There’s a class you’ve been thinking about offering for some time now. But you’re not quite ready. A little more research, a little more thinking, and you’re sure you’ll finally be ready.
But, despite your passion, it’s flat. Even when practicing it in front of a friend or colleague, it still feels flat. Oh no! When will you ever be ready to offer this to people?
There is a missing ingredient, and Moses knew what it was.
You Need Manna from Heaven
Allow me a short biblical story. You see, when the Israelites followed Moses out of Egypt, they wandered in the desert for 40 years. And every evening manna came from heaven to feed them.
There’s a funny thing about manna, though. If you collected more than you needed, it spoiled, because it was only good for one day. You were forced to trust that more was coming tomorrow.
You Have to Be Where the Help Is Needed
When you stand in the facilitator or teacher position, it’s like being a spark plug. You are a conductor, as it were, of Source. Simply standing in that role means that your being becomes part of the pathway Source travels to reach the students in need.
There is no amount of pre-event preparation that will provide that feeling of being “plugged-in” for you. You have to trust that the manna is coming.
The Scariest Exercise Ever
When I was a faculty member at the University for Spiritual Healing and Sufism in the Teacher Internship Program, we gave the students a scary exercise.
Stand up in front of the group and teach from the heart without any preparation. Without an agenda, without knowing what you were going to say. Just sense into what is needed, what is flowing through, and let it come out your mouth.
The result? Well, if fear overcame the student the flow was blocked, and the effect was often stilted. However, if the student overcame the fear and allowed him or herself to connect, what came out was stunning. Stunning.
It reminded me of my friend Alison Luterman, a poet who taught poetry in the schools. She would often share with me poems written by her students. The older kids often had a lot of self-consciousness in their writing. But the young ones? You could hold their poetry up to Rumi or Hafiz. The power was stunning.
The Best Speaker Got a D-
I used this approach when I gave a talk at the National Speakers Association national conference. Afterward, one of the members told me what he had told an NSA board member: “In terms of all the things professional speakers are ‘supposed’ to do to give a good presentation, I give Mark a D minus. But I found him to be the best speaker of the entire week, including those giving the keynotes, because he connected to us.”
You don’t need to be perfect. In fact, you can be very imperfect. And yet, the manna from heaven always comes. It always comes. Repeat this to yourself: Manna from Heaven always comes.
Heaven Delivers the Manna to the Hungry
The only way to see if it shows up is to show up there yourself, in front of the people who need it.
Is it really as simple as that? Well, yes and no. There are a few things that can help the process. Keep reading.
Keys to Finding the Manna
• It does help to prepare.
How much preparation? I plan a fair amount, but I don’t fret over exact wording. I also make sure that I’m limiting how much I’m trying to say. A little bit goes a long way.
The trick is I don’t look for whether or not I’m “ready.” I look for whether I have bullet points on the pieces I want to convey. If I feel like I know the material well enough that I could answer a question someone might ask, then that counts for me as enough.
• Take time to connect in every moment.
In radio, the ultimate sin is “dead air,” when no one is saying anything. This does not apply in teaching. If you don’t know what to say next, pause, connect in your heart, connect to the audience, and wait to see what comes out.
This is the most nerve-wracking part: waiting to see if the manna comes. However, I urge you to try it. If you just wait with your heart open, you’ll be surprised to find that something does come out of you. It may be nothing you planned for, but it will be good, I promise you.
When I say “wait,” I mean feel free to pause, take a deep breath, look into the eyes of people in the audience and wonder in your heart, “What’s needed next?” And see what comes.
• Receive from the audience.
They want you to succeed. They do. They’ve invested their time and energy to show up, they really want you to do well. That’s some good juju to receive from their hearts.
Just recently during a talk I gave, I looked around the room and noticed several people smiling and beaming at me. I took a pause just to soak that up and smile back. Others were staring intently. I might have interpreted that as they were upset, but I know from experience that usually people with that kind of an expression are really engaged. I took a moment to connect with their eyes and to soak that up, too.
Whatever new class, offer, or presentation that is facing you, forget about being “ready” for it. Prepare yourself, and then step into the spark plug position with your heart open. And watch as the manna from heaven comes through you to those who need it.
15 Responses
I’ve always had a subconscious understanding of this principle. When I would do a speaking assignment in high school, I learned my topic inside-out, and organized the points I would make using bullet points and/or using props (which I always tried to incorporate – my teachers loved me).
