Politics and the Art of the Performance: A Challenge to Campaigns

POLITICS AND THE ART OF THE PERFORMANCE: 

A CHALLENGE TO POLITICAL CAMPAIGNS

By Gary Genard

Recently, a friend who’s active in politics said something concerning a political campaign that has stayed with me:  “Their paid media efforts won’t get over the fact that their candidate is a poor communicator.”

That comment resonated because I’ve experienced the same truth many times in the campaigns I’ve worked on as a speech and media coach.  When it comes to political speaking, media buys and online budgets can quickly suck up the oxygen in the political space, leaving the campaign’s star—the candidate—gasping for attention.

Whether you think of politics idealistically (“the art of the possible”) or cynically (a “blood sport”), there’s no denying that it’s a performance art.  And be it good theater or bad, most of us would be unwilling to give up our seat and miss the show.  That's certainly the case in this season of the 2012 election.

Yet increasingly, that show has involved a bait-and-switch:  a line-up of opening acts and little more.  The fat lady never sings; or if she does, her voice is weak or off-key.  For proof, you need look no further than a leading magazine in the political sphere:  Campaigns & Elections.

The July/August 2011 issue of Campaigns & Elections featured no fewer than four stories on the growing importance of digital and online media.  Yet as this article is written, the seventh televised GOP presidential debate will air tonight in Hanover NH; and this morning, a story in the Wall Street Journal reminded readers of the importance of these debates in shaping primary voters’ opinions of the candidates.

The siren song of digital and media buys is endlessly enchanting to campaign and party operatives.  But come each November, constituents vote to a different tune, and it’s time candidates and their campaign staff started listening to that music.

Dynamic Performances Move Audiences

Campaigns and their candidates, in other words, can only fake it for so long:  TV ads in which the candidate himself or herself doesn’t appear.  Debates that aren’t actually debates, requiring only rehearsed bromides on “what the American people want,” and a stated preference for Coke or Pepsi.  Social media sites that seek the path to my wallet rather than tapping into truly social concerns.

But these things don’t move me, the voter.  What ultimately persuades me is the person running for office and what he or she shows me.  And that means you’d better trot out a candidate who knows the art of political performance.

Because you see, I’m a demanding audience.  If you want my vote, your candidate needs to be compelling.  From meet-and-greets to political breakfasts to handshakes at the factory gates; all the way up to stump speeches, televised debates, broadcast interviews, and paid media—your candidate must both convince and move me.  

Dare I say he or she needs to rouse my passions and make my blood sing?

Dramatic Techniques for Political Performance

W.H. Auden once said, “A great actor can break your heart at 50 feet.”  That’s the mantle your candidate should aspire to if you want my vote in the midst of your focus groups, voiceover ads, GOTV, and digital spend.

Fortunately, the techniques you need to make your candidate unforgettable are readily at hand.  

They’re the tools of the theater:  the identical techniques actors use on stage and in films to captivate hearts and minds (and that you can use to make constituents pull the desired lever in the voting booth).  Actors understand better than anyone in the world how to move audiences.  Your candidate can and should use the same techniques to deliver vote-getting performances.  

Here is a Top 10 List of those techniques—the ones candidates need to know and practice to excel at the art of political performance:

1.    Total Authenticity:  The most important of all performance techniques based in the theater. When you speak in situations that matter (and shouldn’t they all be?), what makes you successful is the fullness of your communication in conveying your authentic message. In speaking powerfully, you draw upon all of your means of expression: physical presence, voice, gestures, and story, along with your content.

You must never think your job as a speaker is to convey information.  Instead, it’s to give audiences the complete you, joined with that urgent message. And that means total commitment.  To persuade, you need to speak from the gut without a thought to how foolish or exposed you feel.  Otherwise, all your policy prescriptions will sound as though they’re made of air.

2.    Live in the Moment:  Presence is a term that’s used often but seldom defined.  Where stage performance is concerned, it means being “there” for one’s fellow actors. On the political stage, those colleagues are your audience.  They’re the ones depending upon you to give them something true that they can believe in and act upon.  

Don’t wear blinders that keep you too focused on your talking points while ignoring the people in front of you.  Live in the moment!  Remember that voters want you to be bold, not careful (front-runners, take note.)  Invest yourself fully, intellectually and emotionally, in the message you’re trying to get across.  Disappear into that message; and by the magic of performance, you will emerge with great power.  If you want to understand how total concentration mesmerizes, watch Robert Shaw when he speaks of the sinking of the U.S.S. Indianapolis in the movie Jaws.    

3.    Breathing for Speech:  Most of us breathe shallowly. To project a strong presence (and to be heard at the back of a crowd), diaphragmatic breathing is necessary. Such “belly breathing” produces a full, resonant voice that has the sound of authority. It’s the ideal method for producing powerfully persuasive speech.

4.    Controlled Tension:  Being relaxed is nice, but not if you have all the strength of a cooked noodle. Controlled tension, on the other hand, combines calmness with being poised for action. Actors need to stay relaxed yet taut, ready to respond with power while making it all look easy. Like an animal about to spring, they know not to waste an ounce of energy.

Practice focusing your energy in this way, relaxing your body but remaining completely energized.  You’ll also be able to think on your feet and respond effectively to what audiences (and opponents) are giving you.  Robert DeNiro’s performance in Heat is a superb example of controlled tension.

5.    Improvisation:  Few tools of the theater are as enjoyable as improv. Use this tool to help you think quickly and act appropriately. There is an eternal “Yes” involved in improv.  This means that everything is accepted for the sake of the exercise; nothing is resisted or rejected.  Campaign staff:  throw not only difficult questions, but unlikely situations at your candidate.  See how he or she reacts, to help make him or her more nimble and quick-thinking.  Prepare your candidate to not only survive but thrive in speeches and debates and to be ready to handle anything that may come their way.

