Bravo! Encore!

New Blog Location!

noreply@blogger.com (Sharí Alexander) — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 22:16:00 +0000

Hello faithful readers,

"Bravo! Encore" has now moved to its new location. Click here to read in depth thoughts about creating, crafting, and delivering powerful business presentations. I'll see you there!

Bravo,

Sharí Alexander

President/Founder

Presenting Matters, LLC

57 Ways to Avoid Giving Bad Presentations!

noreply@blogger.com (Sharí Alexander) — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 16:09:00 +0000

57 Ways to Avoid Giving Bad Presentations!

A NEW workshop from Sharí Alexander! Be on of the first to learn the 57 ways to avoid giving bad presentations.

Don't let your competition get the edge! Learn how you can stand out and close the deal.

Don't miss out on the hidden opportunities in each of your presentations. This is your chance to put your message and skills to practice!

- Effective body language

- Speaking Strategically: Get the results you want!

- Motivate your audience

- Learn the Art & Science of public speaking

- How to make you message stick

- And so much more!

This workshop is tailored to your needs as a business professional. Whether you are wanting to motivate your employees, give a keynote, or be able to sell your services, this workshop will help you avoid common mistakes that many professionals don't realize their making!

In addition to the workshop training, you will walk away with your own copy of the 57 tips! Plus, you never know what FREE giveaways there may be!

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Date: Wednesday, March 26th

Time: 1pm - 4:30pm

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Click here to sign up!

Dealing with Remote Sites

noreply@blogger.com (Sharí Alexander) — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 19:29:00 +0000

Yesterday I had a very unique speaking experience. I spoke a a university. I had an audience from 3 different locations. About 27 people were in the room with me, and a hand full of people at two remote sites. One site was on a small TV screen at the back of the room and the other site was on a large projection at the front of the room. Because of the way the room was set up, there was no way to get the site from the large screen at the front and have it project in the back. Even though that was a little distracting for the audience in the room with me, I learned some wonderful new skills.

One quick tip for anyone who has to give presentations to remote sites: When you're responding to a question from a remote site, be sure to answer the question while looking in the camera. When you look in the camera to respond, it makes them feel more connected to you. It is hard not to look at the screen and respond to their image, but then you would be breaking the rapport that you want to have with your audience.

Point A to Point B: The Importance of Transitions

noreply@blogger.com (Sharí Alexander) — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 16:59:00 +0000

Transitions in presentations are often overlooked, and yet they can be one of the magical elements that make a great presentation. In giving business presentations, a professional will have to cover many points. What often happens is the presenter will simply click for the next Power Point slide and use that to signify transitioning to a new point. There is a huge problem with this style.

Our minds need transitions to give us a "heads up" that something new is coming. Without the "heads up" the audience's minds will spend more time than you want playing catch up. Think of it this way. In your presentation, you are wanting the audience to do two things: realize the status quo that you are presenting, and have them leave with a new mindset on the situation. It is like you are pointing out two points on a map. Point A, the status quo. Point B: the new way of thinking. Without transitions in your presentation, you are simply pointing out the two points on the map and leaving it up to the audience to find their way from point A to point B. You are not giving clear directions.

When I'm in a new town and have to get from point A to point B, I can do one of two things. I can look at a map and try to figure it out myself or ask a person familiar with the area for directions. If I try to figure it out on a map, I may not know the shortcuts through town and I may run into some construction work on my way there. Even though I might arrive to point B, it probably would take me longer to get there than if I asked a local for directions. It the same with your presentations.

Without transitions you are forcing the audience to find their own way to point B. They may reach point B, but they may take the longer route to get there. With transitions you will be guiding your audience quickly and smoothly to point B. It will take them less time to reach to the conclusions you want them to reach. Plus, with clear direction, they are more likely to reach the conclusion you want them to reach.

Don't underestimate the power of transitions. When you're developing your presentation, be sure to work in smooth transitions so you can lead your audience effectively through your presentation.

