falling asleep in class!

The only training most of us have had in speaking to groups is the examples given or thrust upon us by our teachers. I am distressed to say that 90% of my time as a student was spent in boredom and what I retained from those many years of sitting and obeying that has been relevant to my later life is almost exactly nil.

The best training I have ever received in communication skills has been through my involvement as an actor, director and writer. I learned to approach the speaking opportunity as a performance, which means simply that the audience's attention must be captivated from beginning to end.

Imagine what education would have felt like if our beloved teachers had these skills. It doesn't stop there. So many of us must give the dreaded "presentation" and we only know how to get it over with (at best) before they fall asleep.

Speaking, however, is a requirement for any project, idea, product or activity to become a reality.
You must enroll others in order for anything to happen. Its worth getting some grounding.

Clients of mine have addressed thousands of people and small groups of 3 to 5. Either way, the impact, the effect, and the possible outcomes are huge. To pass a proposal at council chambers, to introduce a new coaching program, to pitch a movie, to launch a new breakthrough product...
Each of these are done through speaking and the result can literally be life changing for you and everyone present. That is as it should be. Speaking to others is a privilege and an honor if approached with respect, skill, authenticity, integrity and with an attitude of service.

I won't go into the strategies right now in this post, but I will develop this blog to be a repository for ways to get your point across.

Ask yourself in preparing for a talk:
"What do I want the people to do today that they would not have done if I was not here."
That answer will shape your time on the platform. You are sculpting the shared time towards your desired outcome.