Overcoming Imposter Syndrome | The Speaker’s Edge

Hey guys, welcome back to the The Speaker's Edge podcast. The podcast dedicated to helping you to learn from some of the world's very best speakers and communicators so you can learn to master your message and inspire your audience every single time you speak. I'm your host for this podcast, the Roddy Galbraith. I'm thrilled you've chosen to join us today. I have a wonderful interview for you where Thanh Nguyen talks about her battle of overcoming insecurity and imposter syndrome and her fear of public speaking. So, uh, all that to look forward to in a great interview. But before we get to that, if you haven't downloaded the companion resources for the show, then go to MaxwellLeadership.com/TheSpeakersEdge and you can download the companion guide and we would love it if you rate and review the show as well. All right, we're going to dive straight into the interview and then we'll come back and talk about it at the end. So, thanks for doing this, Thanh. Thanks for joining us on the The Speaker's Edge podcast. It's a pleasure to have you here. Thank you. It's an honor to be here. So your story, you got a fascinating story. Your story really begins back in Vietnam when you were just a young girl, doesn't it? Tell us a little bit about that. Yeah, Roddy, thank you. Um, so I grew up in Vietnam after the war. At that time, Vietnam was still a third world country. So we were poor and everybody around us were poor. There was many times, many days that we didn't have electricity or water. And there were many days that I did not know what I would have for dinner. Right. Yeah. Um so when I turned 16 um a relative sponsor me to come to the US to study. It's like an opportunity that you kind of want. It's like a Cinderella dream come true. So I came to the United States so excited and so committed to work hard and build the future that I know that my family and myself depended on it. But within a month in the US, this uncle abused me and I was out on the street. Um, I didn't speak any English at the time. I didn't have any money at that time. I had a choice whether I should go back to Vietnam, right? Or try to survive here as a 16-year-old girl in a different country. Yeah. Oh my goodness. So, I decided to stay here because there's so much at stake. It's not just my future, but my family future also depended on it. and I didn't know what to do, but I started looking for a job and luckily I found a job at a Vietnamese coffee shop. That was the only place that would hire me because I didn't speak English. You didn't speak English at all? I didn't speak English. Oh my goodness. Yeah. So, I um I used to wear a headset on my ear 7 hours a day, right? Um 24 hours a day, seven hours a week just to learn English. I want to learn English even in my sleep so I could learn as quickly as possible. And I cry almost every day. And the many days I would pray that a path would show up, would appear to show me how I'm going to take the next step and what my future look like. Right. But step by step, as I kept walking forward, the path disappear. And I got accepted to UC Berkeley in the College of Engineering. Wow. Yes. How old are you at this point? This is like a few years later. This is a few years later. I was I think I was um about 19 1920 when I got accepted UC Berkeley and then good work. Thank you. Yeah, it's a lot of hard work. But after that um I I got a job I graduated from my got eventually become vice president of engineering. Wow. and I joined the Maxwell Leadership team a few year before that and it has made all the difference and today I'm a professor in the practice at Rice University and I also own my own coaching consultant company helping people leave and lead positively. Wow. So what a story and you actually shared that story what was it a year ago or 18 months ago something like that. When did you join the Maxwell Leadership certified team first of all? Yeah I joined the Maxwell Leadership certified team in 2015. Okay. Yeah. And then you did stage time. Yeah. In 2023. 2024. 2024. So nine years after joining. Exactly. Yeah. And tell us a little bit about that process because you shared your story on stage in front of two 3,000 people virtually and in person. Yeah. Um so if if you join the Maxwell leadership team, there's a lot of opportunity for you to work on your leadership skill to learn how to coach people effectively. And one of the skill set that we learn in as a member of the Maxwell Leadership team is public speaking. And in that process uh we have the opportunity to submit a video of our stories to be shared on the state. And so I submit the video and I remember receive feedback from you. Well, you submitted one every week for the months. I remember I kept telling the story again and each week you would give me something to work on and improve and eventually I got make it to the semi-final. How did you feel through that process? Did you feel like you were always going to make it or did you not know if you're going to make it or not? How did you to be honest? I never know if I'm going to make it. But one thing I know for sure is my my confidence grew week after week. The more I practice, the more I feel connected with my story, the more I feel confident about sharing it on stage. And every week it getting better and better. And your story also, cuz it's a big story that covers a lot of your life to get it down up to under three minutes, which was a requirement for stage time was was a challenge. Exactly. I remember at the point I um I was actually like, "Ry, is this still more to get it better? Is isn't it enough? You know, it's good enough." And you were like, "Yes, we can make it better. we can make it better. Well, I think that's the goal is to always make it better. Even when it's done, it still can keep evolving. It's still going to keep getting better