Sometimes, when we’re training people to become better presenters, we come up against something that someone else has told them, supposedly to help. That someone else might be a teacher, a well-meaning colleague… even another trainer. And often we have to unpick it.
When to go with the flow
For example, lots of us are ‘movers’ as presenters. I’m one. Under the spotlight, I have energy that wants to come out. Even if I try to stay still, I can’t: my energy will ‘leak’ – I’ll end up dancing on the spot or something distracting. The way to curb that distraction is not to try to root someone to the ground – usually that’ll make them worse.
The answer is to get them to properly move – walking around the room maybe, or bigger gesticulations. Get them to channel that energy decisively and they’ll look more comfortable and confident, commanding even. Hence the oft-quoted Dolly Parton line: ‘Find out who you are, and do it on purpose.’
Who you gonna call? Mythbusters
The same goes for writing. People have been taught a whole load of nonsense about ‘you can’t start a sentence with “and”’, despite the fact that just about every professional writer does.
But those rules we’ve been taught, and internalised – especially from a young age – can be really tricky to shift. When we succeed in busting those myths though, people are often liberated. In this case, to write more conversationally and engagingly.
Why unforgettable impact on people motivates me
Lots of our work at Definition involves making a measurable impact on businesses and brands. As a trainer, my work is just as often about making an impact on the individuals within those organisations.
It’s harder to measure, of course: how do you quantify the business benefit of someone being a better presenter? (Though sometimes you really can – when you’re training people to pitch for business for example.)
But I love my job because I know it often makes a real, long-lasting, yes – unforgettable – impact on people. I know because they work with us again and again. Because they tell us years later they got promoted because of it. Or because you can just see how much better a previously inhibited person looks when they feel confident to stride around the room like they own the place.
