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Cristin Lind, Principal Consultant, Clearwater Productivity
©2009, RiverWays Enterprises
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Early
in her career, Cristin Lind found herself teaching a group of parents
about time management.
“There was a separate childcare room,” she says. “But the children kept coming in. Eventually there was a child behind me at the blackboard drawing, and another one crying. I just kept on talking, going on with my plan. I was so focused on delivering my material that I almost became disembodied. I couldn’t stop to address the situation.”
“I laugh when I think back on that,” she says today. “My idea of a good presentation is so different now.”
Cristin came to RiverWays with considerable public speaking skills as a trainer, consultant, and the owner of her business, Clearwater Productivity. A certified GO System Trainer, Cristin has worked with a variety of groups and individuals, from healthcare professionals to academics, including clients from Harvard and Eli Lilly.
Yet, despite confidence about her subject and years of practice, she sometimes became anxious before speaking to a group. “I felt like the whole day before I was supposed to speak, I wouldn’t get anything done,” she says.
Like a true time management expert, Cristin didn’t want to use valuable energy worrying. “I wanted to improve my own experience.”
At first, Cristin subscribed to The ABCs of Presence in Speaking, Leading and Life!, a 26 week email series. “Each one contained a lesson and an exercise, a nice blend of theory and practice. The series kept the topic in my field of attention long enough for the practices to become habit. I found them really helpful,” she says.
A single evening SpeakingPresence class, combined with the ABCs, offered Cristin the ability to be “consistently present” when she spoke publicly, a state she feels lets her give others her best teaching self.
Cristin’s small investment in SpeakingPresence aligns with her philosophy that lifelong skills are often chipped away at over time. “It’s important to continually improve, even in short commitments. Would more sessions help? Sure. But in one evening class, I had ample time to shift how I thought about speaking, get some very concrete ideas about how to do it differently, practice the principles, and experience Carla modeling all the skills as she taught them.”
As Cristin’s process continues to evolve, what’s changed?
She knows what she’s doing, and remembering to acknowledge her expertise is a new part of her speaking preparation. “Having presence isn’t just about being up in front of the group and performing, but understanding in the days leading up to the presentation that you’re already complete.”
She says her former public speaking self equated value with information. Now she prioritizes “being present, showing up completely, and being aware enough of what’s actually happening as I speak to make good decisions.”
In Cristin’s time management work, she realizes that productivity isn’t simply about making seconds count, but making a strong connection with others, being in-the-moment, and centered. She sees public speaking similarly now. And as she gets better it’s not just her presentations that improve, but something much more important to her—happiness.
To learn more about Clearwater Productivity, visit www.clearwaterproductivity.com.
Click here to learn more about The ABCs of Presence in Speaking, Leading, and Life!
Click
here to learn more about our ongoing evening series, SpeakingPresence
Practice.
This article was written by Bridget Hardy.
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