Hi all. Just back from Chris Howard’s Presentation and Platform Skills training and it was long (7 full days) and educational, to say the least. I learned some very things. I was watching this training on a couple of different levels of course: learning for me, learning for you, how to improve our training, what else we all need to know to be effective, and I know we want that.

I’m going to start feeding you simple pointers and great tips. The first one is:

YOUR PRESENTER’S STANCE

One of the things I am very cognizant of when I am teaching (and we talk to you about this during the training) is how I stand. We’ll call this the ‘presenter’s stance.’ This week, the first 4 times we did little presentations (and it was many people’s first times), we had to stand still, feet hip width apart, hands at our sides and just speak to our little groups. Many, many people had great difficulty. The following things are the main things I saw that, 1) look terrible, 2) distract from the listener’s ability to focus on what you’re saying, 3) make you look nervous and 4) take away your power.

1) Moving your weight from hip to hip. DON’T do this! The second you shift your weight onto your hips rather than standing tall and being grounded into the floor, you lose your power and your ability to project your message out to the world (and that IS what you want to be doing, yes?). Keep your weight centered on both legs. Think TALL and PLANTED at the same time but not stiff. This takes practice and getting feedback from others who are watching. GOOD TIP: YOGA. The practice of yoga help you learn to stand tall at the same time be grounded. Try it!

2) Grasping on to your legs with your hands. Let your hands hang comfortably by your sides. Don’t put your hands into fists or hold your legs. Stand comfortably and look into a mirror. Then, start talking and watch if you change. Again, have others give you feedback.

3) Don’t push your stomach and chest forward while taking your chest back. This is very common and it’s usually because, on an unconscious level, you’re trying to get away from your audience. It’s subtle but again, it takes away your power and your sense of being grounded.

4) It’s not necessary to pull your shoulders back. Remember in class when we talk about imagining a fish hook (an unpainful one!) under your sternum and pulled up by a string? This is what you want to envision. Think of being pulled up, not pushed back. This will make you look taller as well.

5) Keep your movements ON PURPOSE. We’re going to learn a ton about this over the next few weeks and months so stay tuned. Often we move simply because we’re nervous and don’t know what else to do. There is another way and that way is to move with volition. Stay tuned for lots more.

OK, that’s enough for now.

Remember this: you are all an extension of the Creative Wealth mission, vision and purpose. I’m working with a consultant right now to help craft these three things (mission, vision and purpose) so that we all know exactly what to say when we’re talking about our passion to change the financial paradigm of children and parents everywhere (that’s where I am now with it:-). If we can help in any way, please let us know. Until the next training tip, choose to have a great day!