Public Speakers: Do You Have A Cheering Section?

August 29th, 2011 Posted in Blog

Broken Ankle Saga Part II

This morning I posted my longest walk since breaking my ankle. I was supported by my trusty crutches and although my gait resembles hobbling, I call it like I see it – walking.

I am also supported by my cheering section – the lovely souls who I have come to know since my accident and rehab. The wonderful people in my building who hold doors open for me and make sure the outside wheel chair access is clear. But my star cheering section are the lovely folks (who I have come up close and familiar with) on my seawall walks who shout out to me “Keep positive”, “You’re looking stronger than last week”, “Hey, you’re foot is landing straighter”, and “You’re rocking it”.

Those simple words of encouragement keep me going and push me to walk a little further each day.

The same goes for public speaking. Surround yourself with colleagues and significant others who will listen to your presentations. Those who will tell you which are the best bits and the parts that need improvement.

Yes, it is difficult to practice in front of others but give it a go – you will get over it.

And it’s worth it because there is no feeling like having a cheering section rooting you on and who pushes you to places you never imagined you could go!

Image attribution: Emily Tan

 


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What A Broken Ankle Has Taught Me About Public Speaking

August 12th, 2011 Posted in Blog

This Tuesday will be my eight week mark of healing my broken ankle. Both the tibia and fibula of my right leg were fractured.

If for a moment you thought a broken ankle is a cake walk, let me tell you, it’s not. Wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy.

The fateful morning has left me a bit traumatized and I’m just now coming to terms with the drama.

I was alone at a remote location when it happened and thankfully (after crawling up 40 stairs) was able to contact Mr. T who called the Coast Guard to rescue me.

I was strapped in a basket and hauled back down the 40 stairs, packed aboard a hovercraft, manhandled up a ladder (at low tide), and then delivered via ambulance to a local hospital. Phew.

Looking back I must have been in rough shape – I had an unheard of three day stay in hospital. I was sent home with an Rx for morphine and best wishes. Yes, the first three weeks home back at home are foggy.

My ankle is now a bucket of bolts, pins, and metal sheaths.

Today was the first day that I hobbled sans crutches. There was nothing gracious about my gait but I felt like I had sprouted wings.

You can imagine how much time for introspection has been part of healing, can’t you? Many hours with my foot above my heart and tears shed in frustration.

What have I learned?

Be in the moment – something I often share with clients and readers. Don’t look ahead or behind and simply be. Feel the floor with your feet and own it and that space in time. That’s what separates good public speakers from the utterly fabulous. When I was descending the stairs I wasn’t in the moment. I was on autopilot and that is why I tumbled.

People want to help. Sometimes we simply don’t heed sage advice from those who have already travelled the same road. We want to do it our way – fair enough. But sometimes experience does know better. From the public speaking aspect when your peers or coach suggest another way – try it – you may be glad you did. From the broken ankle perspective I wanted to remain independent and drove myself to frustration akin to a two year old having a temper tantrum. As the women at the farmers market told me: “It is the ultimate gift when one can be of help (service)”.

No pain, no gain. We’ve all bombed on stage but we choose whether to pick ourselves up, learn, and try again. I was told to wear the damn boot for two more weeks and I have not been the most compliant patient on that front, which has caused midnight foot throb (and trips to the Advil bottle) but I am ahead of where I was told I would be at week eight.

Wounds, ego, and the psyche heal. I have two ankle zippers to prove it – show me your scars and I’ll show you mine. On second thought, that’s okay, no old crony comparing war wound stuff. ;D

To your voice,

Janice

 

 

 

 

 


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Do You Use Humour in Your Presentations? Should you?

August 10th, 2011 Posted in Blog

Carrying on from my last post critiquing Jeffrey Gitomer’s “Getting Your Way ~ How to Speak, Write, Present, Persuade, Influence, and Sell Your Point of View To Others” let’s discuss whether humour in presentations is acceptable.

Gitomer suggests that humour is appropriate while working with all levels of an organization and believes that it is the tie that bonds us. He suggests that behaving professionally does allow for a few guffaws.

Are you writhing at your computer screen right now remembering awful, poorly executed jokes that you have been subjected to? Or remembering feeling uncomfortable because the speaker did not consider the audience and missed the mark around appropriate humour?

Using humour as part of your presentation strategy is a fine balancing act not to be taken lightly. There is nothing more rewarding than listening and learning through well executed jokes and stories. Deep learning happens when the experience is enjoyable. But when the jokes and humour bomb, it’s not pretty.

How do you ensure that you don’t go down the Rodney Dangerfield road of “Getting no respect?”

Easy in concept but hard work to get exactly right: “Know your audience!” Profile them until you understand the who, what, where, and why of their being. Get to know them intimately. Tools like Meyers Briggs are a starting point. Only from that place of knowledge will you be able to execute “on the mark” humour.

