What's The First Thing You Want To Do When You Get On Stage?

Those first few seconds on stage are hugely important.

And if you're not using this time wisely, then you're missing a really good opportunity.

Many people, when they get on stage, do some very particular things.

They might start speaking before they've even reached the spot they're going to speak in.

They perhaps spend the first 30 seconds telling the audience how pleased and honoured they are to be there.

They might even apologise for something.

One of the worst ones is, “can you hear me at the back?”.

That one always makes my bumhole cringe.

Because those first few seconds are what set the tone for the rest of your delivery.

Your audience are watching.

They are forming an impression.

And you haven't even started to tell them about your expertise.

When I did my first TEDx, I was very clear in how I wanted to begin.

I walked out slowly as people applauded.

Stood on the red dot.

And I looked around the audience.

Every part of me wanted to fill that silence.

That's a very human thing to want to do.

What's the phrase? 

“Life abhors a vacuum” or something like that.

Taking a moment to just be present on stage, to have that gravitas, is really hard work.

It feels like you're doing nothing when you should be doing something.

When the reality is that actually you are doing everything.

The main thing you are doing is making the space yours.

This is something I talk about a lot with clients, particularly those who are neurodivergent.

Often they feel that they have to conform to this vision of what a speaker is supposed to look like while they're on stage.

Which is very much a technique thing.

What I say to them - and what I'd say to anyone for that matter - is this: That stage is yours.

If you need to remove your shoes to feel comfortable then do it.

(Obviously being aware of health and safety, because you don't want to stub your toe on some dodgy part of the stage or the lectern)

If you have to set up a couple of chairs so you can move between sitting and standing, do that too.

If you need a moment to stand in silence and breathe, crack on mate.

You might feel that you are the first person to ever do it that way.

Or perhaps you might feel you're being a bit of a pain in the arse.

For me there is a big distinction in all of this.

It's the difference between safety and safeness.

Safety is all the external stuff - the room set up, the sound, your presentation.

Safeness is all the stuff which goes on inside you - the bit where you know that when you walk into that space and stand on the stage, you are going to be okay.

I've seen very experienced speakers rush that first moment.

And I've seen people who've rarely spoken professionally before step onto the stage and own it from that first moment.

And perhaps it's not about experience.

Perhaps it's about permission.

Having somebody like me say, “you know what mate, you can do that if you want to” makes the world of difference for some people.

Because they realise they can shape the experience so it serves them.

So if you're speaking soon and you haven't thought of these first few moments, this is a bit of an invitation to think about them now.

Not just what you're going to say but what you're going to do before you say anything.

And if you'd like to have a conversation about how that could look, whether you're just starting out or you've been speaking for a while and you want to be a bit more intentional about it, give me a shout.