We stumbled upon this advertisement for the US Marines a while back, and realized, wow, this basically SCREAMS the philosophy here at SquarePlanet.

I mean literally, this ad spoke to us, and we’ve been referencing it since.

There are few who run towards the chaos. It’s because going into chaos, as opposed to running straight in the opposite direction, goes against everything that has been engrained into the human body, brain, and soul. It goes against all the gears and triggers in your head that say, “Hey, this is dangerous—maybe we shouldn’t be doing this!”

So why, and most importantly, how, do you people refrain from their human instinct and run towards the chaos? They train. Practice. Exercise. Prepare. Everything they can do to make this moment perfect, they do. Rigorously. They work tirelessly so that go-time is easy, rehearsed, and natural.

Presentations are just the same. Nothing about standing in front of a group of people to be arbitrarily judged, critiqued, and gawked at says “natural,” yet we are constantly forced to do this often dreaded task. A majority of people view presenting as a burdensome chore they’d like to avoid at all costs. “If I don’t think about it, maybe it will go away!”

It is this dangerous philosophy out of which a plethora of issues arise: stage fright, cold feet, reading directly off a Powerpoint. By utilizing the same fundamentals as the Marines, firefighters or other individuals who break barriers and run into the chaos, presenters can learn to combat that anxiety. They can condition that thumping adrenaline into a superpower that makes them throw on a cape and hop into action at a minute’s notice.

Practice.

One word, eight letters. A very simple, very necessary element of preparation that people often forget or choose to ignore. Why? Because it feels unnatural! Talking into a mirror or your shower head may seem silly, but repetition leads to internalization, and internalization leads to a relaxed, prepared presenter who can handle any chaos thrown their way.