Corporate Stories

noreply@blogger.com (Sharí Alexander) — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 17:09:00 +0000

I'm sure that if you're in a corporate environment and have read my articles and blogs about the importance of storytelling, you've probably asked yourself, "Who does this girl think she is? I can't get up in front of my boss and colleagues and talk about playing little league baseball to make a point about teamwork! That's just silly."

Well if you feel as though you don't want to pull from your personal life-experiences to make a point in your business presentations (which there is a way to do it and do it well, but we'll focus on that another day), I have a few questions that you can answer to find some great stories for your business presentations.

1) Why did you start/join the company?

2) Has anyone in your company taught you a lesson? What was it? What did they say?

3) Have your clients or customers given you some powerful insight?

4) Who has been a good example of great managing? Who has been a poor example?

5) Was there a project that got you excited?

6) When has your team helped you?

7) When did you think you couldn't reach a goal, but then did?

8) Who has motivated you?

9) Who have you seen that puts in extra effort?

10) Who would you like to be like?

As you can see, each of these questions can be answered in many different ways. They will send you down a train of thought that will lead you to a great story to make a great point in your next business presentations.

Presenting to the Big Dog

noreply@blogger.com (Sharí Alexander) — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 14:48:00 +0000

As a speaker in an upcoming meeting, it is your job to figure out the goals, themes, and outcomes you want for your speech. Presenters in a corporate setting are also faced with a specific task: figure out who they are truly presenting to. You may have to present the work of your team to the rest of the staff, your boss, and your boss's boss. One of your first goals is to know your audience. When you speak to a room of mixed hierarchy, you need to figure out, for yourself, who you truly want to present to. I would bet that you might get more recognition (and possible promotions) if you craft the message to spark the interest of your boss's boss than if you craft the message to spark the interest of your colleagues.

Either way, choose who you really want to grab the attention of. Find the message and main points that will capture their interest.

What an Awesome Idea!

noreply@blogger.com (Sharí Alexander) — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 16:32:00 +0000

Last week I attended my Toastmasters meeting. People often ask me why I'm in Toastmasters if I'm not only a professional speaker, but also a speech and presentation coach! Well, I attend Toastmasters for many reasons, and one of them is what inspired this blog.

I watch one of our new members give a presentation and afterwards, I pointed out his posture. He spoke well, but he put the majority of his weight on one foot, his shoulders with tilted, and his neck was pushed forward, which was straining his voice. I gave him a few pointers and told him to imagine that a string was attached to the top of his head and it was gently pulling him upwards and getting his body in alignment.

Today I got a great e-mail from him. He said, "I just wanted to let you know I put your advice to work this morning. I had a short presentation this morning and I taped a small piece of string to my notes to remind me to stand up straighter. If I glanced down, it would remind me to take a posture check. Thanks!" What an awesome idea!

Speaking Over the Table

noreply@blogger.com (Sharí Alexander) — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 19:13:00 +0000

So many of my speeches, coaching sessions, articles, and posts are about speaking in front of groups on a platform of some sort. Today I'd like to take a different look at a type of presentation that we give almost on a daily basis: speaking over the table. We are in different meetings and situations constantly that require us to be our best when speaking over the table. We could be having a chat in the boss's office. We could be meeting with a team we're a part of. We often have casual meetings over coffee in relaxing cafés. And most importantly, we could be sitting across a conference table with a prospect or current client. So many situations in which we need to utilize presentation skills over the table.

Now, if you've read many of my articles and blogs, you've probably noticed that I am not a fan of putting barriers between you and your audience. I have said many times to do away with the lectern. Obviously in normal business settings there are barriers that you will have to work with - the ubiquitous table being one of them. Desks, conference tables, dinner tables, they're everywhere! So what is a business professional to do?

Here are a few tips that you can use at your next "over the table" presentation.

