Chapter 11

THE LIBERATOR

MEET THE LIBERATOR

You are the architect of cloud castles: an optimistic visionary who loves to inspire. When Liberators step onstage, they share ideas that warm hearts and motivate anyone who listens. This is in part due to their natural ability and in part due to their experience in leadership and emboldening others. Either way, Liberators receive an overall strong score from the assessment because of an ideal combination of experience and personality.

The Liberator persona is represented by a lion because of the way his or her message “roars.” They choose topics that have long-term value for their audience, and their messages are capable of being heard and appreciated by people with different backgrounds and perspectives. Big, loud, bold: lions are the king of their turf for a reason.

A lion’s teeth aren’t just for show. Liberators have the intelligence to back up their presentation with sound practical advice. Their work in the research phase ensures that they can answer tough questions with facts, stats, and examples that will support their assertions. All of that back-end work not only gives them credibility as presenters but also gives them the confidence they need to deliver with power.

If you scored as a Liberator, you most likely enjoy sharing ideas that will benefit the audience in a deeper way. If you deliver a sales presentation, for instance, your focus is on creating a lengthy relationship with the client rather than just making a one-time sale. If you are a teacher, your emphasis is on the real-world application of the message far beyond the classroom. Even if speaking is not part of your daily routine, you will still find the best way to create positive change within your audience when challenged to present. This empathetic perspective helps shape the way you develop content and deliver your ideas, and it shows no matter what the topic.

Of course, it’s not always about cloud castles and sunshine. Liberators can often be their own worst enemy because of overconfidence in their ability or in the message that they want to deliver. Sometimes they are so focused on the bigger picture or their platform that they forget to help audience members who need more time, more explanation, and more facts. When your eyes are focused in the distance and on the horizon, it’s easy to stumble over the rocks in your path.

Ideal Liberators will be able to balance their big-picture visions with practicality, making it easy for audience members to act on what they’ve said. With some mindful work and a little extra effort, the lion’s roar could be heard the wide world over.

HOW YOU SCORED

So how did you score the Liberator? These results were calculated using our four-quadrant algorithm in which anything on the outside corner of the specific quadrant is considered high and anything near the main intersection is considered mid-low (Figure 11.1). Here is a simple rundown of your placement in each quadrant and how we arrived at your profile:

Figure 11.1 The Liberators

EXPLORATION

Liberators score especially well in this quadrant, and the extra work they put into preparation influences their entire speech. Your answers indicate that you value great design, use techniques such as content storyboarding, and spend time rehearsing your presentation aloud. Much of Exploration is common sense and practical public speaking wisdom, but the bulk of your score is probably due to the passion you have for the subject. If you enjoy something, you want to make sure that others enjoy it too, which you achieve by exuding energy and coming across as a professional.

SHARING

Liberators are great at clearly and passionately sharing their message. You are energized by delivering a great speech, and you are comfortable using techniques such as storytelling and humor to enhance the overall message. If anything, the best way that Liberators can improve in this category is to make sure they are not just delivering the kind of message that they would like but delivering the kind of message that their audience will enjoy as well. To accomplish this, you might consider customizing your content in different parts to each kind of learning style (visual, auditory, reading and writing, and kinesthetic) the audience members may have.

RESPONSE

Your score fell within the mid- to high range of this quadrant, which suggests a natural strength at networking and after-presentation activities. However, we recommend that Liberators take a closer look in this category and ask for objective feedback after a presentation. Sometimes the rush you experience after presenting may obscure how the audience really feels about your message. You may believe that you answered everyone’s questions and the energy was good, but that belief could simply be a projection of your own vivacity.

DURABILITY

Your personal drive is fueled by messages that have meaning and last for a long time. Even if you haven’t delivered a message or created a platform big enough to suit you, you have dreams of doing so or you are already working on it. Liberators are the ideal persona for creating, developing, and delivering messages that can change the world and stick. If you haven’t started working on your long-term platform yet, what are you waiting for?

SPOTTING A LIBERATOR IN THE WILD

Meet Zoey, a full-time hospital nurse and single mother. She has been an inventor, a tinkerer, and a dreamer her whole life. She aspires to write an inspirational book for mothers who work, based on her own experiences. But it will be more than just a book: she would love to create an entire network of resources for working moms. This could include a website, an app, and a speaking tour for herself that would take her across the country. Zoey even envisions this platform to include TV—and her own talk show.

If it sounds like a pie-in-the-sky dream, it is. But what separates Zoey from other dreamers is a personal drive and a vibrant personality. When she talks, people listen. When she describes her plan for her platform, people believe that she will achieve her goals.

She has also put in the time necessary to put her plan into action. When her day job ends, her research and writing begin. She finds source data, collects true stories from other moms, and works on her book, and she is developing a presentation that she can deliver as a general overview of her platform. No stone is left unturned; her house is starting to look like a messy library of books, printed papers, folders, and bright sticky notes.

If it sounds like Zoey is on her way to becoming a great speaker … she is. The only thing that stands in her way is her own single-mindedness. She is crafting her message for other Zoeys like her in the world, but not necessarily for a variety of audience members and different kinds of moms. To refine her message, she will need to ask a friend to listen to her pitch and make suggestions. And as difficult as it may seem, she must take those comments to heart, even if it means toning herself down onstage.

The last thing that Zoey wants is to come across as self-interested and self-focused. If her platform is truly about helping others, then she needs to better understand people who may not be Liberators like her. Not all moms share her energy or even her learning style. With a broader view, she will be better able to cater to a wider audience and guarantee the success of her efforts.

Think of her platform as a perfect ice cream sundae. No matter how delicious the elements are together, someone will always have a favorite flavor. To succeed, Zoey needs to make sure there is a scoop of everything, and that will require a little bit more work and some helpful feedback from those she trusts.

