The Present of Presenting

A presentation? A present? A lot of people who have to present on occasion or sit through presentations will not consider a presentation a gift, but let me re-frame this for you, so you will see, that everything in and around presentations is something that everyone should want, use and be happy about. You don’t believe me?

Let’s start with the recipient of this precious present: THE PRESENT OF PRESENTATIONS

1. THE PRESENT OF A NEW ANGLE

Presentations are like a box of chocolate, you never know what you gonna get.
Yes, Forest.. it is true, presentations are meant to give you a completely new idea or a new or different angle. Even when you know the box, and you know the shape, the individual angle of the person presenting is unique and causes your brain to do this wonderful tickling thing called “thinking”. You may find yourself intrigued to adapt the presenter’s position or you discard it, either way, you’ll have learned something new which will sit still in a little lope of your brain mass till it finds something to connect with (one way or the other).

2. THE PRESENT OF OBSERVATION

The presenter has features and skills which you see, hand gestures, body posture, twitches or a smile, a nervous pace or a dull shoulder position. No matter what, you will either mirror, adapt or decline. You will either judge or… (no,… you will judge, because this is what we do) but it doesn’t have to be connoted negatively you will judge whether you love or not love this person or you will sort him or her in the broad spectrum between.
BTW… allegedly like or dislike of a speaker can relate to the position of which you are reviewing him or her. If he is standing to your strongside the likelihood of a positive response is higher than if he is standing to your weaker side. Not only how you handle scissors is determined whether you are right- or left-handed.

(*sorry, I didn’t find the scientific article for this hypothesis anymore, but I thought the idea was interesting)

3. RECEIVE THE PRESENT OF ENCOURAGEMENT

Presentations are also a gift because of the unconscious encouragement. Look at the TED Talks and how they developed. First the format seemed interesting because you were listening to lectures of specialists on more scientific or professional topics, but then regular people found encouragement to find topics, they were able to present in a memorable way that it became more and more an inspirational or even tutorial platform. Creating speeches and presentations on a specific topic, which could also have an analogy to other aspects of life… priceless.

Did you know that the most popular TED Talk is a talk about how dry your hands correctly with a paper towel?
Even if you look at the presenter and you endure a horrible presentation. It encourages you because you think “even I could do better”. This thought alone let you toy with the idea of presenting.

And now we take a look at the presenters: THE PRESENT OF PRESENTING

1. THE PRESENT OF STEPPING OUTSIDE YOUR COMFORT ZONE

Everyone knows that personal development is not a given. You have to step outside your comfort zone, and this is not always accompanied with a good feeling. It’s like getting out from under a cozy blanket in the morning when it feels like the room is freezing cold. Once you took the first step, your body gets adjusted, and you don’t even notice the cold anymore.

Stepping into a new terrain for personal growth feels the same. First you are careful, then you will feel the motivation and then appreciation for your new situation. To learn the skills of a presenter is definitely for many people a big step outside their comfort zone, believe me, I feel the same way. To speak in front of a group gives many people a buzz in their ears. There is always a thing called a speaker bias. The speaker looks into 30, 50, 100 faces, sees them frowning, or checking their phones and his brain is connecting the dots “oh no, I bore them, they must think I am stupid, they must have better ideas, they don’t like my speech..” and the little critic inside our brain is having a hay-day. But imagine, the guy on the phone texted his friend “shame you couldn’t make it to the talk, it’s really inspiring” and the people are not frowning, they are just concentrating on your speech. Therefore, dare to assume positive feedback, this might be the biggest step outside your comfort zone you can imagine.

2. THE PRESENT OF BEING HEARD

How many people have great ideas, a beautiful mind, so much to contribute to the well being of others and they don’t step up? How many smart people feel like they have nothing to say? What on earth did social media do to us?? People can hide behind computers and blur nasty and false statements out into the world, totally without ramifications. Stupid comments under a post don’t make others think. They egg people on. In the anonymous world of social media, you will never get a feeling of the real world. You don’t see directly how your words can hurt or affect others.

On a stage, in a room with an audience face to face, now that takes courage, and you will have an immediate response if your idea and attitude is helpful or just flat our ridiculous. Freedom of speech is a right, standing up for your believes is a right, having the courage to do so in person is also a right. Don’t hide behind a computer or social media if you have something to say. Be heard!

3. THE PRESENT OF GROWING AS A COMMUNICATOR

Having the skills to communicate effectively is one of the greatest gifts of all. We live in a time full of misinformation and speculation. The certainty that your counterpart knows exactly what you are talking about, the ability to paint the same picture in someone else’s mind, the assurance that you will not be misunderstood and the capability to convince are more important than ever.

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So yes, ENJOY the PRESENT of PRESENTATIONS. This is our daily gift to you. We support you with your ideas. We support you when you deliver the gift of information and knowledge to others. We are also happy to provide you every day with our work and the PRESENT OF GREAT PRESENTATIONS.

Have a great Holiday Season and enjoy presents, presence and love and conjure energy for the upcoming year. We are looking forward to new projects and beloved clients.

Yours truly
Daniela Lopez & the Hi&Lo Team

P.S.: If we can support you in improving your presence by upgrading your presentations, get in touch, we’d love to hear from you.