The Art of Using Notes

I’m often surprised that many speakers still fall prey to the fallacy that preparation means memorization — and that bringing notes to the podium might make you appear ill-prepared in the eyes of your audience. To the contrary, top presenters know it’s not what you bring to the podium but how you use it that sets apart good and great speakers.

While coaching both the CEO and Chairman of the National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS) for their main stage presentations at the 2009 NACS Show, I had the opportunity to observe the action from behind the scenes.

During one pre-event rehearsal, keynote speaker Roger Dow asked if there was a podium available and was directed to a small round table. Much to my surprise, he was looking for a home for his notes. Yes, in his hand was a red file folder containing notes for his presentation!

As someone who always has a manuscript handy when I present, I found myself both reassured by Dow’s approach and curious to see what he did with his script once he was on stage.

The Art of Concealment

From the start, Dow — a travel industry executive known for his dynamic keynotes on the importance of service — demonstrated an insider’s view of the convenience store industry. By quoting statistics, describing the culture, and acknowledging the challenging nature of the business, he combined obvious subject matter knowledge with a likeable, conversational style to quickly win over the audience.

Dow moved effortlessly from topic to topic, never straying far from his outline. He used of a series of short videos throughout the presentation — and took the opportunity to review his notes while the videos had the attention of the audience.

NACS Vice President of Communications Jeff Lenard was impressed by Dow’s ability to incorporate timely information into his remarks. Says Lenard, “Our CEO spoke with him in the green room just prior to his keynote, and Roger wove parts of that conversation into his speech.”

Staying Connected

Too often we believe that being a perfect presenter means memorizing our presentation, but it’s never about perfection! It’s about connection. And if having your script, outline or notes close at hand makes you a more confident presenter, then use them accordingly knowing that the confidence they bring to your presentation will help forge a strong bond with your listeners.

Dave Hill - Presentation Skills Tips

As the bear shook the tree, my brain said, “Climb higher!”, my stomach said, “Jump and run!”, and my bladder said, “Evacuate!”

Unfortunately, when I came to say the third part, my mind went blank. At that moment, I happened to be making eye contact with my friend in the audience who was a judge. The smile on his face gave a clear indication that he knew what was going on. A split second later (not long enough for anyone else in the audience to know), my memory switched back into focus and I delivered my third part, receiving the expected laughter.

Success Strategies for Remembering Speeches and Presentations without Notes

Strategy #1
Storyboard your speech. Make sure that your stories and transitions flow in a logical VISUAL format. Questions you can ask yourself are:
a) Does the story relate to the point that I am making?
b) Does the story fit into the overall presentation in a logical manner? Is the progression of the presentation following a natural sequence, such as time based- for example from child, to youth, to teenager, to adult? Another natural progression would be geographical location, such as traveling from my house to the store, stopping at the gas-station.
If your stories and transitions are haphazardly put together, it will be very difficult for your brain to process the information and remember the structure and content of your speech. I previously wrote an article on Mind-Mapping. This is a very useful method to help storyboard your speech and identify which stories would fit best, and in what order. Here is the link to the article:

Strategy #2
I use the word- association method when I have a well- structured, storyboarded speech, but still need a few visual prompts to bring me from story to transition in my next story. I basically remember a key word and relate it visually to a key word at the beginning of the next sentence. Here is an example:

At the tender and impressionable age of 21, the family baldness gene exploded in my head. I woke up one morning. My pillow, which only the night before had been clean and pristine, was covered in hair. Yes – the family baldness gene had EXPLODED.
I went to the MIRROR, and did not like what I saw. A negative voice in my head said, “You’re a mess; you’re bald and your ears stick out.”
I went to my mother for consolation. With her ever-positive outlook she said, “Ah, Davey Boy, you’ll have great listening skills with ears sticking out like that!”
“I don’t want great listening skills, Mum, I just want to be able to get a date!”

If I visualize a mirror exploding (an object with an extreme action is the easiest to remember), I know that once I say the sentence with the word “EXPLODED” in it, the next scene is going to be me at the MIRROR.

Strategy #3
A well known technique for remembering the structure of a speech is to develop “house files”:
1. Walk through your house rooms and identify key objects (e.g. entry door, side table, window, display cabinet, dining table, floor mat, dresser). Memorize these in a specific logical order (as if you are walking through the room). You can use this layout over and over again for different speeches. Longer speeches may require you to use several rooms, and you move logically from room to room.
2. Now take the structured contents of your speech and assign a memorable visual image that relates to key parts (stories, points, transitions etc.). The more outrageous the visual image, the better.
3. Give each image an extreme action
4. Envision each visual image at a specific room object in a logical speech flow order. As you walk through your room, you are walking through your speech
5. It can take as little as 5 or 10 minutes to remember your visual images in the correct order. Your speech outline is now in your memory.
To give you an idea of what this looks like, let me give you an example using a brief outline of my bear story. My wife and I get woken while tent camping in the wilderness of Canada. She sends me out to check what the noise is, and hands me a tiny unreliable flashlight. I end up in between a bear and its cub, and climb a tree with Mommy Bear in pursuit. If I want to apply this methodology to help me remember the fundamental outline, I would walk through one of my house rooms and:
a. Imagine a tent stuck in my dining room doorway with loud snores coming from it
b. Visualize a bear sitting on my side table with a cub climbing up her leg
c. Envision a small flashlight on the windowsill flickering on and off
d. Picture a tree on top of my display cabinet and I am swaying from side-to-side while holding onto the top of it
e. I am standing on the dining table with a transparent body showing my visible brain, stomach and bladder (to help me remember the “bladder evacuate” humor )

