COACHNG!
The 2021 Summer Olympics are scheduled to start in July in Tokyo, Japan. Each individual and every team has been coached by the best trainers in their field. It is a rare athlete who reaches this level of skill on their own.
It’s also true for the top achievers in many professions. There are acting coaches, voice coaches, and personal coaches for a variety of skills. I googled “Coaching,” and found one list of thirty-one types of coaching.
Why do the “Best of the Best” have a Coach?
In 2019, Atul Gawande, a surgeon, gave a TED Talk on this topic. Here are some of his findings.
There are numerous problems trying to make it on your own.
You don’t recognize the issues that are standing in your way, or, if you do you don’t necessarily know how to fix them.
And the result is that somewhere along the way, you stop improving.
Great coaches are your external eyes and ears, providing a more accurate picture of your reality.
They’re recognizing the fundamentals.
They’re breaking your actions down and helping you build them up, again.
Coaches are on to something profoundly important. It’s not just how good you are now. It’s how good you’re going to be that really matters.
Watch and listen to the highlights of this talk here. https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=715679342230048
Coaching, of course, also applies to improving Public Speaking and Presentation Skills.
The greatest investment you can ever make is in yourself.
My mantra is: “Speaking Opportunities are Business, Career, and Leadership Opportunities!”
The research shows people who take and make those “Speaking Opportunities,” grow their businesses, advance their Careers, and increase their Leadership Opportunities.
Hiring a professional presentation coach can help in many ways. Here are some:
The Content of your presentations.
They can help:
Develop great content that includes important points that support your premise, and work with you on stories that reinforce those points.
Create a presentation that follows a specific structure that ensures your audience GETS IT!
Edit your content. Editing your own work is akin to a doctor operating on himself – dangerous!
Advise on visuals, sound effects, and other presentation enhancements. Everyone has blind spots even if we’re watching ourselves in a mirror or viewing a video of our presentation.
The Delivery of your presentations.
Delivery trumps Content. We’re all too close to ourselves. Your coach will see what you don’t see, good things and those needing improvement.
The Fear of Public Speaking.
Many have this fear, and it affects the delivery of their presentations.
A coach will show you many proven ways to lessen that anxiety. You don’t want to lose it completely. That nervous energy should be channeled into your presentation. Ever sit through a presentation not delivered with energy? B-o-r-i-n-g!
Continual reinforcement.
Improving oneself is a process, not an event.
After football coaching, the quarterback doesn’t work out once.
After a voice coach gives advice to a singer, they don’t rehearse one time.
Having a presentation coach who will continually help you improve is invaluable.
Malcolm Gladwell, in his book, “Outliers: The Story of Success,” said,“Practice isn’t the thing you do once you’re good. It’s the thing you do that makes you good.”
The ‘Practicing’ he speaks of goes hand-in-glove with continued good, professional coaching.
Hiring a great professional presentation coach is a solid investment because:
They can greatly cut your learning curve.
You can get better by attending classes, watching videos, and reading books. However, a coach, especially one who also speaks, is invaluable!
They have “been there and done that.”
They’ve made many mistakes and can dramatically lessen ones you might make.
You have their undivided attention, and are not one of many in a classroom, auditorium, or on a webinar.
The feedback and advice from them is specifically for you at each coaching session, and not a “one size fits all,” piece of advice.
They’ll “tell it like it is.”
Your coach has no agenda. You are paying them to be honest and they will be; in their praise and critique.
Friends and family may not be the best at this, especially if it’s not their area of expertise.
They will hold you accountable and use a structure to get your presentation skills to where you want them to be.
This is often tough to do on your own.
The coach can be a sounding board for new ideas for topics and delivery.
The whole is greater than the sum of its’ parts when it comes to working on these components of a talk.
“Let’s talk through this,” is a phrase used often in coaching.
Once they’ve gained your trust, you can talk to them in confidence. This is important.
I’ve had many clients tell me about their fears of facing an audience they’ve told no one else.
I’ve also had ideas thrown at me they thought others would find nonsensical and could be ridiculed for even suggesting.
A good coach will listen and ask questions so you hear yourself.
Find yourself a great, experienced, presentation coach and I absolutely Guarantee your next presentation will be – NO SWEAT!
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About the Author Fred E. Miller is a speaker, an international coach, and the author of the books, “NO SWEAT Public Speaking!” and “NO SWEAT Elevator Speech!”
Businesses, Individuals, and Organizations hire him because they want to improve their Networking, Public Speaking, and Presentation Skills.
They do this because they know: Speaking Opportunities are Business, Career, and Leadership Opportunities.
They also know: We perceive really great speakers to be Experts. We like to work with Experts.
He shows them how to: Develop, Practice, and Deliver Fantastic Presentations! with – NO SWEAT!
Services:
Topics:
Lessening The Fear of Public Speaking with – NO SWEAT!
Crafting Your Elevator Speech, Floor by Floor with – NO SWEAT!
Speaking Opportunities are Business, Career, and Leadership Opportunities.
We are All Self-Employed!
Subscribe to my YouTube Channel, Podcast Channel, and connect with me on LinkedIn and Facebook.
My books can be purchased on amazon.com. “NO SWEAT Public Speaking” “NO SWEAT Elevator Speech!”