Toni Street launches public speaking course to boost Kiwi confidence

The radio star reveals the knocks that almost derailed her career and how she bounced back. Photo / Woman's Day

To the outside world, Toni Street seems to brim with confidence. She hosts live radio most days, is a natural on TV and can command a room as an MC or speaker at major events. But behind the scenes, there have been moments where her self-belief has wobbled and she’s had to dig deep, drawing on years of experience to get back on track.

Now the beloved star is channelling those lessons into a brand-new venture – helping others find their voices, and believe in themselves when it comes to public speaking and stepping into the spotlight.

“It feels super-exciting,” says Toni, welcoming Woman’s Day into the home she shares with husband Matt France and their kids, Juliette, 12, Mackenzie, 10, and Lachie, six, on Auckland’s North Shore.

“I’ve always wanted to have my own business, and this just marries up perfectly with my broadcasting skills and everything I’ve learnt throughout my career. I didn’t know much at all about setting up a business before this, so it’s been a big learning curve but a really cool one.”

When we catch up, Toni – who recently celebrated her 42nd birthday – has just returned from the Coast studio, where she hosts the popular breakfast show alongside Jason Reeves and Sam Wallace. She’s got about 30 minutes for a quick coffee and chat, before she pulls on her sports gear and heads out the door to coach her eldest daughter Juliette’s netball team at an interschool tournament.

Life is a constant juggle of early starts, school runs, sports sidelines and work, but somehow among all this, she’s created Confident Communication, an online course teaching practical skills for public speaking.

It’s hard to believe how she’s found the time to build a business from scratch amid everything else going on in her busy life, but Toni says it’s been a case of chipping away at it at weekends and after the kids are in bed.

Since launching in July, Toni’s course is already attracting plenty of interest and glowing feedback. Photo / Woman's Day

“When you’re doing something that genuinely excites you, you find a new pocket of energy to draw on,” she says. “I feel tired, don’t get me wrong, but it’s a good tired.”

And since launching in July, Toni’s course is already attracting plenty of interest and glowing feedback. Kiwis, says Toni, are in need of a self-esteem boost.

“All too often, I’m hearing from people that they’re turning down opportunities because they don’t have the confidence to put themselves out there,” says Toni. “We seem to struggle when it comes to promoting ourselves, but we should be saying, ‘I’m confident, I’m good at what I do and I deserve to be out here!’ I’d like to think my course is motivational as well as practical.”

The idea for Toni’s exciting new side hustle was sparked when her children started taking part in speech competitions at school. She realised the help she offered them, thanks to her long career in broadcasting, could be useful to a wider audience. With her adults’ course already out in the world, Toni is now starting work on a course for youngsters.

“It dawned on me that most kids don’t have a broadcaster at home helping them with this stuff,” she reflects. “I realised that everything I’ve learnt on the job could be really helpful to others.”

The devoted mum hopes her journey inspires other women to step up and grab opportunities. Photo / Woman's Day

Toni insists that confidence isn’t something you’re simply born with. Instead, it can be taught, practised and strengthened. She developed her course into 29 bite-sized lessons across five modules, covering everything from “mastering your mindset” to MCing, leading meetings, joining panels and handling interviews. Toni has even created an entire module on social media.

“Love it or not, social media can’t be ignored,” says the star, who has more than 90,000 followers on Instagram. “I know a lot of people find the idea of making content or filming themselves really scary, but it needn’t be. It’s all about harnessing your ideas and your uniqueness, and having the courage to go for it. Being yourself is so important.”

She recalls times in her own career when her confidence took a hit. Early on, after landing a hosting role on TVNZ’s Breakfast, a viewer wrote in to say she smiled too much and seemed “too happy”.

Toni reflects, “I should have ignored it, but for some reason, it knocked my confidence. I really contemplated if I should try to be a more serious and straight sort of broadcaster. I wondered if I needed to change who I was.

“Luckily, my mum knocked sense into me and said I’d be on a hiding to nothing trying to be someone I’m not.”

Another wobble came in 2015, when she’d been seriously ill with the autoimmune condition Churg-Strauss syndrome. Months of high-dose steroid treatment left her feeling insecure and vulnerable when she returned to her hosting role on Seven Sharp.

“I’d been so sick and my face was all puffy, I felt like I wasn’t myself any more and that really affected me, so I had to go back to basics to rebuild that confidence.”

Even Toni's confidence took a hit throughout her career. Photo / Woman's Day

Now adding “business owner” to her already impressive CV, Toni says she feels proud and energised. After so long in broadcasting, it feels great to sink her teeth into something new and she’s excited to be using her commerce degree.

Founding a business has been a fascinating and challenging learning adventure, but she credits Kiwi e-commerce entrepreneur Iyia Liu – of BossBabes and Celebrity Treasure Island fame – for giving her the confidence to take the plunge. She also took Iyia’s business course Make It Happen.

“We had lunch together, where I just hammered her with questions, and she was so helpful and knowledgeable,” says Toni. “I walked away from that lunch knowing I would give this a go.”

And as always, husband Matt has been an invaluable support. The couple, who’ve been married for almost 16 years, are a tight-knit team, working together to ensure their busy household runs smoothly.

With all three kids heavily involved in sport and theatre, Toni says the family simply wouldn’t be able to achieve what it does without Matt, who is a sponsorship manager.

“Matt has a military approach to scheduling,” she laughs. “He’s a systems guy, which is lucky for me because I am much more chaotic. We balance each other well. Seriously, though, he is an amazing dad and husband. I never need to worry if I have to be away for work or sport as he’s totally across everything.”

Toni’s weeks might be busy, but with the girls’ netball season over and summer on the horizon, she has a little more time to breathe. The devoted mum of three hopes her journey inspires other women to step up and grab opportunities.

“Women over 40 are the group that need this reminder the most,” she says. “You’ve never been more valuable when it comes to sharing knowledge and making connections.

“At 42, I feel like I’m in the best position to be speaking to people because I’ve got so much knowledge banked up over the years to share. Age is a real advantage – we just need to start seeing it that way.”