Performance, or Conversation?

What is public speaking? Most people arguably would qualify public speaking as a performance of sorts not unlike being on stage for a play or in a movie. A speaker has a prepared dialog and is delivering it to a audience who, generally, do not interact with the "performer."

And rightly so that we should think of public speaking in the light of being a performance. But public speaking is also a conversation, and when a speaker approaches it as such, public speaking takes on a new light.

I look at conversation as a sort of dance — the two (or more) participants naturally flow back and forth in a fluid manner. There is structure, but it malleable and changes based on trending of the current topic. Will we stay talking about the weather? Or will we move to a more serious or personal concern? In an empathetic conversation, each person listens to the other and speaks to both acknowledge the other while also offering opinions, ideas, thoughts, and feelings.

This notion of empathic conversation is how we should also approach public speaking. Yes, there are many times when the audience does not directly reflect back what the speaker is saying — to wit, the audience doesn't even directly participate. But if you, as a speaker, approach your style from a conversational point of view, a few magical things can happen. You are more natural in your delivery. Your audience feels connected with you (and hopefully your message!). You can read and adapt to your audience's mood in a better fashion. And for those of you who are especially nervous about getting on stage, taking the point of view that you are conversing, rather than performing, can often settle the butterflies.

So next time you're on state, consider your approach to be more of a conversation, and less of a performance.

(But don't forget, you still are performing!)