Writing and Speaking > Public Speaking > Myths of Public Speaking: #2 I Was Awful...I Was Awesome!
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Article rating : 0.00, 0 votes. Author : Paul Evans
We're never as bad or as wonderful as we think. Plus,we're not as poor or as brilliant as the audience thinks.
Every engagement provides the opportunity for review. Regardless of how well the message came across there is something that could be improved. In spite of a presentation being mediocre there are redeeming qualities.
As you make your evaluations - and use them to grow as a speaker - consider the following…
1. Always start with the best. Review your talk and call to mind the best comments you received. Reflect on the part of the presentation that went best, possibly much better than expected. Think about the best laugh. The best connection. The best emotions. The best articulation. The best impact.
Think conceptually. Consider WHY it worked, not just THAT it worked. Because crowds are different you may not get the same response each time. Last week I had two back-to-back engagements. Same message, but different people. They laughed at different spots, connected with different points, and will apply the subject differently. But the stories, points, illustrations, all worked for both groups. Knowing WHY helps me much more than knowing THAT.
Explore the reasons for your connection, emotion, humor, impact, etc. When you discover why a story or joke works you can repeat the principle for a variety of situations.
2. Mull over the worst. What did you think would work, but didn't? What bombed? What groaned? What crashed? It may be that it needs to be taken out of the program. Or maybe it was the audience and it will work next time. Perhaps it was appropriate, but seemed all right. Maybe it just stunk and never needs to leave your mouth again. There have been entire messages that I have given once and never used again because the whole concept was poor. I don't beat myself up over it, I learn.
Don't take the awful or awesome personally. It's tempting to do one of two things: Focus only on the negative and beat ourselves up. Spotlight only the positive and act like nothing went wrong. Be objective, be real, be flexible, be reasonable in your evaluation. And don't fall for the myth …”I was awful…I was awesome.”
Paul Evans is the executive creator of http://www.InstantSpeakingSuccess.com and http://www.PresentationPowerSecrets.com His 20 years of public speaking experience help over 24,000 speakers around the work each week through his free public speaking ezine.
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