How to entertain an audience in a time of personal turmoil
Have you ever been hit by an emotional boulder? Maybe you just got a disturbing phone call from a family member, had a fight with your significant other or a business emergency that shakes your emotional foundation like a southern California earthquake. You need some time to process and recover, right?
What happens if you don’t have the luxury of time?
You are required to speak in front of an audience in moments; they have expectations, and you have turmoil. The countdown to your presentation is on, what do you do?
Consider this your media emergency preparedness kit. I utilized these three steps myself recently, and I consider it a responsibility to share them. Realistically, at some point, we will each have to speak, present or participate in an interview when we feel like it the least. Having a method of quick emotional reset can save your opportunity and keep your bad day from going over the cliff completely.
1. Call your support. Immediately, make a phone call. Be it a trusted friend mentor or coach, make sure that this is a supportive, positive person in your life. If the first person you call is not available, do not put the phone down! Call another, instantly. You are pulling yourself out of the emotional waters right now, and you just need a hand to get into the boat… call until you find the available hand. You are not calling to vent or open the floodgates (you may already be at that emotional point); you are calling to get consolation and encouragement in the moment. Have them tell you that you can handle this situation after your presentation.
2. Do it for them. Mindset change…it’s about them, not you. You are there to serve this audience… it may be a live audience, a boardroom or a television audience, but you have been called to this opportunity to serve in some way. You have an obligation to share your message and better the lives of others. By focusing on giving instead what is happening to you, you will find that you have a better handle on the moment at hand.
3. Make an appointment to feel bad later. Remember how you could continue to play once the Snoopy Band Aid was applied to your scraped knee? It hurt less, but it still needed to be treated properly and given time to heal. The steps above are like the temporary bandage and are not meant to eliminate or diminish the value of the proper handling of an emotional issue. Make an appointment with yourself after the presentation to allow time to deal with the offending situation in a healthy way. This is your mental health and this appointment is very important!
You can still make good on a bad day!
Sandra Dee Robinson has spent all of her adult life in front of a camera: initially an actor (including major roles on Another World, Sunset Beach, Bold and the Beautiful, General Hospital, Days of Our Lives, guest star on Two and a Half Men, Criminal Minds, Secret Life of an American Teenager and TV movies). She sidelines acting with TV hosting and being a product spokesperson. For the past several years, Sandra has been coaching entertainment reporters and television hosts and she founded Charisma on Camera media training studio to expand her clientele to professionals in any field. She currently assists authors, life coaches, politicians, actors, and business professionals who want to build confidence in the telling of their message and/or they are preparing to utilize TV or Web as a platform to establish themselves as an expert guest, or even host their own show. Sandra loves finding the unique quality in each individual that can magnetize an audience, and watching her clients’ confidence on camera soar as they polish their personal brand for increased recognition and success.