So often we read about transformational leadership and the words that go around it.
One of the most bandied about word is inspirational.
This word translates into a whole lot of different things depending on the listener.

I was recently talking to a very successful leader who is leading a transformation process and was to talk to his leadership team. When I suggested the team would like him to be inspiring he said “I can’t stand that word”.

On asking for more information I found he thought that being inspiring meant he needed to ‘act’ and have a show almost with balloons. He is a very effective quietly spoken leader and it was not how he wanted to be portrayed.

For me the word inspiring and giving an inspiring presentation to your team means being you. Speaking from the heart as well as the head is essential. It means giving real life examples –the stories the team can believe in.

We humans connect with stories it goes back to our cave dwelling days. There is something magic in the ability to tell a story that resonates with truth and connects the listener to the message.
That to me that is inspirational…not ‘putting on a show’

The challenge is to find a different way of using slides if you are not artistic, zany or blessed with the ability to create pithy messages. Just this week I was working with a very busy client who had to rapidly develop a presentation on a very complex topic, including slides. All he could do was to simplify and thin out his slides.

David Gibson’s Trainer Tips useful fortnightly tips from www.Eureka.com recently provided a simple practical answer to this challenge.  I have reprinted it here:

It’s Official – Bullet Points Hinder Learning

I guess most trainers knew that – but until now it was just an instinctive feeling we had that we couldnt’t actually quantify. Well, Dr Chris Atherton, a cognitive psychologist carried out research using different formats of PowerPoint presentations – bullet points and ’sparse’ slides and found that the sparse slides returned double the recall of bullet points. Why? Because here learners are using 2 pathways in the brain, the auditory part of the brain which also handles the written word and a second part of the brain, the visual cortex which handles pictures. So rather than overloading the auditory cortex while ‘boring’ the visual cortex, you stimulate both. It also means that once the slide has been ‘processed’ by the brain, learners can concentrate on the spoken word.

So this tip builds upon that research and suggests ways to help maximise the recall potential of your learners when you have to use PowerPoint for some of your training.

Bullet Points vs Sparse Slides
Here is an example of a traditional type of slide that uses bullet points and a graph.

Chris’s research would suggest to maximise the learning using PowerPoint for this slide, you should use more slides with a reduced amount of text per slide rather than a single slide showing multiple bullet points. For example you might use several slides of just sparse text , or the same sparse slides including images .

How to maximise the learning when using PowerPoint

• Design your slides without using bullet points.
• Break slides down to a single idea per slide and ideally use about 4 words.
• Use an image only if the image ‘adds’ something to the content. Remove it if it’s there just to make the slide look ‘nice’ as this act as a distraction to your learners.
• Only put key information onto you slides, ie what you want your learners to focus upon.
• Make your learners work eg put a graph onto your slide but omit the axis number and have learners try to ‘guess’ the axis and the numbers, or in our example, we could include the text “Increases retention by up to …” and we could ask learners to have a guess at the number . In other words, remember to involve your learners in the learning.

To view a presentation using this method click here. Note, this is a presentation and I wouldn’t suggest you train using this style.

The actual research was presented at the recent Technical Communication UK Conference in 2009 by Dr Chris Atherton. Click here for further information on Dr Chris Atherton.

Call To Action

Design your slides for maximum retention. Do this by avoiding bullet points and ‘cluttered’ slides. Instead use multiple slides which include around 4-6 words and maybe an image to enhance the content.

Interesting question. We could look at the problem as a problem to be solved or as an opportunity to be used.

There are some practical actions to take at that would help solve the problem:

1. Tie your hair back, if it is long.  Make sure that your fringe is cut clear of your eyebrows. I guess all that applies to guys too.
2. If you wear glasses, do wear them.
3. Wear dark and reasonably conservative clothing – it creates an air of authority and people can see you more easily.  Dress for the job you want, rather than your current role.
4. Work on your voice so you eliminate that Kiwi questioning tone when you are making a statement
5. Watch your words so you get rid of self-reducing fillers such as ’sort of’ a little bit’, ‘I think’ and of course ‘um’ and ‘ah’. If you get good at this, have a go at getting rid of all forms of the verb ‘to be’.  This will cut out the passive voice and help you sound crisper and more confident – sorry – I should write: ‘This cuts out the passive voice.’
   

   Now you're impressive!

You could take the other option and view ‘looking too young’ as an opportunity to be used:   Arm yourself with curiosity and work on learning from these older people. How did they get started in their career?  What have they learnt? What are they noticing in current trends?  What advice could they give you on the challenges you are facing?  Who knows, you could acquire a very helpful mentor.

Thereare important differences  between ‘influence’ and ‘persuasion’:

Persuasion is a more direct, short-term  activity and requires a larger emotional component.  Influence is more indirect, longer term and depends more on logic.  Persuasion mainly involves one way communication, whereas influence is often multi-directional.

There is an interesting post and discussion on this  at Saying What You Mean, and a thought-provoking acronym from Brian Ahearn that covers both persuasion and influence:  He says that influence is about

P. E.O.P.L.E.:

Powerful

Everyday

Opportunities to

Persuade, that are

Lasting and

Ethical

Many of us put a great deal of time and effort thinking about persuasion and not nearly enough into influence.  If you are not very articulate, you will  probably find it easier to focus on influencing rather than persuasion.  At least it is a more gradual process that you can plan and execute.

