Communicating Clearly in a Moment

A few years ago I was a member of a local Rotary Club tasked with organising speakers for the weekly meetings. It was so difficult to get members to give even the simplest presentation. Many of them needed a months notice before consenting to offer even the 10 second grace prior to a meal. In fact, now you really think about it, when asked in advance to give a presentation many people will dive into certain predictable actions. They research a topic extensively and finish with far too much content. Then they think up a few jokes to be clumsily executed and reach for Powerpoint; which incidentally does have its uses as a great trance induction tool.

Here are some tips. I just don't know what you will think about these because they are not what you usually read about in relation to hw to speak in public.

You know the stuff I mean. Attention to background research and rehearsing content, checking your posture, hands out of pockets, develop voice control, movement and gesture, attention to the way you dress and so on. Working on these things will make you a very good speaker but rarely a great one.

Practice enough with careful attention to detail and you can learn to be really comfortable - which is great until we realise that comfort can mean you simply formed a habit. Then one day you meet a situation that challenges that habit and you find out that everything you so consciously and painstakingly learned no longer serves you.

My tips may need a bit of trust and coaching to perfect and I'm not even going to talk about what you say because frankly, if you don't get these points right the content won't matter.

But I'm curious as to how quickly you will find your results improve when you try out these ideas.

So anyway - where were we? You need to speak, it's a great opportunity, the pressure is on, there is no time to hesitate, no time to rehearse and it is now or never so you must...

Because we all know that people say things to themselves through their self-talk that others would never dare say to them. Notice if you hallucinate things like, "they can see straight through me to the sham of a human being I really am", or "Will they be violent?" or "How bad shall I feel when I screw up". It can amaze you when you grasp how many such thoughts can flash through your mind in just a few seconds.

If no one had told you before, you probably would not have noticed the tension in your stomach or the fact that your breathing has become far too shallow. If you don't breathe and you are tense, whatever you do say sounds weak and lacking in conviction. So you must learn to notice your feelings with detached interest, breathe deeply, calmly and relax, as you trust yourself to find the right state. And you might ... just ...

Because state determines what behaviours are possible and these in turn determine your results. As you breath calmly, relax and smile you will just easily let go of the hallucinations and certainly notice how great you feel.

After all, you know that too few people are like you and have the confidence and trust to walk this particular "tightrope". Most humans have no problem instantly switching to a negative, feeling bad, totally pissed-off state but you now have the simple awareness that you really have had many times in your life when you just felt fantastic; and isn't it curious how problems melt away as you recall those feelings once again.

Reflect on what state you want your audience in - is it to be curious? Excited? Enthusiastic? - Maybe even in a state of bliss?!!

Just know for certain that if you want them to find that state you will have to go first!!!

Think of it this way. In any local environment, the most coherent energy source is the one that all others will entrain to. It's the authentic heart of charisma and you have it when you access the right coherent state. You absolutely need to be the strongest coherent source and ancient traditions tell us that love is the strongest source. Need a change of heart? Turn this on if you can. If you can't get there, go for excitement, enthusiasm or contentment. If you can't get there, try "desire for money". Gather all your forces through imagination and memory and simply do whatever is necessary to intensify your state to the best of your ability. We can all do this when we know how to choose to. Oh by the way - don't actually tell them you love them - there may be implications.

You can usefully imagine this state you are now generating as a light that flows from you out to the audience and returns in perpetual motion until you .. come ... hmm.. to the end of your presentation. Now is the time to ...

As you radiate light onto them you start to speak. Notice that by just imagining your voice coming from your nose, your throat, your chest or your stomach, you can influence the pitch and resonance of your voice and its effect on the audience. Although you are the only one talking it is still two-way communication. You are looking and feeling for signs of their rapt attention as their state entrains to yours. As you light up the audience you might spot a few "black holes". These guys just don't want to play. But don't put your attention on them because they will drain you of your light too.

Give special attention instead to the ones sitting around the black holes and you will quickly see that even black holes can light up.

My daughter, who is an actress, talks about "hearing" the audience listen when you really have their attention. Just trust your unconscious mind to allow the rhythm of your voice to guide the audience's attention.

Don't say anything of critical importance until they are with you.

And you can know that there is a little trick that can make even familiar material curious and intriguing to the listener. It's to do with Broca's area of the brain. But that's another story for another day and ... in no time it's all over except for ...

You have practiced the principle of less is usually more? Leave them in a better state than you found them and ideally with just the one key message. When you do it right, they will remember forever and even recall how they felt - but curiously, you can't even really remember all that you said. You led them to the right state and you nailed the key point. Most of the content was chewing gum for the conscious mind wasn't it now.

Listen neither to praise or criticism of your performance because it's only your ego that cares. Study the masters of state such as comedians, actors and politicians and especially those that move you to laughter or tears. Watch Billy Connelly and see him throw his head back as he recalls a story from goodness knows where - notice that the real content is almost irrelevant. His only goal is to achieve a particular state in his audience and hold and hold it. When he has them in that state he can lead them anywhere; just like you can lead others once you believe you can.

Now your steps to mastery of communicating clearly in the moment are beyond conscious thought and your knowing of what should be. Your ego will insist on analysis and the lessons of the habit.

The key to success is to focus mainly on state, (first yours and then theirs) secondly on structure and lastly on content.