Employing these public speaking tips for introverts can make a huge difference!
Six out of the last twenty-three days I’ve had speaking engagements. And twelve of the last twenty-three days I’ve been in attendance at events where I was speaking.
Holy moly, that’s a whole lot of on-ness for this lil ole introvert! And, I’ve loved it. Here’s why.
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I’ve been fully committed to my pre-and-post performance rituals.
From enjoying a minimum of 30-minutes of quiet time before I go “on”, to religiously doing my vocal warm-ups, to maintaining an almost daily meditation practice, to limiting myself to one-hour of chit-chat with attendees and participants after I speak, I have given myself gobs of quiet me-time so that when I’m absorbing other people’s energy on stage and after, I have plenty of my own energy and presence to give.
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When I answer questions and engage with other participants, I let them do most of the talking.
Whether someone has listened to my keynote, attended a ninety-minute workshop, or jammed with me during a retreat, they’ve experienced a lot of me. When attendees/participants decide to engage me, they may want some input but, more than anything, they want to have their own moment of visibility.
This is a delicious opportunity for speakers, particularly us introverts, not to feel like we have to reclaim the spotlight and, instead, see the people who are speaking with us. Be truly present to their stories, questions, and shares. And recalibrate. This is one of my favorite public speaking tips for introverts because it helps you recover and engage with people better at the same time.
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I automate my follow-up in advance of my events.
During seasons where I’m doing a lot of speaking, I have often gotten sloppy with follow-up. I used to give out business cards (which, until recently, had my personal email address on them). And, even when I had opt-in offers, I usually only created my initial confirmation email and then found myself scurrying once home to write the rest of my follow-up sequence. Now, I have my shiz DONE before I speak. I have a few core offers that my team can update each time I speak. I drive folks who want to chat with me to my Facebook group. As a result, I show up more fully to post-event conversations, and I get folks speaking with each other (rather than just to me). It’s great.
While there are lots of reasons that we experience sensation in our bodies (that we often label fear) in conjunction with speaking, one of the top reasons is because we know that visibility can be exhausting. Like parenting. Or running a business. With a plan and practices in place to support and renew our energy, however, we can minimize anticipatory speaking sensation AND, if we are introverts, create a new narrative that shifts speaking from something that depletes us into something that allows us to catalyze transformation for others AND for ourselves.
These public speaking tips for introvert take a bit of preparation to execute but pay off in the end! If you are a speaker, what pre-and-post performance rituals keep you operating at your highest performance?
Come share your answer(s) here.
Oh, and one more thing…
One of the platforms that has most enabled me to automate my business is AccessAlly. Founded by one of my favorite introverts (and earliest online business mentors), Nathalie Lussier, AccessAlly hosts all of my online speaking courses and coaching programs, integrates seamlessly with my shopping cart and email management systems, and has some of the best tech support (which, fortunately, I almost never need) of the many online business platforms I use.
Why am I sharing my experience with AccessAlly? Because I want more people to know about this membership site solution, and because I’m a proud affiliate partner. (That means that I stand to earn a commission if you sign up for AccessAlly – at no additional cost to you!) If you want to learn more about AccessAlly, click here.
