As a Presenter and Leader can you Paint the Black?
A presenter who can “ paint the black ” has learned how to understand the audience, how to create a presentation specific to that audience, and practiced and developed the skills to successfully “paint the black.”
Avid and knowledgeable baseball fans understand what it means to “paint the black.” It’s all about precision. A baseball pitcher who has the ability to paint the corners of home plate (the black) within the strike zone is sometimes referred to as a Rembrandt or Picasso pitcher. A pitcher who has the control and accuracy to pinpoint where the ball will be located in relation to a particular hitter forcing a swing and a miss — a strike time and time again.
A Rembrandt pitcher has developed and practiced the ability to be fully present in the moment to successfully “paint the black.” Yes, unwittingly, mindfulness has always been present in baseball. And not just for the pitcher.
I refer to presenters who “paint the black” as Demosthenes pitchers. A Demosthenes pitcher has the ability to move an audience into action. Demosthenes was a fourth century BC Greek statesman and orator. In fact, he’s been recognized as the greatest ancient Greek orator if not one of the great orators of all time. As a boy who stuttered, he worked for years to learn how to speak clearly. Demosthenes eventually mastered the art of storytelling, the use of rhetoric with acting techniques. When he finished speaking the audience was moved to action. One of his many accomplishments was to arouse Athens to oppose the Macedonians including Alexander the great.
A Demosthenes pitcher like a Rembrandt pitcher takes years of training, discipline, practice and mindfulness to successfully and effectively address the audience.
As a speaker, presenter or leader are you ready to put in the work required – to motivate and inspire your audiences – to become a Demosthenes pitcher?
Are you ready to learn how “paint the black”?
As a coach, trainer and consultant, Larry Blumsack partners with people and organizations on the move and those already there to accelerate their communication, presentation and speaking skills to be on par with their ambition. Through one-on-one coaching and group training Larry helps leaders and aspiring leaders elevate their presence and communication skills to influence more people, sell more products-services-ideas and inspire others more successfully than they ever imagined.
Larry is the bestselling author of Face-to-Face is The Ultimate Social Media and founder of Zoka Institute and Zoka Training®. Zoka Training® — Mind/Voice/Body/Mindfulness in sync — is the result of Larry’s 45 years as a coach, acting teacher, actor, voice-over artist, theater and TV director/producer, radio & TV commentator and show host, speaker, trainer, serial entrepreneur, and syndicated columnist. Larry was a founding member of the theater department at Northeastern University.
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