6.    Beats and Intentions: This is one of the most interesting applications of dramatic techniques to politics.  Actors pay close attention to the motives and intentions that drive a character’s behavior. Each “beat” is the attempt by a character in the play or film to achieve what is desired; as soon as that desire is fulfilled or frustrated, another beat begins.

Beats are a powerful tool for debate preparation.  Here a candidate must be passionate in making a point, yet able to be equally forceful on a separate issue. The range of areas covered can be vast, as, for instance, moving from domestic to foreign policy.  A candidate clear on his or her purpose at each stage of a debate owns a powerful tool for getting audiences to think, feel, and do what he or she wants them to.

7.    Vocal Dynamics:  Want your candidate to influence others when speaking? To engender trust in constituents?  To hook listeners’ attention and keep them engaged every minute of a talk or debate? To inspire voters with vision and leadership? To accomplish these tasks, your candidate needs to learn how to use the voice. It’s the most subtle communication tool we own. Not everyone can be a great orator, but every candidate can boost his or her vocal skills to speak more powerfully.

8.    Body Expressiveness:  Standing and moving with authority can make the difference between a visually boring speech and a memorable one. Dynamic speakers look the part. It’s a truth so obvious we often don’t give it attention and respect:  effective nonverbal communication is essential for successful speaking. It may be time to get your candidate “out of the head and into the body.”

9.    Storytelling:  Delivering positions and policy is one thing . . . telling a story is another. To connect with voters and propel them to vote for you, tell moving stories every time you speak.  Stories are filled with drama and they’re all about people, which is why everyone responds positively to them. Every good speaker learns how to “find their true voice” through personal stories, and to use anecdotes that show their connection to their material. Storytelling is an unparalleled technique for showing audiences how committed you are to the humanity in your message.

10.    Using Language:  The greatest writer who ever lived was a dramatist, and there’s no one like Shakespeare for teaching us about the power of language. Bring your audience’s imagination to life through the language of your speeches, prepared remarks, opening and closing statements, and media appearances. Vivid language adds color and impact.  

Language used powerfully reminds us of the link between sound and sense (and the emotional punch spoken language can carry). Short, powerful sentences work best.  Deploy the English language like this and you’ll immediately be set apart from your opponents.  Your speeches will sing—and people will remember you and what you stand for.  Perhaps the best practitioner of this kind of word usage today is playwright and screenwriter David Mamet.  Remove Mr. Mamet’s off-color language—of which there is plenty—and you’ll still have an idea of how hard-hitting truly inspired word choices can be.

Great Scenes.  Great Actors:  Finally, candidate and campaign:  indulge your love of great scenes from your favorite dramas and movies.  If a scene or performance moves you, tell your candidate; and candidate, watch it.  Hollywood movies have audiences cheering at the end for a reason.  Look closely at what’s happening in those scenes, and consider how that emotion might play in your campaign.

Here are a dozen examples of characters, speeches, and performances that will show you how it’s done.  Thousands of others from the stage or the silver screen are yours for the finding and enjoyment.  Watch or read any of the choices below to gain a sense of the commitment, focus, and sheer depth of emotion great dramatic performance offers.  The techniques are exactly the same for speaking powerfully and persuasively on the political stage:

•    William Holden in Sam Peckinpah’s The Wild Bunch.
•    Richard Harris as Dumbledore in the first two Harry Potter films.
•    Jane Fonda in Klute.
•    Shirley MacLaine in Terms of Endearment.
•    Jaques’s “All the world’s a stage” speech from Shakespeare’s As You Like It.
•    Alec Baldwin delivering “the sales talk” in Glengarry Glen Ross.
•    Sean Penn in Dead Man Walking or We’re No Angels.
•    Prince Hal’s “I know thee not old man” speech from Shakespeare’s Henry IV, Part Two.
•    Michael Moriarty from the first four seasons of Law and Order.
•    Amy Ryan in Gone Baby Gone.
•    Michael Gambon in the British TV mini-series The Singing Detective.
•    Sally Fields in the American TV mini-series Brothers and Sisters.

Put aside your media contact list for a moment, then, and leave those social media sites.  Re-introduce yourself to great drama for the sake of a great political campaign.

Can you think of a more enjoyable research or training project for you and your candidate?  
 

Got 5 Minutes? How to Calm Your Nerves Before Speaking

“Easy does it.”

“Take it easy.”

“Easy as pie.”

In America, we admire people who not only do things expertly, but who make them seem easy.

I believe one of the reasons we feel this way, is that when things are going smoothly — when we’re hitting on all cylinders — we’re functioning at peak efficiency. That just feels right. And to an audience, it looks and sounds right.

Some people call this level of performance “flow,” or nowadays, being in The Zone. Whatever name you attach it to it, it’s a feeling of effortlessness — an intense pleasure that comes from focusing completely on a task rather than on the obstacles in one’s way.

The first role of successfol presentations is to bring oneself to such a state of natural relaxation. Once we do that, we can place our focus where it needs to be. And that’s on our message and our listeners, rather than on the things that make us self-conscious and anxious.