Strategy #4
1. Practice, practice, practice out loud (practicing in your head is not very effective). If you feel confident that you have spent adequate time rehearsing, then you will have less anxiety and less probability of memory lapses.
2. Imagine you are delivering your speech successfully in front of your audience (a positive outlook helps reduce anxiety).
3. Make sure the structure of your speech or presentation is clear in your mind, and that you are not losing your way. If you are losing your train of thought, then you have a good indication that you need to make changes.
4. Make sure the content of your speech flows smoothly. I find that my personal stories are easy to recall, and the main stumbling area is typically in the transitions. I spend more time sharpening my transitions. Again, if I find I am stumbling with words, sentences, etc., I make changes.

Strategy #5
A speech that is memorized too much can come across as mechanical or unnatural. Find the balance.

WORKSHOP EXERCISE
1. Write out the outline of a short speech in 5 bullet-points
2. Follow steps 1 through 5 above in Strategy 3, using the five “house files”
3. Test the effectiveness of this memorization by identifying the image/action at each location (point to the location and say what image/action is located there)
a. In logical order
b. In reverse order
c. In random order
4. Practice, practice, practice visualizing the outline in logical order until it becomes ingrained in your brain.
5. Repeat the four-step exercise, but now use ten bullet points and ten different “house files”.

I would appreciate any feedback or personal stories on memorizing speeches. Please use the comments section below or send me an e-mail at dave@davehillspeaks.com –
Thanks,
Dave Hill

Dave’s Public Speaking Website (Bio, Keynotes, Workshops, etc.)
www.davehillspeaks.com

Copyright © 2009 Dave Hill Speaks LLC all rights reserved.

Dave Hill - Presentation Skills

“CRRRRRACK” the sound of a breaking tree branch exploded into the silence of the night outside our tent. My girlfriend whispered, “Did you hear that!” “Yes!” I answered. “Are you afraid?” she asked. “No!” I lied. Then she said the seven little words that every man hates. “Go outside and see what it is.” I unzipped the tent, armed with only a key-chain size flashlight. I stepped outside, and there to my right… was the cutest little baby bear! “Growl, growl, growl.” I was just thinking to myself that this will make a great humorous speech story, when “GROWL, GROWL, GROWL,” came from my other side. Mommy Bear on my left, Baby Bear on my right, and me, (Dinner) in between. That’s a bad thing.
Do you know how young men can face danger and do incredibly brave things with adrenaline pouring into their bloodstreams?… That didn’t happen to me! I flung the flashlight at mommy bear, causing her to rear up. I ran and climbed a tree shouting out, “Christine, a bear, a bear, run for your life, it has the flashlight!”

In all the different parts of this story, I am taking on the persona of the characters with vocal variety, energy, volume, facial expressions, gestures, movement, and, most importantly, I take on the accents of the characters.

Benefits of using dialogue include:• The audience are immersed in your story in the present-tense, and are re-living it with you
• It emphasizes the emotion and conflict in the story
• Accents can help the audience distinguish different characters and avoid story-line confusion
• Speaking while facing in one direction for one character and in another direction for another character can also help the audience distinguish characters (especially if the characters have the same accent)

How Can You Use Dialogue Effectively in Your Stories?
1. Practice using different men’s/women’s voices and accents
2. Study different accents to get a feel for the pronunciations and expressions (go to YouTube and type in “French accent”, “English accent”, or “German female accent” to get voice training videos etc.). Here is a link to a woman doing 21 accents in 2 ½ minutes http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UgpfSp2t6k&feature=fvw
3. Take on the persona of the person (or animal etc.) you are portraying (facial expressions, gestures, voice, energy, expressions etc.).
4. Characterize the emotions of the characters and portray appropriate levels of fear, mirth, anxiety, etc.
5. Keep the dialogue natural and fluent. It should feel comfortable to you, and should not be too wordy.
6. Compliment your story with a combination of visual details and physical descriptions. Keep it believable.
7. Think about your dialogue tag lines; watch out for overuse of “he said, she said” among other common dialogue beginners. Use narrative sentences to describe the character’s immediate actions, location, etc. Note the lack of “he said, she said” in the bear story example at the beginning.
8. Practice, practice, practice, and have fun portraying your characters.

I would appreciate any feedback or personal stories on incorporating dialogue into storytelling. Please use the comments section below, or send me an e-mail at dave@davehillspeaks.com
Thanks,
Dave Hill

Dave’s Public Speaking Website (Bio, Keynotes, Workshops, etc.)
www.davehillspeaks.com

Copyright © 2009 Dave Hill Speaks LLC all rights reserved.

In other words, you want a close connection with the people who are listening to your talk. That’s the most important thing – that connection. Without it, your eloquence counts for nothing.

