Why You Shouldn’t Build Yourself Up When You Speak
Why is it that, when most people speak, they never make a lasting impression? Even those that are polished presenters, terrific story tellers, or humorous speakers? Unfortunately, they fail to touch their audiences because they’re too busy building themselves up.
What do many presenters talk about when they speak?
Their successes: Business success! Financial success! Personal success! Unfortunately, in building themselves up, they are also building a wall between themselves and their audience.
Why Is This a Problem?
Speak about your failure before your successes and you’ll connect more quickly
Because when you tell them how great your life has been, they may think, “That’s nice for you, but that couldn’t work for me,” or “Well, you’re just special.”
Are you coming across as ‘special’ when you speak?
Why do most presenters share their successes first?
Because they don’t understand that telling others about your setbacks, strife and struggles is a way to make audience members feel like you. When you share those negative experiences, the audience may think, “Wow, I’m not the only one that’s happened to.” or “Glad that didn’t happen to me!” They’ll realize that you’re just as human as they are.
Am I saying not to tell about your success?
No. Once you’ve shared your struggles, the audience is ready to hear about your success. They want to know the strategies or techniques you used to overcome your challenges.
When you share this information, you offer them a valuable gift… Hope. Hope that they can get past the same struggles you’ve overcome. In addition to changing the way people Think, Feel or Act, the greatest benefit you can offer an audience is hope.
It’s natural to think that you’ll connect with people by telling them how you’ve succeeded. The reality is that people will gravitate more quickly to you when you first tell them about your struggles. You’ll help them understand they’re not alone, and that there is hope.
Your best chance of making an impact on the people sitting in front of you is to bare your soul, and resist the temptation to be special.
RECOMMENDED RESOURCE
The free video series ‘7 Keys to Be a Successful Public Speaker.’
In these videos, you’ll pick up 7 key tools to develop speeches that grab the attention of your audience, keep their interest, and compel them to act on your message.
Put these seven keys into place, and you’ll craft messages that impact audiences for years to come.
To register for the series, click here.
Michael’s mission is to help leaders, managers and sales professionals communicate with more confidence, impact, and influence. This passion is born from his own communication difficulties early in his career.
Fortunately, he discovered that public speaking is like riding a bike, swimming or driving a car - it’s a learnable skill. Once he discovered this ‘secret’ he became a voracious student of the craft. He took courses, studied some of the world’s best speakers and storytellers and continues to study presentation and business storytelling skills.
He is hired by companies and organizations, leaders, managers and sales professionals, and TEDx speakers to help them become more confident, impactful and influential communicators.
Address:
Phone: 
