What’s In Your Head?

What’s in your head when you’re on stage?  Are you focused on connecting with your audience and building rapport or are you consciously aware of everything you’re doing – right and wrong?

If you’ve done a number of presentations, you will have had the experience of delivering your well-designed “speech” to a few different crowds.

But one thing I have noticed with speakers time and time again is that when they are actually on stage, sometimes their focus is on the wrong place.

• “I stood still most of the time like you say Jo, but at one point I thought I should move around a bit so I did.”
• “When I was building the need I know I said it all wrong and it threw me for the rest of the close.”
• “I didn’t think I was going to remember the questions, but I asked about 4 questions in first 2 minutes is that enough?

What’s Wrong Here?

On the one hand, it is great that people have awareness about what’s happening on the stage. The problem with these speakers was that with further questioning I discovered that while on stage, MOST OF THE TIME they were thinking about what they were doing, and whether they were doing it right.

While you’re busy focusing on whether you’ve asked enough questions, or changed state enough or built enough need, or been clear enough- you are stuck in your head. While you’re stuck in your head you are not doing the one thing that you should do on stage and that is:

Connect With Your Audience!

That is your single biggest and most important job once you get on stage. All you should be focusing on is connecting with them and taking them on a great journey.

That’s it.

Practice Makes Perfect This is why practice is so important. When you repeat things and practice things over and over you’ll get them embodied in your unconscious mind so that by the time you are on stage it is a habit. You should not be consciously thinking “I need to cross my arms now” on stage. If you are, you have forgotten your primary purpose for being on the stage. So here’s how to prepare for your presentations: Write out your script. It doesn’t have to be word for word ( I never write word for word scripts) but it should have all of the key points you are going to make. Practice it several times focusing on different elements each time: Practice for timing Practice for energy management Practice for stage use Practice for sensory based language Practice by taking everything over the top, much bigger than you imagine it should be. On the day of your presentation forget about all your practice, and get yourself in the right mindset to connect with your audience. As soon as you hit that platform, focus on being present and connecting with every person in the crowd, and authentically taking them on a journey. Find the yummy moments!

Summary

So, forget about getting it ‘right’ on stage.  Focus instead on practicing your presentation and then when you’re up there, forget all of this and instead build your connection.  And then write in and tell me about the results…