Some ideas you can incorporate to build audience rapport.

1. Reward audience participation. Speakers on college campuses do this all the time. The usual trick is to throw out candy to audience members who ask or respond to questions. There are other rewards besides candy, but, chocolate kisses are always a winner. But then again, you could have diabetic members in the group.

Your reward could be merchandise that promotes your company. Everybody loves gifts, even if it’s SWAG.

2. Create a game. Again, we’re all still kids underneath our so cool and professional disguise. Give points for participation, do a role play or even play charades. And give prizes. (See tip #1.)

3. Get closer to them. Seriously, step closer to your audience. Get out from behind a podium or desk. Placing yourself more close to people physically makes it harder for them to shut you off. Please make sure you brush your teeth and use deodorant.

The main thing is to keep this in mind.

It’s not about you, it’s about your audience.

In 2009 Young Markets has been running a survey on the way people give presentations. Given all the publicity and material available on the internet about how to give an Effective presentation,  the message doesn’t appear to be getting through.

An astounding 73% of people rely on their slides to remind them what to say next with 83% revealing a whole side of bullet points at one time.

The vast majority of people are still using their slides as handouts, either before or after their talk.

With presentations techniques such as these being so common it is no wonder that the vast majority of audiences suffer from “death by PowerPoint” and that presentations are boring people to death.

If you are one of the majority of people who rely on your bullet point slides during a presentation, you are probably thinking what is so wrong with that. After all, it is what most people do. I’ll let you in to a secret; that is exactly what I used to do as well. But now I have seen the error of my ways, I now realise how boring it makes it for your audience.

I am not one of the anti-PowerPoint brigade or even anti-Prezi  who believes you should give a presentation without any slides. I believe that slides add value to a presentation and can help to make a presentation memorable and motivational, but only if they are used in the right way.

So what is so bad about relying on your slides to remind you of the key points, what is so bad about having a number of bullet points on the screen and what is so bad about using copies of your slides as handouts?

Essentially, it all boils down to one thing. Using slides in this way will let your audience get ahead of you. The slides will tell them what you are going to talk about next.  And as everyone knows there is no point listening to someone when you already know what they are about to say.

Speaker notes, visual aids and handouts are three completely separate things with completely different objectives. Your speaker notes are to remind you what to say. Your visual aids should be designed to accompany your words and create strong mental images for people to remember.  And your  handouts need to be stand alone documents  that cover not just the slides but what you said as well. By planning to use the slides as speaker notes you tell the audience what you are about to say. By using the slides as handouts you tend to overfill the slides so they still make complete sense even without your words. Both of these things will ruin a presentation.

Most of the time, the bullet points on a slide make excellent speaker notes, so use them as that and think up new visuals for the slides that you will share with your audience. The write down your talk and put it along side the slides in a PDF document which you can have as a handout, to give to people after your presentation.

If you are confronted with a pre-written corporate presentation that you have to use, which has lots of bullet points in it, then my advice is to use bullet point reveal facilities of the presentation software to display the bullets one at a time, and then talk about each topic and bring the bullet point up after you have talked about it. This has the affect of reinforcing what you have just said, rather than pre-announcing it and making your words superfluous.

Just because the majority of other people do it, doesn’t make it right. Stop, relying on your slides, stop displaying bullet point text and stop giving copies of your slides as handouts. Your audiences will thank you for it.

To find out more about how to structure and give an Effective Business Presentation visit my presentation training website  or book a place on one of my presentation courses.

I get to see a lot of presentations, as do many of you. Unlike most of you, I really have to focus on what the person is saying and how the message is getting out because that’s what I do as a presentation skills coach.

So, instead of giving you the tips, here are some things I’ve seen lately that you want to NOT do. These are so annoying to your audience. Trust me.

These are no-no’s:

1. Look at your visual. Yes, you can glance at it to remember what your next point is, but you are there to connect with your audience. The more time you spend looking at the screen, the less attention your audience is paying to what you say.

2. Give TMI. We’re swimming in data, tell us what we need to know, and no more. If we want details, we can ask. Keep your talk as short as possible and your audience will love you all the more.

3. Fidget. For goodness’ sake, keep your hands out of your pockets and off your hair! If you have trouble with this, hold a clicker, or some prop that’s relevant to your talk. Ultimately  you want your hands to just be there at your sides, unless you’re using them to make a point. You could hold a small ball in your hands, I’ve seen it done effectively, but you want to tie in the ball to your talk in a meaningful way.

4. UHMMMM. If you’re an uhmmer, you need to stop. Now. Replace your uhm with a breath. Silence is fine; it even adds drama to your presentation. If you’re not sure if you have this problem, ask someone trusted to count your uhms. It’s simply a nasty habit.

5. Monotone. In my experience, monotone speakers don’t realize how they come across (that’s why I record my clients as they speak.) If you suspect you may be monotone, ask someone. Like the uhm problem, awareness is the first step in overcoming this. You are sounding bored. Are you bored? Maybe you need to assess your message and why you’re giving a presentation that you’re not excited about.