and better. So, you made it to the semi-finals then. So, what was that like? It's it's exciting. So, we a group of us um we show up and we uh compete for the a spot on the final on the state and that's on Zoom. On Zoom. Yes. And you may think that if we make a semi-finalist is it done with the iteration, the improvement, but it's not like that. Even when we in the semi-finalist, we still submit our video. We're still getting feedback from from Roddy, from you. Um, and we still keep making improvement on our on our talk all the way to the state day on the way the day before the the state time because you were one of the 10 finalists obviously that were selected from the semi-finals. How did you feel delivering your speech during the semi-finals? So you're there with 20 or 30 other people waiting for your turn. Yeah. Then you get one go, 3 minutes to share your story. How did you feel while you were waiting? It's feel exciting but also nervous at the same time. And the reason for that is every single person on that semiinal state. Their story are so good. They're so polished. They're so passionate about the story. I felt like every single one of us would win and would deserve a Well, you did all deserve to be there. That's the thing, isn't it? And all the stories are so different, aren't they? And every one of every one of you deserve to be there. It's one of my favorite parts of the process actually is the semi-finals when you hear all of those, right? But then you were you made it as a finalist and then you shared it in front of, as we said, thousands of people. You did a great job as well. And you did it. Thank you. Thank you. Pretty much under three minutes as planned. Yes. Yeah. I um one of the advice I got from from you, Roddy, as a coach is uh stay on time. And I remember that throughout my talk, there was a a few round of applause and I was worried about the time because uh what if I go over time? What what if uh other people don't have enough time to get on the stage? So, right. Yeah, we drum that into you. Although while while you're practicing or while you're while you're um competing to to to win a spot, you have to do it under three minutes. By the time you actually get on stage, it's all about the audience experience. If they're laughing, you want to let them laugh and Yeah. Which you did. I thought you did a good job of. Thank you. Well, you've just released a new book which kind of talks a little bit about some of the journey you went through. Unshrink yourself 12 mini shifts to ditch self-doubt and own your life, which I'm guessing um during your your stage time process through that whole process uh you had to deal with self-doubt, I imagine. And during your story that you talked about, you've had to deal with self-doubt. Mhm. That's right. Um, one of the biggest self-doubt that I have is my public speaking, right? As an introvert, I'm very shy from the spotlight. And as you heard before, this story is sensitive and it's very personal. And so I question myself, is the story worth sharing? Would it help anybody by sharing the story? And not just that, I also have this insecurity about my English, right? I learned because it's a second language for you or third second language. So I learned English only after I came to the United States and until today I still have concern about whether people would understand my English or not. U whether my accent is too strong, whether people would laugh at me when they listen to my accent. So speaking in the public is one of my number one strongest insecurity and I share a lot of lesson that I learned and the mini that I take to overcome that that fear. Right. Well, I think with with um how long have you been in America now? I've been in America for 30 years now. Okay. Right. So you've picked it up pretty well, I think. And I think the thing is with for for people listening to this because some people it's a question that comes up a lot. You know, I have an accent or English is my second language. Um, and does that matter? I think as long as the audience can understand what you're saying, as long as we can we can hear you and we can understand and we don't get confused with what you're saying. Accent can be a a benefit really. It can be an advantage because it's it's slightly different to what we're used to. So, we lean in a little bit and we listen. And even just in in this discussion here, sometimes you're using a word choice that I wouldn't choose, you know, and and so it's quite endearing when when we hear someone speaking the language and and that's the case. So, I wouldn't worry too much about that. But the book's called mini shifts. So you talk about um mini shifts to ditch self-doubt. That sounds like a big thing. Why are these mini shifts? When you say mini shifts, what do you mean mini shifts? Yeah, Roddy, I wish I could have a magic wand and if I wave it, then we will all become confidence. Or I wish I could have something really transformational that I would just share with you that would just do that one thing then you become really confident, right? But it doesn't work like that. It's it's the tiny little mini shift that we make in the way we think, the way we talk to ourself, the way we talk to other, the way we think that would gradually build that confidence that allow us to use our voice so that we can contribute our best to the world. to where we can bring our experience, our knowledge and bring our best self to the world because the world doesn't need a smaller version of you or I it need us to be our most confident, courageous, fully unapologetically alive version of ourself. So we need to unstring ourself and bring our best to share with the world. So give us an example because I think some people are listening to what you're saying. I think we agree with everything you're saying. I'm not sure we've got a clear example of what you mean