Presenters Platform

The more and more I hear this comment when people ask after you in daily conversation. I know that we are productive for about 2-3 hours a day so what does it mean to be busy? I know that sometimes when I am editing it takes time to format all the material. I wouldn’t say that I was busy but it is time consuming.

I once replied to someone that I haven’t been busy for sometime and they asked me if I was alright. As if I was ill I thought by the inference.

People today think that being busy means being successful. We know that ideas, problem solving  and individual thought comes when someone is relaxed and reflective rather than being busy. Of course it is good for ones esteem to be involved in lots of ventures and it is fulfilling.

I believe people say they are busy even when they are not to appear successful. I believe being busy means that someone is more tahn likely an inefficient time manager and does not know how to prioritise.

Just think next time someone asks you how you are and what your response is and if someone says they are busy what are they truly projecting.

We know that a symmetrical face defines physical beauty. We know that women observe men’s shoes as a means of analysis. White teeth are a big factor in making a positive first impression.

All the research states that the impact of people speaking is predominantly their physical state then the voice and then the  actual words are minimal. Which is primarily because we have lost our ability to listen with the advent of television.

Most information was relayed by story telling until the invention of writing which is still a relatively new concept in our evolution.

Your mental and physical preparation is critical before you speak. I like to go for a run to relax and go over the script in my head while running. We need to look relaxed when speaking but everyone has their own balance between being relaxed but also enthused by what they are talking about. We respond to energy primarily.

When need to really think about and practice what we are going to talk about and pass it by someone else to get their input. So often people just go through the motions to get it over with rather than making it an opportunity to impress when speaking. An opportunity to impart your beliefs so that people can think about their beliefs and behaviour. To not try and speak thinking what the audience wants to hear rather than saying what you want to say. As long as you are not trying to be reactive or aggressive as we respond to assertion not aggression or passiveness.

Camus the French writer stated to “Know oneself you need to assert yourself.”

When speaking your objective is always to engage your audience. Remembering that you need to be clear about what you want the audience to hear and that you stimulate the audience to want to listen to you. That needs practise as it changes each time as your experience changes and that each audience is different.

Part of the fear of Public Speaking is that we will put a false facade on to show we have power and control over our audience. Self consciousness comes from societal order and fitting in. As our population increases, survival of the fittest comes to the fore as we try and maintain a standard of living.

Our literary standards are dropping. I am sure a lot of financially successful people would not admit to having literacy or even numeracy interpretation difficulties. So in the Public speaking arena when we expose ourselves to our audience we are afraid of displaying our vulnerability. The audience can sense even smell fear. It doesn’t mean that you have to come out like an AA meeting and state your weakness but sub consciously just let it go. Apprehension is another mechanism that disconnects us from our audience. Those things that we think disconnect us from our audience will truly connect us with our audience.

Life is too short to be full of pride to think that you are right or better than someone else. You can see that in family relationships when people don’t talk to each other for years by an instant of hurt or misinterpretation. Swallow your pride say sorry or forgive and understand you are just another small cog in the journey and impart some perspectives of life that you have observed when speaking. This belief I believe will help you connect with your audience and feel less apprehensive about speaking.

I created the Presenters Platform in 2004 to give people a space to work on making an impression when communicating. If Public speaking is our greatest fear why don’t we spend more time working on that fear and addressing it to over come it.

Most people think that it is a fear of judgement from our audience. That is actually just in our own head. Our audiences are generally willing us on unless their minds are somewhere else thinking of health issues, financial problems, relationship dilemnas etc etc. Basically people are not really effective listeners. Often in my courses I get people to repeat what I have said or someone else and the responses are often what people perceived what they thought you were saying rather than what you actually said. Often a belief from the past echoing. Some people will be critical of you but they are just projecting their fear upon you.

So I spend a lot of time with people coaching them to unblock old patterns and behaviours and expand their choices when speaking. Discovering points of difference and how personal and honest you can be to get a point across.

I believe everyone has a story to tell and with the right environment everyone has aright to be heard. Introverts once giving themselves permission to speak have the greatest insights.

But to be able to engage confidently we need to practice and be objective about our choices as the key objective when speaking is to engage the audience.

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