vocabulary. You practise honesty. You find your story. You inhabit your own language. You develop courage through repetition. You gain clarity through guidance. Little by little, you become someone who doesn’t just express ideas — you express yourself.

This is mastery, not instructions. A journey, not a checklist. A voice, not a template.

The article I wrote two years ago helped people survive their speech. This one helps you transform through writing it. The old article was written by someone who knew the mechanics; this one is written by someone who understands creativity, language, courage, emotional truth, personal growth — and how AI can unlock all of it. This isn’t a blog post anymore. It’s a guide to becoming more articulate, more expressive, and more self-aware. It’s about becoming the person who isn’t just capable of speaking, but capable of speaking from the right place.

That’s the difference — the kind of difference that makes you realise you’re not just learning to write a speech, you’re learning to understand yourself in a way that changes how you speak altogether.

So stop chasing external validation — the witch hunt is over.
Stop waiting on a Wonderful Wizard to reveal the thing you’ve had inside you from the very beginning.

🧠 Wisdom takes work.
🦁 Courage takes practice.
❤️ Integrity takes action.
🎯 Discipline takes devotion.