Packaging Insights for Your Audience Using Stories

When I first walk into a room with people I’m about to give presentation training skills too.

I always ask them the same question Where are you most comfortable speaking where you least comfortable.

And invariably people say deja I’m least comfortable when I have to speak to a larger audience as I’m comfortable speaking to 20 but 50 people.

The nerves come out.

There’s usually some threshold.

Well a few years ago I was over in Asia and I was working with a member of parliament and this was a very large democracy shall we say more than a billion voters.

And I asked this particular member of Parliament we’ll call him Ray Ray.

Where are you comfortable speaking where are you uncomfortable.

He said Well I’m very comfortable speaking to small audiences but I get nervous speaking to large audiences.

Now this is somewhat had been public in public life his whole life had given thousands of speeches.

But I said Ray everybody says that that’s completely normal and then he said Yeah T.J. I’m very comfortable speaking to small groups of five thousand people or fewer.

But I get nervous speaking to larger audiences of a hundred thousand ads that will minister.

That’s not quite as common.

But the basic concept is exactly the same.

Once your nerves set.

That’s when we start to freeze.

We do all sorts of things we change ourselves sound robotic or attempted to lead because we’re afraid we’ll forget.

And that’s what starts the negative spiral downward so we’ll work on that OK.

So what did I just do that I told a story had a character had a setting although I had to be a little fuzzy because I didn’t want to reveal the confidences of a particular client and had a problem had a little bit of a surprise.

All I was really trying to do is to convey to you that if you’re nervous about speaking to larger audiences that’s normal.

Everybody feels that.

But by telling it in a story format it makes it more interesting and more memorable.