Stand Up and Speak

Coming Soon – Speech Coaching Packages and Products

Richard G. — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 18:24:05 +0000

It’s been quiet for a little while here at Stand Up and Speak. That’s because I’ve been doing some research and development on a really awesome set of products and packages to help you become a better Public Speaker.

This month, I’ll be offering two video courses designed to help you overcome your fear of public speaking, and vastly improve your ability to do thorough research.

But wait, there’s more!

I’ll also be offering a stellar 6-month 1-on-1 coaching package, designed to help you become a better public speaker, no matter what your current level of expertise. This will be a very limited offer, available only to a select few individuals.

I’m very excited to offer these programs. Keep your eye out here for more information to come soon!

Monday Quick Tip: Have Courage

Richard G. — Mon, 29 Nov 2010 17:00:31 +0000

In his latest role, actor Colin Firth portrays King George VI of Great Britain. The king suffered from a rather severe stammer, that hindered his performance when he had to take the stage to speak. In the new film, “The King’s Speech”, Firth shows the King’s struggle to overcome his severe stutter.

In a CBS Interview with Katie Couric, Firth talks about the experience, and reflects upon the remarkable courage of a man who was trying so desperately to learn to communicate. It is an excellent object lesson in the courage it takes to overcome your own fears and obstacles when you take the stage to say something. Check out the interview, after the jump.

Monday Quick Tip: Relax

Richard G. — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 03:17:19 +0000

New public speakers often come to the stage carrying every single bit of anxiety along with them. As a result, they come off stiff, stilted, and uncomfortable. As acting uncomfortable is the quickest way to make the audience uncomfortable, it goes without saying that this is a problem.

Veteran public speakers get into a slightly different habit. They start to come off as over-polished, which makes them seem every bit as stiff and awkward as a newbie. Their audiences grow increasingly bored as they hitch on a fake personality and robot-dance their way through yet another presentation.

Regardless of whether you’re a new speaker, or a seasoned veteran of the rostrum, in order to beat the boredom you have to relax.

Loosen Up

First thing’s first: You’re definitely too tense. If there is too much tension in your body, in your muscles, you wind up being stiff and robotic. You look uptight, and your audience can sense it.

So, before you enter the room to take the stage, out in the corridor in a private corner, take a minute to loosen up. Stretch your limbs, bounce up and down on the balls of your feet, do the hokey pokey, whatever you need to do to relax your muscles and limber yourself up a little bit.

You don’t want to be flapping and flailing on stage, but you do want to move with some degree of grace. Being tense won’t help that.

Relax Your Voice

You’ll also want to limber up your voice a little bit before you take the stage. Stretch your facial muscles. Do some vocal warm-ups. Repeat some tongue twisters that focus on hard consonant sounds and sibilant sounds.

And when you open your mouth to speak, speak naturally. Don’t let yourself slip into a dreary monotone, or a stuffy “speaker voice”. Speak with authority, but make sure that you’re relatable and that you sound like you’re talking to your audience rather than at them.

Loosen up, lighten up, and relax. The stage may be a little intimidating, but that will all melt away when you relax and take ownership of the room.

How do you relax before you get in front of a crowd? Share your strategies in the comments!

8 Public Speaking Myths…BUSTED!

Richard G. — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 20:05:39 +0000

Over the years, it is likely that you’ve been fed a whole load of nonsense about speaking in public. Things like: “Oh, if you’re nervous, just focus on a point just above your audience’s head. That’ll make it a little easier,” or “bow your head and take a moment to compose yourself before you begin.”

That sort of poison often gets dripped into the ears of public speaking newbies, and those myths persist despite being the sorts of things that can outright sabotage a speaker with enormous potential.

Today at S&S labs, we’re going to bust some of these popular public speaking myths, and show you not just why they’re bad, but what you should do instead. Let’s get started:

Myth 1. Focus on a point above your audience’s heads.

Why People Say This: People are generally afraid of getting up in front of a crowd. It’s nerve-wracking to face down an audience. One of the strategies that gets passed around for dealing with stage fright is to focus on a point just above the audience’s heads. That way, you look like you’re looking at them, but you don’t have to look at them, and can distract yourself from the fact that their eyes are on you.

