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Stay connected with your audience |
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By Cathleen Fillmore » When marketing guru Dan Kennedy listened to a broadcast about a hurricane, he stopped in his tracks as the weatherman said, “As the centre of the storm moved inland, it began losing strength. As the hurricane moved away from its power source – the warm waters of the Atlantic – it starting losing steam.”
It struck Dan that this is why so many entrepreneurs (and speakers) are able to reach a certain level of success which then declines. They’ve moved away from their power source.
Initially they were happy with the success they achieved and then they began to coast. Soon they just drifted away from the very foundation that made them successful.
They stopped being vigilant. They stopped looking for and adapting to the changes in an ever-evolving marketplace. Or sometimes when they were doing well, they changed their business model and moved away from their power source.
Adaptation and awareness are the keys.
When I was taking presentation-skills training a few years back, I was videotaped during a practice speech. Watching the tape later at home was a humbling experience. I had a strong opening and a powerful ending but in the middle, I simply went flat. It was as though I simply pulled the plug in the middle. Just pulled out my connection to my source.
Being disconnected, it seems, was my default mode at the time.
Once I was aware of that disconnection, I worked to correct it and now, when I’m giving a speech, I watch the audience. If I notice any sense of distraction on their part, I re-infuse my speech with energy and enthusiasm.
My goal is to be plugged in to my source. All the time.
What is your power source? What is your area of brilliance, something only you can do, something you are 100% passionate about? Once you’ve carefully analyzed and defined that source, be vigilant about staying plugged in to it.
It’s easy to lose your connection to source if you’re tired or stressed. Part of your job as a speaker is to make sure that you take good care of yourself, whatever that means to you, so that you’re always in top form onstage.
Being connected to your source means that it’s effortless. It’s energizing rather than draining.
Remember a time when you were in the zone. What was going on at the time? How can you recreate that every time you’re onstage? What does it take for you to be in the zone?
It looks simple. It is simple. But it’s rare for a speaker to be fully in their power onstage. It takes a lot of backstage work. You need to know yourself very well and you need to fully accept all aspects of your personality – the good, the bad and the indifferent.
You also have to be crystal clear on why you’re on the platform and why your message is important for others to hear.
That foundation of self-knowledge combined with caring about your audience will ensure you’re always connected to your source and you will not only blow your audiences away, you’ll walk away refuelled and re-energized rather than drained.
It’s a connection worth cultivating.
• Bureau owner and speaker consultant Cathleen Fillmore can be reached at 416-532-9886 or
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