Training For Your Speaking Presentation Will Deliver Success
Climbing Stairs – How it Parallels Speaking Success: Back in February, my core strength instructor at the Y asked our class if there was anyone who would like to be on her team for the annual Stair Climbing event in our city. It is a fundraiser that commemorates the firefighters and first responders from 9/11. I said, “Yes”. Part of it was for the goal of training and athleticism the training would provide. Part of me enjoys giving for a good cause. The event happened the last weekend in April, and the participants climbed the 50-story Duke Energy building in Charlotte. I climbed the 50-story flight of stairs in 12 minutes 45 seconds. No easy feat, for sure. Training for your presentation will deliver speaking success. There are parallels. Let me explain…
Align. Before I engage in any event, speaking presentation or otherwise, it needs to align with my values and my message. The stair-climbing event spoke to my love of staying in shape. I speak on communication topics, as I feel that our communication skills satisfy our need for human connection. When I am asked to speak on topics that are not aligned with my area of expertise and knowledge, I do not serve my audience. I have learned over the years to refer those events to colleagues who can better serve the audience with those topics. It all comes down to your why and how you best serve others.
Technique. I never knew there was a technique for climbing stairs, and now I know there is one. My coach told me to take two stairs at a time, and to use the hand rail with both hands so that my whole body was involved in the climbing. I also learned how to pace myself – how many floors to take the two stairs at a time and when to take a floor one step at a time. Most likely I would not have achieved the timing that I did in my climb, used the whole-body climbing technique, or properly paced myself unless I had been coached. The same is true for speaking presentations. I have learned much from the coaches I have hired and the programs I have gone through. One such program was Heroic Public Speaking, where I learned the subtleties of audience engagements, opening and closing a speech, and so much more. Investing in coaching allows you to achieve farther reach in your success and at a faster rate.
Engage. About a quarter of the way into the climb, I saw the camera guy and I offered a “good morning” and wished him a good day. It wasn’t until later that evening that a friend forwarded me the camera shot (pictured here) that had been all over the news that evening. I had no idea! You never know when that next referral is coming your way, or what you may say that impacts others in a positive way. Your engagement with your audience starts long before you ever hit the stage. How you interact with others through social media, a phone call, in the parking lot, and even in the elevator of your hotel can leave an impression on someone who may be in your audience at your presentation. Be intentionally positive and easy to work with. This can have a longer-lasting effect than anything you say on stage.
Rehearse. Weeks before the stair-climbing event, our small group would train climbing stairs in a nearby 8-floor parking garage. We would climb the eight flights of stairs, take the elevator down, and repeat the process eight times to simulate the 50-story climbing event. It gave us time to refine the stair-climbing technique and learn how to pace and breathe during the event. Similarly, rehearsing your speaking presentation is critical to your success on stage. I gave my most recent speeches a tremendous amount of rehearsal time, and here is the result:
I know this comment would not have been posted, had I not spent the time in the rehearsal process.
Delivering a well-crafted speech is a process. Training for your presentation will deliver speaking success. It takes time to develop and deliver a presentation that holds value and impacts an audience. In order to deliver your best, use the analogy of training for an event. For me, it helped with my mindset and discipline to get the results I had hoped for.