And then, instead of mumbling out a speech word-for-word, I would project my voice, use my hands, and often not even look at my notes.
I really miss that! I was such a quiet little geek with glasses but when I stood up in front of the class, the manna came raining down. Now I know why.
Here’s a very interesting side note about manna…
In Exodus 16 is describes how manna was collected every morning, and if the people weren’t quick, it would melt in the sun. If they tried to gather more than they needed that day, it would spoil, as you mentioned.
But every Friday the were to gather twice as much as normal because on the seventh day there was never any manna on the ground. And miraculously the manna saved from Friday didn’t spoil overnight.
It’s a lesson in regularly taking time off work and having a rest. 🙂
This is so true. I’ve sometimes tried preparing workshops but it was always an uphill struggle and then I diverged from my notes in the first five minutes. The truth is that I know the subject of my workshops inside out. Preparing the workshop is a complete waste of time and squanders all my self-trust.
And when I didn’t prepare, I felt it couldn’t possibly go well because everyone was telling me I needed to prepare.
What a nightmare!
Thank you, Mark, for freeing me from the need to prepare just because everybody is telling me that I must.
A*
This really resonated for me re a recent situation. Not during a presentation but during a meeting with a client who wasn’t happy with some feedback she received from me.
It was scary as hell. There were times when the client would say something and I had absolutely no idea how I was going to respond and I went into Remembrance and I’d have a very subtle inkling about what I was needing to say.
I felt like the guy in “Man on a Wire”: trusting the my next step would be on something solid; not thin air.
But it’s exactly what my client was needing and what was needing. There’s a lot more trust now and I think it will help this client take the next step forward.
And I totally get the fear that I’ll never get help again. But I’ve got to say that the old “up and out” perky approach leaves people cold especially when they’re hurting and really needing to feel fully seen.
As always I’m grateful to have you as my teacher.
Peace,
Judy
Another excellent article Mark, thanks!
The language that I translate this trusting-into-action is ‘Improvisation’.
The art of ‘trusting in the Mana of the moment’ is the foundational aspect of improvisational theater and, for those of us into ‘applied improv’, of what makes extraordinarily creative, innovative, trusting, empowered, happier people & businesses. There are other important principles -like “Yes, and…” -learning how to receive what is given and build upon it, but the initial trusting is foundational.
This is also why I believe in and promote Playformation –the transforming power of play. When we role-played as children, when we made up rules in the moment, when we trusted it would all come together, we were learning this power and it was shaping our imaginations and our very personalities. We were practicing, we were ‘becoming’, and it was truly enjoyable, and its quite sad to me that so many many of stopped playing.
But we can start again! Find enough safety (which comes through trusting God & others) to take the risk of trusting the Universe to provide –and what what flows out of you and into your life will blow your mind. Not that I’ve perfected this, but when I do, it’s an awesome experience.
If you want to accelerate your level of Mana-intake, of improvisation, of playformation, I’d suggest you take a local improv class, come to the Applied Improv conference in Portland this Nov 13-15th, or feel free to give me call (1-877-I-am-game) to find some other ways to exercise those muscles.
You know, I was initially scared to write this comment, for a variety of reasons, but I trusted the Mana in the moment and just started typing. And it didn’t turn out too bad.
Warmly,
Leif
http://www.SparkInteractive.com
.-= Leif Hansen´s last blog ..Heading down to PBS MediaShift
This is so useful for me, both in terms of what I’m preparing for as a teacher and also for regular content I write on my blog. I know that you wrote specifically about speaking / teaching, but I think it applies to writing too.
Taking the time to pause and connect with what an audience wants and needs… now that’s the stuff!
.-= Nathalie Lussier´s last blog ..Let
I’m new-ish to your blog, so thanks so much for re-posting this great article!
Love the “manna from heaven always comes” mantra- totally sticking with that one- probably for at least the next year or two- you know, every day, all day.
And talking about how key our connection to Source is when we teach is so essential- so thanks for shining a light on that.
.-= Brooke Thomas´s last blog ..Getting the website done =-.
What great timing to receive this metaphor of manna from heaven! This year I have been gradually stepping into a teaching role (I actually have several important assistant teaching gigs this month), and this article feels like good confirmation of what I have been gradually learning, to trust my knowledge base and my ability to improvise from an outline. It is a relief for me to think that I can trust that help will come from outside of me too, if I can remain in connection to Source. Reading this story and people’s recent comments gives me strength and encouragement, and inspires me to enter into teaching with a sense of playful and reverent expectation.