1) Be aware of your body language. You want to sit up straight and relax your shoulders. Also don't shake your leg or tap your feet. Some people have a tendency to shake their leg or wiggle their foot when sitting down. Nerves are the most prominent reason for this, but your colleague may think that you're agitated or bored. And the shaking movement can make the table that you're sharing shake as well, which can be extremely annoying to your colleague.

2) Don't be afraid to compose your thoughts. If you are asked a question that you're not fully prepared to answer, you can always respond by saying, "Good question. Boy, let me think about that." There's nothing wrong with taking a moment to think through your response. It's much better than babbling through until you come up with something worth saying. (Your listener might think you're trying to hide something or dance around the issue.)

3) Jot down notes. Sometimes the conversation may take a turn, but you have a question that you want to ask. Instead of breaking the flow of the conversation, simply jot 2 or 3 words down to remind you to ask it when it's the appropriate time.

Those are just a few tips you can use. Keep reading future blogs to pick up more tips on how you can improve your business presentations!

What Steve Jobs Knows: The Importance of Removing Barriers

noreply@blogger.com (Sharí Alexander) — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 00:10:00 +0000

I recently watch Steve Jobs' keynote announcing the new technology that Apple is coming out with. Jobs is a fine speaker. Nothing flashy. Fairly comfortable. And he handled an unexpected technical glitch well. And after I watched the keynote, I realized that Jobs was coached very well in one important aspect. There were no barriers.

Jobs came out in a relaxed outfit, just jeans, tennis shoes, and a long-sleeved shirt. He walked out onto the stage, cool and confident, and stood in front of a large screen with the projections behind him. Jobs was facing an audience of thousands all alone - no crutch, nothing to lean on or hold onto, just him and the audience. Very impressive. Jobs continued with his speech, laying out all the main points - following a very simple "tell them what you're going to tell them, tell them, and tell them what you told them" format.

The extremely impressive part was when Jobs demonstrated some of the new technology. He walked over to a small kiosk set up and used the necessary equipment. What was great was that the kiosk was not facing the audience and Jobs was not standing behind it. Instead the kiosk was angled ninety degrees away from the audience, so that when Jobs was using the station he was merely turned sideways to the audience and not hiding behind a barrier. Very impressive. Jobs had a great team of advisors to point out the fact that if he were to demonstrate the technology behind a lectern, then the rapport with the audience would be broken and the energy level would drop.

Be aware of the barriers you are putting between yourself and your audience. Is there anyway that you can situate the room so that there are no barriers? Don't lose your connection with the audience by stepping behind a podium, lectern, or anything!

What's better than the human connection?

noreply@blogger.com (Sharí Alexander) — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 23:50:00 +0000

I have to tell you a secret....I'm a bit of a political junkie, especially during the presidential elections. I'm sure you have all heard by now the Rudy Guliani dropped out of the race. He didn't have a very well thought-out campaign. But what was revealed soon after was very interesting. Apparently while he was spending so much of his campaign time in Florida, he allocated a ridiculous amount of his funds to direct mail. It far surpassed the amounts his contenders Romney and McCain. Instead of taking more time to personally meet people, attend events, give speeches, his money went to mailings (which probably went straight to the trash). Isn't it amazing that the human connection can do so much?!

Keep this in mind in your daily business life. Get out there! Meet people consistently and take the opportunities to speak on what you know. Or better yet, search for opportunities to give a presentation! Speak at your next annual/ semiannual conference. Take the lead in a meeting a present to the boss your progress. Think about how much you will stand out from your associates! I bet that you'll get more results than you thought possible.

Where You Should Be In the Meeting Room

noreply@blogger.com (Sharí Alexander) — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 15:42:00 +0000

Have you ever thought about where you sit in the meeting room and what it communicates to others in the room? Well you should. Sometimes your position in the room can determine your status in the meeting, your interest, and your participation.