Myth: BUSTED! The problem with this myth is twofold. First, it creates a disconnect between you and your audience. Second, it is totally noticeable. Part of being a successful speaker means that you need to create an authentic connection with your audience. A key part of that connection is forged through strong eye contact. We trust people who are willing to look us in the eye, and we can tell when they’re not doing so.

Granted, when you’re in a particularly large room, on a brightly lit stage, it’s much harder to make eye contact with your audience, (because it’s much harder to see your audience) but it’s still obvious when you’re making that effort to connect, and when you’re just trying to ignore their existence.

Myth 2. Picture your audience naked/in their underwear

Why People Say This: Another instance of poor advice for dealing with stage fright. Perhaps if you imagine your audience being in a silly situation, you’re less likely to be frightened of them!

Myth: BUSTED! This is probably the worst advice ever given for dealing with stage fright. Picturing your audience naked will doubtless distract you from your content. Furthermore, wandering into a room full of naked people is not exactly the most comfortable situation. It’s not likely to leave you feeling at-ease. Finally, it ultimately disrespects the audience that you’re trying to win over.

Not only did they pick those clothes out, but visualizing them without those clothes is just another way of disconnecting from them as people. That disconnection doesn’t result in making you less afraid, just less engaged (and less engaging).

Myth 3. Bow your head before you begin, to compose yourself

Why People Say This: This one comes from a sort of over-dramatized picture of an actor, bowing his head to get into character before he begins to tread the boards. The idea is that if you take a moment before you begin, you’ll be able to compose your thoughts and get your ideas collected despite the nerves of taking the stage.

Myth: BUSTED! Nothing, and I mean nothing, looks quite so ridiculous as somebody standing in front of an audience with his head bowed before he begins to speak. If you’re planning to take the stage, and take people’s time, your thoughts should be more than gathered already. You should be collected, confident, and poised when you’re on the stage.

You should be in control of the room, and you should not allow the room to be in control of you.

Myth 4. Wait until you take the stage to take control

Why People Say This: Well, obviously, if you’re going to be speaking, you need to be in control of the room when you’re on the stage, right? So take control of the room the moment you take the stage!

Myth: BUSTED! This one has its heart in the right place, you should be in control of the room when you’re on the stage. But, you should also be in control of the room when you’re off the stage. Whenever you’re in the presence of your audience, you need to radiate presence and control.

A good speaker will own the room while she’s on stage. A great speaker will maintain that same aura of authority and charisma when she’s off the stage as well.

Myth 5. End with “Thank You.”

Why People Say This: This has almost become a standard convention in the speaking world. Thank your audience for listening when you finish. Makes sense, right? They gave up their time to listen to what you have to say. A little gratitude goes a long way, right?

Myth: BUSTED! Wrong. Inevitably that final “thank you” always comes off as being either brown-nosing, or insincere. It rarely communicates gratitude as much as it communicates “alright then, I’m done, you can applaud now.”

A much better measure of your gratitude for the time that your audience has given you, is to fill that time with quality content, and leave them with something memorable. Let the last words out of your mouth be something that they can take with them, and use. An empty “thank you” is never sufficient for that.

Myth 6. You need to fill the silence

Why People Say This:This is another of those myths that has become more a matter of convention. It dripped into public speaking from the Radio, where dead-air is a deadly sin.

Myth: BUSTED! While you don’t want too much dead air in your speeches (AZ Governor Jan Brewer’s debate performance is evidence of how bad that can be), the fear of silence is grounded in a fear that if you’re not making noise, people will stop listening to you. That is what causes us to use “filler” words like “um”, “uh”, and the rest.

A little silence isn’t going to kill anybody. In fact, sometimes a good long dramatic pause can help make a key point. Don’t leave your audience hanging in the lurch, fill your time with something valuable. But, don’t fear the silence and replace it with filler words and nonsense.

Myth 7. Your presentation is over when you’re done speaking

Why People Say This: Um…well…it’s kind of obvious, isn’t it? When you’re done, you’re done, right?

Myth: BUSTED! Not in the slightest. When you’ve finished speaking, you need to continue to demonstrate that same charisma. You need to continue to show that you have some degree of authority and influence. Just like owning the room before you take the stage, you need to own the room when you’ve left the stage as well.

That doesn’t mean you need to draw undue attention to yourself. Part of being a charismatic, charming, and memorable speaker is being an equally good audience member, and giving attention and energy to the speakers who follow after you. That helps boost everybody’s image, and makes the entire message more memorable.