But given today’s hectic professional and personal schedoles, we also need a way to help us relax quickly. So here’s a wonderfol way to achieve a productive level of relaxation (not an oxymoron!) if you only have 5 minutes to spare:

1. Find a quiet and solitary place. (That might be your room in a conference hotel, a toilet stall, or even your car parked outside your speaking venue.) Sit comfortably, with your feet flat on the floor.
2. Close your eyes.
3. “Listen” to your breath for the first minute. That is, pay attention to what happens when you breathe in slowly and calmly. Experience these sensations with your body, not your mind; recognize how breathing nourishes and sustains you. Feel the breath flow down your throat, fill your lungs, and then bring life–giving oxygen to every cell in your body.
4. Now, focus your awareness on a visual image you “see” in your mind. Make it a neutral color and shape: a green circle, a yellow square, a blue triangle. Any object that doesn’t have emotional overtones for you is fine. (Avoid red as a color.)
5. See that object in as close to crystal clarity as you can manage. This will take concentration and a bit of practice at first. As you do, adopt a passive attitude toward any other mental activity. Thoughts, imagery, and feelings will emerge in your consciousness. Simply notice them then let them go on their way. Keep a gentle yet firm focus on your image. Do nothing; just let your awareness be.
6. Your breathing will become slower and deeper. This is what you are aiming for. You’re now in a calmer and more relaxed state. When you’re ready, open your eyes and slowly stand. If you feel any lightheadedness, sit down again, for your body may not be used to taking in this level of oxygen. Once you have it, try to maintain this level of calmness and relaxed breathing as you go about your daily tasks. Without question, bring it into your speaking situation.

This simple, brief exercise allows you to calm yourself and focus your attention — two critical attributes of a good speech or presentation. Practice it until you can do it easily at a moment’s notice (as in, “Woold you say a few words?”), because that’s when you will need it most!

(Reprinted from Dr. Gary Genard’s book How to Give a Speech, available at http://www.publicspeakinginternational.com/how-to-give-a-speech.html.)

To Overcome Speaking Fear, Throw Away Your Mask

Let’s face it—for audiences, the message and the messenger are usually the same thing. You are the message your audience receives as much as anything you say. So you’d better be aware of the impression you’re broadcasting!

First, understand that you're a natural performer. As sociologist Erving Goffman reminded us in his 1972 book, The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life, each of us plays many roles in our daily lives.

We shape ourselves, that is, to meet the needs of the audience we’re with at the moment. The “you” shopping in the supermarket, for instance, is a different person from the “you” on a first date, or the one explaining to your boss the reasons you deserve a raise.

This knowledge, that we play different roles even in a typical day, should be a liberating thought. By acknowledging that a speech situation is simply one of the many “performances” we give every day of our lives, we can embrace each such opportunity instead of fearing it.

In other words: there really is nothing unusual or momentous about speaking in public. We’re always giving some kind of performance or other in our lives. Public speaking just gives us the opportunity to do it all with a bit more pizzazz!

Reveal Your True Self

One of the fascinating things about speaking in public is that it reveals so much about who we are as human beings. Even as a former actor, I would have to work ferociously hard to hide my true nature when I talk to people about something that really matters to me.

And if I did, all of my focus and concentration would be directed inward instead of where it needs to be: on keeping my audience actively engaged with my critical message.

The problem with being this comfortable with self-exposure occurs when we perceive a speaking situation as something “different” and intimidating. That’s when we become nervous and afraid; and in response, we slip on our presentation masks or don our invisible protective armor.

In other words—we temporarily become someone we really aren’t. And audiences sense it immediately.

We need to throw away the mask, to let our true self come through for our sake and our listeners’. We need, in other words, to remain vulnerable.

You may think that’s too hard a task to accomplish in front of other professionals and perhaps complete strangers. But the opposite is true. Being honest with an audience makes everything easier on both sides.

Hiding from who you really are is much harder work for you and your listeners.

Putting Public Speaking Fear Into Perspective

Fear of public speaking can be personally and professionally devastating. Not only does it diminish your speaking pleasure. It can delay your professional advancement, disturb your peace of mind, and even disrupt your sleep.

If speaking anxiety has been a nagging worry of yours for years, why not spend a few minutes now trying to find some resolution? What follows are some thoughts on how you can put your public speaking fear into perspective—as indeed, you must do if you are to conquer public speaking phobia.

Understand, please, that everyone has a slightly different experience when it comes to fear of public speaking. Some of us get nervous beforehand and fixate on the upcoming speaking situation. We might have trouble concentrating on tasks as the day gets closer. But others don't experience such anticipatory anxiety; instead, their symptoms appear when they're delivering their speech, when self-consciousness and feelings of exposure can become severe.

Physical Symptoms and Mental Games

Physical symptoms, on the other hand, are quite common among fearful speakers. Sweaty palms, a shaky voice, a heart that seems to be trying to break out of the chest, dry mouth, and a distancing effect where we seem separated from our audience (or even believe that we can't see them), are all symptoms of public speaking fear that manifest themselves physically.

Of course, we also play mental games with ourselves. An interior dialogue, in which we push all of our own hot buttons, often takes place. Once that happens, our most important task—focusing on our message and our listeners—becomes virtually impossible to carry out.

“They don't like me.”

“They can see that I'm nervous.”

“I know I'm going to go blank and forget everything I'm supposed to say.” And:

“Oh, God, I hate this. I just want to get this over with!”

Do any of these sentiments strike home?

Worst of all, we may practice avoidance behavior, staying away from public speaking altogether. So what if it makes us change our major in college, limits our career choices, and keeps us from getting promoted? Anything is better than going through that nightmare again! Isn't it?

The good news is that nervousness connected to public speaking is okay, and even beneficial. Without those butterflies in the stomach, we run the danger of becoming too placid and mellow—without any of the edge or energy that make a presentation engaging for audiences. It's only when the balance tips too far in the direction of excessive activation that nervousness becomes a debilitating fear. At that point, fear makes us irrational.