Let's start with the obvious. If you are sitting at a long conference table and you take a seat at one of the ends, you are positioning yourself in a place of high status. You are either telling everyone, "I'm running this meeting" or "I know a lot about this subject and want to jump in with my own thoughts." But what if you are going to run a meeting and take a seat in the middle of the table? This puts you on a little bit more equal footing. This indicates that even though you are running the meeting, you want to hear everyone's ideas and input. This also indicates that you could be mediating the meeting.

So when you sit down at your next conference table, think about the message that you want to send right off the bat.

Enhancing Your Presentations by Relaxing!

noreply@blogger.com (Sharí Alexander) — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 04:45:00 +0000

Relaxation is a tool that you absolutely need to use as a presenter. Before you step to the lectern or on the platform, you need to find your own relaxation routine. Your routine should consist of mentally going through every part of your body and focusing on relaxing every muscle possible. Your relaxation routine should also enable you to take long full breaths of air.

Why is a relaxation routine so important? Well, just like I've talked about before, our body language can reinforce a feeling that we have. Having butterflies in your stomach will reinforce your nervousness to yourself. The feeling of butterflies and nervousness can be caused by a number of factors. Tension is one of the top factors. When we get nervous, our “fight or flight” mechanism is triggered. Our system then begins to tense up certain muscles. Our shoulders raise up, our chest protrudes out, and our abdomen tenses up. All of this enhances the feeling of nervousness. Sometimes the actual physical sensation of butterflies comes from fatigue in the deep, smaller muscles from tensing up. Another reason for the enhanced sensation of nervousness comes from lack of oxygen. When we get nervous, since so many of our muscles tense up, we take short, quick, restricted breaths of air. This is when people with intense stage fright begin to pass out or throw up. You actually begin to starve your body for oxygen and you feel light headed.

Relaxation is also a very important part to vocal usage and vocal health. No one wants to have a monotone voice, or be too quiet, or mumble, or be too loud. Now that you understand that relaxation will help your breathing patters when you’re speaking, you should easily be able to see the connection between relaxation and the voice. After all, what is the fuel needed to create the voice...breath. So if breathing is restricted, the the voice is restricted. If you do not implement a relaxation routine, you could easily feel exhausted and hoarse after speaking for only 15 minutes! Now do you see how important relaxation is? The first lesson in almost all classical acting programs is on relaxation. It is the quickest way to learn how to have control over your own body. And since about 93% of the information we communicate comes from our physical appearance and mannerisms, it’s a good skill to have.

Training Your Brain for Presentations

noreply@blogger.com (Sharí Alexander) — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 22:10:00 +0000

Fascinating studies are coming out consistently on how we interpret various communication mediums. Whether it's decoding the signals from someone's body language or how our own personal self-talk can affect our attitudes and even our future. So why not implement some strategies to help you in your business presentations?

Studies have shown that when you need to build your confidence, if you smile and nod to yourself in the mirror while you're working on your presentation, your confidence will increase. Beware! If you do this exercise and slip up by saying to yourself, I'm going to do horrible in this presentation, you will just be reaffirming that notion to yourself. You will become more confident that you will fail. There is no room for sarcasm in this exercise.

If you are nervous about giving a presentation, try the exercise. You may feel goofy at first, but there is a chemical reaction that will happen in your brain that will help you feel confident in what you're saying. Give it a try.

Is It The Right Message?

noreply@blogger.com (Sharí Alexander) — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 15:46:00 +0000

I had a very interesting experience last week that taught me a great lesson, and I'd like to share it with you. Not too long ago, I was working with a client of mine on a speech. He was the CEO of a financial investment firm and was wanting to speak to different groups of prospects, informing them of ways to make effective financial decisions. This way he was establishing himself as an expert in front of his prospects, giving them helpful information, and informing them of his services.

