“Who you are speaks so loudly
I cannot hear what you are saying.”
– Ralph Waldo Emerson

Your presence is conveyed by who you are.  Your audience sees how you hold yourself and infers from your gestures and your posture how you feel, how you feel about your audience and how they should feel towards you.

How you feel is a combination of what happened, what’s happening, and what you want to happen. Have you ever use a sharp tone of voice with a loved one, only to realize that you are upset about the guy who cut you off, almost cutting your life short, on the freeway?  Ever been tense about speaking before a group and noticed the tension in your voice days before the speech?  These feelings color every presentation you make. What’s happening is always happening in the present moment.  Your presence expands to the degree you are present and diminishes to the degree you are distracted.

Distracting gestures and random movements divide your audiences’ attention between your message and what in the world is he fumbling with in his pocket.  When how you move, moves in unison with your message the audience stays with you.

Presence before an audience comes from consciously directing your feelings so you can speak and move congruently.  When what you say and how you say it matches, your audience experiences your message completely.

Become clear in your feelings, and who you are will effectively amplify everything you say.