Why is it that most speakers never make a deep connection with their audiences? Even those that are polished presenters, terrific story tellers, or humorous speakers? Unfortunately, they fail to touch their audiences because they’re too busy building themselves up.
When most speakers tell their stories, what do they tend to talk about? Their successes. Business success! Financial success! Personal success! Unfortunately, in building themselves up, they are also building a wall between themselves and their audience.
Why? Because when you tell them how ‘great you are’, they may think “That’s nice for you, but that couldn’t work for me“, or “Well, you’re just special“. Are you coming across as ‘special’ to your audiences?
Why do most presenters share their victories first? Because they don’t understand that telling others about your failures, your fears, and your frustrations is a way to make audience members feel like you. When you share those negative experiences, the audience may think, “Wow, I’m not the only one that’s happened to“, or “Glad that didn’t happen to me!” They’ll realize that you’re just as human as they are.
Am I saying not to tell about your success? No. Once you’ve shared your difficulties, the audience is ready to hear about your success. They want to know the strategies or techniques you used to overcome your challenges. When you share this information, you offer them a valuable gift… Hope. In addition to changing the way people Think, Feel or Act, the greatest benefit you can offer is hope.
Although it is natural to think that you will connect with people by telling them about how you’ve succeeded, the fact is that people will gravitate more quickly to you when you tell them about your struggles. You’ll help them understand they are not alone, or that there IS hope. Your best chance of connecting with the people sitting in front of you is to bare your soul, and resist the temptation to be special.
Micheal Davis is the President and Founder of Speaking CPR. If you are looking for an excellent motivational speaker or you’d like help becoming a better presenter contact Michael at (513) 315-6825