However, our work together was sluggish. One meeting we would decide that we had crafted the perfect message and then the next, he was wanting to start back at square one. It was frustrating to say the least. I never could quite figure out why our work wasn't "sticking". It wasn't until I met with him over coffee that I finally understood.

At the end of last year, he had shifted the focus of his business. Instead of working with the elite and wealthy, he was wanting to work with people who are struggling with their finances, people who could really use some help. Through a genius business plan, his business is rocking and rolling! And when we talked, he was able to communicate his message and his passion with more clarity and energy than I had ever heard him before. He was excited and his thoughts we so well connected and structured he could have given me a 45 minute keynote on the spot! He had found his right message.

As a speech and presentation coach, this was a very important lesson for me to learn. In the future when I meet with a client who isn't allowing him/herself to connect to the message that we're working on, I will have to ask them, "Are you sure this is the right message? Is this what you really want to share with the world?"

As a speaker this is some very important information you need to have. While you're working on your speech, if it feels like you're taking two steps forward and three steps back every time you want to rework it, you might want to ask yourself, "Is this the right message? Is this what I really want to share with the world?" Because once you find the right message, trust me, the words will spill out with unbelievable ease. Your thoughts will be clearer your energy will be through the roof! Finding the right message can transform you as a speaker. So ask yourself, "Is this the right message?"

Business Presentations: What do you want to know?

noreply@blogger.com (Sharí Alexander) — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 13:53:00 +0000

This is it folks. This is your chance to tell me what you want to hear. With the new year finally here, I want to be sure I'm giving you the information you want to know. So put up your posts and let me know what interests you! Power Point? Vocal variety? Gestures? Speech writing? Speech marketing? You tell me! Any area of presentations is up for grabs. I want to hear from you! I'll write on all of your topics of interest. So...let me have it!

How Speaking Gains Respect

noreply@blogger.com (Sharí Alexander) — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 01:49:00 +0000

In one of my recent sessions with a client who is the CEO of a large corporation, he shared with me an interesting perspective on what he had learned so far. He said that even though he had always been able to be "quick on his feet" in various business situations, he found that running meetings and speaking to his employees required a slightly different skill set. He said that it has been extremely beneficial to have an expert like myself to consult with for such meetings. He has found it helpful to learn how to keep things on track, keep the focus on his listeners and not himself, and to have an outside perspective on how what he says could be interpreted.

More importantly he said, "At first I didn't know how beneficial this would be. But after hearing your feedback on certain areas I can see how crafting what I say and working on how I say it can make a big difference. I've been able to carry this over into our company's website and brochures. I see now that it's important to work on speaking skills because it makes me a better leader."

You Don't Need a Prescription for Stage Fright

noreply@blogger.com (Sharí Alexander) — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 01:31:00 +0000

Not too long ago at my Toastmasters club a fellow member gave an interesting speech about her daughter. Apparently her daughter has horrible stage fright and hates to speak in front of any size group. The only problem is...she's a lawyer! She has to speak in front of judges, juries, clients, and her partners. Her mother has been trying for years to get her to go to a Toastmasters meeting to help overcome her fear, but the daughter replies, "Don't worry. I have a pill for that." Apparently she shared her fear with her doctor and he gave her a prescription for a moderate tranquilizer. On the bottle it reads, "take one pill one hour before public speaking".

When I heard this, I was shocked. The fact that this poor woman's stage fright is so bad that she will take a sedative be speaking is sad. (And my I say I'm ashamed of the doctor who gave her the prescription.) Stage fright is curable, and it doesn't take a pill to cure it. There are many methods to overcome the panic that people feel before speaking. Feel free to read my articles on breathing and relaxation before a speech. Every case might be slightly different. If you have any questions, please feel free to post them on the blog or e-mail me personally. I look forward to hearing your stories.

