Sublime

As a workshop leader, how you teach is more valuable than what you teach. It’s not about charisma. It’s about being clear, consistent, appreciative, encouraging, caring, and optimistic. Real power comes from warmth, presence, and the ability to self-regulate and respond more naturally to whatever comes up in your group.

Chatter is your mother and father’s well-intentioned expressions of caution, seeking to shield you from hurting yourself. Chatter is your teachers’ equally well-meaning attempts at socialization, training you to follow the rules. Chatter is your friends’ regular-Joe buddy-talk, trying to make you like them and follow the rules of the pack.

You can think of public speaking as like baking: some people are naturally better at baking than others, but if you follow a recipe and keep practising, you are likely to get great results.

Language is a kind of music. Silence at play with sound. Cadence, beats, accents, and tone.

While she spoke, her eyes often pointed upward, at light fixtures or far-off windows, and she gesticulated with her hands. All I could do with my attention was use it on other people, watching them for signs of agreement or irritation, trying to invite them into the discussion when they fell silent.

—Pace is often dictated by nerves, and nerves can also be controlled by the breath. If you’re gabbling, register that and take a moment. Feel the soles of your feet on the floor; let your brain drop into your stomach; breathe through your feet. Relax. Pick up your thought and start again.

Ela Bhatt, a classic Essentialist and truly visionary leader