When you’re standing up in front of a group of people ready to give a speech, your instincts take over.  Honed over a million years of evolution, your body says to itself, “I’m in danger!  I must be prepared!”  because it was survival of the fittest in the cave person era. 

Your muscles tighten, your brain starts working faster, your breathing becomes shallow, your hands get clammy with heat and perspiration – adrenaline is coursing through your system, readying you for a battle that will never come. 

And that’s the problem.  Your body language signals to the audience in front of you (the audience dressed in modern business clothes, not the cave people) that you’re defensive, ready to fight.  The audience responds with defensiveness of its own.  What’s happening is that both sides of this modern attempt to communicate are being hampered by ancient instincts to fight or flee.

The possibility of open, honest communication breaks down, probably for the duration of the talk, and you haven’t even started yet.  All of this happens in the blink of an eye, unconsciously, before you even have the chance to think about it.  It’s just the bodies in the room communicating with one another. 

Another modern business presentation tanks. 

Trust Me:  Four Steps to Authenticity and Charisma:  http://tinyurl.com/5pq49q