A man on stage plays the trumpet. The note he plays floats out over the crowd. The audience is still. Listening. Absorbed in that note. Nothing exists but that moment, that note. He gives his note everything and, as he does, so does the audience. He holds it, lets it go. The audience lets out their breath as they gently land into the silence.
When he’s not playing his trumpet, this man is a powerful force for good in a leadership position within his world-renowned organization.
He aspires to senior leadership and came to us for coaching on Executive Presence.
It turns out that what he learned about presence elevates not only his communications in the challenging professional world he inhabits, but also in his extraordinary other world as a musician.
His words express it beautifully:
“I am a better trumpet player today because of what I have learned from your program. My performance has improved because I have been able to be more in the moment, to live just inside the note I'm playing. I've recently had three gigs where I was part of a trio or quintet. These types of gigs used to be the most nerve wracking for me. However, they went off with aplomb because I didn't worry about what the audience was thinking, nor about what the other players thought of my performance, nor dwell on playing a particular passage error free. I simply chose to live in the moment and inside each note… This brings me tremendous satisfaction. Now I'm getting more requests for music that is pretty demanding. But, I'm up to the challenge!”
When you are speaking, your words are your notes. Capturing this level of being in the moment while you’re speaking creates an emotional impact beyond compare.
I’m talking about living in the moment of your creation and only that moment.
When you do, you put your full self into that note and create something of profound beauty that your audience resonates with at a deep level.
Fumbling with slides, trying to remember your script, being worried about the outcome, distressing about the impression of you they’re going to get, being unsure of your own value, puts you everywhere but here. It distorts and misrepresents the expression of your real and important thoughts.
Instead of pure signal, the audience gets the noise of anxiety.
Ahhhh, but when you are fully in that moment of creation, not rushing to the next one, when you are living inside that note as you speak, expressing that which comes from your intellect and your soul, when you play each note pure, you create emotion, the audience remembers that note and the full impact of having you 100% present in it.
When you are fully present in it, the audience is fully present in it too.
The audience lives in that moment, inside that note, with you. It penetrates their skepticism and reaches them.
It’s not surprising our trumpet player is being asked to play more. This level of communication is rare. The audience wants more. Always.
Be the cause!