The worst speaking experience I ever had was in front of 450 witnesses. What made it memorable, for all the wrong reasons, was that I was out of control. It took me forty minutes to cover my first 20 minutes of material. I was all over the place - all spontaneous right-brain creativity with no left-brain organization and discipline to keep it in check. It was a paid booking, too. Ouch!

At that time, I didn't know anything about right-brain/left-brain integration. All I knew was that I blew it, and I assumed that everyone else knew it, too. I didn't understand why I blew it any more than I understood why, on another day that same month, I was completely in control and nailed the same keynote. All it took was one disaster to make me vow never to let it happen again.

During the last ten years, I've made it my mission to learn more about what it takes to be brilliant in front of an audience. I've developed my Story Theater Method for strategic storytelling; I've analyzed the dynamic interaction between a speaker and her audience; and I've discovered that emotion is the fast lane to the brain. Along the way, I've also discovered that the path to brilliance has its foundation in the most complex technology ever invented - the human brain. The study of the brain and how it affects productivity and learning is called brain science.

First of all, it's not enough to know that your right brain is the creative lobe and your left brain is the organizational lobe. What's important to understand is the dynamic interaction between the two. When your left and right brain are in balance - working together as a team - you can access what I describe to my students as your genius brain. Did you know that you have a genius brain? It's true.

Consider this: when you were a child, you came up with outrageous questions, made startling statements and got the adults around you to laugh. Think about any child between two and four years of age and you'll see what I mean. Because young children function primarily from their creative right brain, they often make seemingly non-linear associations.

Once we got to school however, they started training us to use our left, linear brain. They helped us learn to focus. They taught us how to organize our thoughts and to think logically. The problem was, most educational systems dismissed right-brain creativity to such an extent that it was discouraged. The left-brain ability to memorize, organize and prioritize was rewarded. The right-brain proclivity to daydream, play and draw pictures was de-emphasized. Only now do progressive schools employ innovative approaches to teaching and learning because they understand the need to develop both lobes of the brain in a balanced, whole-brain approach.

What does this have to do with brilliance? And why is it important to us as speakers, trainers, consultants and coaches? It's important because speakers who stand in front of an audience and deliver practical content in a logical format, while leaving out humor, spontaneity and innovation, are boring. Their presentations are all left-brain logical. Face it - facts alone are interesting, but boring. If you are predictable as a speaker - no surprises, no humor, no new perspectives - you are doomed to be boring. The solution: a healthy balance of right-brain creativity and innovation delivered in a left-brain, linear format. Balance your brain!

Brilliant speakers are compelling because they surprise us with a creative approach to their subject. They see beyond the obvious and use stories, metaphors, analogies, humor, and sometimes magic, to illustrate their points. At the same time, everything they say fits together and makes sense. Seemingly illogical combinations of ingredients and examples all fit together in a fascinating montage that keeps their audience guessing. They use their creative right brain to develop provocative and interesting concepts and approaches to their subject. They then use their logical left brain to edit and organize their material so that it all flows and fits together.

Random creativity without logical structure is pointless. Logical ideas delivered in a predictable fashion are boring. What we should all strive for, in my opinion, is logical creativity.

The speaking failure, that I mentioned earlier, resulted from self-indulgent creativity. I forgot to pay attention. I went off on tangents that made sense only to me. I pushed the pause button on my left brain. It was like a child was let loose, with no parent to protect it from harm. I learned my lesson. I now allow myself to be spontaneous and playful, to create material on the spot - but I now do it with discipline. I use my left brain like a parent. My parent brain lets me play for a while and then, when I'm about to wander off into the "indulgent zone", it reminds me to get back to the program or to connect my creative diversion to my point.

We can never be brilliant without the joyous outbursts and seemingly illogical associations that only our right brain is capable of creating. In addition, we will never be perceived as credible or professional if we can't make sense of our creativity and tie it to the point we're making.

For most adults, it takes more time and effort to be creative, than it takes to string together logical concepts and facts. However, left-brain adults often create boring presentations. The more time you devote to finding a creative approach to your subject, the more you will be rewarded and celebrated.

For right-brain dominant adults, it is easy to come up with creative ideas and approaches, but the task of organizing them into a logical, cohesive presentation is the challenge. These individuals need to spend time crafting the overall flow and sequence of their ideas into a presentation that can be understood.

Here are 10 Creativity Tips for integrating your left and right brains to achieve brilliance.

1. Create from your right brain. Ponder your subject for extended periods of time.

2. Ask yourself, "What's this like?" Use metaphors and analogies. The wilder, the better.

3. Allow random thoughts and ideas to occur and write them all down without editing.

4. Learn how to create a mind map. It allows for random creativity to be captured in a logical and visual format. Learn more about Mind Mapping at http://www.mind-map.com/EN/mindmaps/definition.html

A great book on Mind Mapping for speakers is titled: Present Yourself by Michael Gelb.

5. Once you have oodles and bunches of ideas, only then do you invite your left brain to participate.

6. Organize, prioritize and edit your ideas. Discard the ones that are obviously unworkable.

7. Pick a theme and organize your content ideas into a logical progression.

8. Identify your stories. They will create the emotional triggers and visual aspects of your presentation.

9. Practice out loud and on your feet. This process will stimulate both hemispheres of the brain simultaneously, bring oxygen to your brain and help you memorize your lines.

10. Remember: content rides on energy. Before you speak, energize your body.

To read more articles on storytelling and presentations skills that I've authored, use the search feature and type in Doug Stevenson.