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YOUR COMMENTS ON DARREN’S STAGE TIME ARTICLE 1/15/09: A Presentation Lesson from Dr. Wayne Dyer
By Darren | January 13, 2009
What did you think of this article?
Topics: Stage Time Comments |
January 15th, 2009 at 6:31 am
Harvey MacKay says rope off the last few rows to force people to the front. if more show up and you have to open the back rows that gives an impession that more people than you expected are showing up.
just a nice techneque but your point is great. I spoke to mostly church groups and I had to learn right away that God is concerned about that one person that shows up just as much as a whole crowd that might show up for you the speaker.
January 15th, 2009 at 6:37 am
Darren, two things come to mind. The Peaceful Warrior has had a profound impact in my life. I have it playing in my office as I work. A comment in the movie is: a warrior acts, a fool reacts. Another reminder from Deepak Chopra is to have an orientation of self-referral and not object referral.
January 15th, 2009 at 7:03 am
“Wherever two or more are gathered…” It’s not the number in the audience that matters, it’s the sum and substance of the message. Once when presenting officer’s training for club secretaries, I had only six in attendance. Those six received my entire presentation, only tweaked in a bit in delivery, not in content. About a year later, one of the attendees told me she was so inspired that she volunteered to be the Secretary for a commission to which she had been appointed and was enjoying the challenge. Sometimes our message may only make a difference for one individual - yet it still has made a difference!
January 15th, 2009 at 9:09 am
Dr. Wayne Dyer speaks of the power of intention, and I believe when only a few people show up for a presentation that is all God intended to attend. But like Dr. Dyer I believe that the ones who are present were meant to benefit from the message you are delivering.
Times like these allow us to remove the ego and focus on the gift that we have to share that will impact and change people’s lives. After all, that is our purpose and what God intended for us to do, share our gift (present) with those who are present.
January 15th, 2009 at 10:20 am
Hi Darren,
I am sure you already know this: but the organizers should have put *fewer* chairs than the number of expected participants, with a bunch of chairs on standby. If more people showed up, an extra row could have been added easily. That gives a nice feeling (to the speaker and the audience), seeing extra rows of chairs being added.
However, your point about ego is very well made. Great speakers aren’t just great *speakers*; they are *great* first. Essential element for greatness: inner security, and knowing where you’re going. If Dr. Dyer’s mission was to make a positive impact, of course a low turnout would not rattle him. If his mission was to “speak to packed audiences,” he would have been disappointed. The first mission was selfless; the second, egoistical.
Thank you for your great article.
Regards,
Amitabh
January 15th, 2009 at 12:01 pm
Hello Darren:
Great article on Dr. Wayne Dyer. What person who loves public speaking, especially inspirational/motivational type speeches does not know Dr. Dyer? He is a great communicator of ideas and gives us a very good dose of thought provoking material to digest.
I have watched his presentation on The Power of Intention on PBS, and it is very very good indeed. He has done another presentation, spiritually based on another oriental philosophy, which is equally good.
Now, regarding the main subject of the article, I would think that for any professional speaker, to come to the stage, look around the auditorium, and realize that you will be speaking to a low turnout of people, must be a bit frustrating or even dissapointing. However, you have to bear in mind that even with a handful of people present, the speaker has to perform to the best of his/her ability simply because the audience (no matter the size) deserve it. I believe that this is equally applicable to any other people related event. The level of the performance must not change according to the audience size.
It is always great to share my point of view with you Darren and with other contributors to this blog.
What an exciting endevor is to be able to communicate and connect with any size audience through the grand and powerful art of public speaking. It certainly gives me a deep and long lasting satisfaction to speak in public.
Alejandro Tornato
President of Central Toastmasters 2277 in Worcester, MA.
January 15th, 2009 at 12:43 pm
Darren, Great lesson! It reminded me of my network marketing trip of 500 miles one-way to do a presentation in Oklahoma City a few years ago. After considerable publicity, only eight (yes,
people showed up, and 6 were already associates! After my presentation, the two new people also registered (100% sign-ups!), the six others got really motivated, and now there are over 400 people in OKC in our organization! The few who were there deserved my BEST, and after getting it, they have grown a GREAT organization. -Dave Drevo
January 15th, 2009 at 2:21 pm
Hey Darren,
Great article, as always. I M.C.’d a charity event last summer. It was in a 400 seat theatre and had apparently sold out. When the show started there was like 20 people in the audience all spread out. And half of them were school kids performing a number in the show who left half-way through. In your words Ouch!
However, I didn’t wimp out on the performance and gave those that were there a great show.
Alas, no other benefits were reaped other than stage time… oh and payment.
Cheers,
Jason
January 15th, 2009 at 8:35 pm
Thank you for the wonderful article.
As an aspiring speaker, the article provided a good insight as to how I should look at occasions like a hall 25% filled.
My reaction to how Dyer reacted to the situation. “Awesome!” Indeed, what he said was correct. “Those that were supposed to be there were there.” I believe that those who weren’t there, well, that was their problem! There was nothing Wayne Dyer or we could have done about it. What could be done then was what Wayne Dyer did. He presented his speech, and those that were there got the benefits; those that weren’t, well, they lost out, and they did not even know about it!
And there’s no point in worrying about them
January 18th, 2009 at 4:14 pm
This is a great article and the message is important. Indeed, the speaker is there for the audience: to influence, inspire, motivate; not for himself alone.
I was always told that even if there is one person — the show goes on. And this I believe and do. I give the best I have to those who are there — be it one or 1,000.
Thank you for sharing. And to those who attend, what a blessing for them.
Dr. Patricia Adelekan, DTM
Anaheim, California
January 19th, 2009 at 1:10 pm
As speakers our commitment to help others is always being tested. The feeling that we experience from a low turn out is a huge part of that test.
In those monents of challenge or doubt, I always ask myself one question.
If I had the opportunity to help just one person today, would I do it.
Then I smile, walk out on stage and begin.
January 20th, 2009 at 7:55 am
I had a similar experience–only about 20 showed up in a room that could have held 100. The brave 20 not only got a more individualized workshop, they also learned more,and shared more. The rest headed home early to beat traffic, or maybe were scared off by a workshop where they had to speak!
To those who missed Wayne Dyer’s presentation–that was a rare opportunity to be inspired. He is a master speaker, and funny as well.
January 23rd, 2009 at 9:05 am
I have been there and it was a terrible feeling. I did not start off good but did manage to end up strong and the audience was responsive and enjoyed the presentation and they got more out of me than a crowded room woould have gotten. It took a couple uncomfortable minutes to get my act together, but I did and all en joyed.
As always, thank you for the wonderful knowledge, training and inspiration!
Patricia Cotton, DTM
February 8th, 2009 at 1:54 am
Dear Darren,
I loved this article and immediately connected with Dr. Wayne Dyer.Inspite of the thin attendance, he did not let any ego come his way and his opening statement to the audience was memorable “It’s OK. The people who are supposed to be here… are. That’s all we need.” He was excited to help whoever was there irrespective of the setting not being perfect. This is the hallmark of an great speaker who genuinely cares for his audience irrespective of its numbers.Thanks Darren, this beautiful article has helped me to realise that confidence on the stage is good…but not ego as you rightly mentioned.
Kind Regds,
Salim Sayyid