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“To make something special you just have to believe it’s special.”
Wow. One inspiring quote can change your life and this one has that power. It comes from one of my favorite movies “Kung Fu Panda”- a hilarious, animated movie about a big, fat panda discovering his destiny and beating all odds to emerge the unlikeliest hero.
If you haven’t seen the movie, I definitely recommend you to give it a watch for it packs more than an entertainment punch; it gives away some really valuable life lessons that can change your outlook towards life.
The main character of the story- a panda named Po- resembles many of us. He has a dream to learn Kung Fu but is too lazy and clumsy to run after it. He takes his large size as an excuse to indulge in day-dreaming and self-defeating thoughts. By accident, he lands in the contest for “Dragon Warrior” right in front of temple master Oogway and gets chosen for the majestic title.
But the wise old turtle knew there were no accidents. The panda was destined to bring peace to the valley by defeating treacherous snow leopard Tai Lung and as predicted, the destiny is fulfilled.
From panda’s journey, we get to learn valuable life and presentation lessons. Here are the 9 presentation lessons from Kung Fu Panda that I learnt and believe can help every presenter overcome his inhibitions to be their best on the dreaded stage:
1. Believe That You Are A Warrior First
Unless you believe that you have it in you, others cannot and will not believe so. Your body language will reflect your thoughts and the audience will absorb your negativity or positivity and judge you accordingly. Don’t let your outer appearance influence your self-judgement.
The panda faced what every ordinary man faces on the road to realizing extraordinary dreams- dejection, humiliation and inherent weaknesses. Po was ridiculed by his fellow Kung Fu warriors, even his teacher Master Shifu, the best Kung Fu teacher in China. On Oogway’s assurance, Shifu starts training the panda in martial arts. The metamorphosis from a big, fat panda to dragon warrior however comes only when Panda learns the most important lesson himself “Believe that he was the dragon warrior.” After all, “There is no secret ingredient.” The same applies to presentations and public speaking too.
2. Practice is the key
No matter how much of a seasoned orator you are, you have got to practice for the big day. By practising, I don’t mean rote learning your speech here but practising your voice fluctuations, gestures, facial expressions and the outline of your presentation till you are absolutely confident about about your content and delivery style. Your assessment may be misleading; so practice your pitch before family and friends, take their feedback and incorporate their suggestions to perfect your pitch. Practice will also help you calmly deal with unforeseen disasters like software and hardware malfunction.
How much should you practice? To quote Wayne Burgraff, “It takes one hour of preparation time for one minute of presentation time.” Tweet This Quote
So if you have to deliver a 15-minute talk, you have got to invest 15 hours of preparation at least.
Even in the movie Kung Fu Panda, Po has to undergo rigorous Kung Fu combat training before he can take on the villain. Unlike the Furious Five who had been trained in the martial arts from childhood, Po had but only a few days to learn it all. Master Shifu had to improvise and make the most out of the time he had.
How can you improvise under severe time crunch? Here’s how: Leave the PowerPoint work to professionals; rehearse your content and delivery in the limited time you have. Our professional PowerPoint Presentation Design Services team receives many such requests from presenters facing tight and stressful deadlines.
Master Shifu warns the panda in the movie, “If you don’t train, you will never reach the next level.” Tweet This Quote
3. Own your weakness
Speaking about strengths and weaknesses, I am a big Game of Thrones fan, so I have to quote here a beautiful line said by Tyrion Lannister, the dwarf who could easily out think mighty kings and queens.
“Never forget what you are, for surely the world will not. Make it your strength, then it can never be your weakness. Armor yourself in it, and it will never be used to hurt you.” Tweet This Quote
To transform your weakness into a strength, you have to first acknowledge it and make peace with it. If you know you are not good at designing, you can either practice to perfect it or leave the work to professionals and concentrate on your delivery skills. But to deny your weakness and thereby create crappy designs will only harm your best interests.
In this animated movie, the hero Po knows his obvious weakness and has therefore low self-esteem. But once he makes peace with it, his weakness becomes his ultimate strength. The jibes at his large size now turn into jibes at others.
To narrate one funny scene from the movie, the Kung Fu enemy Tai Lung finally meets the dragon warrior which was Po and ridicules him, “What are you gonna do big guy? Sit on me?” Po beautifully answers, “Don’t tempt me.”
Don’t just make peace with your weakness, conquer it and own it like the panda does. “I’m not a big fat panda. I’m THE big, fat panda.” That’s the spirit, what say? Always remember:
“Our strength grows out of our weaknesses.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson. Tweet This Quote
4. Live In The Present
Majority of us are unable to let go of our emotional baggage from the past or are stuck in a non-existent, utopian future which is too perfect to be true. The moment right now is foolishly squandered. Action is forsaken. How would our dreams come to reality if we don’t act upon them?
This simple lesson is easily forgotten by Po too. On being given the title of the dragon warrior and miserably failing at Kung Fu, the panda decides to quit. But the wise temple master wakes him up from his slumber and inspires him to take hold of the present. Here’s the transcript of this beautiful scene:
“Po: Maybe I should just quit and go back to making noodles.
Oogway: Quit, don't quit? Noodles, don't noodles? You are too concerned about what was and what will be. There is a saying: yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift. That is why it is called the "present.” Tweet This Quote
Want to know the other 5 lessons this story gives us. Watch the slideshow below to unravel the secret ingredients to presentation success. Wait! Did you forget? There are no secret ingredients, it’s just you:
Did we miss any lesson? Sure must have for the story has many other beautiful gems of wisdom. Share with us your favorite quote from Kung Fu Panda in the comments below.
