#presentationcoach

Subtitle: “No, no… hmm-mm, not like that you’re not.”

(see link below)

Will Smith & Kevin James in 2005 movie, Hitch.

I don’t know about you but my first day of High School was a little intense. As a freshman I was excited, I was nervous, I was clueless as to where my classrooms were… as I said Intense. By the first day of senior year – Cake Walk! Could do the “first day” of class in my sleep… heck, I think some of my classmates did.

The first few times you try anything new, it’s rocky. Even if you have a natural knack for it, chances are it will feel rough and you know you can do better.

As you read in an earlier post, you don’t want to over-think things and working with the media is not as hard as some believe… HOWEVER you can’t, CAN NOT go into a situation blindly. If you underestimate it and decide to fly by the seat of your pants thinking “It will all work out,” you will learn a very hard lesson.

I do not know why some people would do an interview with me without doing any prep work ahead of time, it happened all the time. Believe me, journalists can smell the unprepared from a MILE away.

Plan, Prepare and Practice, Practice, Practice. I always tell my clients, “It is better to sound scripted and rehearsed, than to improvise and be a hot mess.”

Speaking of Hot Mess, the inspiration for my subtitle from another Coach. (1:00)

Since it is summer I am going to write about swimming for a moment.

If you think about it, there is a lot that goes into swimming: You have to move your arms, kick your legs, wear the correct apparel, go in to water that is not too deep or too dangerous, hold your breath at the appropriate times – it can be a lot for a novice. But for the majority of people there is nothing to it. You likely do not get bogged down with all of that when going to the pool… you just do it. The same applies to public speaking.

Countless… countless times as  reporter I would conduct a simple interview (I mean simple as it was not breaking news, a serious subject or investigative/controversial piece) and the person would make themselves SICK trying to remember everything they needed to do and not do. It was painful to watch, I can only imagine how painful it was for the person. Does this sound familiar?

My Advice:

Don’t make this harder than it has to be. You are thinking FAR TOO MUCH.

I guarantee not only are you thinking too much you are thinking too much about the things that really don’t matter.

  When your focus goes to all the “not so important” things, your brain can not zero in on what is important, which ultimately makes you worse.

  Stop over-thinking it!

  Coming Up: Final part… You think you can Wing It. (psst! Here’s a preview of the blog… DON’T DO IT!)