As a professional speaker and presenter, I’m constantly analyzing people when they speak. I can’t help it. Most times I keep my thoughts to myself, unless it’s a client or my brother. But I must share a few thoughts about an exceptional group I had the pleasure to listen to last week.
The Minnesota Lynx co-sponsored a luncheon with a couple members of The Woman’s Club of Minneapolis. I was honored to get invited and now that it’s done, so happy I experienced the event. Lynx Business Development VP, Angela Taylor, spoke to us first. She’s a former basketball player and coach. The president of the WNBA spoke with us next. And last but not least, the team’s new rookie Lindsey Harding shared some of her thoughts and motivated us to come out to games.
What all these women delivered is at the heart of what I try to get my clients to embody. When you are a dynamic presenter, your content gets delivered effectively. When you are sloppy or unaware of how to present well, your message suffers. I found myself so thoroughly engaged with what was coming out of these three speakers’ mouths that I really didn’t find flaws in their actual performance skills. Well, one moved her head a little too much. But I got over it because she was so dynamic in every other way.
So the next time you’re listening to a speaker or actually speaking yourself, ask yourself if presentation gaffes are getting in the way of message delivery.
