I hope not. But if it is, take heart. There is a way to quiet your mind, calm your nerves, settle your body, control your message and (I’m not kidding) be yourself when you are in front of an audience. Did I mention that you can actually ENJOY the experience, too?

My 5-week Free Your Talents class, “Presentation Skills for Professionals” still has some spaces available. I hope you’ll enroll right now. Here are the details:

Thursday evenings, 5:30 to 8:30 pm, beginning May 10, 2012. Lord Camden Inn, Camden, Maine. Value: $650. Regular price: $350. Spring Special: $250. A $50 deposit holds your place in this fun, stretching, informative, practical, freeing class. Now’s the time, friends. Take this class. Write or call: beverly@freeyourtalents.com; 207-230-0272.

You can change the way you feel about being in front of a group. Save money, time and energy by practicing the principles I will teach you in class. 

Learn to be yourself while people are watching.

Yours in freedom and clarity,

Beverly

This weekend I’m performing as Narrator for a collection of Australian folk tales to be performed by a group of children. To make the outside of my script look cheerful, I took a glue stick and attached several colorful pieces of artwork to the front and back of the paper folder holding my script. Throughout tonight’s dress rehearsal, the glued artwork kept falling off the cover. I’d had the foresight to take the little glue stick along to the theatre, just in case a touch-up was called for, so I’d slather on some more. Smart, huh? However, the same problem kept recurring.

Imagine my surprise to hear these words from my 8-year-old daughter after rehearsal: “Mom, I’ve been trying to tell you: that’s not a glue stick; it’s sunscreen.”

No matter how careful, diligent and thorough you are, if you’re not focussed on and present with your task in the moment, all your cleverness will be in vain. For a presentation, you might do great research, practice your talk over and over, and find the perfect suit to wear the day you present. But if you didn’t note the correct date and time, or weren’t paying attention when you were told who your audience would be, you might find yourself wondering why in the world no one showed up — or why the wrong people did.

Pay attention. One moment at a time.

Here’s to glue sticks!

Beverly

This quotation from Peter Sellers makes me laugh.

This type of ending to a presentation does not.

When you are ready to wrap up your talk, do it. Avoid prolonging it with statements like, “Without further ado,” “To make a long story short,” or even “In conclusion.” Why not? They have become trite fillers, fall-back remarks that can take away from the naturalness and sincerity of your message. They seem to indicate, “I don’t know what else to say now, so I’ll just say this.” Find a fresh way to let your listeners know that you are nearing the end, and then go there.

Restating your main points is helpful to your audience, a brief recap of what you’ve given them. You can say something like, “Let’s go over those points one more time,” or something else that indicates the conclusion is imminent. Giving them something to do (sometimes referred to as the “call to action”) will help you leave on a strong note.

Then, when you’ve stopped talking, stand still and be quiet for a thoughtful moment. Just as an Olympic gymnast sticks the landing upon completing a routine, you, too, can take a few seconds to stay connected with what you’ve offered. This allows your listeners to ponder what you’ve just said. It keeps them focussed not on YOU, but on your message to THEM. This is the best way to end your presentation.

Here’s to poised completion,

Beverly

Today I saw this clip posted on a friend’s Facebook wall. I had to view it numerous times because it demonstrates so clearly the power of pressing on right through great fear. I hope you will watch it and listen well.

Fear of speaking to an audience does not hold the potential physical risks this child’s activity did. However, if you feel as paralyzed and terrorized by fear as she did, take heart from her example. Learn from her experience.

Focus. Engage. Enlist. Intend. Breathe. Move.

Getting on with it opens the way to feeling free and comfortable — or even thrilled — and your next step will invite even greater freedom.

Yours in fearlessness,

Beverly

I like this item from my friend Barbara Rocha’s blog so much, that I asked her if I could feature it in mine. You can enjoy her blog here: http://gettingoveryourself.wordpress.com/

5 Reasons people look at you at the gym 

It’s so easy to think everyone is paying attention to us, especially when we’re giving a speech. But what about at the gym? Yes, even there. But is that what they’re really doing?

These are the 5 reasons people look at you at the gym, and the first four are the most likely.

1. They’re staring into space in your direction and don’t even see you.

2. They’re really looking in the mirror at themselves.

3. They’re checking out the exercise you’re doing to see if it’s something they ought to add to their workout.

4. They’re wondering when you’ll be through with that machine.

And a very distant 5. They’re actually interested in you. In which case, make the most of it. (And even there, they’re thinking about themselves.)

So, whether you’re giving a speech or working out, it’ll be much easier once you figure out the audience is more interested in themselves than they are in you. Make the most of it. And set yourself free.

Yours in getting over yourself,

Beverly

P.S. If you liked this, you’ll also like Barb’s book, Getting Over Yourself – A Guide to Painless Public Speaking . . . and More, which you can purchase directly from her: http://gettingoveryourself.com/publications/index.htm

Logging in to my System Preferences this morning, I typed my user name and password. A message proclaimed that my password was incorrect. Impossible! I typed it again. Same message. Then again: Incorrect password. “WHAT?! This cannot be! I know this password is correct.”

In fact, the password was correct. Suddenly I noticed that I had (too speedily) typed my user name improperly. Aha, there was the culprit. I straightened that out, entered the password and, voila, all was well.

Too often it’s easy to get all hung up on what’s wrong, when it’s not the thing that’s wrong at all. When you’re speaking to an audience, you might think, “Oh, yikes, there’s my supervisor, Judith, out there. I’m so nervous because she’s looking at me.” Hmm. It’s not your supervisor’s presence that’s giving you the shakes; it’s your thoughts turning inward toward yourself that are making you so uncomfortable. Just as I was thinking my password entry was misbehaving when it wasn’t, you’re letting Judith’s presence be a problem when it’s not. In fact, Judith may well be delighted with what she’s hearing you say. You need to refocus your thoughts on what matters: your audience (including Judith) and their need to hear your message. Then get on with your presentation.

Keep your eyes on what matters!

Onward.

Beverly

Uncertainty seems to be so certain.

Recently I discovered that uncertainty needn’t rule us.

In December I flew to Atlanta to a retreat conducted by a woman named Christine Kane. I came home and started my business, Free Your Talents. This month, I began teaching a class of amazing students. This week I joined the Chamber of Commerce.

Yowza! I’m chipping away at uncertainty.

Please join me in listening in on this free call and learn a lot of inspired and practical things: http://tinyurl.com/6t6qnbn

The Seven Steps to Creating Unwavering Focus and Unstoppable Success in Uncertain Times

www.christinekane.com

Standing before an audience, you can choose to connect with your listeners, truly to contact them rather than just talk at them. “But they’re all LOOKING at me!” Well, yes, they are. Why? Because you have something to give, to share. You have an idea that will educate, enlighten, entertain or encourage. Perhaps you’re there to awaken them to a new view, inspire them to take action, encourage their efforts. You might have to inform them of bad news, or to comfort them during a difficult situation. Whatever your purpose, it’s your job to touch them in some way. Communication is a contact sport.

How to reach them? Realize that this is not all about you. It’s about them, their desires, their needs. Care about them. Learn about them ahead of time. If you can, visit with some of them in the minutes before you step up to present; find out about their lives, their interests, why they’re there. This contact, when genuine, is felt. It makes you human! It helps them hear you.

At the risk of sounding like a old Hallmark greeting card: “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.”