Center On Your Audience Vs. You When You Present
We've heard the data: Roughly 41% of professionals worldwide and 73% of American professionals fear public speaking more than death or a shark attack. But what lurks behind the fear? When I ask clients this question, I hear:
"I fear I'll lose respect."
"I fear losing my job or my newly-gained promotion."
"I fear my team will think I look (and sound goofy) and will no longer accept me."
"I worry nobody will listen and I'll have to repeat myself all over again."
No wonder we become nervous, anxious, and agonize over our prep, right? Our inner Judge (in these moments) spins us convincing lies. Yet if we focus on our audience vs. ourselves, amazing shifts occur. We prepare more efficiently (and avoid over preparing), we feel more grounded, generous, and harmonious as we present. In this blog, I offer three ways to stay focused on those you present to vs. you, the presenter, as you share your ideas with a team up or down the chain.
Step One: Get out of your mind
Before doing a thing, ground yourself with whatever mindful techniques you find helpful. Once we’re out of our mind and into our body, we’ll perform and analyze the task ahead differently, more effectively. I've written on mindfulness here, lest my techniques resonate. Once you're feeling more peaceful and less anxious, you're ready for laser-focused action to execute step two. (This resetting of your mind helps edit your prepping and settles nerves as you present, too.)
Step Two: Determine what you want to say
Many presenters overlook the vital step of analyzing what we want to say—and why. And yet, doing so helps us feel better and saves time. (Our audience notices and feels immensely grateful, too.) To get there, try:
Avoid including everything you want to share.
Stay focused on one core topic; and determine what interests the audience by inviting their questions ahead of time.
Bottom line the key ideas within this one topic you commit to.
Also, analyze ahead of time what's in it for the audience. When we share (as part of our bottom line) why this information feels vital, our audience listens. Perhaps your sharing:
Saves your group time
Relieves stress
Streamlines a system or process
Makes (or saves) the organization/department/effort more money
Whatever the reason for your message, let the audience know up front so they'll feel grateful, appreciative of your message, and listen well, too.
Step Three: Interact with and connect with your audience as you present
Now you've created your presentation from a purely audience-centered approach and you've reset your mind so you're grounded and laser-focused on your team. You're ready to present. Once all eyes are on you, you've two choices:
Resist and fear/worry about how you sound, deliver, and perform
Accept and go for an ease-and-flow approach
The latter approach yields less stress for you and more joy for your audience; so let's offer some strategies for getting there. To accept this experience and feel more ease and flow, you might:
Smile and greet your audience
Make eye contact with them. Look for the smiling nodding head in the room and focus there. Try making eye contact with many in the room so each person feels you're speaking just to them. (In virtual meetings, try speaking directly to the web cam to create that same intimacy.)
Avoid interpreting anything in those who seem distracted or unhappy. Focus back to the smiling face(s). If your audience seems uber distracted, gently ask them to focus. Ask questions. Address audience members by name.
You might also bottom line what you plan to cover in your meeting and your core goal(s) within the allotted time. Then, lop a question back to the team and ask: what they hope to gain from this meeting? Anything different to the goal you just shared?
Now you've three small (but potentially powerful) tools to add to your tool belt for presentations near and far. Good luck! May the force be with you and please write with any additional tips you've found helpful. More blogs on executive communications and effective presentations live here.
