With the first 'Voice of Influence Course' of 2007 coming up Judy and John reflect on the previous VOI course at the end of 2006. John couldn't be there for the last one and I was wondering what Judy herself gets out of running such a course. She clearly has a passion for it and came buzzing out of the last one...

John: So Judy, let’s talk about your Voice of Influence course. You ran one back in October?

Judy: That’s right

John: So what struck you? What were the main things that came out of running that course?

Judy: Well I’ll tell you what I really really loved to see …and that’s that the people who come on these courses are very different, and I suppose people are used to being directed into what consists of good presentation and what’s not so good. But what happened with this group of people who were all very different is that by the end of the second day, they each presented to the whole group and each one was entirely different but just amazing in their own way. And the transformation – I mean, I’ve been doing this thing for a long time – but the transformation to me is always just breath-taking.

To see what we manage when we just step into knowing we can being ourselves, and getting a sense of what that means. Not just the self consciousness of, ‘oh, it’s just little old me’, and the self consciousness of ‘oh dear, what am I going to next?’ but stepping into who we are, and then other people getting a sense of that, and how powerful that can be in so many different ways. Some people are loud and in your face and other people are very measured and still. But each one has a strong impact because all cylinders are running in the same direction.

John: So what is it about that impact?. I mean, what struck you when you were sitting there listening to those final presentations? You’ve got this huge range, this diversity of how people are presenting themselves, but what is it about the connection that people make when they’re just being themselves?

Judy: It is something extraordinary. We like to think its’ the content of our presentations and the content of our words that is the important thing … and of course it is really important what we have to say, and if we haven’t got anything to say it’s not worth speaking. But it is the spirit behind what we say and how it comes from us that actually moves an audience. By making an impact we mean that in some way it moves people. And that was what happened. People were really stirred by what was said in these different ways. Sometimes they were stirred into laughter! And sometimes they were stirred into silence, where you can hear a pin drop. And it is actually that which creates the impact on our audience. Because we’re all very curious human beings and we all love to see other people acting from within their own power

John: So in your experience of doing this for many many years …

Judy: Hey not too much of the many many if you don’t mind …

John: So … in your vast experience! (Judy: thank you!) what are the kind of things that get in people’s way of achieving what they want to achieve in presentation?

Judy: Well, I think a lot of it can be summed up in self consciousness actually. There are many different ways in which people are self conscious. I mean, one way is that they get so tied up with everything that is not working for them – aware of their skin colour rising and aware of the fact that their throat’s getting dry and so on. So self consciousness can be fear. But there is also the self consciousness of somebody speaking within their role – you know, being so conscious that I’m the Chief Exec. or I’m the leader here, which also gets in the way of their having real impact, because other people are always aware at some level that they’re acting a role. So however loudly and clearly and confidently they speak, it doesn’t really have a big impact. It’s a funny thing that.

John: It’s almost like they’ve forgotten they are a fellow human being speaking to fellow human beings?

Judy: Yes, I love life’s paradoxes. And one of the paradoxes of life is that when you accept who you are, - and you might think, well, that’s just ordinary me - that’s the time when you are most powerful. And it isn’t an invention: it works that way every time. And that’s what I saw again at the course: how people are so grabbed by someone who can be themselves in front of an audience. Not an easy thing to do actually, and we all act parts when we are with other people. And it’s the people who are at ease in their skin who we tend to admire. because it’s a great way to be, but not something you tend to have from the age of about four to the age of 90. So there’s the time before you’re five when you’re not self conscious and then you spend most of your waking life being a bit self conscious!

John: But what is it about those under five year olds? For I often think that a lot of this training we do, it’s almost like we’re revisiting the innocence of what it’s like to be a five year old in that place of discovery. But what is it, in terms of presentation and how you come across, about that under 5 year old which is missing, or we lose track of when we get older?

Judy: When I talked about all cylinders going, it’s the energy. When none of your energy is dissipated into worrying about what might happen, or maintaining your sense of what you should be, or creating the impression you want to create: when your energy is just going into communicating what you want to communicate, being who you are, it’s about a hundred times as strong. And of course that’s why we can’t take our eyes off a small child who is communicating, because they are so blissfully unaware of how is my presence impacting here, or am I feeling shy, they are just doing them. And it’s a really exciting thing to watch and listen to. It’s like when a four year old does a painting – they just go at it. And then people put a four year old’s painting on the wall, and an expert comes and thinks it’s been done by Picasso, because of the sheer energy.

John: So what are you particularly looking forward to in the next Voice of Influence Course?

Judy: Well, I’m looking forward to creating something new, because – and actually, I suppose that that is a presentation skill in itself – but people who present skilfully, each time create something that is new. And that is what I enjoy when I go for a new session. For that surely won’t be like the last one. I’ve got my plan. I’ve got my structure. People know what they’re going to be doing. But a group of people makes it what it is and each one evolves in a new way. And that makes it for ever exciting and for ever new. I’m looking forward to meeting the new people and seeing who they are and where they come from and what they want to get out of it. And then co-creating it to make it happen.

John: Fantastic. Well, I’ll definitely be there, and I’m looking forward to it. 

Judy: Me too!