I have running joke with my family that each of us have a pull string like the Woody doll from Toy Story (“There’s a snake in my boot!”). My least favorite is “What’s for dinner?” said every dang night from a beloved family member that shall remain unnamed.

In my role as speaker coach, I have developed my own pull-string phrases; authenticity over perfection being my favorite. But I also tirelessly warn of common presentation mistakes.

 

Do you struggle with any of these?

 

1. Assuming people care

Ouch. Sometimes we are so heads-down into our own work that we forget that presentations are to serve our audience with information, data, story, or vision. Consider starting with a statement about why or how your information will help them.

 

2. Trying to say too much in too short of time

The number one reason why I see presenters fail at delivering confidently and clearly is because they are in a hurry. And you’ll always be in a hurry when you have too much to say. Be realistic. Time out your content. Which brings us to the next mistake.

 

3. Not practicing out loud

One way to know if you’ve planned too much content is by saying it out loud. Practice a slide or two out loud and notice how long it took. While you gauge your timing, you should also be practicing a good pace, pauses instead of filler words, and strong eye contact. Pro tip: practice talking to objects in your room as if they were people.  Then heed the next warning.

 

4. Not scaling content

If you are long winded or have too much content, you should scale your content. Make the opening story the 2-minute version, not the 5-minute version. Another reason we scale is because of the audience. Perhaps your technical deep dive for 7 minutes should be scaled to 3 minutes because of who is in the room. Scale your content or lose your audience.

 

5. Talking faster when running out of time

If you don’t scale, if you have too much to say, you’ll be tempted to race through your ideas at the end. You may leave the meeting relieved that you got through all your information, but that is not the same as your audience getting your information. Instead, edit as you near the end of your time. Prioritize: sacrifice the good ideas to elevate the great ones. Close strong.

 

6. Using slides as handouts, pre-reads, or scripts

The #1 pushback I get about creating simple, crisp slides is that they are used as handouts, pre-reads, or scripts – they need to contain all the talking points/data. Try putting the paragraphs of information in the notes section or as appendix slides but keep the projected visual simple. (Number one pet peeve of audiences is a presenter reading busy slides verbatim.)

 

7. Poor transitions (or none at all)

Make sure your audience doesn’t feel lost or confused because you don’t verbally transition between your talking points or slides. Keep your message fluid and clear by crafting one-liners that connect Idea One to Idea Two. “Now that we understand the conditions of the market, let’s talk about our Q2 strategy.” Pro tip: Keep your transitions to one sentence.

 

8. Relying on either charisma or data

Don’t assume either charisma or data will do the heavy lifting. Audience’s need relevant, well-organized information from charismatic speakers. They also need energy and passion in data-heavy presentations. You may naturally gravitate to one side of the spectrum, but strong communicators strive for an engaging presence with solid content. Both.

 

9. Letting emotions evaluate success

People tend to evaluate their presentations based on whether it felt bad or felt good. Unfortunately, I’ve seen presenters feel good but present horribly (over confidence) or feel bad but present well (under confidence). Don’t trust your feelings as your feedback mechanism. Which is why you should avoid the next mistake.

 

10. Not preemptivelyasking for feedback

To evaluate your presentation skills, you’ll need to solicit external feedback. But if you ask for feedback from a peer or manager after the meeting, it may not be specific or helpful. Instead, ask beforehand and be specific: “I’m trying to slow down. Can you give me feedback?” or “I’m working on smooth transitions between my main ideas. Can you listen for clarity?”

 

I’ve heard it said that we don’t accidentally drift towards excellence. It’s true of being a great communicator too. Roll up your sleeves. Make small adjustments. Establish best practices.

 

Be worthy of people’s most precious asset: their time.

 

 

I grew up in Seattle so I was born a Mariner’s fan. The most vivid Mariner’s memory I have isn’t from the 7^th inning stretch or crushing on Ken Griffey Jr.  The memory was the day after a game I attended when I was between 6-9 years old. That next day my dad realized that the team pendant he purchased for us had stuck to another pendant – a freebee! Lucky, right!? Not to Jim Endicott.

My dad wrote a check to the franchise to pay for the second pendant because, to him, that was integrity.

Fast forward nearly a dozen years. The night before moving into my freshman college dorm room, I dumped my high school boyfriend because I was convinced that I’d find my soul mate in college (spoiler alert: 3 years later I married said high school boyfriend). I didn’t waste time looking – within the first few days at college I was skipping arm-in-arm with my friend Carley to every boy dorm, going door-to-door introducing ourselves. (Cringe). So imagine my delight when a vase full of beautiful flowers were delivered to my dorm room later that year. But they weren’t from the new boys on the block.

My first flowers were from my dad with a note, “I just wanted to be the first guy to send you flowers.”

 

Fast forward a few years, I’m developing my career. I’m working at a PR agency, learning the corporate-life ropes: managing emails, filling out self-reviews, and contributing to a 401k. Three years in, I get an awesome opportunity to work closer to home (closer to my newborn daughter). It’s a great new job, but only lasted 18 short months when I got another job offer. One I couldn’t refuse.

My dad offered me my dream job at his speaker coaching company, with a clear invitation of succession someday.

 

Fast forward 10 wonderful years and that day is here.

In a sense, Jim has spent 39 years preparing me for this moment of taking over his business.

First, by modeling integrity.

He ran his business with integrity – with honesty, hard work, and honoring every client’s dignity while coaching them through uncomfortable experiences – but I observed his private pursuit of integrity, yes with a Mariner’s pendant, but also as a young girl every morning. I’d wake up and stagger downstairs to find my dad reading scriptures under a lamp in the living room. I’d crawl into his lap as he started his day with humility and perspective. And when he closed up the Good Book for the morning, he spent the next 12 hours trying to honor God through decisions of integrity.

Second, by offering affirmation and love.

My dad never held back affirmation or affection. He showed up to my dance and piano recitals, when I was crowned May Day Court princess my senior year of high school, when I published my first book in 2021, and recently, cheered me on at my first TEDx talk in front of 7,000 people in May 2022. He always offered a post-event big embrace while whispering in my ear, “I’m so proud of you”. (I was grateful when he shaved off his mustache when I was in middle school – his whispers of affirmation became way less itchy!) And when my TEDx talk was postponed in 2020 due to COVID, I received flowers from my dad, “Today was supposed to be your day. I love you.” I never had to earn my dad’s love and pride. Not as a kid. Not as a college student. He generously poured it out, always.

By the time he invited me to join his business in 2012, I felt supported, empowered, and ready.

But a wee bit intimidated.

Jim built an impressive business. He did the grueling work of getting it off the ground, evolving its services, developing a credible reputation, building a deep well of happy clients, and seeing its favor and influence grow in astonishing ways. (“If only our global clients could see that we’re a small business, answering emails from rural Oregon while watching deer out our home office window.” – he said all the time.)

I may have had confidence to step into the business that year, but not the experience. It was intimidating. I remember within the first year of coaching I showed up to train a sales team at a hotel venue in Portland. As each client walked in that day, they asked me questions as if I was the hotel staff. Surprise – I’m your 29-year-old expert coach offering you constructive criticism today.

Those first years, maybe the first 4-5, I was hesitant for clients to know that Boss-man was also my dad, lest they assumed I didn’t earn my coaching role. But slowly, as I developed my coaching instincts and credentials, instead of it being a point of insecurity, it became a mark of pride.

My boss is my dad. We’re a healthy family business.
We get to do our dream jobs side-by-side.
Pinch me.

We didn’t coach or speak together much, but we did coach concurrently together at an HVAC company in Minnesota, a solar-power company in California, a lifestyle apparel company in Portland, and at a swanky law firm in Seattle many years in a row. The one speaking gig we had together was in New Orleans. I remember it vividly because afterwards, my dad and I strolled together down the street sipping cocktails out of huge Styrofoam cups!

 

But probably my favorite memory was at the Logan airport in Boston. We both were supporting a medical security company – he was there for a few days, then I flew in for the next few days. Unbeknownst to me, the plane I took into Boston was the same plane my dad was flying home on. When I stepped off the plane into the airport, my dad was standing at the gate with my favorite coffee in hand. We laughed, high fived, and went our separate ways.

 

But it wasn’t always smooth sailing.

In 2016, we barely survived a company rebrand and website redesign. We tried hard to find a unified voice between us for the brand, and even though it was painful, Jim never played his trump card (the one that read “I’m the expert who started this business while you were still learning your middle school locker combination.”). He treated me like an equal owner of the business long before I was and we survived the rebrand!

And then COVID hit in 2020. All forecasted revenue fell off our training calendar within days as clients closed up shop until we all ‘flattened the curve’. Luckily, we just came off the biggest revenue year to date (yeah 2019), which meant we had cash in the bank to carry us through because Jim was a wise business guy. Within a few months, we pivoted to virtual coaching (something we refused to do before 2020). In hindsight, COVID forced our hand to offer a service that we probably should have offered all along. The scope of our client reach grew, obtaining new clients all over the globe. We survived a global pandemic.

Then, in December 2021, he sat down in my living room and handed over the keys to the coaching kingdom, making me full owner of the business effective January 1, 2022.

 

After one year of speaker coaching as my employee (we had fun with that, as you could imagine), Jim retires December 31, 2022 from the 24-year-old business he spun up in 1998.

What a ride.

Most people don’t know this, but a few months after spinning up Distinction Communication, my brother Jeremy died at 18 years old. In some respects, this business was a gift that year. When the suffocating cloud of grief finally settled just enough to take a breath, this business offered a sliver of hope. It offered an earthly purpose – to serve clients with class, expertise, and compassion.

Distinction has always felt more like a calling than a career, first for Jim, and now for me.

 

It’s not just professional – it’s deeply personal.

I get to honor his rich legacy of integrity and love, first in my personal life with my family, and secondly in the way I lead this business and serve our clients.

People found it strange that I called dad Jim in work settings and he always signed his emails to me Jim. It’s just what we did. But last week he sent a work email to Jake and I and wrote, “So time to sign off. No more emails signed Jim anymore. After 10 years, I get to be just dad again. Love you guys. Dad”

Dad, it’s been an amazing ride together in this business. Cheers to your immense impact as speaker coach over the last 24 years. And cheers to many more years of impacting people with your integrity and love.

Partners for life,
Amy

 

 

 

Author: Jim Endicott, Founder of Distinction

 

I’ll fully admit to you, my motivation to start Distinction Communication was your classic ‘keep the lights on’ kind of desperation move after being laid off in 1998. There was no time for a finely crafted business plan, and I certainly didn’t feel like your classic roll-the-dice kind of entrepreneur. I was like most of you, just trying to make ends meet.

But what I can tell you is this, what happened over the course of the next 24 years was nothing short of the most amazing journey I could have ever imagined. Many of you reading this blog right now played an important role in that. I sincerely thank you.

As I head into retirement, I think I’ve also become a little more retrospect these days too. Some of that is simply end-of-career reflection but perhaps a bigger part for me realizes I had somehow finagled a front row seat to one of the most unprecedented industry evolutions we may see.

So, with that firmly in mind and at the conclusion of this blog, I’d like to offer up 3 important takeaways for you. (It just seemed like a fitting way to wrap-up a career as a speaker coach.) It’s my hope you may glean a few nuggets to accelerate your own career and perhaps be the catalyst for a business or two.

When I was hired by Genigraphics in 1986, it was probably best known at the time as an early pioneer in the presentation graphics world. As it turned out, we would also play an instrumental role in helping Microsoft breathe life into a newly acquired little presentation graphics application. And what was initially conceived as a clever “Buy 2 Microsoft Office applications, get one free” offer, eventually became PowerPoint. Anyone could now create a ‘tray’ of slides and business professionals everywhere seemed strangely gleeful at the prospect of taking on a business process that had early on been relegated to already overworked administrative assistants. (Thank you, SNL, for chronicling that change.)

What seemed at the time as an incredibly strategic partnership for Genigraphic, however, ultimately drove our customers to a much more cost-effective alternative to high-end service bureaus and bankrupted the company. But for me, it also teed up a short stint with another industry pioneer, InFocus Systems and the opportunity to write a monthly column for Presentations magazine. InFocus ultimately lost their industry dominance as well, and I was laid off in March of 1998. An event I’ve often shared as the best thing that could ever have happened to me and my family.

What most people never knew, my small business, Distinction Communication, started as a presentation design business and the traction was immediate. It was the low hanging fruit of business communication in the 90s and it certainly didn’t hurt that serious design professionals at the time shunned working in such a pedestrian application. In the years that followed, our little business evolved to include messaging assistance as well (at a 50% premium).

We came to realize a presenter’s visuals could look nice, the message could be sound, but ultimately it was the flesh and blood conduit for that process that most greatly impacted outcomes. One afternoon after the local Business Journal wrote a little piece on my one-person company, I would receive a call from Fred, “Jim, I think I’m supposed to work for you.” Fred would not only become an important mentor to me, but over the years many of you reading this blog would come to appreciate and love him as well.

So, after a few months of building out the foundation of a presentation training workshop, we launch it with great expectation! Crickets. But 6 months later and after some persistence and timely introductions, we would add Honeywell, adidas and other high-profile companies to our client list and for many, became their #1 rated training partner. Somehow we found ourselves smack in the sweet spot of business professional’s #1 fear.

If presentation skills training was the most significant evolution of our business, our step into the big leagues occurred on a late summer afternoon in 2004 in Hillsboro, OR where we found ourselves sitting around a large conference room table pitching Intel for the opportunity to provide personal speaker coaching for their senior leadership team. (Presenting on being a presentation coach. No pressure.)

But Fred and I would somehow pull off a big win that day and soon faced the reality of working with executives in Fortune 500 companies. After nearly a year of agreements, legal requirements and contracts, the call finally came and on a cold rainy Sunday evening in San Francisco, I found myself standing on the big stage at the Moscone Center in San Francisco working with Intel’s Doug Davis as a sea of event planners, producers and AV teams scurried around us. Many more senior leaders at Intel would be added in the years to come and our one-on-one coaching would expand to executives in hundreds of organizations – small business start-ups to some of the people you see on the 6 o’clock news.

The short answer… everything, and very little.

Since PowerPoint 97, the dizzying acceleration of presentation software features has been nothing short of mind boggling. Video, animation and third-party effects could be inserted and edited as easily as clipart. Covid accelerated by a decade our willingness to take our presentations online and it seemed like every board room and training room in America now had connected LCD screens – the equivalent of an electric car charging station on every street corner.

This last year, I was even part of a consulting team to the PowerPoint development group tasked with providing feedback on an embedded delivery skills coach. That’s right. Present to your computer and a digital coach will critique you in dozens of ways. Perhaps the best part for most people… you can just close your laptops if it gets a little too uncomfortable. To be honest, trying to have algorithms address our personal short comings as communicators was just a little too Hal 9000 for me. Google it.

Over the years, I would also come to understand that as a presentation and speaker coach, I was never working with someone in the moment. Yes, we’d try to address issues like message flow, visuals, and their personal skills, but it was never lost on me that many presenters still struggled to disengage from the bigger issues in their lives. Ones that would follow them to the front of a room like a shadow; their carefully camouflaged insecurities, baggage from every bad big presentation fail, body image issues and on occasion, haunting childhood family of origin voices.

Presenters were first and foremost human beings. And trying to be a good coach seemed to require finding ways to provide victories on several fronts.

The answer to that question might best be found in the advice I was imparting to business presenters back in 1985.

Don’t turn around and read your slides to your audiences.

Don’t put so many words on your slides.

Use more stories to breathe life into your charts, graphs and bullets.

Get your eyes off your presentation screen and talk to your audience.

Don’t try to communicate so much!

What the…?

Fast forward over three decades and the struggles presenters face seemed to have changed surprisingly little. So, it begs the question (or should) – if the tools around the presentation process have evolved so dramatically in all this time – why haven’t presenters?

In my final thoughts to every presenter, big stage or small – I’ll offer up a few seasoned observations.

 

The hope of most technological evolutions is that we all somehow get time back in our busy lives. Time to do more things or sometimes just do things better. Unfortunately, that never really happened for most presenters. We bought smaller, brighter projectors but struggling presenters still struggled. We tried jettisoning PowerPoint for sexier software with nichey features hoping our thoughts would magically become more coherent more quickly. They did not. We trusted that all the graphical options now at our fingertips would somehow make our ideas come to life faster, but our choices would often work against us.

Looking back, perhaps the one feature that could have made the biggest difference, could never be created… the common sense wizard.  One of audience’s top complaints 35 years ago and still today… too much stuff on the screen.

So, are most presentions simply destined to mediocrity?

There’s been an amazing growth the past twenty years, however, by a group of design professionals who have carved out a very deep niche in building good presentations. And many more today understand their role is not just about how to use software features more elegantly, but they’ve become quite expert at helping their presenting partners merge sometimes fractured ideas and imagery into a more compelling storyline. In essence, they have become your ‘common sense wizard’.

I get that some companies can’t afford in-house expertise, but we seem to have no problem outsourcing HR, payroll or legal advice. So, why do many still see this kind of support as a luxury?  The reason is simple. We’ve muted the stakes associated with a presentation. The one opportunity to make an important first impression. One shot to change a mind or make a case. Never a do-over. And I’ve often seen the repercussions of that reality impair countless careers.

Maybe it’s time to seek out a design professional who understands how to merge your ideas into simpler visual information. But this partnership will ask something of you too. You will need to see them the same way a professional golfer sees their caddy. Over time, they will know your strengths and weaknesses and will adapt a strategy accordingly. Trust them. They also understand the “course”, perhaps better than you do. Value their advice. And when they suggest a ‘swing coach’ for your skills, swallow your pride and do it. The stakes are just too high not to.

(Resources for you. Presentation Summit and Presentation Guild)

You get time back in your life when you understand, just because you can create a deck, doesn’t mean you should.

Somehow in the time sucking process of building a presentation deck to help us sell a product, service or idea, we’ve lost track of something very important. The equivalent of Star Trek’s prime directive not to screw up other alien civilizations. It’s simply this.  Most sixth graders routinely ‘give’ presentations these days. They’ve learned how to type, paste, embed and link content in a presentation and project it on a wall. Maybe better than you. There should be no parking lot high-fives for just getting through a big presentation.

What should occupy or thoughts and perhaps keep us up at night is a much higher calling – our prime directive. When everything is said and done and our captive audience walks out of the room (or exits Teams or Zoom), did they truly “get” what I was saying? And in the getting, did they agree more deeply, care more passionately and will they ultimately take action? It’s been my experience that far too much time is spent simply giving presentations these days. It takes a unique and practiced set of skill and insight to ensure your audiences actually get them.

Our ability to step out of the task at hand, embrace the relational dynamic of our role and make the complex simpler should be a starting point for presenters – not an afterthought.

For the better part of 20 years, I’ve consistently asked one very important question in every group workshop and 1-1 coaching session – and I did it in the first 5 minutes. How do you want to be perceived?  I did this for 2 very important reasons.  First, I learn a lot about the person in front of me in the words they chose to use.

Engaging. Confident. Knowledgeable. Clear. Passionate. Trustworthy. Concise.

The second and more important reason, however, was to make one potentially career-impacting point that would cause them to lean into this challenging process and not flee from it.

None of the words they used with me were a by-product of having great presentation slides. All the descriptive words they felt were so important were all forged in the “how” skills; the building blocks of human interaction when we stand in front of a room or screen. Yet, to a person, they fully admitted they spent nearly all their valuable time just getting their visuals right and little or no time on how they were actually delivering their messages.

This month I complete the transition of Distinction Communication to my daughter, Amy Wolff. She has been a significant part of the business the last 10 years and has created her own impressive credentials as a popular national speaker, speaker coach, as well as a featured TedX speaker here in Portland, OR – May 2022. Distinction Communication’s legacy as a premier coaching/training company will continue on and when the time is right,  reach out to Amy at amy@distinctioncommunication.com.

Taking the initiative to continually hone your how skills will change the trajectory of a life and career.

 

As I wrap-up, maybe 30 years from now we’ll all be talking about how amazingly better presenters are, but I suspect that may not be the case. Just like I can count on Taylor Made who makes the driver in my golf bag to come up with a must-have ($600) club every year, the fact is golf clubs will still always require someone who knows how to swing them. And so will presentations.

It’s my hope you can regularly experience one of the most empowering, encouraging moments many people have – finding the powerful convergence of simple messages, skillfully delivered that get through to the busy and distracted people in your lives. Be that presenter. The world needs you. Your ideas need you.

As I sign-off for the last time, sadly I won’t be on the next part of your journey with you but there are many people who can be if you let them. You can be that presenter everyone wants to hear. Make every moment count!

So, goodbye my friends. The memories I made with you changed my life.

 

Jim Endicott, Retired.

 

 

“I wish that I could brag that this wasn’t a big deal to me, that I’m a pro, but the truth is, I’ve been feeling anxiety.”

It was one month before my TEDx talk. I was sitting on my counselor’s couch processing the physical stress I was feeling: quickened heart rate, shallow breathing, tingly feels in my body.

Going from professional speaker coach to a first-time-TEDx-speaker was not what I expected. Here are five things I learned.

 

1.  I’m human.

I am susceptible to anxiety just like the rest of ‘em. It didn’t matter that I’m a professional speaker coach and speaker. I tell clients not to wordsmith talks to death – but I did. I tell clients not to over practice – but I did. I tell clients not to get flustered by feedback – but I did. I went through the rollercoaster like everybody else. And in the most beautiful, important way, it was humbling.

I had to practice what I preach countless times:

• find the novel angle no one has heard before
• smooth out the transitions
• find the tweet-worthy one-liners
• don’t try to say too much in a short amount of time

 

2. Practice in the car.

 I don’t recommend memorizing a talk, but I did for this big opportunity for two reasons. I didn’t want to go over-time (an unforgivable sin of speakers) and secondly, I had subtly woven in references to every TEDx speaker I’ve supported in the past as their coach.

To memorize but still feel conversational (super important), I purposefully practiced in the car. I said the talk out loud off paper every time I drove somewhere. I had a copy of the talk in the passenger seat, only checking the script occasionally for accuracy. I aimed for 90% consistency with wiggle room for different wording here or there. This afforded me flexibility while staying on track.

If you have a big gig coming up:

• write it out
• pull back into an outline with phrases not sentences
• practice out loud and time it

 

3. Expectations are complicated. 

Three days after my talk, I was sitting on my counselor’s couch again, this time processing the lack of big emotions I felt on stage. My heart rate didn’t spike. I didn’t feel excitement course through my body. I didn’t have a huge adrenaline dump walking off stage. It all felt so… uneventful.

“Did I swing the anxiety pendulum to the opposite side, numbing myself?” I asked my counselor.  After processing, we determined no, I didn’t. It just wasn’t what I expected. And that’s okay.

It was still good.

To manage expectations:

• name them
• hold them loosely
• maybe go to counseling!

 

4. Accept feedback and fight for your idea.

One of the hardest parts of this process was sitting with three different committees who offered tweaks to my talk.  I sifted through dozens of ideas and suggestions, which inevitably made my talk clearer and smoother, but it was overwhelming.

On the other hand, I repeatedly heard that my one idea worth spreading was an unclear concept. I told my speaker coach Cody (yes, a speaker coach had a speaker coach – we all need trusted truthtellers!) that I had to live with this TEDx talk the rest of my life. I would roll up my sleeves and do the work of making it more clear, but I was all-in on the idea.

To get helpful feedback after speaking:

• Find a trusted truthteller
• Ask them for feedback preemptively before your meeting or presentation
• Ask for a follow up: three things I did well and three things to take me to the next level (be specific)

 

5. Rest and trust yourself. 

I have made plenty of goofs on numerous stages over the years. My trusted tools to navigate imperfect moments are quick wit, relaxed composure, and swift transition. But what was more liberating was knowing that audiences don’t want perfect – they want real.

Authenticity over perfection.

My challenge was moving from knowing this truth, to living this truth.

After feeling mechanical in a rehearsal, I decided to prioritize rest. I stopped practicing in the car or anywhere else a week before my talk. Instead, I got my hair done, watched movies with my family, took hot baths, and weeded my garden at 5:30 am (my body’s alarm clock was definitely feeling the anticipation!).

