Episode #33: Presentations Can Be Scary

Speaking in front of groups is a learnt skill, except that we don’t bother to learn. Oh, so and so is a natural, they have the gift of the gab. We hear these types of things and imagine that an ability to speak in public is some inherent skill, that we don’t possess. We all learn the skill, except that some start earlier than others. It doesn’t matter, it is never to late to learn and the improvement challenge continues through our whole lives.

Before we get into this week’s topic, here is what caught my attention lately.

University graduates are finding jobs so easily this year. After the Tohoku earthquake, tsunami and triple nuclear reactor meltdowns, getting a job after graduation was a nightmare. Only 91% of graduates found jobs at that time. This year it is up to 98% have found jobs so things have changed considerably. What this underlines is the diminishing resource in Japan called the youth. Interestingly the employment rate for humanities graduates overtook science graduates for the first time. There are less people to hire so the competition for hiring staff is through the roof. It is a zero sum gain too, because if you don’t secure them someone else will. How can you grow your business if you can’t attract staff. This is not going away as a problem and will only get worse.

This is episode number 33 and we are talking about how Presentations can be Scary.

Soredewa ikimasho, so let's get going.

Hands and legs quivering, knees knocking together, throat parched, sweating profusely, face turning red, pulse racing, mind whiting out – this is stage fright because presentations can be scary. The term stage fright is associated with the total melt down people experience when they get up on stage in front of an audience to speak. In Japan, there is even an association of stage fright victims who wish to suffer no more. Our exposure to the “stage”, broadly defined, is any occasion where we are required to get up and speak in front of others. This frequency increases as we get older and as we advance in our careers.

Our work responsibilities are rewarded with a salary increase but also the obligation to give reports or speeches. We are innocently beavering away at our jobs, are recognised for doing well and given promotions or more responsibility. This is when we are forced to move out of our area of defined expertise and out of our Comfort Zone. Standing in the crowd listening to your boss drone on is one thing, becoming the boss droning on is another. At some point this will happen if your career is to go anywhere. What will you be like compared to your boss? Equally boring and uninspiring? Frightened to death to get up and speak?

Tetsuya Miyaki is a typical example. He was a low level bureaucrat in a municipal government office. Promoted to become the head of a department, he suddenly found himself having to give public presentations, including to the municipal assembly. He immediately found that his ambitions had now out stripped his abilities. When he became the mayor of a city ward, the speech requirement exploded, and so did his stress. The opportunity to enjoy the fruits of hard earned prominence were removed, because this one piece of the work gamut was killing him. “I feel like I barely made it through my term”, he lamented. So much for his climb up the greasy pole. When he got to the top he hated it because he had not bothered to skill himself in one key area. That is ridiculous.

This is what happens to us though. With no thought for the future, we plough along working hard, looking for the rewards but forgetting the escalation of expectations that go together with that job progression we seek. If we took our nose off the grindstone for a minute and looked ahead, we would realise that if we go further up in the echelon of organisations, our ability to speak in a professional manner will come with the territory. We don’t think like that though and suddenly we are confronted with our worst fear –speaking in front of others.

I was the same. I had no vision of what the future would require. When I was younger, a friend of mine asked me to be his best man at his wedding. He was someone I respected very much and it was an honour to be asked. I deferred and suggested an older mutual friend instead, citing my lack of experience with such a daunting responsibility. I wasn’t telling him the real reason. The real cause was my terror of having to speak at the wedding, instead of just sitting there cool, calm and collected, eating, drinking and enjoying myself like everyone else. I escaped that responsibility and enjoyed the wedding. Did I look ahead and realise this is what comes with future responsibilities and go and get some public speaking training? No. I just avoided the issue at every turn, running away from every request like a scared rabbit. I eventually did give a speech in public.

As I mentioned, eventually, I gave my first public speech. It was in Tokyo in late 1983, in Japanese and it was horrible. The Sundai Cram school had asked me to speak to their students. I cannot recall why that situation came about but I was supposed to talk for 30 minutes and I finished in about 8 minutes. That is a lot of surplus time to fill in. I finished so quickly because my nerves were severely ramping up my speaking speed. I read the whole thing, never looked up at my victims, didn’t smile, had no pauses, no gestures, no voice modulation, no animation except high blood pressure giving me a big red face like a warning beacon. It was bad, it felt bad and I knew it.

I was stubborn too. Did I go and get training after this near death experience? No. I just kept on going along doing it the hard way. Why didn't I take the hint and realise I needed to be able to handle these types of public situations. I was planning to become a professor who would be delivering lectures, another form of common speaking. I didn’t connect the dots at all, because I was focused on the fear of speaking not the necessity of speaking well. I ultimately gave hundreds of speeches in the course of my work responsibilities. I improved as I got more experience through simple repetition of the act, doing some reading, but I was still just an amateur bumbling along.

When I took the High Impact Presentation Course with Dale Carnegie it was such a revelation. Two instructors, everything videoed, massive personal coaching – it was amazing. I just kicked myself for all of the opportunity costs I paid by not doing this when I was younger. I have no doubt that if I had done that course in my thirties my entire career trajectory would have been much better.

I was an idiot. I could have spent decades polishing my speaking skills at a high level, growing my potential rather than hiding from the opportunity. I could have ramped up my personal brand big time, if I had been even half smart and gotten the training. Like Miyaki san, for long periods of my career I was in pure, self-inflicted, complete denial.

Don’t be stupid like me – get the training. If you are going to get anywhere in your career, you will need this facility to not just speak competently in front of an audience, but to speak persuasively. It is not a matter of if, only a matter of when. Are you going to let stage fright and fear get you? Are you going to knee-cap your career growth? Are you going to be petrified every time you have to get up to speak? Do something about it. It is never to late to start.

Action Items

1. Recognise the key importance of having the professional facility to speak in front of groups.
2. Don’t wait – get the training now.
3. Use the training by seeking out as many speaking opportunities as possible.
4. Always keep learning and perfecting your skills.
5. Remember, it is never too late to start.