The ONE, most important thing to keep in mind to be a great speaker
I was recently asked, "What's the ONE, most important thing to keep in mind to be a great speaker?"
What a loaded question! I'd rather tell you whether environment or heredity makes you the person you are. Answer the meaning of life. Which came first, the chicken or egg? To be or not to be. Should I stay or should I go? Those are easy questions compared to this one. Just one? Yes, they wanted only one.
I've got answers for the most important skill to develop. The most important thing in developing content. The most important thing to do first in your presentation. What to do when you make a mistake. But which is THE MOST important, and by implication, more important than anything else? That's a tough one. I wanted to waffle and say there was no single answer.
What would you say? Not be boring? Stand up straight? Have one central point? Passion? Confidence? Eye contact? Be funny? I've heard all of those as answers. And I would support each as important in their own way (I have my issues with confidence and passion - see previous newsletter
here). But THE MOST IMPORTANT?
Hmmm. Let me think.
I was live on stage with the audience waiting for my answer (it felt like a long time). And, thankfully, I remembered what I teach my clients. "Remember Rule #1. It's the answer to every question you'll ever have about public speaking." And it is.
Why didn't that just fly off my tongue? I almost laughed that I struggled with the answer. It's so simple. But we get so caught up in what we know and what we do and how we feel that we easily forget the most important thing about speaking (and life, but that's for another newsletter). It should be the first thing we think about, the guiding light to our content, the question we ask when we create every slide, the thought that dominates our mind while we are on the stage, the overriding principle for follow-up emails, and the standard for every meeting.
The simplest things are often the hardest. This is tough to live out.
Rule #1. It has a name: "Rule Number One"
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