268. The one-minute reset
We all know the feeling of being stressed, stretched, and overwhelmed — and then someone tells us to meditate for half an hour or take a long walk in nature.
Lovely ideas… but when you’re already at capacity, it can feel like just one more thing on the to-do list. That’s why I love Heidi Horne’s approach. She shows that big changes can happen in just one minute.
Heidi shares how The One-Minute Reset came to life, the science behind why it works (yes, one minute of mindfulness can drop your cortisol by up to 20%!), and how these quick resets can help us feel calmer and more focused — especially before we speak.
We chat about:
💛 Why not all stress is bad stress — and how to use good stress to perform at your best
💛 How to identify your personal “stress signature” (physical, mental, or emotional)
💛 Simple one-minute tools you can use before you speak — like her favourite 4-7-8 breathing technique
💛 Why movement is a great way to release nerves (think push-ups, star jumps, or even a little dance!)
💛 The mindset shift from “what if I mess up?” to “what will my audience gain?”
💛 And how to do a “treasure hunt” after your talk to find what went well and show gratitude for yourself
transcript
Hello, welcome to Episode 268 of That Voice Print Podcast. Oh my golly, gosh, we are getting so close to book launch day. November 25 is the day Voice Print and the Voice Print codes Oracle cards will be shipped. You might have seen on my socials we have pre-sold more than 600 copies of the book, which is so phenomenal. Thank you so much. If you haven't pre-ordered yet, go and pre-order to make sure they have the stock to send to you. No one likes and not in stock notification.
So today I have the amazing Heidi Horne Horn to take us through the one-minute reset. Why are we talking about this?
Well, firstly, it shows that big changes can happen in a short amount of time and you're more likely to do it. Unless you are already in the habit of meditating and journaling and walking and all those things that make us feel less stressed. Then, you know, you tell a stressed person that they need to be meditating for half an hour or getting out in nature for an hour walk. You know, that can just feel like more on the to-do list and make you feel more stressed.
So this is why Heidi is pioneering this idea of the one-minute reset and it's particularly handy to use before presentations. And actually the reason I asked Heidi onto That Voice Podcast, (Dunno what's going on with my voice here. Hang on a sec. I can tell you right now what it is. It's because I've just eaten lunch and if you listen to my episode about recording the audio book, your voice is not great right after you have food. There you go. Doing it again. Not learning from my mistakes. Let's soldier through. Okay.)
The reason I asked Heidi onto that voice podcast is because I saw her speak at an event recently and there's so much alignment in our work and Heidi is like a ray of sunshine. You'll often find her wearing yellow. Okay, take a deep breath and let's go.
Sally:
Heidi Horne, welcome to That Voice Podcast. So great to have you
Heidi:
Here. Amazing. Thank you for inviting me, Sally.
Sally:
The one-minute reset. It has got a ring. It is memorable. Tell us, where did this idea first come to you?
Heidi:
So my original keynote as a speaker was called "One Minute to Happy", and I used to talk about workplace happiness in corporate teams. However, I realized that people didn't really understand what happy is and happy means different things to different people. So what I came up with is what really affects everybody And the thing that affects everybody in this world, whether we like it or not, is stress. And I realize that stress is so overwhelming and takes up so much of our head space and it's something that we can't just switch off. And in the 20 years that I've been in the wellness space, I also realized that not everybody is, I suppose as woohoo as me and is completely converted into, you know, yoga, meditation, mindfulness, and has the time to do that. However, they can all benefit from these tools in a way that can be adapted to the modern world.
Heidi:
When you have a burnt out, overwhelmed, busy, distracted person and you tell them, Just go and do an hour of mindfulness meditation or 30 minutes of journaling, they stress out even more 'cause it's something else for their to-do list and it just sends them into spiral. We are all stressed, we are all burnt out. The stats are just staggering. However, in 1,440 minutes, everyone can do something in 60 seconds. So the one-minute reset was born and I then started going really deep into the science and the backing and the research of why it actually works. You know, mindfulness meditation, even just one minute can lower your cortisol levels, your stress hormones in your body by as much as 20%. So then I knew that I was onto a winner because it doesn't just a appeal to the, the right brainers that love the big vision of, you know, controlling our stress, but also appeals to the left brainers as well that want the stats, the research and the logic behind it.
Sally:
Oh, love it. And a lot of people who listen to this podcast either are already speaking or they're wanting to improve their speaking. And something I believe and speak about quite a lot is that it's not the speaking itself that makes people really go into stress. Often it's, it's the the point at which things overflow. So it's the existing stress in their lives that often shows itself right before a presentation or something like that. So if people are in this boat, they're thinking, oh my gosh, I lose sleep over this presentation. I get really nervous, I get really stressed. What are some of these one minute tools of the trade that we could use to help improve this?
Heidi:
You heard me speak just last week, Sally, and I'm gonna share what I actually did just before I got on stage. Because even though I've spoken in front of groups for a really long time, 20 or more years, everyone still has those little butterflies and those little feelings of of nervousness and that's the good stress, that's the positive stress. That means that we really wanna do well and that's the stress that we are meant to have in our life.
