This Strength Is A Weakness

Until you learn to use it the right way.

If you want to get ahead in your career and take on all the responsibility that comes with leadership, you have to demonstrate to others that you can thrive in the spotlight. Work presentations are a good opportunity to do just that. Strong, confident and compelling presentations can make you much more visible, especially if you use your subject matter expertise to be of service to both your clients and your own peers.?

Often when I work with clients on a work presentation or pitch, I can see their SME coming through in certain areas, but not others. Once we clarify the actual narrative of the presentation, we begin working on the performance aspect of it.

This is where things can go quickly off the rails. Many of my clients share a common weakness that sabotages their best efforts to appear confident and powerful during presentations. This weakness is actually a strength, but only when used in the right way at the right time. It’s called, “reading the room.”

The concept of “reading the room” actually comes from the world of theater performance. A theater play or concert is actually a collaboration between the performers and the audience. Each person contributes to a collective energy field that fills up the room and gives it a certain quality of energy. High-level performers can feel this energy as soon as they walk out onstage, and they learn how to work with it, so that they can deliver their most impactful performance. For example, sometimes an audience has come to the theater on a weeknight, directly from work. They are tired and low-energy, and not giving much enthusiasm. The performers can meet them where they are and elevate their spirits, so that by the end of the show the audience is uplifted and giddy. Other times an audience might be filled with fear or anxiety from something scary in the local news. In this case the performers might start off very quiet, and gradually build to a greater level of intensity that distracts the audience from their fears, and helps them regain a sense of strength so they can go out and face the world again.??

“Reading the room” is a valuable skill when used correctly. But many of my clients have the wrong idea of how it’s supposed to work. Once they stand up and start their presentation, they are hyper-attuned to every little thing that is happening with others in the room.

Here are some signs that you're "reading the room" incorrectly during a work presentation or pitch:

-Any time someone yawns, or scratches their nose, or stares out the window, or picks up their phone and starts texting, it's intensely distracting.

-All of a sudden you lose confidence, and feel like you can't go on with your presentation.

-You become terribly self-conscious, shaking and sweaty, and you start talking too fast because you want it to be over.

High-level presentation coaching offers science-based techniques that will help keep you calm and focused, and transform your nervousness into excitement that actually makes your presentation better. Your task at that moment is to grab the spotlight and hold it, no matter what happens. Your strength, confidence and comfort in that high-pressure environment will compel everyone to sit up and pay attention. That's how you'll find allies who believe in your work, and be able to go much farther.

I give private Power Voice For Executive Women session packages, which include high-level performance coaching, to highly motivated individuals. I also give Power Communication trainings to groups of Executives and professionals at companies like Microsoft, Amazon, Columbia Bank, Carharrt and Kimpton Hotels, both remotely and in person. DM me for more info about my trainings, rates and availability. I love hearing from you!