“Practice Creates the Master.” — Don Miguel Ruiz

At first, you can’t do it at all.

Then you summon up your courage. Take a run at it. Make a mess of it.

Later, with a new subject, in a new moment, you sally forth! And, though not winning any awards, you emerge with an outcome, small applause and a tiny personal triumph.  I can do this! Now you decide to make “Wins” a standard part of your personal portfolio.

Practicing is what it’s all about. It’s obvious, right?

But then, the “Obvious” may be harder to itemize than previously realized.

Some suggestions…

How about Openings? Jokes? Stories. Quotes. Audience Interactions. Pictures. Hand Outs. “Practice Man. Practice!” *

Now, you may be thinking, “OK, I practice. I do my presentation in the mirror before the day! What do you want of me?”

A lot more, actually. That’s not practice. That’s rehearsal.

Practice is when you take time to work on the art, in the long-term effort to raise your skills to a new level.

Aspects of the Art of Communication that benefit from regular practice:

What about different ways of Laying out an Agenda? A List. A set of Proper Names (of people who epitomize a concept…)? A Series of Images?

Transitions: As a slow stroll across the bridge, or a rapid fire “Next!” or perhaps with an instruction, “Turn to Page 36!”

Setting Up/Breaking Down: You may have to Wrangle the Furniture, the Place Settings, the Pens, Pads, Name Tags, Table Placement, Visuals, Electronics, Overall Positioning, Food, etc. That “Multi-Tool” in your pocket doesn’t get there without your awareness of the need in advance.

The Multitudinous Variety of ways to answer a question “apparently extemporaneously.” “She looked so calm, but she handled that Press Cross Examination as if they sent their questions in advance…”

Gestures: What added power can you bring to the presentation if you create stylized gestures to go with key points? If you don’t rehearse, (or practice…) nothing will reveal itself. But with Practice, ahh — there the magic resides!

Vocal Modulation: What if you gave a month to the task of mastering your entire vocal range? Louder (but not shrill) when some drama is required, and softer when you want them leaning in… Without practice, you won’t know where those particular ranges have hidden themselves.

Pauses… Yeah.  They need practice.  When you stop talking, the audience looks at you, then wonders, then goes back to the previous point — and that’s when you scoop them back up and continue! They know they’re in the hands of a Pro. But only practice will tell you how long is long enough.

Toys and Tools: The right toy, tool or prop can change a presentation from a great yawn to a Great Triumph.  But you’ve got to think of it, locate it, obtain it, practice with it, and be able to put it down apparently without conscious effort, without losing track of your material — all while keeping the audience focused.  Practice!

Closing the Deal: With a Question? A Calendar? A Price?

Concluding the Presentation: With a reference “over your shoulder” back to the opening? With a Standard Phrase, “So with that in mind, I Thank You!” “That’s it, friends!”

Fusion: Pulling all the parts together into perfect alignment. If the pieces don’t fit together, the “Landing” is left to Chance. Endless Practice is the force that machines the components into a seamless Gestalt.

It’s so much more complex than it may appear.  When you can do all of this effortlessly, you might say that you’ve “planted the field.”

Practice is the unseen manifestation of your intention to Master Your Art.

—

* From a jazz musician’s joke from the Fifties:

An elderly couple were lost in Manhattan. They noted a young man coming toward them on the street.

He was cool. He was hip, snapping his finger in time to a beat only he could hear. His beret was at a rakish angle.

The old man said, “Excuse me son. How do we get to Carnegie Hall?”

The man snapped his fingers and said, “Practice, Man! Practice!”