How to rest:

• stop making last minute changes/edits
• know (and practice) your content
• trust your practice
• do something you love (move your body, get outside, unwind with friends)

 

When my big day came at TEDxPortland to share my talk live with 7,000 people at the world’s largest indoor TEDx event ever (2.5 years in the making thanks to COVID), I was prepared, relaxed, and present.

 

Watch it here!

 

 Is giving a TEDx talk on your bucket list? Or simply want to feel less awkward and anxious before speaking in a meeting? Let’s connect! Email support@distinctioncommunication.com

 

 

 

 

The juggle is real, as I’m sure many of you can relate.

These are scary times for small business owners. I’m trying to stay engaged with clients to keep our business afloat while throwing chicken nuggets and carrot sticks at my young daughters for lunch while trying to keep the house quiet for my husband’s conference calls that he’s now taking at home. Run the dog. Survive the grocery store. Track down TP. Scroll endlessly through Facebook. So much to do.

Luckily I remembered a suggestion on how to keep the kids learning and preoccupied during these long days: give them a topic to master. So yesterday I told my oldest Avery (9 years old) that she had to research a country. I told my youngest Harper (6) that she had to research an animal.

They both had to use at least three different sources, write down facts or learnings, then write an essay about what they learned. The oldest jumped on it. The youngest needed help crafting an topic sentence, three informational sentences, and a conclusion sentence. To spice things up (and take up more time because vacuuming, emails, meal planning, and Instagram were beckoning me), they also had to draw an illustration to accompany their essay. To my surprise, they were totally into it. Half-way through the day I had another bright idea.

They’d have to present their research to my husband and I!

It was good in theory but I ran out of home-learning steam because, instead, we ended up playing with legos, ordering take-out from a local restaurant (support small business!), and snuggling on the couch. Around 5:30pm my youngest exclaimed, “Wait! Weren’t we supposed to present our topics!?”

Riiiiight.

I set the ground rules. Go practice. Read over your essays. Decide what you want to share. You can’t read your notes. You can make an outline as a reference for talking points. That’s it. They both began practicing, even my 6 year old! (My speaker-coaching-heart exploded with pride!).  My oldest was struggling because her essay was almost two pages. Surely she couldn’t memorize it so quickly. Precisely! We worked on an outline, the main themes of what she learned, and wrote down a few data points that she wanted to make sure were accurate.

A few minutes later, they stood in the middle of our living room while my husband, myself, and even our dog, sat attentively. They rocked it; from turkey poop facts to the rhythmic music of Columbia!

It was after this experience that I thought, surely I can’t be the only parent trying to keep their kids busy and learning. But I may be the only parent trying to teach them presentations skills during these days.

Here’s a sobering truth.

If they’re nervous speakers now (even in the first grade), they’ll be nervous speakers 20 years from now. Unless they get guidance and practice.

So here are five ways to practice presentations at home with your kids:

 

1. Make them practice

Don’t let them wing it and don’t let them read it. Give them time to read over their information and topic. If they need help (like my oldest), help them write an outline of the main ideas. This will help them feel more organized and prepared. No sentences! The outline should only have phrases to guide them, not script them. They also don’t have to present everything they learned, just the things they found interesting or noteworthy.

2. Be positive

If they look nervous or feel odd, remind them that it’s okay. They don’t have to be perfect. This. Is. Huge. Don’t be domineering and add unnecessary pressure. They’re kids, for goodness sakes. If your feedback is harsh, or they feel like they have to prove themselves to you, you will produce a fear of public speaking that will likely last a lifetime. I know. My clients tell me these stories all the time. So when they lose their spot or doubt themselves, give them a kind gentle nudge, ‘It’s okay. Just keep going. What else did you learn?”

3. Do Q/A at the end

It’s important that they learn presenting is about connecting with the audience, not just reciting facts. When you ask questions at the end, it makes it feel more like a conversation. Don’t ask questions to test their learning. Ask questions to engage them. I asked Avery if she would ever personally want to travel to Columbia (please say no, please say no) and Harper if she personally liked turkeys after learning about them. This got them to talk with us instead of talking at us.

4. Provide one coaching tip mid-practice

I noticed that Harper was playfully swaying during her presentation (which was endearing in her pink pajamas but won’t be as endearing in a business suit in front of a board room someday). So very gently and briefly, in the middle of her talking, I said, “Sweetie, try to stop swaying but keep going.” Sure enough, boom. She stopped swaying. I noticed Avery’s sentences sounded like questions at the end and she was saying ummm often. Obviously she was doubting herself. I gently asked her to repeat the last few sentences, but this time sounding sure and confident. I also suggested she slow down a bit and pause at the periods or commas in her talk (something we’ve playfully worked on in the past). Immediately she fixed the inflections in her voice and eliminated all the filler words. Bottom line, kids can learn confident speaking behaviors even now. Don’t overwhelm them with constant interruptions and focus on just one skill to develop while they practice.

5. Celebrate them

Give them a big round of applause! It’s so important to receive positive reinforcement early on in development, especially in this arena of public speaking. Make it a positive experience!

 

And if you thought these tips were just for them, they’re not. They’re for you too. If you want some more guidance and dozens of more practice and speaking tips, go to our online crash course for presenters. Look more credible during those virtual meetings or head back to work more confident than ever!

Harper excitedly hugged her brown paper bag as if it contained gold.

To her, it did. Three items were inside: a sparkly bow, a bright pink soapstone hippo trinket from Rwanda, and a plastic toy microphone. Today was her day.

It was finally her turn to bring show-and-tell items to school; three items that revealed something about her (they couldn’t have been more perfect). After her classmates asked questions to gain clues about the items, she revealed the treasures and explained their importance.

As a professional speaker coach, you can imagine how thrilled I was to hear that these 4-year-olds were presenting in front of their classmates. The younger they start, the more chances they have to speak, the more comfortable and confident they will get.

So you can also imagine my reaction to an article published by The Atlantic in September 2018 titled Teens Are Protesting In-Class Presentations. The article explains “In the past few years, students have started calling out in-class presentations as discriminatory to those with anxiety, demanding that teachers offer alternative options.”

Anxiety is no joke.

Many of our clients suffer with anxiety, heightened particularly after they’ve experienced blacking out or forgetting content mid-presentation. When these experiences happen in grade school, it often plagues them throughout their adult careers. It’s a story we hear often.

While I certainly don’t deny the significant impact of anxiety, I am concerned about the rising popular belief that if something makes us uncomfortable, we should avoid it. According to Ula, a 14-year-old 8th grader, “Nobody should be forced to do something that makes them uncomfortable.”

Imagine the future of these kids if we validate their feelings by giving them a pass based on some momentary discomfort. What happens next for them?

 

They become more fragile.

 

In their book, The Coddling of the American Mind, Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt thoroughly discuss this idea of safetyism. “A culture that allows the concept of ‘safety’ to creep so far that it equates emotional discomfort with physical danger is a culture that encourages people to systematically protect one another from the very experiences embedded in daily life that they need in order to become strong and healthy.”

Students may skip class to avoid their 9th grade oral book report on Tuesday but they can’t get ‘sick’ every time their manager asks them to present at the quarterly meeting. When we deny students (or adults) the opportunities to overcome – when we eliminate threats or discomfort – consequently they become “…more fragile, anxious, and prone to seeing themselves as victims.”

This vastly expands beyond fears, like public speaking.

Lukianoff and Haidt reveal safetyism on college campuses around political thought. Since 2000, there have been 379 occasions were students protested against guest speakers with differing viewpoints. Although I applaud students for being passionate, attempting to uninvite (or loudly interrupt) guest speakers whose thoughts conflict with their own is not noble – it’s unwise. “Viewpoint diversity is necessary for the development of critical thinking, while viewpoint homogeneity (whether on the left or the right) leaves a community vulnerable to groupthink and orthodoxy.”

When we attempt to shield people, especially students, from challenging experiences and conflicting thoughts/beliefs, we actually set them up to fail.

That’s precisely what psychologist Angela Duckworth found when she interviewed hundreds of people deemed the most successful in their respective fields. The number one indicator of success was not natural ability, monetary resources, or external support. It was grit – the drive to overcome obstacles. When things got hard, when things didn’t go as planned, when they faced rejection and criticism, how did they respond? There was an overwhelmingly clear answer.

 

Successful people don’t give up.

 

This creates a dilemma for me as a speaker coach.

It’s not uncommon for my clients to struggle during practice sessions. Becoming hyper aware of previously subconscious distracting mannerisms, while practicing new skills that feel mechanic and foreign, is challenging to say the least. There are times where I see them fatigue mid-practice. I watch them struggle to keep their train of thought. They get increasingly flustered.

In these moments, I have two choices as a coach: I can spare them or I can let them struggle and rebound.

Everything in me wants to sweep in as Savior, let them off the hook, and spare them from the discomfort. But I don’t. A fellow facilitator once told me, ‘Allow people the dignity of hitting their own bottom.’

Is it uncomfortable? Yes. Do they enjoy it? Not in the least. Are they in a safe supportive environment? Yes. (If you are a teacher or manager, it’s absolutely critical that we create a brave space where failing is part of the learning curve.) And, perhaps most importantly, is it productive? Every single time.

They finish the day looking and sounding more confident and credible despite the rocky moments. They learn to push through. They realize they won’t die. They can rebound if they learn to trust themselves and their newly refined skills.

 

If people are spared from uncomfortable situations, they’ll never realize their ability to overcome.

 

They’ll never develop grit. They’ll have one negative experience in the 3rd grade when they dropped their cue cards while presenting on sloth habitats and, fast forward 30 years, they’re still avoiding presentations. If we are accommodating anxious adolescents by letting them avoid presenting in class, we’re not helping prepare them for the real world.

So how can we all become antifragile, especially in public speaking?

 

First, get curious.

Instead of avoiding discomfort, investigate it. What about speaking in front of others makes you nervous? Is it the group size that spikes your heart rate? The amount of time you had to prepare (or didn’t prepare)? Is it the fear of making a mistake (for you perfectionists out there) or the fear of coming across as unintelligent? In the words of Brene Brown, rumble with it. Sit with it. Getting curious will probably reveal multiple distortions – exaggerations or assumptions that lead to greater anxiety.

For example, if your presentation fails, you’re a failure. You’ll most likely black-out like last time. They all think you’re the least qualified to present. You’ll inevitably stutter. This will always be hard. You’re not good enough.

These are assumptions. To overcome fear, you’ll need to differentiate your emotional reasoning from the truth.

Just because these thoughts exist doesn’t mean they get control. Becoming antifragile is taking these thoughts hostage and trusting yourself more and more.

 

Second, stop avoiding mistakes.

They are inevitable. There is no such thing as perfect, especially in public speaking. Most speakers make mistakes but the good ones don’t let it bother them. They simply move on. Just last week I got off track and lost my train of thought. I paused and chuckled while asking the audience “Where was I?” They threw me a life line, reminded me of the topic, and we moved on without skipping a beat.

Most mistakes don’t discredit us, despite our deeply seeded fear that suggests otherwise. Our reaction to our mistakes is what unravels our credibility. If you keep composure and move on, the audience won’t remember. But observable self-doubt (and panic) begets audience doubt.

Becoming antifragile means staying flexible and not taking things so seriously.

 

Third, speak over and over and over again.

How do swimmers carve off a second from their lap? How do calligraphers perfect the shapes of their letters? How do astronauts prepare for a shuttle landing on the moon? They master their skill through repetition. Nothing replaces practice. Ask for more opportunities at work to lead meetings. Join a speaker’s club like Toastmasters. Apply to speak at a small local TEDx event. Participate in a Moth event near you. Speak at church or at a PTA meeting. Register for a workshop for helpful tips to prepare well (I heard this one was pretty good). The more you speak, the better it will feel (eventually).

 

Years ago my friend Mark, a high school biology teacher, asked me to share presenting tips to his class. Because the students are required to present and are graded on their presentations, he wanted to set them up to succeed (what a marvelous idea). Before class started, Mark warned me about the ‘try-hard’ mentality on high school campuses. Students intentionally don’t try hard so that, if they fail, it’s not a reflection on them – it’s because they didn’t care.

Can you believe that? No effort, no risk, no failure.

That day I passionately rebuked the ‘try-hard’ mentality by sharing stories of high-profile executives suffering through 20 years of speaking anxiety only to call us up late into their career for help. Hopefully the students got the hint: choosing to avoid discomfort and moments of failure, choosing not to try at all, will cause unnecessary prolonged pain. It’s not a winning game plan.

To Ula, the hundreds of nervous protesting students across the country, and to their well-intended parents who have succumbed to the safetyism mentality: I understand the discomfort. I know class presentations can be brutal. I’ve been there. But don’t give up. This skill is too critical down the road.

Always try hard.

Develop grit.

It will pay off.

I bet you didn’t know this, but storytelling is a lot like wrapping paper.

Let’s say for a moment that your ideas are like gifts to the world (it’s a bit of an exaggeration but let’s puff up our egos and roll with it). We do our best to package or box up these ideas…  gifts…  in PowerPoints, handouts, and outlines. We often repurpose the boxes because we’re busy people (copy-and-pastes from several PowerPoint templates and the same hurried delivery). 

Unfortunately for you, there are lot of other ideas out there, competing to be heard, wrapped in boxes too.  

But one day, after a long morning of meetings, you walk into a conference room, sit down, and notice a colorful beautifully-wrapped box sitting on the table with a big bow on top. Immediately you feel intrigued by what’s inside. All day long you’ve sat through presenter after presenter unpacking predictable plain boxes, but this one is different. You’re curious and anxious to get started.

This is the power of ideas revealed through good storytelling.

Stories break up the mundane. They package our ideas in novel, relatable, and interesting ways.  They keep things slightly unpredictable, making audiences curious, and should ultimately reveal something meaningful and insightful.

If you’re wanting to rebel against reciting bullet points and regurgitating data in your presentations, here are six best practices for storytelling followed by specific examples of how you could weave stories into your presentations.

 

1. Stories need to matter.

They need to make an important point; a clear point. Too often audiences are left scratching their heads thinking, “What on earth was that about!” The most effective way to make a story matter is by crafting a transitional statement that pivots from your experience to a universal lesson/truth for everyone. It’s a smooth and concise one-liner.

For example, I use a personal story in my workshops about white water rafting down the Nile River in Uganda when I was 20 years old. During rafting orientation, our group learned that we would be tossed out of our raft several times in class 4 and 5 rapids. We had no clue what we had gotten ourselves into! A few people in our group freaked out; they were paralyzed with fear. A majority of us felt uncomfortable but were all in. And a select few were absolutely thrilled!  After I share this story at my workshops, I pivot with this statement:  “When I coach people through public speaking, I normally get 1 of those 3 reactions: you’re scared and completely outside your comfort zone, you’re uncomfortable but presenting is just part of the job, or you actually enjoy speaking to a group. No matter how you’re feeling during practice today, no matter how high your heart rate spikes, I want permission to be your guide – navigating you through trying new skills.”

A story without a universal truth is simply entertainment – it will not inspire action or deepen your influence. The transition is key to bringing meaning to your story and, while I’m against scripting (what we gain in good wording we lose in presence), I do script transitional statements to make sure what sounds fluid and connected in my head actually comes across as fluid and connected to my audience.

 

2. Stories need to be in the right detail.

If there’s too much detail, the audience is rolling their eyes and checking their watches.  You’re losing touch with the audience by getting lost in your own story. On the other hand, if there’s too little detail, they lose interest.

For example, too little detail: “When I was young, I had a near-death experience while swimming with some friends. And although that was scary, year after year I kept going back into the pool. Eventually I got over my fear but it took time and courage…”

Right level of detail: “When I was 4 years old, I went swimming at our local outdoor pool with another family. We loved swimming but I hated the pre-swimming ritual: stand firm while my mother lathered me up in an ungodly amount of sunscreen and wait as she inflated my arm floaties.  One day, my mother turned her back from the pool at the exact moment I lost my floaties in the water. I remember looking through the pool’s surface towards the sun, desperately wanting the air up there. Luckily another mom spotted me under the surface and dove in and saved me. As you can imagine, I developed a huge fear of water of that. But instead of opting out of my friend’s pool parties year after year, I decided to keep getting back into the pool. Eventually I became more confident and strong in the water. I got over my fear but it took time and courage…”

Too much detail: “When I was 4 years old, or was I 5? I think I was 4? Anyway, I went swimming on a hot day with some family friends. We had known them for years; I had gone to grade school with their youngest…”   You get the point!  In the words of a client who experienced watching this happen last week, “Someone needs to tell the speaker that it’s not open mic night.”

 

 3. Good storytellers don’t just retell an experience; they relive it.  

The only way that audiences will feel captivated or humored by your story is if you tell the story in a way that makes them feel what you felt.  They should see the emotion in your expressions. They should hear it in your voice. They should see it in your illustrative gestures. Stories come to life only when you relive them. Imagine watching me talk about rafting down the Nile River with my eyes glued to my slides, hands nervously clutched together, and in a monotone delivery. Hardly compelling. Now imagine my face lighting up as I visualize the rapid approaching, I’m speaking to you as if you’re right there with me in the raft, using gestures to illustrate how hard we had to paddle to crest over the rapid, and using vocal inflection to emphasize the deafening roar of the water.

How you deliver your story is critical for making it impactful, which is why you need to be practicing four foundational speaking skills (check out our 30 minute online course)!

 

4. Weave the analogy or story references into the rest of the talk subtly.

Evidently what is true of cupcakes is true of stories: moderation is key (true of conference/event themes as well). If you have 30 minutes of content, maybe you reference the opening story (a symbol, person, or analogy from it) two other times throughout your talk. Less is more (don’t try too hard). To really nail storytelling, try opening with a story and then weave it back in your close! We call these ‘bookend’ stories and it’s quite powerful.

A few years ago I worked with a CEO crafting an opening keynote for their company’s annual conference. She relived the moment when, while riding passenger in a small plane with her father as the pilot, they realize midflight something was wrong with the aircraft. She did a beautiful job pivoting from her personal story to a universal take-away for her audience. Not only that, but she used the flying analogy at the end of her talk to inspire the room to keep the final destination in mind (their impact goal for the year). Two other speakers spontaneously referenced her father’s plane, or used the flying analogy, in their talks throughout the week. It became a surprising, clear and powerful (but not overdone) theme.

 

 5. Don’t try to tell too many stories.

This is a major hurdle for most of the TEDx speakers I support! Here are two practical filters for choosing which stories to share. First, the stories have to serve the purpose of your presentation or talk. Just because it’s a good story doesn’t mean it’s the right story. Don’t get attached to stories more than the ideas they’re supporting. Second, vet the story with a trusted colleague or friend. You may be too close to the personal experience to gauge whether it will have an impact on a broader audience. I’m often helping clients discern between a story that’s interesting to them and a story that will be interesting to a room full of people.

 Sacrifice telling five good stories for the sake of telling two even better stories really well. The audience has limited capacity for details and you’ll lose them if you share too much. Less is more, as long as they’re done in the right detail with powerful universal truths.

 

 6. Time them out.

Most speakers can’t accurately time themselves. Storytelling is a trap for going over time (Speaker 101: Never go long!). The only way to combat this is by practicing out loud. If your talk is supposed to be 20 minutes long and you practice a story out loud that took 7 minutes, evaluate the level of detail and if you think it deserves a third of your message. There’s no hard and fast rule how long they should be but a third is probably too long. Stories almost always take longer to share live in front of audience than alone in front of the mirror. Be conservative! You may be comfortable speaking, especially about things you are passionate about, but don’t wing it. Practice out loud. Find the right versions. Never go long.

 

We remember stories long after we forget metrics and data. Stories break down defenses, clearly illustrate ideas, hold attention (if done well), make us more relatable, and are great for opening and closing presentations.

So how can you integrate them into your presentations effectively?

If you’re asking your team to put customers first, consider sharing about the time you encountered extraordinary customer service. If you’re an inspirational speaker, don’t craft a bunch of tweetable one-liners; reveal something about yourself, perhaps when you struggled with the universal truths. If you’re presenting data and statistics to inform a decision, share about the time when data did or didn’t inform decisions, and the consequences (at your company or another recognizable company). If you’re navigating a team through significant change, express empathy by sharing how you personally persevered through a tough transition.

It’s not enough to have good ideas anymore. You need to cut through the distractions and monotony to influence your busy audiences. We need communicators like you to break the mold. Commit to packaging your ideas in thoughtful impactful ways.

Become a powerful storyteller!

  

Want more? Four bonus tips:

1. Start a story journal. Keep an ongoing list of interesting life experiences (aka treasure trove of stories for future talks).
2. Use a picture! If you’re using slides, insert one high quality picture from your story. (Less is more. Don’t be like grandma pulling out her picture film strip that drops to the floor!)
3. Pauses kick a storytelling up a notch! Don’t be afraid to pause for a second or two right before the story climax, after a plot twist, or after a humorous moment.
4. Observe storytellers. Start to notice what works well (or doesn’t). One of my favorite  stories is in Boyd Varty’s TED Talk. Watch the part where he relives a crocodile attack and the pivot to his universal truth.

 

Author: Jim Endicott, Founder of Distinction

 

Think back over the last few years…

What presenter managed to stand out most in your mind?  Who did you think of right away and what did you specifically remember?  A story?  Profound point?  An object lesson?

Sadly, most of us will struggle with this little exercise. After billions of dollars spent on presentation-related tech., tools and soft skills over the years – it would seem memorable presenters (for their delivery and message prowess) are far and few between.

As you read this, maybe you put yourself in the unremarkable category too.

But there’s hope for all who aspire to be the kind of presenter whose ideas actually penetrate the hearts and minds of busy and distracted audiences. Hope that comes in the form of a couple of important principles and what you can do differently in your next presentation to be a voice that stands out at the end of a long day.

Over the years my psychologist friend, Dr. Scott Lee, has been a great resource in understanding what moves us from the mundane to the memorable. The following will give you five practical ideas for helping your big ideas have greater staying power.

1) Participation

It’s the difference between watching a football game and being handed the football and sent onto the field to run the next play. Audiences are perfectly willing to be spectators if we allow them to be. But deep down in their hearts, most really want to carry the ball, even for just a play. They desperately want presenters to take a moment and consider them. They want to be enticed to share their collective experiences with the group – to become a part of the presentation experience, not be simply an observer.  But it entails presenters giving up something most are reluctant to relinquish, even for a moment – control.  (After all, they’ve got a huge deck of slides to get through!)

Application: Participation can be as simple as asking the audience to share their personal stories on a theme.(Within a framework you provide) It can also take the form of props. In one seminar, I wanted to get the point across of how hard it was for audiences to juggle all the points presenters throw at them during the typical presentation. To illustrate, I hit a single beach ball into the audience with zero instruction and they did what people instinctively do – kept it in the air. One ball, no problem. After introducing 5 more, it was a very different story. Point made without a single bullet.

Frankly, I didn’t count on the chaos created as water glasses got knocked over but the point seemed to stick. Two years later, I had someone recall the exercise but more importantly, remembered the point I was making. What are you willing to risk to get your audiences involved?  If the ultimate goal is for people to remember later, how creative can you be to make a point stick?

2) Inoculation

Audiences also come complete with existing memories – good and bad. And otherwise good presentations can get undone because of some underlying understanding that some audience members share. Maybe it was a promise not kept by management the previous year. A product launch that failed to garner market acceptance or a much touted project implementation that was flawed. Audiences don’t forget these things quickly and occasionally a presenter will stumble into this dangerous minefield.

Whether through ignorance or arrogance, the result is often the same. The presenter thinks the presentation went reasonably well until they get to the Q&A and are bludgeoned by a number of audience members who also manage to poison your impact with those who had no clue. The answer lies in being aware and and also knowing when to “inoculate” our audiences early on to underlying issues.

Maybe you’ve seen the commercial on TV that starts out like this, “How can a bottle of diet pills be worth $139.95?” Honest, that’s the very first thing they say! The reason is that they know if they can get that obstacle on the table from the outset, they have 55 more seconds to make their case. If they played out that little detail at the end, they’d never sell a single bottle.

