How often have you struggled to hear a presenter? More than you care to? The good news is that you’re not along – even professional actors are having problems making their voices carry to the back of the room.
It’s ironic, isn’t it, that people are worried about not being “real” when they perform – forgetting that the very act of performing means that something isn’t real….? Presentations are no more real than Shakespeare (especially sales presentations! :) ) but there’s a really significant difference between something being ‘real’ and something being ‘realistic’. Using your voice as a performance tool when you make a presentation isn’t ‘real’ – it’s not how you normally speak, for example – but that doesn’t mean it’s not a realistic presentation of you, your beliefs and what you want to say.
When you present, you perform: you have to stop being ‘you’ and start being a special version of ‘you’. That doesn’t mean you have to be fake, or false (heaven save me from people pretending to be what they’re not!) but nor do you have to be ‘just the same old you’ that I’d meet down the pub!
The ‘performer you’ is an interesting concept to play with. The PY might be a bit bigger: might make bigger gesticulations; might have a bigger voice…
There’s an advantage to thinking of the PY – you can ‘put this persona on’ – and it’s a great way to deal with nerves when you do that… but that’s a post for another time.