Myth 8. You have to have slides/visual aids/handouts

Why People Say This: So much ink is spilled on PowerPoint, on making good handouts, on engaging the audience through visual aids. We have come to see visual aids and handouts as something of a necessity for a presentation.

Myth: BUSTED! But, back before the days of PowerPoint, folks got along just fine. Not every presentation needs visual aids. Not every speech needs a stack of handouts to be passed around to the audience. All of that stuff has its place. There is definitely some utility in a great visual aid, or a highly functional handout.

However, those aren’t necessary to have a successful presentation. You should be engaging, your content should be clear and interesting. Your ideas should be illuminating and worthwhile. Visual aids are unnecessary if your language choices are sufficiently vivid. Many times, all that extra stuff is going to do is distract from your message. So spend time worrying about what is really important.

Many of the perpetuators of these myths have their heart in the right place. Many of these things are things that are on the right track. But knowing where to draw the line, knowing when to go further, or do things differently than conventional wisdom might hold is key to mastering a craft. And, after all, isn’t mastering a craft what we’re here to do?

Photo Courtesy of Geekgirl ~ Stacey on Flickr

Monday Quick Tip – Control Your Body

Richard G. — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 21:27:13 +0000

When I titled this blog, I thought of the phrase “Stand Up and Speak” in a more metaphorical sense, as opposed to a specific instruction. Some of my recent coaching, however, has me thinking about just how important it is for a great speaker to be totally in control of her body while on stage.

So much of your presence in a room is dictated by the way you carry yourself. If you’re fumbling, or flailing, or slouching you will fail to make your presence felt. Your audience will almost certainly miss the point of your presentation.

How do you exude charisma and charm? How do you carry yourself in such a way that you draw the room in, and hold their attention throughout? You just need to be in charge of your body.

Be Self-Conscious

Ordinarily, I’d tell you to be exactly the opposite when you’re in front of the room. Confidence is really important. When we’re talking about your body, however, it’s very important to be self-conscious. You need to know what you’re doing, and why you’re doing it at all times.

Are you shifting your weight from one foot to the other? You’re probably making your audience seasick. Are you dancing around as though you’ve got gum on the soles of your shoes? Do your gestures and hand movements flap and flail about?

If you’re not conscious of what you’re doing, if you haven’t given your movements some motivation, then they are wasted movements. They distract from your presentation, rather than contributing to it.

I’m no ballerina. I’m an extremely large and rather awkward dude. That means that when I’m on a stage, I have to be doubly mindful of what I’m doing with my body. Otherwise I wind up klutzing it up. I have to pay attention to how I’m standing, where I move, and how I move my hands. I have to be deliberate with my gestures so that they’re meaningful and functional. I’m capable of tripping over my own two over-large feet, so I need to be aware of their placement and direction.

It’s All About Energy

Energy is the key word when you consider your body and your movement on stage. When you’re speaking or presenting, you have to impart some of the energy and passion you feel about your topic to your audience. That is the best way to keep them engaged.

If you’re lumbering about the stage, swaying and flapping, you are wasting valuable energy that you can share with your audience.

For example, a loose flap of a hand gesture that smacks back against the presenter’s leg sends all its energy straight down into the floor. You need to visualize yourself as a sort of generator. You have the power to create energy, and direct it wherever you wish, force-lightning style (only not quite as kill-y). It’s up to you to direct that energy to the places where it will do the most good.

The less energy you waste, the more you’ll have to share with your audience. The more you’ll be able to draw them in, and focus their attention on what you would have it focused upon.

So much of any presentation is non-verbal. The way you present yourself can make the difference between a successful presentation, and a failure. Even if the content is the same.

How do you control your body? What techniques do you use to keep from flailing about on stage? Share ‘em in the comments!

Photo courtesy of Cecil Sanders on Flickr.

Wrapping it Up – What Makes a Good Conclusion?

Richard G. — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 20:38:47 +0000

“Never, ever end your presentation with the answer to the last question. Always wrap it up!” – Kristin J. Arnold

Kristin Arnold is the president of the National Speaker’s Association, and the author of the fantastic Boring to Bravo: Proven Presentation Techniques to Engage, Involve, and Inspire Your Audience to Action (affiliate link). Her tweet today really is great advice. It’s important to make sure that the audience has some closure at the end of a presentation. You don’t want to leave them hanging, with a sense of unresolved business.

