"Making the Tour" Posts from the Pete Dye Classic

Day 3: Tuesday

After an early arrival to the course, a live remote at grocery store and countless media requests, I hosted the junior golf clinic at the National Mining Association Pete Dye Classic. The event is attended by young children (who all want to be Tiger Woods) and their parents (who all want to be Tiger Woods) seeking to learn a tip or two from the pros.

So what's the focus of the post on this day? Presentation skills.

Though I’ve never really been afraid of public speaking, today was a bit different. I’ve only been golfing for a year or so and today I was thrust into the role of emcee for a youth clinic before a rather large and diverse audience including media, kids and parents and PGA TOUR officials.

It was at that very moment that I thought ‘time to put those presentation skills I’ve developed to good use.” Though a new topic to me, I remembered the ’93-7’rule. It is estimated that when you speak only 7% of your message is actually the words you say. The remaining 93% is body language, tone(including cadence and volume), and other non-verbal items.

If you’re ever in this spot, remember the ’93-7’rule and the following:

-Be prepared
-Create an outline
-Practice
-Be calm
-Use hands and arms to effectively convey message
-Be brief. Be brilliant. Be gone.

But perhaps most importantly, know your audience and relate with them. That’s what helped me through the experience (which I fully enjoyed). I worked the crowd, shook hands with players, the kids, parents, everybody. The audience and I were comfortable with each other long before I ever said a word.

Hope that helps. Now, as for golf, you’re on your own.