There seems to be an inherent insecurity around being able to accomplish good public speaking consistently. Even people who are skilled speakers worry about “losing the magic” or not being “in the zone.” I get it—I’ve definitely had experiences when it feels like a talk I’m giving reaches a place it hasn’t gone before, where … Read more
Elite Speaker Coaching
When we commit to memorizing all or part of our talk, we also have to make another commitment. It’s this: we must commit to rehearsing in a way that ensures that our intention isn’t “to say the words in the right order.” This came to mind for me recently when a client told me he … Read more
Speakers and presenters sometimes get feedback from an audience that they seemed “rehearsed.” If you said this to an orchestra or a corps of dancers, it would be a compliment—of course they rehearsed. It would be a very weird experience to watch musicians or dancers who were unrehearsed. But when people say it to speakers, … Read more
“The last thing in the world that I want when I’m onstage is to be boring.” A client said this to me recently during a conversation we were having about the challenge she’s facing as she tries to shift the presentation culture of her nonprofit. “When we talk about this, they say all the right … Read more
I got to tour Emily Dickinson’s house recently. It’s a museum now, in Amherst, Massachusetts. Our tour guide had worked at the museum for seven years, and let me tell you, she LOVES what she does. I had the idea for this blog post about 20 minutes into the tour, when we were in the … Read more
I was watching a recording of a keynote speaker recently. and he was good. I felt engaged with his content, he was enjoyable to listen to, and I was getting something out of the experience. Then, in one moment, my assessment shifted. To underscore a point, he spread his hands wide in what was obviously … Read more
In theatre, sometimes we talk about not “playing the homework.” What this refers to is when an actor tries to bring all the work they did in rehearsal into a scene. “Wait,” you may think, “isn’t that what all that work is for?” Yes and no. We spend days of rehearsal talking about the play, … Read more
A great speaker acts like they deserve to be there.* In some ways, this encapsulates everything we need to know about the nebulous terms “executive presence,” “confidence,” and “charisma.” When you know you’re going to say something worth hearing, a point of view worth sharing, that knowledge affects everything about how you show up. A … Read more
A director friend of mine told me a story once about a theatrical piece he worked on. The piece was primarily musical, but it included staged elements. He lobbied for a specific, very talented, top-of-the-line lighting designer to be part of the artistic team for the piece. As my friend tells it, the lighting designer … Read more
Ballet dancers seem to float, to soar, to magically propel themselves. The grace and fluidity of their movement captures our imaginations and tells us a riveting story. We leave the theatre in awe of their talent, their gift. We’re not necessarily thinking about how hard they worked to create that two-hour experience for us, the … Read more
