135: MMM Q&A - On Getting the Content Into Your Body

Hey everybody, and welcome to This Moved Me, a podcast about creating talks that move the world. With me, your host, Sally Koering Zimney. Together with some fabulous guests, we will have a casual conversation about the art of public speaking, because a good talk can move the world, and it'll be fun. Yeah, I would think making alien cows meaningful. That's not a small task. I love your giggle. Wow. Oh my gosh, so we're waiting for everybody to figure out the alphabet. Hey Movers, it is the third installment of our Q&A series. I got a bunch of questions from people about what you were struggling with, how I can help, and what you're thinking about as you're trying to build a presentation. And I got a few great questions that I turned into mini Moved Me episodes. The first one was about, it was a Q&A on Q&As. Help, I hate them. How can I make these less miserable for me and for my audience? And ultimately, really, that is about connection and really focusing on your audience. The second Q&A that we did in the series was about editing and editing until it hurts and the discipline of editing and how, again, it will serve your audience if you do it well. And today's Q&A is about an idea that I talk about a lot, but it's kind of, hmm, intangible in a lot of ways. And so the question came, "You talk about getting the content into your body. Sounds nice, but I really don't know what you mean by that. How do I do that?" Hoo-hoo-hoo, this is a good question. So many good questions, and like deep, I like it. So you've probably heard me talk about this a lot in my conversations with people, in interviews I've done on other shows, and I like to say, I mean, I really, I feel like I can see the content moving from your head and like, you know, when somebody is just like running through the content in their head, I feel like I can see it happening up there. I can see their eyes kind of scanning the content up there versus a talk that is embodied, that is integrated into their body. It's not just an idea. Because we are not writers, we are speakers. Speakers take the written word and become it, okay? I mean, you've probably noticed a speaker, right, who, who really just wishes that she was writing it and we were all reading it, right? That, that's not a speaker. That is somebody who's reading something out loud in front of other people. I think we can do better than that. So the process of moving our content from something that's just bouncing around in your head to something that is living in your body takes time, and, and that's pretty much it. You have to give yourself time to let it live in your body, to make that journey. You've got to get out from the creation, content creation mode, from that process, out from behind your computer, out from, you know, hiding behind your desk or talking through the content instead of rehearsing it, or what I call stumbling through the content. You've got to begin to say it on your feet. Use your body as you share your voice, and something really magical happens as the body and the mind mind start working together. They start to really integrate together and they meld. And I don't know, I'm sure there's a scientific explanation for that. I've just seen it happen hundreds of times and it is such a cool process. And the difference between a speaker who speaks from his or her mind versus speaking from their body is huge. And how much time does it take? That is a great question. It of course depends, but here's an anecdote that I think is really illuminating. When Elizabeth Gilbert spoke at one of those big Oprah events, it was a huge deal. She was really honored to be a part of it, and she knew this is a giant stage. Oh, hey. The— my fantasy football score just came in. Ah, hey, I beat the Northern Lakes Spursy Vikings! That's awesome because that's my little brother and he is pretty sure he's gonna totally win this. Hmm, interesting. Okay, how about I turn that off? Okay, let's try that again. So Elizabeth Gilbert was invited by Oprah to come and speak on this huge stage for one of her Super Soul sessions, and she knows this is gonna be seen by millions of people. It goes on her website, you know, thousands of people come and see it live. Like, this is a really big deal. And Elizabeth Gilbert is a writer. She's not a speaker, she's a writer. But yet she's given some of my favorite talks. And here's how she's gone through the process of taking this content that she cherishes and creates and letting it become— come into her body more. So here's what she did. She spent 6 months walking the country roads by her house every single day, saying her talk out loud while she walked. She didn't do like your standard rehearsal process. I don't know, maybe she also did that, but what she said was like, that was the process. That's how, that's how long it took for her to take this content that was in her head and move it down into her body. She invested so much time and energy and commitment to get to know this content so well that it was in her, and that is awesome. Gosh, most of us don't have that much time, do we? I mean, we're not being invited to speak on Oprah's stage, at least not yet anyway. Oprah, I'm here for you, Oprah. Whenever you want me, Oprah, I'll do it. But the thing is, we live things and feel things and communicate with our bodies way more than we do with our words, and I think we all know that. That's why I hate podiums, and I want you to speak with your body. We have to give ourselves time for those words to impact us, because that's what happens. We start to believe it with our bodies and not just our minds. And that takes time, even for something that you really believe in technically up in your head. Believing it with your body That's a different story. Okay, so I hope that helps. Maybe, I don't know, it just takes time and an effort to put the words into your body and move to that more uncomfortable stage. Move beyond the page and the paper and the typing and the writing and get it up on your feet. Because that's the only way for it to transfer from the brain into the body. All right, I hope that's helpful. Okay, get the content into your body. Thanks for all your Q&As. Well, your Qs, because I provided the As, hopefully. Right, let's do more of those. If you have more Qs and I can provide some more As for you, send me an email info@thismovedme.com and I would be delighted to hear where you're at, what you're struggling with, and how I can help. Okay, check you later, movers. Thanks for listening. That's not true anymore. Wrong. Wrong. Yeah, see, this is wrong. Okay.