Application: For presenters, it requires an element of humility. “Last year I stood here at this event and told you we would roll out a product that would change your world. Frankly, our delayed launch caused us to miss an important market opportunity. But I’m here today to tell you why it was well worth the wait.”  Defuse major issues early on so you can be heard. It takes courage. It takes planning. But your effort will create more fertile ground for your current message to take root.

3) Attribution

Audiences are not typically a very homogeneous group. They come with different expectations, titles and views of the world. They also come with different ways of “filtering” our messages. (It’s a wonder sometimes that we get anything through to them.) Attribution is a way of giving a diverse audience a single, collective identity. This becomes an essential step for moving them all ahead together. And when they find this common ground, it will deepen their collective engagement with your message.

Application: Here’s what that may look like. “I appreciate the fact that you’ve taken time out of your busy day today. And as diverse of a group as you are this morning, we share something in common. Every one of us. We’re all constantly trying to get through to the very busy and distracted people in our lives and it’s a daunting task. By the time you stand there, they’ve sat through meeting after meeting – presentation after presentation. Today, we’re going to explore….”

Whether that was their initial thinking or not, heads begin to nod in agreement and a shared malady begins to emerge. Now by allowing them some “participation” (point #1) time in the beginning for a few audience members to share a tough audience story, other heads in the room nod in agreement. The stage has been set to move them forward in their thinking.

4) Visualization

It’s simply a way we move our brains from the intellectual to the experiential in a way that can cause future change in behavior. I remember watching Dr. Lee once as he helped an audience of 300 visualize the ‘perfect presentation day.’ The process took a few minutes as he had them close their eyes in a guided experience. It was a powerful and for many, the first time they had ever “seen” themselves as more than mediocre presenters. This is where change in thinking begins – envisioning a future different from our past experiences.

Application: In your typical business presentation, having your audience close their eyes could be the kiss of death, but the principle is sound. Here’s what it might look like for one company. “Before we start today’s presentation, imagine you are having an issue with a new product you just received. You called customer service and something was different. There was no “press this” or “press that” instructions. (Pause) A real human greeted you pleasantly and asked you about the problems you were having. (Pause) After you finished your explanation, you didn’t get passed off a half dozen times but they personally stayed on the line as they brought other people on to help resolve your issue while troubleshooting resources showed up in your email. That’s the kind of world our software solution creates.”

We don’t go far enough in helping our audiences see past the present. We stay too much in the land of ‘what is’ and take zero time in helping them imagine what could be.

5) Repetition

Maybe you’ve heard that for people to remember a message, they need to hear it 8 to 12 times. Psychologists now are telling us that may not be true as often as we thought. They reference a study where 600 undergraduate students participated in a study where they were asked to draw the face of a penny. Over a lifetime, they’ve repeatedly handled them tens of thousands of times but less than 5% could draw the basic elements in their correct locations (incidental impressions). It would seem just repeating something, an impression or a thought, is only part of the equation.

Here are some ideas for helping your audiences easily find their way back to your idea through practical encoding and how your choices impact recall.

Just data
Shallowest learning and recall potential – near zero recall.

Data + meaning of data
Improved slightly but still stored in left brain, short-term memory typically

Data + meaning + sensory hook
Touching, seeing or hearing (in a different way) further enhances the experience. Think props, video, tactile, physical interaction.  Learning is now also encoded on right side of the brain to improve message retention significantly.

Data + meaning + sensory + emotion connection
Integrating all of the above plus adding an element that connects with the emotion (ie. personal meaningful story) drives it all home. Now, message retention is maximized and recall almost insured. The right kind of repetition during our presentations is a way of creating a well-trodden path to the information so the way is remembered later on.

Application: For example, seek to support your ideas with specific data illustrated through first hand experience story. (Video or in person). Then consider the use of tactile interaction (ie. handling an electronic projector the size of mobile phone). Edward Tufte made a decades long career using these specific techniques in his one-day course, “Presenting Data and Information”.

If there are three major topics in your 60-minute presentation, you may want to do a brief summary of key points at the end of each section. (Psychologists call this “over learning”) Don’t wait until the very end, the path will already be growing cold. If there was a graphical image that related to those points, place the very same image next to the line of summary text. This gives your audience a sensory hook that is the equivalent of a road sign that points the way back. Underscore previously made points (adding meaning).

Conclude your presentation and summarize with the same point and with the same images and close with a story to tie in the emotional component. (Maybe pull out that prop at the end that represented a critical point during the presentation)  If your challenge is that there are way too many points to simply summarize… I think you already know the answer to that problem.

———————————————————————-

Maybe this has been way too much science for you and I get that.  It really is so much easier just pounding out some PowerPoint slides and clicking through them in the allotted time frame. But if part of your reason for all the preparation (and anxiety) is that your audience would actually “get” and remember what you say, the science of memory (retention) may very well be one of the more important things you work on this year.

I started with a question and I’ll conclude with one. Are we memorable or forgettable? Can we afford the effort, planning and creativity to be exceptional?

The truth is we can’t afford not to be memorable these days (for all the right reasons).

Every year, without fail, there’s a unique issue that surfaces when supporting a TEDx speaker. And, so far, it’s been a different issue every year.

One year it was struggling to memorize the talk. Another year the speaker needed hip-surgery a couple weeks before the event. The next year was a 15-year-old speaker battling some serious nerves! And one time I had no clue if the speaker would stay on script at all (a script, mind you, that took 120 hours of collaboration to develop).

This year was no different, as I found out in our first coaching session.

 I was honored (and slightly intimidated) to be paired with Dr. Albert Chi, a trauma surgeon at OHSU here in Portland, Oregon. Dr. Chi is also a surgeon assisting the John Hopkins Applied Physics Lab in developing the Modular Prosthetic Limb (MPL) – the big ‘idea worth spreading’. The MPL is an advanced upper-extremity prosthetic devise but here’s the mind-blowing part.

It’s controlled intuitively.

 

I met Dr. Chi for the first time on March 12^th, 40 days before the big event. Our first coaching session included myself (speaker coach), Dr. Chi, Johnny Matheny (Dr. Chi’s patient who uses the MPL), Kyle Fordman (graphic designer), and David Rae (Curator of TEDxPortland).

This was an important meeting. It’s the big reveal; as a committee we finally get to hear the speaker’s first draft of the talk. The room is full of anticipation. The speaker is nervous if we’ll like the talk. We’re nervous if the talk is any good. Is it clear? Will it resonate with our TEDx audience? Does it flow? Personally, this meeting informs me how much work we have ahead of us. Are we close? Are we not?

With introductions out of the way, the talk was read out loud. A few minutes into the reading, I discretely (and nervously) glanced around the table. Did anyone understand the talk so far? Because I understood nothing. There were beautifully crafted phrases, clear transitions, and the right areas of content (thank goodness), but the technology and surgical procedures were complex, with multiple components and steps, and I simply couldn’t follow.

After it was read, I humbly confessed my confusion and asked Dr. Chi to explain the processes again to me in layman’s terms. (I’m beyond grateful that Dr. Chi is a patient kind man.) He sincerely tried but I still didn’t get it. He drew diagrams; several diagrams. I still didn’t understand. Very quickly I realized what our challenge would be this year.

 

Distilling down (without watering down) a complex idea to 3000 people so they could understand.

 

I lost sleep the next few nights trying to figure out how I could effectively support Dr. Chi. I began reading medical journals, even watching relevant youtube videos, to understand Targeted Muscle Reinnervation surgery, Osseointegration surgery, Myoband technology, and more about the MPL.  Three days after our first meeting I had a ‘ah-ha!’ moment in the shower (of all places). The dots finally connected. Here’s what I pieced together.

Through several medical procedures, doctors could identify the location of Johnny’s nerves that carried commands to his missing limb. They used bands on his upper arm to read these nerves signals and wirelessly communicate those intended movements to the MPL.  In summary, Johnny thinks about lifting his pinky, nerves send their signal, bands read the activity, the information is sent to the device, and the prosthetic pinky moves. All instantaneously.

I ran downstairs, opened my computer, and began taking notes in our shared Google doc. Dr. Chi was extremely receptive to the feedback and thus began a very collaborative partnership to hit this talk out of the park.

Here’s how we approached making his complex ideas more clear.

 

We tweaked the content by scaling detail, rewording terms, and using a simple analogy.

 

To discern where to scale the level of detail, we considered what was necessary for the audience to connect the dots but not get lost. My lack of medical knowledge actually became an asset; I was an effective sounding board and Guinea pig. Some areas were augmented with details to be more clear while we skimmed details in other areas because it wasn’t necessary. Next, because long-winded explanations fatigue an audience, we shortened his sentences so the audience could more easily absorb the information. Then we carefully replaced medical terminology to make it more digestible while still honoring Dr. Chi’s expertise and credibility.

We added a few more transitional statements between ideas to make each step of the process clear. For example, after explaining the remarkable motor and sensory capabilities of the MPL, the transitional statement was “Now, how do we sync the MPL to the human body so it can be controlled intuitively?”, followed by an explanation of the surgery required. We chose an electrical analogy, using terms like ‘rewiring’ and explaining his role as a ‘surgical electrician’, to help the audience ‘get it’.

 

We also prioritized two aspects of his speaking delivery.

 

First, we practiced gestures that illustrated how the nerves travel down the arm, where they were rewired into a muscle, how the bands wrap around the muscle and send intended movement signals to the MPL (did you get that!?).  These gestures not only helped the audience ‘see’ the process, but because the gestures became habitual through repetitive practice, they helped Dr. Chi remember his own content!

Secondly, we worked diligently on his vocal skills, particularly pace. For the medical terms he did use, we practiced slowing down the annunciation. Even though he has said them a thousand times throughout his career, this audience is likely hearing them for the first time. Although it felt awkwardly slow to him, it was incredibly important his pace was slower than ‘normal’.

We also worked on pausing in certain places to  give the audience time to absorb the information and make them curious for more. For example, Dr. Chi teased the audience, “Better than hearing about this amazing modular prosthetic limb is seeing it in person. In fact (long pause with smirk), would you like to see it in person?! (big pause – let the audience respond!).”

 

Bottom line, Dr. Chi’s willingness to scale his content to this non-medical audience, initially a painstaking task, was critical to the success of his talk.

 

 If he didn’t, the audience may have been wowed but they would not have deep levels of understanding nor appreciation for the investment and advancement of upper extremity prosthetics.

April 21^st finally came! Dr. Chi’s preparation paid off as he thoughtfully explained the complex process and showed off the device. Johnny demonstrated how he intuitively moves his arm, especially shocking when he unlatched the MPL from his body, handed it to the emcee Luis Vargas, and it still moved. Audible gasps filled the auditorium. Johnny shared his goal of playing Amazing Grace on the piano with ease as the audience erupted in applause. In the last few minutes on stage, Dr. Chi closed with an inspirational look ahead at the affordability and accessibility of the MPL for anyone needing an upper extremity prosthetic.

Adrenaline was still pumping when we met backstage. “You did all the things!”, I exclaimed. Dr. Chi looked relieved that it had gone so well (after all, it’s hard to predict what will happen under pressure). The enthusiasm and receptiveness of the audience had been palpable.

They ‘got it’; they were witnessing the evolution of man and machine.

The next day I was reflecting on the success, still reliving these moments, when I received a text from Dr. Chi and Johnny. “You’re the first to see this!” they said. Tears streamed down my cheeks as I watched a video of Johnny practicing Amazing Grace on the piano. Watch it here!

Indeed, the world of advanced prosthetics is full of hope.

 

Communicating your own complex ideas?

Try these quick tips:

1. Stick to concepts, not terms. Ditch the industry lingo for common language that most people can understand.
2. Use analogies. Reference something widely understood to illustrate your complex solution or idea.
3. Start with big picture; end with big picture. If you choose to explain very granular details, be sure to start and end your detailed content with contextual statements.
4. Use clear graphics. Complex diagrams or slides will only hurt your cause. Utilize clear, crisp slides to illustrate your ideas. If necessary, have custom simple diagrams or animations created.

For a great example of all four tips, watch this 5-minute TED Global Talk by Joe Landolina.

 

 

Author: Jim Endicott, Founder of Distinction

 

Last month I had the pleasure of being the Monday morning keynote speaker for PowerPoint Live 2004. I flew into San Diego a few days early for some R&R and the weather was… well it was San Diego. I had been looking forward to speaking at this particular conference because instead of having an audience of sales people, business execs/managers and the like, this group was comprised mostly of corporate and independent presentation design professionals.  I’ve always had a special kinship with these folks because we share some common career roots.  It’s often thankless work performed by talented people on ridiculously short deadlines and is much too often an undervalued role in most organizations.  But things are changing and this conference was clear proof.

Rick Altman, the conference producer, had done his job.  Hundreds of attendees began arriving filling the registration area with an enthusiastic buzz. The signage created more anticipation and all the pieces were in place for a great conference. Now it was up to a few dozen of us who had been asked to speak to do our part.  But like the unseen contribution of presentation professionals, there were others working silently behind the scenes to make this event successful.

I tend to go through my own version of a “pre-game” warm-up.  The evening before speaking, my mind is already churning through the range of issues I may run into while I’m setting up the next morning. It doesn’t seem to matter much whether you’re at the Moscone Center in San Francisco or the Javits in New York, you can expect the setting to be different than what you were expecting. Screen left? Right? Center?  Chairs right up to my toes in front? Lights that seem to have an extreme dim and extreme bright setting but nothing in-between.  Cords taped down with miles of duct tape making change near impossible.  I suppose the one thing I’ve learned over the years is to be as adaptable as I can be. My own personal discomfort can never impact my audience’s experience.

7pm, Sunday October 10
While sitting in the hotel restaurant Sunday night having dinner with my wife, I saw a group of folks from the Presentations Council of ICIA. I recognized one of the group members, Todd Dunn.  Todd has his own AV support and technology company and I found out that he would be doing much of the technical speaker support for the event. Before we parted for the evening, Todd and I agreed to meet early the next morning. Already it was a relief to know that I wouldn’t be working with someone who just got promoted from valet parking to the hotel AV department.

7:10am, Monday October 11
I’d gotten up early, caught a quick breakfast and even managed a brisk walk before getting to the meeting room a little after 7am.  Todd was already there.  Since this was the first event of the week, he had been running cords and setting up equipment for a while.  As soon as I put down my briefcase, Todd came over to see what my needs were going to be for the morning.

“Well, first, I’d like to set up my laptop on one of the chairs directly in front of me (instead of at the podium) and use it as a stealth teleprompter.  Then we will need to check out line-of-sight issues with those circular tables way off to my right side.  I’ll also need to have VGA support where my laptop is going to be sitting in the front row.  I guess that also means I’ll need power there too.”

This is always a moment of truth for me.  If you were at one of the big conference centers, these types of requests may prompt a call to the convention support supervisor who calls the AV support manager who in turn dispatches the AV professional who then tells you that he doesn’t do power cords. There’s another union that handles that stuff, all before disappearing into the crowd 5-minutes before your set-up is complete.

No such challenge here. Todd was a real pro.  He understood that he was there to serve and support. I’m sure he’s worked with hundreds of presenters over the years and has probably learned that their requests, although sometimes a little screwy, are important for some reason to the presenter.  We were now down to 35-minutes before hundreds of attendees would fill the room, but he stayed cool under pressure.  I knew I was not the only one making demands for his time but he handled each request with calm resolve.  He even made some tactical suggestions that made things even easier for me which was very much appreciated.  Even my concerns for those sitting off to the far right didn’t go ignored.  I noticed as he approached one of the conference leaders gesturing to the tables in the south forty suggesting they get moved to a more appropriate location.

7:50am, Monday October 11
With a huge, bright image now projected over my shoulder, Todd walked over with the cordless lapel microphone and began to “suit me up” for the big game. Although I’ve had AV folks in the past talk to me about cordless mics much like a kindergarten teacher may instruct a child on how to feed the classroom gold fish, there was no condescension in his voice.  He quickly showed me the key switches on this particular receiver/transmitter, clipped on the microphone and even threw in a few final words of encouragement. It took another 30-seconds for a quick sound check and his work was done.

7:55am, Monday October 11
“Jim, Rick (the event sponsor) has another presentation he needs to give briefly before you start this morning.  I have it on a USB drive; can we put this on your laptop?” I had no problem with his request because I knew that he was there to make this whole presentation/speaker process as seamless as possible for everyone, not just me.  “Is there anything else you need?” he asked.

I hope you are as blessed to have AV support folks as helpful and cooperative as Todd was for me that day.  The very next morning I had a smaller workshop I was doing and there was Todd again. He had made a note the day before that I would need an audio feed from my laptop to the house and he was ready to patch me in.  He also quickly noticed that the image being projected on the wall was having some synchronization issues. Newer laptop. Newer projector.  Go figure.  But with seasoned efficiency he quickly reset my display options and got me ready to present. I’m pretty sure I would not have gotten that issued resolved by presentation time.

Lessons for Presenters Everywhere
Todd may think that he is in the technology business but he’s in a business much more important to me.  His stock and trade is in “peace of mind” for harried and sometimes anxious presenters.  When those of us who are upfront are not ready to go when our audiences are, our execution nearly always suffers.  And don’t miss this, audiences know when presenters are not ready and wonder silently if they’re going to get short changed over the next hour or so.

During breaks, I had a chance to talk more with Todd. I’m not sure what his business card says, but he is much more than an AV professional. He knows (before the presenter probably does) what the reaction of an audience will be to a sea of bullets read one by one.  He’s seen it a thousand times.  He’s had the experience of watching presenters brandish an RF remote like a phaser weapon (elevating their technology to a much too visible role) and presentation “gimmicks” that fail to connect in a meaningful way with the audience.

Yep. People like Todd are a wealth of information and you’re missing something if you don’t ask for their advice from time to time.  It’s not that they don’t like to offer it, it’s just that they so seldom run into presenters who bother to ask.

 

Tips for working with AV Professionals

The AV professionals are an ally, not an adversary.
As presenters, we may think we’ve seen and experienced it all, but guess what? They’ve seen more.  Talk to the AV support teams well in advance of crunch time.  Set up a time to discuss what you need and discuss what the stock room set-up will be before you walk in the door so there are no surprises.  Then find a time when you can meet them on presentation day. In your greatest time of need, these are the go-to folks who’ll save your bacon.

Surprises are not fun for presenters but even less pleasant for AV support teams.
If you have specific needs, make those know well before the event and, if you’re smart, you’ll confirm them in writing.  They are making up equipment and room requirement lists well ahead of the actual event date.  We presenters are an interesting bunch. We may think that this is all about us but there are actually bigger issues in play that are not always apparent. Equipment needs to move around during the day and last minute requests may not be honored leaving you with some tough last minute decisions.

Keep your head and things will go better for everyone.
Many presenters have become so casual about presenting that onsite challenges are all too often our own darn fault. On some occasions, however, stuff just happens. The quickest way to lose the proactive support of your AV support team is to take out your frustration on them. If your #1 choice is an absolute impossibility, trust their counsel for option #2.  Take a deep breath.  Get the blood pressure down and relax.  Five minutes before you speak, things may be going to hell in a hand basket but all your audience will know are the signals you send them, so suck it up and act like the presentation pro you are.

 

 

Author: Jim Endicott, Founder of Distinction

 

They’re a strange breed, alright.

Their passion appears endless. Their optimism seems to willfully disregard the odds of actually scoring a big deal. And the more extreme among them; that group seems to get a special kind of rush from mortgaging the family home to make next months payroll. But despite those things, they press on trying to find better ways to get their all important value proposition across to the chronically busy and distracted.

Last week I had an opportunity to work with several groups from a wave of 75 entrepreneurs who descended on Portland, Oregon with the hope of walking away with a check and some fresh hope for their ideas. And the only thing between them and a cash infusion… a 5-minute presentation.

[We provided a pre-pitch presentation workshop to help them prepare for that moment.]

You’d think with all that reckless abandon, they’d eat up a presentation workshop but to be honest, some were pretty apprehensive about putting their presentation skills under the magnifying glass (delivery and messaging shaping). How do I know?  They told me…

“I was skeptical about the training session when I was driving from Seattle in a really bad rainy weather. I thought I have been presenting for 20+ years and I’m a pretty confident presenter…”

But unlike their “traditionally employed” friends with predictable paychecks, these folks had a unique motivation to be there… survival. There was no promise they would be around a year from now. No assurance a big customer would magically appear at the last minute to underwrite their next quarter. And one of the most important tools in their arsenal (and the reason they were there), was their ability to tell a compelling business story.

That’s seems to be the kind of motivation needed to take a hard look at old habits and perhaps how most of us are nothing like entrepreneurs.

Here’s what we did during the 4-hour sessions. We spent time breaking down old notions around presenting and started fresh. How do you engage busy and distracted people?  How can you help your message stand out from the crowd?  What are the “how” skills that convey messages like trust, believability, passion and confidence?

The time went fast for both groups and the transformation of message and messenger was pretty dramatic. (I think they actually surprised themselves)

By noon the next day, the original group of 75 companies was culled to just 5 as they headed into the final round in front of a handful of real investors (with real checkbooks) and an audience of a few hundred that crowded into the room.

I was delighted to get this email a few days later…

“Jim – we won!  We were among top 2 winners and got the biggest check! I redid my whole pitch after your session, added personal story etc. Then worked on my “How” part and it was powerful. …I used variation of my voice, pauses, hand gesture as much as I could. This was wonderful. I didn’t even think we’ll make it to the top 5. But we not only did we make the list, we topped it too.”

Truth be told, a lot of folks got this same coaching but couldn’t execute when it counted. So it says a lot about this women. But it’s time to circle back to my original statement of being more like an entrepreneur than you may know. What could you possibly have in common with them?

Let’s see…

• You have to communicate the value of your ideas all the time. (Budgets. Proposals. Sales pitches….)
• The ability to do that well will always affect the trajectory of a career. (Promotions. Performance plans…)
• If you don’t connect in the first minute, you probably never will. (Busy and distracted people)
• You have much less time to make your case than you think you’ll need. (Reality)

What if our ongoing employment was determined by a single presentation that we had to deliver every month? Nothing was guaranteed and we got no do-overs. I suspect we’d gain just a little insight into the world of entrepreneurs.

But maybe, just maybe, that’s the world you live in too – whether you realize it or not.

You intended to start on your conference presentation weeks ago but you got interrupted; by the phone, emails, deadlines, yoga, juggling the kids schedule, flossing your teeth. Basically, anything and everything was a good excuse to delay your prep.

Life interrupted.  

Now you’re staring at the calendar as nausea and dread wash over. It’s almost here, you haven’t even crafted an outline, and the conference is requesting a copy of your slide deck.

It’s right about this time that I get frantic emails from friends or clients. A month ago a friend texted me while sitting in her car parked at her child’s soccer game trying to write an outline for a talk she was doing the following day!

Events can be scary, whether it’s for a smaller internal event or a larger external conference.

What you need is not a margarita or even more time; you need a game-plan. In fact, if you had a reliable game plan months ago, you probably wouldn’t have procrastinated this late.

Planning a keynote, breakout session or talk is like baking a cake; that’s our game-plan. (And it sounds more appetizing than message development, right?)

First, you have to decide what to bake: What’s your main idea?

You may think this is obvious but you’d be surprised how many people prepare a presentation before knowing what outcomes they want to achieve. Ask yourself: What do you want people to think or feel differently about when you’re done? What’s the main idea? Without this being clear, people may not understand why you chose all the flavors you did. Talking points can seem disconnected without context. This is why people walk out of meetings or sessions feeling more confused than when they walked in. No one’s on the same page. Direction was too vague. It was a waste of everyone’s time because your objectives weren’t clear.

Last year I watched several entrepreneurs pitch to angel investors. They knew their main ideas – it was the business model they’ve tweaked for years, in some cases. Unfortunately after one pitch, an investor commented, “After 5 minutes of hearing you speak, I still have no clue what your business does.” Knowing your main idea isn’t good enough. You have to articulate it well.

Take action: Clearly name your recipe. Create your last slide first to guide the rest of your content towards your main idea.

 

Second, figure out your ingredients:  What are your talking points?

