Acclaimed management guru and professional speaker Tom Peters believes that it is essential for a speaker to use every ounce of strength giving a presentation. Peters claims he is so physically exhausted after a keynote address that he can barely walk. He likens the process to a great running back or basketball player—the athlete should spend all their energy during the game and not leave any extra for after the game. Peters believes that a speaker who has leftover energy after a speech has somehow cheated his or her audience—the speaker has held back.
Peters has a point, but I’m not sure his style works for most business presenters. When Peters speaks, he is paid huge fortunes to appear in front of thousands of people at conventions. There are BIG expectations for a BIG performance. Peters delivers. He yells and whispers, bobs and weaves around the stage. He is working in a way that is engaging—he creates an experience.
But Peters is absolutely correct in his assertion that energy plays a key role in how a presenter is received and the presenter’s ideas are received as well. Too many speakers say to themselves “I’m no Tom Peters, I’m just an account executive,” or “I’m no Tom Peters, I’m just a candidate for city council,” therefore I’ll just get up and speak in a low key manner.
Not everyone has to be drenched in sweat and ready to collapse at the conclusion of a speech as Peters is, but 99% of the speakers I encounter are too low in energy. They seem comatose. The reason is we get nervous and we tighten up our bodies, vocal cords and mouth without realizing it. Our volume goes down and we seem timid, scared and smaller than life. And a presentation, especially a big presentation in front of a large group, is exactly the time when we want to seem larger than life.
So pump up your volume, your energy, and your movements before your next speech.
