Why Passion Is Essential For Success As A Public Speaker
According to Chris Anderson, curator of the TED conference, the most successful TED talks are delivered by speakers who have a passion for their idea and consequently deliver their talks with emotion and imagination.
The key part of the TED format is that we have humans connecting to humans in a direct and almost vulnerable way. You’re on stage naked, so to speak. The talks that work best are the ones where people can really sense that humanity. The emotions, dreams, imagination. – Chris Anderson
Pace University management professor Melissa Cardon has dedicated her career to defining passion and understanding how passion relates to leadership and business success. According to Cardon, entrepreneurial passion is different from some other types of passion and therefore deserves it’s own definition. As a result, Cardon developed the now universally accepted definition for entrepreneurial passion: a positive, intense feeling that you experience for something that is profoundly meaningful for you as an individual.
The book, Talk Like TED, summarizes conclusions from some of Cardon’s research on the topic of entrepreneurial passion. Cardon, along with dozens of other scientists in the field, has discovered that passionate business leaders are more creative, set higher goals, exhibit greater persistence, and record better company performance. Cardon and her colleagues also found a direct correlation between a presenter’s “perceived passion” and the likelihood that investors will fund his or her ideas.
These results are worth reiterating; business leaders who are passionate about their profession:
1. are more creative
2. set higher goals
3. exhibit greater persistence
4. record better company performance
So, what does this have to do with public speaking? Well, a lot actually.
Creativity, setting bold goals, and being persistent can lead to better company performance, as well as better performance during presentations. Let’s take a closer look at these few ways passion can positively impact your presentations.
Creativity
As mentioned above, being passionate about your presentation will likely improve your ability to be creative as you prepare and present your presentation materials. The boost in your creativity will benefit you as a presenter in many ways.
For example, demonstrating creativity is an important part of being respected as a business leader. In 2010, IBM conducted The Global Chief Executive Officer study, one of the largest studies of executive leaders. Consisting of more than 1,500 interviews with CEOs from 60 nations and 33 industries, the study resulted in the comprehensive report, Capitalizing on Complexity. According to Samuel J. Palmisano’s Letter from the Chairman introduction to Capitalizing on Complexity, the world’s private and public sector leaders believe that a rapid escalation of “complexity” is the biggest challenge confronting them.
The Letter from the Chairman also explained that, according to the global business and public sector leaders interviewed, creativity is the single most important leadership competency for enterprises seeking a path through this complexity.
In addition, speakers who are creative will craft better presentation content because they are more likely to understand and effectively leverage the power of storytelling.
Creative speakers will also likely commission or create slides that are highly-visual and delightfully unexpected. Presentations that include visualizations that are novel are more memorable and engaging than presentations that are filled with predictable graphics and images.
In addition, humor is an essential part of most presentations. According to a study by the Bell Leadership Institute, the two most desirable traits in leaders are a strong work ethic and a good sense of humor. To harness the power of humor during presentations, the speaker must be able to put an interesting and innovative spin on the presentation topic. Inserting humor into a talk is difficult, and creativity is the key to overcoming the challenge.
Goals
As mentioned above, being passionate about your presentation will likely inspire you to set higher goals, such as the goal to change the world with your presentation. John F. Kennedy is quoted as saying, The only reason to give a speech is to change the world.
While this might seem like a lofty and unattainable goal, the best speakers don’t back down from Kennedy’s challenge. Even if they don’t aspire to impact the entire human population with their message, the best speakers will at least aim to positively influence the world of their audience members.
Why is this goal important?
When you develop a presentation to change the lives of your audience members, your presentation will naturally be skewed to the needs and interests of the audience, instead of solely focused on your ideas and your objectives. Speakers who focus on and connect with the audience in an authentic way are more impactful than speakers who are disconnected from the audience.
When you’re delivering a presentation, you need to remember that every person in the audience could have chosen to do something else with their precious time, but instead, they are there listening to you speak. By giving you their time and attention, audience members deserve an experience worthy of their sacrifice. They deserve an experience that will change them for the better.
To change the lives, or at least significantly impact your audience, try to learn why the audience members are planning to attend the presentation. What will attendees need from your presentation to declare it a success? What are they hoping to learn or gain? Are they there because someone else told them to attend? And if so, what will they need to takeaway from your presentation? Or, are they there because of their own passion?
Let your passion inspire you to set a goal to change the lives of the attendees. Then, as you prepare your presentation, remember to drive home the link between their passion and needs, your passion, and your presentation message.
Persistence
If you are passionate about your presentation, persistence will come naturally. Since presentations require an enormous amount of work, speakers must be persistent throughout the entire presentation development process to deliver a successful presentation.
You need to take the time to creatively craft a message the will resonate with the audience. In addition, you need to create, edit, and refine stunning slides that bring their ideas to life visually.
You will also need to be persistent about practicing your presentation so you can be conversational, warm, and effortless during your talk.
Lastly, you need to persist even if they encounter obstacles during your presentation. For example, if there is a technical glitch that renders your slides unusable, you need to continue presenting with passion despite the curveball.
To inspire you to cultivate habits that will help you maximize your persistence as you prepare for your presentation, check out the Ethos3 presentation below, Why Great Presenters are Boring People. Boring and passionate are arguably opposing qualities, however you might consider letting your passion motivate you to embrace a boring lifestyle at least temporarily as you work to create your presentation so you will have the energy, focus, and time to persist through challenges with your presentation.
Conclusion
Passion is a critical trait that all speakers need to develop and nurture to succeed as a speaker. When you’re passionate, you will connect to your audience, deliver a creative presentation that is memorable, and also persist until your presentation is as perfect as possible. Passion is a win-win trait for presentations; the audience wins by receiving a more quality experience, and the speakers wins as well by delivering a successful presentation.