Think Like an NFL Legend

noreply@blogger.com (Sharí Alexander) — Sun, 16 Dec 2007 01:43:00 +0000

Earlier today I watched "NFL Legends" on ABC. The program highlighted the careers of top quarterbacks Payton Manning, Brett Favre, and Tom Brady. It was very interesting to learn how each of them developed their skills and work ethic to lead their teams to multiple Super Bowl Championships. At the very end, Tom Brady said, "People always ask me which ring is my favorite, and I always answer 'the next one'".

That statement, "the next one", is powerful. This is how professional speakers should view their business. Your favorite speech should be the next one. This mentality means that you're hungry to be successful. You can't wait to share your message with the next audience. This mentality propels you into a forward motion. There's no need to beat yourself up about a speech that went bad, and there's no reason to sit and reminisce about that perfect speech to the perfect audience because you're too busy thinking about your next speech to your next audience.

This "next one" mentality will speak volumes about your work ethic. Once you've enjoyed giving a great speech, you're right back to work (training, so to speak) for the next great speech. You will never be standing still waiting for the speech to come to you. You will consistently be on the top of your game.

So if you're a professional speaker, are you focused on "the next one"?

Will You Ever Be Happy with Your Speech?

noreply@blogger.com (Sharí Alexander) — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 14:52:00 +0000

A few weeks back I attended the speech of one of my clients. We had been working on a 15 minute speech, everything from the content development to the delivery. Once he finished his speech, he came to me and asked, "So, how was it?" I could tell he was nervous about my response. He obviously was thinking about when he stumbled over his words for a brief moment, and when he moved too far away from the mic, and many other little things that went wrong. I told him he did great. Sure there may have been a few problems here and there, but he got a great audience response and right after a speech is no time to dissect the problems.

When you give your speech, you should immediately treat yourself. Give yourself a pat on the back, go out and get some ice cream, anything! But do not think about all the things that went wrong. No speech is perfect and you will never be 100% happy with your speech. You may get close, but something always could have been just a little bit better. Give yourself the time to be happy with your accomplishment. You can review it and do a postmortem the next day.

Speeches are meant to be a work in progress. Timing can be perfected. Physicality can be improved upon. But the point is you did it! You were successful! No matter how many mistakes happen, if you get a positive audience reaction, you did a great job. Take joy in it. Then improve it tomorrow.

Who Should Be Your Best Friend

noreply@blogger.com (Sharí Alexander) — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 03:30:00 +0000

As a speaker, professional or not, there is one person that you want to make you best friend at any event you speak at. The tech people. Now, some of the audio and video technicians don't like the term "tech people/person/etc." Please know that I mean no disrespect in using this term. There are just so many titles that can be applies to this group of people: engineers, managers, specialists, support staff, etc. I use the term "tech" with all respect.

This group of people can be your lifesaver in your next presentations. Durning my years in the theatre I know that the technical positions and duties can be the most difficult, frustrating, and very often overlooked. Trust me speakers, they hold much power in their hands. You want to be sure to get them on your good side, because if you treat them with respect, are friendly, and acknowledge the hard work and long hours they have put into creating a successful event, then they will bend over backwards to give you their absolute best and help you in any way they can if anything goes wrong. And trust me, something almost always goes wrong.

Without them, the audience can't hear you. Without them, the audience can't see you. The technicians are the eyes and ears of the events. They know the in's and out's of the location, the event planners, and probably many of the speakers. Make them your best friend at any event. They can easily give you tips on "dead" areas of the stage (areas that make it difficult for the audience to hear you or see you). They can give you a heads up on if any of the other presenters tend to go over their time so you can make some last minute edits. They can give you added support that the event planner may not be able to. Your tech people can make your life much easier at your next event. Make them your best friend.

