No, I don't mean the paid engagements to speak for clients, like I am always looking to land.

I mean the fact that by engaging with your audience, you engage them. That's no matter who your audience is: employees, peers, customers, recruits, community members, vendors and suppliers. The list goes on.

A number of factors contribute to your presentations' power to engage.

Today I'd like to share the one I believe is fundamental to all the rest: comfort.

The more comfortable (and confident) you are when presenting any kind of idea or information, the more performance pleasure you generate. And presenting, whether one-to-one across a desk or from a platform to hundreds, is performance.

That performance pleasure stimulates audience engagement. They more readily look and listen, and that allows them to know there must be something to what you're saying.

The more positive your self-consciousness, the greater your comfort. The less positive that self-consciousness, the weaker your comfort.

Here's a proven test: the Mirror Exercise.

Sit or stand in front of a mirror. Your challenge is to commune with yourself for three minutes. Speak or remain silent, but maintain the connection. ....... If you commune with yourself like this for five minutes a day, you will learn to listen to yourself--because you won't be able to tolerate this exercise without solving the challenge of how to be comfortable with yourself. And then you can easily transfer this comfort with yourself to groups. (Be Heard Now, Lee Glickstein).

I encourage you to try it, not one time but 5 times. 5 days in a row. 5 minutes each day. Notice the difference in yourself.

I'm currently developing a workshop tentatively titled: Business Presentations that Engage: Just the How-to's. Keep your eye out for more information.

Or, of course, e-mail me ("Presentations" in the subject line) if you can't wait to know more.