Dr. Michael Gerharz, Autor auf The Art of Communicating

A great show

WOW opens the mind.
AHA changes the mind.

So much advice on public speaking focuses on the WOW effect.

How to turn the spotlight onto yourself.
How to put on a great show.
How to dazzle your audience.

But do you want your audience to cheer for your great performance or for the brilliance of your idea?

If it’s the latter, then WOW will only get you half the way.

To get all the way, consider turning the spotlight around and onto your audience.

Sure, put on a great show if that’s your thing. But make your audience the star of the show.

And shine a bright light. Yet not to dazzle but to light your audience the path to a profound insight.

It’s so much more fun.
It’s so much more worthwhile.

Best of all, AHA moments tend to last longer than WOW moments.

What’s your take on this?

How much “you” is too much?

A little add-on to yesterday’s post:
How much “you” is too much in your presentation style?

Ultimately, style serves impact. It’s best positioned to do so at the intersection of being a great fit for

you,
the content, and
the event.

While I stand by my assertion that audiences are much more tolerant regarding style than you think, that doesn’t mean that everything works everywhere.

Some matches are just not a good fit.

So, be as much “you” as possible, but get out of your way if that style keeps you from making a bigger impact because it’s not a good fit for either the content or the event.

And, of course, avoid compromising substance for style.

Your Style

“Our audiences expect it that way.”
But honestly now, do they really?

The statement sounds as if it would be in service of the audience. But more often than not, it’s just an expression of fear.

The fear of rejection.

Because, well, what if they don’t like it the other way?

When I started to do things differently with my speaking some 20 years back, my colleagues in our working group were very worried about me. They kept reminding me that audiences would expect a more traditional way of presenting and that I was risking my reputation.

Turns out I wasn’t.
Neither did audiences expect a more traditional way.

A couple of things I frequently heard after a presentation:
“That was a refreshing way of presenting.”
“Finally, someone speaking plain English.”
“I loved the way that you spoke with us, not to us.”

No one had missed the boring bullet point galore of the traditional way.

In fact, never even once in my life have I met someone who would have preferred a boring presentation over a more entertaining one just because the boring would be more traditional.

Here’s what audiences really expect: They expect you to not waste their time.

Audiences are way more tolerant than you think regarding style.

What’s much more important is that

what you say is relevant and
how you say it resonates.

What I’ve learned is that the latter is much easier if you dare to be more “you” in the way you show up. But make sure that what you say is highly relevant.

Would love to hear your experiences with being you! How do you deal with the warning that “audiences expect it that way”?

Silence

Nowadays, even if there’s no sound, the world doesn’t feel silent very often, does it?

As soon as we pause, our phones cry “Check me!”.

The noise that’s social media (or Slack, email, you name it) doesn’t give our mind a pause like sitting in silence at a lake does.

Even though the latter might have much more ambient noise than your “silent office”.

What if you changed the meaning of silent to refer to giving your mind a little pause? To stop the noise of other people’s ideas flooding your thoughts and give your own thoughts a little more volume, even the quiet ones?

That kind of silence feels very different.

Actually, today feels like a good day to give it a try.

What’s your definition of silence?
When was the last time you truly experienced that?

Switching off

My favorite TV show as a child always ended with a call to action: “You can safely switch off the TV now!”

Which we did. Even though it was probably more our parents’ decision than ours, it was often the start to some fun hours.

What if, after reading this post, you did the same?

There’s a day waiting outside.
Conversations to be had.
Walks to be made.
Smiles …

Feels like a good choice to me.

You can safely switch your device off now ;-)

How confident are you as a speaker?

You are backstage.

Palms are sweaty, knees weak, arms heavy.

In other words: You’re just plain terrified. Stage fright has got you in its grip and it’s squeezing hard.

Public speaking is the monster under the bed for grown-ups. It’s that universal fear that sends shivers down the spine of some of the boldest leaders.

Their powerful voices suddenly feel weak. Their decisive stride seems uncertain. Their usual commanding presence fades into doubt. Backstage, the bold leader is no longer a tower of strength.

Almost certainly, you’ve been hit with advice to conquer that fear. But in my experience, most of that advice actually achieves the opposite. It doesn’t make you feel less nervous but more.

Huh? More nervous? Let me explain …

Often, it’s quite a beast in terms of things you have to consider and do in the correct order: Deep breaths, power stance, eye contact, pacing, how to hold your hands, how to stand, when to smile, …

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg …

What’s worse is that all of this is on top of actually having to remember what you wanted to say. (Not to mention: actually saying it.)

