18 Feb proper presentation pressure: under-inflated; post #5, upstaging our message
Historically, audiences used to be seated on flat ground and the theater’s stage was “raked” on an incline. Downstage was closest to the audience, upstage further away. To “upstage” someone has come to mean that I divert attention away from someone when the focus should be on them.
When presenting or speaking it is only natural to have the audience focus on us for much of the presentation. But can we upstage the message?
Before I answer, consider this recap: I have come to discover that presenting/speaking can be similar to tires in that both can become over-inflated or under-inflated often resulting in a negative impact.
Examples of how a Speaker may over-inflate our presentation, a misguided attitude, includes:
K.I.S.S. https://shawnritchey.com/rethinking-k-i-s-s/
Forgetting the Value of 1. https://shawnritchey.com/forgetting-the-value-of-1/
The Improv Myth. https://shawnritchey.com/proper-presentation-pressure-post-3-the-improv-myth/
Under-inflating our presentation usually happens through misguided actions by the Speaker.
Movement without purpose often distracts the audience, thereby under-inflating the impact/potency of the presentation; ergo,
Movement is Good, Unless it’s Not. https://shawnritchey.com/proper-presentation-pressure-post-4-assessing-for-under-inflation-when-speaking/
So, back to my original question: can we upstage our own message? Absolutely. Consider what can happen when showing a video. A video, as part of a presentation, may be a great addition to convey important parts of the overall message. But I can easily under-inflate the impact of the video message when I don’t watch the video with the same focused interest I hope each audience member is. If I show little interest in the video, the audience will conclude that it’s not important and dismiss it themselves. My misguided actions have upstaged/diverted attention away from the message in the video. Likewise, if I am co-presenting with someone and they are speaking, that is not the time to check my phone! But more subtly than phone checking is if I don’t consciously direct my focus toward my Co-Presenter while he or she is speaking. Finally, coming back to the original understanding of downstage/upstage, if both Presenters are conversing together, stay on the same plain as the other. Otherwise, we risk upstaging the person and the message.
Shawn Ritchey L.I.V.E. is available as a One-on-One consultant for proper pressure of your presentations. Let me know how I can help. https://shawnritchey.com/contact/
This article was featured on OneAccord site: https://www.oneaccord.co/blog/great-presentations-upstaging-the-message?hs_preview=sSjVwFbV-41387953350
Shawn Ritchey L.I.V.E. can bring Corporate Storytelling to equip and inspire your organization with separate themes or to reinforce your message. https://shawnritchey.com/corporate-storyteller/
Shawn Ritchey L.I.V.E. as an Inspirational Storyteller offers seasonal or theme based monologues. https://shawnritchey.com/storyteller/