In 2017 Irish fighter Conor McGregor got into a Las Vegas ring to fight the unbeaten Floyd Mayweather.
Even making that fight was an incredible achievement in itself, given that the American was seen as an all-time great, unbeaten after 49 fights, and McGregor had never fought a professional boxing match before and was moving across from the world of Mixed Martial Arts for the occasion.
Three press conferences with 50,000 people in attendance – it’s impressive!
When was the last time three press conferences had an attendance of close to 50,000 people, with millions more tuning in online?
Here it is. McGregor gets the microphone at around 16 minutes…
Is McGregor confident or arrogant?
Charismatic or vulgar?
Inspirational or a bit embarrassing?
Whatever your feelings about him, he is without doubt a top-class communicator.
But why?
Here are six things Conor McGregor does right when he gets in front of an audience.
You may not like him, but there might still be something to take from this into your own communications.
1. He shows up authentically
Conor McGregor is truly and unapologetically himself, unfiltered.
Whether or not you are a fan of him, the reality is that any audience will connect and engage with people who are truly themselves.
Yes, there is certainly showmanship, but there is no denying that what you see is what you get.
When you deliver a business presentation, how authentic are you with your audience? Or do you drop into “presenter mode”?
Because, from our experience, most people do.
2. He oozes vocal confidence
If you place your personal opinion of his “message to the world” aside for a moment, you cannot avoid the fact that he is incredibly focused on what he is saying.
Conor McGregor delivers his message with absolute confidence and conviction.
There is more often than not composure to his delivery.
And, with the exception a few questionable consonant misplacements, there is clarity in his delivery!
He has great use of pause, pace, vocal range.
Whatever the result of their actual bout in the ring a few weeks later, here on the stage he simply outshines his “co-performer” Mr Mayweather.
McGregor “owns his space” vocally. We’re not saying shouting and aggression makes a great communicator, but there are strong qualities to his delivery that are worth being aware of.
As people presenting in a business context know, vocal confidence is key.
How often do you sit through presentations listening to a presenter delivering a monotonous, lifeless presentation and wishing you were somewhere else?
Vocal confidence is not only key it is essential to succeed in business communication.
3. The McGregor speaking equation: energy + performance = excitement
McGregor simply has bucket loads of energy and excitement – both physically and vocally.
He understands that for public speaking engagements – he needs to raise his game in terms of energy. Yes, lots of shouting (which I’m not advocating), but he’s speaking to his audience, and the audience in his case are not complaining.
Energy is contagious.
He can lift his audience into a state of excitement, watch how he can equally enrage them seemingly so easily.
He understands that he has the ability (and responsibility) to instil emotion or energy in the audience.
An audience wants to be entertained, and part of the entertainment comes from a presenter’s ability to evoke emotional states within the audience.
There is no denying McGregor can achieve this.
All too often presenters give little consideration to emotion in their presentation, in other words how you want your audience to feel within business presentations is ignored.
4. He encourages audience participation
Watch how the audience follow his commands.
These commands are delivered very clearly, simply and with passion.
If an audience is following commands from a speaker, it means they are listening, it means they are following a presenter, it means the presenter has strong rapport with his audience.
McGregor is in control. He is leading his audience.
As he gives commands to his audience, he builds strong rapport.
5. He loves his audience (almost as much as he loves himself!)
Conor McGregor’s messaging is tailored precisely for his audience.
He speaks to his audience in their language. He wants them to be part of the show. He includes them. His audience is at the heart of his messaging all the time and they love it.
Let us ask you this.
How tailored is your message for your audience? Do you keep your audience at the heart of everything you say?
If you are appalled by Conor McGregor’s message and language and style, guess what?
You are not his chosen audience.
6. He is clearly massively prepared
McGregor clearly practices, rehearses and hones everything he does until he feels confident.
He focuses his mind on a successful outcome and eliminates any self-limiting beliefs.
I have no doubt he prepares for success when he’s communicating too. That is evidenced by everything about his performance above.
When you are preparing for an important sales pitch or upcoming presentation, what is your preparation strategy for success?
Do you have one?
In conclusion, we encourage you to look at Conor McGregor at little closer.
If you don’t like him, that’s ok. Lots of people don’t!
But you can still learn from him and study what he is doing, and how he’s doing it.