"We'll figure it out tomorrow, Mike. See you in the morning!"

The CEO whistled as he walked toward the bar the night before the big presentation. This leader was believing the first myth about stage presence. He was relying on his outgoing personality to succeed.

I’d seen this before. As Producer of this conference, this certainly made my job easier; one less rehearsal to schedule. But I also knew it would cost him.

The next morning

A little worse for wear from the night before, the CEO rushed into the ballroom, just in time to get mic'ed up and head onto the stage. And as he pontificated and postulated to the audience, he was met with glassy stares and glances at phones. There were also a few snickers (but not the good kind). He didn't notice, and maybe he didn't care, but he was bombing.

By the nature of his position in the company, he was a leader. But not that morning, not on that stage. And when it came to future influence with the people in that audience, he dealt himself a blow. They wouldn't look at him the same way again. Believing the myth hurt everyone involved.

A blind spot

Stage presence is the ability to use your body and voice to get results when speaking or presenting. Stage presence doesn't need a stage; presence is necessary any time you speak, in front of any size audience, with our without PowerPoint. And it has surprisingly little to do with whether you’re an extrovert.

For many leaders, stage presence is a blind spot. Because they are successful in other areas, they assume they have this ability, too. Perhaps that’s you. It's even harder to discern because your team may pretend you’re a good presenter, when in reality you’re boring them to tears (inside tears.) If you have an outgoing personality, it’s very easy to miss this.

Why is this dangerous?

Being naturally gregarious can actually be a hindrance to presentation effectiveness. People who are the life of the party often depend on that skill when they walk on stage. It doesn’t work. Why? Because "holding court" during cocktail hour is very different from communicating content to a skeptical audience.

The temptation to depend on an outgoing personality is huge. If you're an extrovert, it takes a lot of discipline to know when to reign in the charisma to let the content be the king instead of you.

So what do you do about it?

Here’s how to succeed

1. Have a plan. Don’t wing it. Respect your audience enough to define—ahead of time—what you want to get from the presentation, what the audience needs, and how to accomplish both.

2. Prepare more than you want. It never hurts to practice. Repeat; it never hurts to practice. Don’t worry about losing your spontaneity. Improvisation rides on top of preparation.

3. Reign it in. Just a bit. You’re blessed with a magnetic personality. Use it! But connect it to your audience’s needs. Watch them, and adjust for effectiveness.

4. Learn some techniques. Not too many. Just enough to focus your strengths.

First, Lead.

If you’ve been blessed with an outgoing personality, good for you! That’s power for presenting. But with great power comes great responsibility. Make sure you plan for success. Spend the time developing the presentable you.

Mike Vayda has been helping leaders become great presenters for over 30 years. Learn more at PresentableU.com.

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