Modelling yourself at your presentation and public speaking best
As an unashamed NLP fan, I have always been interested in the idea that we can learn much from modelling success in others but what about ourselves?
Modelling in NLP terms is the process of identifying a model or exemplar of excellence and then seeking to identify what are the critical patterns of behaviour AND though that underpin that excellence. We know that our behaviours are driven by our internal mental patterns so it is vital that we seek to understand the thinking strategies of our exemplars as much as their behaviours.
In this post however I’d like to encourage you to apply the principles of modelling to yourself. You may not yet have reached the dizzying hights of eloquence displayed by President elect Barack Obama however I’ll bet that their are some things that you already do pretty well.
I recommend that you set aside some time to answer the question “What am I already doing well!” and then get curious about what it is that is allowing you to display this level of excellence.
Here are some questions to get you started?
- When I am performing at my best how am I behaving? What’s my posture like, how is my eye contact? how am I breathing? What’s my speed of speech like?
- When I am speaking at my best what am I thinking about? What am I saying to myself inside my head? What pictures or mental movies am I running?
- When I am influencing at my best what do I believe that helps to feel they way I feel and act the way I act? What do I beleive to bve true about myself and my abilities? What do I beleive about the people I am communicating with?
- When I am feeling at my most confident and persuasive what am I paying attention to consciously? What am I not thinking about?
Asking yourself these and other questions will start you on a powerful process of self modelling that will inevitably lead to self improvement. By identifying you answers to these questions you are starting to identify a “model” of how you are operating when you are in the zone. By testing and refining this model uou will develop your awareness and be able to make finer and more accurate distinctions as to what is the difference that makes the difference when you are performing above average and so raise your game incrementally.
I’d love it if you would share your observations with the rest of the readers of this post via the comments option. By doing this we can try out each others patterns of success and find out which bits are truly transferable.
