Years ago I landed the role of Macbeth...
Very exciting to a young actor.
And to say it was challenging, would have been an understatement.
Memorising reams of text and getting your head & mouth around Shakespearean English - a language it itself.
Act 1, scene 7 - I had a long monologue.
Probably the most important speech in the entire play...and I just couldn't deliver it properly.
It lacked conviction.
I tried everything.
Shouting it loud in the park, singing it, saying it backwards.
I wasn't giving up without a fight, so I did this for days on end.
But nothing would unlock the emotion I needed to make it real.
Then one day, I overheard the director saying to someone that it just wasn't working and that he'd have to replace me.
Which hit me like a tonne of bricks.
I felt a surge of emotion.
And it triggered something inside of me.
This unlocked an emotional depth that had been previously hidden.
And during the next rehearsal, I absolutely nailed it.
I'd channeled this emotion into something real.
And it came alive.
I remember the director's face - firstly shock and then over the moon.
"I don't know how you did that Scott but you've found something really quite special.
I, along with everyone else was absolutely captivated. Fantastic job. If. You can do that during the public show, you'll bring the house down."
Why do I tell this story on LinkedIn?
To illustrate the point to anyone working in sales, in fact to anyone in business.
It's not necessarily about the words.
You have to give them meaning.
Everything you say has to sound like it's just come to you...almost like the first time you've said it.
And whilst you probably don't need the depth of emotion required for Macbeth on a cold call or during a sales meeting - you have to connect with what you're saying.
You have to make the words your own & have absolute conviction...
Then watch as people really start to pay attention.
