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A common dread haunts most of us around the world — speaking in public. But if you experience butterflies flitting frenetically in your stomach before a presentation to an audience, don’t be worried — in this scenario, being nervous is good news! It means you care deeply about the outcome of your talk. This commitment, when channelized correctly, is what makes you a ‘passionate’ speaker — and a successful one through the following steps:
Practice makes perfect: The thumb rule before a good presentation is several spoken rehearsals. But beautifying and editing slides till the last minute don’t count as practice. Rather, talk through your notes, speak out loud on the key message of every slide, keep asserting points of benefit to listeners. Also, clock your talk’s exact time and for added confidence, try ‘teaching’ someone else the subject of your presentation — after all, you learn best what you teach.

Please don’t please: Do not aim to be a crowd pleaser — bear in mind, being needy for the audience’s acceptance can make you weak. Rather, align the audience to a mutually beneficial result. Highlight your common purpose and reiterate a shared positive outcome.

It’s not a battle: Remember, presentations are not war zones. Consider listeners to be your allies, not opponents. Be inclusive in your presentation — pause to ask questions like: “So, how do you feel about this?” or “Let me get your thoughts.” Always acknowledge listeners’ responses with statements like: “Yes, that doubt’s valid” or “I agree, that viewpoint is definitely worth considering.”

Lastly, don’t take yourself too seriously. Relax and learn to laugh at yourself if you goof up — treating public speaking with a lighter hand always has your audience smiling back!

Here i am , observing a practice coaching session as part of my PCC certification process. The coach is a learner coach and the coaching partner (coachee) is a class mate from our batch. He knows that his ‘coach’ is learning. The session begins. The coach does a fantastic job of the session, bringing great presence to the session, being a perfect listener, asking excellent questions. Yet the session is going nowhere. The coachee seems to find the session of no use. the coachee is not trying enough, remains cynical about the problem, keeps bringing up the futility of the situation. While the coach is doing all the right things, the coachee is not attempting to take any steps forward, remaining rigid and difficult. He seems to be testing the coach, driving the session to a dead end and soon time is called and the session is closed.

Soon after, the coach is replaced by another coach to work with this same coachee. The coachee is informed that the coach is a highly qualified and successful professional coach and is known to be very effective at helping people resolve issues and has come to the session to contribute to our learning.

This new coach does things a lot like the earlier one, in fact some of his questions are even identical! Its the same presence, the same clarity but this time, the coachee is being very proactive, being more open to thinking of solutions, proactively expressing his feelings, goals and challenges. eventually coming up with clear, not one but two solutions! The session has ended, its a success!!

I was greatly upset at first with the person who was playing the coachee. Why did he act so difficult the first time? Was this a mind game he was playing, settling a personal score perhaps?

But then i realized that maybe its just human psychology at play.

Rosenthal’s study in 1964, showed how teachers beliefs (beliefs and not facts!) about the mental abilities of children significantly changed their behavior with the children and hence improved (or reduced) the kid’s performance. This was also then called the Pygmalion Effect as it is more popularly known. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pygmalion_effect)

In the same way, i saw that the learner’s beliefs in the ability of the of the teacher/ coach (and not only the coach’s real ability) can also change the student’s/ coachee’s attitude in the development process, making them more open or less open and willing to respond to the stimulus provided by the teacher/ coach, thereby significantly impacting the end outcome of the learning process.

I realized that while launching a development initiative and in hiring the coach or teacher, the right credentials and experience are very important, i believe that the organization’s and the learner’s beliefs in the coach and his/her competence are equally important to get a successful outcome from the initiative. If the organization (or HR managers) can provide the learner with a strong and positive introduction of the coach, believing he/she is fully credible and showing trust in his/her abilities,  it can start the development journey off in the right spirit.

And as learners, friends, whether it is your teacher, trainer, coach or mentor, believe in them. Kill you cynicism, open yourself to the stimulus they provide you. Your trust and belief will bring out their best and empower them. At the same time,  with your attitude of trust, you will be opening your doors to that power, which will give you the enlightenment and solutions that you seek.

While trusting teachers create successful students, trusting students can make successful teachers…..ultimately benefiting them