YOUR NATURAL HABITAT

Imagine this: a small coffee shop with 15 chairs lined up facing a stage. People are wandering in and out for their lattes, ignoring the performance that’s about to occur. Eventually, three or four people fill the seats and wait for the speech to begin. For a Liberator, this is a horror story.

The reason this sounds so scary is that your messages are aimed at the masses, and your ideal presentation platform would reach the largest audience possible. You have jumbo-size dreams of ballroom gigs, spots on television, even the famed TED stage. These are the best places for your ideas to thrive because they are high level and broad enough to share with a wide range of people. The bigger, the better.

BRAWN (STRENGTHS)

Persuasive

Enthusiastic

Articulate

Your ability to plan far into the future gives you an advantage over more reactive presenters, and it also makes you a strong contender for thought leadership. You approach all of your projects with high energy and a go-getter attitude that audiences love to see. This is enhanced by your natural speaking skill onstage, which engages your audience with tactics used by entertainers of all backgrounds and abilities.

But it’s more than entertainment: your energy is backed by the necessary research and intelligent planning required to be credible. That extra work is apparent to your audience even if they don’t necessarily agree with the message itself.

TRAPS (WEAKNESSES)

Redundant

Fluffy

Self-focused

No speaker is perfect, not even a Liberator. Your presentations risk being too lofty and insubstantial if careful data is not selected to support the core points. Because feel-good messages are popular, you risk sounding like everyone else unless you offer something fresh. These actions can add up to one fluffy, forgettable message if you aren’t careful.

Liberators can be prone to creating an uplifting message that they want to hear themselves rather than homing in on their audience’s needs and wants. For Zoey, improving her message requires a careful understanding of what her ideal audience desires to hear.

YOUR NATURAL ALLY

Want to learn how to balance your strengths and become more approachable and down-to-earth? Take some time to learn from Directors (Chapter 9) and gain some insight by interacting with them.

YOUR PREY

Those in search of a little inspiration will be your ideal audience. The same goes for people looking for some leadership, who don’t want to feel as if they are being forcefully managed into bettering themselves. High-level messages are perfect to meet these needs, especially in the hands of a capable and experienced presenter.

YOUR PREDATORS

Not everyone likes to see a half-hour sitcom end with all the loose ends tied up and a smiling family. Scholar personalities will be hesitant to accept your large-scale vision if it relies on a lot of ifs and if it is light on proof. You will need to make sure that if you teach a lesson or offer a step-by-step call to action, you consider different learning types. Some may need a demonstration, some a text-based handout, and others a hands-on group activity to feel like they fully understand your message. In general, be mindful of those who learn and understand the world differently than you do.

FIVE DOS AND DON’TS

DOS

1.   Do your research before presenting a brilliant new idea to the masses: be sure to Google all avenues to see if an idea like yours already exists. If it does, then acknowledge the similarity during your speech and be very clear about your differentiation.

2.   To confirm that the content of your message isn’t too niche to apply to your audience, compile a list of five very different friends, relatives, and coworkers. How could your idea apply to each of them? Does it work for everyone? Build your speech to touch on the various ways your idea can be applied.

3.   You’re naturally the master of feel-good messages, but be sure that these big-picture ideals can have real outcomes that are reflected in your content outline.

4.   Create a call to action that is clear and direct and that can be feasibly accomplished by your audience when the speech is over.

5.   Let your natural enthusiasm take over when you deliver: drop the notion that you are required to come across as corporate or stiff in front of your audience. This can be achieved by rehearsing, never memorizing, your main points.

DON’TS

1.   Don’t let your excitement about the topic let you drop the ball on strong research, facts that can back up your main ideas, and any other supporting data that will help give your message credibility.

2.   Don’t make it all about you. If you are including stories in your presentation, consider using a protagonist other than you who could also benefit from your message.

3.   Don’t just tell your audience how great the future would be if your vision came to life. Present a complete road map of how it can be practically implemented in a timely way.

4.   Don’t let your ego get in the way of a great message. Accomplish this by rehearsing your presentation in front of others who are willing to tell you when they feel disconnected from your message.

5.   When you come across any doubtful audience members, don’t shy away from offering a Q&A session that can address their reasonable questions.

THE IDEAL LIBERATOR

There is no such thing as a bad persona. There are only areas to improve on within your range of strengths and weaknesses. With that in mind, what do ideal Liberators look like?

1.   They put in the extra work to better understand their audience’s needs, and they craft their message to fit different learning styles.

2.   They are careful to avoid a fluffy, feel-good message that is light on proof.

3.   They look beyond themselves and their own ambition to understand the world around them, and they ask for feedback even if it’s unpleasant to hear.

What about the story of Zoey, our hardworking mom who dreams of creating a helpful resource for other moms in her situation? Here’s how her story changes when she works to become a more ideal persona:

1.   She doesn’t just use Google to find the real-life stories of other moms and how they handle a busy schedule in their own way. She also interviews moms, takes notes, and incorporates their stories into the fabric of her brand.

2.   She acknowledges that not everyone is like her, and she works to customize a call to action specific to different needs and personalities.

3.   She presents her message to her sister and a few close friends, taking careful note of their feedback and making the necessary changes.

Lions are fierce; so are Liberators. Since you’ve already received a score that reflects a strong understanding of what it takes to be a great presenter, all you need to do to become ideal is work on self-awareness. If your close friends watched you present, would they say you were a perfect speaker? Find out where your blind spots are and don’t let pride or confidence stop you from making the requisite changes and hearing news you might not want to hear. The end result will be a confident presentation that roars—one that’s heard around the world.