Call me strange, but I love speaking in front of an audience. I genuinely look forward to it. I can’t wait to get up on that stage.
I love it when people are so engaged that they hang off my words. I love making people laugh and then saying something that makes them deadly silent and thoughtful all of a sudden. I love the privilege of being able to offer words, stories and insights that I hope will be meaningful and make a difference. It’s all about connecting with my audiences. Because, as a speaker, that’s my job.
I’m convinced that my love of speaking (apart from being a Leo!) is mostly because the message I deliver is one about which I care deeply.
I understand the dread about public speaking. The nerves, the anxiety, the stress, the What if I make a complete idiot of myself, and the nagging thoughts that I should have said no thank you to accepting certain speaking engagements.
A few months ago I was offered an opportunity that didn’t quite fit with how I see myself nor my work. You might describe this as an upper limit problem. My business took off this year like a rocket at full throttle, and I wasn’t expecting, just six months in, for it to start moving into new dimensions that called for me to keep seriously stepping it up. I was being perceived a certain way by the rest of the world, and hadn’t quite caught up yet in my own sense of my reality.
The speaking opportunity felt like a stretch. It was a different audience for me. I thought I had to come up with something that somehow was bigger or more profound than what I’d presented before. And that was just the start of my dread. I spent too long thinking about it. Too long wondering what I’d say. Too long worrying that I wouldn’t be able to pull it off. Too long putting too much pressure on myself. Too long thinking I really didn’t have something to offer that was good enough. And far too long wishing I’d said no to the opportunity in the first place.
And then, when the day came for me to sit down and write out my ideas and start putting together my talk, something remarkable happened.
Insights appeared that I didn’t even know I had within me. Threads of connection between my ideas and experiences were spun in the most divine web. I discovered what was mine to share in this new forum, and I started to get very, very excited.
The shift from dread to excitement was dramatic and rather marvellous. I suddenly couldn’t wait for the day to come to get up on that stage and speak.
During my public speaking workshops, my focus is always on helping participants discover the message that’s theirs to share.
Here’s why:
- It’s impossible to touch and embrace your power when you speak about something that’s not meaningful to you
- Your deep sense of purpose and meaning inform not just how you use your voice, but also your body language and presence
- When you understand and own your wisdom, intelligence, experiences and expertise, you naturally command the stage
- The best public speakers and presenters know themselves exceptionally well and want to use their words to transform their audiences
Knowing your message is deeply personal and intimate. Only you can share your message in your unique way. There’s no right or wrong, and it’s not for anyone else to say anything about it anyway. Your message is yours. And yours only. No-one can take it away from you.
And that changes everything. It can create an incredibly profound shift in you.
Knowing your message means:
- Dread fades
- Excitement emerges
- You own what you have to say in ways you never have before
- You discover genuine confidence
- You start to own the stage
- You begin to enjoy public speaking
- And the way you speak is much, much more powerful
So, what’s the message that’s yours to share?
Discovering it won’t just make you a much more powerful speaker. It will give you a sense of meaning and purpose in your life – plus loads more genuine confidence – in the most surprising ways.
~~~
Want to discover your message? How about starting with my free training video, The 5 Secrets to Powerful Speaking!
(Oh, and registration is open for my next Australian Powerful Speaking Intensive. It’s in Adelaide in February 2014.)
Just pop your details in the box below and my 5 Secrets to Powerful Speaking will land directly in your inbox.
