Forget about Perfection...

...Aim for connection

I was with someone yesterday talking about perfection, communication and presenting.

I can understand the desire to be ‘perfect’, especially when presenting and especially more, when you’re presenting to senior people at work who you want to impress.

Do YOU have an inner voice whispering, "You've got to be perfect"?

But here’s the thing, striving for ‘perfection’, and feeling that you have to be ‘perfect’ will cause you to be less than perfect.

Why? Because when you focus on being ‘perfect’ when presenting to an audience, you’re focusing inwards, you’re focusing on yourself. When this happens, you become very aware of how you are moving, how you are speaking, how you are appearing to others. In summary, you become self-conscious. You inevitably judge yourself with a subconscious yardstick of whether this is good enough or not.

But here's a little twist to consider: Forget about 'perfection'. Aim for connection.

Here are some pointers on how to connect with your audience:

1. Understand your listeners. Yes, I know I keep repeating myself here and I make no apologies for doing so. But remember, you can be the world’s expert on your topic, but if you’re talking about an aspect of it that means nothing to the lives of your audience, you’re wasting your time. They’ll simply tune out and then you have NO CHANCE of connecting with them.
2. Evoke emotions. If you can get people to experience an emotion in relation to your content, you greatly increase their memory of you and your presentation.
3. Keep it conversational. Think of your presentation as a two-way chat rather than a monologue. That mindset will alleviate the sensation of having to perform ‘perfectly’ and gives room for authentic connection.
4. Stay relaxed. Open and relaxed body language is your best friend. It shows confidence and makes you relatable which encourages connection. Again, you will become more relaxed if you make it about the audience, not about you. Remember, focus your energy outwards.
5. Make meaningful eye contact. Eye contact is key. You’ll notice that the more eye contact you make, coming from a place of authenticity, the more eye contact you’ll get back from your audience and it then becomes a positive upwards circle.
6. Speak in a straightforward language that all your audience understand. This is the business world, not academia. Get out of your own way when it comes to ‘wanting to impress’ with sophisticated language and jargon. If the audience get a whiff of any attitude of superiority, they will start to feel resistant towards you.

So, as you prepare for your next presentation, remember to let go of the pressure to be 'perfect'. Focus on connecting. ?It’s a much healthier way to approach public speaking and indeed any type of communication scenario.