What we can learn from Biden's State of the Union success
The advance expectation was that it would be a travesty. He was too old. Too fragile. Too muddled.
It turned out differently. Joe Biden surprised friend and foe last week with his State of the Union. There stood not the elderly man of recent months, but a combative, energetic President. Full of conviction and self-confidence, he overwhelmed his audience. Visibly amused, he retorted to the "hecklers," showing: I'm still here.
"The key to success in a high-pressure setting [is]: Let Joe Biden be Joe Biden," said Anita Dunn, in charge of White House communications strategy.
The paradox is: under high pressure, being yourself does not come naturally. It takes good preparation. Success is enforced. American Presidents know that better than anyone. They work for months on The State of the Union. For example, Biden started back in November with a small club of faithful. From then on, he reads every version, gives unvarnished criticism of anything that has even a hint of jargon or "Washington speak" and contributes his own formulations. Policy should be explained in the simplest possible language, is his motto.
The days prior, he practiced with teleprompters at Camp David and had his team shout through his speech, in order to be prepared for the "hecklers
.For important speeches like this one, he also made minute notes in his text. With dashes, circles and other marks, he marks where to drop silences, rest or turn on. With these stage directions, he visualizes his path through his hour-long speech. In this way, he not only manages his energy but also saves himself from chattering and word-stumbling. It didn't do him any favors this SOTU. At least for a moment, Joe Biden was (the "old") Joe Biden again.
Performing by Visualizing
Now not all of us give State of the Union speeches. But often enough, much depends on a presentation or speech.
How do you organize your own success for such a moment? How do you make sure you achieve your goal? The short answer: preparation, preparation, preparation. There are many ways to do that. Visualizing Camp David or your speech with dashes and circles is not a requirement. For example, another tried-and-true preparation is to imagine your presentation being a success.
Several studies have shown that thinking about an activity has almost the same effect as performing the activity. For example, a basketball trial was done with three groups of athletes of the same level. Group 1 threw balls for a month, group 2 visualized throwing balls for a month and group 3 did nothing. Group 3 got worse, group 1 improved by 25% and group 2 improved by 24%. Your mind makes (almost) no distinction between really experiencing and experiencing in your mind.
There is the story of a soldier who was imprisoned and played the 18 holes of his golf course in his head for two years. When he went into prison his handicap was 22, when he came out he was playing handicap 2. He needed 20 fewer strokes to play 18 holes.
Thinking about something trains your brain to perform optimally when the time comes in reality. So the more you think about it ... the better you perform.
Swimming world champion Michael Phelps and his coach explain how visualization works for him.
Roughly speaking, there are two types of visualizations. The process visualization: you visualize each step needed to achieve the desired outcome. And the outcome visualization: the desired future endpoint is visualized.
In this video, I give an example of how to arrive at an outcome visualization. To get you started, at:
Step 1 think of thoughts like "See, I can do this. Hehe it's done. This was actually pretty fun. I want more of this."
Step 2 to feelings like pride, joy, relief, energy, emotion.
Step 3 to desires like "Really showing myself. Made connections. Overcame stage fright. Shared my story."
Step 4 to actions such as doing even more presentations, raising the bar, signing up for Ted, getting up at the next Christmas dinner.
And remember that the following applies to visualizations: the more often you repeat them, the greater the effect.
Do you also want to rise above yourself and present with more self-confidence?
Then contact us!
Do you also want to rise above yourself and present more confidently?
Then contact us!
020-4204068
info@speaktoinspire.nl
Five hidden messages in Trump's inaugural speech
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