Any form of presentation, speech or address no matter how long or short it is
can be challenging and nerve racking, particularly if you are not use to
standing on your feet and talking in front of an audience. I am very fortunate
in that I have been doing presentations and conducting training programs for
many years, so I have got use to the challenge and nerves or butterflies in the
stomach that always emerge and swell up inside of you in the days, hours and
minutes before you speak.
The challenges, nerves and butterflies are always a good thing for me in so much
as it gets my adrenaline working and allows me to channel my energy and
enthusiasm into what I want to say and the message I have been asked to deliver.
However, I have never really thought very deeply about how much of my energy it
takes to do any form of public speaking.
Just recently I had the pleasure of speaking at a conference about the key
success factors in business and as usual in the weeks and days prior to my
presentation I spent considerable time researching and reviewing what I wanted
cover, as well as preparing the structure and content of what was an hour and a
quarter presentation.
When I was young, my mother and father regularly said to me that 'the early bird
catches the worm', so as I have always done, I arrived early at the conference
centre so that I could make sure that everything I needed for my presentation
was on hand and check out the venue, as well as prepare myself for my
presentation. This completed, I then had time to speak to a number of the
delegates who had also arrived earlier than the scheduled starting time of my
presentation.
I have always measured the level of success of my presentations by the applause
and comments that I receive from those people in the audience. On this occasion
I spoke in the session leading up to the morning break, so after the applause
had ended and the MC thanked me, I had the opportunity to personally speak to
nearly all of the delegates.
The last delegate I spoke with greeted me by taking my hand, shaking it and
saying how much she enjoyed my presentation, and that she had got of lot of
helpful and practical tips to use in her business. For some reason as we
continued to talk she did not let go of my hand and then placed her other hand
just above my wrist and increased the pressure of her hand shake, whilst gently
squeezing my arm with her other hand.
She went on to say that I had put so much of myself into the presentation that
she hoped that my energy levels would not suffer for the rest of the day and she
wanted in some way to return the energy I had given out. She smiled at me whilst
she said this and then let go of my hand and went to join her colleagues for
morning tea.
Usually an hour or so after any presentation that I give, I feel quite exhausted
and I know that this is directly related to what I put into what I do and the up
shot of using a lot of nervous energy, however, on this occasion, the
opportunity for me to receive the words of thanks from the delegates gave me a
genuine lift and recharged my batteries. The icing on the cake that gave me an
even bigger energy lift was the words of support and encouragement from the
delegate with the very firm handshake.
This experience at the end of my presentation also made me realise that what we
give out in life can come back to us and equally, we all need and value
receiving positive feedback and praise when and where it is warranted and
deserved.
A business associate who works in the field of leadership and people development
refers to the word 'Praise' as an anagram, although some may consider it to be
an acronym for - People Really Are Into Sensational Efforts, and he goes on to
say that all people need is regular praise and encouragement for them to reach
new heights in all aspects of their personal and business life.
As I drove away from the conference I reflected on how fortunate I had been to
receive all those words of appreciation and praise for what I had done that
morning and how refreshed and energized I felt Inspired by a firm handshake and
all the genuine words of appreciation and praise.
Keith Ready © June 2006
Keith Ready lives and in Sydney, Australia and is affectionately known as Mr
Inspiration. He is publisher of InspirEmail which provides inspirational
messages to refresh the spirit and boost the emotional bank account. You can
visit his website at
www.agiftofinspiration.com.au and he can be contacted via e-mail at
info@agiftofinspiration.com.au
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