Wink: Transforming Public Speaking with Clown Presence: Introduction

Imagine the best presentation you’ve ever seen. Really replay it in your mind. Visualize how the presenter had you completely engaged from intro to conclusion. Consider the elements of the presentation that really nailed you, the elements that made you scoot forward in your chair, and the elements that brought a tear to your eye and made your breath catch. Consider the elements that made you want to listen, understand, and maybe even have a drink with the presenter, even if you disagreed with what they had to say.

Those elements attracted you because that presenter created an authentic, dynamic connection with your in-the-moment needs as an audience member. Even though the presenter was the only person speaking, that presentation had turned into a conversation. As an audience member, you felt heard. You felt seen. You felt validated. I call the magic that the presenter used to awaken that feeling Clown Presence. I’ve successfully used this magic to emotionally and effectively engage audiences of thousands for over two decades at diverse venues ranging from international corporate conferences to Toastmasters speaking championships to circus big tops. This book will teach you how to bring this magic to your presentations.

Clown Presence is not what you think. We’re not talking about the floppy-shoed, red-nosed, potentially creepy character you may recognize from pop culture. Clown Presence is a heightened, specific state of being, unique to you. Clown Presence springs from courageous vulnerability, confident authenticity, and the joy of connection. Clown Presence will bring about deeper communication and a more authentic connection with your presentation audiences than you’ve ever thought possible. 

Sound Familiar?

Let’s take a random hapless presenter. We’ll call him Kelly. Kelly has to deliver an internal quarterly team update for his superiors in the morning. He already has too much on his plate to even consider adding in authentic audience connection. Already tossing and turning with anxiety the night before, Kelly is terrified of looking foolish in front of the executives and worried about letting down the team. He is desperate to receive validation yet equally desperate to hide that desperation. This is Kelly’s career we’re talking about! Driven to relieve these crippling feelings, he drills his presentation over and over in his mind until it becomes utterly sterile and robotic, eventually editing out every aspect that vaguely portrays his personality. Perhaps Kelly has consumed hours of public speaking books and classes, hoping that impersonal techniques and manipulative hacks will bring success.

Once the fateful presentation finally begins, our presenter does his best to simply disappear behind his content, ignoring his audience completely while at the same time praying they won’t find fault with his message. Or maybe he takes the opposite tack, desperately trying to win validation, making bad jokes, and frantically trying to engage his disconnected and eventually repulsed audience. This book is here to save Kelly from these problems!

Who This Book Is For

If you’ve had some basic presenting experience but want to get better, this book is for you. Perhaps, like Kelly, your job requires you to give quarterly updates, or maybe your volunteer position asks for an annual speech, or perhaps your friend wants you to lead a toast at their wedding. Whatever the case, these upcoming presentations are keeping you up at night. Maybe you’ve taken some public speaking courses, watched some public speaking videos, or read some public speaking books. You may have even hired a public speaking coach, asking for tough feedback because, hey, you can take it! 

This book is different. Clown Presence is a complete change in mindset. The elements of Clown are not tactical techniques or persuasive hacks to allow you to manipulate your audience into accepting your argument more efficiently. This book explains how to attain a complete paradigm shift in your public speaking, beginning by building the faith that you already have what you need to connect with your audience successfully. You just need to uncover it. 

The Five P’s of Clown Presence

To enable this discovery, I’ve organized the elements of Clown Presence as they apply to public speaking into the five P’s: Personal Confidence, Preparation, Partnership, (im)Perfection, and Play. The best presentations are built on a foundation of Personal Confidence in yourself as a presenter. You reinforce that confidence through rigorous Preparation. Confident and prepared, you can go before your audience and develop an authentic Partnership with them.

Once your presentation begins, you will find yourself effortlessly moving from point to point, skillfully incorporating (im)Perfection in a way that supports your message, all while staying in courageously vulnerable connection with your audience. You will find yourself actually enjoying this real-time conversation with your audience, as will they, because you have begun to add elements of Play. “You versus them” will disappear and you will find that you are all working together towards a mutually created understanding of your message.

Now Is the Time

This transformative shift is now more critical than ever. As more and more public speakers are caught in dishonesty and manipulation, we are desperate for truth. Disposable social media and fake news have created an inauthentic and untrustworthy environment that desperately needs authentic and honest communication. Nothing less than a profound shift in the value of authenticity will save our public discourse. Right now, we have the opportunity to make communication more trustworthy, powerful, and effective, one presentation at a time.

And on top of that, as communication progressively shifts to the virtual medium and more work becomes hybrid, authentic communication is becoming even more challenging. These Clown elements will enable greater authenticity and effectiveness in the world of virtual presentations as well.

Our goal here is to uncover these elements of Clown Presence in your public speaking. You will transform into a more effective and joyful communicator, utilizing courageous vulnerability that’s authentic, not manipulative. You will embody and use the transformative power of Clown Presence to more deeply connect with your audience and more successfully communicate your message.

Interested? Learn to use the power of Clown Presence to more deeply connect with your audience and more successfully communicate your message with Wink: Transforming Public Speaking with Clown Presence. Begin your public speaking transformation now! Book available here.