The Power of Enthusiasm and the Value of Intrigue

It is easy to underestimate the importance of enthusiasm when it comes to laying out your story to an audience. Once you and your communications coach have developed the key points of your message and synthesised the story, you must find the vitality within your performance that will grip an audience and retain their attention.

Eager Enthusiasm

Enthusiasm is infectious. Think about the last time you recommended a great restaurant to a friend - What was the impulse you had to speak so vehemently? Chances are, you were remembering the joyful experience you had and were eager for your friend to share in that joy. In those moments we are flooded with memories and rapidly persuasive as every taste and sensation returns to our thoughts. Your presentation should share the same energy; you want to be an informed advocate for your products and services - evangelical about sharing your message.

Excitement can be summoned from a variety of sources and there are several steps you can take with your communications coach to build that level of enthusiasm when you take to the stage ahead of your pitch. Centering yourself with a measured focus on your breathing will set you up for success. Strong breath will give you command of your body, allowing you more freedom of expression. Projecting this strong image of purpose and control will draw the listener to you.

Ultimately, you need to have a genuine passion for the story you are sharing. This can be tough to fabricate if these ideas have been with you for years but it is important to find the nucleus of what drives you to believe in your products or services. This excitement often lies in the origins of the idea. When you first became involved in the project, how did that make you feel? How did the open possibilities move you to action?

Maintaining your Excitement

It is important to demonstrate enthusiasm and excitement as this will make the audience want to hear more of what you have to say. A great way to balance that enthusiasm and maintain the audience’s attention is to introduce a level of intrigue to your story.

In film and TV, shows start with a “cold open”; a thrilling opening scene bursting with intrigue and promise. After the cold open, the show will often cut to a more urbane or pedestrian scene. The screenwriter is given grace with a slower interaction because of the intrigue that remains from the opening scene. Within your pitch or presentation, you can use this same technique. Opening with a bold or puzzling proposition, you can hook your audience before moving onto the more ‘expositional’ elements of your pitch. You can declare the wonderful benefits of your products or services; you could state that your new technologies will revolutionise the future of delivery Apps and then return to your narrative; bring the audience back to the humble beginnings of the project.

In Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer, he gives the audience a glimpse of the explosion; a brief snapshot of the movie’s centrepiece, before showing us the young Robert Oppenheimer at the beginning of his exploration into physics. By showing us that fragment of the explosion, his story gains and maintains a natural momentum that keeps our intrigue through the earlier, theoretical years of Oppenheimer’s life.

Balancing your pitch or presentation with this storytelling technique will also help to pace your performance style. It can be hard to enter the stage with a high energy and maintain it for the duration of your story. A common pitfall can be to start at too high a performance level and leave yourself nowhere to go. This can lead to a diminishing pace within your pitch.

Balancing your Performance

Finding levels within your pitch and performance style can be achieved with your communications coach. Audiences respond to variety and you can find that variety within your pace, your energy levels and your physical presence on stage. Within a presentation that is brimming with high octane enthusiasm, you can find powerful moments of stillness and quiet. Using stillness and silence can underscore essential takeaways within your presentation; giving reverence to a particular point.

By opening your presentation with high energy that matches the excitement of your message and then shifting gears to the origin of the excitement will allow you to reset your energy and build to a crescendo once your story reaches its conclusion.