by Beth Levine | May 2, 2011 | Just Mouthing Off
With all the other speaker faux pas’s out there, it never ceases to amaze me how fixated people are on um’s, ahhh’s and ya know’s as the only issues they need to worry about. My view is that unless these “fillers” are used to a distracting degree, they’re pretty normal and typically go unnoticed if everything else is intact. However, if you feel you have a problem, and you or someone else has noticed that you have a bit of a filler dependency, then you can fix it … and to that end, here’s a quote for you to keep in mind:
“Awareness in itself is curative.” – Fritz Perls
And don’t forget that with awareness come the twin P’s … preparation and practice!
by Beth Levine | Apr 25, 2011 | Just Mouthing Off
I recently sat with a very well-educated executive to help him prepare for an important presentation. It was our first time working together, and I began by saying, “Charlie (not his real name), we are about to go against everything you learned in school, from Kindergarten all the way through your MBA program!” This kind of statement, and I make it often, tends to cause consternation at first but eventually brings relief. Charlie was no different. Smart and motivated, he caught on pretty quickly and off we went.
After that meeting, I came across an interview with Guy Kawasaki, the former chief evangelist of Apple and co-founder of Alltop.com. Guy Kawasaki is one of the great thinkers and communicators to come out of Silicon Valley; he’s a widely respected author and speaker. Here’s an excerpt from a Q&A with him in The New York Times on March 21, 2010:
Q: What should business schools teach more of, or less of?
A: They should teach students how to communicate in five-sentence emails and with 10-slide PowerPoint presentations. If they just taught every student that, American business would be much better off
Q: Why?
A: No one wants to read “War and Peace” emails. Who has the time? Ditto 60 PowerPoint slides for a one-hour meeting. What you learn in school is the opposite of what happens in the real world. In school, you’re always worried about minimums. You have to reach 20 pages or have to have so many slides. Then you get out in the real world and think, “I have to have a minimum of 20 pages and 50 slides.”
I’m with Guy all the way. What works for learning may not work for persuading or informing or motivating in the workplace. But school can be a tough habit to kick!
by Beth Levine | Apr 11, 2011 | Just Mouthing Off
This may sound harsh, but you’re not that special that when you get up to speak everyone is captivated the entire time, has the patience to sit through your lengthy deck of slides, and will be perfectly content to allow you to run over your allotted time. You know how hard it is to be 100% attentive, and you know you don’t like it when other speakers kill you with more slides than you could possibly remember and talk for longer than scheduled. It’s quite likely that you are more often the audience than you are the speaker, and so consider yourself an expert on what audiences like and don’t like.
The single best guideline for any speaker to use in preparing for a talk is The Golden Rule: do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Plan and choreograph your presentations accordingly …
If you don’t like or can’t pay attention to a screen with dense text slides in a darkened room for a prolonged period of time, then don’t do it to your audience;
If you can’t sit through a 50-minute talk that isn’t broken up with visuals or video or interaction, then your audience can’t either;
If you get lost during talks when speakers ramble and provide no guidance as to where they are going or what their point is, then your audience will be lost without your guidance;
If you like stories and anecdotes, then your audience will like them too;
If you like someone who is brief and succinct, then your audience will like that too; and
If you like speakers who stay more connected with their audience than with the lectern or screen, then your audience will appreciate that as well.
Your preferences are your own best litmus test for what your audience might like, so remember that!
by Beth Levine | Apr 4, 2011 | Just Mouthing Off
Leadership development programs are all the rage these days. Helping people and organizations grow into what they need to be is happening through seminars, training programs, executive coaching, executive education, you name it. All good.
But if I may, I’d like to offer up one shortcut for “leaders” to think about … stay out of the weeds! Leaders shape and then maintain their leadership positions largely through communications. Yes, they review plans and budgets, set strategy and make decisions, but really it’s how they interact with their various constituencies – both internal and external, and up and down the ladder – that defines and predicts their success. The weeds are the detail, the information, and frankly that’s usually someone else’s responsibility. The leader is responsible for context, direction, the bigger picture, which is communicated through messages, not information.
It’s actually imperative for a leader to be able to identify and deliver messages … statements that convey value, benefit, or significance. Of course, there are occasions and audiences that require the communication of more in-depth information, but an effective leader should always be able to wrap that info inside the packaging of a darn good message.
Think about it … communicating a whole lot of detailed information can be done by anyone. Wrapping that information in a package that conveys something meaningful can and should be done by the leader.
by Beth Levine | Mar 28, 2011 | Just Mouthing Off
Just so you know? If you’re an expert in something, you are in danger …
You are in danger of being too smart, too knowledgeable, too experienced, and quite possibly too immersed in your subject matter … and therefore potentially disconnected from your audience’s interests. You are in danger of being boring. Yes, even you.
TMI (too much information) is the scourge of subject matter experts, so beware. Select information judiciously. That a bit of info is interesting and compelling to you is irrelevant. Interesting and compelling are in the eyes of the beholder, your audience. Think about where they’re coming from, what their interests and biases are, and what they might grab onto and remember. If you’re a subject matter expert, you’ve got more than enough information to go around, so be super selective and let what you know about your audience be your guide.
Even just being aware that you could be one of these people – that you might have “the expert problem” – will help you stay out of boring-speaker quicksand!
by Beth Levine | Mar 21, 2011 | Just Mouthing Off
I’m dealing with a little fear today and decided to address it here in my blog as it pertains to public speaking. Of course, my fear is related to the doctor (ugh!), not the microphone, but still … I’m very empathetic today!
I get asked quite often about dealing with nerves. The mere prospect of being nervous is what causes the fear and loathing – and ultimately the avoidance – around presenting or speaking in front of a group. And the avoidance then extends to preparation, ironically one of the very things that could help tame the nerves. The procrastination around preparation is the dread, the avoidance, the oh-no-I-don’t-want-to-do-this-tell-me-I-don’t-really-have-to-do-this …. sound familiar?
Couple of thoughts:
Nerves happen. They just do. Doesn’t mean you should avoid a speaking opportunity, it means you should prepare. Let’s face it, we all feel so much better about our prospects for success when we’re prepared.
Nerves are actually your adrenaline revving up your body’s energy to perform well. See? Even your body is on your side and helping to get you ready!
Nerves just might be your constant companion. You might be someone who speaks and presents often and still gets them. Know that and plan around your nerves … especially, if like most people, your nervousness peaks at the beginning of a talk.
Know that your audience can’t tell that your right leg is shaking. They are expecting you to be just fine, and so that’s what they see. Don’t call it out that you’re nervous … breathe, stay present with your audience and your material, and keep on going.
Prepare. Prepare. Prepare. And then be prepared to adapt and adjust too! In the event that you are flailing and the presentation is failing, you can always jump into the life raft of Q&A … and that way you share the floor with your audience.
More on this another time … it’s one of the biggies, I know!
