‘This little light of mine, I’m going to let it shine’: Presenting You Part 2
The Three R’s of SuperStar StoryTelling and Presenting
Not all public speakers stick with you, but this one did.
LaTosha Brown, founder of Black Voters Matter, stepped on stage at the Communications Network Conference 2023 (bringing together 1000’s of the top marketers in the social good space in the US). She didn’t speak. Instead she belted out (with a rich, enviable, southern voice) “This little light of mine, I’m going to let it shine”.
The full speech is here (it’s worth a watch), but the lesson is that LaTosha knows her Communication SuperPower. Hers is her voice, her impactful presence, her ability to make the issues she fights for seem urgent.
Finding your Communication SuperPower was the topic of our last post and hopefully you’ve had an opportunity to elicit feedback from some peers / friends / family about what yours might be. Leaning into what makes you compelling when you speak and what your natural style is will lift your confidence in a way that critiquing your technique never will.
This week's post will take you through the LookUP approach to becoming a SuperStar StoryTeller when it comes to presenting. We’ve spoken to numerous experts in this space, read everything there is to read, and have topped this up with our own experience to bring you a new approach in this space.
We’ll take you through each R in turn, and give you an exercise to practice your skills. We’ll be launching a community thread on this topic as well for any of you that have questions as you progress through the exercises .
When we suffer from nerves about presenting it’s easy to fall into two traps.
The first trap is thinking we are the only ones who feel this way.
And yet studies show that it’s one of our top 3 fears; and there’s a worrying trend that younger generations are becoming more fearful of stepping outside their comfort zone in this space (63% of Gen Z would avoid public speaking if they didn’t have to do it - The Survation Poll), impacted particularly by being on lockdown during Covid.
Why are nerves so common when presenting? And why do we seek to remove them?
This fear is so common because when we think about something bad happening, a part of our brain, the hypothalmus, is programmed to trigger the pituitary gland and secrete the hormone ACTH. This triggers numerous reactions that many of us associate with public speaking: increased heart rate, sweaty palms, increased temperature. The extent to which we feel this fear can be exacerbated by factors such as how important we believe the event to be, the audience, our experiences, even genetics to a certain degree.
But, do we need to actually ‘rid’ ourselves of these fears, or is it more about what we do with them?
There’s a well known Bengali/Canadian skater called @auntyskates on Instagram and TikTok. Having taken up skateboarding in her 40’s she now helps other adults conquer their fears and take up the sport. One of her best pieces of advice applies equally to the space of public speaking. The moment you feel afraid is when you need to take action. In Aunty Skates’ world this means bending your knees, or some other act to maintain your balance.
In the world of public speaking, it’s the tools you use to keep you grounded in the moment and able to perform at your best. Recognising fear as normal and moving forward anyway.
There are numerous exercises you can find in this space, but these are a few tried and trusted ones that we like: