My words fly up, my thoughts remain below.

Words without thoughts never to heaven go.

So says Claudius in Shakespeare’s Hamlet, and he’s not the only one whose formal recitation of written or memorized words has failed to ignite an audience.

The electricity of thought brings forth lively speech. Reading or reciting a text can put thought and passion at a distance, and vocal pyrotechnics can only add to the problem.

The answer?  Rehearse aloud, over and over, until you know the ideas, and how they flow.  The words will then leap from mind to tongue, and carry more intention.

Sims Wyeth & Co. provides public speaking courses, executive speech coaching, presentation skills training, voice and speech training, speech writing, and courses that address stage fright, body language, presentation strategy, and effective use of PowerPoint, all of which contribute to greater executive presence and personal impact.  Sign up for our presentation tips and learn more about us at http://www.simswyeth.com/.

To be present in business presentations, you first need to be intellectually present.  You have to be thinking the thoughts in order to say the words convincingly.

You then have to be vocally and physically present.  Your voice and body must make real to the ear and eye of the audience your passion and confidence.

Finally, your empathy must be present, reading and reacting to the signals from your audience.  They will absent themselves if you don’t.

Sims Wyeth & Co. provides public speaking courses, executive speech coaching, presentation skills training, voice and speech training, speech writing, and courses that address stage fright, body language, presentation strategy, and effective use of PowerPoint, all of which contribute to greater executive presence and personal impact.  Sign up for our presentation tips and learn more about us at http://www.simswyeth.com/.

In 1963, Tom McCahill wrote in Mechanix Illustrated of the Shelby Cobra that the car, “. . . will snap Gramp’s head off his shoulders if you hit the go pedal when he isn’t ready.”

Given that your listeners have limited attention spans, that the unpredictable gets more attention than the predictable, and that first impressions tend to last, I urge you, the next time you present, to get off the line fast.

Get off the line fast, and use concrete language that sums up the big idea.  That’s a triple whammy of a start that’ll put you ahead of the competition.

Sims Wyeth & Co. provides public speaking courses, executive speech coaching, presentation skills training, voice and speech training, speech writing, and courses that address stage fright, body language, presentation strategy, and effective use of PowerPoint, all of which contribute to greater executive presence and personal impact.  Sign up for our presentation tips and learn more about us at http://www.simswyeth.com/.