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Listen in as Anne shares her presentation skills insights regarding image impacts on your message.
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Posts Tagged ‘Presentation Skills’
Presentation Skills : How Image Impacts a Presentation Video
Monday, April 16th, 2012Leadership Development: How to Stop NaySayers In Their Tracks
Friday, April 13th, 2012
We have all been in a meeting that has quickly degenerated down to one or two people taking control in a negative way and pretty soon you have no solution, just lots of complaining.
So how you do STOP naysayers from taking control in your meetings?
Unfortunately naysayers are given control mainly because leaders get confused over how to get every person involved in the discussion. Because leaders want people to have a voice in the discussion so they own the solution they often give up the WRONG part of the discussion to the group which leads to blame, finger point or discussions about why something won’t work. These are all negative spirals that will actually rip the group apart rather than have them take ownership.
Three reasons Naysayers feel compelled to speak up:
1. They don’t like change. So if you are asking for a new system or process you are literally disrupting their world and they will fight to keep it as is.
2. They feel competent, even powerful in their present state. Part of the power they often get from the group is their ability to keep things status quo. They can often see your new ideas as threats to their existence.
3. Desire to be a part of things. Yes, many Naysayers have great hearts and just want to be a part of things. What you need to remember is that if their brain is designed to protect themselves that means they only way they can join in typically is to point out the flaws or why the change shouldn’t happen. So your job is to allow them a graceful way in.
How to Get a Pro-active Discussion Instead.
1. If the change is necessary, state for the group why it is necessary and that you aren’t their to “debate” the merits of the change but rather HOW to best do the change. Then keep the discussion on how to do the change.
2. Make some of the Naysayers play the “Devil’s Advocate”. This means that if someone says something can’t be done, you have someone else counter with why or how it can be done. This keeps them involved in the discussion but in a proactive way.
3. When conversations derail bring the group back to the original GOAL so you keep discussions off the negative.
4. Manage the brain energy of the room. People will move their thinking naturally to the area that feels the most comfortable for them. This means with change, the most comfortable is to protect the way things are. Your job is to make them comfortable being uncomfortable. Let them know you realize change can be exhilarating for some and scary for others but that ignoring it or staying as is is not an option. Then draw them back in to discussion about how to make it happen.
5. Address any negative comments right up front- don’t let them slide. Each time you let someone say something under their breath you are VALIDATING their comment with your silence.
Learn more about the Outcome Focus® Leadership Development Training by contacting Paul Cummings at 952-921-9421
Three Lessons of Amazing Strength from Jonathan Antoine & Charlotte
Wednesday, April 11th, 2012
I just watched a video that teaches you three powerful lessons and I want to share that gift with you.
If you haven’t had a chance go to YouTube and click on the video for Johnathan Antoine Audition-Britain’s Got Talent 2012.
I have included the link for you here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kt3Utn4mjeg
What you will see are three amazing lessons all imparted in just under eight minutes.
1. Don’t judge; keep yourself open to the amazing things in each of us. As Charlotte and Johnathan stand on stage you can’t help but notice his size, and more androgyneous look. Charlotte on the other hand is poised, charming in her dialogue and appears to be the “gift.” But the real gift comes when Johnathan opens his mouth to sing. I swear it was Pavarotti on stage.
2. Don’t be afraid to mix things up. Charlotte sings more contemporary while Johnathan is opera and the mix of them is something sweet, poignant and goes straight to your hear.
3. Stay loyal to who brought you to the dance. Inevitably Simon always opens his mouth and typically some cruel gem drops out of it. In this episode he advises Johnathan to drop Charlotte and go on as his own. Now remember, Johnathan’s answer can determine whether the show allows the group to continue or not. Johnathan says, “well we came as a duo and we are staying as a duo.”
I think all three of these lessons are ones we need to continually remind ourselves of on a daily basis. Always look for the gift inside and you will be continually amazed at the power that is there.
