No more negative thoughts while presenting!
"Now he's taking out his cell phone!" Do you know these situations? You have prepared yourself superbly, you are just presenting and then you see how one of your employees, your customers or colleagues takes out his mobile phone in front of you and looks for some e-mails? Negative thoughts are already spreading.
What is going on in your head at such a moment? Do you know this phenomenon that you get the impression that your thoughts go from left to right and back again like in a prison and go round in circles?
What effect does this have at the moment of presentation?
You may be familiar with this:
- They become inwardly unround
- You may be afraid of losing the thread
- You speak a little more hastily, you try to get the attention back
- Your voice will be higher –
this won't really be a convincing presentation! [bctt tweet="What to do if your thoughts are circling in your head like a hurricane while presenting?" username="ArnoFischbacher"]
What is the solution for such a moment?
How do you manage to get out of this cycle of thoughts? Well, your "inner critic", that inner voice that keeps checking whether what you are doing is really right and good ... this inner voice, which is particularly loud and pronounced in people who are very efficient, who want to get ahead in their work, who are not satisfied with themselves and their achievements – this inner voice falls silent in a moment when you feel yourself!
Sense Focusing is the name of the instruments that I recommend to you in such a moment of stress during the presentation. It silences negative thoughts in a second.
What do you do practically?
The moment you experience that an irritation has arisen, then
- pause and take a step or change the weight between your right and left foot, and
- are repositioned.
- At this moment you feel the weight on the soles of your feet, go into inner and outer balance and
- simply feel how much weight is on your feet on the left and right.
What happens in your brain during this time?
You will experience that in such a moment this inner background noise of thoughts falls silent and gives way to a certain inner peace. Because the activities in your brain have migrated from the cortex to your limbic system – and there it does not think, there you feel something.
The effect:
You will give the others a prelude, so you will start with new vigor, you will gain new courage, your voice will sound round and pleasant again and you will draw your listeners into your topic with new gestural momentum and finally convincing presentation .
Your voice is key if you want to convince other people. Take advantage of it!
Yours sincerely,
Arno Fischbacher
P.S.: I'm happy if you like this post. If that's the case, please share it right away! Do you have a question or would you like to discuss my thoughts with me? Write a comment! I look forward to hearing your opinion!
Read Also:
The author:
Arno Fischbacher is a business voice coach and rhetoric expert, speaker and author. He prepares executives and employees of the top companies in Germany and Austria for negotiations, presentations and media appearances. Fischbacher is the author of several books, past president of the German Speakers Association (GSA) Austria, chairman of the European Network of Voice Experts, stimme.at.
If you would like to learn more about specific training opportunities with Arno Fischbacher, make an appointment here free information talk.
Ergänzend finde ich es gut, Störern auch zu sagen, dass sie stören und nicht alles hinzunehmen. Hier kann es z.B. helfen schon zu beginn darum zu bitten, die Handys auszumachen. Das ist bei bestimmten Berufsgruppen nötig, bei mir sind es zum Beispiel die Unternehmensberater, die immer „busy“ sind und da auch selbst schwer abschalten können. Ich thematisiere das, äußere Verständnis und fördere so das positive Zuhören. Bei spontanen Störern kann man auch eine Ich-Botschaft senden in dem man mit freundlicher Stimme sagt, dass einen das irritiert oder zumindest die Präsentation kurz unterbricht und über Blickkontakt einen diskreten Hinweis gibt. Natürlich geht das nicht bei einem Vortrag vor sehr großem Publikum aber auch da habe ich gute Erfahrung damit gemacht massive Störer, z.B. Geräusche etc. kurz anzusprechen.
Thanks for the tip with Sense Focussing, Mr. Fischbacher. I'll try it. I have the following ready for these situations. I finish my sentence. After that, I allow myself a "short transmission break" of about 5 – 10 seconds. Look at the audience and then continue.