So, how do you go about wrapping things up? What makes for a great conclusion to a presentation or speech?

Tell ‘em What You Told ‘em

The reason this is such a cliché is because it’s true. A good conclusion should start by summarizing the key take-away information from the speech. A good public speaker will ease into a summary that hits all of the most important points, and offers some perspective on how they work together to accomplish the speaker’s goals.

It’s pretty rare that “So, today we looked at x, evaluated y, and analyzed z” is going to be the sort of form that leaves your audience feeling they got their money’s worth. You need to be clever and creative with the summary. It’s possible to reveal the structure of your speech without resorting to an explicit declaration of the structure of your speech. This is where you have an opportunity to reveal the interesting threads that bind all of your points together into a whole.

Historian Joseph Nye does a great job of doing just that in the conclusion to his Ted talk on Global Power Shifts, where he discusses how we might approach power dynamics not in the traditional modes of hard and soft power, but with a new mode of smart power (the conclusion starts around 15:30).

Bring It Full-Circle

Many speakers simply finish with a sort of “That’s my message, thank you” wrap-up. It’s almost always unsatisfactory. It’s not well-polished, it’s not necessarily genuine, it’s just a little verbal “I’m Done” cue. That’s no way to wind up a speech. It’s every bit as lacking as finishing on the answer to the last question, like Kristen Arnold mentioned in her tweet.

All of the work you put into your attention-getting opening shouldn’t go to waste. In order to wrap things up in a nice, tidy fashion you need to make sure to refer back to that as you conclude. That way your audience is left with that same attention-getting image you began with. You leave them with that metaphor, and you keep their attention even after you’ve finished presenting. We like circles. They give us a sense of closure and completion. Tying your concluding lines back into your opening lines creates a circle out of your speech. You can accomplish this goal in a handful of ways:

Structure the sentences so that they have similar form to those in the introduction

Make a joke that relates to the introduction

Extend the metaphor you set up with your attention getter

Complete the story you started to tell with your introduction

All of these are good ways of tying off loose ends, and keeping your audience engaged right up until the second you step off of the stage. Too few speakers do a good job wrapping things up. This is an easy way to make your speeches stand out, and make you and your message memorable to your audience.

Monday Morning Quick Tip – Practice Deliberately

Richard G. — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 18:34:56 +0000

One of my favorite blogs, The Art of Manliness, has an awesome article today on the importance of practicing deliberately.

While their blog caters primarily to a male audience, it is advice that spans all genders and age groups. It is enormously important that you tackle your challenges with focus and intention.

What Does It Mean to be Deliberate?

In order to act deliberately, you have to commit to the goal you’re seeking. You must prepare yourself for the effort it takes to have what you want. Then, it’s up to you to do whatever you can to make that happen.

That means hustle.

You have to work at something, harder than you might ordinarily do. You have to do things intentionally, with your goals in mind. You have to make a serious effort in order to make a difference.

Get a Coach, Get a Plan, and Get Going

You need a teacher. Somebody who can help guide you, and offer criticism and support. You need somebody who can, in short, make you better.

You also need a plan. You need to lay out the time you’re going to spend every day to work on improving your skill. For speakers, this means you need to spend some time every day practicing speaking.

It isn’t easy, and it isn’t always fun. Sometimes it’s a real chore. But the difference between those who do it, and those who do not, is incredibly noticeable.

You have a teacher, you have a plan, now you need to put it into action. The only thing that will stop you is you. You are responsible for your success. You may fail. Pick yourself up, and work harder.

Edison famously said that “Genius is 1% inspiration, and 99% perspiration.” Deliberate and focused practice, then, is the workout regimen for genius.

Now hop to it!

Image courtesy normalityrelief on flickr

Awesome Articles Abound!

Richard G. — Sat, 06 Nov 2010 19:21:35 +0000

This week there have been some really excellent articles posted all over the web. These are some of my favorites ranging in scope from the practical to the profound. Each of them has something to offer a good public speaker:

Chris Brogan – Build a Stage for Public Speaking- Chris Brogan does an awesome job talking about how it’s critical that if you wish to be heard, you must build a stage. You have to create a platform for people to hear your message, so that they want to hear more. Great article.

John Zimmer – A Public Speaker’s Checklist and Addendum- John talks about all of the things that a good public speaker should have handy so as to be well prepared for the disasters that may strike.