So look for those everyday opportunities and use them to build your influence.

How do you usually answer? – ‘Oh, fine thanks’?  This response could waste a good opportunity. With a bit of planning, you could use the question to raise your profile with the questioner, or gain their useful insight into a problem.

Claudyne Wilder’s latest newsletter in Wilder Presentations covers using the elevator speech to handle these situations.

In the low-key New Zealand environment, if the elevator speech seems a bit forced, think about planning a soundbite. The system is similar.

For your important projects, you could adapt Claudyne’s suggestion to:

1. Progress: We have surveyed the range of best software solutions

2. Results: It looks like the most applicable one was developed in South Korea

3. Interesting fact: It costs way less than any of the competing systems and looks really good, but for some reason it hasn’t been taken up in any other New Zealand organisations before.

4. Next step: We’re being careful to check that out further

5. Question for the listener: Have you any past experience of this type of gap in adoption of a good software solution?

I am always surprised how challenging it is to work out an elevator speech.  If you need some help, there is a very practical open thread on developing an elevator speech at: Freelance Folder

In case you’re wondering, the guy in the picture is racing from your brilliant elevator speech to organise you a promotion.

“What are some useful tools and tips available to our managers and our organisation to respond to this?”

The answer –

Develop your managers to be good coaches. Why? – Good coaching supports change.

Coaching has been rising in popularity – due to the recognised link of its support in accelerating the learning process. We no longer have time to learn on the job (as we did when I started working). We now need to get up to speed quickly, with the required skills and behaviours that will be critical to our success. Good coaching provides on the job feedback to help individuals raise their awareness to their strengths and what they need to do differently to be more effective.

Today, businesses and educational institutions are valuing the relationship between coaching and leader effectiveness – seeing a strong link between coaching skills and employee retention and engagement.

Coaching is a broad range of behaviours – from being a good listener to being able to challenge assumptions and mindsets.

Being a good coach is therefore a learned set of skills. If you want you’re organisation to keep on top of their game – teach your managers to be good coaches. Good coaching will support your investment in training and ensure your people maximise their potential quickly!

A useful book resource, regardless of your experience and understanding of coaching is – Coaching for Performance, Third Edition, by John Whitmore.

Are you better than the average driver?

… or any other skill?

Answer?  Deliberate practice.

Take driving as an example.  Recent research shows that most drivers believe they are better drivers than the average!  Well of course!  We have so much experience.

Yes.  We do,  but how much driving ‘practice’ do we put in?  If we were going to deliberately practise, we would:

• Raise our  awareness of HOW we are driving – maybe focusing our attention on one particular aspect of the skill until we perfected it, then move on to another.
• We would also really listen to and possibly even act on driving advice!!

Hmm…! How many of us could do that?  I certainly remember putting a stop to my four year old son’s habit of giving  me driving advice from his car seat!

• We would do even better if we sought regular feedback on our driving from a good instructor and then put the advice into action?  Think of the lives that might be saved!

An interesting article in Fortune Magazine shows that across a huge range of fields, the top people are the ones who devote the most time to deliberate practice.  The rule of thumb holds that experts need ten years of very intensive practice to be extremely successful in their chosen field.

On a recent long flight back from the UK to New Zealand, I watched a fascinating series of BBC programmes on child musical prodigies.  The programme speculated on which ones would make it to greatness as adults.  Once you are up there in prodigy- land, the long-run greats are the ones who have maintained intensive practice for at least ten years. Mozart was practising three hours a day by the time he was three years old.  By six, he had clocked up 3,500 hours practice – apparently over three times more than anyone else his age!

I am not sure how they know that, but back to us normal mortals and our presentation skills:  Whilst we may have plenty of presentation ‘experience’, how many of us use deliberate practice?  Do we take the time to reflect on a particularly demanding piece of presenting, seek feedback on our effectiveness and then work on the suggested changes?

So to become a good presenter:

1. Work out what aspect you need to focus on.  Each time you present, concentrate on getting that aspect right.  Keep going until the required behaviour becomes a habit, then get to work on the next bit.
2. Get feedback from a reliable observer and act on the feedback.
3. Watch what other presenters do and see if you can learn from them – good or bad.  But then make sure you practise what you have learnt.
4. International Toastmasters is a great way to get practice and to obtain supportive, constructive feedback.

Now while you are about it, about that right hand turn you just made….!

Once you know your image purpose, you will handle situations more carefully. Do you want people in a meeting to think you listened sincerely?  Do you want them to think you are a fair and focused meeting leader? Whatever the image awareness you decide on, you will behave in a way accords with it.

Earlier this year I was working on presentation skills with a group of scientists. When I asked what they would like an audience to go away thinking about them after their presentation, one woman had an instant answer: ‘Oh, yes.  I want them to think I am 10 years younger than I am!’

I rest my case though.  If she thinks about that goal as she plans and delivers her presentation, it will take years off her age.

For some extra suggestions, here’s  a practical article from the Guardian