Don't Give Fear an Opportunity

In public speaking, irrationality can lead us to conclusions that are simply not grounded in reality, so that we practice a kind of magical thinking. Just because we feel anxious and nervous, for instance, doesn't mean that our audience is responding the way we think they are. The chances are good that they're not even noticing our nervousness!

Being nervous doesn't ensure a bad performance, either, as we also sometimes “magically” think. Even in a worst-case situation, where 3 or 4 people out of a hundred may be negatively biased against us, should that change our behavior? We should talk instead to the other 96 or 97 percent of audience members who are interested!

We may love to beat up on ourselves, but our audiences really are not looking for an opportunity to join the fight. They usually are genuinely interested in what we have to say.

This kind of negative self-talk is your fear speaking, and fear is a liar. Fear is out to undermine your strength, however it can. Don't give it the opportunity.

Broadcasting Complete Confidence as a Speaker

Try this simple experiment: Stand and expel all the air from your lungs until they are completely empty. What did that action do to your posture?

You probably assumed a concave and “caved in” appearance, making you appear weak and irresolute. Now, slowly fill your lungs up to their full capacity. . . . Did that straighten you up? Do you feel more capable, prepared, and stronger? I bet you do — and I guarantee that’s how your audience will perceive you!

You just used breathing, posture, and stance to change your level of credibility and authority with an audience. Incredible, isn’t it?

Let’s talk some more about how the use of space, along with pacing, can affect your listeners’ perception of you as a speaker of consequence and power:

Commanding Space as a Speaker

As a presenter, you must not just occupy space, but control it. Most of us get too wrapped up in our content — and our nervousness — when we speak in public. If we think about physical performance at all, it’s to reflect how uncomfortable we are in front of all these people, and to wish we knew what to do with our hands and arms.

Yet powerful speakers go far beyond this elementary awareness of nonverbal communication. They understand how physical presence has a profound effect on our credibility and believability.

Speakers who “command space” in this way positively influence their listeners’ responses to them and their message. The more comfortable such speakers appear to be as they stand and move, the more audience members will identify with them. Conversely, of course, awkward speakers just make us feel awkward and a little embarrassed. And when we’re that uncomfortable with a speaker, we tend to resist the messages they’re offering us.

Good speakers, on the other hand, reach their level of comfort by occupying an appropriate amount of space. They strike a balance between diminishing their authority by folding in on themselves physically (crossing their legs or hands, holding their arms, hunching over), and gesticulating wildly or pacing back and forth like a caged animal (what I call “the motivational speaker syndrome”). They look natural to us in their performance space because they use that space appropriately and easily, without fearing it or using exaggerated energy.

You can experiment with what it feels like to stand and move powerfully as a presenter in this way: Pay attention to what it feels like for you physically when you’re doing something familiar and enjoyable. Commit those physical sensations to your muscle-memory. Now recreate them at will as you pretend you’re standing in front of an audience. You’ve just started the process of teaching your body to broadcast power, confidence, and enjoyment as a speaker.

Pacing Your Presentations

Just as we need to control how we occupy space, we must keep a firm grasp on time as an element of our presentations. On the most basic level, this means keeping to our agenda, so that we don’t lop off important parts of our talk because we’re up against the clock.

Here’s how ignoring that clock can bring you trouble: I once coached a partner and a vice president of a consulting firm, and then attended the conference the pair was speaking at. The partner (who presented first), couldn’t resist repeatedly going down the paths of questions that took him off his topic, until the time left for the vice president’s portion of their presentation had nearly vanished.

In my follow-up visit to their office after the conference, I kept a stern expression on my face as I walked into the partner’s office. From behind my back I produced a ruler, and said to him: “Hold out your hand.” He laughed and said, “I know, I know. I blew it.”

In your own practice sessions, get to know what 5, 20, and 40 minutes feel like in a speaking situation. And keep in mind that time is extremely subjective to a speaker — stretching out like salt water taffy or evaporating without warning — while remaining basically objective to audiences.

Finally, discover the joy of using pauses and silence. You may think these two tools are unnecessary stoppages thrown into the stream of your speech, but the opposite is true. Listeners need to take a “mental breath” now and again. It’s one of the ways you keep them attuned to what you’re saying. And of courses pauses are also necessary for your audience to absorb your most important points.

Let’s review: When you hold yourself and move with command, and show your listeners you know how to trust silence, you’ll be continually broadcasting confidence and authority. I for one would pay attention to a speaker like that.

(This article originally appeared in Dr. Gary Genard’s book How to Give a Speech, which is available at http://www.publicspeakinginternational.com/how-to-give-a-speech.html.)

Visualize Your Own Success as a Speaker

You have a speech or presentation coming up. Naturally, you’ve been thinking about it. The truth is you’ve been kind of obsessing about, haven’t you?

As the gears have been turning in your head, you’ve begun to imagine all kinds of things that might happen concerning your performance—some of them right out of a Stephen King novel.

But why do we beat up on ourselves like this? If we’re going to spend time imagining scenarios for our upcoming presentation, why not make them positive scenarios? Otherwise, we run the risk of creating a self-fulfilling prophecy, with some of those bad things occurring because we’ve put so much thought and energy into them that they virtually have to happen!

So here’s a tip for writing a blank check for success rather than failure: Use positive visualization to “foresee” things going well . . . even spectacularly! You’ve probably heard the term “positive visualization” before. I jazz that thought up a bit by calling the result a “Command Performance Movie.” Here’s what it’s all about:

The Command Performance Movie isn’t a real movie shot with a camcorder. Instead, it’s a scenario-in-your-own-mind about the success of your upcoming speech or presentation—and just as important, your positive feelings about the result. To keep it from occupying the “That’s Nice but I’ll Never Use It” drawer, you should write out the exercise rather than just thinking about it.

