The key to mindful presenting is having clarity of your ‘M’ POINT?
The distinction between mediocre and mindful presenting is real and highly visible.
For the mediocre presenter, years of unconscious programming can lead to mechanical reactions. In other words, a presentation based on ‘information overolad’. Presenting everything you know and want to say on a topic isn’t mindful presenting. It requires a far higher level of awareness and consciousness.
We are hard wired by habit to think, say and do the same things we always think say and do. Presenters are not exempt from this unfortunate frailty.
Presenting through habit often results in slides being spewed out, like scripts, based on the question, ‘What am I going to say?’
That’s always the wrong first question!
Mindful presenting revolves around your ‘M’ POINT.
What is your ‘M’ POINT?
It’s your personal ‘moment of truth’.
That precise moment in which you find perfect clarity and certainty of:
– Why you are presenting in the first place
– How what you have to say is so important for your audience to hear
– What your message is and why it matters
– The difference what you have to say will make to your audiences lives
– How you want them to feel
– What you want them to do
– What the future will look like for them if they connect with and act on your message
Once you have clear, conscise and compelling answers to each of these questions you have reached your ‘M’ POINT; your ‘moment of truth’.
The value
Mindful presenting allows you to switch off your ‘autopilot’ and become a highly conscious change agent.
Presenting is always about changing something.
It could be changing a:
– Mindset
-Position, understanding or appreciation
– Level of knowledge or clarity
– Belief
– Opinion
– Behaviour
– Decision
– Perspective
Your ‘M’ POINT will always include a clear vision of what you really want your audience to do when you’ve finished presenting:
– Approve my budget for the new project
– Sign off my proposal
– Buy my product/service
– Give me the resources I need
– Recommend me to their clients
– Support/help me
– Ask for more information about the initiative
– Ask for a proposal
It could simply be to understand, accept or change a view and act on that new position.
Remember, at this stage you still haven’t even opened up your laptop yet. This is the part of mindful presenting which requires you to retreat into the quiet of your own mind. It’s where you create moments.
Moments of:
– Introspection
– Reflection
– Honesty
– Curiosity
– Empathy
– Resepct
– Creativity
You ‘M’ POINT revolves around motivation
– You audience’s motivation
What’s in it for them?
The pain of not buying the software?
What’s the pleasure and pay off of going ahead?
Why should they even listen to you?
What problems of theirs would this solve and what opportunities would it create?
What’s the difference between the status quo and the opportunities your idea presents
– Your motivation
What’s in it for you personally:
Marketing you, your image, your brand, your knowledge, creativity, credibility?
To make a difference and be recognized for the impact?
Elevate your standing among your peers, superiors, colleagues?
Develop your leadership skills?
Increase your confidence, job security, chances of promotion or to attain kudos for you and your team?
To make your audience’s lives better, easier, happier, different?
Some people say their motivation is simply that it’s their job; that’s what they are paid to do and that’s it.
That may be so but we suggest you dig much deeper to find a more personal and powerful reason; nobody wants you to just do your job.
Focusing on your ‘M’ POINT isn’t easy and it’s something the mediocre presenter will avoid. Mindful presenting is the route to crafting and creatiing a compelling presentation.
If you need finding your ‘M’ Point:
– Book yourself onto a powerful public speaking course.
– Invest in some really good one to one public speaking coaching.
– Get yourself some excellent presentation training
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Photo by Olimpo Ávila Salazar on Unsplash
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