My experience tells me that not all audiences appreciate humour – I can think of a few board situations where it was not welcomed. I often agree with Gitomer but this time I will respectfully disagree.

Move wisely and well armed.

You want some respect don’t you?

To your voice,

Janice

 

 

 

 

 


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If I Had a Dollar for Every Bad Presentation I Have Sat Through

July 30th, 2011 Posted in Blog

Do you know Jeffrey Gitomer of “The Little Red Book of Selling” fame?

If you don’t, you should. Gitomer shares vast knowledge on the art of sales. Not the smarmy, slick type of sales but the relationship building type where people who sell product/service sell to clients who need their service. If you want to learn professional salesmanship best practices – Gitomer is the go to guy.

*Sidebar – I am often amused by people who say they hate sales/salespeople – I simply don’t understand the logic. We live in a consumer age and most days we buy something. Logically there is a saleswoman involved in the process. Don’t you want a well informed person to explain a product/service’s pros and cons when you are considering buying? I do.

Gitomer has written a large array of coloured primers that tackle sales from different aspects. Today I am reading the green book called “Getting Your Way ~ How to Speak, Write, Present, Persuade, Influence, and Sell Your Point of View To Others”.

 

Gitomer’s comment on page 40 made me chuckle (actually choke) over  my morning soy milk latte, “If I had a dollar for every corporate leader, from CEO’s to branch managers, who have lousy presentation skills, I would be a multi-billionaire.”

Which led me to thinking, “Why are so many corporate leaders in need of presentation skill development and why do those who are unskilled continue to remain lousy (as Gitomer states)?”

Is it fear, status quo thinking, lack of time, or perhaps unaware of the need for improvement?

I believe it is all of the above.

  • Fear: It is easy to get trapped by fear and the paralysis that results in improving our weaknesses.
  • Status quo thinking: If everyone else is happy at this level, then It’s okay for me too.
  • Lack of time: My client’s lament and I hear you. But it is about choices, priorities, and the big picture.
  • Unaware: Hmm, retracting here, not so sure.

What do you think?

More tomorrow….

To Your Voice,

Janice

 

 

 

 

 

 


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Is A Presentation The Best Way To Communicate Your Message?

July 29th, 2011 Posted in Blog

Presentations should only be used when you have something important to communicate. Information or ideas that solve a problem or answer a question needs to be a presentation developers mandate.

So, ask yourself, is it really necessary to gather a group together for a presentation?

If 40 people attend a one hour presentation it equals one person working a 40 hour week.

Is your presentation’s message important enough to invest a week of time?

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Is Your Presentation Staying on Message?

July 27th, 2011 Posted in Blog

At the end of a session with a client I ask, “What did you learn today that had the most impact?”

One common response is “Staying on Message”.

It is easy to become enchanted with your knowledge and to share all you know. Or go off on tangents because the content is remotely related. Or even worse interject a story that is entirely off topic.

Don’t do it! Your audience will become confused and you will lose them.

The first order of business when developing a presentation is to understand what is the message that you want your audience to take away. Yes, just one message.

While crafting your presentation test that all of your content can withstand your message litmus test.

Your audience will thank you.

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Slay the Um, Er, and Uh From Your Next Presentation

July 24th, 2011 Posted in Blog

Breathe

just breathe

Yes, simply breathe.

You likely take the life force of breathing for granted. I know that I do.

When you bring your thoughts back to your breathing it forces you to be present.

Ums, ers, and uhs stem from our losing our train of thought and/or lack of confidence in our content.

Get back on track and resuscitate your confidence by using your full breath.

 

 

Next time you are practicing for an upcoming presentation try this when you feel a verbal distraction looming.

Stop. Yes, it is okay to stop. It is a normal part of relaxed conversation.

Take a deep breath right down to the core of your belly.

Exhale the breath slowly.

Now notice how you feel. In control, right? Ready to begin again without the verbal baggage.

Did it seem like it took forever? It didn’t – probably fifteen seconds max!

When you go live with your presentation and you feel the um, er, or uh bubbling think back to your practice – breathe a deep one and carry on. You’ve slayed it.

To your voice,

Janice

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Three Public Speaking Confidence Boosters

July 20th, 2011 Posted in Blog

 

Breathe, Feel, and See

When in the throws of feeling anxious, good breathing, visualization, and grounding yourself in the moment do work. With a caveat, just as you need to practice your upcoming presentation, you need to practice these anxiety quelling techniques too.

Are you thinking that is a lot of practicing? It is, and worth it. To stand with confidence as a speaker is one of life’s greatest gifts.

Breathe

Shallow breathing constricts our voice and contributes to anxiety. It is a confidence robber.

As the yogis tell us breathe deep from the belly. Take a breath low down in your belly and let it fill your lungs and then propel your voice. Your vocal power comes from deep breathing. Check that you are using full breath by placing a hand on your stomach and make your hand move (while practicing, not on stage – that would look weird).

