Steal the Show: From Speeches to Job Interviews to Deal-Closing Pitches, How to Guarantee a Standing Ovation for All the Performances in Your Life

by Michael Port Narrated by Michael Port

Overview

“An indispensable guide for introverts and extroverts alike.” -Inc.

A Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and Publishers Weekly Bestseller

Every interaction is a performance, and much of our success-professional and personal-hinges on being able to inspire an audience. And while some people seem to be naturals in the spotlight, this ability very rarely derives from talent alone.

Confident communication is a skill, and anyone can learn how to do it.

In Steal the Show, New York Times bestselling author, top-rated corporate speaker, and former professional actor Michael Port teaches you how to make the most of your own moments in the spotlight. He makes it easy to give your presentations a clear focus, engage your listeners, manage your nerves, play the right role in every situation to give your message maximum impact, and much more. Drawing on his MFA training at the prestigious Graduate Acting Program at New York University, Port has engineered a system that the non-actor can use to ensure his or her voice is heard when it matters most.

“The most unique and practical book written on the topic of public speaking and performance in everyday life. You'll learn how to express yourself authentically, be more creative, and increase your confidence in all aspects of life.” -Howard Behar, former president, Starbucks Coffee

“Michael cuts to the core of what you actually need to get ridiculously good at speaking and performing, and the results are even more dramatic than I'd envisioned. Steal the Show is the only book you'll ever need when it comes to performance and public speaking.” -Jordan Harbinger, host of The Art of Charm

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

A Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and Publishers Weekly Bestseller!

"An indispensable guide for introverts and extroverts alike who want to shine when performing in public." - Inc. Magazine 

Steal the Show surprised me. It might be the most unique and practical book written on the topic of public speaking and performance in everyday life. And it's about so much more than just public speaking. You'll learn how to express yourself authentically, be more creative and increase your confidence in all aspects of life." --Howard Behar, former president, Starbucks Coffee

"Speaking in public is not just an art, it's a craft that can be learned and improved upon in order to change the treasures that can be mined.  On that account, Port's latest book, steals the show." - Peter Guber, CEO, Mandalay Entertainment & #1 NYT bestselling author, TELL TO WIN

“If anyone knows how to steal the show, it’s Michael Port. In this tour de force, he shares his secret method on how anyone, even the most inexperienced, can wow an audience. Jeff Goins, Best-selling author of The Art of Work

“It takes decades of coaching and practice to become a truly fascinating speaker. But it turns out, there’s a shortcut: you can apply Michael Port's principles to immediately stand out and steal the show." --Sally Hogshead, Hall of Fame Speaker and NY Times Bestselling author of How the World Sees You 

“An engaging book on how to dazzle audiences. Michael Port shares effective techniques for rehearsing and performing.” --Adam Grant, Wharton professor and New York Times bestselling author of Give and Take

Library Journal

09/15/2015
With the adage that "All the world's a stage," Port (Book Yourself Solid) instructs readers how to make the most of every presentation and interaction. He utilizes insights from the field of acting to demonstrate how to take smart risks, imagine unfamiliar roles, and apply the secrets of improvisation when things go wrong, reminding potential speakers to consider how their audience will benefit from the talk, describe their point succinctly, and cut extraneous details that distract from the main idea. Port's handy "cheat sheet" of 50 public speaking tips concisely summarizes the text. VERDICT Required reading for anyone preparing for a job interview, serving in a leadership position, or speaking to the public.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940169585827
Publisher:	Brilliance Audio
Publication date:	10/06/2015
Edition description:	Unabridged

Read an Excerpt

Part 1
The Performer’s Mindset  
We’re going to start with the performer’s mindset. This way, you’ll be prepared, psychologically and emotionally, to perform in ways that stir the heart and inspire action. In order to do this, your desire to perform needs to be stronger than your fear of criticism or failure, your voice must be powerful and in tune with your values and beliefs, and you’ll need to know how to play the right role in every situation. Once you’ve read through this first part of the book and adopted the performer’s mindset, you’ll see performance from a different, more empowering perspective and you’ll be on your way to stealing the show during the most important high-stakes situations of your life.
 
