15 Things to do before a Presentation

"The human brain starts working the moment you are born and never stops until you stand up to speak in public." —George Jessel

It is uncanny how public speaking can make almost anyone feel uncomfortable. In the past we have explored how preparation (Simple, Unexpected, Story) can make a world of difference. However even the most confident of speakers can feel butterflies before a talk - even a talk they have given hundreds of times. The key is to harness these feelings and make the butterflies work for us. The following Business Insider article looks at 15 things we can do to make that happen. The entire article is worth a read. We wanted to touch on a few of the points. 

Remember and live up to the 3 Audience Truths

• "This audience believes I am the expert."  This is especially true in Balika and Bal Mandal. However even in Kishori/Kishore/Yuva Mandal this can apply. You have read the syllabus, done your home work (SUS). So at the very least, the material is fresh for you. You are also the expert in your opinion and point of view.
• "They want me to succeed." Nobody wants a boring sabha. Everybody wants you to do well because that means they are engaging in something of value. Samp is not relegated to basketball and team building activities. Samp is also rooting for you to give an amazing talk. Even the apathetic of audiences will be happy if your talk goes well.
• "They don't know what I'm going to say." If you forget a prasang or don't say everything exactly as you planned - nobody will know. (Yes the karyakars that previewed your talk will know, but they REALLY want you to do a great talk - it's their seva - so they will be the ones who are most forgiving).

Take several deep belly breathe
Pranayam - it works.

Practice the first (few) minutes of your talk
Nerves tend to dissipate as our talk goes on. If we are going to choke it is going to be right at the beginning (I once messed up the Jai Naad when giving a talk). If we nail the first five minutes - the rest of the talk should follow with flow.

Smile

We never believed this one until we tried it. Smiling relaxes us when we are most stressed. Guy Kawasaki has written a whole book about it, which expounded the idea that true (duchenne) smile is indicated by crows feet at the side of the eyes. More recently Kraft and Pressman replicated an earlier study showing that forces smiling reduces stress. (They made subjects bite chopsticks whereas the previous study had them bite pencils).

The Smoldering Log

This week, as we explore Vachanamrut Gadhada I-28, we may initially have some doubts given its relatively short length. However, it's really a chance to appreciate Shriji Maharaj's skill of packaging profound points into portions attuned to the audience at hand. Let's head to the drawing board to make these points come alive.

Step 1: Synthesizing the simple statement. Below are some ideas taken from the syllabus.

• Introspection is the tool that strengthens agna and upasana.
• Satsang is a tool that can lead to our self-improvement.
• By not seeing our faults, we also fail to see others' virtues.
• Criticizing others can consume us just like a wildfire.

Step 2: Starting with the shakeup.

• The Fury of Fire: Accustomed to doing arti, we may not often understand the true power of the flame as it is confined to the divo. However, without these constraints, the true power of fire can be realized much to our own fear and anxiety as this cameraman came to learn. Though it may appear to be a some risk-taking amateur, we may fail to notice a subtle feature at 0:30. Sure, he begins to retreat because the fire's rapid advance lightly burns him. Shriji Maharaj's smoldering log metaphor could not be anymore ingenious, for from an innocuous ember is a fire unleashed - one that has no discretion in consuming all that lies in its path. In the video, it's wildgrass; in our case, it's our fellow satsangis. 

• The Overachieving Octopus: Humankind is often regarded as "the most intelligent lifeform" on this planet though we may question this conclusion when we see nature firsthand. Animals can provide a great surprise, like the tale of this tool-wielding octopus. Similarly, those who we way often disregard in Satsang can often teach us lessons we may have never thought of before.
• Sound Guy Neck Crane: Here's an example of something that may have taken route in our normal mandir routine but demonstrates the principle perfectly. Sometimes, it's just better to acknowledge the atheist A/V equipment then to take the abhaav-avgun of our fellow satsangis.
• Last but not least, any of last week's examples can be used just as easily.

Step 3: Connecting with concrete and credible examples. The syllabus is a source of such examples, but we must take the extra steps to narrate them well and to link them back to our original simple statement. As an example, we chose to go with the fourth statement to better emphasize Shriji Maharaj's metaphor of the smoldering log.

• Smoldering Log - Shriji Maharaj recognized that while no fire may be manifest, it remains dormant within the log gaining strength by the second. When it gains enough strength, it bursts forth from the log into a flame before it requires another log to thrive. Thus, the flame becomes a fire and gains speed and strength as it continues to consume all that exists around it. When we unfairly criticize others, we too feed this fire until it consumes us and pollutes our perception. It ravages within us to the point that we are reduced to the ashes of our own anger and arrogance. In this state of mind, is it any wonder the seed of Satsang fails to sprout from within?
• Budho Dhadhal - Here's a perfect example of someone who let the fire consume not just himself but those around him - the venerated Dada Khachar, Muktanand Swami, and even Shriji Maharaj. Once again, a fierce fire makes no distinction between what it consumes. 
• Painting the Murti - Here the father criticized the son, but why did the relationship not get consumed by the fire of fault-finding? While the father criticized his son, it was for his son's betterment and not to feed the father's ego. In Satsang, we may find criticism unbearable, but we can fight the fire if we receive that criticism as a source for our own self-improvement. After all, those who offer us unfair criticism stand only to be consumed by their own fire. Do we wish to partake in their self-destruction by retaliating against them with more criticism?

As we can see, the metaphors employed by Shriji Maharaj add an extra layer of vivid detail to what we would consider an otherwise colorless concept. Let's resolve to use this wisdom to drench the fire of fault-finding, especially since we only stand to lose from it. 