What have noticed that I need to do as I am teaching to a larger group is to remember to connect with the students while I am speaking by looking at individuals. (It is easy for me to get caught up in the story and look over or beyond my audience, perhaps visualizing what I am talking about, engaging with the content, rather than remembering that I am speaking to individuals.) Also, I think I don’t look at students or see them when I am caught up in my story, because I am afraid of being distracted, or I am afraid of what I will see in their faces. It is helpful for me to think of those serious faces as being representative that these people are engaged, not necessarily critical, and to remember that these people want for me to succeed.
Perhaps looking at individuals is also how I can connect to Source as I am speaking. I am remembering in my heart how I feel in yoga class when I utter the yogis greeting “namaste” at the end of class, in thanks–“I see the Divine presence in you and greet you with the Divine presence in me.”
I also appreciated Leif Hanson’s comments about play and improvisation. In recent years, I have been exploring improvisational dance (both contact improv, which is usually a meditative exploration and not for performance, and group performance improv that involves little contact). So I know in my body and heart the sense of joy I can experience when playing with and responding to the unknown variables that unfold in each moment. It is a good reminder that I can look for this feeling in a lecturing/presentation situation. I have discovered I like the safety and comradeship of sharing the teaching hat, as a teaching assistant or a co-presenter. For me this brings in the play element, and I like alternately playing the support or the lead role.
Mark, the parable you cite illuminates the very heart of sports performance coaching (I’m a coach in that older sense of the word).
It’s crucial to arrive at a training session with a full understanding of where an athlete stood when last you saw him/her, and of where, and how fast, to take them next.
(Analogues to “perfecting your presentation” and “mastering your practice.”)
But all the interactions of that session must be pliant, subject to instant and even wholesale change based on the information of the moment. Otherwise the connection, the heart disappears and hollowness manifests.
The lack is instantly felt, even if the participants pretend to ignore it.
.-= Mark V. McDonnell´s last blog ..Four Steps to Sports Success – What to strive for in training =-.
Wow- I love how well this resonated with you all. It’s such a strong lesson, and one I learn over and over again.
And Leif- thanks for taking the chance and speaking about the improv- I love it! Improv totally fits here.
And Trisha- totally laying down the Exodus- I love that part of the story, too.
Kirstin- Yes- connecting to the individual. You can even go beyond that, too, by connecting to the heart of the group. It’s quite wonderful and illuminating as guidance for what to give.
And all y’all, Philip, Judy, Nathalie, Brooke, Mark- thanks for adding to this. It’s such a large topic, simple, but with a lot of breadth.
hey – i really enjoyed the post and where it is pointing. any chance you would talk more about your experience of connecting with your heart – what it looks like, feels like, for you and how you do it in the midst of an interaction? you know, same old thing for me in that i get caught on how because i don’t have a strong sense of my heart at all.
Hi Mark
Many years ago I used to be utterly terrified of public speaking, but now thoroughly enjoy standing up in front of a group and speaking without notes for up to two hours – holding the attention of my audience the whole time. And it is all down to practising the principles you wrote about in this article.
I was fortunate to come across “Speaking Circles”. Lee Glickstein put this powerful, meditative approach to public speaking together and it has been the single most powerful training I’ve ever had in speaking to groups.
Speaking Circles is a space in which we learn to speak from our Heart, without notes, making intimate connection with our audience.(www.speakingcircles.com)
Everything you write about is so true. I taught presentation skills techniques to organisations for 10 years, but it’s this “speaking from presence” material that really makes a difference to people’s confidence.
salem,
Leo Hawkins
Hi Mark
I notice some people have pics next to their posts.
Could you let me know how I can get my mug shot up here?
thanks
Leo
@Vince- That’s a great question, and it does take practice. I believe you experienced some of what you mean when you participated in the most recent Heart of Money course- at least that’s what it seems you described. Is that true for you?
If so, then it’s a matter of practicing holding that when you are in front of a group. It’s one of the things we teach and practice in the Sacred Moment seminar we do in the spring, in the context of a sales conversation.
@Leo- Yes, I have a past client who facilitated speaking circles- probably several past clients– and it seems like a very remarkable way to learn this.
About the pics- if you look on the comments, under your name, do you see the “Want an avatar? Get a Gravatar!” Click that link and it will take you to the right place.
I like what you guys are up too. This sort of clever work and exposure!
Keep up the wonderful works guys I’ve you guys to blogroll.
Thank you for this, Mark!