Had an evaluation today for my Toastmasters speech that was a nice nugget.The comment was, “you made us (the audience) comfortable because you were comfortable.” Never really thought about it, but I applied that to a presentation I saw right before Toastmasters, where the presenter clearly wasn’t comfortable — jumping about, starting but not finishing sentences, drawing attention to little blips in the presentation, fidgeting. Just like the basketball adage that the players take on the personality of their coach, audiences can also assume the tenor of the presenter.There are times not to be comfortable, of course. You may want intensity, compassion, confidence, humor, or knowledge to be the guiding principle of your moments in the spotlight. But understand that you need to portray and project the air of what you wish to communicate. I hadn’t given a thought to my comfort (after all the speaking I’ve done/do, it’s rare that I’m not comfortable, but it does happen), but I’m sure that it affects an audience.
Exemplify the attitude you wish your audience to have.