6. Nervous pacing. Some speakers pace so much and so fast I get seasick watching them. It’s great to “work the floor” as the saying goes, it’s not great to pace like a husband whose wife is in the delivery room — that’s a sign of insecurity. Talk from one point in the room, and move to another, depending on the layout. Nonstop motion is probably not a good thing.

7. Rambling. People who ramble usually have no fear of public speaking. That does not make them good speakers. A lack of organization shows you really don’t give a rip about your presentation, and the audience my extend that to decide you don’t really care about them either. Get your message into points, make them, and then sit down.

The good thing about being a presentation skills coach is that awareness + commitment = vastly improved presentation in an incredibly short span of time.

Did you know that the war in Iraq has so far cost fifteen times more than Africa’s entire debt to the West?

Or six times more than it would cost to feed and educate every child on the planet for five years?

These are the statistics posited by David McCandless’ “Billion-Dollar-O-Gram”, which I found thanks to this BBC article.

What’s interesting is that the visuals of the Billion-Dollar-O-Gram are much more arresting than the words – even when the words are as astonishing as the facts I opened with here.

You can blame Michael Buerk and Bob Geldof, Greg Dyke and Rupert Murdoch, Piers Morgan and Tim Berners-Lee  for all this. Since the mid-1980s, we have become so connected to the facts (and atrocities) of the world around us, so overloaded with information, so self-aware and media-savvy, that it’s not only very hard to shock, but also very hard just to communicate effectively.

Believe me, I know: as a corporate journalist it’s my ever-harder job to make companies sound interesting. In fact, just being heard in the crowd is something of an achievement these days. Think about this as an example: when was the last time you heard a company use words like “innovative” or ”iconic” and thought… “Actually, they really are!”?

It’s a rarity. Maybe what your business does really is innovative, different, ground-breaking and iconic. It’s bloody hard to shout about it, though. I mean, if we’re desensitised to the starving children and mindless violence dribbling through our TV screens every day, how can something as minor as “my cool business idea” gain any interest or traction?

That’s why I like what McCandless’ is doing (although I suspect he’d not be impressed with my hijacking it for business purposes!): pictures have as much to offer businesses as words. It’s why I think PowerPoint is misused. If you use PowerPoint to display the words you’re going to say anyway; you’re completely missing the power of the tool. If, however, you use it to present visual endorsements of your words, then you’ll be doubling your ability to communicate. Nothing highlights differentials better than galloping graphs or layers of contrasting colours.

So next time you have a raft of boring figures to impart to a mind-numbed audience, or complex themes to get across to a sceptical audience, think visually. And that’s not just about charts:

• Use colours to identify pathways through complex themes: it helps your audience follow your threads
• Iconography can help too (don’t ask why, but I have a friend who puts farm animals in his slide shows. It’s usually around the tenth slide that someone will finally ask what the animals are for…)
• Graphical representations are instincively understood: a visual scale will often be understood faster than a percentage. Similarly graphics of different sizes express relationships in an instinctive way (think pictures of sumo wrestler next to a toddler as an example).

I will never be a graphic artist (I never graduated beyond crayons…) but I have no doubt that in a world where you have to shout to be heard; you need to use every technique in the communicator’s toolkit – and visual techniques are massively underrated.

PowerPoint is of course, part of the Microsoft Office 2007 suite, and you can get a free 60-day trial of Office  here.

Tuesday January 5 Regular Meeting

Tuesday December 29 no meeting held due to holidays

Tuesday December 22 no meeting held due to holidays

Tuesday December 15 Annual Christmas Party/White Elephant

Tuesday December 8 Regular Meeting

Tuesday December 1 Regular Meeting

Thia will be our Toastmaster and her theme is “leftovers“

Opening words Zac

Jokemaster Stephanie

Speaking tip Ron

Word of the day Carol

Ah-counter Azim

Timer Jim

Speakers: Ann, James (C), Keith

Tabletopics Sam

General Evaluator Mary-Jo

Evaluators: Karen, Mark, Karthik

Awardmaster Juan

Rooney Larry

Closing words Christine

Back-up speakers Azim, Grace

Members RSVP and or questions to Thia

And of course bring a guest, or here is your invitation to come as a guest (no need to RSVP, just show up)

Mary-Jo was our Toastmaster and her theme was Thanksgiving

Thia offered out opening words

Ron was our JokeMaster

Word of the day was pulchritude offered by Jim

Ah-counter was Carol

Timing by Karen

Speaking tip Sam

Speakers were Karthik – now a “black Friday” enthusiast  , Pat – speaking on GMO,  and Mark who described his perfect “money-no-object” vacation.

Tabletopics Master was Keith

General Evaluator was Stephanie with Grace, Azim and Christine evaluating.

AwardMaster Thia

Rooney by Jim

Closing words by Carol.

Jim was our guest and we had 16 in attendance.

Presentation Skills  Training with Standing Tall

Today’s twip is:

#prestip: Paraphrase a question to ensure you have understood it and give yourself time to think. http://digg.com/u173rk

Yesterday the tip was about how to ask questions, today it is the turn of how to answer them.

When you are asked a question from the floor, always wait until the questioner has finished speaking, don’t be tempted to interrupt just because you think you know what the question is going to be.

