He behaved as if he’d been in this situation a thousand times. Of course in reality, this was his first. But he was prepared for it.
Unfortunately in the speaking world, I far too frequently see the exact same scenario, but in total opposite. Let me explain…
We’ve all seen them.
You know the ones.
They’re typically household names for one reason or another—authors, entrepreneurs, artists, etc. They’ve become known for their ideas and desire to share them with a captive audience.
And they’ve been hired to do exactly that. But they don’t seem to rise to the occasion.
For reasons that can be hard to pinpoint, their message falls flat and their audience is left scratching their heads.
Why is this? How can it be?
In my experience, the answer usually comes down to two things:
1. Preparation
and
2. Selfishness
A couple of years back, I had the opportunity to work with a world-renowned author for a delivery training session before a paid speech at a corporate event. I’ll keep him anonymous, but safe to say he was a great example of who I described above: A best-selling author who was very well liked and admired by millions, myself included.
As we worked through a few strategies and ideas, it became clear to me that his primary problem was bigger than a single delivery training session could rectify: He wasn’t adequately prepared.
It was the content of his speech that needed the most attention.
He was too dependent on his notes, lacked clear organization and hadn’t put his message in the proper context that his audience could engage with.
In short, he was selfish.
He clearly didn’t identify his audience and tailor his message accordingly.
He didn’t bring color to his ideas in new ways to make them truly understood and remembered.
He didn’t give his audience a clear DO to really leave them feeling inspired to take action. And even in his final live delivery, he ran over his allotted time by nearly 10 minutes.
He made it about him, more than his audience. It was selfish, plain and simple.
Did he get booed off stage?
Did the client demand a refund for his lackluster performance?
Of course not.
His speech came and went, ideas were conveyed, rousing applause filled the ballroom and books were likely sold.
When it was all said and done, it was still interesting.
But impact was left on the table. He’s an absolute PRO when it comes to conveying his ideas, but in this instance he approached the task like a rookie.
Fast forward several months and I find myself with a very similar opportunity with former NFL quarterback Joe Theismann.
He was hired to speak at our client’s event and together we ran through on-site rehearsals and delivery training.
Same setting, completely different story.
He absolutely killed it. Blew me away, in fact.
He had clearly done his homework to prepare and it showed. He had tied his experiences and insights directly to his audience.
He struck the perfect balance between likeability and intellectual authority. He was on-time, well spoken and kept his audience engaged throughout his talk.
Theismann was prepared. And therefore, not selfish.
Admittedly, I was surprised. And I quickly remembered my experience months ago. Because with all due respect to Theismann, his keynote speech carries different expectations than that of a world-renowned academic.
It’s not that Theismann is a rookie when it comes to the communication of ideas, it’s just not specifically what he’s known for.
An author and thought leader IS. But in this case, it was the one who had learned a new sport who looked like the pro.
Now while I do give speeches to large audiences regularly, I am absolutely NOT claiming that they are iron-clad perfection, or that I don’t have lots of room for improvement myself.
The point is that I KNOW that I need to improve.
So I treat it like a craft.
I record video of my speeches and repeatedly review the tape for every nuance of my content, body language, vocal delivery, audience engagement, etc. I also constantly rely on the insights and advice of others.
The bottom line: I don’t ever want to leave my audience disappointed. They deserve better.
So, if you’re a speaker getting paid real money to get up there and share your ideas, you’re a pro. Act like one.
Don’t phone it in and get complacent with doing the bare minimum.
Because just like Malcolm Butler in Super Bowl XLIX, performing like a pro depends on preparing like one. No matter how much experience you have.
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