One of the biggest hurdles between a speaker and their audience is when the speaker gets caught up feeling like they have to look perfect, speak perfect, and create a perfect signature talk. The belief is that the closer they and their talk are to perfection, the more likely people will be to connect with them after they leave the stage.
I think all speakers experience one or more of these perfectionist pain points when they think about stepping onto a stage. I know I have—like the moment I finally decided it was time for me to start speaking. I felt the pressure of my talk needing to be perfect. After all, I help speakers design their signature talks… doesn’t that mean it should be easy for me to create the perfect signature talk for myself?
Looking back, I understand the pressure I felt to be perfect right out of the gate. If I wasn’t, no one would take me seriously. I felt that way because I’m just as susceptible to wanting to be a “perfect” speaker as anyone else. That, my friend, is human nature.
It seems that no matter where any one of us is on our speaker journey, it’s hard for us to ignore that little voice inside our head trying to convince us that our success depends on getting this “one thing” perfect. If we can, then we’ll finally be ready to step onto a bigger stage, to lead a group, to accept a keynote opportunity, etc, right?
The reality is that even if you get that one last thing done right, something else will take its place. That’s the problem with perfection. It’s an impossible standard to live up to. All it does is open the door to us worrying about the ways our audiences will judge us for not being perfect, which in turn, will have us judging and doubting our ability to:
- Create a quality experience for our audiences that equals or surpasses the quality experiences we’ve had sitting in other speaker’s audiences.
- Confidently share our expertise—even when we aren’t feeling especially confident as a speaker.
- Deliver, without hesitation, a talk designed to inform and inspire the people in our audience to want to know more about us and what we do.
So let me share a little secret. You don’t need to be perfect to accomplish those three things. There’s no such thing as a perfect signature talk you create once and then deliver the exact same way your entire speaking career. Does that mean you should stop at “good enough”? Only you can answer that question. Good enough for some is perfection to others. Just concentrate on doing your best to create, practice, and then deliver your talk confidently.
Keep in mind the reason you decided to start speaking in the first place. You get to share what you have to offer with more than one person at a time. You don’t need to be perfect to do that either, not when what you’re sharing matches up perfectly with what the people in your audience are hoping to hear.
We are all products of our knowledge and expertise, and our very real human experiences. We are ever changing and our talks should change with us. Sometimes that means changing “on the fly,” which sends perfection right down the drain. This is what makes us real, and allows us to truly connect with our audience, perfect or not.
Do You Need Speaker Goals?