Give the questioner some respect by waiting until he/she has finished, then paraphrase the question back to the person who asked it. This serves three purposes. First of all it makes sure you have understood the question properly, secondly it ensures everyone else in the audience has heard the question and finally it gives you some time to think of a good answer.

Normally, when you answer a quesion, 25% of your eye contact should be to the questioner and 75% around the rest of the audience. When you have finished answering the question look at the questioner to ensure he/she is happy with your answer, unless of course you think this is likely to create an opportunity for them to ask another unwanted question. In this case, you should ensure you are not looking at the questioner when you come to the end of your answer, and then just carry on with the presentation.

In general, it is a good idea to think of the three worst questions you could be asked and work out three good answers as part of your presentation development. Doing so will help boost your confidence and with any luck they will never be asked.

For more hints and tips on effective business presentations please visit my presentation training web site.

All the best

Graham Young

In my Presentation Magic workshops, if the audience suits and time permits, I’ll give an extensive insight into how best to use graphs and charts to get your message across succinctly and persuasively. Like so many slideshows that follow the cognitive style of Powerpoint (and which I am lamentably seeing increasingly used with Apple’s Keynote as more Windows users are making the switch and discovering Keynote, but persisting in using it like Powerpoint), graphs and charts are too often used poorly. In essence, it’s commonplace to see data points slapped into Excel, then a graph derived without consideration given to whether it actually helps an audience better understand the raw data, or whether a graph is generated because that’s what’s expected. This is especially true for those in the sciences.

At Macworld in 2010, I’ll spend some of my workshop looking at these issues in my usual offbeat but highly persuasive fashion, and most ought to come away with a new appreciation of the virtues and vices of graphical data displays. Anyway, for the current moment, Australian journalist Mia Freedman (@miafreedman) has twittered a most excellent humorous blog entry featuring the use of pie charts (and an exchange between a designer and a potential user of his services). Littered with expletives, so you’ve been warned.

Here: http://www.27bslash6.com/p2p.html

Enjoy!

by Bob Potemski

Takeaway: In the second installment of this three-part series, certified technical trainer Bob Potemski says students respond best to direct, precise language.

In this series of articles, we’re looking at the effective use of language to motivate students.  In part 1, “Not all training tools are free, but the language of training is—so use it correctly,” we talked about audience-centered language.  In this article, we’ll address the importance of direct and precise language.  In part 3, we’ll review techniques and methods to keep your training language powerful.
Students who come to your training sessions are sometimes there under protest.  It’s not that they don’t appreciate the value of the training; it’s just that they’ve got an awful lot to do back at their desks.

Such students are often skeptical and make constant value judgments as to what constitutes the best use of their time.  They ask themselves, “Am I better off here or back at the office?”   So you, as a trainer, must continuously provide a high level of value throughout the training session.

More to the point, you have to make sure the audience sees the value of what you’re teaching.  The audience’s perception is a direct result of your presentation of the material, which in turn depends heavily on the language you choose.

Say it like you mean it
Trainers often make the mistake of not wanting to seem too assertive.  But remember that these students (or their bosses) have paid good money for this training; what you have to say to them is important.

You’d never say to your son or daughter, “You might want to consider looking both ways before you cross the street.” You’d say, “Always look both ways!”  Your immediate goal is to get a very specific message across to an audience—in this case, your child—who has other things on his or her mind.  Sound familiar?

Unfortunately, the conditional “You might want to consider” language of the first example is very common in training.  As a trainer, you have to be aware of the many demands clamoring for your audience’s attention and choose an approach that shows them the importance of what you have to say.  When you use conditional language, you give the impression that you aren’t completely sold on it yourself.  If you don’t think what you’re saying is important, neither will your audience.

So the next time you’re describing a simple task such as accessing Windows’ shortcut menu, don’t present your students with this lukewarm introduction to the feature:  “If you want to save a little time, you may want to try out Windows’ easy shortcut menu.”  Of course they want to save time.  Just say, “To save a little time, access basic Office commands by right-clicking on a Word document icon.”  You get across a lot more information, and your audience can sense your confidence as a trainer.

Precision
So far we’ve discussed effective, audience-centered, and direct language as a tool for improving communication.  Precision with words is another hallmark of a polished and professional presentation.

Precise training language attaches a degree of importance to facts or concepts that can help students process and remember the information.  Consider a training session on the Windows Registry.  Telling your audience, “There are five key concepts to remember about the Registry” is far more effective than saying, “There are a few things about the Registry that would be a good idea for you to know.”  The precision of telling them about “five key concepts” facilitates the following three activities:

• List making
• Note taking
• Memorization

Precise language usually grabs students’ attention; they want to make sure they’ve heard everything you said.  They double-check their notes by asking you to repeat the information, or they check with you during the next break.  Using precise language also gives them the message that you’re prepared, polished, and organized.  Finally, it tells them that what you’re saying is important and therefore deserves their attention.

