Do Not Imagine Everybody Naked
You need to give a talk, and your co-worker tells you, “It’s easy. Just imagine everybody naked.”
Really?! Do they think that it would be easier to give a talk at a nudist colony?
As a person whose first “clothing-optional” experience took me by surprise, I can assure you that it wasnot calming!
Here’s how it happened. I had just moved to Eugene Oregon. By the evening of the first day, I had a job as a waitress. By the evening of the second day my new co-workers said, “Hey let’s all go to the hot springs in the back of Bob’s pickup truck after work!” to which I said,
“Sure!“
But halfway up the road, it dawned on me that I didn’t have a swimsuit with me.
Annnnnd I realized that we hadn’t stopped to get anyone else’s swimming suit either.
Oh.
I had another half an hour of bouncing around in the truck to consider my options.
I could keep all my clothes on and only put my feet in the water. And look like dork.
I could keep on my underwear and get my clothes soggy afterward. And look like a dork.
I could take off all of my clothes. And look… naked.
I still hadn’t decided by the time we arrived.
But when the lady next to me took off her T-shirt, I took off mine. Of course, that required taking off my glasses. That meant I couldn’t see anything more than five feet away. Suddenly my subconscious mind thought that no one could see me either.
The water turned out to be fine.
What a life changing experience. I realized that no one noticed or cared what I looked like naked.
Just like in public speaking, no one is staring at you. They don’t care about the zit on your chin or that your slacks are out of style. What they really care about is what you have to say: Will you bore them? Will you make them feel stupid because you didn’t explain enough? Will you tell them anything that they might actually find useful?
Instead of imaging everybody naked, learn about your audience. Learn what they want, what they need, and how much they already know.
Focus on sharing your information in a way that helps them and makes them feel competent, capable and cared for.
In truth they are cheering for you. They want nothing more than for you to do well.
