Because people come to see you<\/em> as a person. And there is only one you, right\u2026?<\/p>\n Wrong: there is only one \u2018you at this moment.\u2019 Each time people come to see you, you are different. So there are in fact many \u2018you-s.\u2019 It\u2019s like eating an apple.<\/p>\n You can eat an apple many times. But you can eat this<\/em> apple only once.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n If you eat this<\/em> apple this way, it becomes quite a different experience. Much more \u2018open\u2019 attention is involved. Thereby, the apple becomes tastier, more interesting even. Eating this<\/em> apple is each time again a new experience, while eating an<\/em> apple many times may only be good for carrying on to the next one.<\/p>\n So, would you like to be this<\/em> speaker that people come to listen to? Then forget techniques.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Literally: \u2018forget\u2019 them, even if you know them. But let me first explain \u2018techniques.\u2019 A term is just a sticker on a concept. Most important is the concept. You follow me? With \u2018technique,\u2019 I mean here everything that you consciously do to directly control the human aspects of a situation. This is not about sound technology or other purely instrumental things. It\u2019s about you, the audience, the communication, the connection, the inspiration, the influence you desire to have\u2026<\/p>\n In order to inspire, you need to have your heart on stage.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n And for this, you need to \u2018forget\u2019 techniques in a transition to, well, \u2018art.\u2019 One can recognize it in any great artist. Also as a speaker, it\u2019s a nice endeavor to try and put some art in your performance, isn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n This is not about \u2018bringing show on stage\u2019. Some cultures favor \u2018show on speaking stage\u2019, while others do explicitly not like it. Art \u2013 I mean in a general sense \u2013 may transcend every culture. May then the art of speaking internationally have some influence on bringing all peoples together? A very nice thought indeed. According to me, it\u2019s also realistic.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s look at the subject by examples now.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n One example: the power of silence-on-stage. As a speaker, you can \u2018command the audience with silence.\u2019 This can be done technically: silence as in no-sound. With heart involved, however, it\u2019s more about the fullness of this silence. This is something you can give attention to. Silence then becomes a medium full of communication even<\/em> if it takes only seconds. \u2018Forget\u2019 the technique. \u2018Be\u2019 the silence.<\/p>\n Can you hear the sound of silence?<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n I didn\u2019t promise it would be easy. Much can be learned by looking at great speakers who can \u2018forget.\u2019<\/p>\n Another example: some tend to say annoyingly many \u2018euh-s\u2019 on stage. A technique may be to learn to be attentive and try to not<\/em> say \u2018euh\u2019 anymore. But, from your heart, why<\/em> do you say \u2018euh\u2019? One of the reasons may be to avoid silence. Thus: if you let the silence speak, if you let it be filled with meaning \u2013 a heartful endeavor \u2013 you will notice that the \u2018euh\u2019 may be needed less and less.<\/p>\n Even if an \u2018euh\u2019 pops up sometimes, it\u2019s an old acquaintance. You may smile in recognition.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n As a third example indeed: smile. One can smile on stage as a technical thing to do. As in \u201cOeps, I need to smile.\u201d Then your brain is smiling. But your heart?<\/p>\n It\u2019s different when you invite yourself to smile. Invitation = freedom. So, if you invite yourself and the smile doesn\u2019t come\u2026 why? And if it comes\u2026 how? These are very important questions you can ask yourself. If you answer them \u2018from the heart\u2019, next time your smile will be so much more beautiful and powerful.<\/p>\n You are missing all this if you get stuck in technique. Additionally, you may hit the proverbial wall of progression in your speaking skill.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n After tons of research, the main characteristic of a true leader boils down to authenticity: openness to and from the heart. The same for a speaker, a leader of the audience<\/em>.<\/p>\n Of course, \u2018not using techniques\u2019 may strictly speaking be seen as a technique itself. In the end, not the techniques bring tyranny, but: slavishly following them. If techniques are standing in the way of\u00a0 heart to heart communication \u2013 on stage \u2013 then it\u2019s better to \u2018forget\u2019 them.<\/p>\n Like salt dissolving in water: the salt disappears yet it doesn\u2019t. It becomes different.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n As a speaker, you too can become different this way, again and again. You can \u2018become the transformation that you want to inspire in your audience\u2019.<\/p>\n What is eventually more transforming than the heart itself\u2026?<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/p>\n