Update: My speech titled No Fear was well received last week. I'm preparing to give it again to a larger audience this Saturday where there will be more bigwigs in attendance. One tip that has kept me focused is "Owning it." This is so powerful you actually attract new friends, fans and fellow believers.

Feature Article: Cheers, Applause and a Standing Ovation

Resource: Be Heard Now!

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"Owning It"

You hear this phrase passed around quite a lot from coaches. But what does this mean coming from a communications coach? How do you own your message?

One speaker explained it as knowing your speech forward and backwards. That if you wake up in the middle of the night, you can recite it while in bed. That at the drop of a hat, you can give your speech even if you were parachuting out of a plane.

That's good. But I'd like to add to that...

Besides knowing your message, you have to live it. It has to vibrate from every fiber of your being. It has to be so real your audience can sense it inside you as you're speaking. That's when they're convinced that you and your message are one.

But that's not all...

You embrace your audience from the first second on the platform to the very last. You make magic within the time you're given. You become Michelangelo creating the next masterpiece. That's when you know you own it.

Cheers, Applause and a Standing Ovation

Dear Associate,

"I don't know what to say," claimed Tia. "I get nervous. Then my mind goes blank."

"I know the feeling," I replied. "That's going to happen from time to time. Even experienced speakers space out."

But what Tia was really concerned about was the ABC's of making a speech. She wants to learn public speaking but doesn't know where to begin. It can be overwhelming. Especially if you're comparing yourself with someone who is more seasoned.

If you've ever been a novice speaker you've probably face this bump-in-the-road. And most likely you may have stood up in front of an audience frozen in your tracks because you forgot your next line, said something that didn't make sense or have lost your train of thought. I've personally experienced all of these.

What you see are the sea of eyes beaming back. It gets quiet... eerily quiet as you try to regroup, recompose and then move forward.

The audience waits in anticipation for a swift recovery. They're expecting you to re-engage them. They want to be fed. Gosh, they're demanding.

Returning to Tia...

I believe Tia was looking for an all-encompassing answer, tip or strategy to conquer her butterflies. Something like taking deep breaths or feeling your feet on the ground. Then she can focus on what to say. She was searching to find a release mechanism to disperse all of her pent-up nervous energy.

I believe every speaker has this energy swelling inside her. The secret is not to get rid of, or reduce the nervous symptoms through artificial means such as medication. The answer lies in channeling this energy to serve you.

Here's another take...

"When you speak, it's really not about you. It's about the audience," I commented. "Appreciate them. Focus on them. Admire them."

Even though these do play an important part: when you focus on your content, your delivery, your nerves, your breathing and your gestures—you are thinking about you first. That's the opposite of the real reason you speak. When you turn around to appreciate your audience first—that's when they will embrace you.

Here's a prime example...

Valerie Riggs, a court appointed special advocate for Voices for Children wasn't too happy when she didn't even place in the top three of her Toastmasters Club's speech contest. She has photographic memory so she actually reads her lines from memory just like a news anchor reads from a teleprompter.

At the contest, instead of appreciating her audience and being present with them, she focused on her performance. Which raised an invisible shield between Val and her audience. Disappointed at the results, Valerie became dejected and withdrew from further competition.

A few days later she gave the same speech to Voices for Children. She decided to stop reciting from memory and begin "being with" her audience. She made them feel important. It wasn't about her performance. What a difference that made. Her audience absolutely loved her. I've never seen Val beaming with so much radiance.

Imagine concluding your message to cheers, a thunderous applause and even a standing ovation. Imagine being invited to future speaking engagements. This can happen each time when you send appreciation to your audience.

Warm regards,

If you want to create an authentic relationship with your audience instead of performing, become magnetic instead of mechanical, and develop an intimacy where they laugh, cry, and connect with you on a soul-to-soul level—get your copy now: Be Heard Now!