Ten Ways to Spin Up Confidence

Have you ever seen a potter turn cold clay into a beautiful vase? It’s a mesmerising process, and it’s all thanks to a brilliant bit of technology called a flywheel. It’s a wheel, hidden underneath the potter’s wheel and when it spins, it supplies all the energy needed for the potter to do their work.

In any presentation you always have to prepare, create and deliver, and to do that well I want to introduce you to the communication flywheel. Just like the potter does, if you spin this wheel it will sustain you and turn your lump of clay – the raw material of your presentations – into something consistent, powerful and maybe even beautiful! Here are ten ways to spin up that flywheel.

01. Preparation – Barbecue guy

Imagine there’s a guy cooking food at a barbeque. He knows nothing about your industry and asks what you do. You have 30 seconds to tell him before he moves on. Get your phone out, go to Voice Memos (if you have an iPhone) and hit record. Have a go at speaking in short sentences for 30 seconds and see how far you get before he flips a burger and turns away.

02. Preparation – Teenager

Now imagine that you are doing an assembly for a room full of bored-looking 15 year olds. This time you have 60 seconds  – but you have to speak in short sentences with a lot of energy the entire time. Describe the problem you are solving in language that relates to a teenager. Use words to paint a picture of what you do. Hit record on your voice recorder so you can play it back and see where you are nailing it (and not nailing it).

03. Delivery – Walk it

The most dangerous thing in preparing a presentation is to sit down and write a powerpoint first. Before you do that you need to write and speak the story – the powerpoint comes last. The best way of getting your words out of your mouth and your energy into your body is to take your pitch out for a walk. Go for a walk and speak it out loud as you walk past cars, dogs and humans. Put in some headphones so it sounds like you are on the phone if you feel a bit awkward. You will be surprised at what comes out of your mouth.

04. Creation – Play line 5 to line 1

I have said this before but I’ll say it again here. If you look at your fifth line, you will find that it is a very good line. It is easy to say and it sounds strong. Why? Because you have spent four lines getting into your flow and you are now speaking in headlines without realising it. Let’s take advantage of that and move your headline (line 5) up to the first sentence (line 1). As human beings we only have an attention span of 8 seconds so you want to get straight to the point.

05. Rehearsal – Take it to Aylesbury

Aylesbury, a town just north of London, is home to the Waterside Theatre, where new West End shows try out their material, practising on smaller, non-critical audiences before they take it to London. Find your Waterside Theatre—1 or 2 people who care about what you are saying but aren’t the target audience. Experience the pressure of presenting, so you can change things if you need to. Better to find this out in Aylesbury than the West End.

06. Warm up – Body

55% of what we present is body language, so you might as well learn how to use your body well. Plant your feet shoulder-width apart with your toes facing forwards. Take a breath in through your nose, allow your chest to expand as your stomach fills up and you will feel your body getting straighter. Just doing that one small exercise prepares you for what you are about to do.

07. Warm up – Breath

Your voice comes from your breath. Take a few moments to breathe deeply in for 4, out for 4, and it will allow your voice to sound more grounded and will help calm your nervous system.

08. Warm up – Voice

Imagine that your voice is a bit like a runner’s legs before they run a 5k. Being unprepared won’t lead to good results. In the same way, our voices need preparation. Send a gentle hum around your mouth, from the top of your front teeth all the way down to the back of your throat. Do this for one whole minute, as quietly as you can and see how high and low your voice can go. Then speak your first line and you will be surprised at your power.

09. Getting Grounded – Find the bathroom

If you are delivering an in-person presentation, always find the bathroom just before the moment you enter the room. Sit in a cubicle, plant your feet on the floor, breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth. Close your eyes and visualise yourself speaking. It is great mental preparation. If you are presenting digitally, the chair you are sitting on in front of the laptop is your bathroom moment.

10. Diving In – Getting started

There is a reason public speaking is one of the world’s biggest fears. Adrenaline is firing through your body saying ‘You are under attack’. At this point you just have to ignore it and dive in. You might feel you are leaping off a cliff (emotionally, you are in a way), but you won’t fall and smash against the floor.

And finally, deliver to your audience, one person at a time. If you’re presenting online, all you have to do is look directly at the camera. In person, use eye contact and body language to present to individuals. Focus on one person at a time, 10-15 seconds at a time. If you are directing your body language, your eyes and your voice towards one person, everyone else will follow. It works. Trust me.