So, Oprah’s show today is live from Radio City–at least,
that’s what THEY say. It’s not quite live–but anyway, it
was a great show and I had a very interesting question
come to mind as I was getting ready for the curtain to
rise. But before that, let me give you the scoop.
This show was celebrating Oprah’s 10th anniversary of her
magazine, so her guests were the star contributors of the
magazine: Dr. Oz, Dr. Phil, Suze Orman and Nate Berkus
…and celebrity moms like Cybil Shephard, Jane Seymour
and Vanessa Williams, taking part in a Mother’s Day fashion
show. The big news, though, was–are you ready for this?–Dr.
Phil shaved off his moustache! And you know what? He looks
SOOO young without it. THEN came the star-power: Christina
Aguilera gave a stunning performance, blowing the roof off RC.
She is back and is in rare form, let me tell you! Gorgeous, with
once-in-a-generation pipes! Amazing.
It was a great time and I’m lucky my ex and I are still good friends
because he’s my source for all this. 🙂
So, as I was sitting there, waiting for the show to begin, I
started thinking about something and would love your
opinion. As all TV shows do, Oprah has a staff member who
gins-up the audience; get us really roused and energetic
before Oprah comes on. So, this energetic woman got on stage
and said things like, “Hey, New York! Let me hear you!” And
when we weren’t loud enough, she cried, louder herself, “I
can’t hear you!” She had people dancing on stage…and as I
was in this sea of energy, I recalled a comment that
someone made on my blog-telecall the other day, as
we were talking about mirror neurons.
She talked of feeling manipulated at seminars and presen-
tations when the leader “froths up” the audience, as this
woman did today. You’ll want to listen to that telecall; it
was really interesting. I gave my 2 cents about that, which
I won’t go into here, but I was thinking of her statement
when I was in the audience this morning–not at ALL feeling
manipulated. I thought of how rock and pop stars do this
same thing: they get the audience revved up. And here’s my question.
I don’t believe it can be answered without some careful thought.
It doesn’t have a shallow answer, I believe. When and where
was the line drawn, where it became taboo to have high-energy
like that in a presentation or seminar? (Or boardroom!) Why is
it that the woman on my call the other day associates “manipul-
ation” and “phoniness” with getting an audience ginned up before
content is delivered? Why is it okay to do it at a rock or pop
concert–and before a television show, but not at a seminar
or presentation?
When was the line drawn–and why, do you think? Truthfully,
it’s a “rule” that’s just been made up. I don’t know of any universal
Black Book that dictates this as Truth. And yet it is entrenched
in our idea of what’s right and wrong in giving presentations.
I’d love to hear your thoughtful thoughts on this.
I teach about the powerful “energy circuit” that is created in
presentation and seminar rooms, and I’d love for you to learn
more about that 2-day event. After you’ve posted your thoughts
to my question, go check out this webpage that discusses what it
is that all presenters do wrong when they’re presenting–no
matter how experienced they are: www.inspiredleadershiptraining.com/secrets
And I really look forward to your response!!
Happy Mother’s Day!!