Gain confidence in yourself before presentation: 17 motivational videos to make you feel right
Give more to your audience that they have any right to expect.
Tony Robinson
All we know that fear before a presentation. Terrible, isn’t it? What have we to do? How can we defeat this enemy? We can’t, or more precisely we shouldn’t. What we should do is to let our fear become our strength. Fear gives us a stimulus to become a better presenter, pay more attention to details and make our presentation astonishing.
One step to feel more confident before the presentation is to look at inspiring presenters and motivational speeches. It gives you awesome background. It takes you in the atmosphere and engages to do the same thing.
And the first obvious source for searching such videos is TED.com. So here they are — best motivational TED talks that will help get you pumped up.
Body language affects how others see us, but it may also change how we see ourselves. Social psychologist Amy Cuddy shows how “power posing” — standing in a posture of confidence, even when we don’t feel confident — can affect testosterone and cortisol levels in the brain, and might even have an impact on our chances for success.
“… don’t fake it till you make it. Fake it till you become it. Do it enough until you actually become it and internalize”
2. Julian Treasure — “How to speak so that people want to listen”
From some handy vocal exercises to tips on how to speak with empathy — this talk that might help the world sound more beautiful.
“ There are four really powerful cornerstones, foundations, that we can stand on if we want our speech to be powerful and to make change in the world. Fortunately, these things spell a word. The word is “hail…The H is honesty…The A is authenticity…The I is integrity…And the L is love”
3. Dan Pink: “The Puzzle of Motivation”
Career analyst Dan Pink examines the puzzle of motivation, starting with a fact that social scientists know but most managers don’t: Traditional rewards aren’t always as effective as we think.
“The secret to high performance isn’t rewards and punishments, but that unseen intrinsic drive — the drive to do things for their own sake. The drive to do things because they matter.”
4. Simon Sinek “How great leaders inspire action”
Start with a golden circle and the question “Why?” and only then move to “how?” and “what?”.
“Why? How? What? This little idea explains why some organizations and some leaders are able to inspire where others aren’t.”
5. Brené Brown The power of vulnerability
Brené Brown shares a deep insight from her research, one that sent her on a personal quest to know herself as well as to understand humanity.
“There was only one variable that separated the people who have a strong sense of love and belonging and the people who really struggle for it. And that was, the people who have a strong sense of love and belonging believe they’re worthy of love and belonging. That’s it. They believe they’re worthy. ”
And now it’s time for commencement speeches. Watch them, learn from them, engage yourself.
1. Steve Jobs: “How to Live Before You Die”
This speech has more than 24 million views and needs no introduction.
“ You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backward. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future.”
“Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don’t lose faith. I’m convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You’ve got to find what you love.”
“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice.”
2. David Foster Wallace: “This Is Water”
See the bigger picture.
“There are these two young fish swimming along and they happen to meet an older fish swimming the other way, who nods at them and says “Morning, boys. How’s the water?” And the two young fish swim on for a bit, and then eventually one of them looks over at the other and goes “What the hell is water?”
“That is real freedom. That is being educated, and understanding how to think. The alternative is unconsciousness, the default setting, the rat race, the constant gnawing sense of having had, and lost, some infinite thing”
3. J.K. Rowling: “The Fringe Benefits of Failure, and the Importance of Imagination”
J.K. Rowling tells us that failure and imagination can be crucial to success.
“Failure meant a stripping away of the inessential. I stopped pretending to myself that I was anything other than what I was, and began to direct all my energy into finishing the only work that mattered to me. ”
“We do not need magic to change the world, we carry all the power we need inside ourselves already: we have the power to imagine better.”
4. Ellen DeGeneres: Tulane University Commencement Speech
Two key themes of DeGeneres’ speech: overcoming adversity and being true to yourself.
“I found out what the most important thing is, is to be true to yourself. Ultimately, that’s what’s gotten me to this place. I don’t live in fear, I’m free; I have no secrets and I know I’ll always be ok, because no matter what, I know who I am. ”
5. Denzel Washington: “Fall Forward”
“First, you will fail at some point in your life. Accept it. You will lose. You will embarrass yourself. You will suck at something. There is no doubt about it.”
“…my second point about failure, if you don’t fail, you’re not even trying.”
“…my last point about failure, sometimes it’s the best way to figure out where you’re going. Your life will never be a straight path”
“…taking a risk is not just about going for a job. It’s also about knowing what you know and what you don’t know. It’s about being open to people and ideas.”
6. Jim Carrey: Maharishi University of Management commencement speech
Jim Carrey is such a good example of his message. Carrey’s father lost his accounting job when he was 12, and it was then he realized that failure is inevitable, whether you’re doing what you want or not.
“So many of us choose our path out of fear disguised as practicality. My father could have been a great comedian, but he didn’t believe that that was possible for him, and so he made a conservative choice. Instead, he got a safe job as an account.”
And if you still not motivated and don’t believe in yourself — watch these speeches from films we all know and love.
1. Will Smith: Speech from The Pursuit of Happyness
“Don’t ever let somebody tell you … you can’t do something. Not even me. All right? You got a dream. You gotta protect it. People can’t do something themselves, they want to tell you can’t do it. If you want something, go get it. Period.”
2. Sylvester Stallone: Speech from Rocky Balboa
“The world ain’t all sunshine and rainbows. It’s a very mean and nasty place, and I don’t care how tough you are, it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain’t about how hard you hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward. That’s how winning is done!”
2.Frank Oz/Yoda: Speech from The Empire Strikes Back
“Do, or do not. There is no try.”
3. Mel Gibson/William Wallace: Speech From the Battle of Stirling Bridge
“And dying in your beds many years from now, would you be willing to trade all the days from this day to that for one chance, just one chance to come back here and tell our enemies that they may take our lives, but they’ll never take our freedom!”
“We’re in hell right now, gentlemen, believe me. And we can stay here and get the $&@# kicked out of us, or we can fight our way back into the light. We can climb out of hell, one inch at a time.”
And the last but not least the most motivational speech you can watch is… yours! Record yourself and you’ll see pros and cons of your speech. So take the chance and improve it! Yes, that not a common way to motivate you but try it and you’ll gain a lot of benefits. Be inspired! Be rock-star presenter! Because you already are. Unlock your potential!
P.S. Are you ready to rock? Yes? Go to Presentain and share your passion with your audience!
