#626 Turn Your Talk Into a Show: Elevate Your Keynote Performance with Carmen Sederino

What if your next keynote wasn’t just another talk—but a transformative experience?

In this electrifying episode of Talking with the Experts, we welcome Carmen Sederino, the dynamic force behind Illuminated Story. Carmen doesn’t just train people to speak—she turns business presentations into unforgettable keynote shows that move audiences and inspire action.

As someone who blends theatre, corporate acumen, and masterful communication, Carmen shares how to elevate your high-stakes presentation beyond the traditional talking points. She reveals the three biggest mistakes most keynote speakers make—and how to avoid them with simple but powerful shifts in approach.

You’ll learn:

• How to turn stage nerves into stage presence
• Why the audience needs to feel your message, not just hear it
• The exact steps to transform your keynote into a performance that lands

Carmen breaks down how to apply performance techniques to business settings, ensuring your message isn't just understood—it’s remembered. With the rise of Zoom fatigue and noise in every market, standing out requires more than confidence—it requires a show-stopping delivery.

Whether you're a corporate leader, entrepreneur, or professional speaker, this episode will challenge you to rethink how you present yourself on stage and inspire you to lead through story and presence.

🎭 It’s not about speaking louder. It’s about speaking deeper.

🔗 CONNECT WITH CARMEN

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carmen-sederino-0788b513/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IlluminatedStory

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/illuminatedstory/

Website: https://illuminatedstory.com/

📌 PROMOTION: https://illuminatedstory.com/masterclass/

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Transcript

Intro | 00:01
Welcome to Talking With The Experts. Here we discuss all things business. By business owners. For business owners. Here is your host, Rose Davidson. 

 Rose | 00:11
Hello, welcome to Talking With The Experts. I'm your host, Rose Davidson from rosedavidson.com.au. How would you like to be able to turn your high stakes presentation into an unforgettable performance so that you can captivate your audience and have them truly feel your message? 
 Well, my next guest, Carmen Sederino, is going to be talking to us about public speaking and going beyond the standard keynote and creating your keynote show. And Carmen is the founder and visionary behind Illuminated Story, a revolutionary approach to transforming high stakes presentations into unforgettable performances with a unique blend of theatrical artistry. Business acumen and communication expertise, Carmen has established herself as the premier strategist for leaders. Seeking to elevate their public speaking from me words to lasting impact. Drawing from her background in theatre and two decades of experience in corporate business, Carmen crafts bespoke experiences that push the boundaries of traditional keynote presentations. Farmer's work, architects moments that move markets, shape opinions. And catalyze change. For those who understand that true leadership is about more than just being heard, it's about being unforgettable. And Carmen and Illuminated's story offer the ultimate pathway to commanding the spotlight and leaving a lasting legacy. Carmen, welcome to Talking With The Experts. It is such a pleasure to meet you. 

 Carmen | 01:48
Thank you, Rose. Thank you for having me. I'm excited to be here. 

 Rose | 01:52
Tell me, what got you interested in public speaking and helping others create those impressive keynotes. 

 Carmen | 02:01
Wow, if I take you way back... Way back to when I was little, it might be a bit of a surprising story for you and your audience, because I was actually a really shy child. 
 So I think at age four or five, my mum enrolled me into calisthenics, which is kind of like dance classes for those of you around the world who haven't heard of calisthenics before. And I liked going each week. I really enjoyed it. But my mum thought when it came to concert time at the end of the year, that there was no way that I would want to get up on that stage. 
 So she was getting ready to catch me side stage and instead I was up there waving and smiling and having the time of my life. A few years later, I joined a local theatre company. And so I was about eight years old at that time in primary school. And our theatre company would do a couple of shows a year and we would sometimes travel. And one of the times we traveled to my primary school. And so my teachers said to my parents, my goodness, I cannot believe that's Carmen. She's the quiet child up the back of the classroom doing her work. And yet she's got this huge personality and big voice when she's up on the stage. 
 So I ended up studying formally. I did a Bachelor of Performing Arts at Monash University in Melbourne, and I stayed on to do my honours year after my degree. And in that honours year for my thesis, I created, I wrote a show, a theatre show from scratch and produced it and put it on, acted in it, directed it, all the things, and got a HD, so I got a very good mark. And part of that was that I needed to write a report, a thesis on all the choices I'd made. 
 So why was the lighting that way in that moment? Why was the sound that way in that moment? Why was the set built like that? Why did you have multimedia elements? All the things... And I guess that set my sort of analytical mind when it came to theatre as well as my joy being on stage for performance. I studied film and television at night time during university in a separate course. And so honed the both acting for camera and acting on stage skills, which are really quite different to each other. While I was finishing my degree during my honours year, I got a part-time job just to earn money at one of Australia's largest retailers when it comes to the homemaker type space. And I just worked Monday, Friday, Saturday selling on the shop floor. But at the end of my degree, my boss said, can you come and work for us full time? And I was like, " probably not need to keep my days free for auditions. And so she made a deal and she said, all right, if you work for us full time, I'll let you go and get auditions when your agent gets them for you. 
 So I was like, okay, good deal. That's pretty good. And I actually ended up staying in that company for 18 and a half years. 
 So I worked my way up the corporate ladder. Into state roles and then into national roles. I led national teams that had to deliver training and presentations out to the business and to clients. I did study marketing during that time as well and ended up being the brand manager of about a $300 million portfolio of brands by the end. 
 So, Once I finished that, I started my business, Illuminated Story, which was about seven years ago now. And it was really, I set out to light people up from the inside. 
 So what I mean by that is I came across so many intelligent people when I was in business who were brilliant, but they couldn't speak out to groups of people. They couldn't illuminate their story or their message out to others. And therefore, they had to keep playing small. And what I saw with some of the people that I hired to work within my team, because I was teaching them that skill just organically because I liked doing it and it was part of their job role. They were often seen very differently by the business 12 months into that role because of how they could lead and speak in front of others. And so that's why I started Illuminated Story. And it's really that blend and culmination of that corporate background with the sales and marketing lens and that performance and theatre background and film and television, I guess you could say, that's come together. As one. 