Lach Cotter – Ten Proven Strategies for Decimating Fear is an awesome collection of strategies from very inspiring people about how to overcome the fears and worries that stop you from accomplishing your goals.

Jack Bennett – How to Deal With Fear: A Counterintuitive Strategy- Jack responds to the language we use when talking about how we deal with fear, and suggests that perhaps instead of a more violent, confrontational language choice, that perhaps we should soften our language, and start considering fear not as the enemy, but as something to be embraced so that we can overcome it on different terms.

Jodi Sagorin – Saying No To Lame-Sauce and Mediocrity- Jody is setting it down, right here nd right now, if you’re not into bringing only strong-sauce, then you’re wasting time. Her message: Don’t be mediocre. There’s too much adventure waiting to happen.

Neuromarketing – Six Selling Secrets from Magicians- These tips are directed at sales and marketing, but are equally applicable to presentations and speaking. Learning these strategies will most definitely give you an edge in creating the sort of presentation that commands attention.

Leo Babauta – Paring Down – Leo’s message is that you need to remove the unnecessary. Great advice for all things.

Terry Starbucker – The Real Job of Leadership Terry does a great job of talking about the role of a leader as a person of inspiration to others. People who take the stage are, themselves, leaders. It’s important to understand that role as you present to those who wish to hear you speak.

Jesse Desjardins – You Suck at PowerPoint – Jesse’s slide deck is a rapid riser in the Slideshare “World’s Best Presentation” contest. It’s an excellent description of what to do, and what not to do, when you’re creating a good PowerPoint.

Jon Thomas – Social Media for Business – Another of my favorite entries in the Slideshare competition, Jon gives a great example of a standalone PowerPoint slide-deck. He puts information together beautifully.

What else have you found this week that was worth sharing? Share it with us in the comments!

How To Be a Good Conversationalist

Richard G. — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 22:10:19 +0000

A couple of months ago on Reddit, one of the redditors expressed a desire to learn to become a better conversationalist. Getting good at having conversations is a key part of becoming good at business, and improving your public speaking. Public speeches are, at their core, a conversation with a broader audience. So, here is my response to the question of how to become better at having conversations:

To be a good conversationalist, you need to be two things:

Interested.

Interesting.

Be Interested In Others

How do you become interested? Well, it’s easy, you just ask questions, and learn to really listen to the answers. Many of us hear what is being spoken without really listening to what is being said. You have to quiet your preconceptions, set aside your judgments, stop worrying about what comes next, and engage fully with the people you’re speaking to.

Make good eye contact with them. Give them your full attention. Open up your body language. Stop waiting for your turn to speak, and worrying about what to say next, and just really take in what somebody else is saying. Give people the benefit of being really and truly heard. It happens very rarely, and it is an extraordinary and delightful experience when somebody really listens to what you have to say.

People are moved and flattered by being given an opportunity to talk about themselves, and have somebody be interested in hearing about it. It re-affirms their ego, and gives them a boost. It makes them feel less alone in the world, and the people who give them that gift of being heard are the ones who get remembered as great conversationalists.

Be an Interesting Person

Of course, at some point, you’ll have to talk as well. If your conversational partner is good at conversation, you may be called upon to talk about yourself. For those times when you have to speak, you need to be interesting.

How do you become interesting? You have to do interesting things. You must have interesting experiences. Read more books, of all sorts. There is lots of interesting information out there to be had, and this will make you a better and more interesting person in general.

Engage with sufficient popular culture (TV, Music, Movies, Sports) that you can speak on those subjects with some degree of knowledge. This doesn’t mean you have to watch TV all the time, spend all your time in theaters, attend every home game, or listen to scads of tunes. But you should have at least enough passing knowledge that you can pass muster when those subjects might arise.

Do stuff. Get out of the house, and into the world, and try new things. Join a club or book group. Take some classes. Pick up a hobby. Put yourself in social situations. Start saying “yes” to things. Get yourself some stories to tell. Human beings have a rich oral tradition, and we are drawn to a good story.

And a good story needs a good storyteller. When the conversation calls for the interjection of a good story, you need to step up to the plate and swing for the rafters. Be detailed, but not too verbose. Be energetic and open. Let the story build, as a good joke would build, to the punch-line. This bit takes practice, but not so much that it should scare you away. Anybody can be a good storyteller. Especially with sufficient enthusiasm.