If you notice that you’re breathing is shallow, stop and take a deep breath. It’s okay, your audience will think of this natural break as a conversational pause.

Confidence is created when we have optimum oxygen flow through our body and is reflected by a rocket fueled voice.

Feel

In the moment, stay grounded, and feel the fear. Sounds airy fairy, right? Wrong. When you know where you stand (literally) and you know why you stand there, this is the place of confidence.

While you are practicing and presenting feel your feet. Feel the surface that they are touching. Notice and observe where you are and who is in your presence.

If your thoughts race away, bring yourself back to where you presently stand. Own your confidence – don ‘t let it gallop away.

Visualize

Visualizing works – elite athletes are coached to use visualization techniques with scientifically proven success.

Watch yourself walk onto the stage with a bounce to your step, smiling at your audience. Then observe yourself speaking with a powerful voice and notice the audience enchanted by your words. Listen to the audience applause and the nods appreciating a job well done. Watch yourself taking the accolades in and them visualize yourself leaving the stage energized and smiling at your audience – perhaps even a little tip of the hat too. Now you have returned to your seat and you tell yourself, “I rocked it!”

If you feel your confidence drifting when you are on the stage bring yourself back to your visualization. Don’t let the confidence thief rob you.

To be confident you have to believe you can deliver the goods. Full and energized breathing, feeling the space you are holding, and seeing yourself accomplish your feats will take you down the road with a confident delivery.

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Gloria Steinem & The Fear of Public Speaking

July 17th, 2011 Posted in Blog


 

I would never have suspected that Gloria Steinem was afraid of public speaking.

 

Steinem is one of my heros. She saw the need for change and she caused change to happen. Steinem is an articulate and well researched woman whom I would never have considered having such fear of public speaking that it stalled her career and the change she sought.

When Steinem’s career took off she was often asked to give public presentations. Did you know that she adeptly outmaneuvered the requests to escape the invitations? And sometimes not so adeptly she just plain out cancelled at the last moment. Ouch.

She believed that her energy best be used in her writing and for a while she hid behind her written words. But she realized if she wanted change that she also needed to grab the mic and speak.

Here is a snippet from Interview Magazine conducted by Maria Shriver and the entire interview here:

STEINEM: Yeah. I’d have to cancel appearances at the last minute because if I tried to do them, I’d lose all my saliva and each tooth would acquire a little sweater. I didn’t begin to speak in public until I was at least in my mid-thirties-or maybe even my late-thirties. I suppose I’d chosen to write as a way of expressing myself partly so I didn’t have to speak. It was only the beginning of the Women’s Movement and the impossibility of getting articles about it published that caused me to go out and speak publicly. Even then I couldn’t do it by myself, which is why I asked my friend Dorothy [Pitman Hughes, child expert and activist] to speak with me. For that first decade, I almost always spoke with her and one of two or three other partners.

SHRIVER: And then slowly just by doing it and following your fear . . .

STEINEM: I discovered that you didn’t die, and that something happened when you were speaking in a room that could not happen on the printed page. And, you know, Dorothy and I were one white woman and one black woman speaking together, and that turned out to be very good. We didn’t do it on purpose, but it turned out to attract more diverse audiences and made a very important point. After she had a baby and wanted to travel less, I spoke with [civil rights lawyer and feminist activist] Flo Kennedy and [writer and organizer] Margaret Sloan-Hunter.

 

I am enchanted by these words in the snippet above: “Something happened in a room (while speaking) that could not happen on the printed page”.

Steinem felt the human connection that is obscured when using the printed word. Authors don’t often know who their fans really are.

But in a room, ahhh, yes, that feeling when you are speaking about your ideals and your plans to make things better. There is nothing more exhilarating when the people in the room understand and they want to be part of your vision for a world that will be a little better because of your vision.

It is a magical and power “to” feeling. (Thank you Gloria Feldt for her definition of powerful and power to).

Steinem moved from being supported by a speaking partner to speaking on her own. I believe that she caught the public speaking bug, bolstered by the power of her spoken words.

To Your Voice,

Janice

 

 

 

 

 

 


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Ethics of Presentations

July 14th, 2011 Posted in Blog

The issue of ethics has reared it’s head this week.

Does a handshake along with a verbal commitment mean that a contract is in place? I believe it does.

When a better offer comes along does the original commitment (see above) become void? I don’t believe so.

Simplistic? Yes. Easy to live by? For some, not so much.

As a public speaker and a presenter do you have an obligation to speak your truth and not what your audience wants to hear? I believe so.

When a presenter doesn’t deliver as promised should they be paid or take their just desserts in bad reviews? I think both.

Everyday we are all challenged. Do the right thing or take the money.

Reputation and conscience last forever. Dollars and their trappings don’t.

To Your Voice,

Janice

 


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