Sally:
Ooh, let's just say that again. That is the stress we are meant to have in our lives. So that's so important. Not all stress is bad stress.
Heidi:
Correct. And that good stress is fleeting stress. So it is a stress that allows us to perform at our best and means that we actually care about it. If I was going on stage and I didn't have a little bit of that nervous energy, I wouldn't really be giving my a hundred percent. And when people have stress day after day, week after week, month after month, sometimes year after year, that's when it hits into chronic stress. And then years or or less than years of chronic stress heads into burnout. And this is definitely on the rise, particularly here in Australia. So noticing, I believe when how stress appears to you in your own body, I call it a stress signature. So sometimes it appears to people in, you know, the physical way, clammy, clammy hands or heart beating, they might get tension headaches might appear more in the mental state, not be able to think or focus.
Heidi:
It feels like there's a hundred tabs open in your mind. Then it also can be in the emotional state. So some people, and I have been guilty of this. You know, have those moments of little bursts of negativity. You know, kids haven't stuck the dishwasher the right way and I'm feeling stressed. Or other people might go into a little, little cocoon and I've been had that as well for myself. You know, you don't wanna speak to anyone, you shut down, you switch off. So they're recognizing the signs that stress is affecting you in a more serious way. That's coming up more and more. And also if you are doing a big presentation as a speaker or you know you are working on a proposal, it can affect that performance.
Sally:
Yes. So you spoke so confidently on stage the other day. How does that stress shot for you?
Heidi:
So the day before, I'm going to be completely honest here, the day before when we did a little rehearsal, I realized I was probably like 85, 90% there and I needed to, I wasn't a hundred percent clear in my mind or of feeling completely confident. So then I went back the that night and I just ran through, over and over and over and over again until I knew that I could get up and give it 110%. Saying that, even though I knew I absolutely knew everything and I was completely confident that half an hour before you do feel the heart beating that little bit faster. And for me it's expelling that cortisol and that adrenaline out of your body. So I go into the bathroom and I do some more push-ups, so to do some physical motion and some people do star jumps pump, some people jump up and down.
Heidi:
It's great to do something physical just to release it out. Then I also just change my mindset. I don't let myself think, oh, I'm gonna be bad. I'm gonna trip over or where I'm gonna put my props. Thinking to yourself that what is my audience gonna get out of it? It's really not about me at the end of the day. If I miss something out that is not the end of the world. However, what are they wanting to walk away with? So I do a little visualization where I imagine people coming up to me afterwards and going, That was amazing! I really loved your tips or tools or your talk, and this is how it benefited me. So knowing that it has impacted somebody else and they're able to wait, take away some tool, technique, even just a word that came out of your talk and it's gonna affect their life afterwards. And then just before I get on stage, I do one of my favorite go-to breathing techniques, and you heard this one is the 4, 7, 8 breathing. So in for four, through the nostrils, hold for seven, and breathe out through for eight through the mouth or nose. And I just do that as I'm about to go on stage and no one even knows I'm doing it. And I just slow my heartbeat down. I can feel myself getting calmer and calmer.
Sally:
I love that. Let's do a round of it now.
Heidi:
Sure. Okay. I'm gonna take you for two rounds. I'm gonna take you for a round guided and then more sort of sub-guided by yourself in a second. Okay. So just nice straight back. And you don't have to have your eyes closed, obviously, if you're in a position to do so.
Sally:
If you're driving, don't do this.
Heidi:
If you're driving, don't do it or if you're about to walk on stage, don't do it. But you can do it absolutely anywhere whether you're standing, sitting, lying.
So breathing in for a count of 4 through the nose. 2, 3, 4, we're gonna hold the breath for 7. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and breathe out for 8. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. And we'll do one more in for 4, hold for 7, and out for 8.
So when you extend the exhale, so make the exhale longer than in inhale, this activates the vagus nerve, which then activates the parasympathetic nervous system and lowers that fight or flight response in your body. And you will even just like four or five rounds of doing that under one minute you'll definitely notice a difference. And I basically just am doing that in those, you know, 3, 5, 10 minutes before I'm about to step on stage.
Sally:
Heidi, I love that my pre-speaking ritual is, is quite similar. Something physical shift the mindset or not even shift the mindset, just get like the mind in the zone and then deep breathing before you step on. And Heidi, something you did so well when I saw you speak on stage is a technique called utilization. And basically it's when something happens in the real world, you use it in your presentation and somebody behind the bar like literally dropped an entire tray of glasses or something. It was like a huge, a huge smash. I was sitting quite close to there, so I heard it and I just loved the way you just took the pause and said, I'm not stressed.
Carried on, It was just absolutely fantastic!
Heidi:
And one thing I think is important is I was on that stage with a few new speakers and in the meetings beforehand, listening to what they were worried about with their presentations. It is, yes, it is important to get the slides right and you know, to get the right props and what you are wearing, but at the end of the day it is about your message and what the people in the audience are taking away.
