Does your audience feel blessed in your presence? 2

This is about a journey we’re all on. It’s a journey about digging deeper into our goals and dreams and discovering that they aren’t necessarily things. They’re more about a way of being – a way of expressing the divine and our connection with it in our lives. It’s our trip along that journey that helps us connect with our audiences.

Why this topic is important to me now:

Recently, a friend of mine wrote in her blog about not losing the dreams we had when we were younger. Erica Gordon coaches mothers to live their dreams, rather than give up on them once they have children.

I started thinking about dreams I had when I was younger. Had I given up on them? As I thought back to some of my teenaged dreams, I noticed they weren’t about having things. They were about experiences. At one point I wanted to be a ballerina and travel around Europe in a threadbare dance company. That dream didn’t last long, and the next one involved being a Wagnerian opera singer. Although I took voice lessons for many years, with my voice and body type there was no chance of that happening!

One experience in particular stood out. When I was in college, I took a year out to work at an upscale nursing facility and retirement home in San Francisco. It was a large place in a beautiful setting, with many wonderful nurses and other staff members.

One of the nurses was the kind of person who made the room glow when she walked in. Just being in her presence you felt blessed. I could tangibly feel the effect she had, and wanted so much to be like her. But I didn’t know how to be as selfless as she clearly was. She wasn’t interested in showing people how smart she was, or how stylish, or how cool. She didn’t get worked up over everything. All she did was love.

For years I held her up in my mind as a model – at that point an unattainable one. And slowly, the goal of being like her faded from memory, and I continued the long process of learning to be a nicer, gentler, more loving expression of the divine in my own way. It’s a journey that still continues…

Until I read Erica’s blog the other day I hadn’t thought about this nurse in years. But as I relived that time in San Francisco, it naturally tied in with the communications coaching I now do. Consciously or not, that nurse had created an experience for everyone around her – a healing, loving experience that made us all want to be better. Isn’t that what we, as heart-centered speakers, all want to do?

When we speak to others – whether it’s one person or many – they’re not just experiencing our words. In fact, many times our words are the last thing they’re paying attention to. What they’re really experiencing is how we make them feel. And people want to be around people who make them feel better.

Think about that next time you give a presentation of any kind. In addition to the information you plan to impart, what sort of experience will your audience have? How will they experience you? How will they feel in your presence? Will they want more of that experience? How much of your continuing journey are you willing to let them see?

* * *

If you’re interested in learning more about heart-centered communication, click here to schedule a free 15-minute introductory call.