How many of you would like to get better at public speaking but put in less hours of work? A show of hands?
Yup, my hand is right up there with yours.
I’ve discovered something called The 4-Hour Work Rule and it’s all about getting better results from your preparation and practice and working less hours.
The human brain can handle only so much input of information at once and for only a limited amount of time. Beyond a few hours of intense concentration and your brain starts to shut off because it’s reached saturation point.
So you have to stop, give your brain and body a break, and allow all the information you’ve just fed it time to digest and filter down into your cells, neurons, and synapses.
Here’s where the 4-Hour Work Rule comes in. This rule says that four hours it just about the maximum length of time your brain can optimally soak up information. Beyond that, you’re basically beating a dead horse and wasting valuable time trying to put letters into an already full post box.
How does this apply to public speaking? It works exactly the same way as rehearsal time, memorizing lines, and learning musical pieces works for us actors and musicians. Push for a few hours, take a rest. Push again, take a rest. Rinse and repeat.
Here are three ways to use the 4-Hour Work Rule to benefit your business and public speaking and get better, more impactful results from your preparation and practice time.
#1 Public Speaking Practice and Prep is About Quality, Not Quantity
We’ve all heard that it’s quality, not quantity that wins the day, whether you’re talking about practice, rehearsals, or any creative activity. You can apply this to your work life or equally to how many people show up at your birthday party. It’s not about how many people show up, it’s the right people showing up that matters.
Centuries Of Burn Out Tells Us More Is NOT Better
Japan and America are just a two countries that for centuries have advocated that the more hours you work, the more money you’ll make and the more productive you’ll be. Pictures of employees pulling ‘all-nighters’, face down on their desk, having fallen asleep where they sit, are commended for their diligence.
We know now that exhausted employees only lead to having to replace them or giving them time off because they get sick or burned out. The past few decades have seen businesses very slowly begin to introduce flexible hours for their employees. And the powers that be are finding that it works.
Your brain works better when it has time to take a break and process. Then, engage again and process again. The body needs time to recover so take your work in bite sized chunks instead of one very long, relentless stream of prolonged activity.
You’ll learn better and are more productive when you take pit stops. Just like driving a car is dangerous if you try to drive long distances without taking a break every now and then. You will reach your destination safely and just as completely as if you tried to ram the whole trip into one long, relentless journey with no breaks.
And isn’t that what we want? More productive, calm, well adjusted employees? And more prepared, ready, and grounded speakers? We’ll all get to where we’re going whether we cram quantity into an activity that will be just as well done, if not better, by spacing out the work.
Less is more. More is better. Break up the activity. See what happens!
#2 Work Smarter, Not Longer When Practicing Public Speaking: D.E.A.L.
The 4-Hour Work Rule says that when you cut down on the amount of hours you work and concentrate on intensity, you reap more benefits of that intense time. In the book The 4-Hour Work Week author Tim Ferriss talks about D.E.A.L. and the steps that will lead you to a higher quality of life while still getting everything done on your list.
‘D’ is for Definition, defining your goal in life and estimating its cost. Is your goal to work only 2 hours per day? Do you want to have more time with your children? More time to travel? Get clear on your goal and then estimate how much you’d need to get there.
‘E’ is for Elimination, getting rid of old mindsets that are holding you back. Are there people in your immediate work life that cause unnecessary drama or stress? Be ruthless here. Prune the dead branches and streamline. This can be tricky but be ruthless.
‘A’ is for Automation. Now, for self-employed people this can be tricky but it can be as simple as an app that helps you schedule your social media. You can hire someone to do that for you.
You can also apply this concept to your practice time in public speaking. Here’s a trick: Record yourself speaking your entire pitch, presentation, or speech. Put it on a 5x loop and listen to it as you go to bed. You’ll be learning your words while you sleep. Bingo.
‘L’ is for Liberation and freeing yourself to spend time doing things you want to do. The era of being chained to the office and your desk are well and truly over for many of us. What does freedom look like for you?
#3 The Pareto Principle Applied to Public Speaking
Here’s my last kicker. You’ve probably heard of the 80-20 rule, which comes from The Pareto Principle. This aphorism states that 80% of outcomes result from 20% of all causes. To put this in a business context, 80% of your income will be generated by 20% of your clients.
So, again, we run into quality, not quantity. Figure out what’s really important to you and what really works for you and concentrate on those things. Find that 20% of your clients that are responsible for most of your income and pour love on them.
The 4-Hour Rule Is There For You To Use in Public Speaking and Beyond
At the end of the day, we’d all love to work less and make more. And the good news is that it’s within your reach right now. In the words of Tim Ferriss himself:
‘Never automate something that can be eliminated, and never delegate something that can be automated or streamlined. Otherwise, you waste someone else’s time instead of your own, which now wastes your hard-earned cash.’
Give it a go. Try working smarter and not longer. Give yourself breaks and let the information trickle down and settle into your bones.
What have you got to lose?
See you on the inside!
Maria xx
PS. Are you ready to take your public speaking skills to the next level? I’ve got your back. Book your FREE discovery session here and let’s get you started!
Grab your FREE Training Video: 3 PROVEN PUBLIC SPEAKING TECHNIQUES to Boost Your Confidence & Take Control of Your Voice (Even If You Hate Public Speaking!) https://mariatecce.com/public-speaking-techniques/
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