As you become more interesting, remember that first you need to be interested. Being interested becomes ever so much more important than being interesting. When you are able to strike the ideal balance of both, you will gain a reputation as a great conversationalist.

Finally, Practice well. Have conversations with strangers while waiting in line places. Start with the weather, and move on from there. If you’re not getting good responses, try again with somebody else elsewhere.

Most people are wandering around, scared to death of everybody else. Make eye contact with people, smile, and be open to hearing what they have to say. Include other people in the conversation. As you get better, you can even get a whole group of complete strangers talking cordially with one another.

How Does All of This Apply To Speaking?

When you’re in front of an audience, both of these admonitions, and all of this advice applies equally. Be interested in who your audience is, and what they need. And make an effort to be interesting for your audience. Be honest, be real, and be engaging. That will make you a better conversationalist, a better speaker, and a generally better person.

Slaying Your Speaking Demons

Richard G. — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 01:08:32 +0000

Fear of Public Speaking takes many forms. Each of the great beasts takes a form that is tailor-made to keep you from saying what needs to be said. These Speaking Demons work tirelessly to make sure that you never take the plunge, get on stage, and speak your piece.

The terrible bestiary of speaking demons is below:

The Dreadful Drow of Dimwittedness

The Nasty Nāga of Nonsense

The Offensive Ogre of Ordinariness

The Insouciant Incubus of Ineptitude

The Pesky Pixie of Perfectionism

Like any good video-game boss battle, defeating each demon requires some different strategies:

“I’m Not Smart Enough” – The Dreadful Drow of Dimwittedness

This Drow is a dark cave-dwelling spirit. He drags you deep into the darkness, letting you believe that you’re not smart enough to contribute. He lets you believe that you don’t have anything worth saying, and that you’re incapable of providing the bright idea that will illuminate the path, and reveal that The Drow himself is a mere shadow.

Conquering this particular fear can be tricky. The first part is recognizing that nearly everybody gets tricked by this one at some point in time. Even the people we look up to, who offer interesting perspectives and ideas all the time often feel like frauds. Knowing that other people are in the same boat is encouraging. It provides a little boost of strength that is needed to take the next step.

The next step is to start collecting your thoughts, and examining your ideas. Sometimes you’ll be better at a certain kind of thinking. Use that particular kind of thinking to create strategies for dealing with the things you’re not as good at. If you tend to be a more linear, ordered thinker, you may want to create a step-by-step system for how to think about abstractions and metaphors. If you’re a more abstract non-linear sort of person, you may want to use techniques like mind-mapping and brainstorming to determine where your ideas link up.

The final step is to share your ideas with others. The more people, the better. People thrive on sharing ideas with each other. We appreciate different perspectives. Somebody in your audience will appreciate something that you bring to the table. Their pathway will be illuminated. And so will yours. The Drow may lurk in the shadows, but you’ll soon be able to ignore his influence.

“I’m Not Eloquent” – The Nasty Nāga of Nonsense

This serpent-like creature will tie your tongue in knots, make you trip and stumble and fumble about, and leave you feeling as though your audience simply couldn’t have gotten your message because of how poorly you surely delivered it. The Nāga will wind you up, and make you certain that every time you open your mouth, nothing but nonsense falls out.

There are two strategies for dealing with this demon: The first is to work on building up your skill-set, and the second is to work on killing off your bad habits.

Building your skill-set means that you need to be practicing regularly. You should record yourself speaking. You should read good books and build your vocabulary. You should work with a coach, and get direct feedback on how to improve. Make sure that you are giving the requite time and effort to practicing and getting better. Nobody is born as eloquent as Noël Coward (not even Noël Coward).

Killing bad habits means that you need to have somebody watch for weird speech patterns, call you on redundant language, or shoot you with a squirt gun every time you utter “uh…” “um…” or “like…”. The Nāga of Nonsense feeds on filler words, and killing off your bad speaking habits starves the beast clear to death.

“I’m Not Creative” – The Offensive Ogre of Ordinariness

Big, sluggish, and slow, this nasty Ogre trudges through your thoughts, pummeling them with his giant club until what you thought was original and interesting is just the same old run-of-the mill thing that everybody seems to be doing. It’s discouraging, disheartening, and it undermines your success.

An ogre’s weakness, however, is its speed. Contrary to popular belief, creativity isn’t some innate characteristic that some people have and others don’t. It’s a skill that can be practiced, and coached. You just have to out-run the ogre, and start thinking quickly.

