The Power of Public Speaking: STEP 1: Start With the End in Mind

Imagine yourself standing on stage. There you are, dressed in a fabulous suit with your power colors and feeling like a million bucks! Notice now how you feel as you have just been introduced, and everyone in the room stands up as you walked to the stage and gives you a thunderous round of applause. You are smiling from ear to ear, your heart is pounding just a little bit and you hear yourself give your opening line. You know that you have a powerful presentation to deliver and you jump right in.

From time to time you notice throughout the presentation how the audience nods with you, when you raise your hand, they raise their hand. Their attention is glued to you as they don’t want to miss a nugget of wisdom. You hear people laugh heartily when you make a funny point. There might even be a couple of “oh’s and yes’s” when people get the big a-ha.

Now, the assistant can hardly get the registration forms out fast enough to the audience as you begin to explain the ways they can get more advanced training from your company. People jump up, grab the order form and hightail it to the back of the room to buy your programs. You begin to notice a few people tripping over each other to be the first in line and your heart swells with joy knowing that you are going to able to make a significant difference in their lives. You are now at the end of your presentation and even though over half the room is at the back table gobbling up your offerings, the room sounds off a thunderous standing ovation. Quite a few people run up to you and ask to take their picture with you. People who just bought your program are coming towards you asking if you would please autograph your book for them.

At this very moment, you know you “nailed it.” You delivered a powerful presentation. After the crowd moves off to the next speaker and the assistant hands you the paper work, you realize that you have far exceeded your intention of 40% of the room taking action to buy your programs. You see the copies of the investment forms totaling thousands of dollars. Yahoo!!!! You leave the room feeling elated, joyful and excited to have learned how to master the art of highly-leveraged speaking.

What did I just do?

I shared with you a vision of what a possible “ending” might be to your presentation. Starting with the end in mind means that you begin every presentation opportunity with a crystal-clear picture of what success looks like when you are done. This is important for a few reasons. First, when you are clear about what you want to have happen, the law of attraction kicks in and you attract into your life the results you desire.

Second, when you “reverse engineer” your process, it is easier to ensure that every step required to create the desired outcome has been handled. In the world of goal setting, I use reverse engineering to ensure that all the steps have been included to achieve the desired outcome.

Now, it’s time for you to create your desired outcome for Highly Leveraged Speaking. Stay tuned until tomorrow when I share the 4 steps to ensuring your create your desired outcome.

Related posts:

1. STEP 3: Create Compelling Presentations That Sell (Part 2 of 3)
2. STEP 3: Create Compelling Presentations That Sell (Part 3 of 3)
3. How to Have a Successful Speaking Gig – Systemize Your Speaking Process (Part 1 of 2)