What’s next?
In part 3, we’ll pull all of this information together and help you develop a toolbox full of techniques that will sharpen your language skills and make your presentations more powerful.
 [Source:  http://articles.techrepublic.com.com/5100-10878_11-1048945.html]

by Bob Potemski

In this series we’ve discussed the power of language in motivating students.  In Part 1, “Not all training tools are free, but the language of training is—so use it correctly,” we looked at audience-centered language.  In Part2 , “No ‘ifs’ about it:  Use direct and precise language to grab students’ attention,” we discussed the use of directive and precise language.  In this article, we’ll look at putting these language tools to work to present the most powerful information possible to your students.
Audience-centered language
Audience-centered language ensures that the audience receives the benefit or result of the action. It includes students in the learning process and shows them that you have their best interests in mind.

• Your first tool is replacing the phrase “if I” with “when you” in each and every demonstration you perform.  Students don’t attend training to verify that you know the subject; they’re there to learn it for themselves. Include them in the process by sending the message that the concept under discussion is indeed something that’s relevant to, important to, and directed at them.
• The second tool at your disposal is the use of examples.  You probably have a set of examples and illustrations that you use regularly for each topic you teach.  If you don’t have a ready arsenal of examples, create a list. Using examples helps you to train consistently.  Maintaining that consistency will increase your effectiveness.

Directive language
Directive language calls the audience to action and reinforces the importance of the concept you’re teaching. Your best tools for this type of language are active phrases such as:

• “Turn to page five.”
• “Add this definition to the glossary.”
• “Write this down.”

Avoid passive, apologetic, conditional constructions such as:

• “If you would…”
• “You might want to…”

These weak phrases send the message that participation is optional.  Choose active phrases instead to show your audience that what you’re saying applies to them.  To get the most from the training, they need to pay attention to what’s being said or demonstrated.

Precise language
Precise language helps your audience remember what you said by making it easier for them to make lists and take notes.  Your first tool for increasing precision is the numbered list.  Prepare your training material with an eye toward building in a set of lists that stand out when you present the information.  Actually say the specific number of items on the list when you introduce it.  For example, “There are three important concepts at work here.”  It will help your audience even more when you tell them in your introduction that you’ll be doing this, so they’ll know exactly what to look for to maximize their training experience.

Precise language also helps participants see differences and distinctions between similar concepts.  I continually hear new trainers describe something as  “kind of like” something else.  If I, as your trainer, tell you that “A is kind of like B,” you have an incomplete picture of how A and B relate to each other.  In fact, that kind of comparison creates confusion.  Be more precise in describing the difference between A and B.  Say, for example, “A is different from B because… and B is different from A because…”

Another way to increase precision in your speaking is to learn the sequence of your training material inside and out, forever banishing the word “later” from your presentation vocabulary.  Here’s why:  I began to see much higher evaluations from my students when I stopped saying,  “We’ll be covering that later.”  I replaced that tired phrase with sentences that told my students when to look for the information to which I was referring.  Phrases such as, “We’ll talk about that topic in our first segment after lunch,” and “That’s covered in the second half of day two” clarifies your schedule and gives your students a signpost for when to watch for things.

Practice makes perfect
Now you’re ready to put your language tools to use in your upcoming training sessions.  Here are some activities that will boost your confidence.

• Videotape (or at least audiotape) yourself. Play the tape back, and listen for one bad habit at a time.  For example, try to catch all the utterances of “kind of” the first time through, all the “laters” next, and so on.  As you find each one, look at the way it affects the power, polish, and precision of your message.
• Find a partner. Share these tips with a colleague, then commit to helping each other improve.  Sit in on each other’s sessions, practice (yes, practice) together, and critique each other.  Your goals will be congruent since you both know what you’re looking for.
• Listen to the “experts.” Listen to others who speak for a living, be they politicians, TV newscasters, preachers, or teachers.  Listen for how their messages could be improved by applying the things you’ve learned.
• Read aloud to yourself. Find a book that contains a passage you find to be exceptionally well written.  It can be fiction or nonfiction, technical or entertaining.  The content doesn’t matter.  My only caution is to avoid material written in dialects, such as Huckleberry Finn.  Read that passage aloud verbatim to yourself every night.  You will train your ear as to what good prose sounds like, which in turn will make it easier for you to hear your own points of development.

Applying these tools as a matter of habit takes practice.  Then again, so does turning a pile of dead trees into a beautiful piece of furniture.  In both cases, using the best tools for the job will always give you the best results.  Pay close attention to the type of audience you have in your classroom, and choose your language style and words carefully based on your students’ needs.
[Source:  http://articles.techrepublic.com.com/5100-10878_11-1048941.html?tag=content;leftCol]

Put a classically trained actor, an award winning director, and a clinical psychologist together and what do you get?  Why a book that should be on every seller’s bookshelf, of course.

David Booth, Deborah Shames, and Peter Desberg, the authors of Own the Room: Business Presentations that Persuade, Engage, & Get Results (McGraw Hill: 2010), are not the typical authors you’ll run across when looking for a book that can help you increase your sales and income.  I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that none of the authors can define the Puppy Dog Close, write a top notch cold calling script, or coach you through the negotiation process with a tough customer. 

They don’t know sales; they know people, they know presentation, they know how to connect with others.  They know how to use words, body language, voice, props, and silence—all the things that we sellers use every day, usually with little grace and less control—to gain and keep someone’s attention.  More importantly, they know how to turn attention into genuine interest. 