Include in your one or two pages your pleasure about speaking at the occasion; the way you accomplish all of your objectives as you go through the speech; the fact that the audience is nodding and paying attention, etc. Also include comments about how everyone seems to perceive you just the way you want them to, personally and professionally. And be sure to put in the specific ways in which you feelpositive about the experience.

How much detail you include is entirely up to you. The specific items you mention are only limited by your (optimistic) imagination!

Here is a sample Command Performance Movie I’ve come up with. Yours will be different, since it will be unique to your situation and goals. Whatever occasion you’ll be speaking at, try to make your imagined scenario as close as possible to the actual details of the upcoming talk.

One other way you can help yourself: Begin the “movie” by reminding yourself of the research, information gathering, and any other preparation you’ve done beforehand. I haven’t included such a section below, because that will be unique to your own advance work. But it’s another way to build confidence in your ability to speak expertly on your topic.

(This article originally appeared in Dr. Gary Genard’s book How to Give a Speech, which is available at http://www.publicspeakinginternational.com/how-to-give-a-speech.html.)

Beyond Information: How to Connect with and Influence Audiences

Speeches and presentations offer uniquely rich opportunities to connect with and influence audiences. Every talk, pitch, lecture, or presentation is an occasion to change how people think, feel, and behave—or should be. Time and attention are extremely valuable commodities listeners spend in the hope that their investment will pay off handsomely. It’s our responsibility as speakers to meet that demand.

Yet too many of us approach presentations from a weak starting point, believing that our job is to convey information. Even presentations that aim to educate, however, are not primarily delivering information, but only using information to accomplish a purpose. We really should be out to change people’s thoughts and behavior, never simply regurgitating facts, reading bullet points aloud, or expounding upon data in brightly colored graphs. When we make this mistake and think in terms of merely delivering information, “content” becomes king. The chances then become very good that we’ll spend most of our preparation time collecting data of various kinds.

To achieve true influence, however, we must travel beyond information to connect with audiences on a deeper level of shared human experience. Speeches and presentations are like theatrical performances—for they embody a sense of community. The feeling engendered between speaker and audience of “working together toward a common solution” is far more likely to achieve the result the speaker is looking for, while at the same time serving the needs of listeners.

Rather than focusing on conveying content, then, use your presentations to create a bond of shared experience. This means using techniques that allow you to establish a strong rapport with your listeners. You should always be looking for ways to reduce the emotional distance between you and your audience.

This article outlines three ways to achieve this level of rapport, and to foster a sense of community with listeners. Something should change for the better when you speak. What follows are three ways to more fully connect with and move audiences, and in the process, find your own voice.

Think in Terms of “You,” Not “I”

What does this mean?

Buddhist philosophy reminds us that for all of us, life is hard, and so is public speaking. Self-consciousness and nervousness are common when we present to groups, and for some of us, the sensations rise to painful and even debilitating levels. It is easy to turn inward when we feel this way, wrapping ourselves in our own uncomfortable situation and giving in to negative self-talk and fear.

But living in such an “I” universe can quickly become a self-fulfilling prophecy of failure. If our energy is directed toward ourselves, we’ll have none left to give to our listeners—the very people we’re trying to influence. What audience wants to be mostly ignored by a speaker?

The key is to direct all of your energy and efforts—everything you have—to reaching and establishing a connection with your audience. This means not only eye contact, but paying careful attention to the nonverbal communication coming your way, and playing off what you see. Keep tightly focused on your line or argument, or take a different tack if you see your listeners are confused or uncertain. Speak to them directly, asking a question or soliciting some other response if you sense that your audience is becoming disengaged, is zoning out, or otherwise losing interest. When your chief concern is the benefit your audience is receiving from your talk, you’ll naturally sound like you’re interested in them, because you will be.

How do you do it?

• Direct all of your vocal and overall energy outward toward your audience, none of it inward toward yourself. Watch, watch, watch what’s happening with your listeners: Do they get it? Are their eyes locked with yours? Are they making the connections between what you’re saying and their own world? Do you need to verbally make that connection for them?
• Activate your listeners. Remind audience members that they are the be-all and the end-all of this presentation: they are the reason you are here! Your audience should realize that passive attendance is not possible during your presentations. You can mirror physically the responses that they should have, so they can get it and go along with you. Remove physical barriers (such as lecterns, tables, and overly formal seating arrangements) between you and your listeners, and get close to them. Visit all parts of the room if you can—and if you can’t, do it with your eyes and arm gestures that “reach out” and toward that part of your audience.
• Say it: Use the word “you” rather than “I”; and “we” if it means you (speaker) and the audience, not your company. Present your argument in terms of the audience’s experiences and understanding. They will hear the language of true interest for them and their needs.

What are the benefits?

The number one benefit is reaching your listeners where they live and breathe! If I’m an audience member and you talk about what concerns and interests me, I will hear it in everything you say and show me—and I will respond. Now I’m tuned into what you’re saying!

When you’re on the right wavelength of focusing on your listeners, you sound natural, and your voice reflects your true feelings. Self-consciousness (and self-love) have their own sounds, and they are not pleasant ones for audiences.

Reminding yourself of how you want to help people also gives you the perfect through-line of your talk. Your logic and evidence become intuitive and powerful. It all becomes easier: when you’re in the zone of total audience focus, it actually becomes hard to miss, because what emerges in your speech flows easily and unobstructed and is concerned with others rather than yourself.

Another great benefit is that you’ll be diminishing your self-focus and increasing your audience focus with every word. In the best instances, you’ll be like a magician who achieves your own “disappearing act,” in which you fully become the conduit to your message. Since that message is meant only for your listeners, you’ll be laying down a rock-solid path to audience influence.