by shift. Do you do you have a one that you can share with us? Yeah. So um one of the story that I share in the book is about when I first started out as a public speaker. I got to design a website to share to feature me as a speaker and in that website there is a section there that for testimonial and I remember talking with you and you asked me you have any feedback or testimonial from all the speaking event that you did in the past and I couldn't think of any. Right. But then when I got back home and I start thinking about where did I speak and what did people say about my speaking, I remember that there was this one event when I was invited to speak to about 200 student at the University of Idaho. And after my talk, the student was lining up to to talk to me and they share with me how my speak encouraged them, how it resonated with them, how it helped them to overcome some struggle in their life, right? And I remember after that the professor sent me a stack of note card of the student what the student wrote for me. I received the stack of note card and I I didn't dare to open it. I was afraid. So I I I tie it together. I put in a drawer. And since then I moved two houses across 3,500 miles and I still have never open it. Right. Because I afraid to read all the nice thing that people would say about me. I know they nice because I was lining up waiting to talk to me after after my my speaking event and that's what I realized that you know it's so hard for us to accept compliment and one of the miners that I that my mentor told me was ton when people give you a compliment it's like they give you a gift and if you don't accept it it's like you throw the gift back to them the least you could do is to say thank you you don't have to agree or disagree with the compliment but you say thank you. And with just that simple practice of saying thank you, it gradually changed the way I see myself, it gradually helped me see me the way other people see me, and it gradually build my confidence one day at a time, one step at a time. That's so good. I love that. So, by saying thank you for a compliment, then you're more open to it and you begin to then consider how other people see you. Exactly. which is probably a more objective way than we see ourselves very often, particularly if we're like our harshest critic, which many of us are, aren't we? Exactly. So that's brilliant. That's very clever. So all we need to do is say thank you to consider the other perspective. Exactly. And gradually it shifts our own perspective of ourel. That's what you're saying. Exactly. That's so good. Well done. Thank you. Thank you for sharing that. So in the book you talk a lot about different insecurities that you have. What's the like the biggest insecurity that you've had to overcome do you think? Yeah. Yeah. So, my biggest insecurity, as I share a little bit earlier, is my public speaking, right? Um I even though you're really good, you're still it's still an insecurity. Yeah. Even though um I've get better over time, it still be a biggest insecurity. I remember there was that one time I just got back from delivering a keynote. And I I I call you, I say, Roddy, I just get back from delivering a keynote. People say I did great at light up and say how great it is and how it helped them. And I remember you applaud and you congratulate me and then you asked me did you get the recording? This is something that I f again and again. But every time you ask it I f because I'm still afraid of watching my own recording. I'm still afraid of seeing myself on stage. And I remember exactly what you told me at that time. And this is a story I share in the book as well that the the Olympic player, the professional athlete, they watch their own recording all the time. Not because they enjoy seeing themsel performing, but they it's because they want to learn how to get better, right? And I remember you was telling me, Khan, you're a professional and your audience deserve your very best. So every tiny improvement you make, even if it's just a second, a minute, it add to the audience experience. And so as a professional, you need to watch your own recording so you could get better. And I remember you were saying that, you know, every things that you think you you need to improve, every um flaws or every adjustment that you think you need to make, they are not defining who you are or who you could become. They are just like the live post like the light that help you know where you could get better, right? And I keep thinking about every time that I get back from a delivering a keynote and working on my journey to get better. Um, we all have the opportunity and when we think about the mistake, the flaw or where we think improve not as a define moment of where we're going to be or how we are as a person, it help us build that confidence to get better over time. It is, I think, one of the best tools for a speaker or in not just for speakers actually, but in life generally to be able to see yourself and hear yourself. It's such a a great tool, but many people say, "I don't like seeing myself on video." We talked about this a lot on previous episodes. I don't I hate the sound of my own voice. And when I hear people say that, I it just says to me, you haven't done anywhere near enough of it because when you do it a lot, you it doesn't sound any different, you know? It just sounds like you. And then you you can just learn from it. such a great way to to learn. Thank you. That's really good. So, if somebody's listening to this um and they're thinking, you know, that they're struggling with insecurities of of any kind or maybe um they're scared of speaking and they they want to get better as a speaker. What would your advice be to them? Yes. Often time, not just with speaking with anything in life, we often think that we have to be ready. We have to feel confidence