Today, I’ll share more about how you can project spontaneity and authenticity in your elevator speech by rehearsing with the actor’s technique called “Endowment”.  Here is a summary of the steps:

Step 1:  Choose a person from your real life in who has qualities that help you feel liked, trusted, and respected when you speak with him or her.  Step 2:  Choose a spot to place your focus, and imagine your business listener, right there in front of you.   Step 3:  Endow your imaginary listener with these same qualities that help you feel liked, trusted, and respected.  As you say your elevator speech aloud, speak AS IF you were in conversation with the person from your life. 

Here are some additional guidelines for the Endowment process.

1.  It’s very important to be flooded with positive feelings as you rehearse this, so choosing the “right” person to feed your imagination is key.  Experiment with the technique of Endowment by imagining various people from your life, in order to discover which one person most effectively triggers your expression of warmth and relaxation when you are speaking.

2.  Never tell anyone the identity of the person you have chosen to “use” for this process.  Keeping it a secret will increase the power that the Endowment technique will have on your demeanor and delivery.  

3.  The technique of endowment may be challenging at first, so rehearse aloud as often as possible.  Over time, rehearsal of the endowment process will help you focus your mind in a very useful way.  It will help you create an emotional environment for yourself:   to project authenticity and spontaneity when you’re networking and meeting with prospects and clients.

Using the Endowment technique has a secondary benefit:  it will keep your mind so focused on the task at hand, that you’ll have very little emotional availability to be nervous or self-conscious.

This is a way to use rehearsal strategically:  it will prepare your for a spontaneous and authentic presentation of yourself and your business message.

Here is a strategy to help you rehearse the delivery of your elevator speech, to generate interest and begin conversations that lead to sales.

Rehearsal is very important for business speakers, just as it is for actors. Many people mistakenly believe that rehearsing makes you sound “canned” or phony. If that’s what happens when you rehearse, you need strategies for effective rehearsal.

When actors are speaking lines, their job is to make it sound as if they’re making it all up – right there on the spot. So, rehearsal is the preparation to appear completely spontaneous, conversational, and authentic.

Here is a very useful strategy that actors use to rehearse. It’s called “endowment. The task is to “endow” your listeners with qualities that will help you speak with them the way you speak with a friend in conversation.

Rehearse with the following three steps:

Step 1: Think of a person from your own life (past, present; male, female; any age) in whose presence you feel cared for, trusted, and respected.

Step 2: Use the power of imagination before you begin. Choose a spot on the wall to place your focus. In your mind’s eye, “see” that person, right there in front of you.

Step 3: Use what actors call the “magic if”. As you say your elevator speech aloud, speak as if you were in conversation with that person. Take the time to connect with your positive feelings about him or her and allow this emotional connection to impact your tone and demeanor.

The more often you rehearse with the technique of endowment, the easier it will be for you to appear conversational – with spontaneity and authenticity.

Follow these steps, and you will be on your way to delivering your elevator speech in a way that generates interest and begin conversations that lead to sales.

https://youtu.be/8-opt6b5A1A

Business listeners respond well to a speaker’s positive energy and lightness of being.  As a speaker, you can project this kind of lightness by doing a quick emotional clearing in advance — the way actors do before going on stage.

At least an hour before you have that important business conversation, meeting, or presentation, do the following:

1.  Take your “emotional temperature”.  Identify your current emotional state:  happy, sad, nervous, excited, disappointed, excited, angry, etc.
2.  Find a private area to release these emotions in a big way, even if it feels exaggerated or  “phony” to do so.  For example, you can jump for joy, shout, laugh out loud, shed a few tears, if necessary; whatever you need to do to release your emotions, especially the ones that are less pleasant.
3.  Do some deep breathing with long, slow exhalations to a count of ten; then stretch out your arms, legs, back, and shoulders to release your emotions more fully.

If you are having any emotions that will not serve to enhance your speaking delivery, releasing those emotions in advance will decrease the power they have over you and will decrease any negative impact they might have on the way you speak.

You will be more “present” with your listeners and more available to respond to them authentically “in the moment”.

You will be free to use you positive and upbeat energy to engage and inspire your listeners — with a lightness of being that will help put them (and you) at ease.

https://youtu.be/MuHNNnrus0A

You can sharpen your mental focus right before an important business conversation or presentation.  Here are two simple techniques that will help you feel and look fully present and energized.

You probably know that actors warm up their bodies and voices right before a performance.  Well, they also warm up their brains before they go on stage!   As a business professional, you can sharpen your mental focus before you speak, in the same way that actors do, right before they go on stage.

Before you enter the room where you’ll be speaking for business, find a private spot, and try the following:

1. Busy your brain with arithmetic!  That’s right:  Do arithmetic, starting with small sums.  Add numbers like 64 and 27.  After a few combinations like this, graduate to larger figures, like 459 and 3897.   It really is OK if your answers are not correct; the point of the exercise is to work the brain; to make the effort.
2. Busy your brain with Jeapardy; just like the game show!  Think of any simple category.  Speak/whisper all the words you can think of that belong in that category.  When your ideas stop flowing relatively easily, change the category and repeat the exercise.  Categories like “capital cities of the world” and “languages of the world”, etc., are good ways to begin.  The choice of categories is almost endless.  Choose categories that are challenging enough to work your brain and  that give you a sense of achievement.