Be Conversational

What does this mean?

Few good speakers think in terms of “giving a speech,” and no great speakers think so. The mark—one mark at least—of great speakers is that they all sound completely conversational, no matter the size of the audience. Think of it from the audience’s point of view: Presentations (with a capital “P”) are rarely interesting; but a person of knowledge and passion talking to us about their area of expertise can be fascinating.

We have evolved as a species to talk to one another person-to-person or in small groups—think about our ancestors sitting around a camp fire, telling the story of the hunt. Public speaking to large audiences is a much more artificial situation. We naturally develop self-consciousness when speaking to crowds, stiffening up and becoming more formal in our delivery. It’s not a successful survival strategy, and it definitely undermines our ability to connect with listeners and tell an interesting story.

Staying conversational, on the other hand, means we remain in touch with a natural style of speaking that sounds effortless. Imagine you’re talking to a close group of friends about the terrific movie you just saw, or the fascinating person you just went out with on a date. Your entire presentation persona—your facial expressions and eye contact, movement and gestures, vocal coloration and every other aspect of your delivery—will naturally project what you’re thinking and feeling. You’ll come through honestly as yourself, not as someone trying to “be good” in a formal presentation.

This is conversationality, and it’s a world apart from the one-way blast of information that many of us subject our audiences to. Listeners can relate to us—and to the story we’re telling—when we just talk to them about a mutually interesting subject. We are at our honest best, and the audience responds easily, since no layer of formal presentation intrudes.

All of this is to say that the best speakers don’t sound any different in front of an audience, than they do when talking to a single person in an interpersonal conversation. The secret, of course, is that it’s still a conversation, even with a larger group of people.

How do you do it?

• Make eye contact. The eyes truly are the windows of the soul, and we connect with listeners intimately when we share this personal connection. Some speakers don’t like making eye contact with listeners because then they “lose their train of thought.” To which I reply, “Who is easier to convince, another human being or the back wall?”
• Let your voice “go all over the place.” Although this advice sounds slightly silly, I mean it: This is exactly what your voice does when you’re talking to that group of friends about that exciting movie or date. Release your voice from the confines of an “excellent” presentation. It isn’t excellence you’re aiming for (because that’s impossible to achieve by aiming directly at it); it’s connecting with your listeners. Don’t hold yourself in vocally, as many people do in professional communication. In particular, use the upper reaches of your pitch. We usually indicate something important by both emphasizing and raising our pitch on a word or phrase. Doing so gives your voice the “peaks and valleys” of conversation that perk up the ears of listeners.
• Tell stories. Call them evidence or testimonials or supporting material if you like, but always be conscious of the humanity involved in your talking points. Concepts, principles, and theories are fine, but they must be enlivened with the human element to make your conversation come alive. Stories accomplish that spectacularly.

What are the benefits?

People are always persuaded by genuineness and lack of artifice. Lincoln had it right when he gave his opinion about fooling some of the people all of the time, or all of the people some of the time. In public speaking, some people will be hoodwinked by a dazzling performance with little soul . . . but only for a while. Eventually, they’re figure out whether a speaker is talking to them from the heart, or simply giving a command performance. The sound of someone’s real voice—the conversation we have with them—is always the best indicator of their honesty and forthrightness. Even with con artists, sooner or later we figure out whether we’re hearing their real voice, or only a shallow and cynical substitute.

Appropriate pacing is also easiest to achieve when we “talk” rather than “give a speech.” One of the drawbacks to formal presentations is an ironing-out effect, in which the natural ups-and-downs of our speech are steamrolled away in our desire to be good and sufficiently professional. The real professionals don’t have to achieve any particular effect, however, except their own voice. If you know what you’re talking about, you don’t have to do anything except open your mouth and, well, talk about it.

Most important of all, you’ll look and sound like yourself if you focus on having a conversation with your audience. There is never a need to be as good as that excellent speaker you heard recently, or to be “better than you usually are” because this speaking situation is so important. You have been given this speaking assignment for a reason: You’re the only person who can give this talk in this way. That’s exactly who your audience needs and expects. The best way to give them what they need is to sound like yourself—the person they really want to hear.

Have a Discussion with Your Listeners

What does this mean?

Earlier in this article, I mentioned that speeches and presentations are a form of community: we bond with audiences and them with us as speaker, and we share an experience. If we’re speaking well, the audience and we reach an end together, arriving at our destination of shared knowledge and influence at the same time.

These facts are true because, in a sense, we are mutually solving problems when we present to audiences. Think of the way we typically approach a challenge as a group, from a neighborhood committee to a legislature: we get together and discuss the issues and possible solutions. Every speech or presentation embodies the same challenge: How can we as a group change our thoughts, feelings, or actions about this situation, so that a positive outcome emerges from this encounter between speaker and audience?

Talking at listeners certainly won’t get us anywhere! Yet how many presentations have that feeling about them: a one-way monologue in which audiences are expected to be passive and to soak up a constant stream of information aimed their way? Who can benefit from such a dynamic? And who in the world would be interested in hearing such a talk?

Yet day after day, in every industry or endeavor, presenters subject audiences to performances that hardly acknowledge them as partners in a topic of mutual interest. How much more successful we will be by giving listeners the impression that together we are confronting a matter of concern and importance.

Naturally, in any discussion the participants need to be engaged and heard from. And this is a critical part of going beyond information to connect with and influence listeners: We must consciously think of ways to engage audiences when we speak to them.

Remember the cliché of brilliant professors who haven’t a clue as to how to reach college audiences. That story reminds us that the possession of knowledge is useless if the hearts and minds of listeners aren’t sufficiently engaged to receive it.

How do you do it?