Educating the Jury

noreply@blogger.com (Sharí Alexander) — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 16:11:00 +0000

One of the most difficult challenges that a trial lawyer faces is having to educate the jury on a complicated issue without talking down to them. Trial lawyers know that the average education level of a jury is about high school. So if there are some complicated forensic issues or legal technicalities that pertinent to winning in the courtroom, you need to find a way to explain the issues and educate the jury with out talking down to them and insulting them. Because once they are insulted and don't like you, they share that opinion of the client and it's harder to get the verdict you're looking for. So how can you overcome this challenge? You need to be able to develop their CASE.

In your opening and closing statements (and you can even weave this into your cross examinations), you need to have at least one of these four elements: Comparison, Analogy, Story, and/or Example.

1.) See if you can compare the scenario to something similar. That way instead of thinking that the information is too complicated they'll have an easy comparison to which to reference.

2) An analogy will help when you don't have anything similar to use for the comparison. You may have to think a bit outside the box for this one, but an effective analogy can do wonders. Take the elements of you difficult subject (the source) and apply them to a to elements of a, seemingly, unrelated subject (the target). The relation between the source and target will stay in the jury's minds clearly and they won't be confused. When developing your analogy, be sure that you pick a target that have a sufficient amount of similarities and that the target is something fairly well known and understood.

3) A story can take you a long way. Please feel free to read the numerous blog entries on this site and articles I've written on effective storytelling at PresentingMatters.com. The techniques and skills can easily be applied in the courtroom.

4) Examples can be a mixture of comparisons and analogies. The term "for example" makes people pay attention. You can even pull different examples to make your point as well as find examples to use to show the contrast between your side and the opposition.

Developing a CASE is so often overlooked in the courtroom. Trial attorneys are inclined to simply pass on the facts, but the facts aren't good enough. If a subject is complicated and confusing to a jury, they need something to anchor it to so they can understand. When trial attorneys become effective communicators, then they are more likely to win over the jury and win their case (small pun intended).

Take a Note from the BIG Companies

noreply@blogger.com (Sharí Alexander) — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 15:20:00 +0000

We all know that stories are a crucial part to a successful speech or presentation. But have you ever thought about how stories could build morale, a sense of team, and camaraderie within your organization?

Take a note from some big companies and see what their doing. One of my favorite companies is Dove. They, in the last year or so, have started the Campaign for Real Beauty (http://www.campaignforrealbeauty.com). It is a wonderful program that helps promote good self-esteem in young women. In this campaign they ask women around the world for stories about women who helped them and were good role models. Insurance companies do this all the time in their commercials. They'll share a story about how they helped a person or family in a tough situation. Drug stores are now jumping on the bandwagon. Their commercials are filled with stories about how their employees go the extra mile to help their customers.

Each of these examples are about companies taking stories from their customers and using them to draw in new customers. What if you used a similar technique for your organization internally?

Ask for stories from your employees! They can be sent anonymously or not. But the possibilities and potential could be endless.

To promote good customer service, ask for stories on the topic and share successful customer service examples in meetings or in newsletters and memos.
For just a good laugh, ask for funny stories (company related or not) that could be put in the newsletter. What a great way to send the message that is a fun place to work.
If you are trying to reach certain goals, ask for stories about accomplishing goals that you could use in your staff meetings.
And you could even ask about general stories of success about the company that you could use for employee recruitment!

Use you imagination. These stories will make your employees feel like a part of a team. It doesn't matter is their the person on the front lines or the executive in the corner office, everyone could share stories. People could learn about each other, learn about the company, and learn about the standards you expect them to meet. What a wonderful way to build morale and teamwork within your organization!

Opening Remarks: "Thank you." "No, thank you"

noreply@blogger.com (Sharí Alexander) — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 14:10:00 +0000

I've run into this twice within one week. That's enough for me to know that it's a bigger problem than I thought.

When giving a speech or presentation there a few formalities that generally have to be covered. In every meeting or conference someone needs to be thanked. Whether it's the person or company that provided the space, the presenters, the coordinator, or the people that provided the food, someone needs to be thanked. So whose job is it to thank all those people? Ideally the Master of Ceremonies (MC). In any meeting or conference there, hopefully, is one person who is directing the flow of the day. This person (again, hopefully) is introducing the speakers. And it is also this person who, during their opening and closing remarks, thanks all the people who made the meeting possible.

