{"id":12216,"date":"2020-03-03T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-03-03T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.esmt.berlin\/voices\/?p=12216"},"modified":"2023-04-27T11:17:41","modified_gmt":"2023-04-27T09:17:41","slug":"all-the-business-worlds-a-stage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.esmt.berlin\/voices\/all-the-business-worlds-a-stage\/","title":{"rendered":"All the (business) world\u2019s a stage"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Actors<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Campus 10178, the ESMT Berlin podcast, invited a professional actor and coach to share with listeners how they can use stage techniques for effective communication. Didi Hopkins teaches leaders to deliver their message and use the spotlight to their advantage. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With over 20 years of experience teaching executives and professionals, Didi, who is an actor, director, and voice-over artist by trade, draws many comparisons between the business world and the stage. She has an important message for all leaders out there: When presenting, technique trumps content any day. People in leadership positions are often well prepared but lacking in technique to convey the content they have so carefully drafted. \u201cI think what happens in business is that we often forget about the audience and [\u2026] end up forgetting why we’re there, which is to work with an audience, to influence them, whether it’s the board or whether it’s influencing senior managers or even motivating a team.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Business leaders can learn a lot by\nlooking at performers. However, the answer may be closer to home than expected.\nContrary to popular belief, leadership is not a show. There is no need to\nbecome someone else, to play a role in order to please an audience.  Didi shared three top tips. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The technical triad shapes\nyour presentation <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

It does not matter who you are \u2013\ntalkative charmer or quiet wallflower, female or male, top executive or new to\nthe game. If you focus on the right techniques and practice them regularly, you\ncan become great at influencing your audience no matter who you are. \u201cIt’s a\nlittle bit like learning to swim\u201d, Didi says laughing  \u201cYou have to practice [\u2026] so that you stop\npanicking, you start getting used to swimming in the swimming pool and in the\nend you can swim in the sea, which is a sort of unknown current. You have to\ntrust your body and your body has to know exactly what to do in those\nsituations.\u201d She is quick to add that delivery is only one part in the\nequation. Message, delivery, and audience shape how a presentation is\nunderstood. They all have to come together. \u201cI would say that people often do\nspend too much time on the content, less thinking about how they’re going to\nachieve what they want to achieve. [\u2026] You can’t go into a meeting and without\npreparing your content. But once you’ve prepared your content and you\nabsolutely understand why you’re there and why [the audience is] there,\nthen you can think about how you want to get your message across.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s all about\nauthenticity<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

To become a great performer, speaker, or\nleader, you need to get to the bottom of who you are and what makes you unique.\nThree aspects play roles in authentic presentations: your body language, your\ntone of voice, and the content that you deliver. Inspiring speakers are present\nin their body and, according to Didi, they are \u201calive, awake, and aware.\u201d What\ndo you do with your hands? How much space do you take up? Your tone of voice\ntells people how comfortable you are in front of them. We have all been there.\nYou have to give an important presentation and you start losing your voice. You\nstart speaking too fast. You forget how to breathe. These are evolutionary reactions\nto dangerous situations. \u201cEverybody\u2019s got something that needs an [\u2026] evolutionary kick to help them at the crossroads of\nfear,\u201d Didi explains. Her job is to \u201chelp them\nfind alternative ways to deal with the panic.\u201d The key here is to remember to\nbreathe. Another effective way to train your escape instincts is to record\nyourself and listen to what your voice sounds like. Over time, you will get\nmore control over your voice. These techniques are designed to give power over\npanic. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Focus, reflect, and focus\nsome more <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Lastly, leaders need to engage in\nlife-long learning \u2013 about themselves. They need to reflect on themselves, who\nthey are, how they behave, and why they do it. With reflection, they can\ndiscover how they can improve their style for different audiences. The work\nenvironment may have changed drastically in the past decades, but the basics\nfor great leaders remain the same. \u201cI think essentially anything that’s been\nhappening in terms of the changing world means that you need to focus more on\nyour leadership skills in your communication rather than less. So I don’t think\nthat any of this new technology has gotten in our way. People might need to\nlead differently,\u201d Didi concludes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leadership, after all, is about the\nleader. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

<\/span> 3<\/span> min read<\/span><\/span> Campus 10178, the ESMT Berlin podcast, invited a professional actor and coach to share with listeners how they can use stage techniques for effective communication. 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