Do you practice mindfulness?
In case the concept is new to you, mindfulness is defined as “a mental state achieved by focusing one’s awareness on the present moment, while calmly acknowledging and accepting one’s feelings, thoughts, and bodily sensations, used as a therapeutic technique.”
It’s a trend that’s been growing in recent years, in part because of an increasing focus on the importance of taking care of our mental health. It’s also a popular topic for thought leaders, social media influencers, and content creators.
But is there anything that we can learn from mindfulness content creators as public speakers? Well, that’s a good question. Let’s go ahead and take a look.
Far too many public speakers get distracted by worrying about the past or the future. A classic example of this is when they toss and turn all night because they’re worried about the presentation that they have coming up. We can also experience it when we’re on stage and we’re so busy thinking about the networking we have to do or the kinds of questions that people might ask that we lose track of where we are in our presentation. Mindfulness content creators teach us how beneficial it is to be fully in the moment instead.
There's a popular prayer called The Serenity Prayer, which goes, “God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference.” Mindfulness practitioners aren’t necessarily religious, but they need serenity so they can deal with the things they can’t change. After all, we’re always going to have to confront things we can’t change as public speakers. It’s just the nature of the business.
Many mindfulness practitioners use controlled breathing techniques to tackle stress and anxiety and to keep themselves grounded in the moment. These kinds of exercises are beneficial for public speakers because most of us still suffer from stage fright even if we’re able to overcome it. Mindfulness-based breathing exercises allow us to control our anxiety and stay calm even in the most stressful of situations.
Public speakers often over-focus on their speaking skills, forgetting that it’s also paramount to be a good listener. Decent listening skills will help you to better respond to audience questions and become a better networker when speaking to your fellow presenters. Mindfulness content creators often teach about the significance of listening, both as a way to practice mindfulness and to become a more empathetic person.
Speaking of empathy, it’s a vital skill if you want to progress in this world, and that’s true whether you’re trying to become a better public speaker or you just want to live a happier life. When you practice it, you’re able to put yourself in someone else’s shoes, which is a huge benefit if you want to tailor your speech to the people you’re talking to. And people who practice mindfulness are generally better at displaying empathy than most.
One of the big lessons that mindfulness content creators share is that it’s important to know yourself if you want to live a healthy and fulfilling life. The same is true if you want to have a long and fulfilling career as a public speaker. If you know yourself then you know your passions and ability levels, and you also know where you want to go and how you want to get there. That ensures that when you deliver your talks, you’re always on brand and on message.
Knowing yourself is only half the battle; you also need to be true to the person that you know you are. In other words, if you’re passionate about animal rights, you’ll want to avoid chowing down on a bacon sandwich. Mindfulness content creators teach us that if we want to experience greater contentment and feel more comfortable in our own skin, we need to maintain authenticity. Being authentic allows us to be taken more seriously as public speakers, too.
Mindfulness is more about focusing on the here and now than looking to the future, but most practitioners recommend visualizing your ideal outcome even before getting started. If you spend half an hour meditating, spend the first two minutes envisioning how you want to feel when the session is over. Visualizing your ideal outcomes is just as important when you take to the stage, and it should be the first thing you do before you ever start working on your slides.
The simpler something is, the better. Mindfulness content creators teach us this by reminding us to take away all of the distractions and to focus on the here and now instead of overcomplicating things by worrying about the past or the future. Simplicity can also help you with your public speaking by ensuring you’re not cluttering up your slides or trying to squeeze too much into a short talk.
The idea that practice makes perfect is true for everything, from practicing mindfulness to taking part in a public speaking engagement. You have to practice mindfulness regularly if you want to experience the biggest benefits, and you have to practice public speaking if you want to be the best speaker possible.
Now that you know what we’ve learned about public speaking from mindfulness content creators, it’s over to you. Do you follow any mindfulness content creators? What are some of the ways that you’ve used mindfulness to improve your public speaking?
As always, we’d love to keep the conversation going, so let us know your thoughts in the comments. You can also follow us on your favorite social networking sites for more. We’ll see you soon for another article!
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