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Creating Group Rapport
Public speaking is hard. I remember starting out in this business, a business which necessitates a fair amount of public speaking, and before each big seminar I'd give, I would have huge anxiety for over a week prior to the event. My family would avoid me, even the dog knew not to interrupt me. Gearing up for events was chaotic and intense and only lead to a huge let down after the event (despite the event's success) because it was a huge release of energy.
Public speaking is hard. I remember starting out in this business, a business which necessitates a fair amount of public speaking, and before each big seminar I’d give, I would have huge anxiety for over a week prior to the event. My family would avoid me, even the dog knew not to interrupt me. Gearing up for events was chaotic and intense and only lead to a huge let down after the event (despite the event’s success) because it was a huge release of energy.
I (obviously) have become incredibly comfortable with public speaking. I love it. And the more I grew assured and confident in my effect on people, the smaller the build up and let down before and after events.
One that I use very regularly will help you form a group bond and a group rapport. I imagine a shovel, a big snow shovel, a great big wide thing, as wide as the audience, and it sits in the back of the room. The shovel starts just over the top of the heads of my audience and then it curves back around.
In my imaginings, I’m drawing energy through my feet and projecting it out through my eyes laying it gently over the top of the audience, like a blanket resting on their heads.
At the back of the room, the snow shovel catches this blanket of energy, whips it around as it comes to my feet, and hits a box which I imagine is sitting in front of me. I consider this box to be a filter.
I’m bringing in everybody’s energy, and this filter eliminates the negativity. I never want to take on all that myself, unfiltered. So I see the energy come back, and as see it coming to the box. As it hit the box, it becomes completely clear.
The clear energy comes right up through my feet and out my eyes to the back of the room and starts all over again.
This process starts slowly and builds up speed and intensity until I can simply step aside and watch it moving faster and faster.
This energy has a life of its own. As I give presentations I let this go the whole time.
When I do trainings of 250, 300 people or more, it bonds the group like nothing I have ever seen.
Could this bonding be the language I use? Could it be the suggestions I make? Could it be that we’re all working together and having fun? Yes. Absolutely. It could be all those things. But I think this adds dramatically to what I do.
When you’re working with a big group, consider this to be another construct you can use.