• Don’t let your audience be passive! “Discussion” means just that: Invite responses if the size of your audience and your subject matter permit it. If not, “touch” your audience frequently, by reminding them how the point you’re making applies in their world. “You’ve all seen this in action”; “Your team deals with this all the time with customers”; and “Paula reminded me before we started today that this was something we should cover”—remarks like these constantly bring your listeners back into the discussion, where they belong.
• Think in terms of talking with groups the same way you do with individuals, coming down from the heights of formalized presentations to a more relaxed and spontaneous approach. Just because people are gathered in a group doesn’t mean that our interaction with them should change. The more we think in terms of giving a prepared set-piece of a presentation, the more we’ll be divorcing ourselves from the time and the moment and the people in the room with us.
• Ask small questions. Whenever we ask a question—rhetorical or otherwise—each individual in our audience responds the same way: by getting ready to answer that question. Tossing questions to an audience is a sure-fire way to remind them that they’re part of this discussion, not passive pseudo-participants. “You know what I mean, don’t you?” “Haven’t you experienced this in sales calls?” “Let’s discuss that last point, shall we?” “Everybody with me so far?” Ask small questions like these to set up participation. Okay?
• Relish the story of each main point before you go on to the next. Don’t let this rich material fly by, especially if you’re feeling anxious and want to get this presentation over as soon as possible. As an example to illustrate this point: When we attend amateur theatrical productions and are bored with what we’re seeing, it’s not because the actors are dragging out scenes—it’s because they’re not taking enough time. We easily sense the superficiality of the performance, and we prefer a deeper involvement on their part. When you as speaker spend sufficient time on your stories, each of your main points will be like a different song on a CD, or a single gem in a beautiful necklace.

What are the benefits?

Rehearsed presentations can easily acquire a “canned” quality; but discussions usually sound fresh because we never know who’s going to say what, or when. When we have a discussion with our listeners, we mimic this dynamic because we are in the moment. We are present, discussing things with real people, in real time. A worthwhile discussion has the sense of variety, and a back-and-forth quality that draws people in. Yes, speeches consist of mostly verbal contributions by the speaker and nonverbal ones from the audience. But if you can create the sense of a discussion as I’ve talked about above, your presentation will be more immediate and involving for your audience and their interest will soar.

Finally, it’s much easier to bring your true voice into play when you’re concentrating on talking to a person rather than a crowd, i.e., having a discussion. By “voice” I mean not so much your actual speaking voice—though that’s of great importance, of course. I mean your presentation persona, including your ability to talk to audiences with immediacy and presence.

Remind yourself of the great opportunity you have to discuss something of importance with these people. Chances are you’ll hardly be able to wait to begin, and when you do, your audience will relish every moment.

How to Be a Powerful Speaker

Making yourself a powerful speaker is a lot easier than you think.

And power — in terms of the dynamism of your platform skills — matters greatly in the world of business speeches and presentations.

You may be the world’s foremost authority on your subject. Yet the fact remains, that you will be measured as much on your performance as your knowledge or expertise.

Political consultant Roger Ailes understood the juncture of self and message well, when he titled his 1988 public speaking book You Are the Message.

In plain terms, your audiences will equate your message with you. And that’s a good thing. Otherwise, you could take the no-sweat approach and send out a blast e-mail of your speech, and no one would have to show up — including you.

So from today on, think in terms of the “speaking version” of you — a performance persona that’s the essence of you talking about your subject area. That’s the person your audiences will find interesting.

In other words, it’s not enough just to be who you are when you present. You have to construct a performance version of yourself. That requires marrying your honesty and truthfulness about your message, to some simple but powerful presentation skills.

Here are three areas of speech performance to keep in mind in this regard:

1. Competence. Advertise your competence in everything you say and do. When you trust yourself and what you are saying, your audience will trust you. That’s the first step that allows them to invest you with presence and authority.

Every audience, that is, wants to feel that they’re in good hands. Make it easy for listeners to relax and trust that you are such a speaker. All it takes is for you to trust yourself. Believe that you’re a natural performer, because you are — just think of how many times in a day you trust yourself to communicate with others without premeditation.

Notice that I have used the word “trust” five times in the two short paragraphs above. This is not a subtle hint.

2. Rapport. Find a way to identify with your audience’s values and experiences, and externalize the connection by what you say. Most listeners resist speakers whose background or known views are noticeably different from their own. Wherever you can, show that you and your listeners share common ground. Remember that our experiences, motivations and feelings unite all of us around the world far more than they divide us. Create an atmosphere in your presentations that fosters persuasion and believability.

And remember to be interesting! You can judge this yourself in your practice sessions. If you’re looking forward to just getting this painful experience over with, without sharing your real feelings with listeners, your audience will want it to be over as quickly as possible too.

3. Delivery. Every audience arrives with preconceptions about a speaker. They may have nothing to do with you personally, but may be tied to the topic, organization, or viewpoint you represent.

You need to show that you are able to “deliver” on the implied promise that your presentation has created, i.e., that it will be worth spending time and effort to listen to. That’s what delivery means in this respect. When you give your speech dynamically and with conviction, you’ll be “delivering” the goods!

Credibility resides in speakers who appear confident and committed. And of course, there’s simply no substitute for enthusiasm. Embody your arguments with an energetic delivery, and you’ll go a long way toward changing the thinking and behavior of your audience.

Great Speaking? – It's About Performance Over Content

Are you married to your content instead of your true love, your audience? Too many public speakers are guilty of this crime of passion. To be in love with your information instead of your listeners is to ruin the marriage of content and influence that makes any presentation a success.

