Presentation excellence is undoubtedly an amorphous concept but, as the poet e.e. cummings noted, nothing that can be measured matters – it is the intangibles, like this, that stay. It’s greater than the sum total of presentation skills a speaker might have at his or her disposal. It is, essentially, nothing short of character.
Not moral character, necessarily, mind you. But “character” within the sense of “nature,” the “what” of a person and also the “who.” Or, to put it in a different way, the what of the person rather than the who – the character, instead of the personality.
Personality can be faked, but character cannot be.
“Don’t smirk if you can’t pull it off in a charming way.” “Don’t keep your hands in your pockets unless that’s part of the ’stage presence’ you want to establish.”
Such advice is useful, for certain, but character is something else. It goes beyond knowing how to give a presentation, though tangible skills are important, too. But in the end, real power, or force, arises from within. Even an actor requires some material to work with.
Character is this material!
Again, this is not some kind of “moral” character but character in the sense of nature, like the character of one’s voice, the quality of one’s voice.
Think about the character of wine, or perhaps the character of summer versus fall.
So what is the quality of one’s soul?
As a public speaker, you need to know this. To present successfully means understanding your own strengths and, possibly, weaknesses. For, yes, you’re going to be there in front of everyone, similar to how you could have feared, all eyes upon you – and they also can easily see right into you.
Yes they could. Just as you’d feared.
Unless you understand your character beforehand.
Because you wouldn’t be afraid, then, to share of yourself, to give truly and generously, as the best public speaking demands.
That’s presentation excellence. For what ultimately captures a crowd is not mere sleight of hand but character, the force of character.
The force of your soul.