Own the Room isn’t going to close deals for you, but it is going to give you the opportunity to close deals by showing you how to really engage your prospects and make presentations that will bring the prospect along with you; and frankly, you can’t sell if your prospect has turned you off and is daydreaming about what they’re going to have for lunch—or the relief they’d feel if they could throw you and your damned PowerPoint presentation out the window.

From your opening sentence—you’ve got 30 to 60 seconds to grab (or lose) your audience’s attention—to your closing remarks, Own the Room gives solid, tested and proven guidance.  Guidance is what you  get in Own the Room, not just tips and tricks, and because the authors are giving guidance and I’m dense, I sometimes wished they’d been more concrete and said “Thou shalt do this in exactly this way” instead of giving an example of the concept and leaving the rest up to me.   

Booth, Shames, and Desberg take on all aspects of the presentation from preparation to dealing with stage fright to using PowerPoint to using physical movement to make your point to how to make effective team presentations.  The book seeks to be comprehensive in scope without smothering you with needless detail.

Whether your make presentations to a single potential buyer or to a room of thousands at a formal dinner, you’ll walk away from Own the Room with some very practical guidance that will make your presentations more effective—or very likely, transform them altogether.  Either way, you’ll sell more of whatever you’re selling.

I’m in that stage in my professional life where I am at conferences, meetings, seminars and exhibitions often, very often. Luckily, most of the time I am asked to give the keynote or presentation but I cannot avoid having to sit in and listen to a plethora of other speakers, executives and gurus. To be honest, there is nothing I enjoy more than listening in to a good speaker. But I am astounded that there are so many bad speakers around. Most of the time, when I look around I see people with glazed looks and brain-dead features open-eyed falling asleep. And that is a shame, because all the people called on stage obliviously are knowledgeable, smart, and credible (well, at least they should be ). So where does it go wrong? Well, it’s not because somebody has three letters on his business card labelling him or her “boss” that that person is the most talented speaker. Use your upscale C-level people to determine content. Let the most gifted speaker deliver the keynote. Speaking is an art. It requires understanding of the audience, a flexible knowledge of the topic and an adaptive attitude towards the social behavior in the room. Golden rules are simple. If you want the audience to read, send them a book or an email. Slides with text on, force your audience to read: they’ll never listen to you and will fade away within seconds. Moreover, text filled slides prevent you from being flexible. I NEVER saw a good presentation with a lot of text on the slides. So, do your homework and build a deck with good, humorous, intriguing and capturing pictures or graphs and build your story around it. The best presenters are people telling a story, taking you for a fascinating journey. If you tell the story right, your audience will walk with you. Use the presentation to illustrate and highlight. Good presenters interact, smile, are dynamic, vocally creative and masters in playing the room. There are not a lot of them around. Treat them well…

Danny Devriendt

Dave Hill - Article on Job Trade-Off's

It was July 13th, 1998, and I was on top of my house putting on a new roof covering. I was installing new tar-type roof shingles after removing three layers of old ones. My wife and I were aching and hurting from carrying the heavy bundles of shingles onto the roof. I remember thinking to myself, “I never want to be so poor that I have to do this again.” Anyone who has done this type of work will relate to how physically punishing it is. At that time, I was employed by a major insurance carrier as a Property Insurance Loss Prevention Specialist in Canada. My job was to visit heavy industry locations, identify major equipment breakdown risks, and recommend actions to reduce the risk. I worked out of my house as a field engineer, and would go to the corporate office every year for my performance review. My boss was very happy with my performance, I was doing exceptional work going over and beyond what was expected, but every year he would give me the same story, saying, “You must remember, Dave, that in the present economic climate, a 2% pay increase is not too bad.” This boss was not liked by any of the field engineers for many reasons. His character and ethics were questionable, and we did not trust him or respect him. When he decided to move, it was a breath of fresh air. I was not at all concerned when he announced that he was transferring to the company’s insurance division in Dallas, Texas.
Fast forward 3 years, and I have resigned from the insurance company after finding a new career that would allow me to do more of what I liked and would also pay me nearly double the money. It would involve me working at the corporate office of a chemical corporation in Dallas, Texas, USA. As far as I was concerned, I would never work in the property insurance industry again- I was sick of being poor.
I arrived at the corporate office, and within a few weeks I was given the assignment of organizing a meeting with the insurance carriers, and basically giving them a scolding over some loss prevention reports that were not timely and accurate. The insurance carrier representatives arrived into the conference room. Tension was in the air as they knew that we had issues with the work they were doing. Low and behold, who should walk in the door – my ex-boss from Canada. I ended up reprimanding him and his direct reports in a professional manner, and we came up with a solution to make sure our corporate insurance needs would be met. I smiled to myself thinking that God not only has a plan for me, he also has a wicked sense of humor. Some years later, this not so nice ex-boss went to work for a company called Enron, the infamous energy company that went belly-up. God had not finished messing with him.
This week, twelve years later, I came across a woman in her 30’s who was describing her job working for a marketing company. She said it was so perfect that if they asked her to sign a lifetime employment contract, she would sign it immediately. She stated that she has a great relationship with her boss, and that she loves everything about the work she does.
This woman is one of the small percentages of people who do not have to deal with job trade-offs. I have had three different careers, each of them have been extremely rewarding and have helped me grow as an engineer; however, none of them have been perfect. Each one has had significant negative aspects.
Career #1 – Engineering Officer on Cargo Ships – working in 120 degree Fahrenheit engine rooms, being away from home for 6 to 9 months at a time, working 7 days a week, dangerous.
Career #2 – Loss Prevention Specialist in the Property Insurance Industry – I did not respect or trust my boss. I was not paid well. I had to travel a lot.
Career #3 – Principal Risk Engineer – My work included regular conflict.