Like many hopeless lovers, speakers can be too easily dazzled by the obvious and the pretty: the selling points and bullet points that they’ve tenderly selected for their presentation. “But this is a labor of love,” we can hear them saying. – “This proposal is exactly the way I want it to come out!”

But audiences don’t want perfect information delivery. They want a meaningful relationship with the speaker, and ideally, a positive outcome from the encounter. Regurgitating information in the face of this need is simply an embarrassment. We need to move listeners when we speak. Yes, our content is part of that equation. But there’s infinitely more needed in terms of rapport and emotional connections than can be supplied by our PowerPoint slides.

Think of it this way (and this distinction is critically important if you speak in public): A speech or presentation is a shared experience, a small example of community, in which you and your listeners make an interesting journey together.

You need to prepare for that journey by thinking about how to project such a relationship. When you spend all your time sharpening your information recital, you’re leaving that relationship up to chance. Doesn’t this sound like a recipe for disaster? After a certain point, in other words, you must forget about gathering and shaping content, and begin to rehearse your performance.

Here’s a simple formula to keep in mind: Rather than spend 100% of your time amassing content and 0% time (or close to that) practicing, make the ratio something like this:

40% creating content, 60% practicing

This sounds radical to you, doesn’t it? But remember this: You are already extremely strong on your content. It’s the reason you were hired for this position; that you spend every business day working on these issues; that you’ve been selected to make this presentation, in fact. Whether you’re aware of it, you already have content coming out of your ears!

What you don’t have if you’re a typical speaker is a maximum level of comfort on your feet, and a knack for conversing with audiences as if that’s the most natural thing in the world. You’re up there to give an oral performance, for goodness sake, not to recite facts and figures like a recorded voice on a GPS!

Strengthen the area where you’re probably weakest. Your strengths won’t disappear in the process.

Spend quality practice time—and a quantity of it as well—learning to be comfortable with audiences. Stand and move in space. Try out gestures. Solidify your eye contact. Use stories and illustrations to give your concepts a human dimension. Sometimes those stories will come to you on the spur of the moment. Use them! Develop your ear to the point where the casual conversational you (the interesting-sounding one) sounds no different from your presentation persona.

The more comfortable you are talking to people, the more you’ll feel like yourself saying the things you’re passionate about. In no time at all, you’ll find yourself loving your audience instead of your content.

Guess how your audience will respond.

The Successful Candidate: Using Speeches to Gain Voters' Trust

In politics, every voter looks for a candidate in whom he or she can believe. And candidates can win voters’ trust in many ways, some of which have more to do with whom the voter is than the candidate.

One principle always hold true, however: every constituent must be convinced that he or she is seeing a real person on the stump. You may make the ballot through political insider skills, but what voters want is someone who shares their values. Your "pitch," in other words, is yourself.

This article outlines three simple rules for building such trust with voters through speeches.  These are the communication skills that lead to effective communication in the political arena. These rules should be easy to follow, because they involve simple but powerful techniques of effective public speaking.

1. Establish a dialogue with listeners

Did you know that we transmit 55 percent of our message through body language and other visual clues, 38 percent from vocal quality, and only 7 percent from content?  Obviously, good presentation skills are essential for any persuasive speech.

All this means that 93 percent of what’s getting through to the voter has everything to do with how you look and sound! It even works on camera in media training. 

I saw this in action in debate prep sessions in the political campaign of state Rep. Martha Fuller Clark (D–NH), running for New Hampshire’s 1st Congressional District. Clark’s closing statement just wasn’t catching fire. I advised bringing some physical gestures to her remarks.  She repeated the speech, this time pointing with her index finger every time she said, “I will always... ” The difference in her effectiveness was dramatic.

2. Reveal who you are

This advice may seem to contradict traditional political wisdom. But think about the people you really trust. Do they seem to be hiding their true motives? Wearing a mask? Pretending to be someone they’re not? Constituents will only believe in a political candidate if they think they’re seeing the real thing on stage or in front of the camera.

You already possess the ideal vehicle for delivering this side of yourself to voters: the sound of your voice. When you commit fully to the truth of what you’re saying, listeners will hear it immediately. Now you’ll be using persuasive techniques to convince voters, not simply delivering a good speech.

3. Connect your voice to your emotions

No political strategy is more valuable than this. The best storytelling technique is to let your voice reflect your feelings about the things that matter to you and your constituents. Allowing your vocal style to reflect your emotions should be one of your strongest attributes as a candidate.

One of my clients, U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R–Alaska), introduced a bill on the Senate floor concerning the salmon fishery. The legislation would make an enormous difference to her constituents, and Murkowski clearly felt strongly about its passage. Yet her speech couldn’t sound like “mere” policy—it had to reflect the senator’s deep personal commitment to the legislation. And that’s what we worked on in her delivery.

So how do you achieve this level of vocal expressiveness? Begin by listening to yourself on a tape recorder. Are you expressive or do you speak in a monotone? Do you hear “peaks and valleys” of pitch inflection, so listeners will stayed tuned?  These are critical techniques of nonverbal communication--the kind that convinces audiences!

The longer your speech, the more important such vocal variety becomes. Otherwise audiences lose their attentiveness. What good is it to speak on issues you really care about if your vocal style is turning voters in another direction?

Anecdotes and stories are ideal for achieving such vocal variety. But they must have a different flavor from policy issues in the same speech. That’s the strategy I used with U.S. Rep. Mike Capuano (D–Mass.), who tells a wonderful story about a sailing trip in which the Coast Guard offered unanticipated but very welcome assistance.

To build trust with constituents and win elections, then, reveal yourself and your passion through your voice. Politicians have sought votes using this formula for ages. As an effective tool of elections, it’s never changed. As always, it comes down to showing people that they are the reason you’re running for office.