Learn more about the Outcome Focus® Leadership Development Training by contacting Paul Cummings at 952-921-9421
Busting Myths: What You Can Learn From MythBusters to Be More Strategic
Monday, April 9th, 2012
We sat with our eyes glued to the TV as we watched the MythBusters debunk how the shark in the movie Jaws was killed at the end of the movie. They came to the conclusion that the gun would have never penetrated the canister and killed the shark. Oh, but it looked so good in the movie!
MythBusters has grown in popularity as the continue to find new ways to test “theories,” “urban legends” or just funny moments like could you really blow up multiple golf holes like in the movie Caddy Shack? They also do historical reviews such as their one on taking Da Vinci’s blueprints and using only materials and tools from that time, creating the object and testing if it would have worked or not.
MythBusters works on several levels because of these factors:
1. Your brain is naturally defensive. It is why we thrive on negative news more than positive news. We are constantly thrilled to see if something can be “debunked.”
2. Plays with curiosity. They take things that are theories and establishes them as fact or fiction. Haven’t you ever wondered if an elevator was falling and you jumped in the air right before it crashed would you be okay? (The answer is no. You would be a flattened pancake). What about all those Hollywood stunts- would falling off a building and landing on an awning save you?
3. Has fun. The people on the show have fun while they do these wacky experiments. This fun plays through in their banter and dialogue.
So how can you use MythBusters to be more strategic when you speak?
1. First and foremost just watching the show will give you some fun new openings to use when you speak.
2. As you watch an episode decided ahead of time whether you think the myth will be true and false and WRITE DOWN why you think that.
3. Once the results come in look for patterns in your thinking that can be flaws. Did you buy in to something being possible because you forgot to look at what was probable? Did you miss some critical factor and if so, which one did you discount? This will start to help you to quiet your mind so you listen better and so you weigh information to know what to throw out and what to pay attention to.
4. Look at how much skepticism keeps you from “hearing or seeing” all the information. Skepticism can be healthy but too much can kill your ability to listen and think without judgement.
Take Action: Watch MythBusters this week and see if you can utilize their episode in your next meeting or presentation.
For example, imagine you are presenting a new product your company is launching that is unproven in the market. You could say, “500 years ago Leonardo Da Vinci created an underwater breathing apparatus. It was designed way before anyone ever created an actual underwater breathing apparatus. So MythBusters took his diagram and tested it to see if, using the materials from that time, would the breathing apparatus work? It did! So why wasn’t it created before? Because it was so far out there at the time no one believed it could work. Today we are about to launch our new product and become the next Da Vinci of creating something never done before.”
Learn more about the Outcome Focus® Leadership Development Training by contacting Paul Cummings at 952-921-9421
Leadership Development: How Competent Are You?
Monday, April 2nd, 2012
An interesting study was done to find out how good we are at rating our own intelligence. In this study they had a person (I will call them A) rate how competent and intelligent they thought they were. Then they had another unknown person (I will call them B) sit in a waiting room. Then they had the A person walk in to the room, pick up the newspaper, read an article from the paper out loud and then leave. They then asked the B person to rate the A person’s intelligence.
Now remember they had only had this one five minute interaction. At first the B person said they couldn’t rate how intelligent the person was because they only had five minutes with them but finally they would do it.
They then had the A person take a test to find out their intelligence. Guess who guessed it most accurately? Yep. you guessed it- Person B!
Even though person A had the advantage of years of report cards and business reviews to show them their intelligence they OVERRATED their own intelligence.
We are not able to clearly see who we are and what our flaws are because our brain is designed to protect us. So we often dismiss the data that is right in front of our face. This is why you can have a good friend that is dating the same type of person over and over and over yet they can’t understand why they keep finding Mr. Wrong. You want to scream at them because that is who they pick out.
According to a Novation’s report called “closing the Gap” managers rate their direct reports as significantly more dependent then the direct reports rated themselves. On average direct reports rated themselves at 2.38 whereas managers rated their performance at a 1.90- which equates to about a half of a stage of development.
So how do you get past this gap to find out how you are really performing?
1. Stop asking how you are doing. This only causes the person to relate to you how you are doing in relation to the present job that you have. This doesn’t really tell you what you need to improve on to be seen as being able to reach the next level.
