A Wizard Secret:
Radical Responsibility = Power
Taking full responsibility is one of the most important wizard principles. Wizards don’t just sit around and wait for others to create the change they feel is needed in the world. They take responsibility for making things happen, and this mind-set helps them build the power to actually create change. An attitude that you are responsible for everything that comes into your awareness can be especially useful when you’re making presentations.
No Bad Audiences
I’ve spent most of my life working with performers who work in front of live audiences (as opposed to working in front of a camera, not as opposed to working before dead audiences). Occasionally, one of them will come offstage after a performance and complain about “that awful audience.” I feel sorry for those performers, because in blaming the audience, they’ve given away their own power to create a great experience. As the person presenting at the front of the room, you are the one who is responsible for the experience of everyone in the room. If they aren’t responding in the way you expect them to, don’t blame them. Instead, try to meet them where they are and help them have the experience they think they’ve come for. That may or may not be the experience you had planned to give, but once you’ve really connected with that audience, there’s a much stronger chance that you’ll be able to move them in the direction you want them to go.
No Bad Situations
Just as there are no bad audiences, there are no truly bad situations. There are, however, many different kinds of situations you might find yourself in as a speaker. You will often be presented with situations you did not expect. The audience might be larger or smaller than expected. Technical support might be vastly different than you hoped for. You might find yourself outdoors when you expected to be inside. None of these are inherently bad situations unless you choose to see them that way. If you blame the situation for your own failure, you have given away your power to create a positive experience for all involved.
One way you can avoid problematic situations is to be prepared for a wide variety of situations. Some speakers travel with their PowerPoint presentations on large printed pads as a backup. If the projector dies or fails to show up, they can still use all of their graphics. Others design their talks so they won’t rely on slides or other visual aids. Some speakers who work smaller local markets pack a sound system in the trunk of their car in case the sound system provided at their speaking venue is insufficient.
My friend Jeff McBride defines mastery as a performer as “When everything that can possibly go wrong has gone wrong, and you’ve figured out how to deal with it.”
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