What goes through your mind as you prepare for a presentation? What are your thoughts just before you take the stage? Whether it is a small boardroom presentation or an audience of thousands, your mindset matters. Your mindset alone will greatly affect the outcome for both you and your audience.
It was the mid-nineties when I went to my first National Speakers Association convention in Washington, D.C. I remember convention chair Naomi Rhode’s theme was “The Privilege of the Platform.” It never really hit me how truly deep the meaning behind that is. I thought she was referring to “the big stage.” I never realized it applied to me every time I took the stage. I do now.
When you are on stage, to some in the audience you are a perceived an expert. Your credentials, stories and stage presence can influence individuals and their lives for years to come. Think about it. Who influenced you? Whether it was a high school teacher or a presenter you heard, it wasn’t always the big stage that contributed to the influence they had on you.
Consider influence off stage. Think of all the bad press a few people in religious organizations have gotten. Why? Because they put themselves and their own “issues” above the privilege they were given. Other people not holding them to that caused many of the problems and hurt many lives. You may have friends like me who had “bad experiences” in a church and walked away, never to go back. All because someone who was trusted and given a privilege took it for granted or abused it.
That may seem like an obvious and clear example. True. We also may think it is horrible and wrong, and think, “I would never do that.” Yet, we do. I have. Maybe not to that extreme, but when we take the stage, we are given that privilege. The better our skills on stage, the more influence we have.
We never know who is in our audience and where they are “really at” in their mind. People need help and encouragement. No matter what your topic, people constantly need hope and truth without our ego. A marketing presentation seeded with hope can still inspire an audience member who needs the hope more than the marketing. I remember giving my “Ouch!” speech at the Humor and Drama Toastmasters Club at M.I.T. in Boston. It was just practice, or was it? A foreign exchange student came up to me after my supposed “practice” speech and said, “I’m failing here at school in my family’s eyes. They told me I should quit and go home. I heard your speech, I stay.” Wow. I was blown away. My belief level in my own speech grew ten times.
There is no such thing as a practice speech. Small personal stories in a business presentation can affect people in ways you could never anticipate. When you set your intention to help people, you do make a difference. Do not judge your effectiveness by a standing ovation. Often that is not the goal. See each presentation as a privilege, help people and the side effect may be more clients, more money or maybe even more pledges.
When my speaker coach, Mark Brown, 1995 World Champion, saw my focus was straying to the trophy, he asked me, “Darren, you will have the privilege of impacting 2,000 lives for seven minutes. What will you do with that?” I got it. I then understood, it is not me giving a speech, it was me honoring a privilege.
Why did I write this article? To remind myself and you, that we have a privilege and if we want to have that more, we need to honor the ones we do have. I sometimes can catch myself when I’m not honoring it. As soon as I notice, I immediately change my mindset. It affects your delivery. People can tell. Event planners can tell. Clients can tell. Don’t pretend. Don’t be there to give a speech. There is no “practice” speech. You are “privileged” every time you take the stage. Will you honor it?
Please share your comments below!
.
Darren, I look forward to reading your newsletters each week. Next week, I am speaking to a group of coaches. I will talk to them about how they can use public speaking to grow their coaching business. Some of them may be totally in fear of public speaking and some of them may have no intention of using my information. As a public speaking coach, I have to go on stage with the right mindset. I may be able to give one person just the push they need to stand up in front of a group of strangers and walk away with one or more new clients. Thanks for that reminder. My speech next week is not a practice speech. It may be the speech that helps one of those coaches grow their business to new levels. Thanks for sharing!
Wow. We (speakers) are there to give your audience hope and encourage them and that is why our speaches are about the audience and not us as speakers. Thanks Darren to remind me and others it is aprevillage to help somebody out there.
Darren:
Thanks for the reminder that being on stage is a privilege. Sometimes we get so wrapped up in ourselves that we forget to focus on the audience members who are looking for something special.
Wow . That was the first thing I told my self when I red this news letter . For me it cames in a perfect time … I am preparing a speech for an audience different from my usaul one , I really need to be reminded with this at this time
Dear Darren,
Your words really rang a bell in my mind. As a District Officer in Toastmasters, we get to deliver so many speeches, some on the spur of the moment, some on specific occasions such as conferences and conventions, we really don’t think about the impact.
The profound impact your words can have when on stage was brought home to me by one individual who told she remembered every word of my speech a year earlier, and another who twirled around in her new stilettos because she had followed what I said about personal branding and dressing for success!
We are truly blessed to be able to go on to that stage and have people truly listen to us. I am much more careful now about speech preparation and audience analysis!
Here is another view of honoring the privilege.
Self Focus = Self Consciousness
This mindset can lead to unwanted stage nerves!
Audience Focus = Unaware of Self
This mindset can lead to powerful delivery with natural confidence!
Hi Darren,
Great article hit me between the eyes. Read a couple of times and printed a copy to carry and keep it fresh. It is an honor and responsibility to share a message, no matter the subject, we are to make a difference in those who give us that privilege. They give us something that can not be returned and that is their precious time.