To recap, the 1st Lesson in public speaking is to know your audience. I was impressed with how well the volunteer instructors at MUST Ministries know their audience. (Yesterday’s post)
The 2nd Lesson is equally important: public speaking is a performance.
Saturday, friends treated us to a trip to the Fox Theater in Atlanta to see Memphis, the Broadway musical. My wife & I had first seen Memphis performed in 2009 in NYC at the Shubert Theatre. Soul-stirring music. Wonderful cast. For the US Tour Cast, the role of “Felicia” is played by Felicia Boswell. Felicia absolutely brings it. She sings from her toes – a powerful voice rises from that little body, and Felicia just belts it out. Pitch-perfect and passionate. What a pro – what a performer!
Likewise, public speaking is a performance. Every time. Your audience may be 10 executives in a boardroom, 100 of your peers and team members at a staff meeting, 1000 of your Customers at a User Conference, or 5 high school Students that you lead on a volunteer basis. Always, always, always remember that when you stand before a group to communicate, you are performing. So, put in the prep work and bring it! You may not have the awe-inspiring “pipes” of a Felicia Boswell, but you’ve got talent & passion. Tap into it and perform!
I started the first of these two posts with a factoid. Public speaking ranks 2nd on the list of things we fear most. Snakes top the list. If serpents freak you out, I’ve got no advice – sorry! But, for those of us who want to grow as presenters or speakers, you may benefit from this reminder. 2 lessons: (1) know your audience, and remember… (2) public speaking is always a performance.
Bonus Material: Recently, I finished Confessions of a Public Speaker by Scott Berkun. Berkun is one of us…you can relate to him. (wrote Art of Project Management) He’s a project manager with diverse experiences who worked for Microsoft for years. Smart, funny, thought-provoking, and raw – check out this book if you want to take your public speaking to the next level.