23/12/2025
What a Turkey Can Teach Us About Presence on Stage
By Coach Andre — Motivational Speaker | Public Speaking Coach
Last month, I visited Gotekote area in Inyanga and took a stroll around our yard while checking on our turkeys. I was struck by the male turkey's impressive display of presence. Here are 5 Public Speaking Lessons I have gleaned from this feathered friend:
A turkey does not rush. A turkey does not apologize for taking space. A turkey enters a space fully aware—head up, chest forward, grounded, unbothered.
And yet… the turkey commands attention without saying a word.
That is presence.
*Lesson 1: Presence Is Felt Before It Is Heard*
Before a turkey makes a sound, you notice it. Its posture communicates confidence. Its pace communicates certainty.
✅Public speaking lesson:
Your audience reads you before you speak.
Your walk-on
Your posture
Your stillness
Presence is non-verbal authority.
If you cannot command the room in silence, your words will have to work too hard.
*Lesson 2: The Turkey Is Not in a Hurry*
A turkey moves as if time adjusts to it—not the other way around.
✅Public speaking lesson:
Rushing kills presence.
Slow speakers sound confident.
Pauses create power.
Stillness signals control.
The speaker who controls the pace controls the room.
*Lesson 3: The Turkey Occupies Space Without Apology*
A turkey spreads out. It does not shrink. It does not seek permission.
✅Public speaking lesson:
Presence requires permissionless confidence.
Own the stage
Use open gestures
Stand grounded
Shrinking is a subconscious apology. Presence is silent permission.
*Lesson 4: The Turkey Is Fully Where Its Feet Are*
A turkey is never half-present.
No distraction. No hesitation.
✅Public speaking lesson:
True presence comes from attention discipline.
Be with the audience, not your notes
Be in the moment, not the outcome
Speak to, not at
Presence is not performance. Presence is alignment.
*Lesson 5: The Turkey Does Not Try to Impress*
A turkey is not performing confidence—it is confidence.
✅Public speaking lesson:
Stop trying to sound confident. Start being grounded.
Breathe
Stand
Speak from center
When you stop performing confidence, confidence appears.
Presence is not volume.
Presence is not vocabulary.
Presence is not perfection.
Presence is how fully you arrive.
If a turkey—without a script, without slides, without applause—can command attention…
So can you.