Mental gymnastics will energize you and help you feel and look authoritative. They are very useful tools to help you deliver your ideas with confidence and focus!

https://youtu.be/yMKr1xAI3oM

You can engage your business listeners fully by “taking stage”:  capturing their attention and keeping it.

How do professional actors get the audience’s attention and keep them riveted to the action of a play? One answer is that they take stage: they inhabit the space with a “do or die” purpose and an attitude of complete belonging.

Business professionals need to do the same thing, in order to persuade and inspire your business listeners, whether you are speaking one on one, or to a group; whether you are speaking informally, or delivering a PowerPoint presentation.

Here are three techniques to help you take stage –to command your listeners’ attention and keep it:

1.  Before you begin, situate yourself in a position of power whenever possible.  When you are speaking to a group, that’s usually front and center.  Whether you are seated or standing, begin with both feet planted firmly on the ground, and imagine that your legs are tree trunks and that your feet are roots extending deep into the ground. This initial grounding helps you claim the space as your own and gives weight to your movements. It helps you project confidence and authority.

2.  If you’re standing, stand away from furniture and resist any temptation to lean for support. If someone offers you a podium when you speak to a group, politely decline it whenever possible, unless you truly need it.  You want to eliminate as many physical barriers as possible that might come between you and your audience. If you must use a podium, stand tall and don’t lean on it!

3.  If you have handouts for a talk, whenever possible, distribute them after your talk has ended — not before or during the talk.  Giving people material to read during your talk encourages them to focus on the written word and encourages them to ignore you!  Giving material in advance can send the message that your listeners might just as effectively have read your talk — that they did not need to hear you live and in person!

Take stage to engage your listeners.  Better yet, take stage to captivate your business listeners!

https://youtu.be/IDM9d7wxBmM

You can increase the impact that you have on your business listeners by revealing who YOU are when you speak!

Consider the impact that actors have on their audiences. Many years ago, Marlon Brando said, “Acting is the ancient, instinctive art of representing ourselves to others in a way that reflects how we truly are.”

Successful business speaking also reflects how we truly are. It shows your business listeners what they’re doing, how they’re doing it, and how they might do it better. It also shows them how you, the speaker, truly are. And that means WHO you are.

Convincing actors and persuasive business speakers make their greatest impact through self-revelation.

To play a character convincingly and make the audience believe, actors reveal truths that lie in the deepest places of their own hearts: truths that lie inside every heart. The ability to reveal what is both personal and at the same time universal creates for the audience a transformative experience: when audiences recognize themselves in a character – when they can identify — they can understand more about our human condition, our limitations, and, most importantly, our potential.

This ability to reveal what is personal and at the same time universal is important in business speaking, too. Whether you are giving a power point presentation or talking with a prospect on a sales call, revealing who YOU are is a key ingredient in making a deep connection with your listeners and building their trust.

When you prepare to speak for business, decide what you will reveal about yourself in the following areas:
1. Your personal perspective about your business message
2. Your appreciation of your listeners and your enjoyment in speaking with them
3. True stories from your own life that will help illustrate your message

Be sure that your communication is supported by your vocal delivery, your body language, and every aspect of your demeanor.

Reveal who YOU are when you speak, to build trust and make your greatest impact!

I recently read that Abraham Lincoln co-owned a general store for a short period of time and that his store failed because he “wasn’t a very good salesperson”;  he was “frequently a little too honest about his products…”

I began thinking again about the qualities of a good salesperson, the relationship between honesty and successful selling, and why that story might be of interest to so many professionals.

Almost everyone in the world of work is a salesperson. Whether we are business owners, work for a corporation, or bring our talents to other professional areas, we are all involved (directly or indirectly) in selling ideas, products, or services.

Only the naïve believe that success in business is always accompanied by strict honesty at all times, but the old adage “honesty is the best policy” is usually a wise goal. We cannot be all things to all people and cannot be all things for all clients and prospects. We can certainly try our best, and if we cannot deliver, we can offer to clients and prospects alternative sources to find solutions.

Of course, some who are dedicated to enhancing/maintaining their professional image have been known to bend the truth quite a bit and often make a lot of money doing so. Many years ago, the adult grandson of a restaurant manager told me a true story that I have never forgotten. The restaurant was part of one of the biggest and most successful hotels located in the Catskill Mountains during the 1950’s. One night, when the restaurant was filled to capacity, a diner who was seated with a large group of people started screaming, because she found an enormous cockroach in her food. The manager rushed over to the table, saw the cockroach, and knew that the restaurant could now lose not only these customers, but the ones seated at the surrounding tables. With a grand gesture, he immediately grabbed a spoon, removed the cockroach from the woman’s plate, and popped the insect into his own mouth, chewing and swallowing with delight. Smiling broadly, he loudly proclaimed, “That was no cockroach, Madam. That was our most exotic mushroom, a true delicacy imported from Asia!”

