Michael Port - 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

Copyright 2015 by Michael Port

All rights reserved

For information about permission to reproduce selections from this book, write to or to Permissions, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, 3 Park Avenue, 19th Floor, New York, New York 10016.

www.hmhco.com

The Library of Congress has cataloged the print edition as follows:
Port, Michael, date.

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 / Michael Port.
pages cm

ISBN 978-0-544-55518-1 (hardback) ISBN 978-0-544-55519-8 (ebook)

1. Business presentations. 2. Business communication. 3. Employment interviewing. 4. Interpersonal communication. I. Title.

HF5718.22.P67 2015

658.4'52dc23

2015017313

Cover design by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

v1.1015

for AMY

All the worlds a stage,
And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances,
And one man in his time plays many parts...

William Shakespeare, As You Like It

All the Worlds a Stage

YOU MAY HAVE PICKED UP THIS BOOK for many reasons. Perhaps you have a speech to deliver at an industry conference. Maybe youre attempting to land a big project. You could be preparing for a job interview that will make or break your career. Maybe youre cramming for a meeting youll be leading with senior staff in attendance eyeballing your performance. Its possible you want to pitch a new business idea and you have to present it to a group of venture capitalists or bank executives. While these are distinct experiences they share a common thread: they all require you to perform.

Which is really scary. No matter how clever you are or how good you are at what you do, the performance side of these events can be anxiety provoking and intimidating.

And, when I say perform, I dont just mean that you will do something or complete something. I mean that you will present, act, stage, show, or dramatize; put on a performance that delights, impresses, wows, connects, or moves people to think, feel, or do something different.

You may think that only actors performonstage or in the moviesbut the reality is, we are all performers. Think about it. When you Skype for a conference call or speak on a panel, youre performing. When you use social media or describe yourself on a dating site, youre presenting yourself in a particular way and are therefore performing. When you express yourself in meetings, pitch a client, or walk into a job interview, youre performing. Even when youre trying to play it cool and keep a low profile, youre performing. (Cmon, admit itthat time you were at your bosss holiday party and you were sipping your drink casually by the pool with a look of quiet thoughtfulness, you were performing too.) Whether we want to admit it or not, our professional lives are full of public moments we cant escape and cant afford to screw up. In our personal lives, were often called upon to deliver toasts, eulogies, graduation remarks, or inspirational talks before a civic groupeven a first date is a kind of performance.

The irony is, most of us have to perform, even though we dont see ourselves as performers.

Yet, I can almost hear you saying, Well, Im not really a performer and Im certainly not an actor; in fact, Im far from it. Actors love the spotlight and cant wait to get onstage. Im shy and I get visibly nervous when I have to speak in front of others.

Well, I have good news for you. Thats fantastic. No, its better than that. Its a you-just-won-the-lottery kind of fantastic. Youre exactly the person for whom Ive written this book.

In Steal the Show, youll discover the role you want to play in the show that is your own life. Youll decide whether you are up for a leading or supporting role. Often we make the choice to play small because we havent given ourselves the chance to see the big opportunities in front of us. Not everyone is going to be a comedian or even a natural-born entertainer. But you dont need to be an entertainer to be a performer. Performance can be about wowing an audience, but it can also simply be about connecting with others, which is a beautiful thing.

Through this book you will learn how to leverage performance skills along with what you knowyour backstory, beliefs, expertise, and valuesto find the authenticity in the roles you choose to play. Finding this authenticity and then having the courage to use it is how you become an effective communicator and leaderno matter how nervous you may feel reading this today.

As a writer, professional speaker, and owner of multiple businesses, I am often scared myself, but I have also learned that its what we do with that fear that makes us who we are. In this book, I reveal how I was only able to meet the goals Id set for myself by fully embracing my fears and drawing upon what my classical training as an actor at NYUs Graduate Acting Program taught me about the power of great performances.

You see, my first career was as an actor. This was well before I was a business owner and wrote five business books, including Book Yourself Solid, Book Yourself Solid Illustrated, Beyond Booked Solid, The Contrarian Effect, and The Think Big Manifesto. Maybe you saw me on some of your favorite TV programs in the 90s, including Sex & the City, Third Watch, All My Children, and Law and Order, among othersonly then with a full head of hair.

Im buzzing with anticipation to share with you the most amazing way that the dramatic concepts of acting, stagecraft, and improvisation can help you communicate, speak, make deals, build and run a business, market your products, and try new things. Im living proof that an actors knowledge can be translated into everyday tactics that anyone can adopt and use for professional success.

In fact, when I retired from the ranks of professional actors, I nailed my first corporate job interview (for which I was completely unqualified). I landed the part because of my ability to authentically play the role required. I pulled it off by in effect saying, I know on paper Im not qualified for this position, but heres why I think you should hire me. I was able to do this because of the principles and techniques I had mastered as an actor.

I have spent the better part of this decade creating a modern methodology that can help you become a better performer. Through this book, I will teach you everyday performance principles and techniques that Ive designed specifically for nonactors so you can overcome your fears; silence your critics, both internal and external; find your voice; and become a confident performer in the spotlight.

Acting is not a metaphor but rather a model that you can apply to both life and work.

Why do I say this? Because, to paraphrase the legendary acting teacher Lee Strasberg, an actors work is about the ability to consistently create reality and to express that reality. And that is in large part the way that life works for all of us. Each day we have the ability to create our reality. I dont mean this as an abundance theory, that were using affirmations or writing poetry (neither of which I do but both of which are perfectly good things to do), but rather that all of us inevitably make choices about what we want to achieve every day and over the course of years and decades. Those choices form a narrative, a narrative that tells the story of our lives. In parallel, we have choices about how we will express ourselves publicly to meet those aspirations. Performance, at its core, is about how you communicate and, by extension, how you connect with others on a daily basis. The truth behind why some performers captivate an audience while others lull an audience into checking their phones is found in the creative history and unique craft of acting, which can be used as a model for successful performance in both personal and professional life.