 
1
Find Your Voice  
The most common missing element in the thousands of presentations and performances I’ve witnessed is the speaker’s true voice. But finding your voice can be a difficult for many people in business and life, even for those building careers as top executives, thought leaders, or performers.
     Here’s an illustration of why finding and trusting your voice matters even to advanced speakers. A client of mine appeared on a major broadcast network, and her program excelled in numerous ways. However, during the first segment, I noticed that she was apologizing for telling parts of her life story, along the lines of “I’m sorry for sharing about myself again,” or, “I apologize for sharing this .?.?.” I chatted with her during the break and told her she was doing great. She asked if I had any notes for her. So I offered: “How would you feel about doing away with all of your apologies for sharing? You’re on the stage to share. That’s why you’re there.” Apologizing for sharing is a way of saying you’re sorry for your own voice.
     Research has shown that women tend to apologize more than men. Two studies by the University of Waterloo in Ontario and published in the journal Psychological Science in 2010 found that, while men are just as willing as women to apologize, they have a higher threshold for what they feel they needed to apologize for.
     My client agreed to try dropping the unneeded apologies and we talked about how anyone, including the two of us, can get caught in the perfection trap, wondering if we’re worthy of the moment. In public speaking or, say, during the interview process for a new job, it’s easy to get distracted and start questioning yourself: What can I say that hasn’t already been said? What can I do that hasn’t already been done? Why should I be here rather than someone else? Finding your true voice can help you realize that none of those questions is as important as how you say what you say to put into perspective the personal journey that raised those doubts along the way.
     So what is finding your true voice?
     For starters, it’s about letting go of your inner critic, the voices in your head telling you you’re not good enough, don’t know enough, and don’t have enough. It’s about saying Goodbye, thanks for sharing, to those inner voices carping that you might not be ready, qualified, or worthy of the next opportunity.
     Letting go of thinking you don’t have enough to offer is an incredibly rewarding aspect of what I am sharing in this book. It allows you to embrace your gifts so you have the confidence and natural conviction that you can get results from your performances and speeches. Even if you’re saying something that’s already been said, it’s your voice that matters. You don’t have to be different to make a difference. How many mothers sing the same lullabies to their children? A baby doesn’t care half as much about the song as she does about the sound of her mother’s voice.
     Perhaps you are blessed with sturdy self-esteem, feel like you were born to stand in the spotlight, and don’t second-guess your performances. If so, feel free to keep your Superman costume. I suppose it comes easy for a lucky few. (Of course, it might just be bravado; the way you tell the difference is by assessing whether or not you continually raise the stakes and allow yourself to be comfortable with discomfort.)
     Finding your voice is important for your results. If you want to play different roles authentically and amplify or downplay different parts of your personality to do so, it’s important to be comfortable with who you really are and what you stand for so you never lose sight of your values.
     Too often, when you are given any opportunity to be in the spotlight, you get scared and lose the sense of being authentic and performing in the moment. Instead, you play at what you think a person in that situation is supposed to be like. As a result, you believe that you’re an imposter. However, by learning how to be yourself when you perform, while also embracing the fact that you can be a chameleon who plays lots of different roles with different styles of behavior, you will become a powerful performer and speaker.
     It might seem like a contradiction—be yourself but also be a chameleon. F. Scott Fitzgerald saw “the ability to hold two opposing ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function” as the sign of a well-developed intelligence. I suspect you have that ability. So, please, for the time being, just hold this idea in your head: that you can play different roles and still be authentic. The payoff will be the discovery of the abilities, strengths, and enthusiasm that you possess as a performer.
     Some of us will, at times, add on layers of personae to gain others’ approval while hiding parts of ourselves that we think are embarrassing. Authenticity really comes down to this question: do you have the courage to talk about who you really are, not just who you want others to think you are?
     This is different than sharing inappropriate information or
unnecessary historical details. It’s important to listen actively, to be curious about others, and to have a sense of proportion about how much you talk about yourself. We don’t need to know the details of Sam’s late-night rendezvous or how Susie feels like she isn’t worthy of the promotion she received. The former is inappropriate and something that Sam should keep private. The latter is self-destructive and should be discussed only with trusted mentors and advisors in order to overcome it; Susie could lose credibility with her subordinates if she discusses it with them.
     At the same time, many extraordinarily successful people learn how to “own” the key elements of their backstory and make them part of their public personality and statements. In the right circumstances, when you’re open about your weaknesses, differences, or difficulties, people find you more approachable and they will connect at a deeper level with your message. We’ve seen in our own social history how accountability to personal truths propels a talented person to new levels. Robin Roberts’s career at ABC gained new clarity and credibility when she opened up about being gay. Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg’s success as the author of the bestselling book Lean In and the movement it spurred was due to her ability to communicate her own conflicts around children, intimacy, and marriage to women from vastly different backgrounds. She was willing to share that she doesn’t have it all figured out. It was Howard Shultz’s openness about the destructiveness of his own overreaching ambition that kicked off the Starbucks reboot that took place in 2008.

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