There’s an interesting blog post here that looks at how speakers need (or should) have vision above and beyond themselves and what they want to say.
http://businesspresentations.blogspot.com/2008/01/speak-to-lead.html
My take on it is pretty similar, though with, obviously, a British take.
My position is this…. not having a point bigger than the your presentation is a form of arrogance. …and believe it or not, that’s supposed to make you less nervous when you make your presentation.
How? Well it goes like this. Suppose you’re doing some public speaking about something very important to you, something you passionately believe in. Maybe it’s your charity work; maybe it’s your newly founded business. Maybe it’s something the work of Amnesty International or Oxfam.
http://www.amnesty.org.uk/
http://www.oxfam.org.uk/
What’s more important? You? Or Amnesty, or Oxfam. You’re the means, not the end. The end is what your audience learns about Amnesty or Oxfam (for example). More importantly, it’s about what they decide to do with what you tell them. It’s not about you – don’t flatter yourself.
You’re not that important. Get over it. ;)
