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Public Speaking: Vulnerability
I learned a great
public speaking tip, at the recent National Speakers Association convention
while standing around talking shop in the hotel lobby. John Meluso, spent some
time with me and noted that I was not showing any vulnerability at all near
the beginning of my program. I would roll along and then tell a signature story
at the END of my talk that bared all. John, pointed out to me that being the
hard charging kind of public speaker that I am, that I probably have been alienating
many of the more sensitive audience members. It is likely that my style ran
over them right from the start and caused them to retreat for cover, thus making
them very distant from me emotionally. Now, because of his astute observation,
when I'm public speaking I will change the order of some of my material to better
connect with more passive audience members.
An old boy coal
miner friend of mine once told me, "The schoolhouse door is always open."
John, I want to thank you for reminding me that we all can get better.
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