This past week I had the opportunity to be on a teleseminar about being a well-paid speaker. The speaker has done over 2200 speaking engagements, so he had a wealth of knowledge to share.
I took some notes from the call, but stared and underlined one particular note. The speaker was talking about speaking technique. Now, most people would probably expect him to talk about standing posture, tone, what to do with your hands, walking, etc. Instead, he gave the best advice I’ve heard in a long time – don’t worry about all that stuff – just be yourself.
What a powerful message. We get so caught up in small and ultimately unimportant matters that we lose focus on our message and what’s important.
If you are so busy worrying about how you are standing and what you are doing with your hands, how are you going to remember what you wanted to talk about?
That’s not to say details don’t matter – they can and often do. The idea is this – stay focused on what’s important right now. If what’s important are the details, then focus on them. If what’s important is the big picture, focus on that.
In a speaking engagement, the message and your passion for that message and your story are what’s important. What’s important for your business today? How are you going to “be yourself” today?
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This is a wonderfully insightful and helpful piece. Thank you so much for sharing.