I’ve never seen it work well. Not only does this advice not eliminate stage fright. As I said, it actually adds to the stress.

Which is why I prefer a very different approach that I hope can change the game for you, too.

In 16 years of working with leaders who went on stages, large and small, this is the only approach I’ve seen that has consistently led to improved confidence in front of audiences.

I’ve turned it into a free eBook: Speak Easy – 4 Steps to Total Confidence in Your Communication.

It’s a short read with a pretty unusual take.

If you haven’t done so already, download it here: https://michaelgerharz.com/speak-easy

PS: Please share this with someone you know who struggles with stage fright. I hope it can be a game changer for them.

Speak Easy

If you’ve ever struggled with stage fright but somehow nothing you’ve tried has really worked, this is for you.

Perhaps you’ve already watched a couple of motivational YouTube videos that promised a fix.

Or you’ve been to workshops hoping to improve your body language to come across more confidently.

Maybe you’ve read some books or tried power posing and meditation.

But whatever you tried, either things didn’t really improve or you fell back to your old patterns shortly after.

I’ve tried some of these, too. I never found them to work well, either.

Until I’ve changed my approach.

I tried to understand what was really going on and realized that almost every advice out there only addresses the symptoms but not the cause. It’s a pretty unusual take that not many speak about but I think it’s obvious once you see it.

I wrote a little eBook to share with you what I’ve discovered over the years.

It works for me and it works for my clients. 
I hope it does for you, too.

It’s also free. 
Get it here: https://michaelgerharz.com/speak-easy

PS: If you find this useful, please share it with your friends and colleagues so that others can improve their stage presence, too.

Your definition of success

As the CEO, if you and one or more board members disagree on the definition of success, you need to have the hard conversations to reach alignment.

If you don’t, you’re going to have to constantly battle it out.

It will slow everything down and consume energy that’s better spent elsewhere.

It will confuse the team and have a toll on their confidence.

It may cause frustration as projects are shut down over disagreement but with unsatisfactory justification.

In other words, if you and (parts of) the board are not on the same path, figuring the path out becomes your prime concern.

If you shy away from that conversation, it will become your only concern.

Until it becomes the exit.

Have you had difficult conversation with the board?
How did you approach it?

—

PS: If you need support, reach out!

Us, together

So many businesses miss out on an opportunity to create a deeper connection with their customers on their “about us” page.

They take “us” to mean “themselves”. The business.

While this isn’t exactly wrong, it excludes the customers.

A much deeper connection is possible when “us” includes the customer.

What about “us, the business” is it that clicks with the customer? What is it that makes the customer identify with the business to think that they are “like us”.

What’s the common ground? The point of identification? What makes this combination of business and customer the perfect match?

Ultimately, this expands “us” to mean “us, together”.

Now, this doesn’t mean that you wouldn’t speak about yourself. But what you do say you say purposefully to resonate with your customer.

It’s your story that they read, but it’s also a profound feeling of “like us” that they sense.

A great example is Patagonia. On their “Business, unusual” page they speak about themselves, their values and their journey. But in every single word their customers see themselves; you can easily see them thinking “just like us”.

That’s a profound connection that has the potential to create an incredible amount of loyalty.

PS: Reach out if you want that, too.

The leap to our vision

Here’s why some leaders struggle to align their team behind their vision: They haven’t made the leap from “my vision” to “our vision”.

When it’s “my vision”, why should the team care? They will do their job because they’re paid to do so. But anything more than that? You will need some decent persuasion skills and perhaps have to drop in an incentive or two.

But when it’s “our vision”, that’s a different journey. It’s as much their drive as it is yours. Even if they might not burn for it just as much as you do, the team is intrinsically motivated to get there.

So, what about “your vision” makes it “our vision”? How does it align with what matters to the team? Where’s the common drive?

A great way to find out is through conversations. Great visions aren’t usually crafted at night, sitting at a desk in a dark office. Much more often, they are the results of curiosity and exploration, asking questions and listening closely to what others have to say.

The better you understand what matters to the people on your team, the better you’ll be positioned to transition from “your vision” to “our vision”, a vision that not only motivates you but the whole team.

PS: Reach out if you need support.

SEARCH

Explore

Work with me

Connect

SUBSCRIBE