Sometimes we get stuck in a muddy mind trap and have trouble developing new ideas for our presentations. Whether it is for a new presentation or to pump some energy into your signature offering here are a few ways to keep your back pocket filled with ideas and keep your creative juices flowing.

A Walk in the Park
Often our creativity gets stuck because our minds become bogged down with too much information. Have you noticed that your best ideas come when you first wake up in the morning, when you are taking a shower, or you are having a coffee with friends. What’s the common thread? You are relaxed. Brain synapsis don’t fire well when they are stressed. The next time you are stressed for ideas take a walk. Not just a quick five minutes around the block but a good 30 minutes one. Think you can’t afford the time? Sitting at your desk struggling vs. clearing the cobwebs and getting your creativity flowing is a no-brainer.

Eavesdrop
Facts are Boring ~ Examples Sing — Hands raised for anyone who has sat through a fact laden “lecture” camouflaged as a presentation? Likely they were data rich and emotionally bankrupt. Your audience’s inner child wants to be persuaded with rich examples that support you statistics. Where are your examples lurking? In the conversations all around you. Pull up a chair at a coffee shop, at your next meeting listen instead of talking, or take a ride on public transport where conversations are ripe for the picking. Choose to listen and you can extract creative gold.

Mind Wandering Visual Journey
Let your brain do some leap frogging in visual stimuli and give your mind permission to wander. Pinterest and Flicker are visual candy. Take a walk through a virtual museum and let your computer screen take you to places beyond your desk. Challenge your mind to take old ideas and put a new twist on them. Look at what Petros Vrellis has done with Van Gogh’s Starry NIght and read the cornucopia of comments. Your audience has a thirst for solving problems in new ways — help them stretch their minds while you elasticize your own.

Let your mind walk, encourage it to really listen, and poke into some virtual travel – who knows where your thoughts will go and your ideas will land.

How do you get your ideas flowing?

image: Chris Willis

Let me help you get your juices flowing while collaborating on your next presentation: 1.778.327.8861 or email.

Behind the TEDTalk 2010 from m ss ng p eces on Vimeo.

This clip shares a wonderful vantage point that we don’t often have the opportunity to see. You can feel the energy and excitement building pre-presentation.

Watch how one sage and one new presenter prepares to take the stage. They also give you insight into their post-presentation debrief.

Fun and exhilarating!

Janice

We both attend presentations more than most people. I agree with Jeffrey the bar is set too low.

Why then is it that the most important platform for showcasing ourselves can be so pedestrian and boring? Because it’s human nature to follow in the footsteps of others thinking it is the “right” way.

Status quo is boring and lazy. Have you noticed the number of people who are often plugged into their iPhone or Blackberry during a presentation? Why? Because the presenter was not able to engage her audience.

Each time you default to status quo you risk damaging your credibility, having your competitors leaving you behind, and not standing out.

Do You Stand Out?
Many presenters follow the same old schtick. Out comes the PowerPoint presentation and the speaker lectures from a script. Imagine the impact you would make if you didn’t use PowerPoint and didn’t lecture your audience.

Take the lead from Jeff Hurt over at the Velvet Chainsaw where he shares his insight into audience engagement and effective brain based learning. Audiences are hungry to be informed and inspired – learn how and you will stand out.

Are You At Risk of Becoming Obsolete?
The “same old” may have worked in the past but it is not a plan for the future. When you present like everyone else does, you look tired and old risking a bright young whipper snapper bolting ahead of you.
Learn how to develop your presentation with a strong story arc and understand why it is crucial that slidedecks should be image based rather than text heavy.

Being Ordinary Damages Your Credibility
Audiences crave thought leaders. When you present status quo material you are not viewed as a visionary who can bring thought provoking or creative solutions to the table. Certainly a foundation of knowledge is needed but demands on our workforce change at a rapid rate – those sought after are those who can part the grass and see the track ahead.
Check that your material is relevant to your audience and that it offers opportunity and answers forward thinking questions.

The good news is there is lots of room available on the other side of the bar. Are you going to sneak under the bar or will you be leaping over?

Image: Marcus Hansson

Learn advanced presentation skills at our upcoming March 22nd workshop in Vancouver, BC, Canada.

Because of the graciousness of our beautiful team at TEDxKids@BC and the generous invitation of TEDxSummit I will be travelling for the first time to the Middle East for a leadership summit like no other.

The Doha Film Institute is hosting us with action packed days of speakers, workshops, and the opportunity to build connections with other TEDxers. I hear there will be some wild jeep rides in the desert and some Arab style beach time fit into our days too.

The exhilarating thing about this crazy adventure — I have no idea what to expect. I haven’t travelled to the Middle East and have never been to a TED conference. My mind is filled with the possibilities — shimmering starry, inky black desert nights and souks filled with tempting spice concoctions, smoky aromas, and jewel-like fabrics and carpets. But when I sit back and take stock, I don’t have any terms of reference so imagining is pointless.