It’s not enough to have a great product or idea; you have to validate them. Perhaps you’re presenting a product road map and you have to support why certain decisions were made.

Maybe your talk is more personal in nature; what are the stories you want to share that validates your life lesson?

Start by jotting down a rudimentary outline of basic concepts, ideas, or take-aways that support your main idea. For example, when I was working with TEDx speaker Ragini Dindukurthi (quite a brave 15 year old girl!), these were her ingredients:

-Opening: The rise of virtual reality but a call to use it for the greater good
-Main idea: Use virtual reality to solve phantom limb pain for amputees
-What is phantom limb pain (plp) and who suffers
-Historic treatment for plp
-How virtual reality can solve plp
-Current research being done
-Close: Recommendations for advancement

We thoughtfully filled each section with interesting and validated information. We also crafted clear transitional statements between ideas to comfortably guide the audience through the talk.

Take action: Support your main idea with the right ingredients. Have a content game plan with a strong lead in, well-crafted transitions between ideas, and a strong finish.

Third, bake it: Practice.

Without baking, you have unappetizing raw batter. You may have all the right ingredients but if it doesn’t bake, it’s not good. Similarly, you can’t give a good presentation with a bad delivery. Steven Jobs was known for being an excellent communicator. He set vision. He inspired people. And guess what, he also practiced religiously. All those ‘naturally good’ speakers you see, they weren’t born that way. They didn’t accidentally become good. You’re observing intentional work paying off.

I know your calendars are full and life interrupts but commit to excellence, especially when influencing others with your ideas. If Jobs could, we can. Practically this means 7 days before your event, have most of your content baked and plot blocks in your calendar for standing in an empty room and practicing the presentation out loud. The temptation to continually tweak content will result in more anxiety and less retention as you make late changes. Know when to stop messing with the ingredients and get that thing into the oven. Then work on nailing the delivery.

Take action: Check out our new 30 minute online class for practical tips on how to elevate your delivery skills.

Lastly, let it cool:   Stop practicing!

I know I just told you to practice but there comes a time when you need a break. Stop overthinking. Stop worrying. If you’ve done good work and prepared well, you now need to let go and trust your practice. Practically, this may be a couple hours before a shorter presentation or a whole day before a larger presentation.

At TEDxPortand, this cooling period is my favorite part of the whole process. It happens after rehearsal day, the day before the big event. Our brains are mush. We’ve spent an ungodly amount of hours in preparation. But once we’re done with run-throughs, we stop practicing and we break bread together. We have a fancy private dinner with a room of 60 people to toast our hard work.

Take action: Rest! Build out practice time in your calendar working back from the event but also block out a resting period right before your opportunity.

What we really remember…

At the end of the day, people don’t remember conferences for the signature cocktails, beautiful slide decks, colorful lanyards, or swag bags full of sponsor-branded items.

We remember speakers for how they made us feel: motivated, empowered, equipped, surprised, informed. Sadly, we endure a lot of average conference speakers who couldn’t find the time to craft meaningful content or deliver it in a compelling way.

That’s good news for you because exceeding expectations won’t be hard! To be remembered for all the right reasons, make a game-plan, build it into your calendar, and then the gimmicky branded hand sanitizers are just the cherries on top!

 

Author: Jim Endicott, Founder of Distinction

 

The phone call came in July 2010 and was uncharacteristically last minute for such a high-profile event.

The very next Sunday evening I found myself standing on the big stage at the Moscone Center in San Francisco waiting to prepare a senior executive for his big moment in front of a worldwide audience the next morning.  The stakes don’t get much higher.

That evening before, the setting was pretty chaotic. Production people with headsets scurried around like ants on a mission. Lights and sound techs made their final tweaks before run-throughs. But then precisely at 6pm, the huge ballroom instantly cleared out as the entire crew headed off to dinner.  It was just me and Doug.

I’ve been a speaker coach for a lot of truly amazing people over the last 20 years.  Some you’ll never hear about and others you might see on the evening news.  And like most senior-level people, they’re pretty used to being one of the smarter people in a room. They’re also comfortable being the focal point of attention around a boardroom table and they all know with certainty where the buck stops.

But that’s where the common ground with many other leaders seems to end.

It takes a certain kind of person to place themselves in the hands of speaker coach. It takes the ability to extend trust to someone they may not know because time is of the essence. (Trust doesn’t come easy for many these days)  The moment also requires a certain level of vulnerability.  And as far as their egos go, they get checked at the door for a greater good.  And if all those things don’t create enough obstacles, the process also submits them to a video camera that will never be a “yes man”.  Bottom line…you’ve got to want it.

I guess that’s what I truly love about these moments.  The executive wouldn’t be there if they didn’t want to be.  And down deep they understand the stakes are too high for them and their organizations not to be there with me.

Unfortunately, for every leader who will place themselves in the hands of a presentation coach, there are 20 who would never consider it. It’s just not on their radar screens or in their DNA.

Here are three reasons why that happens and how you can nudge your leaders towards coaching in one of the most essential leadership skills they’ll need for a successful future.

 

They’re good enough.

20 years ago that may have been true.  We just wanted our leaders to be really smart people and if they weren’t good in front of people, it seemed ok at the time. Fast forward to today and social media is filled with smart phone videos of unsuspecting executives.  Uncomfortable moments during Q&A or passionless leaders face down at a podium hoping to inspire a decidedly disengaged audience.

Being a good enough presenter isn’t good enough anymore.

Insight:  You’ll never hear us talk about the process in remedial terms. For coaching to be meaningful, it must always be about getting to the ‘next level’.  Everyone has one – even the very best speakers.  Leaders who are in touch with the stakes of their presentations want to find that next level if for no other reason than to ensure they meet their goals.  They just need others to introduce them to resources to make that happen.  That may be where you come in.

 

They have zero time on their calendar for non-essentials

No one will debate the fact all of us have insanely busy calendars. And that’s especially true of those in senior leadership. But the operative word here is non-essential. I suppose compared with nailing monthly financial metrics, cementing a big partnership or finalizing a merger, being a stronger communicator may seem way down the priority list – on the surface.

But if we step back, we see that these critical management activities have something in common. Did you catch it?  Every one of them requires that the leader effectively communicate the outcomes to shareholders, articulate the benefits of partnering or motivate a potential acquisition company to engage.  Inspire.  Motivate. Challenge… all “how” words.

Leaders who are ‘highly effective’ communicators had 47% higher total returns
to shareholders over the previous five years.

2011-12 Change and Communication ROI Study Towers Watson

Insight:  Leaders are greatly influenced by other successful leaders. Through your network, identify other respected leaders who have embraced presentation coaching for themselves and their teams. They’re out there. Find ways of providing that insight to your executive and consider group coaching at leadership retreats. The buzz created by their team may motivate them to not be left behind.

The bar needs to be raised and it can all start there.

Big egos or hidden insecurities just can’t handle the coaching lens.

Lest you think videotaped coaching is easy, it’s incredibly humbling.  Try it sometime.

Yes, there are large egos to navigate in senior leadership but I’ve worked with very confidently appearing senior leaders who had insecurities hiding just beneath the surface forged through years of bad experiences or the relationship with a critical parent.

We’re complex human beings.

These may be the toughest extremes to work with because there’s most often no convincing the voice in their head that their too good for this or perhaps not good enough.  If some in your C-suite fall into one of these camps, here’s what you can do to start the process of change.

Insight:  Use the context of an upcoming major event to provide speaker coaching for ‘other leaders’ and while the coach is there, see if the executive would like a few minutes ‘for a quick tune-up’.  Events create a unique and collective focus for leaders for a fleeting window of time.  Take advantage of that.

I can’t tell you how many times once the reluctant leader saw how rapidly change can happen and the difference it made in how they were perceived, they tell me they wished they had done this 30 years ago.

———————————————–

After my evening coaching session with Doug on the Moscone center stage, his stock went way up in my eyes.

He didn’t have to be there but he was.  He also had more natural instincts than he gave himself credit for. And his presentation… he knocked it out of the park the next morning.  But it also reinforced an observation I’ve had for a very long time.  Really senior executives are more like you and me than we give them credit for.

Down deep, they want to be better tomorrow than they are today.  They want their lives to count for something and be respected and make a difference.  They’re just not always quite sure how to get there.

 

Author: Jim Endicott, Founder of Distinction

 

The research is pretty overwhelming and so is the wisdom of those who have lead the way before us as successful organizational leaders…

 ————————-

89% of business professionals believe that communicating with a solid level of clarity and confidence directly impacts their career and income. Distinction January 2015 client database survey

————————-

Leaders who are ‘highly effective’ communicators had 47%
higher total returns to shareholders over the previous five years. 2011-12 Change and Communication ROI Study Towers Watson

————————-

The highly successful business tycoon, Warren Buffet touts a 50% increase in person income over a lifetime for those with good speaking skills.

————————-

So here’s the $64,000  question (or half-million according to Buffet). If the evidence is so compellingly clear about this powerful correlation between success and personal communication skills, then why are so few leaders running out and gobbling up the time of every presentation coach between LA and Boston?

The answer is found in a simple story.

When the highly successful NFL head coach Tom Landry from the Dallas Cowboys finally retired from football after 25 years in 1989, he left an amazing legacy as a leader of men.

During his retirement banquet he was asked if he could answer a few questions from the fans and media who were present that night.

As he approached the podium, a hand quickly shot up in the crowd.  An enthusiastic reporter asked him, “Coach Landry, what do you attribute your long, successful career as a head coach?”  After thinking for a moment, this southern gentlemen offered up this simple insight.

 

“I always saw my job as getting men to do what they didn’t want to do so they could achieve what they always wanted to achieve.”

 

Doing the hard things in life.

He managed to capture the essence of why most leaders today settle for being just average communicators at best.  It takes time they don’t feel they have, a prioritization they don’t feel is necessary or a vulnerability they are unwilling to experience.

In other words… it’s hard.

Becoming the kind of leader that can challenge, motivate and inspire with their delivery skills takes intent and practice. It always will.  It asks for a measure of courage to step out of their personal comfort zone because the stakes are simply too high not to. And it requires support teams who are keenly aware that “how” their executive delivers an important message will always be a much stronger catalyst for change than a presentation full of statistics and a catchy set of visuals.

 

 What is your organizational giving up because some of your leaders
simply can’t or won’t take the time to sharpen this critical skill set?

 

 

Author: Jim Endicott, Founder of Distinction

 

You’ve probably heard that expression before.  We’re coming up on the 20 year mark for our company and I remember the day I chose the name Distinction.

It was 1998 and I had some business filings that needed to be done for my new LLC and they wanted a name.  To be honest, I hadn’t thought much about it.  So I did what any expectant parent does – I went fishing for some quick ideas.

I started by typing the word “different” in MS Word.

You see, I had been in the presentation business for about 10 years at the time and the one thing that seemed pretty obvious, most presenters were painfully average in their skills. Seldom great. Not always horrible. Just painfully, blissfully average. But even back then, I had seen mediocrity put a nail in the coffin of many good ideas yet most presenters seemed content with just giving a presentation.

Then I selected the Thesaurus option from the word “different” and got “unique”… then “special” and “distinctive”.  Then it happened…

That was it.

The one thing presenters of every kind can’t afford not to aspire to if they expected their important plans, unique ideas and critical information to get through to the busy and distracted people in their lives.

I remember when Amy joined the business back in 2012, I think she had a few moments (she kindly did not verbalize) where she wondered, what the heck is with the name?  But over the years, she got it.  She got it because even in her young Millennial life, she’s seen the very same thing I saw 20 years earlier.

We all know it now… it’s not simply enough to be average today… even a little good at presenting.  For us and our messages to stand out from the sea of other voices, we need to be truly different. Different in how we shape our messages. Different in the clarity and quality of our visuals.  Different in our confidence and ability to engage others as we stand in front of a room.

That’s precisely what we do for our clients.  Aspire to more.

 

Author: Jim Endicott, Founder of Distinction

 

I’m an amateur woodworker.  For me, it’s all about mental therapy.  The smell of the freshly cut oak or cherry that overwhelms the slight musty smell of the workshop.

Every once in a while, my daughter (and business partner) hands me a picture from a magazine.  “Do you think you can make this for us?”

For starters, those words are like throwing down the gauntlet for any self-respecting woodworker. I say of course I can… then afterwards I wonder what did I just sign up for?

I have no plans. No detailed cut lists.  No joining guidance.  Just a picture.

Being in the speaker coaching biz… I see something not too different from this scenario happen all the time.

An employee’s manager (who has some mental picture of a good presentation) pulls them aside after catching their last presentation and not so gently tells them they need to work on their skill set.

What the heck does that mean?  Better looking PowerPoint?  Don’t fidget so much with the equipment?   Buy a new remote pointing device?  Maybe don’t turn and read off the screen anymore.  Help!

The reason there’s probably so much ambiguity around what needs to change is because often the manager doesn’t know themselves.  They haven’t ever received very constructive feedback and now, they don’t know how to offer it.

Let me share 4 ideas for where to start when you’re asked to up your presentation game. (Or you’re asking someone else to up their’s.)

 

1) Get the ‘what’ down before working on the ‘how’

The one thing that most often derails good delivery is a lack of comfort with the actual message itself.   Someone’s mental hard drive is spinning so fast that the ability to just remember what’s coming next seems to take ever ounce of mental effort.

Point 1:  Carve out some dedicated time to go through your ‘talk track’ .  If you don’t understand something well enough, ask or have someone listen and see if it seems to flows well. And put extra effort into the first 2-minutes of content. If you start confidently, presentations seem to create their own momentum. Struggle in that critical time and you may not recover.

2) Put PowerPoint in it’s rightful place

Two things happen when your visuals are overly complex – neither very good. Your audience’s eyes are drawn to the big screen like a fake news headline. Secondly, your own eyes are drawn to the same detail on the screen behind you. Think back to the last time you were watching a compelling interview on your favorite cable news network and the text crawler started across the bottom of the screen . Where did your eyes go?  We can’t help it.

Point 2:  Create 7-second visuals.  Put no more on screen than people can process in 7-seconds and it will force you into a level of simplicity that will help all aspects of your delivery. “But I won’t know what to say then!”  See point #1.

3) Know your tech

Surprises may be fun around your birthday, but not so much when you have a sea of eyes on you and your slides aren’t advancing, the image doesn’t look right or your lapel mic falls off.  Nothing will throw you off your game quicker than wayward technology.

Point 3:  Don’t rely on others to know what you really need to know yourself.  Practice. Anticipate. Did I say practice?

4) Now time to work on the How skills

You may be surprised this one came last.  After all, reading off the screen is bad right?  Or the umms and ahhs really annoying to others?  The fact is, the first 3 steps can undo good delivery skills in a heartbeat. Minimize their impact and you can maximize your focus on the all important delivery skills. (Eyes. Hands. Voice)

Point 4:  Find a good presentation skills workshop that can give you that all important view through the eyes of your audience via videotaped coaching and feedback. There are a lot of good coaches out there, find one that can make a difference for you.  One day doesn’t eliminate decades of old habits, but it can help you (re)start an important journey that reinforces the relational aspects of one human being just sharing ideas with another.

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When I focus on the fundamental stuff, even making that new piece of furniture for my daughter becomes a little less daunting.

Break the task down into its component parts.

Make a plan.

Hone the skills.

Make something beautiful.

 

Author: Jim Endicott, Founder of Distinction

 

More and more these days people are seeking out coaching resources for their organization leaders. Why?  You probably already know the answer to that question – the ability for leaders to impact their organization seems to be directly related to their ability to communicate well.  And if they can’t, it’s probably going to be an uphill battle for them to achieve all they want to achieve.

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“Leaders who are ‘highly effective’ communicators had 47%
higher total returns to shareholders over the previous five years.”
2011-12 Change and Communication ROI Study Towers Watson

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Being educated about coaching in this very specialized area is an important way to make sure you’re not wasting your money. (Professional presentation coaches aren’t cheap – $4,500-10,000/day).  Here are three things to consider when selecting the right coach for your very busy leaders.

1.Change in human behavior is rarely the result of one quick coaching session

If a company tells you they can fix that struggling executive in one easy session – that’s not likely. As coaches, we’re never just working with a someone in the moment. We’re working with the sum total of their life experiences – good and bad, their native personalities and even buried insecurities.

That said, good coaches can actually change observable behaviors relatively quickly. We see it all the time. But internalizing those changes so they’re there under pressure takes effort and focus well beyond the session. And if the executive isn’t on-board with the need for change – those great new skills won’t stick around long.

2. You can’t change what you can’t observe

The video camera is the ultimate truthteller. Yes, it can be uncomfortable for some but the ability to create real change means seeing yourself through the eyes of your audience. It’s not uncommon for managers or executives to be surprised when seeing a quirky behavior (others have observed for years) or hearing an annoying cascade of ‘umms’ and ‘ahhs’ they thought were under control.

Not only is it important to use video, but the technique for skill building with the video feedback medium is as important as the use of the camera itself. Building skill-upon-skill in a slow progression of exercises allows the individual to validate the change and not become quickly overwhelmed with the process.  If they do hit the wall, they’re done and progress stalls.

3. Find a coach that’s deeply experienced and dedicated to presentation skills coaching.

It’s tempting to find someone who teaches email best practices one day and presentation skills the next.  But seldom do you find great coaching instincts in someone who dabbles in this very specialized coaching area. Good coaches are quickly assessing how to best work with the individual’s personality.  What’s their motivation for change?  How far can they take them in a session before they hit the wall? And does the coach provide convenient online resources to keep the process going after they get on an airplane?

Yes, you’ll save some money with the internal or external “Jack (Jill?) of all trades” coach.  But you most likely will give it all back when the skills are not driven deeply through seasoned coaching instincts and proven videotaping methodologies.

4. Good coaches draw on their own big stage experiences.

I’d much prefer to get golf lessons from someone who has won a lot of big tournaments. They just have some meaningful insight the casual clubhouse pro doesn’t. In the same way, a coach who has walked out on the big stage themselves and has been a top-rated in their craft, will always bring a unique blend of technique, instinct and timing.

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Here are some questions to ask when interviewing that potential coach….

• How long have they been offering presentation skills coaching and is it all they do?
• Can you talk to some people they’ve worked with? (Get a deep list). Do they seem to specialize in one vertical industry or do they have a well-balanced range of coaching clients in small to extremely large companies?
• Are they deeply experienced in coaching senior-level executives or just aspire to do that?
• What types of post-training resources do they provide to help the exec.keep their skills tuned-up after they go?
• Ask your prospective coach about their own big stage speaking opportunities.

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Maybe 2019 is the year you finally roll out some new professional development options for your leadership group. They may not be inclined to seek coaching out on their own but I guarantee you, they will all be deeply appreciative the next time they step to the front of a room (or stage) to deliver a high-stakes presentation.

 

Author: Jim Endicott, Founder of Distinction

 

Whether you plan sales kick-offs, all company meetings or major partner events for a living – you probably love your job and hate it at times too.

The love part… for a period of time at least, you have the attention of leaders who are pretty vested in the process whether they want to be or not.  The tough part… your personal reputation and perhaps career path is always on the line.  (The rest of us can have an epic fail and the whole company won’t know. You… not so much.)

I’d like to make at least part of the process a little easier for you – planning your speakers, theme integration and message continuity and it’s best started many months before the event.

Events typically suffer from three planning maladies related to speakers.

• A patchwork quilt of topics – Weak continuity.
• Presentations that meander – No message focus.
• Shallow audience engagement – Marginal content/delivery skills

Here’s how all that can begin to change. Get all the stakeholders together for an initial speaker planning meeting and approach it this way.  [This document is available to download at the end of this piece]

 

 

1. What’s the event theme? (Fill in the center horizontal box)
   Think hard about this one because every speaker needs to agree and integrate it into their topic. It’s better to come with several ideas then to start this process from scratch.
2. Fill in the total segment time (Left top box) You’re only going to use 85% of it.
3. Identify your opening speaker (Vertical left column)
   Choose wisely.  Events are all about momentum. This person needs to build it quickly and pass it on. If they can’t pull that off, you best invest in their ability to deliver better because they can easily drive the energy level into the ground in the opening moments making every other presenter’s job a lot harder.
4. Assign speakers for each segment along with a duration. Factor in a 5-minute buffer between speakers.
5. Collaborate on a draft title for each speaker (Top of column) Think tie in to overall theme.
6. What are some possible take-aways for each speaker (Bottom of columns) More on this later *
7. Identify your closing speaker. (Right column) Remember I told you how important your opening speaker was?  This person’s role is even more important. They hold the power of final impression. Their ability to summarize at a high level while pulling in elements from all the topics is essential to a successful event close. They need to inspire, not just inform.
   _____________________________
8. Personal planning tips for speakers after the planning session:

• Have them plan their last presentation slide first *
  By identifying simple presentation take-aways first (bottom of the columns), presenters now have a litmus test to measure their content relevance. If some slide content doesn’t exactly fit – don’t force it in.  Be laser focused on driving to take-aways.
• Then have them create their first slide next.
  Does the title reflect the event theme?  Titles should also always communicate value for the audience. Bad title: 2016 Financials.  Better title:  How is Your Company Doing – By the Numbers?
• Start with a personal story (90-seconds tops)
  I get that not everyone is a storyteller. But starting by turning and reading bullets off the screen (#1 audience complaint) is a guaranteed way to lose an audience in the first 30-seconds.  As an alternative, have them step forward, plant (no pacing) and relate a personal story that ties into their part of the message. It is a time tested engagement mechanism. The science behind this strategy is also that presenters will be less nervous starting with a story (right brain) instead of diving into a canned bullet-driven script (left brain).
• Delivering their message well
  – Keep content high-level. (Even if they think all the details are really important)
  – Keep slides simple because audiences have seconds to figure out what they’ve been mulling over for weeks. (Typically, no more content than audiences can scan and process in 7-8 seconds)
  – Most people know “what” they need to say. Too many struggle with “how”. This is where speaker coaches are worth their weight in gold.
  – 80% of presenters go over their allotted time. Practice until they’re 2-3 minutes early. No one goes short on presentation day.
• After covering content, do a simple Summary and Close
  Most speakers seem to feel like they’re done when they run out of slides. (A huge lost opportunity). Speakers should practice stepping to the front of the stage, signal the close, “as I wrap up today…”, and deliver a simple summary slide (2-3 points, one line each) in 1-minute not a 5-minute rambling monologue. Then, speakers should Close with a personal call to action, challenge or personalized insight in 1-minute. Thank them and pause. (No dashing to the wings in mid-sentence.)
• Graciously accept their applause and briefly introduce the next speaker if appropriate.
  

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Planning huge events will never be easy.  I couldn’t do it.

But after all the hundreds of thousands (or perhaps millions) of dollars are spent and the clean-up crew has begun their work, people will remember the speakers and how well they inspired, motivated and influenced the collective. And if that wasn’t done well, all the custom lighting and cool corporate videos will not be able to salvage the impression.  Then you can only wait a year and try again…

[Download Your Planning Document]

 

 

Author: Jim Endicott, Founder of Distinction

 

At this point, perhaps I tweaked your interest. But in the spirit of full disclosure, I’ll admit, the title was a hook and one that electronic communication SMEs say often works with newsletters, emails and most importantly from a career perspective – your presentations.

Forging audience engagement from the moment they sit down to the last words out of your mouth has never been so important yet never been so hard to accomplish.

As we speak, the latest LinkedIn newsletter in my Inbox touts “11 Simple Concepts”, “3 Things I’ve Learned”, “10 Things to Do” and “16 Terms to Describe”.  So it prompts the question… what’s with the number thing?

The prevailing wisdom is that our fellow human beings want things simple. They want easily digestible steps and well-defined rules to follow.  Why?  For one simple reason…people are crazy busy and they don’t have time to distill messages out from a sea of generalized content.  So they want us to do it for them.

Makes sense when you think about it.  If this piece was titled One Long Rambling Monologue for Being an Adequate Presenter, you probably wouldn’t have made it this far. You would have had to do all the work and for a very questionable payoff.

 

So let’s talk about that “payoff” thing. 

