Foard: Framing yourself as the presentation's hero triggers audience resentment
Neal Foard · Neal Foard – The Art of Storytelling (Capital Allocators, EP.290) · Jan 2, 2023 · at 38:42
Advertising executive Neal Foard explains to Ted Seides why speakers should focus on benefiting the audience rather than self-aggrandizement.
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“There are two outcomes. The first is that subconsciously people don't want you to succeed. They go, oh my God, I just don't believe them, and I don't want them to succeed. The problem with the credibility is that there's that great quote from George Orwell, no autobiography is to be trusted unless it reveals something disgraceful. Most people that self-aggrandize, they lie about other things. That creates a credibility problem. So that's the first thing. The second thing is that when an audience hears you as the hero of the story, they are no longer standing next to you. They're watching you. And that doesn't create an air of camaraderie and friendship. It doesn't make you one of them.”
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“I often caution people, don't say you're nervous. It doesn't help any It doesn't have the effect that you think it's going to have where it wins you over for them. They see you as a wounded animal, and that's a problem. Instead, let the nervous energy resonate…”