After taking many deep breaths I know (from many previous lessons learned) to take gifts as they come. Let the adventure roll as it will.

Janice

A recent event I attended allowed for 15 minutes of questions following a panel discussion. The panelists are well respected and have accumulated a wealth of industry knowledge. I was anticipating a stream of brilliant questions from the attendees – what an opportunity to delve into the minds of talented people. Disappointingly, it wasn’t to be.

Two high-jackings took over the Q & A period.

You know the type – the people who broadcast their own agenda while brilliant questions from savvy people are left unasked.

Out of misaligned politeness facilitators don’t want to appear rude by interrupting. In fact the facilitator is ignoring (being rude) to the rest of the attendees who are biting their tongues hoping the diatribe will end.

How do you stop high-jackers?

Through bold facilitation, which is not easy when the highjacker doesn’t seem to need to come up for air.

As facilitators we need to interrupt – as simple as that — mid-sentence and mid-stream. Then invite the speaker to continue their conversation after the event.

Your audiences will thank you (and be silently rooting be for you).

Janice

Then you must be a good listener as well as a powerful and articulate speaker. Not only before and after your presentation but during as well. You must be a human antenna attuned to your audience at every stage of your presentation from content development, while presenting, and post speaking.

Julian explains the elements of a good listener:

How can you put Julian’s insight into practice as a public speaker?

During the content development stage you must know your audience or you will be a lecturer not a public speaker. Know your audience intimately by brainstorming the nuances of the attendees who you want to persuade. Here is an audience analysis example that a marketing firm created so they could understand who their client’s customer is. They listened and understood how best to approach their clients because they now understand how to direct their message. Sit with a piece of paper and think about who your audience – there habits and beliefs – to understand which are the best pieces of your insight to share.

While presenting watch your audience – are they intent or are they looking restless? Are they responding to you with nods of agreement or are they engaged in their smartphones. When we listen our audience gives us clues as to whether to increase the volume or let us know if we need to change the direction of our content.

If you have the opportunity meet your audience attendees ask if there is something you can expand upon or if there is a concept they did not understand. Or send a survey post event and learn what resonated and what didn’t. Then listen sharply and take comments away for your next presentation.

Listening is easy but really listening, understanding, and then deploying is hard.

To your voice,

Janice

Do you want to learn how to polish your public speaking skills? Check out my bimonthly newsletter.

This blog post has been difficult for me to write. It has been mulling around in my mind since last week. I don’t take lightly negatively critiquing public speakers. It takes confidence and a leap of faith to be front and centre and I am a champion for everyone who makes the leap.

Here’s the but – When a speaker commits to the lectern they have a responsibility to deliver to the best of their ability and also to realize that every bum in a seat has invested time being there. Each attendee believes that a speaker will deliver insightful and valuable information.

Last week I attended a session where the sole reason for everyone in attendance was to listen to a speaker. It was a train wreck and I felt badly for the presenter. My heart went out to her. The start was shaky, the middle had no substance, and the end was disjointed.

The speaker has intimate knowledge of her subject and is well respected in our community. So what went wrong and how should you approach these problems?

• She was very nervous and let her nervousness get the better of her. Remedy: Bring yourself to the present – feel your feet on the floor – don’t let your mind wonder ahead or in the past. Practice anchoring techniques to harness nervous energy and use them.
• It was evident that little air was going into her lungs or out of them. Remedy: Breathe, simply breathe. When you feel your breathing becoming shallow stop and take a few deep breaths.
• It was never clear what she wanted us to take away. Remedy: From the beginning of your content development build a clear key message. What do you want your audience to learn?
• The content was adrift and touched on too many points. She included a few case studies that didn’t relate well to her content. Remedy: Ensure that you can always support your key message with information that compliments and builds on what you want your audience to take away.
• Far too much information and she didn’t delve into her points deeply enough for true learning. Remedy: Cull your material until only salient information remains. Then dive in deep and explain thoroughly.
• Only  the facts were presented. Remedy: Create stories around your supporting arguments that will grab your audience in their heart and minds.
• “Well, I guess that’s all I have to say”. Yes, a sigh of relief from many could be heard. Remedy: Don’t let your endings drift off into the nether. Finish strongly with a call to action or tie your presentation up by looping it back to the beginning. Then stand quietly to let your audience know you are finished.

We all have our failures – I’ve had some embarrassing public speaking bombs but always realized it was my responsibility to improve and not waste people’s time. And I have learned and grown as a public speaker as is my hope for the lovely young women who put herself out there.

Janice

Do you want to learn how to polish your public speaking skills? Check out my bimonthly newsletter.

