Believing in What You Say
It’s crunch time for Theresa May and her Brexit vision this week when she will be hoping for a miracle in the form of a Parliamentary majority that backs her deal. According to a recent poll, 70% of MPs think Mrs May has done a bad job of negotiating with the EU, however there is little doubt that she believes this is the best deal available.
This says much about Theresa May. She is not a politician who is frivolous with her words or promises in the same way that a politician like Donald Trump is. When she speaks about her deal (as opposed to the whole Brexit process itself which is, of course, a different topic) she does so with conviction and sense of belief that is undeniable, even if her words on the matter are frequently bait for the parliamentary bears.
A Question of Integrity
In my last blog I talked about the importance finding your edge for optimum presentation, leaving your comfort zone and pushing yourself to find a bit of spark to light up your audience. I would also like to emphasise the importance of believing in what you are saying, because it is belief that will convince a crowd of your integrity.
This is relevant for anyone who is delivering a ‘speech’ – from addressing a handful of people in a conference room to taking the stage (and again, this could be anything from a lecture theatre to a grand stage!). If you are in the business of making speeches, then it is quite likely that you have an objective view when you are listening to the speeches of others. As such, it is likely that you have developed a radar enabling you to discern substance from waffle, and get a sense of whether the speaker’s heart is really in whatever they are saying.
Far too many presentations limp by with presenters going through the motions; they may well deliver the essential information, but they deliver little else. Great presentations motivate and the very best inspire. “That’s fine,” I hear you say, “but what is one to do with material that’s the cheese cracker side of dry and an audience that knows the business inside out?”
Adding Belief to Your Presentation
One of the answers is to make sure that your presentation engages. One of the pitfalls of doing the same thing for a long time is that every now and again we can get stuck in a rut with our thinking and our methodology, so consider how to bring another perspective to it. Reboot the process by putting some more belief into your presentation and you will notice the difference.
Believing in what you’re saying runs right the way through your presentation, starting with the key objective which will anchor your material. With a clear objective in place you can add the layers that will give your speech its substance. Here belief translates to you having ownership of your material, weaving in personal experience and illustrating with stories to breathe some life into facts and figures.
This process will promote new levels of enthusiasm, rejuvenate your self-belief and bring more attachment to ‘the present’ that quasi-meditative state that all great presenters are so finely tuned in to. If you want to improve your next presentation this new year then make a start by believing in what you say.