Behind every presentation we deliver there is an implied deal we make with our audiences .  And if you aren’t making this commitment in the first 30 seconds – you should be.  They have taken time out of their busy schedules to be there.  You need to provide them clear value for that investment and do it quickly.

For this reason, I believe in a simple 30-second opening positioning statement at the front end of every presentation that includes who I am and what this time will mean to you, the audience.

I’m here today to share some ideas about how your company can address your current building inefficiency issues and how you can use those same actions to meet your 2020 energy goals.

Why bother?  Sometimes people get pulled into a meeting or presentations without much context… or the session agenda has not been well communicated.  Everyone will not arrive at the end together unless they all start together.

 

But starting strong is not enough – you need to deliver on your promise.

Very few presenters close well. Running out of slides is a horrible reason for your presentation to end and you will have broken your promise to your audience.  Here are some ideas… signal your close (‘As I wrap up today’) and take a couple small steps to the front of the room. These tiny things re-energize attention levels at a very critical moment.

Now that you’ve moved into the close, don’t make this mistake.  If your close is a long, drawn-out monologue, you’re forcing your audience to do all the work again and don’t expect them to be happy about that.  Call out just a few very simple takeaways and do it in 60-seconds or less.  (These things shouldn’t come as a surprise to them!)

Here’s the litmus test… when you’re done, if they can’t repeat those specific things right back to you in 20-seconds – you didn’t deliver them well.

 

So here’s my simple close…

Point #1 – Don’t underestimate the power of a title. It can mean the difference between 20 and 200 people in your audience.

Point #2 – Start with a simple opening positioning statement. It’s the promise you’re making with your audience and you better deliver.

Point #3 – Simple closes make audiences happy.  And long, linear monologue summaries aggravate them. Give them just a few simple things delivered on a platter and in 60-seconds or less.  (Not 5-6 rambling minutes.)

 

What your presentation promises to do matters and audiences will hold you to it.  And when you start strong and end strong – you’ve conquered the two most important elements of presenting – expectations and outcomes.  If you execute well, you both win.  If you don’t, you both lose.

Present with purpose.  Present with passion.

 

Big breath. You just delivered a big presentation.

Relief washes over you as you gather your things and head back to your office. You replay a few of the minutes over in your mind – analyzing their reactions, wondering if your answer to their curve-ball question sounded competent. You make a few quick mental notes about some changes you need to make.

Then the phone rings.
Your email gets blown up with urgent emails.
Your wife texts that your kid is sick and needs picked up from school.
And the fire alarm goes off – everyone evacuates.

Life gives no pause button.

When we don’t find time to fine tune and improve, average presentations remain average.
Average speakers remain average.
And the world survives another mediocre meeting.

For the sake of audiences everywhere, take a minute (more likely a few) to fine tune your presentation for next time. While I can’t give you more time in the day to do that (wish I could!), I can offer this:

4 things to do after every presentation:

1. Celebrate.

Hopefully some things went well. What were they? Remember when so-and-so validated your point or how you had the data to support your claim when someone asked for it? This is especially important if you’ve had negative experiences in the past. If you remember from science class, your amygdale in your brain holds emotional memories (like that one time you froze in the middle of your presentation in 3^rd grade). Rewrite those mental scripts that make you anxious by taking time to celebrate your successes.

2. Jot down the little nuances that made it less smooth.

Clicker batteries die? Throw a few extra in your laptop bag. Should have turned the lights down by the projector screen before you started so your slides were easier to see? Make a note to arrive a few minutes earlier next time to adjust lighting or chairs etc. Minor grammatical error you quickly noticed in one of the slides? CHANGE IT NOW! The combination of these nuances or errors can create the general perception of a weak presenter.  And then maybe there were not-so-subtle mistakes. Figure out a strategic way to prepare so next time you can avoid them (like, oh I don’t know, take a presentation skills class or read a few helpful presentation preparation tips).

3. Reflect on the questions you didn’t expect.

Did they reveal a miscommunication?  Did they want more information, less information or different information than what you covered? How did you respond to them? Take a few minutes to take inventory of the questions. If they veered off path on a different subject, ask more upfront questions before presenting to really understand what they’re after. Did they continue asking questions about a particular idea? Maybe your thoughts weren’t clear or fluid enough. Did someone seem argumentative? Leave them off the meeting request next time (only kidding – kinda of).

4. Ask for feedback.

Did a colleague observe your presentation and do you trust them to be honest? Feedback is the most effective way to see how you did (unless you videotaped the presentation). Self-perceptions are almost always inaccurate. We think we make good eye contact but our eyes float to the ceiling as we’re grasping for words. We think we’re talking at a comfortable pace but really we’re racing through our content. We think we’re doing good gestures but we’re really wringing our hands. Getting good feedback is an important reality check but it must come from someone you trust to be honest. Send them a quick email asking for feedback. For meaningful feedback, ask them these 3 questions:

1. Did I engage with good eye contact with everyone in the room? Or did I read my slides , scan over the group or stare at my shoes instead?

2. How was my vocal pace? Was I too quick? Did I have distracting umms, ahhs, or so’s?

3. Did my hands get stuck in certain places or exhibit any nervous mannerisms?

(For a list of more questions, check out this handy feedback form!)

These aren’t copywrited. Copy and paste!

I know our plates are full. I’ve seen my clients’ calendars. It’s insane. As teams get more ‘efficient’, as more is expected of us, it’s difficult to commit time to improving one skill set. But let me share a secret with you.

Being a confident speaker is a life skill that does pays off. There’s a return on your investment.

More influence. More credibility. More internal confidence. More traction with your projects and ideas. Don’t cloak your brilliant ideas or important information in a weak or average delivery and expect buy-in, significant influence, or a reputation of credibility.

The next time you leave the conference room, carve out just a few minutes to reflect. At the very least, jot down quick notes and action-items for next time before you get swept away in the next task or meeting.

Spare yourself the the ‘Dang I think I said umm 50 times trying to answer that question’ experience.

Or the ‘shoot I thought I corrected that spelling error’ moment. (Full transparency – in the midst of editing this blog post I found a grammatical error I had been meaning to change in a presentation deck. So there – I’m not perfect either!)

Change starts when you want it to.

(hint: start now!)

 

Looking for tips how to prepare before a presentation? Take a class! Check out this Portland, OR workshop
consistently rated by attendees as ‘one of the best trainings I’ve ever attended’.

 

 

Author: Jim Endicott, Founder of Distinction

 

The wiring in your house is pretty fundamental really.  You flip a switch, the circuit is completed and the light goes on. It’s not like your house one day gets a bit moody and decides it’s really not a fan of the whole light thing. The same is true for hundreds of other areas of your life.

But when it comes to many people’s fear of presenting, we are up against human history that tended to reward those who had the good sense to hid in the cave from the T-Rex. And the same small region of the brain that was present with them, the amygdala, is also providing you an instantaneous prompting as well in one of three very defined responses…

Freeze, flight or fight.

This excerpt from the reality show Running with Bear Grylls, demonstrates this protection mechanism in high gear.

You see, the amygdala is actively drawing on emotional memory to decide what cue to send.  Bad presentation experiences in the past?  Most likely those old tapes are playing just beneath your conscious understanding.  Issues related to an eroded self-confidence?  They can often be traced back to a parental relationship. We are incredibly complex machines but take heart, change is more then just a remote possibility.

How can I be so sure?  It’s what we’ve seen hundreds of times before. In the first 30-minutes of a workshop, an attendee, with eyes cast to the floor, tentatively tells the group , “I’ve always been horrible at this and I really hate presenting – my boss made me come“.

Then by the end of the day, something amazing happened. With shoulders back, head up and eyes engaged, they communicated their message with renewed confidence while the group’s spontaneous applause seemed to bring a sense of accomplishment they’ve not felt for a very long time.

Don’t get me wrong, their 8 hours with us didn’t cure them of fear. But it did start to give them something stronger to replace it… hope.  Little successes building upon little successes until their feelings about what they were capable of doing in front of a group started to change as well.

 

Here are 4 ways to begin to tame the fear beast within you.

 

1. Work on a toolkit of skills that actively convey a more confident version of you

This may sound like ‘fake it until you make it’, but it’s so much more. Finding a good skill building workshop with a supportive group of co-attendees can start the process of positive change. Change on the inside as well as the outside. (Check out Amy Cuddy’s video on how the mechanics of more confident delivery can actually change the chemistry of confidence.)

That being said, it’s important I tell you that for this to be meaningful, your motivation cannot be to simply impress your friends or please your manager.  That motivation simply creates a thin veneer. Do this for you.  For a less fearful future.  As Amy on our team reminds her classes, “You don’t need to hustle for your worthiness“. (Thanks Brene’ Brown)

2. Visualize what success might look and feel like.

The mental part of preparation plays an important roll. Much like we see an Olympic athlete running a course in their mind before they launch out of a gate, we can do the same.  Once you know what skills to use, spend some quiet moments seeing yourself using the skills successfully (and your audience’s response to them) instead of dwelling on all the things that could possibly go wrong.

3. Positive feedback based on improved execution is self-reinforcing.

When we get positive feedback from others, it motivates us to replace old tapes with new ones. We like the feeling we get when someone says, “I don’t know what you’re doing differently, but it’s really working for you.” So the next time, we naturally desire to do the things that create the feedback we so desire. We just need to make sure the skills are practiced enough to be there under pressure.

[If your fears are totally debilitating, it may be worth spending some time with a professional to unpack it’s origin. You’re worth the investment.]

4. Get up to bat as often as you can.

If we go long periods of time between presentations (and positive reinforcement), the old negative tapes have a way of taking over again.  Seek out even small opportunities to present to others to continually reinforce the right things.  Little successes build upon little successes to create big change.

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Don’t expect your fear to go away altogether when it comes to presenting.  You really don’t want it to. You see, having some fear can help us stay intentional about the important things and provide a meaningful benchmark for measuring our success.

Maybe it’s time to tackle an area that’s been a real challenge for you and take a life lesson from caveman Org.

Dinosaur bad.

Running good.

Eating the dinosaur…. even better.

 

 

Author: Jim Endicott, Founder of Distinction

 

I’ve seen it hundreds of times over the last 20 years…

A very confident and capable employee gets promoted into a leadership role.

And it makes sense on the surface. They’re smart.  They have a ton of experience and all the employees seem to like them. Then it happens… the new manager soon comes to realize that it’s no longer their personal performance that’s determining things like raises and glowing evaluations.  It’s their ability to accomplish important things through others.

Now, their old friends don’t look at them quite the same way.  They’re management now.  And this new role means having to stand in front of those familiar faces and communicate to them as a confident leader.

#1 – People are watching those who lead them closer than ever. 

Do they pick up on the new managers discomfort in their new role because of eyes that seem to dart around the room – looking for the right words?  Or maybe it’s the momentary stumbling over a top-down message they’ve been told to communicate from upper management.

Make no mistake about it, a lack of perceived confidence in their new role will only embolden voices of descent or create uncertainty.  Good leaders need to be great communicators.

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The unexpected presentation.

A manager thought they were just going to be watching their boss present that morning. Then with no preparation or notice, they hear those gut-wrenching words… “I need for you to take this morning’s presentation.” It doesn’t really matter if it was a test or just a bad breakfast burrito – there will be no other choice than to step up.

#2 – Our lives are full of unplanned presentation moments… would you be ready?

Feeling unprepared is a horrible experience. Our heart rate accelerates to the stratosphere as our minds try to wrap themselves around what just happened. And if we’re not completely comfortable with the content, this trifecta of uncertainty has caused many a presenter to deliver the worst presentation of their lives in what is often a pivotal moment in their careers.

Much like emergency responders fall back on their training in the face of crisis, so must presenters fall back on theirs . What’s your game plan?  Do you even have one?

Videotaped coaching allows you to build a meaningful toolkit of go-to skills when you haven’t had time to plan or prepare. But why videotaping? Two reasons; it adds an element of important stress testing and gives you that important view from your audience’s eyes.  Unplanned presentations can and will happen.

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In a tie, the prize always goes to the best communicator.

Years back we had a coach on our team that had been a mid-level manager at adidas.  And in her role there, she was constantly presenting to other teams and was very, very good at it.  One day she mentioned how surprised she always was when she would receive job offers for roles she was clearly not qualified for.  Why was that happening?  Because her powerfully confident and credible communication style sent messages way beyond just her words.

#3 – Personal communication skills are the ultimate tie breaker

Interested in elevating that next performance evaluation?  Maybe get a shot at that new position that just opened up?  Being a reasonably good presenter is no longer just a nice skill to work on if you have a little time – it will always be the most powerful tie-breaker you will experience in your career.

 

You should probably be asking an important question right about now. Since you guys are in the business, aren’t you just drinking your own kool-aid around the importance of being a good presenter?

When you meet as many employees, managers and executives as we do over the course of the year, you see these three scenarios played out time and time again.  Bright new stars rise in organizations because they communicate so well.  Or sadly, we also watch as careers seem to falter because of a manager’s apprehension about presenting.

How will you invest your precious time and money in skill building this next year?  Your answer to that question may well impact you in ways you had never imagined.

 

 

“What do you think about having notes?”

We get this question a lot.

Can I have notes?
Where do I put them?
What’s on them?
Are there do’s and don’ts?

First, if you want notes because you don’t know your content, you’re out of luck. That’s a lose-lose situation. You’re uncomfortable and your audience is irritated (their number one complaints of presenters are reading notes or screens verbatim). But if you do your prep work and still have a hard time not clinging to notes, here are some tips:

1. Skip note cards

I know we got used to writing out our presentations or speeches on note cards back in  our schooling years. But unfortunately, and fortunately, those days are over.

Note cards don’t work for two simple reasons: your text will be too small to glance at quickly (key word quickly) and you have to hold them in your hands. If you get nervous they’ll shake and your hands are just too unpredictable to trust they won’t do something distracting with an object like note cards throughout your presentation. Print them out on standard paper.

2. Put them to the side

Your notes should be placed where you can easily read or see them within a glance but not sitting on a podium in front of you. Podiums or speaking stands are bulky and keep you distant (literally) from your audience. Find a thin stand or pull over a small table to your left or right. Don’t hold your notes!

3. Make it an outline

Ditch your script. I know – some of you want to get the words just right. But when you script it word-for-word you put way too much pressure on yourself. It’s extremely difficult to be present, authentic and engaging as a presenter when you’re concerned about staying to the script and your nose is buried in your notes. Instead, make an outline. Note the main points, supportive points, story cues, transitions, but keep it simple.

4. Make them bigger.

Now that you haven’t scripted your talk, and they’re not below your nose or in your hands, you’ll need to make the font slightly larger. Now you can glance over, spot where you are, see what’s next, and truck along without those long awkward ‘oh no the speaker looks like they lost their spot’ moments. Increase that font!

5. Trust what you know.

Ultimately, if you’ve prepared and own your content, you need to trust what you know. Lengthy notes, verbatim scripts, and strategically-placed teleprompters can make us doubt ourselves. They’re temptations to bury our heads in our content.

 

If you are feeling anxious at the thought of ditching your notes, here’s a key to transitioning:

Next time you’re running through your slide deck, ditch the notes and use your PowerPoint deck as quick visual cues and see how much you can actually remember. If you need notes the first few tries, that’s fine but rehearse a few more times.

Once you realize you really do know your stuff, once you trust yourself, your notes will become nice-to-haves and not must-haves.

 

Author: Jim Endicott, Founder of Distinction

 

I really like to watch State of the Union addresses. Not so much because of my politics, but because of what I do for a living.  As an executive presentation coach, the fodder for commentary is endless.

[I would normally ask readers at this point to set aside their particular political perspective for the greater lessons to be learned here – but you see, that’s part of the problem.]

I remember years back I was speaking to a group in California and used an image of then Secretary of State Colin Powell and the visual aids he masterfully used in 2003 in front of the United Nations to make his case for WMDs in Iraq.

But as compelling (I thought) of an object lesson it was, there was one gal about two rows back who began to instantly seethe. At first it was a nervous fidget in her seat. It soon progressed to her turning beet red quickly followed by a scowl that could melt metal.

I obviously hit a nerve.

Unfortunately, she never heard a word I said that day. Too bad.  I had no political agenda.  As a matter of fact, I used examples from both sides of the aisle but it didn’t seem to matter.

Fast forward to President Obama’s SOTU address last night.  I think most people in the room would acknowledge, at some level, he is a gifted orator. The use of pause.  Tactical pacing changes.  Eyes always working the room as he seamlessly uses his teleprompter. His ability to salt humor to soften emotion.

From time to time, we have presidents who have perfected the art more than others, but there were some in the room who never heard a word.  All his mastery of the communication arts – totally ineffectual with so many.

Belief systems will always trump great communication skills.

I hate to admit this because I spend my entire life coaching those skills but it’s true and the research is well-established.

In a 2008 joint study with Duke University & Georgia State University, researchers set out to understand how effective facts are at swaying beliefs.  As a study context, they focused on documented misconceptions that prevail today around certain political views.  Could blatantly false or unsubstantiated beliefs be corrected with an objective communication of the actual truth?

Let me net out for you what the research revealed…

• All information is filtered through an audiences existing belief system.
• When individuals believe something very strongly, the exposure to contradictory information (even if true) can actually reinforce the existing (incorrect) belief system.
• People will go to great lengths to avoid the cognitive dissonance created when their beliefs don’t seem to jive with the facts.

——————————————–

Bottom line. Where beliefs are intense, minds are pretty much made up.

So as we present our ideas to others, our best opportunity to influence is probably not with those who extremely oppose our ideas – but with those who are somewhat undecided.

But more importantly, maybe our effectiveness as communicators is really more about all the things that build up to that moment. How do we work on building trust and healthy consensus?  Do we consider others and their ideas?   How do we manage inevitable conflict?

Perhaps that’s what’s wrong with politics here in America. We spend too much time getting the oratory just right when the relationships are all wrong.  It doesn’t work in DC. and it will never work for us either.

 

Sit or stand?

If today is like most days in your life, you’ll probably find yourself filing into a conference room at some point with a handful of equally busy and distracted people to have a meeting no one really has time for.

So the question comes up from time to time in our workshops – how can I make these situations work better?  Should I just sit like everyone always does or is there any advantage to standing?

The answer is found in a simple study by the Wharton School of Business. A presenter pitched his business proposition to a room full of potential investors while seated around the table with them. When he left the room, the researcher asked the group what their likelihood to invest was. The scenario was repeated a number of times. The outcome?

On the average, 58% said they’d invest in his business.

 

Then they switched it up.

 

A second group came into the room and sat around the table. The presenter came back in and did the same exact pitch, except this time he stood and interacted with a demo. Same content. Same close.  But slightly different delivery. He left the room and the researcher asked the new group what their likelihood to invest was.

79% said they’d invest.

 

His content didn’t change. His physical presence did.

There’s our answer.

 

When we stand, we seem to be more influential but why?

 

Here are three reasons:

1. It keeps focus and attention on you, the communicator.

We’ve been trained since we were in elementary school to focus on the person standing in front of the class. Standing is a nonverbal cue where to direct attention. It creates a focal point in the room. If it’s not you, it’s most likely your slides. And if your slides are text heavy, you become totally irrelevant as people tune you out to quickly read your ideas faster than you can recite them. Stay relevant by keeping the focus on you.

 

2. You’re perceived as having more authority.

Authority meaning person of influence, a subject matter expert, and a credible source. If you stay authentic and personable, don’t be worried about being perceived as overbearing or domineering.  Standing conveys conviction, confidence, and credibility.

 

3. Your audience can more easily observe your confident body language.

Your message is two-fold: spoken and observed. Your body language, what’s observed, says just as much as your message does. Standing gives you a larger platform to use engagement tools more effectively (gestures, movement, eye contact now that you can actually see all of them around the table).

 

With that said, know when to sit.

 

If you want to lead a collaborative meeting, sit. If you want to create an informal environment in a meeting, sit. If you want to build a partnership that feels peer-to-peer, sit.

Sometimes it’s tough to change cultural norms.  To do the unexpected.  But if your idea is worth considering, if you want to ensure it gets a more engaged hearing, doing something just a little different may just be what’s needed.

 

 

 

 

Author: Jim Endicott, Founder of Distinction

 

Her subject line read ‘Presentation Freak Out’.

 

“We didn’t finalize the presentation until 6pm. I have 70 slides and 13 pages of copy to memorize in a few days. I’m freaking out. I’ve never had this little time to prepare and it’s the biggest presentation I’ve ever made. Any advice?”

 

Sounds familiar?

 

I got this frantic email from a client recently. And as much as I’d like to think we can all manage our calendars to prepare way in advance for high stakes opportunities, it just doesn’t happen. Waiting on deliverables from other team mates. Needing last minute approval – which inevitably means last minute changes and tweaks.

 

Pretty soon our 5 day prep time turns into 2 days … or 2 hours … or 20 minutes.

 

So what can you do when the clock is ticking, you’ve got a deadline, and you need to nail your presentation?

 

 

Here’s some advice for last minute prep…

 

Breath. Clear your mind for a few moments. Take a brief break. A frazzled mind is an unproductive one.

 

Prioritize two parts: the opening and the close. Nail those no matter what.

 

Get off script: Don’t try to memorize. I know you want to get all those good nuggets in (and maybe others are pressuring for those too) but very rarely can communicators pull off being engaging, authentic, and relaxed when they’re trying to speak verbatim to talking points.

 

Ultimately trust your ideas. Trust the quality of your work. Talk to the essence of your ideas instead of memorizing them.

 

Plan your transitions. Craft your transitions between ideas thoughtfully.

 

Don’t hustle. The success of this opportunity doesn’t define or reflect who you are and your worth. Don’t give the audience too much power.

 

In the end it’s about communicating brilliant ideas in a personable, relatable, and honest way. Don’t compromise those by pushing too much content or memorizing it.

 

I sent this advice, and well wishes, to my client. A few days later she sent an update: the prospective client said it was the best presentation he’d ever seen.

 

Don’t panic.
Prioritize!

 

Do you have other tips that help you when the pressure’s on? Please share!

 

 

 

 

Author: Jim Endicott, Founder of Distinction

 

Let me transport you back to 1984 for a moment…

Back then I was working for the largest presentation graphics service bureau in the world.  There was no PowerPoint.  No electronic projectors or wireless remote devices. And the idea of video, audio and music were still relegated to insanely expensive corporate videos.

The art of presenting… well, let’s just say it was in its formative years.

When people wanted presentation visuals for a big event, they typically brought in a stack of hand-scribbled pages of pie charts, bullet slides and idea illustrations.  My job… I had to somehow decode it all and assign it to a computer artist camped on a $50,000 computer graphic workstation.

And when my team had done their job (at $240/hr.), we delivered trays of 35mm slides or high resolution transparencies (foils) to the clients to the tune of $7,000-$10,000.  And God help the client who had the misfortune of spelling someone’s name wrong; it meant more console create time (at 200% rush charges), an E6 run for the slides and a courier to run the replacement slide across town!  Caa-ching.

Fast forward to today and it seems so much has changed…

Now, everyone can create presentations on their computers or tablets.

Presentations can be delivered ‘virtually’ around the planet.

A massive, media-rich presentation can fit on a tiny thumb drive.

And electronic projectors are the size of a pack of cigarettes.

 

But what about the flesh and blood presenter?  How have today’s presenters evolved to the next level of professionalism and the advice offered them?

A clue might be found in a USA Today article written recently to provide a little guidance for college students. The author identified some common complaints that must be avoided at all costs because of their prevalence in the business world today.

1. Reading each word of your slide show aloud.
2. Designing a distracting slide show.
3. Failing to make eye contact.
4. Speaking longer than necessary.

What the…?

If I asked my clients 30 years ago to name their top presenter complaints, guess what I would have heard?  Sadly, the very same stuff.  So it begs the question – if the tools around the presentation process have evolved so dramatically in the last three decades – why haven’t presenters?

Here are 3 reasons why and what needs to change soon.

1) Presenters still have no time to do things right.

The promise of technology always seems to come with the implied benefit of giving us time back in our lives.  Unfortunately, that never really happened with creating a presentation and magically we just expected PowerPoint to pick up more of the heavy lifting.

