Have you ever felt frozen on stage, or that you somehow forgot how to move naturally?
Dame Helen Mirren has said that it's one of the first things all theatre actors need to learn to do - walk naturally on stage.
And the same can be said for leaders who present on stage.
In 2003, I'll never forget the very first time I presented my first TV show, "FEVER". My mentor back then gave me the advice and said, if you don't know what to do with your hands or body, "𝙅𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙙𝙤𝙣'𝙩 𝙢𝙤𝙫𝙚, 𝙪𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙡 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙩𝙤 𝙢𝙤𝙫𝙚". And that's exactly what I did.
Come the first recording - 𝙄 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙖 𝙙𝙚𝙚𝙧 𝙞𝙣 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙡𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙨! 😳
See if you can spot that moment in the video above - it's when I talk about 'No Doubt', and you'll see, I'm literally just standing still. 😂 Hold the pose, stand, read teleprompter and deliver content! ✅
I had to learn this one thing to get better at presenting.
When we're presenting, whether virtually or in person, there's A LOT going on. Especially in the beginning, it can feel overwhelming and as if your limbs don't belong to your body, just like they did for me in Fever.
𝙂𝙊𝙊𝘿 𝙉𝙀𝙒𝙎 - it gets better!!
One of the best ways to get comfortable in your own skin so that you're moving naturally when presenting is 𝙥𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙘𝙚!
My first few shows felt a little clunky and awkward, but eventually, after the first 10, 20 and then 50 eps, I began walking, talking, moving and connecting far more naturally and 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙣 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙛𝙪𝙣 𝙙𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙞𝙩!
While there are a few magic formulas for getting good, one of the most important - 𝙞𝙩'𝙨 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙥𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙘𝙚! 😃
If I could do it, you can too. My invitation to you is to just start, do it, and allow yourself to get better each time you do. ✨