Scott Karman is the Principal and Owner of Silver Fox Productions, Inc., which is one of the biggest presentation agencies out there. Scott and his team are often in charge of high-stakes technology keynotes that are for companies so big that they are not even allowed to mention them because of confidentiality agreements.

In his session, Scott offered previously unseen stories of chosen keynote performances and the lessons that others have learned the hard way. You’ll be astonished at how many personal challenges and conflicts most of the eloquent speakers go through to deliver their speeches and presentations with the authenticity, confidence, and charisma, that they do it with.

When we see a speaker presenting, we only see a part of his story, the culmination of serious preparation. And a lot of times the issues and the doubts of the speaker are hidden from us. Here’s one example. Scott told us the story of one of the first speakers he ever trained. A seasoned professional that was very worried speaking about a new topic. He was very stressed, he was doubting himself, but once on the stage, he gave a fantastic speech. The audience even gave him a standing ovation at the end.

So, here’s the thing. Great speakers are not exempt from feeling anxious or insecure, but they always go the extra mile in their preparation. Below’s another story Scott shared with us.

He was training a guy in a leadership position. This person had skipped the practice partly due to his lack of time and faith in his performance skills. And then at the last minute before the presentation, there was an emergency that prompted a rearrangement of the presentation content. So, this person, being not perfectly comfortable with the content, was having a really hard time when on stage. He had skipped practicing the old content he had, so the new rearranged content was even harder. It was a close call to failure. The lesson is clear – even the best speakers should never skip practice.

Scott shared a few other keynote performance stories to illustrate his points, which we recommend you see and hear for yourself. You can get your access to his session recording from here.

According to Scott, there are four core areas of focus in presentations: planning, presentation, practice, and performance.

Scott showed a wheel with four focal regions to place your skills, so you can assess yourself. If your wheel is unbalanced, don’t worry; you’re not alone, as most people have an unbalanced wheel.

These four focus areas can be applied every time you speak, whether at a live event, a small meeting, or even a one-on-one conversation.

Afterward, our conference audience learned from Scott the primary types of presenters based on the focus areas – the boss, the sophomore, and the rookie. These three types of speakers can help you see where you are placed and to understand others more and where they need to improve.

Here he showed what the most common types of speakers are that he has personally seen. Which one does your assessment look closest to?

Looking at your chart, if you are closest to the boss, it means that you have excellent presentation content and the ability to perform, but that your shortcoming is no time for planning or practice. If you are like the sophomore, you are exceptional at collaborating and planning, but when practicing, you might be resisting the feedback you are receiving.

Here, Scott answered a question from our audience about how great speakers prepare, actually.