Hi, welcome to 5 Minute Speech Coach, an audio course to help anyone get better at public speaking.
Before we go any further, let’s take 3 deep breaths together. Try to breathe from your stomach as much as you can.
Ready? Okay. [3 deep breathes]
Today’s lesson is about the A in the GAPE system: Anchor. Or, that is, setting an anchor.
Last week, you spent some time thinking about your Goal -- or, why are you even having this conversation? What do you want to get out of it, your destination for this conversation.
Your anchor is like the compass in this conversation, something that will always point you towards your destination or your goall, even if you get overwhelmed, off track, or confused (which are all feelings I feel regularly when doing any kind of public speaking).
Armies call the anchor “the commander’s intent,” PR people call it your “core message” and Adrienne Maree Brown talks about it as the “one conversation that can ONLY happen in this room”. Whatever you call it, think of your Anchor as the single piece of information you need in order to get yourself back on track: it’s something simple, easy to remember, and that you can return to without a lot of
[Here’s a story about anchors] -- how diff from goal?It’s just a matter of sitting with that deep truth, listening to it, and thinking about how best to get it across.
There are also some great tools and reading in the show notes for thinking more about Anchors, and building in the time and space that is needed to make them happen.
If you chose a topic that’s important to you, and set a goal for this conversation, it’s likely that you already know what your compass for this conversation, and that’s why it’s so important to you.
So, here’s your exercise. The next few 1-2 minutes of this audio are silent, and if you can, try to spend those minutes breathing and thinking about your anchor. Try to take your time and try not to judge or criticize yourself as you work through this
Okay. Here’s my question:
What is the one thing, if you could say nothing else, that you want to get across to the other person in this conversation? How do you want that information to make them to feel?
The answer is your anchor.
As you can tell from my story, your anchor isn’t just one thing, and you;ll probably improve on it over and over again as you think about it. What matters most is not that it’s the same words, or that you memorize it. In fact, if you’re trying to memorize it, that probably means your anchor is a little too complicated or will be hard to return to when you’re off track,overwhelmed, or dealing with a fight or flight or emotional response.
When we start to practice, like we’ll do in the next session, we’ll practice saying your anchor out loud as much as we will practice dredging it up in times of crisis, using it as a guiding force even when you’re feeling lost.
Nice job! If you listened to this audio, you’re making a lot of space to do something uncomfortable. That’s really hard, but it will make such a difference in your public speaking.
Have a wonderful day, and talk to you in our next, most practical session: practice.