before we can do something. But the truly life doesn't work like that. Confidence doesn't come before we act. We got to act first, right? That these voices telling, "Oh, you're not good enough. You can't do it." But despite those voice, every time we take a step in courage to act, we get better. We build that confident muscle. And and as we talked about earlier, we get better because we review what we did. We learn from our mistake. We learn from the failure. We learn from our flaw. And over time, we get better and we build a confident muscle that way as well. So my number one advice for everybody listen out there. If you have a dream of doing something, if you want to speak in public or you want to do something and you feel afraid, find one small step that you could do today, act and then the confident will follow. Yeah. Developing your confidence is not something you just sit there and wait to develop your confidence, is it? You develop it by taking action, by stepping into it, and you can literally outgrow your fears. That's the wonderful thing. That's great. Well, we've talked a little bit about um the Maxwell leadership certified team. You're a Maxwell certified Maxwell Leadership certified team member and you joined back in 2015. You said if somebody's listening to this and I talk about it every week on the show, you know, check out the Maxwell Leadership certified team. Um how helpful has it been to you on your journey? So when I was a young engineer which is about 25 years ago um when I started my career after a few year in I start looking for way to improve myself to get better so that I can bring more deliver more and contribute more to the organization and and my family and that's when I start looking at a lot of books on leadership and personal development and to be truth most of the book focus on the tactics on how you could get better but when I start reading John Maxwell book is his book is about the principle the core values, the foundation of how to be a good person, how to get better and how to be a good leader. And as I start reading, I start applying and my career blossom. I achieve more, able to do more and have become happier. In 2015, when I heard about the John Maxwell certified leadership team, I immediately joined and that has been the best investment so far. It's it helped me become better as a leader. In if you're in the program, there are several track you can get on. You can get better in your speaking, you can get better at coaching, developing your team member, you can get become a more effective leader at your companies. And that's why even though I joined 2015 is in 2024 is when I get a state time because from 2015 to 204, I was focusing on become a better leader, become a leading my team better. And in 2024 is when I started out to open to file my own coaching consultant company and become a keynote speaker. That's when I focused on the speaking track and that's when I apply and get through the state time process that we heard about. So it's been the best investment of my life. It changed my life. It helped me help other people and I would highly recommend it for if anybody have a chance to join the Max leadership team. Okay, we're going to have to leave the interview with Thanh there. What a great interview. So much great stuff in there. public speaking, professional speaking, standing up and speaking in front of other people is something that so many people struggle with. And you don't have to. You don't have to. I'm not saying you have to tackle your fear of speaking if you have one, but if you want to, it's absolutely possible to outgrow that fear just like Thanh did. And one of the things that she said that really makes a big difference. Did you catch this when she was talking about just being able to accept a compliment? When somebody gives you a compliment, you say, "Thank you. Thank you." Rather than kind of deflecting it. Because when you accept a compliment, then you begin to think about it. And as you begin to think about it, you begin to see yourself perhaps more objectively. You begin to see yourself as other people see you. And then that gradually begins to build your feelings of self-worth. And that's how you overcome the imposter syndrome. Lean into the imposter syndrome. And then you can outgrow it. If you keep running away from it, if you keep kind of hiding because you don't feel worthy, you're never going to outgrow those feelings. So step into it. Step in courageously. Practice courage at first and then the courage will eventually appear. All right, that's all we have time for today. You heard Thanh talking about what it means to be a Maxwell leadership certified team member. So if you're interested in finding out, simply go to MaxwellLeadership.com/speak. Jump on a call with a program advisor and find out what it means to be a Maxwell Leadership certified team member. As I said at the beginning, don't forget to download our companion resources. Go to MaxwellLeadership.com/TheSpeakersEdge. And remember, communication is one of the best skills that you can develop and it's absolutely a learnable skill. So, keep learning and you'll get better and better. You'll learn to master your message and inspire your audience every single time you speak. Thanks for listening today. I'll see you again soon in the next episode. Take care. Lots of love. Bye-bye.

Ep. 041 — Overcoming Imposter Syndrome with Thanh Nguyen

Hosted by Roddy Galbraith

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Weekly highlights from The Speaker’s Edge, a Maxwell Leadership Podcast Network production hosted by Roddy Galbraith. Learn how to communiate with clarity, confidence, and impact — in business, on stage, and in life.

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Full Transcript (Ep. 041 — Overcoming Imposter Syndrome with Thanh Nguyen)
Released: December 8, 2025