When my wife and I can’t find a good show or movie on Netflix, our next best alternative is to find a stand-up comedy act. It’s one of our favorites things to watch together. Our personal favorites include Angela Johnson, Brian Regan, and Jim Gaffigan. On that note, take a look at the illustration below. All are comedians. But all have their own style and persona. More importantly, they all have a unique point of view.
As a presenter, you need to do the same. You need to develop a narrow focus and get your own point of view by developing your own perspective and opinion on life and the world around you.
Here are 3 suggestions to get you headed in the right direction:
1. Dedicate the Time
For anyone that know me very well, they know I’m a triathlete, but they also know ice hockey is my favorite sport. For months, I had a terrible slap shot. Let’s just say, I’m glad you could hardly identify me with my helmet and mask. It was ugly. However, I wanted to get better so I kept showing up. I kept swinging and eventually the puck started to lift off the ground. Eventually, it started to hit the net. In his book, Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell discusses the “10,000-Hour-Rule” which claims the key to success is spending 10,000 hours on a specific task. In the case of hockey, I needed to practice 10,000 hours to make every goalie fear me. In other words, if you want to be the expert, you must be willing to put in the hours.
2. Find Your Authentic Voice
My father worked for Anthony Robbins during the latter part of his career so let’s just say that success modeling was a big part of my life. I love finding people who have done amazing things and studying how they accomplished so much. It’s always intriguing to discover how they decoded the art of mastery. Now, it’s great to model but it is dangerous to copy. Taking inspiration from another person is empowering, but becoming a “me too” of that individual is deadly. So, I’ll leave you with this: it’s better to be a collection of many than a duplicate of another.
3. Fail and Fail Again
I love failure. Seriously. I absolutely love it. It is what makes us human. More importantly, it is what makes us better humans – if we learn from our failures and mistakes. There is nothing “overnight” about having a platform so use every day to learn and fall flat on your face. Just make sure you choose to get up again. So, fail hard and fail fast. It’s going to take an abundance of trial and error experimenting with visuals, gestures, and speaking styles that are unique to you and that is perfectly okay. Fail. And, do it again. Fail a lot.
Put in the time. Find your authentic voice. And, don’t be afraid to fail. If you are willing to do those items, you are on the right path to developing your own point of view.