And if you’re like most companies, nearly all the preparation time for an important presentation is still spent just figuring out what’s going to be said and hammering out some slides.  And the skills to deliver the message in front of the room?  Untouched for decades.  Same issues.  Same audience frustrations.

Presenters need to develop a trusted support team to handle the more mechanical and creative details of presentation creation to free them up to do their part more effectively – confident and engaging execution of a well-internalized message.

 

2) Presenters aren’t often even sure what “right” should look like.

Just like a professional golfer’s caddy becomes key in offering timely advice that keeps them on top of their game, presenters desperately need people to help them make wise decisions about their presentation approaches too.

Presenters have always been the worst evaluators of their presentation skills. (A little inside info here…. my toughest clients are the executives who have been told for years how awesome they are when in reality… not so much.)

Presentation consultants (internal or external) can be your executive’s communication caddy if they are allowed to be.  It may just be time to get an objective set of eyes on the whole process, planning to delivery.  And executives, time to loosen your grip on the entire presentation process and rally some talent around you.

 

3) Presenters are still made out of the same stuff.

Fear is still a very primal instinct. Has been for a million years. Today, however, it’s not a T-Rex outside our cave that puts a lump in our throats, it’s a room full of eyes all fixed on you and the next words out of your mouth.

So is that emotion understandable these days?  Certainly.

But too often we’ve allowed the fear of presenting and the fear of change and self-examination to paralyze things that need to evolve.  Perhaps it’s time for executives and managers everywhere to suck it up and embrace the fact that what you say and how you say it matters.  It matters to the people counting on you.  It matters to important outcomes.  Good enough is no longer good enough.

It’s time to swallow your pride (and perhaps fear) and get some help.

____________________________

 

Maybe 30 years from now we’ll all be talking about how amazingly better presenters are  – but I really doubt it.

Just like I can count on Taylor Made who makes the driver in my golf bag to come up with a must-have ($400) enhancement every year, the fact is golf clubs will still always require someone to actually swing them.

And so will presentations.

Yes, a lot of changes have occurred since the early days of presenting. But it’s time to take our presentation game to the next level.  And that next step will not have anything to do with things that get plugged into a wall or run off a battery.

 

 

There are some things you can’t teach in the field of public speaking (which I hate to admit but it’s true).

 

Passion and commitment.

 

I can’t make people passionate about their ideas. If a presenter isn’t interested in what they’re saying, why should an audience?

 

I also can’t coach someone to be committed. Some clients come to training because it was mandated by a manager (okay, probably most of the time). But once in a while I get a client who wants to be great. They’re eager and committed because they want to be respected and influential.

 

Meet Fawn Weaver.

She oozes passion and commitment.

 

 

I was paired with Fawn as a speaker coach when she was asked to speak at TEDxPortland this year. She’s a strong, motivated, and successful woman (and now friend!).

 

Our 2 month journey was unique in preparing for TEDx.

 

Because we live in different states, we did all our coaching via Skype. We had to get creative.

In the coaching session captured above (my home office), Fawn was in Poland doing a book tour just 7 days before TEDx. Despite an 8 hour time difference, jet lag, and an insane schedule, Fawn committed to practice. What you can’t see in the picture above is her standing in the middle of a hotel room, making eye contact with objects strategically placed around the room, working out her delivery.

 

Fawn was already a phenomenal speaker. But she was committed to finding her ‘next level’. And it paid off.

 

On May 30th Fawn stood on the TEDx red carpet and challenged thousands of people (if not the whole darn world!) to have argument free relationships. With humor, story, and conviction, Fawn shared 3 practical ways to achieve a more happy marriage.

 

 

 

Watch Fawn’s passion in action here!

 

 

 

 

Author: Jim Endicott, Founder of Distinction

 

Most people bristle at that word… average.

Average customer service.  A movie that’s just ‘ok’.  Sushi that’s palatable. You’ve got to admit, none of these things sounds very appealing.

But when ‘average’ gets applied to the people who present to us, there can be a much more significant impact.  Great ideas never see the light of day.  Amazing products don’t get traction.  Promising careers flounder.  Leaders fail to inspire and next year’s budget proposal fails miserably to foster much buy-in from stakeholders.

In any discussion about getting through to the busy and distracted people in our lives, there seems to be one very important truth. The world is not a very rewarding place for those who are just average in their personal presentation skills.

So, how do you want to be perceived?

Here’s what we’ve most often heard when we’ve asked this question in our workshops.

Engaging.  Knowledgeable. Passionate.  Authentic. Trustworthy.
Believable.  Credible.   Memorable.  Competent.

We seem to get the same variation of these words nearly every time.  But the one word we have yet to hear in 20 years of asking the question,  I’d like to be… “average.”

Instinctively we know if we are to be one of the few voices people actually remember at the end of a very long day, it will most likely take a skill set that pushes us out of our old habits and our personal comfort zone.

So to help you on your own journey in this area, I want to offer up a bit of insight gleaned from having worked with Fortune 100 execs to small start-ups. Product managers to entry level sales people.

1) You need to have the kind of message that quickly establishes it’s relevance to people’s lives.  And although you think you have 30-minutes to make that case, don’t kid yourself.  Research shows you have just seconds for audiences to form a first impression of you and a fleeting few minutes to make your message stick in their busy hearts and minds.

People are forming 1st impressions, not in 5-10 minutes,
but 5-10 seconds.

Blink, Malcolm Gladwell. Nalini Ambady Research

 

2) Those messages often turn into some sort of visual illustration.  And for most people, that means PowerPoint. Follow your instincts here however (more must be more), and you’ll play right into audiences’ #1 complaint of presenters these days.

Together, messaging and visuals represent “what” we want to communicate.

 

3) Then we have your observable personal delivery skills – the “how” part of communication.  And for most presenters, that personal toolkit of skills has changed very little since your high school or college days.  Here old habits hang on for dear life.

Presenting has really evolved. Presenters… ahh, not so much.

But before you move on from this whole ‘how’ category, think back on the one-word perception exercise.  Do you see the connection?  Don’t miss it.

Nearly every word people typically use to describe how they want to be perceived has nothing to do with “what” you’re saying (think PowerPoint), but nearly always is a reflection of “how” you’re communicating those messages – the relational skills of interacting with an audience and the conduit for all you say.

 

Being the kind of presenter (and leader) who sets themselves apart as a strong communicator means we are intentional with all three areas but especially delivery. We avoid the temptation of autopilot presenting and we acknowledge the profound need to give up the mundane for the exceptional when it comes to how we present ourselves and our ideas.

But most of all, it takes a measure of courage to see yourselves through the eyes of your audience. No one likes seeing themselves on video, but as a tool for creating meaningful change to old presentation habits, it’s essential.

Maybe it’s time to aspire to something more than average.

 

Exploring your world:

Perceptions  – What list of perceptions would you and your team use for how you want others to perceive you?

What vs. how  – What % of your planning time is being invested in the what vs. how?

How  – How do your teams practically attempt to take your personal delivery skills to the next level?   How is it working for you?

 

My role as speaker coach and the moment I’ll remember forever
 

 

Adrenaline coursed through my veins as I snuck behind the heavy red velvet curtain, weaved my way down the hallway past the green room and entered the blackness of stage wing left. 

 

 

There she sat amidst the darkness, ropes, curtains, monitors, and headsets:  Karen Gaffney, a 35 year old swimmer athlete and motivational speaker (who happens to have Down Syndrome). I could see her mouth moving slowly, her hands gesturing in rhythm, as she was going through her talk one last time before walking into the spotlight before three thousand people and thousands more watching online with the LiveStream.

 

Karen and I were introduced a few months prior. She was asked to speak at TEDxPortland (thanks to Stephen Marc Beaudoin’s recommendation), one of the fastest growing well-produced TEDx organizations in the country (if not the world, but I may be slightly biased). I was tasked to be her speaker coach to help with content and delivery preparation.

 

You’d be surprised what goes into a 14 minute talk.

 

By my estimate, for every 1 minute of content there was 5 hours (at the very least) of prep behind it between Karen, her mother, myself, core team members David Rae, Stephen Marc Beaudoin and Sam Aaron Baker who provided additional direction and feedback, and Peter Adels who created Karen’s visuals . It takes a village and we all knew it was going to be worth it.

 

Because how often do you get a platform like a TED stage to inspire thousands?

 (David Rae -Chief Curator & Producer, Barb and Karen Gaffney, myself)

 

First step was nailing down content which proved to be the most intense part of the process for us. We started with this question: What do you want the audience to think or feel differently once you walk off that stage? This helped us flush out her one idea worth spreading.

 

Now I’m not a cook (ask my husband) but I imagine our process was a lot like developing a new recipe. Take a first stab and taste. Go back. Take out a portion. Edit another. Try again. Fine-tune, rearrange, reword and try again. Until it’s just right.

 

Unfortunately when we finally had a copy that felt authentic and just right, there were only 2 weeks left until the big day. It didn’t leave Karen much time to memorize the talk, a requirement of TED, but Karen is a rock star and memorized 14 minutes of content in one weekend.

 

Which created a new challenge: How do you make a scripted talk sound unscripted and conversational? 

 

 

 

We spent hours in a room with a video camera working out the delivery. I would videotape Karen practice a few minutes, we’d review, make adjustments and continue on. Her mother Barb was instrumental in the entire process but specifically in knowing how to push Karen to reach her greatest potential. It was a team effort. We worked on gestures, posture, eye contact, annunciations and pauses.

 

Don’t underestimate the mechanics of delivery! It can be the difference between good and amazing.

 

And that’s what Karen was; simply amazing. Not just when it mattered but throughout the entire process.

 

Including Friday May 29^th when she walked on the Keller Auditorium stage for the first time for rehearsal. Despite stage techs scurrying around, an empty auditorium, slide techs finding the rhythm with her visuals, and standing in the bright spotlight, Karen delivered her talk flawlessly. That’s when the adrenaline start pumping in my veins. The anticipation was electric and I was filled with jealousy. I was jealous of the people that would walk in tomorrow, sit in those chairs, and be wowed by Karen’s profound message for the first time.

 

On Saturday May 30^th  she did just that.

Karen Gaffney wowed everyone.

 

 

The second she walked out on stage approaching that iconic red circular TED rug, I ran out of the stage wing, back down the hallway and slid through the curtain into the auditorium to watch the magic happen. Several times during her talk I buried my head in hands. The joy was almost unbearable.

 

It was too good.

 

Too meaningful. Too moving. Too awesome to see all her hard work totally paying off. Fourteen minutes of boldness, humor, passion and conviction.

 

The moment the last word left her lips, the auditorium jumped to their feet in a standing ovation; tears streaming down hundreds of faces. I bolted back down the hall to welcome her off stage and whisper affirmations in her ear as a sound tech took off her microphone. Instantly my phone was buzzing; texts from my husband and friends in absolute awe of Karen Gaffney.

 

Being a part of something as pure as TEDx was humbling and inspiring. Working alongside brilliant dreamers and doers that make TEDxPortland happen was inspiring. Learning about Down Syndrome and new medical research was inspiring.

 

But the most inspiring moment for me in this whole process was watching the audience totally embrace Karen and her message that all lives matter.

 

Now that’s an idea worth spreading.

Watch it here.

 

 

 

 

Author: Jim Endicott, Founder of Distinction

 

Recently I had an opportunity to do some personal presentation skills coaching with Michael. That’s not his real name but his story could be your’s, your manager’s or maybe even your company president’s…

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Michael certainly made a very polished first impression as he walked in.  He was well groomed and very executive looking in his well-tailored suite. “Feel free to take off your jacket“, I told him.  He politely declined.

During the first 15-minutes with a new client, I always spend some time to try to understand who’s sitting in front of me.  I learned a long time ago, I’m never just working in the moment – I’m working with the sum total of someone’s life experiences; both good and bad, acknowledged and deeply buried.

“I wasn’t completely honest with you about setting up this time.” he continued. “And there was a reason I kept putting off this personal coaching time. Even the thought of presenting is terrifying to me and has been for as long as I can remember.”

Not much explanation was needed.  You see, I had experienced this many times before over the years…

  ————————————————–

During one coaching session – a senior executive recalls an extreme presentation embarrassment 50 years earlier as he stood in front of his 6th grade class… everyone laughing.

After a speaking gig, an attractive young senior account rep. in a large PR firm pulls me aside and asks about her incapacitating fear in front of clients.  “I completely freeze up“, she confides.  “What’s happening to me?”

Then out of the blue a few years back, a senior officer in a large company calls me looking for some insight into his debilitating anxiety when presenting to his Board – other presentation settings were never an issue.  His coping mechanism?  Zanxas for the anxiety and avoidance whenever possible.

 ————————————————–

We are all the sum total of our life experiences.

I find few people who relish presenting, but for most they find a way to cope, some surviving the moment at best. For others however, the pressure of an important presentation brings back old tapes, deeply internalized embarrassments, harsh words or confidence that has been systematically dismantled over decades by the relationship with a parent.

And it’s precisely these moments that I realize that no matter how good I may be as a personal presentation coach, I am woefully inadequate in untangling issues that have ensnared people for most of their lives.

————————————————-

So my counsel to them and maybe you is pretty much the same…

I can help them work on the outside and very visible manifestations of their fear.  But for the stuff on the inside – they owe it to themselves to better understand what’s going on – if for no other reason than to live a more fulfilling life.  One that isn’t metered by fear and anxiety.

So whether you’re simply a survivor of anxiety or have never turned the corner on overwhelming fear, know this…. personal victories in this area can and do happen.

I’ve seen breakthroughs change people’s life through a partnership of a coach and clinician  – all focused on helping an individual overcome the things they fear most. Deeply held anxiety slowly mitigated not only by meaningful insight, but also a client seeing with their own eyes a more confident, polished presenter on the video playback in front of them.

They can’t believe it’s them.  Old tapes slowly rewritten.  Self-defeating scripts joyfully discarded. Confidence blossoming.

  ————————————————–

And most of us have experienced this important truth – avoidance is not a very successful strategy.  Because presenting our thoughts and ideas to others will be something we will be asked to do the rest of our lives. And there simply aren’t enough places to hide.

So, if this blog strikes a little close to home for you… maybe it’s time to go to “baggage” claim.  Check your tag carefully.   And finally find someone to help you carry it all to the curb.

 

 

 

Author: Jim Endicott, Founder of Distinction

 

On the surface, this request doesn’t sound too unreasonable….

Probably because so many training organizations today are still working with budgets cut back years ago. (Unfortunately, push comes to shove… training dollars are too often low on a list of organizational priorities.)  And to get the most bang for every training dollar, there seems to be a concerted effort to train the greatest number of people – in the shortest amount of time – and with the greatest impact on the organization.

And if I were in their shoes, I’d probably be trying to do the same thing.

But those in organizational development and training groups also have a unique problem.  At some point, to justify the dollars spent, someone somewhere is going to be asking about the actual results that training is producing.  And is it changing the individual and organization in a way that impacts the bottom line?

There in lies the challenge.

You see, improving the performance and personal impact of another human being is never about checking a box in an employee file.  It’s all about outcomes.  Were behaviors actually changed and will that change last into the future? Are there post-training tools in place to continue the reinforcement of the skills?  And how do you weigh the relative business value of one skill set over another one?

It creates difficult choices.

Should I put 25 people into a computer lab and teach them how to use Excel pivot tables at $150 each or 200 people on a webinar for almost nothing?  How about learning PowerPoint for half a day or better understanding personality styles?   How do you prioritize all the tough choices?

Look for the skills that influence most other core competencies.

I suspect that’s the reason why so many training and OD teams often identify presentation skills coaching and training as a critical focus for employee growth. So with that premise in mind, how can they deploy that skill building initiative across the enterprise?

 ____________________________

So back to the question that started all this, what medium is most effect at creating real change?

Can someone make you a better presenter in a large group seminar or virtual webinar setting in just an hour or two?  Seems like that promise is being made all the time but is it really possible?

The simply answer would be almost never and for this reason.

People spend decades creating their pattern of personal communication. And that often includes bad habits, outdated approaches and deeply entrenched misconceptions about the process itself.  And a 1-2 hour seminar can’t change that fact.  No more than you can change any other deeply ingrained behavior in one experience.

If the world actually worked that way… I would watch an extra hour of golf on Sunday afternoon to improve my game or jump in on a webinar to learn to sing better.  We all instinctively know – not much would change.

Changing what we know vs. changing what we do.

If you want to create real and meaningful change in someone’s foundational communication skills and make it stick so it’s there next week and next month, 20 years of experience has taught me this is what must happen…

• Get a person up on their feet in front of their peers. (Learn to manage the anxiety we all feel in those moments)
• Experience videotaped feedback of how you present today. (See yourself through the eyes of others)
• Learn how changing a few small things can make a big difference.  (Experience success, don’t just observe it)
• Participate in that process with others. (Build a circle of ongoing accountability)

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I think the late Maya Angelou had it right….

“People will rarely remember what you had to say – but they will always remember how you made them feel.”

And there’s nothing like the feeling of taking someone’s fear of presenting and turn it into a rousing round of group applause at the end of a coaching day as they move from being just another painfully average presenter – to being an amazingly good communicator.

That’s the kind of professional development that can alter the trajectory of someone’s personal career and maybe even a life.

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Author: Jim Endicott, Founder of Distinction

 

PowerPoint gets blamed for a lot of things these days… tedium, eye strain, mind-numbing boredom, maybe even a case of mild indigestion after lunch.  But a recent review of GM’s internal communication processes by former US Attorney Anton Valuka, suggested that the use of PowerPoint may have been complicit in something far worse.

The report speculates that GM car owners may have actually died because important issues around ignition switch failures were often obscured in a sea of slides being used to brief management.

Did PowerPoint Ruin GM? – Wall Street Journal, June 6, 2014

Here were some of the report’s finding.

First, the use of PowerPoint in meetings and management briefings was pervasive at GM.  Doing a presentation to management?  Bring a laptop and a presentation deck. Updating an internal project team?  Break out a parade of bullet slides.

Another issue was the heavy use of back-up slides.  These are supplemental decks of slides that were kept handy just in case a manager needed to augment their content at the request of management in the room.

And finally, when those in responsibility looked back after a dozen customer deaths and a government probe,  the blame game offered up universal disagreement by presentation attendees about what was actually presented and what was left in the back-up slide decks.  No one could remember for sure.

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If this sounds vaguely familiar, it should.  The vast majority of companies today embrace a very similar culture. PowerPoint is often the medium of choice for communicating internally and often is wedged between those with information and ideas and those needing to make important decisions based on them.

So are there any lessons we can glean from this tragic set of circumstances?

Maybe.

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1) Any given presentation may make a hundred small points – what are your big ones?

The responsibility of forging understanding is not a PowerPoint responsibility.  It falls squarely on the shoulders of every communicator to distill down all the things that could be said to the things that need to be said.

And too few presenters use the final moments of a presentation to serve up key summary statements in a clear, simple way.  Not a 5-minute closing monologue, rather a select few things that are essential to group understanding – 1-minute tops.

 

2) Management often makes this problem worse.

Senior leaders themselves often reinforce a culture of using slides with indiscernible layers of content.  So is it any wonder their direct reports do the same?

Or in meetings, a senior manager drives the direction of a presentation in a way the presenter had not prepared for.  Whether this happens because they don’t trust the presenter’s unique perspective or simply trust their own more, the results are often the same.  The things that need to get communicated – often are not.

Maybe the lesson here is that leaders at times must simply limit the scope of critical conversations and always create environments where presenters feel like they can be truth-tellers.   (Ironically in the GM example, the fact that people had actually died was buried in a deck of back-up slides.)

 

3) When projectors turn on – brains turn off.

Something happens when a projector turns on in a meeting.

We often see attendees sit back in their chairs, check their smart phones and jump in and out of conversations.  Perhaps throwing PowerPoint out, as some suggest, is a bit of an overreaction but there is a point to be made.  Setting limits on the percentage of time that PowerPoint occupies in a meeting and how much time is spent in critical discussion might have real merit.

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It’s hard to know the real role presentation visuals played in the deaths of 13 GM car owners but one thing is clear.  The excessive use of PowerPoint (or any other presentation software today) can get in the way of meaningful human interaction.

And would this have all turned out differently, the Wall Street Journal writer speculates, if someone’s presentation had only one important point to be made…

People died!

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Author: Jim Endicott, Founder of Distinction

 

So here’s the setting…

Standing in the wings, a nervous entrepreneur has an idea.  And it’s not that they’re just looking at it as a quick path to personal wealth, but it also seems a part of their DNA – to create something from nothing.

But they have a problem… not enough cash to make their dream a reality and they need to get more of the stuff from probably the most intimidating audience they’ll ever encounter… venture capitalist.  You see, those investor’s motivation is rarely altruistic.  It has everything to do with making money…. lots of it and with deal leverage that feels like your children, dog and golf clubs may be included.

What I’m describing here  is one of the most highly-rated TV shows going – The Shark Tank.

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So let’s see if we have our arms around this high-pressure presentation scenario.

• The stakes are huge
• They only have moments to make their case – not hours
• The message has to be crystal clear and uniquely solve a problem
• There are no do-overs – they have one shot
• And their audience sits through pitches every day and they need to stand out!

Humm… this situation sounds vaguely familiar. It seems to also describe the vast majority of the presentation scenarios each one of us find ourselves in on a regular basis.  And if it’s not related to funding or budgets, it most likely has something to do with your career, reputation or influence with important people.

So how can you best leverage your shark tank scenarios in real life?   Three simple ideas for you….

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1) If you aren’t connecting with real issues in seconds – then you lose.

Think about it, budgets are allocated to address needs.  New products to solve problems.  Company policy changes to address potential issues or partner planning presentations to improve on last year’s challenges.  Just about every presentation these days has something to do with addressing needs or issues in some way, shape or form.

Here’s a model to heighten engagement with the sharks in your life… (with an actual Shark Tank example – The Inventioneers)

Set expectations  –  “We’re here to ask for $100k for 20% of our company”

Pain   –  “Distracted driving is a major concern for most families”

Effect  –  “Over 18 children die every day in car accidents”

Need   –  So how can we raise the focus of teenage drivers to distracted driving?

Solution   –  The Smart Wheel!

Benefits  –  “Colored lights on the steering wheel alert the driver. Parents are notified via text when unsafe driving is detected”

Differentiation  – Today we only have a child’s promise they will be careful

Validation  –  “And we are currently in negotiation with major car companies…”

Close  –  “Partner with us so we can save lives and you can make money”

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2) If you aren’t passionate about your idea – don’t expect others to be.

I understand not everyone is wired with the high energy gene – but people rarely engage with others who don’t appear to be enthusiastic about their own idea.  I guarantee you that many of the inventors coming to the Shark Tank were probably not cheerleaders in high school but that changes nothing. They practiced at least the perception of passion and had to reach down deep and find a way to convey enthusiasm.

For you, find someone to be your ‘passion barometer’.  We are our own worst measuring stick for this attribute and need to use others to honestly tell us… I’m just not getting very excited about this idea because you’re just not there yet either.

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3) The perception of confidence can be learned.

Confidence is infectious.  And those who appear confident and comfortable in their own skin put us at ease too. Unfortunately, there are many people we encounter every day who look anxious and uncomfortable and sometimes it’s just plain hard to listen to them much less buy into their idea or plan.

Well, the good news is that there are very specific skills that can be learned to convey the perception of confidence – even though there may be a great deal of turmoil going on inside you.  (Only you know that)  This starts with keeping your head up…. eyes engaged and making the complex simple for others to understand.

To do a deeper dive on this third idea, check out my blog, The Art and Science of Confidence. It will blow your mind and perhaps give you some hope for the future.

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There’s a reason the Sharp Tank is one of the most popular shows on TV.

We admire those who have the courage to take a chance in the tank.  We’re fascinated by their ideas and how simply they explain them.  And when they succeed and get some money for their ideas, we share just a little bit in their success.

So take on your Shark Tank this week!  Make the complexities of your message so simple people can understand your idea in seconds. Keep that head up and help others get caught up in your enthusiasm . Those are the things that make the difference  between being heard… or quickly forgotten in a sea of other voices.

