Anxiety is the undercurrent at the moment and it’s finding its way into our speeches and presentations.

Clients bemoan it and I see it everywhere infecting the voices and bodies of speakers on the political and corporate stages. Speakers look ungrounded, wooden, their intellect and their emotions/voices making only occasional connection when they speak. Tense faces, flat voices and an absence of joy are the symptoms of this modern speaker malaise.

 

There are two fundamental reasons for this and two eminently practical solutions:

One: Lack of practice

The last few years have made all of us less practised at handling a crowd. Virtual platforms have been a comfort zone for many, notes on screen, slippers on, in our safe space. The pressure of three hundred expectant faces hits our systems with even more of an adrenalin spike than it used to and in much more uncomfortable shoes.

The antidote? Rebuild the confidence muscle.

If your speaking muscles have turned into bingo wings, take action. First accept low level speaking events when they are offered – it’s the speaking version of park run…Then take action. Head in the sand doesn’t work as an approach when an event looms. No one enjoys rehearsing a speech – it can feel like a lonely place to be…Even I don’t think it’s fun. Sometimes you have to reverse engineer things to get there because nothing feels as good as walking on stage knowing you are ready, and walking off a stage feeling that you landed it. So keep that great feeling firmly in mind – then you put in the reps.

Commit to rehearsal slots in your diary, record yourself and watch it back.

Say it 3 x if you’ve never said it before. Once to yourself recorded, loose and messy, once to yourself recorded and with the signposts clear, then find a friend to speak it to and get them to give you one or two things to celebrate and one refinement.

Two: The Speed of life

The second reason speakers are wooden is that adrenalin makes us flat. We live fast, speak fast. But the real work of a speaker isn’t about finalised slides. It’s about connection. Speaking to an audience is a relational, creative, physical process. It doesn’t benefit from the rush rush rush of modern life. When you rush to prepare the slides, rush to get ready, rush into the room you haven’t let the speech breathe. And it will show up in your delivery – when we haven’t let the words diffuse into us we get the odd intonation of reading rather than speaking. Go, go, go leads to robotic and impersonal delivery. You don’t rush when you listen to a friend, you slow down, you get present to them. We need this as speakers too.

The antidote? Slow is smooth and smooth is fast

An ex marine client taught me the phrase that is a Marines mantra. “Slow is smooth and smooth is fast”. Slowing down can often be the key to dynamism on stage. Above all be wary of preparation as a rushed to do list: Write the deck, prepare the script, email it over. Tick, tick, tick. Muscles don’t build unless you rest in between sessions. The confidence muscle is the same.

Give yourself time to let the words diffuse through you. Then you connect to the message, your purpose and your audience and you show up with a presence and naturalness that audiences really respond to. Stop, slow down, sit quietly, go for a walk. Think about what your audience needs from you. Think about what’s the one thing that they need to know from you about this subject. Tune into what you offer them that no one else does.

Enjoy finding your voice and rebuilding your speaker confidence – put those reps in and then remember to slow down and rest to let those muscles strengthen!