The biggest and most common impediment to effective public speaking and performance endeavors. And the easiest to overcome.

Whenever people attempt any public speaking endeavor, they always want to be effective at whatever their talk aims to accomplish. But it’s also pretty safe to assume that chief among their concerns is to avoid looking like a fool. Most of those who seek out a master public presentational and performance coach like myself, are commonly interested in looking authoritative and commanding while presenting. But that priority can absolutely get in them in the most trouble. And this is much more commonly their undoing than you might think. Don’t’ get me wrong, it’s absolutely possible to come off as authoritative and impressive. But only if you’re not actually trying to do so! Let me explain. Since every public speaking outreach has an objective, prioritization of intentions is required. The more expendable your image is in the endeavor, there’s a happy paradox that occurs. The less you care how you personally come off, the more gutsy and authentic you appear to your audience. It also solves a number of other common problems like fear. And just like with all those hundreds of thousands of actors I coached in removing impediments to their performances, authenticity is both the solution and also what moves the needle with audiences. So I work with clients to quickly strip away artifice so that they are their most authentic self whether in front of 5 people or 5000. And because they end up sounding passionately focused on the right things, their bandwidth or “working memory” is taxed far less than if they were also juggling cares of what the audience thinks of them. And paradoxically, they end up with the audience being impressed as a happy byproduct.

Among the coaches that work in the market are former newscasters. And this usually reflects that aspiration to authoritative credibility as a primary value. But news people are supposed to suppress personal quirks and authentic individuality as a rule to appear impartial. And neurologically, suppression is a recipe for disaster as science shows it results in a “rebound” phenomenon that actually makes what is suppressed, far more likely to happen! Most people site Walter Cronkite or Edward R. Murrow as the most credible, authoritative American newscasters we’ve had over the years. Yet as visible as they were, very few Americans actually knew anything about them from their presentational style which eschewed such personal traits as a regular part of doing their jobs. Oprah Winfrey was a newscaster in Chicago who was “demoted” to a person-on-the-street interview format she begged to avoid. But she seized the opportunity to break free of the conformist role that newscasting would have imposed on her and her fandom rose far higher with her audience by being far more “herself” than she would have had she stayed in the newsroom. Your audience actually wants MORE of you if they’re going to form a bond of trust. Not less. The balance of the impression you make is made up by way of your intention which makes it of tremendous importance. I hope you can see what gets lost by prioritizing looking authoritative instead of authentic. If you prioritize authenticity, you’ll still be able to gain authoritative credibility the way Oprah has done.

Whenever I have a client crash during a practice session, I always ask them the following question: “On whom did your focus just go?” And in very single case, the answer is, “On myself!” Self-consciousness is the single most common undoing for any performer. In his groundbreaking book “Power vs Force,” Dr. David Hawkins illustrated the impact of emotions on the physical body by using the science of psychoneuroimmunology to calibrate the power of the physical energy expressed by humans by way of their intention. And make no mistake, these energies are transmitted and felt by your audience which can be physically proven. Hawkins found the self-focused intentions of opportunism and ambition, fairly low on the energetic impact scale. But service and contribution were among the very highest calibration levels of any intention. I’ve used this concept successfully with client after client to form both their content and delivery to drive their presentations to their most effective result. And because their focus remains off themselves, they’re freed up to focus on the most important things and that’s where the audience’s hearts are won or lost.

When a speaker comes from a place of aspiration to get or accomplish something, they transmit that energetically to their audience. This is when a presenter is “doing” their talk. But when a presenter is seeking to serve and contribute to their audience as a primary intention, they come from a place of “being.” And the difference is palpable to the audience just as it is with the actors with whom I worked so much. When they would audition to “get the job,” you could feel it. And it got in the way of their performance. When an actor came in to contribute what was in their heart and soul because they used their imagination to generate it, you could absolutely feel that too. It was like going from black and white to color. Look online at the auditions of Henry Thomas for “ET” and Rachel McAdams for “The Notebook” and you can clearly see and feel the fullness of their intention coming from every pore in their body as a creative gift of their imaginations. Beingness seeks only to contribute, not “get.” It’s palpable and immensely effective.
If you’d like some help getting to that same place of “being” for your presentation or performance, I’d be extremely privileged to help.

Blog Post Title Two

It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.

Don’t worry about sounding professional. Sound like you. There are over 1.5 billion websites out there, but your story is what’s going to separate this one from the rest. If you read the words back and don’t hear your own voice in your head, that’s a good sign you still have more work to do.

Be clear, be confident and don’t overthink it. The beauty of your story is that it’s going to continue to evolve and your site can evolve with it. Your goal should be to make it feel right for right now. Later will take care of itself. It always does.

Blog Post Title Three

It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.

Don’t worry about sounding professional. Sound like you. There are over 1.5 billion websites out there, but your story is what’s going to separate this one from the rest. If you read the words back and don’t hear your own voice in your head, that’s a good sign you still have more work to do.

Be clear, be confident and don’t overthink it. The beauty of your story is that it’s going to continue to evolve and your site can evolve with it. Your goal should be to make it feel right for right now. Later will take care of itself. It always does.

Blog Post Title Four

It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.

Don’t worry about sounding professional. Sound like you. There are over 1.5 billion websites out there, but your story is what’s going to separate this one from the rest. If you read the words back and don’t hear your own voice in your head, that’s a good sign you still have more work to do.

Be clear, be confident and don’t overthink it. The beauty of your story is that it’s going to continue to evolve and your site can evolve with it. Your goal should be to make it feel right for right now. Later will take care of itself. It always does.