2. Start asking “if you were to imagine me performing the job at the next level up from mine, what would you say I need to improve on before that could happen? This gets them to compare you to the next level and that is where the true feed back comes from. This is where you find out you really need to work on.
3. Work on improving and then check in on how you are doing. Instead of waiting for the formal review time, start working on what they said you need to improve on. Then check in on how you are progressing. Continue doing this on at least a quarterly basis. Next review time you will have no surprises.
Register to watch the Strategic Presentation Video Series, it’s free…
Presentation Skills: How to Speak With Authority & Authenticity
Friday, March 30th, 2012
As he spoke, not a sound went through room. It was one of those moments where you felt a pin could drop and everyone would hear it. So what makes someone so important and mesmerizing that you can’t break away even to text or twitter?
He spoke with authority and authenticity. His speech had the feeling of a man who lived his talk and then shared it with you, not in the guise of trying to convince you but to bring you on the journey.
Speaking with authority is not about knowledge but about bringing the context of knowledge to life. It is about having a presence that is vibrating with goodness. It is about not asking the audience to validate you with laughter and applause but for you to validate the audience by drawing out all the goodness and knowledge in them so they can more fully participate at work and at life.
In order to speak with authority and authenticity you need to master the following:
1. Know what details to pay attention to. People who speak with authority know which details are relevant to share and which are not in order to get their point across.
2. Care about your audience. You need to be there for them, not expect them to be there for you. They are what is most important- not you, not your speech and not applause. They need to FEEL that you are talking to just them.
3. Be comfortable with you. It is not about theatrics or knowing where to move. It is about letting your movements come naturally because you are speaking from both your head and your heart. When you speak authentically your body language flows naturally.
4. Know the goal. You have to know, not what you are going to say, but what they need to hear. It is all about them. You are just the messenger.
5. Practice your opening. The first few minutes you speak will always be the most nerve-racking because those first few moments transform the energy in the room. So at that time you don’t want to be worried about what you are going to say. You want to be able to look at them, feel them and manage the energy in the room. So I recommend you know the first five minutes of what you are going to say and you know it well. Don’t write it out because that will make your brain cause you to speak flat like you are reading something rather than living it. Instead just practice it out loud until you feel one with it so you can let go of protecting you and instead be there for your audience.
Great speeches come from speaking with the head and the heart.
Register to watch the Strategic Presentation Video Series, it’s free…
What Does Kari Bale’s Body Language Tell You?
Wednesday, March 28th, 2012
I was just on the radio to share perceptions of Kari Bale’s reaction to the news that her husband potentially shot innocent citizens and children in Afghanistan and then turned himself in.
So what did the interview with Matt Lauer tell us?
There are four body language signs that Kari used:
1. Shaking her head back and forth when answering questions.
2. Looking up to her left when answering whether she believed he had done this.
3. Rubbing her right finger over her left hand while in her lap.
4. Smiling.
Now what do all of these signs mean and what do they tell us about what she was saying?
Kari’s shaking of her head while she talked showed her distrust feelings about what she heard and how she couldn’t reconcile it with the man she knew. Literally her brain was saying “no, no, no, he couldn’t have done this.”
Her looking up to the left was her brain’s attempt to pull the factual logical information she knew about her husband and link it with this new information she was hearing. It is why you keep hearing her say, “I need the facts.”
Her rubbing of her hand was a way of comforting herself during a tough time and her smile was her brain trying to hold on to life as she knows it. Remember her reality is the life she and her husband had when he was last home.
It was interesting to me that people were wondering if her shaking of her head meant she wasn’t telling the truth and they thought this was supported by her smiling. The reality though is the shaking of her head was disbelief in what she heard or inability to reconcile it with life as she knows it and the smiling is the brains attempt to put on a brave face.
I share this with you because when you are in a meeting you will have to match the words and body language to find the truth in the message. Sometimes a person will tell you what they think you want to hear and other times they really truly don’t believe what they are hearing.
So when you see body language that you can’t figure out, stay in curiosity and ask questions so you can find the real source of the meaning that is hidden underneath.
Get a Body Language Report, click here