When Presenting, What Are You Aiming For? Perfection or Connection?

This week, I gave a keynote speech for a corporation. I had a busy morning juggling a few things so got to the point where I realized I didn't have time to BOTH review my notes for this speech AND take a few minutes for me to ground myself, close my eyes and breathe deeply and visualize my connection with the audience. I had to choose one area to put my focus on for my prep for this speech.

In my younger years, I would have 100 percent chosen to review my notes. Ensuring I had every word memorized as I wanted it to be 'perfect.' But with maturity and experience, I have learned that this approach could lead to me unconsciously being in my own head too much and not being as connected to the audience as I wanted to be.

So, my decision today was to trust myself and choose to prepare my energy and ME versus reviewing the notes one more time. I am happy to say, the talk went well and this reflection has made me stop to pause on my continued development journey and how far I have come.

What do you make time to prepare before going into an important meeting or presentation? Check out more on my Presentation Skills Workshops and One-on-One Speaking Coaching!