Public Speaker vs Professional

What’s the difference and why does it matter?

I’m in New York for a few weeks and part of my intentions while here is to get out and experience it as both a tourist and especially as a S.L.O.W. tourist. Slow means Steady Light Often and Wow! Consistently doing something, making the days light and easy (instead of intensive and crammed) and returning often to similar or same places for that extra wow factor. It’s like seeing a great movie the second or third time – that’s when you see the additional magic of the scene or storyline.

Today I followed my own rules and went for a walk, found an exhibition (the Hamilton Grange museum) and explored it for an hour or so. It was fascinating and I highly recommend it if you find yourself in the Harlem area.

But here’s what I noticed, aside from the mirrors on the doors for extra natural lighting and the creative use of windows and balconies: The tour guide was a great public speaker! After three years on the job there, he had the patter and the facts all memorized brilliantly. He was not afraid to stand before a group of people and share his knowledge and he articulated that very well. I’d recommend him for any similar role or to present a toast at a friend’s wedding any day of the week.

But here’s the other side of that observation from the perspective of having seen hundreds of similar tourist operators, and hundreds of professionals on stages around the world. He was confident, articulate, and clearly good at his job. But to ever become a professional speaker, he’d need to work with a coach and UN-learn a lot of very bad habits.

We often don’t think about this, but there’s a huge difference between presenting on a stage where your intention is to ensure impact, influence, or to share a story that moves someone to action and/or emotion.

For that to happen, there needs to be:

· eye contact with members of the audience,

· a cadence regarding pace, vocal use, pauses and speed, tones

· and deliberate body use.

There also needs to be purpose beyond just relating facts or telling a tale.

It was seeing this ranger presenting the tour today that really highlights for me the vast differences between a professional speaker and someone who is very good – even theatre trained, as this young man was – to taking a message and trying to change the world one speech at a time.

If you sat in an audience expecting to learn something, you want it to feel so good that you don’t even notice these things. The professionals in any industry, know that the expertise lies in making it not obvious that you’re using ‘techniques’. A sales person does not make it obvious that she’s ‘doing a trial close’ and a skillful storyteller does not make it obvious that he’s ‘pausing in just such a way’ to create an emotional register by the audience.

If you’re new to this business of being an expert on stages and pages, then you might not even notice that there are certain ‘techniques’ used by the experts. You may also think you’re a great public speaker who knows how to use a microphone and pause for effect… but you’re wrong if you think that’s all there is to it.

I hear a lot of Toastmasters who make the mistake of thinking they know how to present well, only to find over time that just being a great public speaker is not the same as being a great professional keynote presenter or workshop facilitator.

Sometimes it takes years for this refinement to become part of your skillset. Or you might work with a coach to uncover and understand the intricacies more quickly and put them into use. It depends on your level of commitment to achieving that level of professionalism needed to set your audience on fire with inspiration.

· Why are you doing this?

· What is your intention regarding empowering your audience in some way?

· How do you want to be remembered for the impact you made?

· Is the importance of your message lost due to misunderstanding this difference in delivery of it?

Once you’re clear on these answers, then it’s time to really think about what you believe is the difference between an excellent public speaker and an excellent professional speaker.

If you’re still not sure then let’s have a chat about it. I can help you work it out and step into the pro-levels easily.

If you’re like me and have been doing this for a long time, and know the difference and the levels of professionalism required, then I still challenge you to take a minute and review your current trends, any bad habits you think could need addressing, and consider the way you’ve grown in this role over the last few years.

:-)