 Rose | 06:32
Wow, that is so interesting. Love it. I love how you combine, you know, all of the public speaking and the acting skills and the presentation skills all into one sort of area and you teach that to people. That's amazing. Love it. 

 Carmen | 06:48
It's very exciting. Very rewarding. 

 Rose | 06:50
I'm glad that it is and I'm sure that it is to the ones that are learning. Tell me, what are the three biggest mistakes made in standard keynote presentations? 

 Carmen | 06:59
It's hard for me to pick sometimes, to be honest, but I would say, The number one is overuse of PowerPoint. I know that's really boring. People have heard this message a million times before. And yet you keep doing it. Just what I tell my clients is you are the lead in your message and any tools you use, I call PowerPoint a tool. Is the supporting cast. 
 So it should only be there to add impact to what you're saying, to help people remember what you're saying, to explain something more clearly. It should not be your prompt and it certainly shouldn't give you a talk for you. 
 So that's number one. Number two is... Underestimating the amount of energy that you need when you're doing keynote speaking versus speaking in a small meeting room or in a boardroom is Because normally you're up on a bigger stage and a bigger space in front of a larger group of people and So for you to look normal up there, you actually need to show up with more energy and potentially make bigger movements while you're up there with your body. One of the main differences that I learned when I studied film and television acting, because that came second for me after theatre, was that I had to sort of condense everything and the energy had to be a bit different. And I shouldn't use, I couldn't use as big a gestures and expressions on my face that I've been used to doing from theatre before. Because the camera captures everything and it's not necessary to get the emotion across. For people that aren't used to speaking in those forums that's one of the things that i do have to work on with clients is to sort of bring them out of themselves a bit and show them that they don't look like a performing monkey that they actually look good they look really normal when they're using more energy and bigger gestures than they would in that standard setting so And so there are two, what would I say the third one is? I think the third one is remembering that you're not just transferring information to people in the room, It's more than that. If you want to be memorable, then you need to create an emotional reaction. In your audience. And that's where, with what I'm doing now, helping people blend traditional keynote speaking with strategically placed elements of theatrical magic, as I said, not turning you into a performing monkey. To entertain and to create moments on that stage that are just unforgettable so that people are talking about you well after your talk and implementing the important things that you're so passionate about for years later. 

 Rose | 09:58
Yeah, they're really great tips too. And, you know, PowerPoint, there's that death by PowerPoint and it's... Can be so overwhelming and so boring when you rely on your PowerPoint to, you know, give your presentation rather than you being the centre of attention. You're right that PowerPoint should be the secondary part of it just to reinforce what you're saying. And I used to teach that some years ago about PowerPoint. Don't have a presentation that gives you a death by PowerPoint. And I used to actually be, you do the death by PowerPoint thing. 
 So people could get the gist of what not to do. So yeah, I totally understand all that. I love. 

 Carmen | 10:38
That. Yeah, I've done that two rows at the start of some of my corporate workshops. I've done what you shouldn't do just as an example of how boring it can be for the audience and then flipped it so love that you did great minds. 

 Rose | 10:53
Yeah, you were lovely. For me, doing podcasting is great. I love this interaction, you know, where I can see someone's face. Get me up on a stage by myself. I'm just like, forget what I'm going to say. And even now I've practiced this, you know, the whole presentation and, I don't try and say it verbatim, however, I just get lost within all the noise that's going on in my head. How can we manage that you know, those nerves, that anxiety during our public speaking. 

