Watching people speak in front of a crowd is always a fascinating learning experience.  Today, I watched about a dozen people get up, one-by-one, in front of a crowd of about 120 people.  Each person had up to three minutes to convince the audience why they should win a seat on what appeared to be a few sought after board seats.  There were more people than seats.  It’s the ultimate elevator speech.

As you can imagine, there was a bit of evident anxiety.

Here are the quick lessons:

If you don’t believe you’re the best person for the position (whatever the position is), no one else will believe it, either.  Self confidence comes from practice and knowing who you are and what you’re doing. Faking self-confidence in front of a crowd rarely – if ever – works.   Yes, there were a few candidates who I’m not too sure really wanted the job.

Honesty, transparency and being real trumps everything.  If you want to impress the crowd, win the vote and get the job, be prepared and be yourself.  It’s a refreshing way to stand out from the crowd.

Tags: coaching, public speaking, speech