A Rock Star Moment - Just for a Moment - But, Geez

Have you ever felt like a rock star? Even if just for a minute? It's a heady experience, I will share with you. I had mentioned to you earlier that I was preparing to make a presentation to my local quality association about the concepts in forward thinking Human Resources. I started out, as I always do, with forty years of material I wanted to share.

Wrong. Talk about the way to bore them, annoy them, overwhelm them and drive my audience away. Additionally, I have worked all over the country and in many organizations here, but not a lot in my own home town, so I actually wondered if anyone would attend. But, I took the time to have what is core to forward thinking HR rumbling around in the back corner of my brain for weeks. When I emerged to write my speech, I was clear on the concepts, the audience, and the value I needed to add.

And, guess what? They did attend and seemed to love the presentation. Several people stayed after to tell me that it was the best presentation they had ever attended - scary. And, several more said that they had read this site for years and could not believe that I was a local resource. Apparently, they saw the flyer and had one of those "oh my goodness (this is a PG-13 Web site) moments." One attendee told me her boss had talked to her about the value of multiple resources rather than citing Susan Heathfield every time she wanted to adopt something new. (Chuckle)

The good news is that all of that "think time" caused me to zero in on the most important concepts in forward thinking HR and I will soon share them with you. For now, I'll share prepping a presentation.

• Know your audience and their needs.

• Know your topic, provide lots of "how to" and your presentation will live and die on real life examples and stories. Have some.

• I didn't use Powerpoint - couldn't think of any way it would really illustrate my points - words on screens don't work very well for me when the speaker is already speaking the words.

• Make 4-6 key points. You really don't have time in 60-75 minutes for much more.

• Love your audience and believe you are bringing them information they need and will value. Respect them by being yourself. It's not about you; it's about them. Speak from your heart and your most deeply held beliefs.

• While prepping for the presentation, my visiting air conditioning specialist wanted to know what I was working on - when you work from home, you get used to being asked by all workmen - and I told him I was writing a presentation. His response was, aren't you terrified? He said he couldn't speak to groups; even when he sang in his cantata at church, he could sing, but not talk. I asked him if he'd like to know my final secret - advice just tossed out there is never welcome. He did.
  
  I told him in the early days of my speaking that I got so many butterflies in my stomach that I chugged pepto-bismol before every speech. But, once upon a time, I was able to make a mind adjustment. I remembered that speaking was not about me; it was about my audience. And, I truly had value to offer them. Once speaking became not about me, I came to truly love speaking.

If you speak or present, you'll have your own two minutes as a rock star. Cool. Then, you'll go back to the business of writing or whatever it is that you do. But, you'll be better for the interaction, the feedback, and the experience and the fact that you added some value to multiple lives. Can life get any better than that?

Read earlier blog posts.