ONE thing!
The “Back to Basics” Series
“Body, Mind and Spirit are ONE thing!
When you attempt to remove any part,
the gestalt is shattered.”
— Chungliang Huang
There’s something wrong with that speaker over there…
She’s well dressed, and articulate… But she looks twisted somehow…
There’s nothing actually wrong with her body. The speaking is clear and understandable. But she appears somehow just a little scared and defensive, and she never moves from behind the lectern.
We want people to look, sound and feel both comfortable and aligned when they speak to us. We want all their disparate pieces to fit together into a single coherent whole. (Fusion, get it?) So when someone manifests a component of their style that doesn’t contribute to the total sense of both appropriateness and comfort, we focus on the thing that doesn’t fit. (“One of these things is not like the others.”)
You see where this is taking us. If you want this to go well, you make sure that your materials are organized and well laid out, that your appearance is polished and professional, that the room is set up, arranged and well lit. And, after all that, you have to mean it! Then, everything goes with everything else.
But often people forget that the most important component of a meeting, a speech, a presentation, is the intangible part — dare we say “spirit?”
- You’re not certain that your results are correct. So no matter how elegant you appear, you seem careful, tentative.
- You aren’t certain that your team supports you. So you can’t promote your proposal with unreserved confidence.
- You’re not committed to the actual truth of the recommendation. You’ve been asked to lie… so your reluctance shows through like a beacon.
The part of the presentation that nobody sees (but to which everyone bears witness) often becomes clearly visible when something is wrong in the run-up to the meeting. The audience keys in on that now increasingly dramatic indicator. Everything about the outside of this presenter seems fine, but something on the inside wants out!
When the firm is cutting corners, when your family has an emergency, when your teammates disagree, when the boss is doing side deals, when you have reservations about the product… those are the times where what’s unseen, going on inside, can have a huge impact on what appears outside. You can’t “get it together” and we can tell by looking at you!
Applications
1. For You
Mounting the dais is not the time for split attention. Bring your single-minded best game — and nothing else! Maybe you can only manage that for an hour, before splitting attention again between work, boss, kids and getting to your workout; it’s a split attention world. But when you speak, bring it!
2. For Your Family
“Scattered” pretty much defines the state of our lives in the modern world. But the family still represents at least the opportunity for a single-minded commitment to quality, trust, love and respect. If the kids are going to absorb any of those, it may rest on you — and whether you can “bring it.” So consider treating your parent/partner activities as an assignment — for which you might actually think and prepare in advance. Combat “scatter” by planning and teaching the kids how to “get it together” for school, competition and life!
3. For Work
I once had a boss who kept the coat, tie and Senior Exec Mindset “ON” at all times. Yes, he wasn’t that much fun in the break room, but his mere presence always put us back in touch with the company’s mission and immediate objectives. He Lived It. And so can you.
It’s easy to let the scatter of modern life, the divergence of interests, or the simple challenge of personally “getting it together” interfere with your ability to state your message with a unified body, mind and spirit. Achieving true “Fusion” is never easy!
Body, Mind and Spirit. Together, they comprise ONE thing: A fully aligned Human Being.
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