How to Connect With Your People
As a leader, you want to connect with your people to build trust, spark action, influence and inspire performance. Every time you step in front of your team, your clients or your stakeholders, you have the opportunity to connect. Don’t waste it.
The old way of presenting (presenting 1.0) was very formal. A detailed script would be prepared and most likely a Powerpoint with content overload. The leader would talk AT their people.
Now compare this to the new way of presenting (presenting 2.0), which is much more informal. It's all about having a conversation with the people who are in front of you. Whether that's in a one-to-one meeting, maybe a team meeting with 8 to 10 people, or presenting in front of a large audience.
Leaders often ask me how they can present with confidence and authenticity and in a way that truly connects with their people, gets their message across and inspires action. Let me share with you what I tell them.
When you're presenting, there are three elements in the room:
You: the presenter.
Them: your people, your audience.
Your content or your message.
To truly connect as a presenter, you have to forget 2 out of the 3. You have to forget about yourself and you have to forget about your content.
Let me explain this. Firstly, you have to know yourself so well, your values and why and purpose. As a leader, you possess such confidence and self-belief that you can absolutely forget about yourself. You don't worry about what you look like or what people might be thinking of you. You can leave all of that to one side.
And secondly, you have to know your content and message so intimately and be so passionate about it, that you can again forget about it. It doesn't matter if someone interrupts you or you lose your place or if someone asks you a question. You’re not concerned about forgetting what comes next. You’re in absolute flow and can connect the conversation and pick up where you left off.
I remember being so concerned about myself as a presenter that I hardly noticed anyone in the room. I was so caught up in myself. I didn't listen to their responses or appreciate their real time feedback. I've also been guilty of not doing enough preparation on my content and feeling comfortable enough with it, that I've spent the whole session up in my head, focussing on what I had to say next. This is hard work. It's disengaging and disconnecting. I learnt my lesson fast!
As a presenter, if you can forget about yourself and you can forget about your content, then the only element left in the room are the people sitting in front of you.
It means you're in a space that as a leader you can:
truly connect with your people
be fully present
see and hear them
give them 100% of your focus
have a CONVERSATION
talk with them, not at them.
Confident, authentic presenting builds your brand as a leader and inspires your people to perform at their best. Make the most of every opportunity you get to be in front of your people and connect with them.
Midja x