BRILLIANCE IN PERFORMANCE or...
Simplicity
Originally published in ShopTalk on 9/19/98.
The thought for the day is ... simplicity. In all things,
really. But in relationship to your own live, small meeting, large group, or
on-camera delivery and performance, this means taking all thoughts and ideas
about what you=re going to say and how you=re going to say them and boiling it
down to a single moment. The one where you’re “on” and everybody’s listening (we
hope!). The difficulty in conveying pithy thoughts about amorphous concepts like
communication and performance is that communication is a balancing act. It's a
little like a symphony. In an orchestra, there are many individual aspects that
go into the final impact that the music eventually makes. They each need to be
understood and mastered, but the individual aspect by itself can't carry the
whole symphony. If you listened to the percussion section playing its part all
by itself, it would probably sound out of place and cacophonous. But added into
the whole piece, it lends depth and shape to the music.
So it is in communication. Many aspects have to play in
harmony in order for it to be effective. Each part needs to be understood and
mastered, then played all together on the down stroke so that they work in
balance with one another. In these articles, we’re attempting to shine a light
on certain individual aspects of communication: voice, energy, focus, delivery,
and other bits. True, a thumbnail sketch by any standards, but hopefully also a
thought-provoker and idea generator. I think everyone agrees that most
presentation scenarios, regardless of medium, are pretty unnatural environments.
The trick is to make it all seem perfectly real, natural – and oh yeah, also
have impact. So where is there a model to follow (besides watching others you
respect and admire, which certainly has its merits) that can provide a direct
line as to how you pull all the elements of communication together? Quite
simply, your own life. If you want to see and feel how quickly all sorts of
communication takes place, watch yourself do it everyday – and others too. No
kidding. All the subtle ways you communicate your thoughts and ideas provide a
road map for how to do it in front of an audience. This is not to say that your
casual STYLE of everyday conversation is necessarily appropriate for a
presentation, though it certainly can be, depending upon the environment and
audience. However, the subtle ways that your eyes work, your mouth, your voice
and the angle you hold your head all convey meaning. In a live conversation,
when you are talking, you’re watching the other guy who (hopefully) is
listening. Do they understand what you're saying? Do they want to know more? Do
you need to clarify? Do they agree? Disagree? You are constantly assessing what
to say next, based on the unspoken response you get. The thing is, this happens
REALLY quickly. Which is why the Aha! of most of it goes largely unnoticed. But
you, as a professional communicator, must pay attention - because applying the
skills learned from watching yourself is how your audience is going to know
whether to believe you or not. And whether to change the channel or not.
So, start observing moments like: how do your eyes feel
when you look at a friend whom you’re trying to make understand you? How do you
alter your speech pattern when you have something super important to say to your
partner and you don't want them to miss any of the details? What tone of voice
do various people in your life respond to best? How do you express an
emotionally charged thought to your parent or significant other… and how does
your approach change when you want them to focus more upon your content vs. the
emotional aspects? Or, even more simply… how do you speak, use language, phrase
your words, look at, stand in front of… your parent, your wife or husband, your
child, your boss, your best friend, the bum on the street? These observances
(and more!) give you clues as to how to organize yourself to communicate with
credibility and realness before your audience. You can=t manufacture it; you
have to do it... be it. If you try and fake it, you're dead in the water. If you
try to do it like someone else, chances are it won't quite ring true to your
listener. You can use others as a model, but you have to find your groove within
yourself. The one where you know, without a doubt, that whatever you say from
this place has the ring of truth and connectedness to it. Simple. Not
necessarily easy.
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