 Carmen | 11:27
Yeah, look, yeah, anxiety is and nerves is the number one thing that hold people back from doing it at all. And many people that do it still suffer in that way. 
 So yeah. First of all, what I would say is it's not all bad. 
 Some nerves can be really great. I know that before a theatre show, if I just if I wasn't a little bit sort of nervous Slack excited before the show, then potentially it was a little bit flat. 
 So I'm not sure. A little bit of nerves can be good because it actually gives you energy when you're up there. Debilitating nerves are obviously not great. 
 So there's three key things that you can think of when it comes to managing those nerves. One is mindset, which again, might be a bit boring and can make a huge difference. I remember coaching a corporate group during COVID. It was all virtual during those times, as you know, I'm in Melbourne, Australia. 
 So we were locked, one of the most locked down cities in the world, I think. And I was like, I'm going to go to a corporate group. Which was lots of fun. 
 Anyway, one of my corporate groups, this lady kept coming. We had weekly virtual sessions and She would say to me, I just want to throw up. I just want to throw up. I hate this. I hate this. I just want to throw up. And one week I said to her, So can I just ask, have you ever thrown up before you've had to speak? And she said, no. I was like. Okay. What do you think would happen if you stopped telling yourself that you want to throw up before you speak? What would happen if you started thinking? I have really important messages that I need to get across to my audience and it's really going to help them. 
 So thinking more from that service mindset can be very helpful for a lot of clients I've worked with. And just flipping that script for her made all the difference because she was actually good. I said, you're actually good. You come across really well. We're going to just fix what's happening on the inside for you. 
 So that's number one. And then the second two are really about what you do with that energy. 
 So it's natural for your body to react and go into that flight or fight mode, which gets that adrenaline pumping through your body. And some people feel nerves quite dramatically and others quite lightly. 
 So you either need to use the energy or you need to calm your body down or a combination of both. So to use the energy, if you're in a business style environment and you've got a meeting or something really important, it's normally when you think it's really important or high stakes. And that could just be it could be a sales meeting, could be a board meeting, could be speaking out to a thousand people. And it's the size of the room that's freaking you out. 
 So if you go into the toilets five minutes before, star jumps, deep squats, anything you can do to really use some of that energy and shake it out of your body can be very helpful. And if you're in a meeting room and you're waiting for your turn to speak, that can be the most nerve wracking when you've got five speakers and you're the fifth and you're like, and you're getting more and more nervous as you go along. Even just clenching your fists on the table. Make sure no one can see you don't want to look. 
 Like you're stressed in any way, can be helpful for using that energy. And then the flip side is, as I said, calming your body down. 
 So really great breathing exercise that you can do is breathe through the nose in through the nose for two counts and then out through the mouth for six to eight counts. The longer the better, but just you got to train your body. 
 So don't pass out, go shorter to start with feeling a bit dizzy. And you could be doing this leading up to it. 
 So if this is something that happens to you fairly often, start training your body, just start doing this all the time. Because what happens is when you then do it, just those few minutes before you're about to speak, it's muscle memory, your body thinks, I feel calm when I do this. I can relax, it's okay. 
 And then you can go in a whole lot calmer. 

 Rose | 15:33
I mean I used to be quite good when I was a child, all I wanted to be was an actress. Yeah. I used to go and produce my, write my plays, produce them, direct them, act in them, do, you know, the whole box and dice. But as I got older, you know, life gets in the way and those skills things that I love doing, you know, I like doing less and less. 
 So, you know, it can be sometimes beneficial to, you know, get a coach or a mentor that can help you through teaching you how to do your public speaking, because sometimes you lose that opportunity. Pay-free attitude that you had when you were a child and because of whatever's happening in your life. 
 So, yeah, and the tips that you've given for nerves and anxiety are really helpful because, you know, even though I've heard them, sometimes it's hard to remember them because you're just so nervous and you just, those sort of things. But muscle memory is a great thing to have, you know, when it's time, comes time for you to speak, that you remember how to use those things. 
 So thanks for sharing those. That was really great. Thanks. 

 Carmen | 16:43
No, that's okay. And yeah, as you said, they're techniques that you've probably heard about before, and most people don't do them. 
 So, you know, I'm working with one of the presidents of the AFL clubs is Australian Football League in Australia, and he has to speak every couple of weeks, he does presidents lunches, etc, before games. And, you He's finally got the message after repeating myself multiple times. That this is what he needs to do to help him calm his nerves. And now he's using it and it's working. And it's, you know, it's like, you know, you should go to the gym and you know, you should work out a muscle, but you don't unless the trainer is standing over you doing it. 
 So I think you're right. It's just that reminder. That's really important. 

