During the Olympics you hear a lot of talk about the podium.  Wikipedia says that a podium (plural podia) is a platform that is used to raise something to a short distance above its surroundings. It derives from the Greek πόδι (foot).

Why then do people refer to the tall stand on a stage or in front of a room, as a podium, when its really a ‘lectern’.  Wikipedia states that a lectern (from the Latin lectus, past participle of legere, “to read”) is a reading desk with a slanted top, usually placed on a stand or affixed to some other form of support, on which documents or books are placed as support for reading aloud, as in a scripture reading, lecture, or sermon.

Toastmaster training instilled this proper term in me.  Speakers use lecturns to stand behind or hold their notes, computer or other devices, and they may be standing on a podium (low stage used to elevate them) at the same time.

Toastmaster training instilled this proper term in me, and I always teach my Effective and Powerful Presentation Performance students to use the proper word. When you ask a meeting planner to ensure that you have a lectern, you’ll sound professional, that you know what you’re talking about.

Perhaps the word podium and lectern get interchanged because the one standing on it is ‘raised’ to an elevated stand so that they appear distinctive and singular from the audience.  Amateur speakers and presenters may feel that they are singled out and above the audience, because they are ‘higher’ than the crowd being asked to speak, but that perspective is troublesome, and comes from one’s ego.   A professional speaker makes their presentation all about the audience, so as to put them on the pedestal, and become one with then, not above them.  You’ll notice a difference with speeches and presentations that come from the heart, vs. those from the ego.

I am excited this week to be going to Palm Springs California to work with a Toastmasters Golden Gavel recipient, in a three day intensive “Speaking Master Class” with only 20 other students.  I promise to share, as always, everything I know with my future students.

I hope you see your favorite Olympian athletes on the podium!