What can we learn from this?
1. Every job has its trade offs. There are very few “perfect” jobs. It is so important to look over your shoulder periodically, and reevaluate your job. What do you like about it and what do you dislike? The aspects you dislike are the trade-offs. Ask yourself the question, “Are the trade-offs worth it?” If not, why be in a job that is not meeting your needs?
2. Identify what you need to do to move to a job or new career which will incorporate more of what you have a passion for, and less of what you dislike.
3. Write down the steps to make change happen and set goals (research the job, identify training needs, get career guidance etc.)
4. Talk to people doing the job or in the group/department to find out what the expected trade-offs are. Make sure you are not stepping into an arena of unexpected job challenges.

I would appreciate any feedback or personal stories on job trade-offs. Please use the comments section below or send me an e-mail at dave@davehillspeaks.com –
Thanks, Dave

Dave’s Public Speaking Website (Bio, Keynotes, Workshops, etc.)
www.davehillspeaks.com

Copyright © 2009 Dave Hill Speaks LLC all rights reserved.

Increasingly frequently as a part of an interview process you may be required to to prepare, and deliver, a presentation as part of the interview process.

The employer will want to assess your oral communication skills. Can you present your case in a way that your audience will understand and find interesting?

 Setting the scene

The employer may ask you to prepare your presentation before the day of your interview, or you may be given a limited time for preparation once you have arrived at the interviewer’s premises. Sometimes you can choose the subject of your talk, possibly from a list of suggested titles. Otherwise, you will be given the topic. You will normally be told the maximum duration of your presentation, for example three minutes or fifteen minutes. Audio-visual equipment such as a lap-top with PowerPoint, whiteboard, overhead projector, or flipchart may or may not be available. Your audience will consist of your interviewers and possibly the other candidates. Expect the interviewers to make notes as they assess your performance.                                                                

EXAMPLES OF PRESENTATIONS REQUESTED BY EMPLOYERS

• Tell us about yourself and what you can offer this organisation (5 minutes, a very open subject).
• Why I enjoy Latin-American dancing (10 minutes, chosen by the employer from information given on the application form).
• Choose a science topic, currently in the news, of interest to pupils aged 11 years (15 minutes, interview for teacher training course).

 TIPS TO IMPROVE YOUR PERFORMANCE

• If you have a choice, choose a subject about which you feel confident to speak.
• Who is your audience? Pitch your message to their level of understanding.
• Do not overwhelm with too many details and figures.
• Be explicit about the outline of your content. State what you are going to talk about, outline your main points and summarise your conclusions. This is known as signposting.
• Personal stories, anecdotes and examples are often interesting and memorable. However, telling jokes can be risky. The audience may not share your sense of humour.
• Practise delivering your talk in front of a trusted friend or the mirror.
• Ensure that the audience at the back of the room can             see and hear you.
• Remember that the audience wants you to succeed.  They also want you to recover from any disaster.
• Time yourself – it is better to end a little early than to overrun but be aware that you may speak more quickly in front of an audience.

 YOUR NOTES

Reading your presentation aloud can sound stilted and you will not be able to look at your audience. Use brief notes consisting of key words on note cards. Make sure you number the cards and use large writing and a highlighter pen so that you can follow them when under pressure.

 YOUR BODY LANGUAGE

Be aware of your body language:

• Smile, show enthusiasm and the audience should respond more enthusiastically.
• Maintain a relaxed but confident posture.
• Make eye contact with individuals in the audience. They will feel more involved.
• Avoid talking too quickly or too slowly and try not to talk in monotone.
• Don’t fidget; the audience may find this distracting.

 USING VISUAL AIDS

You may be allowed to use visual aids to help the audience to understand the point you wish to make. Visual aids can make your presentation more effective. People retain 10% of what they hear, but retain 50% of what they hear and see.

• Keep it short and simple; use bullet points not sentences. Too many words become a jumble.
• Use large print and bold images.
• If possible, use a variety of colours but keep a consistent ‘brand’.
• It can be harder to write neatly when using an OHP or whiteboard, so check that what you have written is clear and spelled correctly.
• Do not block the audience’s view by standing between them and your visual aid.
• Do not talk to the screen. Talk to the group.

 WHAT CAN YOU DO NOW?

Many people are afraid of speaking publicly but the more you practise, the more your performance will improve. Learn to use PowerPoint or an overhead projector. There is a knack to using them confidently. Take opportunities to give presentations to your fellow students.

Finally: GOOD LUCK!

This info is from a resource sheet provided by The Careers Group. You can see the original here: http://www.careers.lon.ac.uk/output/page482.asp