<p>Most founders walk onto stage cold. Even Usain Bolt doesn&#39;t do that.</p><p>In this solo episode, Marina shares the exact warm-up routine she uses as a professional moderator — a five-minute ritual that will make you sharper, more confident, and more connected with your audience. Do this before your next pitch, panel, or keynote and you&#39;ll be in the top 5% of speakers on stage.</p><p>The framework: Breath → Body → Mind. Always in that order.</p><p><br></p><p>👉 Working on your visibility as a founder?</p><p>Marina helps deep tech founders get seen, heard, and backed — on stages, podcasts, and beyond. Learn more at <a href="www. wearekinetik.com " target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferer">www. wearekinetik.com </a>or connect with her on LinkedIn: <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/schmidt-marina/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferer">https://www.linkedin.com/in/schmidt-marina/</a></p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p>🫁 BREATH</p><p>Start with 5–10 deep belly breaths to ground your voice and calm nerves. Try a slight backbend while breathing to open the diaphragm. Also try the Physiological Sigh (from Huberman Lab): inhale through the nose, take a short top-up breath, then exhale slowly through the mouth. A few of these settle the nervous system fast.</p><p><br></p><p>For your voice:</p><p>– Lip trills: blow air through relaxed lips while going up and down in pitch — stretches your vocal range without straining the cords</p><p>– Lion &amp; Lemon: alternate between stretching your face wide open (lion) and scrunching it tight (lemon) — activates your facial muscles and makes you more expressive</p><p>– The Finger Bite: lightly place a finger between your teeth and practice speaking clearly. Remove it and your articulation is immediately sharper. Marina&#39;s #1 non-negotiable — especially if you tend to mumble or trail off.</p><p><br></p><p>🧍 BODY</p><p>Open your chest. Get your elbows away from your ribcage. Confident speakers take up space. Do a power pose, shake out your arms and legs, and prime your body to gesture freely. According to researcher Vanessa Van Edwards&#39; analysis of thousands of TED Talks, gestures are the single most consistent predictor of how many views a talk gets.</p><p><br></p><p>🧠 MIND</p><p>Last, because you need to be grounded first. Adopt a host mindset: you&#39;re here to take care of the audience, not to perform for them. Shift the spotlight from yourself to the room. Ask: how can I make sure they have a good experience?</p><p><br></p><p>If you can, walk the stage beforehand. Find real faces in the audience. Make eye contact with individuals. You&#39;re priming your brain to talk to people, not at a crowd.</p><p><br></p><p>---</p><p><br></p><p>Referenced in this episode:</p><p>– Huberman Lab podcast (Andrew Huberman, Stanford) — the Physiological Sigh</p><p>– Die Gastgebermethode (The Host Method) — available in German only</p><p>– Vanessa Van Edwards — TED Talk gesture research</p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p>Marina Schmidt is a founder communications strategist and professional moderator. If you&#39;re a founder working on getting on stages, podcasts, or using storytelling to grow your visibility — reach out on LinkedIn.</p><p><br></p><p>Scaling Nerds is ranked in the top 5% of podcasts globally, with listeners in 160+ countries.</p>