On Tuesday this week I was delighted to be speaking at Bettakultcha again – this time at a new venue, Belgravia Music Hall in Leeds. I have snaked the microphone lead beneath my top (as the tech guy averted his gaze), clipped on the mic and put the battery/ transmitter in my pocket. I’m glad to be wearing trousers as I once saw a woman speak with her pack clipped to the top of her boots – not a feat I want to try with my sandals!
This is my view.
I can see the feet of the compere and roughly where I am going. It is amazing how dark back stage often is, and how tall the first step is, ensuring you stumble off-balance onto the stage for that all important first impression. I am out of sight so the audience’s eyes are not darting between the speaker and the MC as they are introduced whilst being visibly in the room (and it can feel like hearing the eulogies at your own funeral). I can just about hear the compere Ivor Tymchak introducing me, which is pretty important if you want to trip onto the stage with comedic timing.
When you prepare to speak, do you remember to include these minutes before you step up to the microphone? Do you imagine your breathing, your power pose, your smile and relaxed shoulders? I remember Steve McDermott once talking about visualisation for athletes, and how Olympians didn’t just think about the contest, they visualised sleeping soundly the night before, feeling centred as they rode the bus to the venue and every step before the starting gun sounds.
I am wondering whether I should go to the left and in front of the screen (blocking the audience’s view), or sneak behind the screen like a Ninja and bump into Ivor as he is walking off stage. We have not choreographed this move, and I forgot to watch the other speakers doh-see-doh with Ivor to work out the best line-dancing moves. Instead of taking time to breathe, to feel the energy of the room in front of me, to centre my body on the souls of my feet, this choice leaves me distracted.
And that matters. Because as soon as I am in front of the microphone, the slides start and the beauty of this fixed format is that once my slides start (technical blunders aside) they continue blithely on until my five minutes are up.
This was the lesson I learnt this week – not just to prepare my slides and content, not just to practice my delivery, but to really visualise and plan the moments before I go on stage so that I am as ready and calm as I want so I give my best possible performance.
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