Aside from images providing faces and names, briefly explain why each person is included in the panel. Each panel member’s expertise needs to clearly add something special to the occasion and to fit with the whole.   As you introduce each person,you explain why Person B follows Person A and so on. In your introduction make sure you answer the following questions:

1. Why we are covering this specific subject, as part of the whole presentation?
2. Why we are covering this aspect now?

If you would like some more tips on other aspects of leading or convening a panel, there are some useful ones in Presentation Pointers

I also have the added problem (or excuse) that I’m left handed so I have had my uke altered to make it easier for me to play.

Here is the problem-the rest of the group look at each others fingers (you need to trust me here it is part of the learning!) to help them keep up with the new chords we learn each time we meet.  It doesn’t make sense to me as mine is really upside down and back to front.  Needless to say I am persisting and sort of managing to keep up.

The better player in out group has suggested (well told me really) to  ”Not look where you put your fingers on the chords but just go with the music.”     “What !” I replied, “I have to see where they go…”   .

It was one of those moments when I realised what we ask our participants to do when we are coaching  and training them in presentations.  “Put down your notes”.  “You will be fine without them” .”You know your stuff” etc etc.

How difficult it is to lose the ability to check and check again. Yes it interrupts the flow but it makes us feel better…even though I know it will sound better when I don’t peek.

How often do we as adults seek the comfort of what feels easier and safe?   To grow and succeed we do need to leave our comfort zone and take the big step of trusting to do what we know will make a difference.

So next week with the group I will endeavour not to look …it will take masses of practice at home, a lot of big breaths, but if we are going to be the best little band in Wadestown I will need to grow with the others and step outside my comfort zone.

Stay tuned for the next chapter…

We often get asked the broader question: How can you assess audience’s reaction? There are the obvious responses of people falling asleep, looking angry, or walking out. But what about the more subtle responses? Usually if people are fidgeting or looking down most of the time, they are bored.

It can be hard to tell. In smaller centres in NZ, often audiences don’t interact much, but will stay on to discuss things  afterwards. In bigger cities, they may interact so much that you think you have made a whole lot of NBFF; then as soon as you finish, they leave!

Individuals within an audience may have unusual reactions.  Recently a client told me about a presenter who just used slides, each containing a great deal of information.  The presentation involved the audience reading them. Sounded tedious to me, but my informant said the presentation was fascinating, because of the interesting slide content. 

It is very difficult for a presenter to accurately read audience reaction.   You might think the whole thing was a disaster because you missed an important point, yet the audience may have liked it. At other times some of the audience may have looked grumpy and yet come up afterwards to say they thought it was great.

Some tips:

1. Ask someone before your presentation to give you feedback afterwards on the level of audience engagement.
2. Know your material very well, so you can stay mentally free enough to focus on audience reaction. 
3. If what you are doing is boring your audience, change it!

The book is based research into NZ workplace communication by the  Applied Linguistics Department.  This research has provided the basis for Nicky Riddiford’s  teaching in the  University’s very successful Skilled Migrant programme.  When I was presenting the workshop last week, I asked Nicky how she would describe the main change people have to make to manage communication in the NZ workplace. Interestingly her answer was that they have to soften their approach. Seems we’re not as straigth forward as we like to think we are! 

Through my involvement in the Rotary Club of Wellington,  I present a regular workshop titled ‘Thinking on Your Feet’.  It is always very interesting working with a group of professional people from a wide range of cultural backgrounds. Here’s me presenting the programme.

As we all know, communication can be a movable feast, albeit with one’s foot in one’s mouth. However isn’t the message the sum of the parts?

For example, parents know their  children can get their message across quite succinctly when they need to, without using the whole Thesaurus.  Mind you, the communication can collapse when the message from the parent falls on deaf ears.

In our experience the emotion behind the message and the emotion of the recipient is essential for effective communication.

 If you are sitting listening to someone eloquently drone on in a bored “I’ve said this many times before” voice,  as a listener you quickly tune out. On the other hand if you are listening to some one who is passionate about their topic, even though  they get the odd word muddled, we still  ’get it’.

Of course all this depends on how the receiver prefers their messages…there is always the odd one who is happy with the bore as long as their PowerPoint presentation is full of obscure interesting research which they can read and then tune out.

