Dear Terry,
In my career, I am called to give presentations regularly to clients, and to business affiliates. As an overachiever and perfectionist, I tend to over-prepare and write out pages of what I want to say. I practice my presentations multiple times ahead of time and go in with confidence, but when I am on the spot, I frequently read off my notes rather than speak freely because I want my presentation to be perfect. However, reading off my notes makes me appear less than prepared. What do you advise I do?
- Over-Prepared Perfectionist
Dear Over-Prepared,
Kudos to you for doing the work! Many people get up to speak and do not prepare. They wing it. And then they wonder why they have speech anxiety. Not you! An old maxim. There is the speech that we prepared and the one that we gave, and then there is the speech that we wished we'd presented. You want to be too perfect. The world is not too perfect. Let go of being perfect.
Let the audience see that you are not perfect. The audience has no idea what you prepared. You know your material and your presentation. When we trust what is inside, the rhythm will come through on the outside for the world to hear. If need be. The next step would be to use a little cheat sheet, make a few bullet points, and get up on your feet to speak. Trust that the right words will come. They will.
Is is much like dancing. We practice, prepare, and get up without prepared notes. We shake our booties without all of the perfectionistic rules, which tend to tie us up and cause us to feel not good enough. You are not in school any longer. There is no report card other than the one that you give yourself.
Comments