A few weeks ago I was on the Ft. Lauderdale Water Taxi with my wife and some of our friends. On the outbound trip our tour guide seemed like he had no interest in being there and talking to the group. He totally mailed in his performance and everybody zoned out, which is a shame because it’s a pretty cool tour with a lot of interesting information.

However, on the trip back in to port, we had a different tour guide and she was awesome. She was funny, she was interactive and she really enhanced everyone’s experience. People were engaged and asking questions. It made for a completely different ride and, oh by the way, she made way more tips.

What’s the point of this story? Every single time you present, even if it’s the same speech you’ve given 100 times, it’s a new audience and they deserve your “A” game. Your audience will only get as excited about your presentation as you are to give it, so you need to give them something to be excited about.

The best way to keep a performance fresh is to change the way you perform it. Use different adjectives, experiment with vocal inflection, move around the stage in a new way. Mix things up to keep it fresh for you, and your audience. You think Billy Joel likes singing Piano Man every night? I’m guessing no, but he does it for the crowd. Every time I’ve seen him sing it live he changes it up a bit, and the crowd goes wild.

You want to strive to make a positive impact on each and every person who hears you speak (or sing), even if that’s not possible. So bring your best stuff, and be memorable!

To chat more about public speaking and media coaching, just contact me here.

Have a great day!

Dave