Speak and Grow Market ShareBy Noel Murphy The #1 Fear in America
When you stand up and allow yourself to be counted you run the risk of people not thinking well of you. Consider this: the uncounted aren't thought of much at all. At least when you speak up you've set the record straight about the game you're playing. The trick is not to assume the worst about a group. Instead, leave room for those to whom you are speaking to connect with you. Speakers who see the group as a lynch mob aren't seeing themselves, or the group, as quite up to the task. Give 'Em YOU Caution: for your audience to "get" and really connect with you, you must connect with them first. Here's the great news, when you hold them in high regard and give them YOU, they'll love you. And that's even if they don't know what the hell you're talking about. A presenter who doesn't rate the audience very highly and who isn't willing to bring themselves fully to the task pays a very high price. A speaker can have the secret to the pyramids and I might miss it-tuning him out because he is not fully engaged. What's Your Intention? When you're clear about your intention, there is very little difference between public speaking and one-on-one presenting. Yet most people report that speaking in front of a group is scarier for them than talking with just one person. Ideally, all your audience wants is interaction, to be spoken to as though they are intelligent, and they want to have some fun. They want to feel your passion for the topic. And they also want you to be clear about your intention. If your talk is about legal services, for example, and you want the audience to enroll in prepaid service contracts after the presentation, then that is your intention. There may be other intentions running in the background, like, you want the audience to respect you. But be careful of background agendas. If you pile on more agenda items like wanting them to think you're sexy AND to come visit your church, then the audience may come away feeling confused and irritated. A presenter who has his agenda in check presents a clean talk. Speaking, the Greatest Marketing Tool Ever People are inspired when you are really with them while speaking to them, and even more so when what you are saying helps them solve a real problem. When you know your agenda and your intention well, and you show up fully, you'll take the prize (or make the sale). For me as a speaking and presentation coach it is more important that you are really with me than that you get it perfect. Technique is important but footing rules. (I don't know exactly what she's going for, but I can tell she means it!) I call it purpose or ground-when you feel strongly about your topic and you want your audience to feel strongly too. "I Want All the Help I Can Get" The more you show up fully the more people are inspired, and the more generous people become. Believe it or not, people generously forgive mistakes when they know your intentions are clearly to help them be stronger and more prosperous. If you wander off track, they'll even help you get back on track! I believe that deep down people want to help. Are you willing to allow your audience to help you? (Heaven forbid I should be human and look like I need a little help up here!) Humor Is the Speaker's WD-40 If you have a sense of humor then you probably have the ability to be funny, too. Use it. Let people in on the funny way you see the world, and they will march to Pretoria and beyond with you. If people end up thinking you're a bit twisted-good! Come sit by me. I'm a bit twisted, too. We'll get along just fine. Remember: EVERYONE is a little whacked; we all wear a thin after a while if we're talked to as though we're actually normal! Picturing Your Audience in Their Underwear Is NOT A Visual Aid Picturing your audience in their underwear in order to conquer your fear is not a visual aid; marker boards, hand outs, and LCD projectors are. Use your visual aids to set up strategic pauses. A pause to write on the board is good, but talking with your back to the audience while writing on the board diminishes impact. A pause when changing PowerPoint slides is good. It gives time for your audience to read and reflect and for you to gauge audience response. You are the star of your speech-not PowerPoint. And just because it can perform pyrotechnics doesn't mean it has to. God love Microsoft, shwoosh, bing, bang, bong! Speak and Grow Leadership If you want to speak, I want you to speak, even if you're a little shy because you haven't figured out your message yet. Please don't be stopped by self-criticism. Follow your gut and it will happen. Great presenting can be learned. Humble beginnings for a speaker often lead to powerful self discovery. Martin Luther shared his message clumsily and awkwardly and still polarized 16th century Europe. If a homeless self-styled monk can do that, then what possibility exists for your cherished messages? I encourage you to step into what's next for you in speaking and presenting. There is no secret password and no permission is required. The field is wide open for great ideas and for leadership itself. Ground your passion, check your real agenda, aim, and take your best shot. That's it. Keep your markers sharp and leave 'em wanting more.
Noel Murphy
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"It is better to be silent and be thought a fool than to speak up and remove all doubt." Though clever, this phrase doesn't do much to knock public speaking off the hit parade of fears.
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