As We Speak

Informationen zum Autor Peter Meyers is the founder of Stand & Deliver Consulting Group. An award-winning actor, he currently teaches performance and leadership skills at Stanford University, Esalen Institute, and IMD-International Institute for Management Development, Lausanne Switzerland. Shann Nix is an award-winning journalist, novelist, playwright, and radio talk show host. Klappentext A practical and empowering guide to public speaking and becoming a more effective communicator in all areas of your life. INTRODUCTION Y OU'RE WAITING IN the dark, about to go onstage to give your big presentation. Your palms are wet. You're pacing back and forth, thumbing through your notecards. You should have numbered them. You dropped them coming up the stairs, and now they're completely out of order. What does the first slide say? You can't remember. You should have stayed up longer last night. You should have spent more time preparing. Did you choose the right tie? Is the knot straight? You check it again. The suit that looked fine this morning suddenly feels crumpled and too tight. Your face feels red and hot. What if you forget what you're going to say? What if they don't like you? What if they ask you tough questions? What if they find out that you're not as smart as they think you are? There are people in that audience who know more about this topic than you do, you're sure of it . . . You peek out from behind the heavy red velvet curtain again. There are still people coming in and finding their seats. The people who are seated look bored already, and you haven't said a word yet. You spot your boss in the second row, looking worried. He's got high hopes for you. Just this morning, he told you how much is riding on this presentation. Sitting next to your boss is Bradthe guy in the office who's after your job. Brad is leaning back in his chair, arms folded, smirking. He's got a clipboard and a red pen on his lap, ready to take notes and find the holes in your data. He's looking forward to this, you can tell. You can see nearly all of your colleagues in the audience. If only it were just a customer meeting, where the worst that could happen was that you would lose the account. But these people know you. You will have to face them tomorrow in the elevator, and every morning after that. Whatever you say out there on that stage, you will have to live with for the next few years. It will be talked about, written about, gossiped about. They're already looking at their watches, pulling out their smartphones, poised to text and tweet the results of your efforts around the globe before you leave the stage. You can feel your heart thumping against your ribs. All you can do is pray that your boss won't recognize the look of terror on your face. You can feel the sweat on your upper lip, and you wipe it off. You notice that your hands are trembling. You shove them in your pockets, then pull them out again. A sympathetic gray-haired lady introduces you. There is a smattering of applause. You raise your chin, take a deep breath, and walk out onstage. The bright lights hit you like a wall. As you look into the audience, you can feel five hundred sets of eyeballs staring at you. Everything feels surreal, as if you're in a dream. Every nerve in your body is screaming at you to run. Your legs are moving on their own, like some macabre dance step. Why are you here? Why did you ever agree to this? Your hands, despite your best intentions, seem to have wound up in your pockets again. With an effort you pull them out, and grab the podium with white knuckles. Your mouth has gone dry, and you notice, too late, that there is no water glass at the podium. You quickly check the computer screen, and then look up. Your brain is completely blank. You cannot remember your name, much less the first line of your presentation. The silent seconds stretch out like ...

Auteur

Peter Meyers is the founder of Stand & Deliver Consulting Group. An award-winning actor, he currently teaches performance and leadership skills at Stanford University, Esalen Institute, and IMD-International Institute for Management Development, Lausanne Switzerland.
Shann Nix is an award-winning journalist, novelist, playwright, and radio talk show host.

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A practical and empowering guide to public speaking and becoming a more effective communicator in all areas of your life.

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INTRODUCTION

YOU’RE WAITING IN the dark, about to go onstage to give your big presentation. Your palms are wet. You’re pacing back and forth, thumbing through your notecards. You should have numbered them. You dropped them coming up the stairs, and now they’re completely out of order. What does the first slide say? You can’t remember. You should have stayed up longer last night. You should have spent more time preparing. Did you choose the right tie? Is the knot straight? You check it again. The suit that looked fine this morning suddenly feels crumpled and too tight.

Your face feels red and hot. What if you forget what you’re going to say? What if they don’t like you? What if they ask you tough questions? What if they find out that you’re not as smart as they think you are? There are people in that audience who know more about this topic than you do, you’re sure of it . . .

You peek out from behind the heavy red velvet curtain again. There are still people coming in and finding their seats. The people who are seated look bored already, and you haven’t said a word yet. You spot your boss in the second row, looking worried. He’s got high hopes for you. Just this morning, he told you how much is riding on this presentation. Sitting next to your boss is Brad—the guy in the office who’s after your job. Brad is leaning back in his chair, arms folded, smirking. He’s got a clipboard and a red pen on his lap, ready to take notes and find the holes in your data. He’s looking forward to this, you can tell.

You can see nearly all of your colleagues in the audience. If only it were just a customer meeting, where the worst that could happen was that you would lose the account. But these people know you. You will have to face them tomorrow in the elevator, and every morning after that. Whatever you say out there on that stage, you will have to live with for the next few years. It will be talked about, written about, gossiped about. They’re already looking at their watches, pulling out their smartphones, poised to text and tweet the results of your efforts around the globe before you leave the stage.

You can feel your heart thumping against your ribs. All you can do is pray that your boss won’t recognize the look of terror on your face. You can feel the sweat on your upper lip, and you wipe it off. You notice that your hands are trembling. You shove them in your pockets, then pull them out again.

A sympathetic gray-haired lady introduces you. There is a smattering of applause. You raise your chin, take a deep breath, and walk out onstage. The bright lights hit you like a wall. As you look into the audience, you can feel five hundred sets of eyeballs staring at you. Everything feels surreal, as if you’re in a dream. Every nerve in your body is screaming at you to run. Your legs are moving on their own, like some macabre dance step. Why are you here? Why did you ever agree to this? Your hands, despite your best intentions, seem to have wound up in your pockets again. With an effort you pull them out, and grab the podium with white knuckles. Your mouth has gone dry, and you notice, too late, that there is no water glass at the podium. You quickly check the computer screen, and then look up. Your brain is completely blank. You cannot remember your name, much less the first line of your presentation. The silent seconds stretch out like hou…