Being the tennis buff that I am, I’ve been glued to my TV watching this year’s US open tennis. I even took a day off to attend this year’s tournament, and enjoyed eight blissful hours wandering from one court to another, watching singles and doubles players of all levels doing their thing.
Something else I did was to go to the practice courts and watch players during their practice sessions. It was impressive, watching them investing time into every aspect of their game… in public… for all to see.
That got me thinking about things athletes and speakers have in common. After all, there are world-famous athletes, and world-famous speakers. There are amateurs, intermediates, and pros. The same goes for speakers. That got me wondering what professional athletes do that would be relevant to speakers too. I came up with three:
1: Pros Practice Like a Pro – Pro athletes know that if they’re serious about achieving a goal, they have to practice the skills they’re going to use to achieve it. They know the value of focusing on specific skills when they’re practicing. Focused practice hones their skills, builds their confidence in their ability to execute on demand, and increases their odds of success.
This will work for speakers too. Fortunately, for us speakers, we can take advantage of all the good that comes from focusing and practicing specific speaker skills without going to the gym and breaking a sweat.
Which of your speaker skills would benefit from some focused practice?
#2: Experienced Athletes Know the Value of Practicing with Pressure – Have you ever met someone who talks a great game but falls apart under the pressure to perform? Technically, that’s stage fright. Well, athletes, just like speakers, can struggle with stage fright when it’s time to perform in front of an audience. Athletes get over it by putting themselves in controlled situations where they can practice their skills with added pressure.
The ability to perform in front of others is a mental muscle that definitely responds to practice. As speakers, we have a huge advantage. All we have to do to practice pressure is to find someone willing to sit down in front of us while we practice presenting our content.
Do you have a trusted advisor who can help you practice the elements of your presentation that might be vulnerable to the pressure of speaking to a live audience?
#3: Professional Athletes Practice Visualizing the Win – Sometimes people think athletes just visualize holding up the trophy. And yes, that may be a small part of it, but that’s like visualizing holding the winning lottery ticket in your hand. You can visualize holding that ticket all you want, but you’re never going to win the lottery if you don’t buy a ticket!
Professional athletes don’t wait around for their competition to “drop the ball.” Instead, they visualize themselves in front of an audience confidently executing the skills they’ve practiced over and over and over. That way, when they get in front of an audience, they’re ready to execute, like when a basketball player executes a perfect 3-point shot in front of 10,000 screaming fans with five seconds on the clock. Pros practice both physically and mentally.
As a speaker, are you able to visualize yourself delivering your content with both skill and confidence in front of an audience?
One additional step many tennis players take is having a coach. They understand that if they want to grow their game, they need another set of eyes on what they’re doing. After all, none of us knows what we don’t know.
So yes, speakers can definitely follow the steps athletes take when they want to take their speaking to the next level. And now that we’re all settling back into our “business as usual” schedule, if you’re ready for another set of eyes on your strategy for practicing and growing your speaker skills and business, let’s chat!
