Your knowledge and passion combined can help you be a warrior in public speaking. You can find great examples in The Brownstone Institute's speakers.
Last week, I had the pleasure of attending the Brownstone Institute's annual conference featuring twenty-five speakers, panelists, and interviewees. If I sound smarter here than I usually do in my blogs, blame this organization.
Brownstone is a nonprofit dedicated to health freedom and human rights, founded in May 2021 in response to our government's lockdowns and control instituted during the COVID-19 pandemic. It is passionate in pursuit of its goals, especially in the messages its speakers convey. As one attendee said to me: "We're warriors!" The quiet passion (as I think of it) of a vital message conveyed in this way is one of the things we can learn from these presenters. More on that below.
Do you achieve maximum impact and influence when you speak? Learn how with my book, Speak for Leadership. Discover how to engage and inspire any audience. On Amazon.
Don't Fret About Content, But Have Faith in Yourself.
Something both funny and important popped up in this conference, and it seems to me valuable in understanding the Brownstone brand. More than one presenter said they had asked ahead of time what they should speak about, and were told some variation of "Just be ready."
Naturally we laughed each time a speaker said this. But I think something else was going on. I believe the reply these people received was saying, at least in part: "You're a Brownstone speaker. You know what we're looking for, and you know your stuff. Give it to us."
It seems to me that implies a huge level of faith in the speakers! And sure enough, time after time those on stage rose to the challenge. Because they did know their stuff, and they just gave it to us. They realized, I think, that their message mattered, not polished platform skills. And just as it happens in a powerful acting performance, the audience couldn't see the wheels turning. Because the organization and speakers both had faith in what they were saying, we relaxed into the message rather than how skillfully the speaker got it across in performance. That's a paradox that's essential to good acting and public speaking alike.
Whose Speech Is It, Anyway?
All of this contains a great lesson for all of us who speak, and it's this: it's not your content that people want to hear, and it's not your smooth delivery skills they want to see. They are there to experience your take on your topic. They want to know what you have to say—because in this speaking situation, you are literally the only one who can give it to them. If that were not the case, why would there be a speech or presentation in the first place?
When you have faith in yourself like the speakers at this conference, you can achieve the Zen-like goal of great speaking: being excellent while aiming at something else. That something else is your audience and its needs. Once again, it's like acting: if you want people to think you have talent, don't concentrate on showing it. Just do it. Better yet, be it.
Avoid the rah-rah performances of so many motivational speakers, famous as they sometimes are. Be quietly passionate about your message, like the home-grown stars (all experts in their field) at Brownstone. When it's your time to speak, just be ready.
Be a warrior.
You should follow me on Twitter here.
Gary Genard is an actor, author, and expert in public speaking and overcoming speaking fear. His company, The Genard Method offers live 1:1 Zoom executive coaching and corporate group training worldwide. He is the author of the Amazon Best-Seller How to Give a Speech. His second book, Fearless Speaking, was named in 2019 as “One of the 100 Best Confidence Books of All Time.” For nine consecutive years, he was ranked by Global Gurus as one of The World’s Top 30 Communication Professionals, and he has been named as one of America's Top 5 Speech Coaches. His handbook for presenting in videoconferences, Speaking Virtually offers techniques for developing virtual presence. He is also the author of Speak for Leadership: An Executive Speech Coach's Secrets for Developing Leadership Presence. His latest book is The Confidence Book: 75 Ways to Reduce Your Anxiety, Let Go of Your Fears, Change Your Negative Thinking, and Perform At Your Professional Best. He is also the creator of The Dr. William Scarlet supernatural thrillers. Contact Gary here.
Photo credit: Nandhu Kumar on pexels.com
