Humanity over Perfection

Speaking Energy bases much of its philosophy (if I can call it that) on the principal of ‘energy in, energy out’. When we speak to people we are engaging in an exchange of energy.  How we’re feeling right at that moment is the energy that we release — and also how we translate the energy that’s coming back to us. If we just got a piece of bad news and then had to speak to a group, it will be very difficult for us to hide that energy. The audience will sense that something is wrong. Even if they’ve never met you before. Human instinct is a powerful tool. We rely on it everyday.  We know when there is a “problem”.  Likewise, we react to the energy of genuine excitement (and I say ‘genuine’ because a canned sales pitch from someone trying to sound genuinely excited comes out exactly as that: a canned sales pitch from someone trying to sound excited).  Imagine your energy if you won the lottery or just got a big promotion then had to speak to a group?  Or, what if you just praised one of your employees or a friend? Or just harshly criticized them? You get the picture.

So can we express our ‘here and now energy’? Tell the audience what is happening in our lives right there and then? Humanity over perfection.  By telling people what is happening in your life at that moment you are letting them in just enough so they can register the genuine energy in you. Not the one that you’re trying to fake your way through.  You don’t have to tell them your deepest darkest secrets, just be willing to acknowledge your energy so that it can connect to the energy in the room.

Public speaking at its most basic form is simply an energy exchange. Speaking energy with listening energy. And back again. Humanity is a real energy. The one worth sharing.

Maybe 15%. If we’re lucky

That’s a startling statistic. Not scientifically proven. But it doesn’t have to be.  We remember maybe 15% in the average 20 minute presentation. What happened to the other 85%? Do we even care? We had emails to look at on our Blackberry and, well, the speaker did the #1 thing wrong. They bored me.

So we plan our presentation for weeks. Memorize, memorize and more memorize. We think everyone is ready to hear our “important facts” and then, just like that, no one really does. 

Last week I went to see a very famous author — who shall remain nameless — speak to a large audience.  Award winning author,  huge following. And rightfully so. His work is among the best of contemporary authors.  It’s not unusual for authors to read passages — and indeed this was billed as a “reading and talk”. But 85 minutes of reading? After 25 minutes I started to watch the audience (as I always love to do at any presentation): a mix of sleep, Blackberry/iPhone and other distractions. The energy was low.  Even this famous author was asking a lot of his fans to expect them to listen for 85 minutes. The moments that he went ‘off script’ were the moments the audience sprung to life. In a few cases, people literally rose up higher in their seats. Finally a change to the talk. I’m ready. They sunk back down when the unscripted parts were over and the reading started again. 

Energize or de-energize. The choice is yours when you’re the speaker. It’s so easy to energize and so easy to de-energize. The moments of energy in this talk were the humorous asides. The little anecdotes that peeled him away from his text. The ones that gave us some human insight into the author. The stuff that was different.

And so, I went away from this talk remembering maybe 15%. Actually, probably 5. It doesn’t have to be that way. Change the energy, change the audience retention.  Any audience. Any situation. The choice is yours.

No script, no notes, no rehearsal. Perfect! Now you’re ready to speak

I’m always asked, ‘what makes a great public speaker?’ When I get this question, I like to volley a question back and ask, “what are the things that you like to see in a speaker?” Invariably that answer is a mix of, “natural, interesting, informative, etc, etc”. Then I ask, what makes a speaker interesting, natural, informative, etc?  “Oh, well, they don’t use a lot of notes, they don’t bore us with too many slides, they share a story or two, they usually do something unexpected…”

Humans have very basic needs. The number one thing that literally every single one of my clients (from CEOs to Junior Executives the world over) says when I ask what they ‘do or don’t want in a speaker’ is… “I just hope they don’t bore me.”.  Don’t be boring. So if that’s number 1…then let’s stop over analyzing our audiences and get back to what matters in public speaking. Human contact. Human stories.  Human engagement.  Have a conversation, be different, be inspiring. Every single human on the planet has a story. You don’t have to be the loudest person in the room to tell it and you don’t even have to share the same language as the people in the room. Believe me, I’ve had great speaking experiences when very few, if any, of the audience members spoke English. It’s about the Human in the Human. Show it and you will be a great speaker.

Human Speaking is thousands of years old. If you are given 20 minutes — or 2 minutes — to speak on behalf of your company, don’t give the audience the corporate pitch, the stuff they can read on a website or brochure. Inspire them with something new. Something they didn’t expect. I guarantee that they will leave a lot more happy (after giving you their card) if you tell them about your last holiday in Cambodia versus your company’s share price, head count or anything else that they can discover for themselves.

You’re the executive. The human executive. Open a window to your world. No script, no notes, no rehearsal. You’ll be memorable for sure.