Presentation and Baseball: the Power of Being Present

Recently I met an editorial in The New York Times by David Brooks as important to me that the art of presenting. In his piece, Brooks examines “The Mental ABC’s of Pitching” by sports psychologist HA Dorfman. While the book is aimed at professional pitchers, I think the council Dorfman can be extended quite naturally to the presentations. As Brooks said, which Dorfman is offering to free people from what we might call the tyranny of the scattered mind. ” This kind of tyranny is not confined to baseball, however: any activity can be very demanding undermined by lack of concentration. Everyday life is like an account outside the control of the car without direction and jump from one thing to another, it is almost impossible to prepare for something important. This is where mental discipline comes in.

Returning to the analogy of baseball, I had a coach in high school tell me that playing with the way we practice, “as I have grown more, I continue to see the truth of this statement. When it comes to public speaking and presentation, practice is essential. Dorfman as follows: “Self-discipline is a form of freedom. Freedom from laziness and lethargy, freedom from expectations and demands of others, freedom from weakness and fear – and doubt.” This is entirely consistent with the story told in the workshop on Eugen Herrigel of “Zen in the art of archery.” Herrigel spent 1 year learning to stand, how to sustain the arc and how to breathe before he ever put an arrow to the string at once. Intense practice that frees the mind from other distractions. This is also necessary in the presentation. Now, while I would not suggest you take a year to learn to stand, however, presenters must master their own material and his technique in a manner that does not even have to think about. It should come as naturally from the rains in the spring or “as snow falls from a piece of bamboo” as the instructor of the Master Kenzo Awa Herrigel say.

How we practice to achieve such fluency? For starters, most people forget that it is equally important to practice non-verbal delivery skills and verbal skills delivery. This kind of practice helps to build muscle memory in your technique. If you do not practice in this way is less likely to meet with success.

Turning to the analysis of Brooks Dorfman, putting in the center, Dorfman illuminates the way the body and the mind communicate with each other. Once there were intellectuals who thought the mind existed above the body, but is blown away by the evidence. Indeed, it is easier to change the minds of changing behavior, and that is probably true in the office or on the mound. “This is the essence of the teachings of our workshop. Motivation follows action, not vice versa, change your behavior and you change your way of thinking. As Thomas E. Berr Ph.D put in The Tao of Sales: “It’s easier for you to act in a new way of thinking about thinking about yourself a new way of acting.” In fact, this is the essence of Zen way: through intensive practice of the conscience (which is present here, now) the mind can be calm and focused, not vice versa.

Brooks notes that “There are two places on a pitcher’s universe – on the mound and off the mound. Outside of the hill is to think about the past and future, on the mound is to think about this.” How can re-file that is associated with the two presenters for the geography teacher, “on stage” and “off stage” out of the arena is the place to reflect on the past and future, on the stage, however, is to think about this only. This includes focusing on the material and the audience in a way that is flexible and not forced.

To reach this point, I suggest you do not leave you in your practice sessions. What would you do if you made a mistake or misspoke? The practice, as you would in front of an audience. Then it will be more able to react and think on your feet, there is no substitute for this kind of practice. Mark Twain said it best: “It usually takes more than three weeks to prepare a good impromptu speech.”

Like a baseball game, a presentation is a show with a thousand points of interest. However, the teacher and reduced everything to a series of simple tasks: a personality of the presenters are not in the center, or his talent. This is where presenters often go wrong. They focus too much on how the public is watching, or how competent or incompetent being. An excellent presentation however is not the false self or the presenter of the audience in the center is to present well, nothing more. By putting the task in the center, said Dorfman, the presenter helps quiet the car, pushing out of their own qualities, their expectations, nerves, and I-and for that reason, you can calmly and adeptly connect with the public their material, and deliver a masterful presentation at all times.