 Rose | 17:34
Absolutely. So getting down to giving that standard keynote, how can we make that into a show? How can we make it more engaging for our audience? 

 Carmen | 17:44
Yeah. So this is the most joyful work that I get to do at the moment. The best way to describe this is probably just to give you a couple of different examples that are really quite different to each other. 
 So, for instance, I'm working with a man at the moment who is based in Miami, Florida, and he's run a Miami's largest catering company for over 50 years. He's had the pleasure of serving four US presidents, John Paul Pope II, NBA stars, celebrities, because Miami's the place to go to have a party over there. And he's written a book called Plotting Up Profits, and we're taking that book to the stage. He's going to do keynotes and travel around the country. 
 So, we've created a five-course meal and when I say five-course meal, it's five courses of business lessons that he'll be sharing with the audience and we're calling it Dining with Bill. So it just has that theatrical touch to it. Now on stage, we're looking at creating a giant book. He is about to have his 80th birthday. 
 So he's very experienced and has huge lessons to share when it comes to business. But he's a bit stressed about the fact that he might, forget what's coming next in his keynote show. 
 So we're going to use clever theatrical elements where he can refer to the menu every now and then if he needs to, just to get that next prompt of what's coming next. We're going to have a leader's table on stage and each chair will represent a different leadership style and it'll be a different style of chair. 
 So just Little elements like that will potentially, we're looking at having an actual tasting for an audience member during the show. And depending on the auditorium he's speaking in, we'll be bringing in lighting elements where we can. If not, we'll definitely be bringing in elements of sound so that we can put the audience in. Certain settings as he's telling the story. He's got a pretty incredible story because he was a high functioning alcoholic and drug addict and Nelly died one day on his kitchen floor when he passed out and split his head open. 
 So since then he's become sober and, you know, He was running his business the whole time when he was addicted, but it's skyrocketed since with that clearer mind. So just bringing in those elements that, as you said earlier, it creates moments for the audience that really cements different messages in because they're having an experience while they're listening to it. Which makes it a much deeper connection. Now, a different extreme is I'm working with a professional rugby coach in South Africa, and he has studied organisational psychology, has a master's in it, and he's studied marketing. He's a very smart brain. He's already been speaking. And he speaks to organisations about high performance teams and cohesive teams, he likes to call them. He unfortunately, when he was seven years old, his dad was murdered in a politically based murder in South Africa. And that really changed the trajectory of his life because his beautiful mum became a single mum and she would work nights to support him and his two siblings. And, you know, his talk is that we're creating at the moment is. Plan A mindset because there is no plan B. 
 So he just had to make it work with what he had. And he went on to be a high performing athlete. He was one of the junior spring box players, the national rugby team in South Africa, and now is doing professional coaching and has led many teams through to finals that have started sometimes down the bottom of the ladder. And there are so many lessons that you can learn in business. From sports. 
 So again, Bringing the audience into that. His story, his initial story, that's just so tragic. You can do certain things with sound and lighting and the way the story is crafted. That just deepens... How people feel when they're hearing it. And when you have that visceral experience in the audience, that's when you really get transformed. It's really about creating transformational moments for the audience. 

 Rose | 22:35
Wow, they sound absolutely incredible. I'd love to go to either of them. 

 Carmen | 22:39
Yes, great. Well, we'll make sure we get you a ticket when they come to Australia. 

 Rose | 22:45
Wonderful. Carmen can be found on LinkedIn under Carmen Sederino and she's on Facebook under Illuminated Story, on Instagram under Illuminated Story and her website is illuminatedstory.com and she wants to share with you her masterclass. 

 Carmen | 23:01
Yes, if you go to the website that Rose just told you about, illuminatedstory.com, you'll see that there's a masterclass there that you can watch. And that really goes into depth about all the different options and different ways that a keynote show can come to life. Because really it's for any thought leader. 
 So you could be a CEO, you could be an author, an elite athlete, you could be a podcaster like Rose. And entrepreneurs, anyone that really has a big message that you want to share on the world stage, we can create the keynote show for you so that. You don't just get bookings, you get premium bookings and you get to choose your stage. 

 Rose | 23:44
It's really important, I think, to understand your audience when you're giving a keynote or any kind of presentation, really, and to deliver that presentation that matches what your audience's expectations are. So you've given some really great hints and tips today, Carmen. Thank you so much for sharing today. And it has been a great pleasure meeting you. Thank you so much for joining me today. 

 Carmen | 24:06
Thanks, Rose. It's been an absolute pleasure. 

 Rose | 24:09
Bye-bye for now. 

 Outro | 24:11
You've been listening to Talking With The Experts, hosted by Rose Davidson. Make sure you have a look at our back catalogue over at talkingwiththeexperts.com. And be sure to subscribe to our podcast so you don't miss out on any episode. We look forward to your company next time.