But here is what usually happens. The MC gives the opening remarks and thanks everybody. The first speaker gets up and thanks everybody. The coordinator gets up and thanks everybody. The next speaker get up and thanks everybody. The third speaker gets up and thanks everybody. Beginning to notice a trend? If it's boring for you to read it, imagine how boring it is for the audience to listen to it.

So as a speaker what should be your role in thanking everyone? If you are there to give a presentation to educate or entertain, it is not your job to thank the people who brought the food. You are there for a very specific reason: to give a message. And to give that message effectively, you have spent time on preparing, structuring, and practicing you speech. If you break the timing and flow of your presentation with formalities that have nothing to to with your message, then you are diminishing the effectiveness of the presentation.

Think about it. When you are introduced, you come up to the podium and start off with formalities by thanking people, your audience starts to tune you out. They've tuned you out before you even got started! Who knows when in your presentation they'll tune back in! Your opening in one of the most crucial parts of your speech. Start with a bang! And don't break the flow of your closing by thanking everyone under the sun either. For you to leave them with a WOW feeling, you've got to give them a WOW moment. Giving formalities isn't going to cut it.

Now, some of you may be thinking, "I'll feel rude not to thank the people." Two thoughts: 1) wouldn't it be rude not to give your audience your very best 2) If you feel absolutely compelled to thank people be sure you work it in your speech and preparation and be sure that you are thanking someone specific for a specific reason. There's nothing worse than babbling through the thanks.

One way to get around thanking people in your speech is to have the thanks in your written prepared introduction. Just keep in mind that it is the MC's job to thank the people who coordinated the event and your job to deliver a great presentation with a powerful message.

Quick Thought

noreply@blogger.com (Sharí Alexander) — Sun, 18 Nov 2007 01:55:00 +0000

To have an effective delivery, you must know your presentation through and through.

From Technical to Wonderful

noreply@blogger.com (Sharí Alexander) — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 14:39:00 +0000

Yesterday I attended a very interesting meeting. It was a monthly luncheon held for entrepreneurial businesses that focus on technological advancements. The audience was full of fellow entrepreneurs and potential investors. I attended because one of my clients was a presenter.

This first speaker talked about a new medical technology being developed to detect a certain type of cancer. I was always an "A" student in all of my science classes in school, but this stuff just went right over my head. The presenter, who had a Ph.d. in engineering, talked about.... it was so technical I couldn't even try to describe the technology to you. And what a shame that is.

Here is this brilliant man who is working diligently on developing a technology that can detect cancer easier and faster, but no one understood what he was talking about. He is in front of a room full of investors and isn't able to get his message across effectively. I thought it was a missed opportunity.

How could this man have made this terribly technical information more understandable so that he could take advantage of the opportunity to get funding? He need to develop his CASE. A CASE is very important for any presentation, but it is critical when giving a presentation about a technical issue.

Every presentation needs some part of a CASE: Comparison, Analogy, Story and/or Example. When discussing any technical information, you need to have one of these 4 elements. For us to be able to process the technical information we need to be able to compare it to something we already do understand. For example, if we're talking about light waves and how a certain type of focused light will detect cancer better, then we might want to compare the process to knives. A sharp knife will cut faster, smother, and more accurately than a dull knife, which is similar to how light waves work in detecting cancer. With a more focused (or sharp) light we are able to hone in on the cancer more effectively; in a sense, we're cutting away the bad from the good with out new "sharp knife".

There might be better analogies, but the point is that you no longer have to go into any great depth about the exact process and science behind the project. We are now able to easily understand the basic fundamentals of the process because we can compare it to something.

In the future, see how you might be able to develop your CASE for your presentations.