Public Speaking for Complementary Therapists: The 1 Proven Habit of Fully Booked Practitioners by Jayney Goddard MSC PG Dip Ed F CMA FRSM. President, Complementary Medical Association

Last Wednesday, something rather special happened. Hundreds of Practitioners joined us live for our webinar, How to Attract Your Ideal Client and Get Fully Booked – one of the largest gatherings of complementary health professionals we’ve ever hosted online. The energy in that (virtual) room was extraordinary, and to everyone who attended: thank you. You made it an occasion.

And at that webinar, we made an announcement we’ve been longing to share for months: the launch of Fully Confident & Fully Booked – a live, in-person training day on Monday 16 November, built around a single research finding that I believe matters more to your practice than any other: public speaking for complementary therapists is the one proven habit that fills a diary. Today, I’d like to tell you the story behind it.

What my research revealed

Some years ago, I undertook my MSc at the University of Lancashire, and my research project and dissertation explored one question:

What actually enables Practitioners to thrive – personally and professionally – in practice?

To gather my data, I interviewed Practitioners across a wide range of disciplines, right around the world, looking for the common denominators among those who were genuinely flourishing: full diaries, sustainable incomes, and – crucially – real joy in their work.

I expected the answer to be complicated. It wasn’t.

Across countries, across disciplines, across every kind of personality, one factor stood out among the Practitioners who were truly thriving: they actively went out and gave expert public talks about what they do. Not advertising. Not endless social media. Talks. Standing in front of a room – a WI meeting, a workplace wellbeing day, a local health event, a community group, a doctor’s surgery – and generously sharing their expertise. It turns out that communication – when done the right way – is the thing that genuinely moves the needle on a practice. It’s what turns strangers into booked clients.

And it makes complete sense. A talk lets an audience meet you, hear you, and experience your knowledge and warmth first-hand – before they’ve parted with a single penny. It positions you instantly as The Expert. It reaches a whole room at once. And it builds the one thing every booking depends on: trust.

Thirty-three years of watching what actually works

My dissertation gave this finding its academic rigour – but in truth, it confirmed something we’d observed at The CMA for a very long time. Over 33 years, we’ve watched literally tens of thousands of Practitioners build their practices. We know all of the business models. We’ve seen what works and what doesn’t – repeatedly, across every discipline. Our whole purpose, through everything from our Membership benefits to our live events, is to guide our Members along the most straightforward path to the rewarding, successful practice of their dreams – so that you never have to spend years reinventing the wheel.

So when the research and three decades of observation point to exactly the same answer, we pay attention. And we build something.

Why public speaking for complementary therapists feels so daunting

We know. Truly, we do – if you have any kind of fear, trepidation, or even slight reticence towards public speaking, you are in the majority. In a study published in Communication Research Reports, researchers found that public speaking was selected as a common fear more often than any other on the list – including death itself. If the very thought of standing up in front of a room makes your heart race, you are not unusual, you are not unprofessional, and you are certainly not alone.

But here is what we’ve learned: the fear of public speaking is one of the most solvable problems a Practitioner has. It responds beautifully to the right training – and dissolving it is precisely how we’ll spend the first half of our day together on our LIVE training day.

What happens at Fully Confident & Fully Booked

This is a full, live, in-person training day in London on Monday 16 November – and it does exactly what its name promises, in two halves:

The morning is about you – Fully Confident. We work through the hurdles, nerves and fears around public speaking, so that by lunchtime the idea of giving a talk feels not just possible but genuinely exciting. This isn’t “imagine the audience in their underwear” advice; it’s a structured approach to becoming a calm, confident, authentic speaker.

The afternoon is about your talk – Fully Booked. Here’s the magic ingredient: you won’t leave with a vague instruction to “go and write a presentation”. We will show you precisely how to deliver a talk that we have created for you – a presentation showcasing the very best and most fascinating elements of complementary medicine and natural health. This talk has genuine wow factor. It is designed to take an audience on a journey: from “isn’t this all a bit woo-woo?” to “wow – this actually works… could this work for me?”

And then comes the moment that turns a lovely talk into booked clients. The presentation closes with three of your own case studies, tailored precisely to the audience in front of you – and using everything that we have taught you, shaping these case studies to make them relevant to your audience will be easy! When you share those stories, something powerful happens in the room: your listeners realise this Practitioner gets me. This Practitioner knows what I’m going through. This Practitioner understands my life – and this is the person who can help me. It is social proof of the warmest, most authentic kind – and it is the bridge between applause at the end of a talk and appointments in your diary.

(And, of course, if you’re just starting out on your journey in complementary medicine and don’t yet have any case studies we will show you exactly how to get them.)

Your next step – public speaking for complementary therapists!

If you were with us at the webinar, you’ve already felt the momentum building – and if you missed it, this is your moment to catch up with everyone else. Places at a live, hands-on training day are naturally far more limited than a webinar, and the response since the announcement has been wonderful. So wonderful, in fact, that our booking page crashed under the sheer enormity of people rushing to book their places.

Click here for full details and booking

One day. One proven habit. And a talk, crafted for you, that could change the shape of your practice for years to come.

We cannot wait to spend this day with you!

About the Author

Jayney Goddard MSc, PG Dip Ed, FCMA, FRSM is the Founder and President of The Complementary Medical Association (The CMA), the world’s leading professional body for complementary medicine. With more than three decades at the forefront of complementary and integrative healthcare, Jayney has dedicated her career to raising professional standards across the sector and to championing rigorous, evidence-based natural approaches to health and longevity. She is the author of several best-sellers, including Rewind Your Body Clock – the Complete Natural Guide to a Happier, Healthier, Younger You (Watkins/Penguin Random House), which debuted on the Amazon charts at No. 1 among ALL books on the platform. Jayney is a sought-after international speaker and a passionate advocate for the safe, ethical integration of complementary medicine within mainstream healthcare. Through The CMA, she supports a global community of Practitioners, Fellows, and Approved Suppliers committed to the very highest standards of practice.

Reference

Dwyer KK, Davidson MM. Is public speaking really more feared than death? Communication Research Reports. 2012;29(2):99–107. https://doi.org/10.1080/08824096.2012.667772