How far would you go, to salvage your professional image and keep your sales moving forward?

https://youtu.be/Y6J2tqiXENc

In my last blog, I wrote about your use of pauses, to allow your ideas to land when you speak & engage your listeners.

Today, I’m going to talk about the power of the surprising pause. Successful business speakers, like good actors, use the surprising pause strategically to command attention and add depth to their message. The element of surprise is a key factor in capturing and keeping your listeners’ attention when you speak for business. Pausing at meaningful and surprising moments can be helpful to you in three ways:

1.   It creates variety in your delivery:  A moment of unexpected silence provides the greatest contrast to a stream of words.

2.   It creates suspense:  It teases your listeners for a moment, making them want to hear more.

3.   It gives your listeners a window into your inner world:  Listeners want to know what is “going on” with the speaker underneath the words.  A surprising pause filled with meaning allows your listeners to observe a different quality in your expressiveness and gain additional perspectives.

In the video version of this blog, I demonstrate now just how effective a surprising pause can be. You may wish to view that now; simply click the thumbnail for the video.

If you prefer to continue reading:
I use the following sentence as an example of the use of the surprising pause. It’s a sentence about concept of supply and demand: an excerpt from a play called Other People’s Money, by Jerry Sterner; which was first produced Off Broadway and later made into a film with Richard Dreyfus.  Here is the sentence:
“One day, when the dollar is weaker or the yen stronger, or when we finally begin to rebuild the roads, the bridges, the infrastructure of our country, demand will skyrocket.”

Logical but predictable moments to pause would be after the words, “day, stronger, and country”.   A more interesting choice would be to add meaningful pauses after the words, “dollar, yen, and demand”.   The surprise and suspense created in those moments leads to a more compelling delivery.

As you rehearse your business talk, consider why and when you will pause. Take logical, meaningful pauses at moments when those pauses might be most surprising.

Make your delivery truly compelling —  and captivate your listeners!

https://youtu.be/RC9A14CsNmM

In today’s videoblog, I’ll share the third and final step in my three-part series called “How to Engage Your Listeners by Allowing Your Ideas to Land.”

In my last two videoblogs, I talked about the first two steps in this process: (1) Speak in complete thoughts and (2) pursue your point with energy and focus.

Today, I’ll share step three: Pause briefly after speaking a complete thought, to allow the idea to “land”.

Successful business speakers, like good actors, always consider pacing when they prepare to speak. The tempo of the spoken word has a strong impact on the listener and directly influences the way speakers are perceived. This raises the issue of pausing.

Even the smartest and best listeners need a moment to digest a complete thought. When you are speaking face-to face or on camera, your listeners need time to interpret meaning from a broad palette:  a palette that includes your visual as well as vocal delivery.  So, pauses are important.

A University of Michigan study revealed that speakers who never paused had the lowest success rate in getting listeners to do what they wanted them to do.  The great British actor, John Gielgud, famously said that, when acting Shakespeare, the pauses are the most important moments of the speech!    He knew that pauses can be captivating.

Help your business listeners receive the full impact of your message by giving them the gift of time. Pause briefly after each complete thought, to let it “land”. Don’t be in a rush to go on to your next idea. The pause will also give you time to get a reading on your listener’s understanding and engagement level. During the pause, breathe deeply and maintain good eye contact.

Without the pauses, your listeners may feel overwhelmed by an unmanageable amount of input. They may lose some of your meaning; they might even tune you out.

When you give your listeners time to process each thought, you are respecting their needs while you communicate your own conviction that your message is important.

Never underestimate the power of the pause!

I’ve been thinking about how often each day I say “thank you” and how often others respond by saying “No problem.”

Most of us over the age of (you fill in the blank) were taught as children to say “you’re welcome” when someone says “thank you”.

What does it mean to speak the words “you’re welcome”?  It means that the speaker feels that the listener is welcome to all kindness, time, service, good will, energy, work, help, support, etc. that was given. It means that the speaker is pleased to give to the listener.   It expresses care for the listener.

If we look at the way speakers of other languages respond to an expression of gratitude, we see that it’s often about expressing pleasure in the act of giving.   Italians, in fact, use a word that means “pleasure” and “to please”.   Speakers of French and Spanish use words that actually mean “nothing”:  expressing the their sentiment that giving actually felt like nothing, compared to the pleasure one received in the giving.

What does “no problem” mean?

It means “you did not cause me a problem”.  It means “I don’t like problems, and I’m glad that you did not cause me a problem”.  Perhaps it means  “If my giving to you was going to cause a problem for me in any way, no matter how small, I may not have extended myself – or there might have been unhappy consequences.”

This is quite different from expressing pleasure about the act of giving.

Yes, I know that “no problem” is a “generational thing”.   But how do you feel when someone responds to your expression of gratitude by saying “no problem”?

If you feel uncomfortable in even the tiniest way,  might this be an important topic to discuss with your daughters and sons who are learning to navigate polite conversation to enhance relationships?