Learning from the art of judo

Yesterday i had a very challenging software demonstration because things just did not go as well as i have expected : response time problems ,a lot of errors have been done along the discovery process, no value added for the customer, hostile audience... After such a presentation i stayed a while wondering how to avoid this bad situation happening again and i found 2 or 3 things that i could check better in my next software demonstration.

But the main reason was beyond the demo skills and demo preparation, the main reason appeared to me as a very clear fact : the true is that things happens to go wrong ! Some times you have to experiment hard times while you are in front of your audience. At any time, a response time problem (or a bug one) can ruin your demo even though you have checked all the things a few minutes ago before starting the presentation

Yes sometimes things goes wrong and the question is how are we going to react to this bad situations ? Is the customer or the public the enemy ? no they are never the enemy, if there are any enemy at all, it is within us. Facing the adversity by showing irritation or defensiveness to the audience will lead usually to the defeat. On the contrary, adopting a quiet response to a difficult situation or an hostile audience will lead you to a point where engaging your audience may still remain possible and anyway showing self control will gain you the respect of your audience. Keeping your calm and nerves in the storm is an invaluable asset.

We can indeed learn a lot from the art of judo and specially about this precious state of mind that allow us to react in an appropriate way to difficult situations without feeling hurt or offended . In his book Presentationzen Garr Raynolds quotes judo guru H. Seichiro Okazaki "only by cultivating a receptive state of mind, without preconceived ideas or thoughts can one master the secret art of reacting spontaneously and naturally without hesitation and without purposeless resistance"
It's not about physical performances, it's not exactly about David Douillet's judo skills for whom i have a lot of respect , it's about the capability of being in the moment without any thoughts of the past or of the future, without thinking about success and failure option.
When you are engaged in any art or sport , you must get rid of the ego-consciousness and apply yourself completely, you must be in the state of mind (or rather "state of no mind" according Garr) where you are free from the burden of inhibitions so that you can contribute fully and fluidly in the moment. The idea behind it, is about contribution : what is my job right now ? How can i make a contribution in this moment in order to help others and to make my company a better place ?

The good news is that when you start thinking in terms of being in the moment and in terms of contribution, you are no longer in competition with others, with the audience or with your colleagues. Because in contribution there is no better. "You are just fully in the moment with your audience and you remains flexible totally aware and open to the possibilities as they arise"
(Garr Raynold"). As the talented conductor for the Boston Philarmonia orchestra Benjamin Zander said about musician (but it is true also for most demo presentations) :

"This is the moment--this is the most important moment right now. Which is : We are about contribution. That's our job is. It's not about impressing people. It's not about getting the next job. It's about contributing something" --- Benjamin Zander

oh, I hope you enjoyed this post that is very inspired ( am i a dangerous pirate? ) by the book of Garr Raynold (PresentationZen). But i am really enthusiast about how totally different topics like judo, art, classical music could be connected with the delivery of demo performances. Of course technical training are important but learning something about your job from unusual places is more.