Don’t just survive in your personal shark tank… thrive in it.

 

Author: Jim Endicott, Founder of Distinction

 

 

 

Could you persuade someone to donate a quarter of a million dollars in 120 seconds?

 

 

Last year one of our clients was in this situation. He shared his story with me last week while I was leading a workshop for his nonprofit staff.

 

Here’s the backstory. The nonprofit director was rejected multiple times by this prospective donor, a local senior business executive. Not just rejected, but he was told very frankly by the executive that meeting was a waste of time.

 

With persistence, the nonprofit director sent out a final hail mary:

“Give me 15 minutes of your time. The first 10 minutes you can tell me all the reasons you don’t want to donate and the last 5 minutes I get to share with you what we’re all about.”

 

Miracle number one: A meeting was scheduled.

When the time came, the executive shared his disdain for nonprofits that don’t actually fix problems- organizations that don’t offer holistic long-term solutions. The nonprofit director sat respectfully, honoring his commitment to listen for 10 minutes.

 

But 10 turned into 13 and now he only had 2 minutes – 120 seconds – to make his case.

 

In those 120 seconds he passionately shared about how the nonprofit met the gritty, deep and complex needs of the homeless. Shelter, food, mentoring, resources for addicts, long-term housing, training…

 

So let me ask you the quarter-million dollar question:

How well can you articulate your value?

 

To the prospective client that’s been in the pipeline for years? To the venture capitalists  in your final round of crowd funding for your new business? To your manager, or their manager, or their manager? Maybe you’re not raising funds. Maybe it’s an new idea, a new product, or a potential partnership.

 

Could you effectively persuade them in 120 seconds?

 

Here’s the two-minute game plan:

1.Clearly articulate your value.

How is your solution fixing a problem or filling a need?

 

2. Clearly articulate how your solution is better than others.

Differentiate yourself from competitors! Know why you’re the better solution.

 

3. Be passionate.

Your audience is perceptive. If you lack conviction and passion, they will too.

 

 

And in 120 seconds, miracle number two happened.

 

The demeanor of the executive changed. His skepticism faded, expression warmed, and he thanked the nonprofit director for coming.

 

Weeks later they got a check for $250,000.
Miracle number three.

 

Truth is, these aren’t really miracles. The nonprofit director’s persistence, passion, and ability to articulate the value of his organization sealed the deal.

 

For a relevant podcast about mastering the ‘elevator pitch’, click here.

Do you have a similar story?
Share it by commenting below!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Author: Jim Endicott, Founder of Distinction

 

Probably one of the most attractive and arguably influential attributes of any communicator we observe is their personal confidence.

Sometimes it’s a quiet and understated confidence yet we get a strong impression of someone who is very comfortable in their own skin.  Other times, confidence is more palpable, it’s bigger and bolder and seems to fill a room.

But no matter what form it takes, those who possess this secret sauce of influence find their ideas seem to have greater velocity… more traction, and they create the strong impression they can handle just about anything that comes their way.

 

Yet if we’re honest, we would probably all agree not everyone possesses confidence in equal measure and sometimes it’s just plain hard to watch when it’s sadly lacking.

 

The art of confidence-building.

Nowhere is the need for this attribute more evident than when our coaches are preparing managers, executives and organizational leaders to deliver an important presentation.

To be honest, elevating an individual’s perceived confidence level is actually a very straight forward process.  And presentation coaches have been selling this ability for a hundred years.

So let me distill it down to two simple skills for you…

If I only had 30-minutes to make someone appear more confident, I’d work specifically on what they’re doing with their eyes and hands.  When a communicator’s eyes are evasive, drop to the floor or search the ceiling tiles for their next thought, there is a clear sense of an underlying uncertainty in what they are communicating.  And when their hands are wringing nervously in front of them, they unwittingly send the message they are anxious or perhaps uncomfortable despite their claim to be “glad they’re there.”

When we can keep the executive’s eyes up and engaged and their posture open and with larger gestures, we can greatly enhance perceptions of confidence in a relatively short amount of time.

 

So here’s where the science kicks in and why we should care...

 

In October 2012, social scientist Amy Cuddy delivered a compelling presentation to a TED Talks audience. And her research would give us all some interesting insight into the biochemical process of confidence.  Here’s what she and her fellow researcher discovered.

During the course of their study, they observed groups of MBA students and were able to quickly identify the outward expressions of confidence (or the lack of) in their test groups and it most often showed up in their general body language.

Those who appeared confident displayed large, open posture along with more demonstrative gestures. For those who appeared less confident, their body language was more collapsed, they had smaller gestures and were more tentative in their expression.  And their apparent influence with the group was noticeably reduced.

 

The intersection of art and science.

 

They found those who communicated with larger, more open body language (perceived confidence) had clearly elevated levels of testosterone – the “dominance hormone” and a very low level of cortisol – the “stress hormone.”  Conversely, the less-confident looking group consistently had lower testosterone levels and greatly elevated levels of cortisol.

So if there are chemical indicators inside us, what came first – the confidence or the chemical?

To answer this question, they brought in additional study groups and assigned each of them different body postures to emulate for 5-minutes; a high-power pose (think wonder woman hands on hips) and a low-power pose (smaller, seated positions with collapsed posture).

Then both groups were measured by their willingness to gamble – a clear risk-taking behavior requiring some confidence.  Those who practiced the power-pose were significantly more likely to gamble. And the low-power posers?  You guessed it – considerably less likely. And when their hormone levels were tested, the high-power posers showed elevated levels of testosterone and lowered levels of cortisol.  And the low power-posers – just the opposite.

In other words, their physical posture for 5-minutes directly impacted their biochemical hormone levels and ultimately their outward, observable behaviors. So what does this mean to us?

 

The art and science of confidence are two sides of the same coin and can powerfully combine to create change in you.

 

I suppose you could practice power-poses before your next big presentation. But for more meaningful and lasting change, more is needed.  So here’s my advice… find a good presentation coach for you and your team.

When you go through quality presentation skills training and are coached into more confident-appearing skill behaviors (eyes, hands, movement) – you are actually doing so much more than simply reinforcing rote physical behaviors.  If Amy Cuddy is right, you’re also altering body chemistry through the mere physical process – a change that can help your new level of confidence become an ever-increasing reality for you.

But the thing about personal change (in any category), it’s more indelible when it happens both on the inside and outside of us.  Not just chemical processes or skill building,  but also our deepest thoughts about who we are and what we can and want to become.  That’s where personal change truly begins.

And perhaps the most important point of all is knowing that it’s possible to do something that yesterday felt impossible. To deliver a presentation we never thought we could – stand up for something we didn’t think we had the courage to confront – or try something new or scary just because.

We usually just need to find the tools to help us get there…

 

 

Author: Jim Endicott, Founder of Distinction

 

I remember my first big speaking engagement with the International Association of Business Communicators.  It took place over a decade ago in Vancouver, BC Canada and like any trip across the border – it involved a brief chat with a uniformed agent in the customs booth.

What would happen next would remind me once again about one of the most important presentation skills we can master…

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As I stood patiently in line behind a hundred foreign exchange students, my mind began to wander through my opening comments in a few short hours.  My goal with this large group…  be intentional about making a very personal connection.  This can seem like a daunting task at times.

But suddenly I was shaken out of my thoughts by a rather foreboding customs official giving me their well-practiced “come now” gesture. I slid my documents through the window and then it happened.  The same thing that has happened dozens of times before but somehow my awareness level had been elevated in that moment.

Her eyes came up… met mine… and then she began to ask me some questions.  (A few seconds felt like an eternity)  And in those moments I came face-to-face with one of her most practiced and job-essential skill sets – discerning truthfulness.  She was a trained professional in the art.  She didn’t look at my hands.  She didn’t see if my feet were shuffling.  She looked me straight in the eyes.

We may not be professionally trained at this lie-detector skill, but we’ve come by it quite naturally – every one of us.  And over the thousands of times we’ve asked our workshop attendees how they discern trust and believability in someone they’re seeing for the first time – the #1 most consistent answer… through the presenter’s eyes.

[A great case study…. observe Lance Armstrong’s eyes during his Oprah interview]  Watch 5:38… “And I am sorry for that.”  Really?

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And why should you care if from time to time your eyes seem to bounce around the room?  Because at the heart of every important communication opportunity is this very simple truth…

If someone cannot trust you, why should they trust what you have to say?

In my 20 years of personal coaching, there are typically 4 reasons people struggle with this very important foundational skill….

1. We’re creatures of habit and it takes less mental (and personal) energy to simply scan a room. It also helps us stay in our own heads to get the message right.
2. Sometimes a bad experience or a result of unhealthy human interactions greatly impact someone’s personal comfort level.
3. Simple brain mechanics are in play as a presenter’s eyes disengage (drop to the floor) as their brain buys time to think what’s coming next (usually accompanied by a series of umms or ahhs).
4. Cultural issues can cause eyes to drop as a sign of respect – but carry a very different perception in North America.

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Although these are all very real issues, the people on the other end of your presentations only know what they perceive in that moment.  Your personal history, bad experiences or even cultural upbringing really don’t matter. All they know is something doesn’t feel right.

And at the heart of most of these habits is a ‘presentation mode’ we’ve forged over decades. Well-entrenched. Deeply ingrained. And over time they feel like a comfortable pair of shoes.

Gone  is the warm, engaging eye contact we may have exhibited with others in our offices (or Starbucks) minutes earlier.  We become instantly detached in front of a group.  Mechanical.  And our evasive eyes send messages our audience must now struggle to reconcile.

Here’s one simple piece of advice….

Turn every presentation opportunity into a series of 1-on-1 conversations no matter what the group size; communicating to one set of eyes for 3-4 seconds, then another… then another.

For a great example of this skill, check out a Ted Talks video of Jane McGonigal. Although she’s presenting to an audience of hundreds, her great eye communication makes it a personal and engaging experience for her audience… and we trust her and what she has to say to us.

 

You see…. without trust, you have no influence.  Without trust there is no relationship.  Without trust you have no chance to persuade or inspire.  And trust is built first and foremost through our eyes.

Now you know why it’s the one critical presentation skill that anchors them all. How are you doing?

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There’s nothing like traveling across the globe to appreciate how easy it is to communicate at home!

 

Especially in such a foreign place like Kigali, Rwanda, Africa.

Two weeks ago I did a communications training for 50 Rwandan pastors via translator in Kigali. It was going to be my first experience using a translator. I had some anxiety, to say the least.

 

Would he understand my content enough to translate well?

Would it be hard to pause every few words so he could translate? And would that make me lose my train of thought?

Would I use American phrases that don’t translate well, or even worse, he translates literally?

 

I met Joseph, my translator, a few minutes before the training began. Not ideal.

But I’m happy to report the training went better than I could have imagined!

 

Here’s what I think contributed to our success and thus my tips for you:

 

1. Send the translator your content ahead of time. The person that helped coordinate the training for me had sent Joseph my content ahead of time. He knew the gist of what I was going to share before we started. We were on the same page!
2. Pick a translator with specific knowledge. Joseph had taken public speaking courses through his Masters education. My concepts made sense to him, therefore he could elaborate if needed. I trusted him because of his knowledge and humility. I only learned of his training that morning, so it was a nice surprise. More accurately, a real blessing!
   
3. Augment your already-practiced pauses. Using pauses was a familiar discipline to me already (something I practice every time I communicate with an audience), so I just made my pauses a tad longer so he could translate. If I wasn’t comfortable with pauses before this training, it would have been more difficult to keep my train of thought.
4. Be consistent in how long you share between pauses. We found an easy groove right away. I was consistently stopping about half way through a thought or idea so he could translate. Because I was doing this consistently, he could anticipate when to speak. There was no talking over each other or accidently interrupting each other.
5. Stay connected with the audience. When someone had a question, I made effort to maintain eye contact with them, even nodding my head, before turning to Joseph for a translation. Even though I wasn’t understanding them in the moment, I wanted them to see nonverbal communication that ‘said’ I was interested in what they were saying.
6. Be flexible and don’t take things too seriously. There were times when people laughed and I’m not sure why.  !?!?!  I never assumed it was rude, so I waited a few moments as everyone got their chuckles in, sometimes joining in myself because it was comical to not know what was going on,  then I continued on. Sometimes the communication process, especially across cultures and with translators, can be comical. Go with it! Never assume it’s negative.
7. Be appreciative. If it’s hard to speak through a translator all day, it must be hard to listen to someone through a translator all day. There must be patience with the process. Show appreciation towards your translator (publicly thanking them) but also to your audience for enduring the other side of the process as well. Showing gratitude is valued in all cultures. Be grateful!

 

What a great day it was for me personally! It was a fun surprise to hear pastors ask the same exact questions we get in the States during the delivery skills training. What if I have a podium? Or a microphone? What if I don’t have much space to move?  How validating to observe these communication skills transcend cultures, even drastically different ones.

The truth is, we all value communicating with confidence and we all appreciate passionate communicators.

 

To date we’ve done segments of our training in Dubai, the UK, Guatemala, and now Africa. And the results are the same. People are inspired, appreciative, and have specific tools to help them become better communicators.

 

So whenever your next, or first, global opportunity is, go with confidence!

 

 

 

 

 

Sweaty hands.
Racing heartbeat.
Perspiration.
Shaky voice.

 

Sound familiar?

 

Most people have these reactions when speaking in front of a group. You’re not the only one!

I’m frequently asked what to do about these nerves, so here are my tips:

 

– Be practiced.  This is the most effective tip! Don’t wing presentations. Of course that will make you nervous. Know your content. And take the time to practice your delivery (it matters more than you know, and it shows)!

 

– Wear good deodorant, and maybe even reapply before your presentation. No one wants to worry about that while they’re speaking.

 

– Stake out your spot. Whether it’s a stage, conference room, or classroom, get comfortable in your setting before people arrive. Notice where the chairs are, how much space you have to move up front, and make sure you do a tech check if you’re using a mic or technology.

 

– Take deep breaths before you begin. Take several. This will help slow your heart rate down, which will help eliminate voice quivers or talking too nervously/fast.

 

– Don’t go in ‘presentation mode’. Consider your presentation a series of one-on-one conversations with people in your audience, like you’re sharing information with them over coffee at Starbucks.  This will appear more comfortable and conversational and feel less intimidating to you as a speaker.

 

– Don’t hold notes. Put them on a podium or table nearby. If your hands shake, no one will know! Even better, practice gestures in your presentation that utilize your hands instead of hiding them.

 

– Have a water bottle positioned near you while you speak. If you feel you’re getting off topic or down a rabbit trail (or God forbid you forgot what to say next), pause and take a sip of water while collecting your thoughts. Then continue strong. Your audience members won’t mind.

 

When you’re feeling anxious about your next presentation or speaking opportunity, remember that your audience wants you to succeed.

 

Be prepared. Shake out those nerves. And be yourself!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Author: Jim Endicott, Founder of Distinction

 

Caught any of the debates lately?

Within hours of those events, fact check websites across the country start the process of sorting fact from fiction.  Personally, I really like the little meters so many seem to have that rate a statement from a politician from True (a rating seldom seen) to Pants on Fire.

No matter what your political persuasion may be, on any given day you’re likely to find some politician skirting the edge of accuracy if not downright misleading the American people with facts and figures.

“Facts” have too often become the currency of misdirection.

I’m not sure if we take all the statistics thrown at us as gospel (unless it happens to be your favorite candidate), but what we’ve unfortunately come to accept is that white lies, statistical slight-of-hand, half-truths and outright deception using data are too often the norm.  Bottom line… people can screw with numbers to make just about any case.

So how do those perceptions rub off on us as presenters?

Whether we like it or not, our audiences have been tainted with a general skepticism towards communicated data.  Remember when we were encouraged to start a presentation with an interesting fact or statistic?   Now research suggests we might be better off finding a new opener.

Statistics simply don’t automatically forge believability these days. So maybe it’s time to start earning your audience’s trust the old fashioned way – by building relationship.

Here are some things that can help. A healthy dose of personal transparency. The ability to communicate shared experiences effectively. And a vulnerability that can admit when you don’t have all the answers.

First and foremost, the art of presenting is a relational skill, not a technical one.

The most riveting and astounding statistics won’t do you much good if people hesitate to accept them at face value.  Unless you’re one of the faithful, trust always comes before belief – a lesson politicians of all stripes need to learn and soon – and maybe us too.

Exploring your world:

Augment data with personal stories.

When you find yourself using metrics to make your point, you’re appealing to the most defense-intensive side of the brain. Augment key data points with a relevant and personal (if possible) backstory. This redirects thinking to the brain’s right side and helps your data have a more meaningful relational context.

Build trust by being yourself.

Your audiences are general very gracious with honest imperfections.

But a singular focus on ‘just being yourself’ does not absolve you from working on some good, solid skills. People will embrace authenticity over polished delivery – to a point. Cross over that line at your own risk.

Your believability is at its strongest when verbal and non-verbal impressions nicely align around a warm, engaging personality.

Build trust by looking at people – not past or through them.

For many politicians today, creating the perception of authenticity has been refined to an art form. But the pressure of the moment often reveals cracks in this facade. Watch the eyes.  They will often disengage as the mind scrambles for the “right” answer.

Unfortunately, that can happen to you and me too. Not because we’re being deceitful, but because our brain is racing to keep up. Maybe we’re not as prepared as we should be. Or perhaps racing too quickly because of too much content delivered in too little time.

The problem, unfortunately, is nervous eyes leave too much room for interpretation.

Working on stronger eye communication (again, think 3-4 second conversations) greatly enhances a presenter’s perceived confidence and their believability skyrockets. Slow down.  Stay in the moment.

Build trust by setting expectations and deliver on what you promised.

If your presentation is advertised as 30 minutes, never take 40. You promised to give them 3 tips?  Do it with absolutely clarity. You said a change would be discussed? Don’t come with your mind made up. Do what you say you’re going to do. People remember.

So how do we boil this all down?

Be realistic about the impact of using of statistics in communicating ideas. Give numbers flesh and blood reality through storytelling.  And let genuine trust – built the old fashion way – be the hallmark of your personal communication style.

 

Author: Jim Endicott, Founder of Distinction

 

Imagine for a moment I hid a set of keys for a new Lexus in one of those personal storage lockers at Portland International Airport.  And all you had to do is find the specific door, put in the key and it’s all yours!

My job?  I just had to explain to you how to get you there through the busy and crazy distracting environment of an international airport.

It’s not that I want to make it hard for you to find – to the contrary – I really want you to find it. But we may have a challenge… I like to use words to explain things.. lots of them.

Show you a map…. you get it.  Give you turn-by-turn (bullet-by-bullet) set of instructions and… well your Lexus may be waiting for a while in the parking lot.

This metaphoric dilemma is what presentation audiences experience every day of the week. If they didn’t know better, they just might suspect you were working overtime to make sure there was no way they could possibly “get” the really important stuff you intended for them.

The problem?  You’ve been ruminating with that message and slide deck for weeks. They have mere seconds to figure it out.

Desiring to communicate so much… we often end up giving audiences nothing at all.

We’ve come a long way in being able to put together a presentation – yet in some ways have not progressed very far at all. Despite our enhanced ability pan-zoom, add video, present virtually and choose from a massive array of shape effects, we’ve lost track of our prime directive.

(Seek to ‘do no harm’ comes to mind but perhaps there’s something even more important.)

At the end of the time you’ve been given… after all the collective hours of invested effort and energy… and at the conclusion of precious time invested by your audience … they must remember.

This is where we too often let them down.  We think software features = recall.  They don’t.  We believe graphical embellishments create message clarity… they cannot. And it often appears the process itself has become more important than the outcome.

_____________________

So consider this personal challenge…

What if your personal compensation for the entire month was dependent one single thing?

Here it is.  If those sitting in on your next presentation could remember and repeat back a simple few points they believed you wanted to get across, you got paid.  If they couldn’t agree – your check went into a drawer until they could.

Miss a single check and what might your next presentation look like?

I’m guessing if presentations were truly outcome-based, your visuals would get amazingly simple. And those dozens of points you previously wanted to communicate?  They would somehow refine themselves down to a few crisp ideas illustrated in simple ways. And the close?  A single word or two on screen, reinforced and related to their lives.

I will leave you with a few simple things that might help…

• Set Clear Expectations on slide #1 and deliver on your promise.
  Where are you taking them and what’s the prize at the end of the journey?

• Make the Path Simple & Straight
  Create a simple closing slide next which becomes the litmus test for all you will say. And be clear how the journey relates to the prize.
• Let Your Audience Know When They’ve Arrived
  Many presentations seem to end because they ran out of slides. In the simplest of terms and in the briefest amount of time, conclude your presentation by serving them up on a platter a few simple things you want them to remember and why.   Simple. Crisp.  Straight-forward.

Ok, so I don’t really have Lexus waiting for you at the Portland airport and there is no locker with a key. But the point is hopefully crystal clear. Don’t make it hard for your audience to walk away with something important.  Clear away the visual and messaging obstacles to absolute message clarity. And most of all…

Remember why you’re there in the first place.

 

Author: Jim Endicott, Founder of Distinction

 

As the months have unfolded since Steve Jobs death in October 2011, one thing we’ve all become painfully aware of is that our legacies are not really written the day we depart this world, they’re written paragraph by paragraph, chapter by chapter every day of our lives.  The choices we make, the conversations we have, the relationships we invest in (and the ones we don’t), all transcribed only to be published for all to see when we’re finally gone.

Words like… creative, passionate , innovative, visionary, prodigy and many more have been used to describe Jobs and these things were no doubt part of the DNA of the man…  but another back story has emerged as well.

At the time of Jobs’ death, biographer Walter Isaacson was discussing with a network news anchor the 2-year interview process that culminated in this 657-page exploration of the man behind Apple.  When Isaacson asked Steve Jobs why he wanted him to write the book, one of his compelling reasons was he “wanted his kids to know who he was”.

Yes, he was brilliant.  Yes, he was one of the most visionary leaders we will probably see in our life times.  But no, he wasn’t around his kids much growing up and the time to make it right was over.

I never met the man but based on the last reported moments of his life, I doubt his final thoughts were of disappointment over not seeing the Apple product road map play out farther.  Or of not seeing a new feature set in the next iPad release.  I suspect at that very moment, those things were pretty unimportant and paled in significance to the people who were now gathered around him.

_________________________

As I reflected on his life again this week, a friend, Tim McGarry, came to mind.  He was a guy I worked with years ago.  Shortly after I left the company we worked at, I heard he had developed inoperable brain cancer.  Although chemo had robbed him of his hair, it never robbed him of his perspective. As a dozen or so of us gathered one evening to be an encouragement to Tim, he caught us all off guard with these words…

“I’m the luckiest man in the world”

Our jaws dropped.  I’m sure he saw that.  But our momentary shock was quickly addressed as he continued…   “It’s not that I’m looking forward to the months ahead, but for right now… at this moment, I know what’s important in my life. My priorities are all perfectly aligned. And I want that for all of you here tonight.”

Tim would die less than 6 months later. But he taught us an important lesson. Life is short… maybe shorter than you know.  And it makes me think, what will I be thinking about in my last days?

We’ve all benefited from Steve Jobs amazing creativity – but if I were one of his kids, I just might be thinking the price on an iPhone or iPad was much too high.  They had all the privileges of success, but I’m guessing there were days they just wanted their dad around.

You and I… we still have choices that can be made.  Priorities that can be altered and schedules that can be cleared, if only for a few hours to make that ball game or music recital.

Start writing the legacy you want to leave.

 

 

Author: Jim Endicott, Founder of Distinction

 

It was the opening 5-minutes of my third keynote…

and I felt it was important to create a “moment”. Not because I understood the mechanics of doing that but because in a recent survey of their sales counterparts, there was a gaping hole between the stakes associated with some very specific skills (personal communication) and the feedback they felt they were receiving.  Here’s what I shared with the 450 sales professionals …

88.8% of those in their company who had responded indicated…

“Communicating with a solid level of clarity and confidence directly impact my career and income.”

