How to be an introvert and still feel comfortable speaking in public

One of my training guests presented with a disarmingly frank assessment of his guarded nature: He deliberately avoided jobs that required him to speak in public. Yet he had risen to a level of seniority in his back office position where this had become unavoidable.

I was a tad apprehensive before he arrived at our studio, expecting him to be disinterested, even defensive. He turned out to be affable enough during the conceptual interactive workshop, but the real test was going to come during the on-camera practise.

He ended up performing above all expectations, in large part because even as an introvert he was able to stay in his comfort zone and apply himself well, resulting in an excellent interview.

His CliftonStrengths report held the answers.

CLIFTONSTRENGTHS ASSESSMENT

In his top 5 talents were no influencing Talent Themes at all. Moreover, he excelled in Talents usually associated with introspection. These are extremely useful in that he is more thoughtful and considered, and while he takes longer to decide how he would approach certain audience questions, the answers he gave were better than everybody else’s.

One of the reasons for this is a talent called #Consistency. People exceptionally talented in #Consistency are fair beyond reproach. They see to it that everybody is treated exactly the same, and that there are no favourites being played. One of the additional traits of #Consistency is a love for process and procedure, on the basis of which this just and fair outcome can be achieved.

My job as his presentation coach was to help him apply this love for process and procedure to presenting and public speaking. The reason why his presentation turned out to be so well structured and delivered was simply because he was following the process we teach our workshops.

He didn’t need to be bombastic, or to think on his feet. He took a little longer to prepare his messages, but then delivered them like clockwork.