Thank goodness for people with passion!

Recently a client was in a final interview and planning to make a senior  job offer to a highly suitable candidate.  Everything appeared to be going well, except that my client suddenly  became aware of a growing sense of uneasiness about the preferred candidate.

Follow up on that intuition

 They had conducted extensive interviews with the person; the referees were all glowing; when my client checked back with the rest of the recruitment panel they couldn’t understand his sudden wariness…but unease it was. Should he insist on pulling back, when up till then everything had checked out well; or should he trust their thorough process?

We discussed what had  happened at the two or three points when he got his gut feel. The comments were: ‘Oh, there was some  slightly negative body language in the candidate that didn’t align with what was being said…nothing much really…’  ‘Later on, I guess I just wondered whether the candidate would be as committed as we thought.  I don’t know why’  

We could call that unease ‘intuition’, but was it?  Gut feel or whatever you call it, I have learnt in positive and negative ways the value of trusting it.  Some years ago a searing recruitment experience decided me that if I ever felt a deep unease that didn’t relate to the evidence, I would at least carefully follow up on that unease.  In my coaching of a very wide range of people, I have found awareness of my intuition to be a very reliable indicator of what is really going on.

 I am very suspicious of ethereal versions of ‘intuition’.  I suspect so-called ‘intuition is just a bunch of minute clues that only we pick up subconsciously – then they build until we notice them as intuition. For more explanation of this, check out: Lifehack.  

If we define intuition as ‘perceptive insight’,  there some useful things for a practical person to tune into:

1. In an intense discussion, we unconsciously pick up very subtle changes in facial expression, skin colouration and nuance of tone.  These are only minute clues until they cluster around a stronger general impression that we then experience as ‘unease’.  Don’t jump to conclusions, but trust the feeling and follow up on your concerns.
2. When you notice a gap between the message communicated in the body language and the message in the words, look carefully at that gap. There are a lot of unsubstantiated claims about the messaging in body language, but research warns us to be alert around this type of misalignment.
3. We also bring to the communication our experience in similar situations.  A relevant but past experience might be almost forgotten yet still trigger an alarm bells in the present. When we think about it afterwards, we will usually remember exactly what that experience was…and its lesson!

Obviously you have to observe the other person very carefully. The weird thing is though, that  to develop your perceptive insight, you have to listen very carefully to yourself.  Be  very alert to your own reactions.  Trust them. Don’t jump to conclusions, but do follow up on your instinct, by asking questions.

 There are some really good tips on listening to your own awareness at a blog with the appealing name of: hellomynameisblog  

So what happened in client’s case?   He decided to insist that the panel take the time to check up on his concerns. Having taken legal advice, they went back to the referees and that turned out to be a very good move.  Put briefly: They re-advertised!

. .

Well its Matariki now the Maori New Year and as it is in the middle of our very long wet and cold winter maybe its time to make some resolutions and call them choices.

We all can make choices .Whether it is to take a breath and count to ten before we say things that are best not said. or perhaps its time to make the choice of saying what does need to be said -the courageous conversation. And we can always make the choice to enhance our skills and develop our potential -find out what we ‘can do’ rather than what we can’t.

It is a great time to change just think of it as your new New Year-Matariki.

The conclusion I have come to is relationships and good old fashioned communication. A board may set the policy and direction to guide and govern a school or any organisation for that matter. However it is the Principal or Chief Executive (in the case of a school they wear both hats) that has to make it work. So therefore the relationship between the CE and the board (particularly the chair) is critical.  If like me you are a new chair or board member – a useful place to start is to focus on creating a strong relationship with the Principal. Their enrolment in your plans and ideas is key!

In deciding how hands on to be with day-to-day operations - discuss this together and work out how best you can support and guide as a board – especially when you have an effective and high performing person in the role of CE/Principal. Check in on a regular basis to ensure the Principal/CE is comfortable that you have the balance right.  Ask the question – “What could we (the board) do more of or less of to help you be effective in your role?” Is a good place to start in ascertaining this.

I would also recommend the value of seeking the input from those who have expertise governing in your industry. My colleague Lee Wilkinson provided a referral for school board governance on her last post.