Greater than Zero (Positive)

The concept of gun-grahak drashti hails from the Vachanamrut (i.e. Shriji Maharaj's time) throughout our lineage of gurus culminating today in Pramukh Swami Maharaj. Is it any wonder that it resurfaces at such a high frequency in sabha? Let's take a crack at it this week.

Step 1: Crafting the simple statement. Below are some ideas taken from the syllabus.

• Fixating on the flaws of others creates more flaws within us.
• In the virtues of others lies our strategies to succeed.
• Attributing faults to others is really attributing fault to Maharaj & Swami.

Step 2: Starting with the shakeup.

• Knockoff Sunglasses: Dan Ariely, author of Predictably Irrational and the Upside of Irrationality, did an experiment in which individuals were asked to wear either designer sunglasses or the fake versions of them and then asked to describe what they thought of other people. Interestingly enough, those who wore the fake versions were more likely to think other people were being fake around them. We take faults of others, but are these faults truly intrinsic to the individual or rather an illusion of our own imperfection? The video below describes the full experiment though the part mentioned above is explained at 3:40.

• Odds & Evens: Give everyone 30 seconds to look at the following image and ask them to memorize the odd numbers. Now, hide the picture and ask someone to say out loud all the even numbers (or all the numbers on a blue square). Most people are like these numbers, they have habits and behaviors that we either like or dislike. Our minds tend to focus on what annoys us and in short time we become blind to others good qualities, or the bad qualities start creeping into ourselves.

• Dealing with Death: Stephen Covey is the well known author of The 7 Habits for Successful People series of books. In his introduction, he gives the following example. He was travelling in a subway when a man got on with his two sons. The children start misbehaving by running every which way and create a nuisance for people on the train. Finally, this bedlam irritates Covey enough to ask the father why he does not do something to control his kids. The father replies, "We just got back from the hospital where their mother died. I don't know how to handle it, and I guess they don't either." Suddenly, we see everything in a different manner - thus the power of gun grahak drashti.

Step 3: Finding the concrete and credible examples. The syllabus is a source of such examples, but we must take the extra steps to narrate them well and to link them back to our original simple statement. As an example, we chose to go with the third statement. 

• The Mirror of Erised - Just as the mirror enables an individual to visualize their desire, what would we see when we peer into the mirror and perceive flaws/virtues in others? See what the audience has to say. In fact, when we desire to take faults of others, we should expect to see our faces strained with sadness though the mirror may not show it's out of reacting to the injury we caused Maharaj & Swami. On the flip side, when we desire to take the virtues of others, we should expect to see our faces resplendent with joy though the mirror may not show it's out of reacting to the satisfaction expressed by Maharaj & Swami.   
• The Four Fools - To create curiosity with this story, stop after the part where Akbar tells the king he found the four fools. Ask the audience how this can be true if the only four people in that room were the two fools, Akbar, and the king; after all, would the clever and intelligent Akbar insult his name or even that of the king by failing to produce four fools? Then, reveal Akbar's answer that the four people in the room were indeed the fools. When we take faults of others, we're like Akbar when he was looking for the four fools, but in reality, we're also making a fool of the king (Maharaj & Swami) and Akbar (ourselves). Thus, the hallmark of our high intelligence - the one that Maharaj & Swami imparted in us with human birth - is to note the virtues in others around us. They're the hidden treasures waiting to be discovered by the clever.
• Oil Tycoons - J.D. Rockefeller was able to look over a loss of $2 million for those glittering gem-like gunas of his fellow executive, but what if he didn't and instead made a list of that individual's faults? Ask the audience what they think Rockefeller would stand to gain/lose from such a perspective. Aside from losing the money, he would have also lost his friendship and ignored all the great things his friends contributed to the company. His ego would be the only thing to gain. That's why Rockefeller acted in the nobler way and reiterated the Swami ni Vaat. Maharaj & Swami equipped us all with a set of virtues to contribute to the world around us - be it company, community, etc.. When we ignore this principle and see only the faults, we express our ignorance and insult their divine methodology. 

In short, gun-grahak drashti is a concept that can seem out-of-touch with our audience, one that might be veiled in idealism. Nevertheless, it's a concept made practical for us by our gurus and haribhakto from the past, so let's prepare and present accordingly - in the positive sense of course!

Mindfulness: Positive Thought (1/5/2010)

We always struggle to find good activities for our sabha presentations. Here's one that can be used for any presentation dealing with positive thinking shared by an instructor teaching high schoolers meditation.

An Anecdote –

Upon introducing a meditation class at the Mission High School health fair, I was blown away by the degree to which these kids were disengaged. After teaching in Juvenile Halls, were there is at least an attentive audience due to an extreme lack of alternative stimulation, the kids I faced in high school were basically looking at me with one question. What can you do for me in this second? They assumed, ‘nothing’.

I ended up doing an exercise where I wrote on the board two words. ‘Like’ and ‘dislike’. I asked them to tell me all the things they liked, and all the things they did not, without holding back. Their faces lit up, they looked at me instead of away from me, and started calling out various things that I proceeded to write on the board. At the end, we did an exercise in which we concentrated on each side, first ‘dislike’ and then ‘like’ for about 30 seconds each. ‘Like’ made them feel good, relaxed, content, excited and ‘dislike’ made them angry, tense, and sad. In doing this, they immediately saw the power of thoughts over their body and mind. They were introduced to the power of their mind. However, this exercise revealed something different to me. It revealed that these kids have interests, passions, and inspirations, and that they yearn for an environment in which they can express them. We as educators need to tap into this, honor their yearning and offer them healthy ways to both express it, and along the way, become more self-aware. The self-awareness holds the key to knowing who we are and dealing with life’s challenges in a healthy way.

Link: http://www.mindfulness.com/2010/01/05/the-mindfulness-project-mind-body-awareness/