Sally:
Absolutely. And that's sort of, you know, why do we think about what we're wearing? Why do we think about the slides? It's so we can then remove our focus from those things. So we're not on stage thinking is our top the right one? Is our, are our slides gonna work? It's like we can remove that and then as you say, focus on our message and on the audience. Really great. So what is, what's another one minute reset that we oh could do potentially when we get off stage?
Heidi:
Being proud of yourself and you know, showing gratitude for yourself. Because sometimes, you know, we will slip up and we will have those times where we might have forgotten something and we think we did it badly. At the end of the day, we did our best. And I have, I'm a big believer of 1% better every day. As long as you are improving every single day in terms of 1%, you've gotta be proud of yourself. So I talk about doing, you know, a treasure hunt of what went well rather than what went wrong, and if things did go wrong, how can you learn?
Sally:
Yeah. And doing it as like I find a focused activity, which can be less than a minute. So it's easy to say, Oh, you know, just be proud, be grateful. But I find taking that, that little moment to, I love that term “treasure hunt”, a bit of a treasure hunt of what went well and being proud of yourself and being grateful that you had the opportunity to stand on that stage and use your voice in front of that audience. And especially for women who were listening, it wasn't too many generations ago where that would not be happening, where you would not be in that boardroom where you would not be on that stage. So having that, that gratitude for being able to share our message at this time in history as well.
Heidi:
The more you appreciate yourself, the more good you bring into your life and the the better that you are gonna get. So I appreciate. The more that you back yourself up, if you can just take a moment of like, what's three things that actually went well with my presentation, or my talk, or my workshop. I'm really proud of myself, or thank you to yourself for doing it. And being brave enough and having that courage. The easier it'll get one, but also the more that you'll continue to grow and also appreciate yourself as well. And when you love yourself, people see that.
Sally:
Yeah.
Heidi:
Oh, you know, people see that and they wanna be around you and you know, I think self-love is so important.
Sally:
Oh, I agree. I believe self-love really sits at the core of being a confident public speaker. If you truly love yourself and appreciate yourself and are proud of yourself, then a whole lot of those things that throw us off our speaking game, like worried about what will people think or am I this or am I that, am I that it just melts away when you've got that appreciation for yourself. So I'm so glad that we've mentioned that.
And if people want these one minute reset tips in the written form, in the visual form, how can they get their hands on your brand new book?
Heidi:
They can by pre-ordering. It's coming out on the 29th of December, so a month after yours, Sally. It’s very well aligned, very amazing. So yeah, so the pre-order is out and then will be in bookshops from the 29th of December. But go on pre-order and you get $300 of bonuses if you pre-order.
Sally:
Yes, I'll put that link in the show notes. And what's the title of the book?
Heidi:
One Minute Reset by Heidi Horne. So it's all about taking control back before stress controls you.
Sally:
So I feel less stressed after chatting to you. Feel like
Heidi:
For me it's the most powerful parts of the day is first thing in the morning, last thing at night. So always think of how can I use my first one minute of the day and my last one minute before I fall asleep. And that's when you are in that beautiful theta and then going into alpha brain waste state. But what you think of just before you fall asleep is what you're gonna wake up with the next morning. So if you say hypothetically, you have a presentation the next day or a talk the next day and you go to sleep thinking, Oh my god, I'm so worried about it. Is it clicker gonna work, or am I gonna get sweaty armpits or whatever. Whatever you're gonna think about.
Sally:
Oh, that's so good. I feel like I'm a little bit guilty of fobbing my partner, which is the word you introduced us to, which is like snubbing with the phone. And there are night I’m guilty of ending on the scroll and waking up on the scroll. And I'm changing that now because I'm in walking training. Patrick and I are walking the Community Santiago next year.
Heidi:
Oh, I'm gonna go do it next year too.
Sally:
Amazing. Oh my gosh. Well we're doing the Camino del Norte in in September.
Heidi:
Oh, there you go. I'm planning in in July next year.
Sally:
Oh, fantastic. Go. So because of that I've started a bit of my walking train.
Heidi:
Nice!
Sally:
Getting up and getting moving. Patrick actually made me laugh because we did it yesterday and he said, oh, I hate to say this, but when I sat down at my desk, I really hit the ground running today. It was a really good way to start. I said, There you go. So better than the scrolling, than the coffee and then dragging yourself to your desk. This stuff really works.
Heidi:
Yes, It does. It does. And it's also what's one minute, one minute of something you can do the night before to set you up for the next day. So it could be putting those walking shoes by the bed or it could be, I don't know, you, your gym gear by the bed just to remind you. Or if you do wanna do a gratitude practice putting a notebook by the bed. So that's the first thing that you think of. And then really you set yourself for no excuses.
Sally:
Yeah. That's so great. Heidi Horne, thank you so much for joining us on That Voice Podcast.
Heidi:
Thank you so much for having me. It was great to chat and twice in two weeks, I get to see you!