I left a career as a successful aerospace engineer to help others improve their lives. So did my guest on the June 27, 2013 radio show, Siobhan McKenna.
Siobhan is a very enthusiastic, high-energy person but she suffered from stage fright. She has overcome her stage fright and now helps people with a process she developed, Imagineering Your Life.
Siobhan pointed out that stage fright may come and go. In college, when she had to speak often, she got comfortable because with repetition, comes comfort. However, when you stop speaking frequently, your stage fright may return.
While working in aerospace, Siobhan came up with a few tricks to compensate for her stage fright:
- never present alone (have a co-presenter)
- start the presentation with a question
- it engages the audience
- makes it more like a workshop than a presentation
She made the important decision to join Toastmasters and one of the key things she learned was the benefit of video recording speeches.
She also shared an important statistic:
The majority of people spend 80% of their time in their comfort zone when they should actually be spending 70% of the time in their uncomfortable zone.
I wasn’t aware of this and this resonates with me – the big changes in my life didn’t begin until I stopped avoiding the things that made me uncomfortable. I faced my fears and created opportunities (speaking, stand-up, improv, et al).
Siobhan reminded us that we are always speaking – so we should develop vocal awareness by paying attention to how we speak all the time and then practice every day.
She shared the concept of anchors, people in the audience you make eye contact with, who give you confidence – you know, the ones hanging on your every word, smiling at you and nodding their heads.
Siobhan shared seven principles for building a complete and wonderful life, which she explains in detail in her book, Imagineering Your Life:
- The Inspiration: What Makes Your Heart Soar?
- The Vision: Imagineering Your Own Life
- The Blueprint: Laying the Foundation
- The Architect: You Are the Master Builder
- The Site: Eye on Paradise
- The Timeline: Just Now
- The Action: Now, Go Build It
You can listen to my interview with Siobhan on the podcast, which is available on the links below.
Stand Up and Speak Up airs live, Thursdays at 11 am Pacific and is available after the show as a podcast on the network page, waltgrassl.com, and you can also subscribe on iTunes.