60.1% (of the same respondents) indicated that the presentation

skills feedback they were receiving was…

“Infrequent and not very helpful” or “No real feedback at all”

 

As some background, this $1.8B division of a Fortune 500 company had done well through the challenging recession years.  But like many companies today, no one was doing cart wheels in the parking lot about expectations of break-away growth in 2012.  It would continue to be a slug-fest as competition was also retooling to take market share and partners would continue to try to figure out how to grow their businesses any way they could.

But according to the survey we were currently conducting with sales teams inside their company, there was another issue in play that also impacted their sales process… the problem of communicating impact and value to extremely preoccupied customers, partners and peers.

 

In the first keynote…

we had talked about getting through to busy & distracted people and across the sea of faces I could see heads nodding in agreement.  They no longer had 30-40 minutes to make their case – they had just a few to communicate a compelling message of why a particular product was going to help meet the needs of their customers.  They all knew, do-overs because of a bad day were never possible.

In the second keynote…

we explored the critical need of being able to substantiate our impact through the vehicle of telling a succinct and validation-rich product impact story.  (Not the 6-8 minute rambling variety, but a crisp 2-minute one.) Bottom line, facts are only one aspect of making our case.  “Fleshing” out how those products and services are addressing real needs for their customers will always be a critical part of what moves and motivates human beings to take action.

And in my last keynote…

this session would follow-up on the survey statistics presented above and involved me taking the entire group though a personal coaching session using a few audience volunteers.  This session always carries some risk in front of large groups (like presenters freezing up), but the outcome is always surprisingly the same… they discover that 4 simple skills can dramatically impact an audience’s perceptions of us.  And they got to see the difference validated in a before/after video at the end of the session.

This large organization did a courageous thing this year…

When they could have gone with a high-profile NBA coach or someone who cut off their arm on a mountainside to provide momentary inspiration – they chose not to. And when so many company events are often geared around bestselling authors and the book of the month… they opted for the higher ground.

“This year we want to do spring training… prepare you for the season ahead.”

Based on some kind input during the event, many told me they were motivated in a very different way. Motivated to get out of some old communication ruts. Motivated to use some simple tools to help meet their sales goals. And motivated to stretch themselves in some personal areas.  But woven into the motivational messages were some things that were infinity more practical for the world they lived in…

Being able to shape a more persuasive presentation using a simple
7-step model to get through to their distracted partners & customers.

They learned and practiced a simple way of telling more
relevant product/customer impact stories.

They discovered 4 basic delivery skills that were reinforced
in their breakout sessions to help them stand out from the crowd.

And finally, they learned one simple best practice concept for
simplifying the visuals that so often impaired their flow of good ideas. One.

 

I understand the reality of their lives…

these people will go back home to larger sales quotas.  It will be even more difficult to get on people’s calendars.  And travel and account planning will dominate even more of their time.  But one thing is for certain… what they got last week will serve them well for a life time.

And gratifying comments like “I can even do that” validated that it’s not complicated things that change people’s lives.  It’s not complex theories about human interaction. It’s not even the need for more motivation… they either create that for themselves or they don’t – they’re professionals.

It always comes down to some foundational skills and tools – executed better and better… year after year.

 

 

 

Author: Jim Endicott, Founder of Distinction

 

Meet some friends of mine…

 I actually just met them last weekend but they have already become heroes of mine. They were Special Olympic athletes and their dads (and brother) who were participating in the annual Oregon games in Newberg, OR.  Although we only had 4-hours together on the golf course – the impact on me will last for a very long time…

 

That morning I volunteered to be a scorekeeper.  As we were waiting on the first tee box, I first met Doug and his son, Jeff (in the middle of the picture).  That smile on Jeff’s face…  it was there the whole day.  (Some days I’m sure I never smile)  Although dealing with some tough mental challenges, Jeff was working part time at a golf course in Eugene and he and his dad Doug golfed together nearly every week.  Jeff knows he’s different and has no-doubt experienced the diverted glances of others most his life. But he showed me the courage to push on with a smile.

 

On the right side of the picture was Michael and BIG brother, Matt.  Because of his near perfect golf swing, Michael’s particular disability was a bit tougher to spot.  Then on the second tee box I saw him adjusting a small hearing aid clipped to his baseball cap.  He had a severe hearing disability but that didn’t stop our ability to interact.  After executing a near perfect sand shot , I gave him a high-5 and told him what an amazing shot that was!  (I think I saw him smile under his somewhat oversized ball cap.)

 

Matt was a great encourager of his little brother but didn’t cut him much slack for an errant shot.  I think Michael liked being treated like everyone else.  Matt showed me the power of caring.  Not the kind of caring that walks on egg shells, but the kind of caring that made Michael feel like one of the guys.  There’s a lesson in there for all of us.

 

On the left side of the picture was father Pete and son Robert. They joined the group right before we teed off.  Robert made me laugh all morning. It didn’t matter if he put the ball into the weeds or duffed a short putt – he laughed anyway.  And so did we.  (He made me remember all the times I had golfed that course and probably never managed a smile – just too focused)   And both Pete and Robert teased each other mercilessly the whole time.  And pretty soon we all joined in.  I’m sure Pete has made a lot of changes in his life to spend time with Robert. Relentless compassion is an admirable trait.   One I wished I possessed.

 

As I reflected today on the morning, I was intensely thankful. Thankful for unconditional love. Thankful for examples of courage in adversity.  And thankful for groups like the Special Olympics who make those who have a bit of a disadvantage in life, feel on top of the world for a day. You may think my presence last Saturday morning encouraged Jeff, Michael & Robert but the truth is, they made a much bigger impact on me than I ever did on them…

 

Author: Jim Endicott, Founder of Distinction

 

We’ve all been told how quickly our presentation audiences form impressions of a presenter. Some say 2-minutes. Some 5-minutes.  Whatever the precise number, we can generally agree on one thing – finding our stride 10 or 15-minutes into a presentation is a bit late. And when we dive into the research, we begin to understand how sticky (and amazingly accurate)  those “snap judgements” can be.

Years back psychologist Nalini Ambady at Stanford wanted to test the accuracy of initial impressions – snap judgments.  The outcome of her research was so startling, it was featured in Malcom Gladwell’s national best selling book, Blink.

Here’s what she did and why you should care.

To test those “first impressions” Ambady got together a group of incoming freshman college students.  She showed them three, 10-second videos of three professors they would encounter and with the sound turned off, she asked them to rate each of the three on their impression of the teacher’s “effectiveness”.  They had never met these professors but with a high degree of correlation, most students selected the same professor. The exercise was repeated many times during the day with the same outcomes.

Ambady then showed a second group of students the same three professors, this time only providing them with 5-seconds of video without sound and asked them to once again rate the professors on their suspected effectiveness.  Surprisingly, both groups were remarkably consistent in their selection.

These students were obviously picking up on some very powerful non-verbal communication that incurred in just a few seconds! 

If the experiment ended here, this might just be another interesting research project that was strangely compelling but it got even crazier. The larger question then became, did it actually turn out that way?

At the end of the semester, evaluations were solicited for all the professors and the ones for the three study professors pulled aside. It seems the one professor that had an overall evaluation better than the other two was the teacher selected at the beginning of the year based on 10 and 5 second impressions.

As presenters, there’s no way to avoid the implications for us.  What does the first 10 seconds tell your audiences?  Excited?  Anxious?  Present?  Preoccupied?

It would seem that your audiences are not forming initial impressions of you in the first 5-6 minutes of a presentation – they’re being formed in the first 5-10 seconds and their instincts are generally true.

So what were the students picking up on?

Because those initial impressions were formed without the benefit of actually hearing the professors, we can only come to one conclusion – the amazing influence of non-verbal communication.  Mehrabian had it right in the 60s.   Although the raw content of our messages is important, HOW we communicate them seems to carry significantly more weight than we had ever imagined.  And when you consider that most presenters today spend all their prep time on what they are going to say vs. how they are going to say it – we have a big problem.

Here’s what I suspect those students were picking up on and why you need to invert your preparation plan to spent much more time on presentation delivery.

 

Personal Warmth
If you were to watch a video of yourself (without audio), would you see personal warmth and humanity or stoic determination?  For most presenters, the answer is the latter.  As they spin up the left side of their brain to try to “load” up what they’re going to say- the relational right side usually takes the morning off.   The result?  Presenters who look like they are intense, upset or indifferent at best.  And the sad part – they don’t even know it until they see themselves on video tape.

 

Eye Contact
The art of presenting will always be, first and foremost a relational skill – not a technical one. If you’ve ever tried having a disagreement with a friend or spouse and spent all your time looking at the floor or ceiling, you already know how that went. “Look at me when you’re talking to me!”  And that’s how we’re wired. We want a presenter to actually look at us.  Not around us.  Not at our foreheads.  Not throwing an indiscriminate glance our direction every 10-minutes – actually look at us and establish a very real personal connection.

Comfortable relaxed movement
Nervous presenters create nervous audiences.  If you are comfortable and know your place in front of a room, then it will show in your ease of movement and the effortlessness of your gestures.  This is why over the years I’ve noticed those who have had a music or performing arts background seem to start stronger. They have already come to terms with being at the center of attention and they’re ok with that.

Dress and appearance
Appropriate?  Comfortable?

I hope the implications of this research sinking in.

If so, it will change forever how we view the first moments of an important presentation. It means people are watching before the presentation begins. Also, we must be masters of the 1st minute to establish relationship, warmth and topic relevance.

Limited time to practice?  Invest in the first 5-minutes and the last 5-minutes. Those are the moments that most influence an audience’s presentation experience.

So what would someone’s first 10 second impression of your next big presentation tell them?

 

Author: Jim Endicott, Founder of Distinction

 

Our larger, international clients have a lot of options for training…

 

and there are probably hundreds of presentation skills companies out of country.  So why does one of Distinction’s international client companies send us all the way to Europe and beyond to train their important teams?  The answer is pretty straight forward.

1.  Consistency-  There are a number of large, US-based international training companies that can call in local “partners” around the globe.  But they often suffer from the same shortcoming.  They rely heavily on training contractors who can vary greatly in their grasp of the content – delivering Excel classes one day and presentation skills the next.  And because they’re delivering someone else’s content, they often lack the seasoned expertise that comes from being a part of a team that only delivers presentation skills workshops and who constantly collaborate on making it better and better.
2.  Methodology- Distinction has a unique and proven skill-upon-skill approach for helping individuals get the very most out of their coaching day experience.  And because some of Distinction’s team are keynote speakers themselves, we have very personal insight on the skills we teach our clients.  Other trainers?   They often teach rote approaches they’ve gleaned from a coaching manual.  That makes Distinction different.
3.  Trust– When you know a company.  When a client reads trainee reviews time and again that rate this workshop “one of the best” they’ve experienced, why go looking for another partner?   People stay with people they trust.  That’s why they choose Distinction.

 

Author: Jim Endicott, Founder of Distinction

 

Probably one of the most fundamental, most foundational beliefs around the presentation process is that whoever makes the best case – wins the day!   Key customers will be compelled to purchase your product or service based on a great datasheet.  Partners will be overwhelmed with your command of a spreadsheet and opt-in.  And employees will embrace the need for an extended pay freeze because of your compelling presentation of Q3 ‘s troubling financials.

I have just two words for you… not likely.

 

Unfortunately, current research would show that changing belief systems seems to happen a lot less often than we would like to believe.  In a 2008 joint study with Duke University & Georgia State University, researchers set out to understand how effective facts are at swaying opinion.  As a study context, they focused on documented misconceptions that prevail today around certain political views.  Could blatantly false or unsubstantiated beliefs be corrected with an objective communication of the actual “truth”? The results in a moment…    

Although this particular study was politically focused, presenters must embrace the fact we are constantly trying to alter belief systems.  When I get up in front of a group to deliver a keynote around winning the hearts & minds of busy people, I try to alter the belief system that a good deck of PowerPoint slides is all that is needed to win over an audience.  For you, it may be that global warming is a real threat, your software product can address issues that have been plaguing people for decades or that donating to your local non-profit can really change lives.

 

Let me net out for you what pages of research revealed…

• All information is filtered through an audiences existing belief system.
• When individuals believe something very strongly, the exposure to contradictory information (even if true) can actually reinforce the existing (incorrect) belief system.
• People will go to great lengths to avoid the cognitive dissonance created when their beliefs don’t seem to jive with the facts.

Sorry to rain on your parade, but it would seem that facts and data work best when people already agree with us!

 

So what does it take to change hearts and minds?  In the book The Leader’s Voice  (Clarke & Crossland), the authors studied the personal communication vehicles that leaders used to be highly effective. What they discovered was that there were three compelling “channels” used purposefully and at strategic times to create personal impact.  They were… Factual – Emotional – Symbolic.

The factual channel was great to prove, inform, justify but was weak in actual persuasion and influence. The emotional channel, best characterized by more right-brain influences like personal stories, relational interaction, visually-rich sensory stimulus – this was the stuff that motivated and inspired change and could by-pass an audiences natural defenses (and belief systems). The third channel was the symbolic used to align thinking and focus efforts.  (Have you ever had a manager that gave the whole team a physical object that had special meaning for creating a change in thinking?)

Unfortunately, today most presenters camp heavily on the factual channel and wonder why their presentations so often fail to achieve the results they worked so hard for.

You want to know why we teach executives to be better, more compelling storytellers?   This is why.  This is also why we help sales organizations work to balance a factual, data-driven appeal with a relational (emotional) story of impact or innovation.  Changing what audiences think and believe is not for the faint of heart and it requires us to be much smarter.

For some, this will make perfect sense.  For others, who are convinced their pie charts and tabular data is their secret sauce for getting the deal, I probably won’t be changing your minds anytime soon.

 

Author: Jim Endicott, Founder of Distinction

 

Continuing on with more “Bogus Tips” for presenters…

4) Five bullets per slide...

I find it pretty backwards when our dialog around being a better presenter devolves to discussions of number of bullets on a slide. First and foremost, the art of presenting is a relational skill, not a technical one. Granted some people seem to need rules, but we miss the point.  Good presentations are not about bullets.  Never have been – never will be.   How about we talk about what types of visual content is remembered and why!  Or how to structure a meaningful messages that resonates with hearts & minds.

The real point:

When given bullets – presenters will read them.  When given sub-bullets – presenters will read them as well. Bullets were a by-product of the original “outliners” that PowerPoint gave us eons ago to help you form your presentation message. Unfortunately, most presenters never learned that there’s a big difference between what they need to say – and how they need to say it (& show it).

Try this test. Give a presenter a bulleted slide to deliver on a topic they are familiar with. They will undoubtedly turn to read it or deliver the content in a methodical bullet-by-bullet approach.  Now give them a single picture that covers the same topic and have them talk to it. Something magical often happens.  They spend a lot more time talking to their audiences in a conversational manner!  There is a big lesson here.  Did you get it?  Bad PowerPoint can wreck otherwise good presenters.

5) Audiences expect you to be flawless!

During my coaching workshops I often drag out a little buddy of mine, Mr. Wonderful.  This little guy looks perfect with a winning small and hair I wish I still had.  And when you push his hand, he  “delivers” a perfect message every time!

“No dear, you don’t look at all fat in that dress. How could anything make you look fat!”

“Did you have a hard day honey? Why don’t you sit down and let me rub your feet.”

“You’re right.  I don’t know which way to go. I’ll stop and ask directions.”

After a handful of these gems, I ask the group how they would assess Mr. Wonderful’s credibility?  In perfect agreement, they tell me he has little or no credibility with them. Why?  Because he’s too perfect and polished!

If I somehow had it in my power as a presentation coach to transform anyone into the “perfect presenter”, I would destroy their effectiveness.  Our audiences are not looking for perfection.  They are, however, looking for real people.  Not TV reality show-type real but authentic, vulnerable and honest communicators who have nothing to prove.

The real point:

Be open.  Be honest.  Self-disclose things that allow your audience to know you better.  Those types of presenters will be able to impact their audiences in ways the perfect presenter never could.  Our greatest position of influence will always be in coming alongside our audiences.  And the harder we try to be perfect the less that will be possible. (Prepared – yes.  perfect – no)

6) Look between your audience’s eyes – it’s easier

I get the fact that many people have a huge fear related to talking in a group setting.  So it’s no wonder we seem to go to extraordinary lengths to avoid human interaction.  (By the way, this technique of looking between someone’s eyes has never worked with my wife and it probably won’t work with yours either.)  Strangely, I find that the same folks who struggle with eye contact seem to be very personable and have no problem looking in my eyes when I’m sitting in their office.

The real point:

Instead of scanning an audience or coming up with tricks to avoid eye contact, turn every presentation into a series of one-on-one conversations.  If you struggle with this, make a friend before the presentation and start with them.  Then as your presentation starts, spread your 1-1 conversation to another – then another. Let’s not add more pressure by playing games with eyes.  Presenting will always be a personal thing so let’s keep our eye on the ball.  🙂

 

Author: Jim Endicott, Founder of Distinction

 

Sometimes it’s just easier to reduce life down to a collection of catchy little one-liners or helpful hints.  That’s certainly no truer than in the world of presenting.  Presentation “experts” dole this stuff out on a regular basis so I thought I would take on a few of these and hold them up to the light of day…

 1) Tell ‘em what you’ll tell ‘em –   Tell ‘em –  Tell ‘em what you told them.

Like many old axioms, there’s a morsel of truth but it gets lost in the application.  First, simple repetition (or repeated exposure to something) only means you run the real risk of honking off an audience because you make them feel like children. And secondly, just the habit of repeating something is no guarantee people will remember and here’s why.

Years ago researchers tested the whole idea of repetitive impressions on recall.  I’ve repeated this fun little test in some of my coaching workshops.  I get two people up and put them in front of flip charts. Then I ask them to draw (in as much detail as possible) the front and back of a penny.  They’ve obviously had tens of thousands of repeated exposures to those images.  But true to the research, very few can even get close in their drawings.  (Researchers called this “incidental exposure”)  Why?  Because impressions (and ideas) must be relevant & meaningful to be remembered.

The real point:

Repetition is only effective in recall if the message itself resonates with personal needs/issues. If the presenter’s message is self-serving (like many are), then there is little chance anyone will care what you say no matter how many times you may say it.  Even worse, put that point in the form of bullets or raw data and recall will be even more adversely impacted. Why?  Because intellectual material is processes on the left side of the brain which generally only supports short-term memory.

2) Audiences can be pretty tough so you need to prepare harder

It’s no picnic for an audience when anxious presenters shuffle around in front of them while playing with their laptop computers. But know this, audiences want you to succeed!   “But Jim, they don’t look very happy to be here.”  The problem may have little to do with them and everything to do with your own mirror.

I learned a while back that my 3 month old granddaughter, Avery, reflects what I give her.  If I smile, she smiles.  If I have a sour look on my face – she frowns. If presenters could only see the intense, furled brow expressions that camp on their faces while they are thinking hard what to say next.  Then they’d understand why their audiences look so unfriendly.  Don’t believe me?  Watch yourself on video.

The real point:

Audiences give back what they get from you.  One of bigger challenges we have as coaches is simply trying to get a presenter to be a warmer human being in front of a group.  And when there are a few sour faces looking back at you, don’t take it personally. A fight with the spouse or a traffic ticket on the way to your presentation is all it takes to change their mood.  An important message to presenters… it’s not always about you. Audiences come with their own lives.

3) Better presentation software will make me a better presenter

In the general presentations community, there’s a reoccurring push for “serious” presenters (and designers)  to move to Apple’s Keynote software.  Everyone is looking for an edge and I get that.  But I have a question.  Why is it I can see really bad presentations produced in Keynote and yet to this day, see beautiful and effective visual communication tools come out of PowerPoint 2000 – a 10-year old software product?

The answer is… (and always will be) this important truth.  Talented and creative people will make works of communication art no matter what canvas they’re using.   And the vast majority of everyone else will continue to look for the next trendy tool to give them an edge but you will always be able to tell the difference.  Form never trumps substance when it comes to presentations.

The real point:

No one will ever be able to make a common sense wizard. There’s nothing wrong with Apple’s Keynote or other higher-end presentation tools.  But I learned a long time ago a very painful (and expensive) reality… I can buy expensive Titleist Pro V1 golf balls and still not hit them like Phil Michelson.   And the only ones who seem to benefit from my purchase are the folks in the golf pro shop.

(Bogus Rules 4-6 )

 

Author: Jim Endicott, Founder of Distinction

 

A few days ago I spoke at a conference for business communicators from the IABC and PRSA Northwest Chapters. It was a fun opportunity that took place in one of those old downtown buildings that look like they are straight out of the board game Clue.  In my case, I was presenting in a mahogany-wrapped “Library” to a group of about 100 individuals looking for some insight into being a better communicator. All-in-all, it was a fun group with much laughter intermixed with some poignant information on the art of presenting.

After the session (which culminated with one of my volunteers beating an awl to death – you had to be there) there were a number of people who wanted to chat.  One was an attractive, professionally dressed and well-groomed woman who had a particular challenge she wanted to discuss after the room begin to clear.

 

“I’m a senior manager in a PR firm and have to do team and client briefings several times a week. For some reason, I become absolutely terrified! I turn bright red in front of the group and my hands start to flail nervously. What’s happening to me?

It felt like I had one of the clue cards (Ms. Green), but the other pieces were a mystery to solve. Unfortunately, it’s pretty hard to unpack such deep issues in just a few minutes.  And I try to avoid being prescriptive in those settings much like a doctor will avoid grocery store diagnosis.  But I did reinforce one specific principle with her from our group session and in retrospect, can offer another for you…

1. The fear of presenting.

We coach hundreds of business professionals every year and as we spend time with them during the day, we find that some individual’s unreasonable fear goes back decades to a bad presentation experience, a grade school class that laughed at them or even significant feelings of inadequacy traceable to bad childhoods.

Fully cognoscente that I am not a psychologist, I can’t help unpack those issues, but I can change the context of their fear.  My advice?  Turn every presentation (large or small) into a series of one-on-one conversations. No more standing and scanning the group aimlessly.  Rather, intentional eye-to-eye contact with one person at a time and for 4-5 solid seconds. Most people would feel very comfortable sitting in their offices talking to a single friend. We need to capture that feeling and bring it to our next presentation.

“Never let them catch you acting.”
(Keifer Sutherland on the best advice ever given to him)

My advice to you? Never let them catch you presenting.

Personal coaching approach – If I were working with this individual, I would have put them into a board room with one audience member to pass on some important information.  (Notice I did not say to present)  After 5-minutes of comfortable delivery, I would have added a second person for the next 5-minutes.  And every 5- minutes for the next hour adding another until the room was full. If this sounds a lot like the old science experiment of putting a frog in boiling water (they jump out) vs. putting them in cold water and raising the temperature, you’d be right. Slow and incremental increases in stimulus over time help us reinforce the right feelings and retard our instincts to panic and go into presentation mode.

  2. Deliver your presentation before you deliver your presentation.

Think back to the recent winter Olympic games in Vancouver, BC Canada.  Do you remember watching the half-pipe snowboard competition?  Now try to remember what the competitors were doing in the moments before they pushed into the pipe.  Their closed-eyed, body twists and gyrations were not the result of the pounding rock music they were listening to. (Ok, maybe a little)

But they were visualizing the experience their bodies were about to have… so they could greatly enhance their preparation.  They would actually be making their first run for the second time in their minds.

Personal coaching approach – Fear is almost always a left-brain function so we need to crowd those fight or flight instincts out with hyper-preparation. Know your material. Own it.  When our brains are not working so hard to think about what we are going to say, we can focus on the more relational aspects of talking with some friends.

Go into the room when no one is there and deliver the presentation several times.  Maybe even tape some faces on those boardroom chairs and make a point of “telling your story” to individuals, not presenting to a group.

Bottom line, we need to remember our audiences want us to succeed.  They want us to be relaxed and comfortable. I can’t help a particular presenter much with non-specific unreasonable fear and anxiety but I can help them change the nature of how they view the entire process.

One-on-one conversations.

Preparation and practice.

And never let your meeting be the first time you’ve “experienced” the presentation.

So for now, I’m ok with not being able to solve every mystery related to presenter fear. (I’ll leave that up to my friend, Scott Lee, PhD.)  I much prefer to change the nature of the game we’re playing altogether and for most presenters, that is infinitely easier.