Creative, fresh, interesting ideas come quickly. They flit in-and-out. Sometimes they look like the same old idea we’ve had a dozen times. They sound like stuff we’ve heard before. But, if you capture one of those ideas, and spend some energy thinking about new angles and different ways of looking at it, that idea will show you just how creative it really is.

Capture your ideas, all of them. Bring your perspective to them. See if you can find a different way to look at the “same-old-thing”. You want proof that this works: There are hundreds of Internet Marketing Experts and Gurus, who make millions of dollars each year. They all sell strategies that are hugely similar to one another, but each of them brings their own spin to the basic idea. It’s rare that any idea is truly original, but if you present an idea with some original perspective, it can strike a chord that other presentations can’t. All of the switching and changing will help you out-run the Ogre of Ordinariness once-and-for-all.

“I’m Not Talented” – The Insouciant Incubus of Ineptitude

The Incubus is a seducer. He eases happily into your life, and seduces you with the idea that nothing you do is quite good enough. It’s certainly not as good as what that other person does. That guy? He’s a NATURAL! You couldn’t possibly follow that. There’s simply no way you can compete. Better, by far, to play it safe and avoid the risk of putting yourself out there.

The incubus is also a killer. His seduction is guaranteed to prevent you from ever taking the sort of risks that lead to big results. He’s happy to see you sacrifice your self-confidence, because then he can feast on the success you’re forfeiting. You’re seduced by the comfortable safe-haven he provides, and he is able to gorge himself on your unfulfilled promise.

How do you stop this evil seduction? First, you recognize it for the sabotage that it so clearly is. If you never take any action, you will never succeed. Second, you have to understand that, more often than not, the people who seem like they’re so much more “talented” are simply working harder.

Hard work and action are the two things that send the Incubus of Ineptitude packing. You have to be willing to step outside that seductive comfort zone, and take the actions necessary to put yourself in the spotlight. Your hard work is the thing that will bring you the biggest success. Plenty of people with very little talent manage to make an enormous impact, while talented folks languish and fail all the time. The difference is merely in those who are willing to take the plunge, and work harder than everybody else to succeed.

“It’s Not Perfect” – The Pesky Pixie of Perfectionism

She flits in, bounces up and down, and lets you know that the thing that you’ve worked so hard on is a complete disaster. I mean, just look at it! Tons of little mistakes! OOPS! You forgot a comma! Oh no! There’s a typo in that paragraph! WAIT! STOP! HOLD EVERYTHING! You totally forgot that super important sub-point! Do you think that there are too many bullet points in this slide? Or maybe not enough?

She’s the Pesky Pixie of Perfectionism, and she is capable of completely destroying you. She doesn’t seem too bad, at first. I mean, she’s just a pixie, right? But this little tinkerbell of terror will undermine your confidence, waste your time, and stop you from ever accomplishing your goals.

Voltaire tells us that “The Perfect is the enemy of The Good.” While you waste your time dealing with every last detail, others are producing great speeches, great presentations, and they’re getting better AND reaching others. Your slide deck may be incrementally improving, but with all your endless tweaking, YOU are the only one who is seeing it.

Perfectionism is the downfall of more of my students than I care to think about. They get paralyzed by trying to deliver something that is perfect, and they never manage to deliver anything at all. I can’t coach stuff I’ve never been allowed to look at. I can’t help to improve something if I can never see it in the first place.

One of the first pieces of advice that you get as a participant in National Novel Writer’s Month (NaNoWriMo) is that you have to give yourself permission to suck. The object of NaNoWriMo is not to produce a publishable book, but instead to write 50,000 or more words during the course of a month. They don’t have to be perfect. They don’t even have to be very good. If you get stuck, they tell you to just write about why and how and where you’re stuck.

They tell you to Just Keep Writing.

Giving yourself permission to produce something that isn’t perfect is a great way to beat perfectionism. Set a deadline, take some action, produce something, and get it in somebody else’s hands for feedback. You’ll find that the less time you spend tweaking, and the more time you spend producing, is the pathway to better stuff, and greater success. Taking action, and letting go is the best way to keep that pixie out of the picture.

What other demons do you face? What strategies do you have for dealing with them? Which of these do you struggle with the most? Leave me a note in the comments and let me know!