Hi, this is Cynthia, your voice coach. Early this week, I conducted a half-day voice training workshop. I’ve learned 2 lessons as a trainer and speaker. I’d like to share with you and hope they’ll help you become a great speaker.
That workshop was scheduled in the afternoon. In the morning, something unexpected happened and was bothering me. I was telling myself, “I can not let this affect me in the training.” On my way to the workshop, I kept on telling myself, “I must be present. I MUST be present.”
As I arrived, I started to talk to the participants, asking what they would like to get out of this workshop.
During the entire workshop, I observed closely on the participants’ response on everything I taught, trying to figure out if they understood. When they looked confused, I would use another way to elaborate and explain more clearly until they got it.
After the workshop, guess what happened? What had bothered me did not bother me any more! I felt fulfilled seeing the great improvement in the participants.
As a speaker or trainer, you can have all the expertise and excellent platform skills, but if you fail to own one single yet critical element, you’ll never get the real connection with your audience and you’ll never touch the audience’s lives, And that one critical element is “Being present.”
Being present means you are available to your audience not just physically, but mentally, you are not preoccupied with your own problems. In Zen, the saying is, “Be here now.”
If you have too much in your head – “what’s my schedule for tomorrow”, “where shall I be after this”, or “how will the audience think of me”, — you are not present, you are not available to your audience at that moment, and you’ll disconnect with your audience.
Being present can be learned. One of the ways to get your started is what I did, that is, to shift your focus. Don’t be concerned about how you feel; Be concerned about your audience, whether they can understand what you say.
There’s another lesson I’ve learned from this experience. There’s a saying, “The happiest people are those who lose themselves in the service of others.” It is so true. When you start to shift your focus from yourself and your own problems to serving others, what bothers you will no longer bother you.
Your assignment, in your next speech or presentation, what will you do to stay present?
How to Sound Calm when Upset
February 21, 2022
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