There is this flawed perception that comes up in workshops all the time. And that perception is that “presence” is primarily created by the way one dresses, acts and speaks. We hear it all the time. First-time participants in our workshops want to separate the overall presentation performance into separate buckets: “Okay, let’s work on message first, and then we can focus on slides and presence later.”
This mindset is a mistake. The bottom line is that your presence is everything that you carry into the room, meeting, phone call, or presentation with you. Your presence is the sum total of everything about you.
What does that mean? It means that yes, your presence is impacted by the way you dress, act and speak. But it also means that your presence is also impacted by what you say… how you say it… your vocabulary… your body language… your facial expressions… the quality of your ideas… the simplicity and memorability of your message… the degree to which you understand your audience… the way you answer questions… how well you listen (or IF you listen)… I could go on.
Your presence is the sum total of you. And that includes the gravitas or reputation you bring into the meeting as well.
Your presence is cumulative. You build it up or tear it down all day, every day, by everything you do.
I am not trying to make this harder or more intimidating for you. I am just calling it out for what it is. Because once we understand the scope of the challenge in front of us, we can pay out a plan to tackle that challenge.
You want to create a stronger presence for yourself? Then it has to be built, from the ground up.
Have a great day.
We believe that great communication skills change the world. We transform people and organizations of all sizes with simple, repeatable techniques, through an integrated platform of corporate training, coaching, and asynchronous learning.
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