The Subtle Art of Stage Presence
As any successful entrepreneur will tell you, influence is key to building a brand. After all, it’s your ability to effectively share your message with an audience, convince them of your expertise, and earn their admiration that will eventually win their business. And possibly the best way to achieve this on a large scale is to give compelling speeches.
This may not have been what you wanted to hear, and you’re probably not alone; public speaking is, in fact, one of the top fears in the world. But if you work hard at perfecting your stage presence—a speaker’s magnetic ability to own a room—you won’t just overcome this fear but actually grow to enjoy each opportunity to step behind the microphone. These are some of the greatest secrets I’ve learned about how to appeal to a crowd, hold their attention, and ensure everyone in the room walks away with your message wedged in their minds.
Carry yourself with charisma
People may assume that a strong hook in an opening statement is what kicks off an outstanding speech, but the truth is that in the brief seconds before you even begin speaking, your audience may already be forming strong opinions about your character, your competency, and how much attention you deserve, all based on how you present yourself. That’s where charisma comes into play. This is the almost supernatural ability to charm others, not only with your words but also with your sheer presence—as the saying goes, 80 percent of communication is nonverbal. So before you appear at a podium, on a webinar, or in a trade show booth, you have to master the art of charismatic body language.
To capture a crowd right away, carry yourself with an upright posture, roll your shoulders back, give a genuine smile, and express an attitude that you’re there to help them rather than yourself. No matter the purpose of your speech, you should always aim to connect with the audience’s needs. What solutions can you offer? What knowledge could you impart? Even if you’re just an introductory speaker or host, you can still get behind the mic with the motivation to warm up the crowd and build excitement for the keynote guest. This generous energy will be evident in how you move and regard your audience, which can be enough to make them like you within seconds.
Maintain control
One of the core components of good stage presence is the ability to keep your audience zeroed in on what you have to say. When you step in front of a crowd, you can’t just borrow their focus; you have to command everyone’s time and attention. Otherwise, you could lose control of your audience, causing smartphones to come out of pockets and eyes to wander around the room.
So how do you prevent that? Professional keynote speaker and speaking coach Deirdre Van Nest advises skipping the typical introductory pleasantries like “Thank you for having me” and “I’m excited to be here” and opening with a question. “It’s nearly impossible for the human brain to ignore a prompt like ‘Have you seen the movie The Pursuit of Happyness?’ or ‘Have you ever been to St. Petersburg, Florida?‘” she explains. There are three major benefits of this tactic: One, you can relate the question to your content. Two, you get people nodding their heads “yes” in agreement with you. And three, it makes your introduction “listener focused,” allowing them feel involved. This is a simple shortcut to activating both audience attention and engagement from the jump.
After you hook the crowd, Van Nest suggests doing something every three to five minutes to “move the energy” of the room. Infuse your content with stories, analogies, or even activities, weaving it between facts and figures as well as emotional elements that will pull at anyone’s heartstrings. Apply these strategies, and the audience will be yours.
Remember your intended result
We all know the saying “preparation is the key to success,” and even though it may be cliché, it is true in practice. When you show up to give virtually any kind of talk prepared to succeed, you can hone your focus on that result. As a musician in my free time, I know the feeling of practicing songs extensively on my keyboard only to get in front of the crowd and feel my palms sweat, my heart race, and my fingers lock up. But then all those hours of rehearsal come in clutch, causing muscle memory to take over and lead me to a great performance.
The takeaway? Practice your speeches, go over your notes, memorize what figures and statistics you can, and keep the service at the root of your speech top of mind. As Van Nest underscores, “I spend a minimum of twenty hours practicing a new keynote. Even with presentations I’ve been doing for years—the ones I know like the back of my hand—I still practice for two to three hours before I get up on stage.”
It may seem excessive, but this level of preparation can ensure you gain a total grasp of your subject matter. And when the lights go up and your name is called, it will propel you to get your message across, no matter how nervous you may feel.
Gain experience
Most importantly, get in front of the microphone as often as you can. Seek opportunities to motivate others, even if that means starting small, like giving a quick talk to some students at your children’s school or leading a training session in your organization. Just about anyone can develop stage presence, which means mastery is not only available to you but also achievable if you’re willing to put in the effort. Great quarterbacks practice in the offseason, and speakers with excellent stage presence continue to polish their skills, even if they’re already booked to inspire sold-out crowds. Practice hard enough, and you, too, will become a leader who can capture an audience and take them to the finish line.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Luke Acree is an authority on leadership, a lead-generation specialist, and a referral expert who has helped more than 100,000 entrepreneurs and small businesses grow their companies. He hosts Stay Paid, a sales and marketing podcast, and has been featured in Entrepreneur, Forbes, and Foundr.com.
TAKE ACTION:
Practice these stage-presence skills to give superior speeches, lead meaningful meetings, and inspire your team.