Most people find it nerve-wracking, to say the least, to stand in front of a crowd and speak. They just want to get it over with. So they barrel through their presentation at ninety miles an hour, like wind-up monkeys banging their cymbals, trying to make their case on sheer energy. When I work with clients like that, I have to tell them to do the hardest thing possible. I tell them to slow down. Slow down.
I don’t just mean that they should speak more slowly. That would be a big first step in fixing the problem, but we could get the same effect with a valium and a few shots of whiskey. It might make the experience far less stressful for them, but it certainly wouldn’t make them compelling speakers.
No, by slow down, I mean slow down mentally. Calm down, but even more than that, slow down and think about what you are saying. Think about what it means and then put that meaning into your words, into the rhythm and tone of your voice. Pause, first to give them a chance to anticipate what you are about to say, and then to digest it.
Not only do you give them, and yourself, a chance to breathe, but you put more power into your presentation. You make yourself sound more confident and thoughtful and your words and ideas seem all that much more profound. It’s both the easiest advice in the world to give, and some of the hardest to actually take.
But it works.
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