Your Performance Begins When You Step Onstage

“The show starts the moment your foot hit the stage.”

In this podcast episode, Cassie and I talk about the importance of recognizing that your performance begins when you step onstage as a speaker. It is important navigating the irony of using humor and stories to presentations. We both find that they tend to add value without feeling like you are selling.

After speaking at a conference Cassie shares some valuable feedback regarding my performance. She emphasized the importance of owning the opening of a presentation. While I traditionally haven’t used slides, I’ve started to incorporate them for marketing purposes. If you are considering stories and slides for your next presentation, make sure you know the audience and are tailoring content towards them. Using stories to emphasize points and lessons and using humor to keep the audience engaged are beneficial to consider for your next presentations.

In this episode, you will learn:
1. How to create a memorable presentation by using visuals and stories
2. The importance of researching your audience and tailoring your content to them
3. Strategies for adding value without selling during a presentation

The next time you are preparing to speak or present at a conference remember that your performance begins when you step onstage.

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Episode Highlights

[00:01:17] The show starts the moment your foot hits the stage. You need to own your opening. Those first appearances or first moments set the expectation for the rest of the presentation.

[00:04:05] One thing people do at conferences is take photos of the presenter on stage. Consider the engaging factor of having some sort of visual element to tie in everything.

[00:08:03] Most of your stories tied back to you being a park ranger. You use those stories to be able to enhance a point, and I think that’s something unique to you. People pay attention when you tell park ranger stories. That’s something that makes that presentation memorable.

[00:11:24] Know your audience that you’re speaking to and tailor your content towards that audience. Stories are good, but it helps to have a specific framework or tool that they can use.

[00:13:49] Humor kept the audience engaged. Even if all of the humor is planned. People will remember that.

[00:17:16] Almost everyone that I saw present did not try to push their services or their products. I didn’t even talk about what I do or the services I do.