Image: Noel Zia Lee

Leonard Cohen has had an illustrious career. He has taken us on a long journey of introspection and poetic musings like no other.

Watch and listen to his acceptance speech at The Prince of Asturias Awards and then dive in and unravel my critique below.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Cohen has been a performer for many years and knows how, in his Montrealish savvy way, to have us eating out of his hands. If we watch and listen closely we can hone in on what it takes to bring an audience from not knowing to thinking “what if?”.

Pacing and Cadence

Cohen begins very slowly, his word per minute (wpm) rate is about 85. This is very, very, slow – Martin Luther’s “I Had a Dream” speech and most of Obama’s oratory clocks in at around 95 – 100.

The upside of oratory at slow wpm rates is that it gives the audience time to digest the speaker’s words. The downside is that you can alienate some of your audience whose preference is rapid fire speech patterns and will become impatient with slow ramblings.

Cohen began differently than most speaker’s “Start Off With a Bang” opening. His velvety smooth words delivered at a slow cadence seduce you into his story. He enchants you with his choice of words and lets you savour them.

He draws out the words excellency and majesty to communicate their importance to that auspicious day. Cohen also articulates his words clearly. Are there any words that you can not catch his meaning of? I can’t.

At 1:20m he speaks about scribbling a few words – slow and drawn out. Then at 1:30m he picks up the pace – with a confident flick he tells us (because this is his story), “I don’t think I need to refer to them”.

Listen for silences. Those carefully positioned pauses that have you reflecting. The chosen sentences where Cohen wants you to understand what is important. A fine example at 2:18m, “In other words if I knew where the good songs came from I would go there more often”. Then a lovely pause to let us know that that statement was important.

What would pacing be without a story?

Storytelling

Cohen begins by telling you the story of preparing to travel to receive his award in Spain. He describes his guitar so well that you can see and smell it. His guitar speaks to him, “You have not given thanks”. Then he transitions into doing so.

How he found his voice and gave himself permission to do so.

He tells us what 1960 looked like while hanging around the tennis court in Montreal with his mother’s house within eyesight. And how, as would be perfectly normal for the times, a young man playing a flamenco guitar holds court and tempts Cohen to become a better musician.

He desired to play with the passion that the flamenco guitar did. (Can you even imagine Cohen not knowing how to play?) His kind and gentle teacher shows him how to play some chords (pause). Six chords…improving and by the third day he had the chords down pat.

But on the forth day his teacher did not come. He had committed suicide. I knew nothing of this man who shaped my life he tells us.

Then Cohen puts the hook in deeply by disclosing that the guitar pattern that this complicated man from Spain had taught him is the basis of all of his songs. “My work comes from this place”, he says.

Imagine, all of his body of work, all of those beautiful songs and poetry from six simple chords. From a man who shared a gift but did not think that his gift was enough.

As many good stories do, Cohen’s story circles back to the people of Spain who he thanked at the beginning of his speech and now he has let them know how his work would not have been possible without them.

Humbleness

He humbly moves the spot light off of himself receiving The Prince of Asturias award by giving thanks to the members of the audience and hosts. So much so that he has made them feel the pride of being citizens of Spain.

• “Poetry comes from a place that no one commands, that no one conquers. So I feel somewhat like a charlatan to accept an award for an activity which I do not command. In other words, if I knew where the good songs came from I would go there more often.” He has gone their many times but humbly tells us that if he were truly a great man he would have done more.

• When he speaks of the man who taught him the six chord he tells us that he knew nothing of this man and you can feel his resolve that it is all right that he did not know.

• “My work is your work. You have allowed me to affix my signature to the bottom of the page.” Cohen tells his audience I am simply a guest who has been inspired by you. It is you who have helped create me and I am humbled by you recognizing me.

As the minutes go by and the camera pans to the audience you can see that they become more and more entranced with Cohen’s words.

Cohen has charmed them through his thought provoking and thoughtful story. He has paced it so that his audience came along on the journey with him. And he has told it as the humble man he is.

To Your Voice,

Janice

In public speaking it means we must trust ourselves that we know of what we speak and we are the best person to communicate our message. We must also trust that our audience wants us to succeed and is open to sharing our ideas and inspiration.

To Your Voice,
Janice

Why are you presenting and honing your skills as a public speaker? To persuade.

Not the disingenuous type of salesmanship where you bought in and later feel duped.

I’m just into Arlene Dickinson’s new book “Persuasion” and her words although written for those who are learning the in’s and out’s of business acumen, apply nicely to the presentation arena.

Dickinson says, ” If I can’t understand what you are talking about, I can’t trust you. Real expertise involves the ability to take a complex subject and distill it to the point where it is accessible to everyone”.

Presentation words to live by.

To your voice,

Janice

I did not receive or will I receive compensation for this post.