Once a quarter The Henderson Group holds a "By Invitation Only" Art of Presentation workshop in San Francisco, led by our VP of Services, Terry Gault.  The last of 2009 will be held Nov. 5-6, 2009. 

Using interactive methods, rather than lectured instruction, participants cultivate a personal style – a style that gains the audience's attention through confident composure and meaningful interaction. Through the Henderson Group's unique and proven feedback model, participants receive immediate feedback from instructors, peers and videotape, enabling them to rapidly learn, reflect and improve their presentation skills.

We will also be holding a Complete Communicator workshop on Dec. 14-15, 2009 in San Francisco. 

The Complete Communicator work combines the communication techniques of several mediums in an intense, highly individualized, skills development program. Leaders learn to communicate effectively one-on-one, in small groups, standing before large audiences, and over the phone and Internet.

Our work has to be experienced to truly understand its value.  We use these workshops as a way to introduce our work experientially to new prospective clients.  Learn more or reserve a seat >>

Konstantin Stanislavski, the famous Russian director and co-founder of the Moscow Art Theater, was a major force in the arts of theater and film.  No one since Shakespeare has had a stronger impact on the theater.

Stanislavski devised a simple technique to help actors overcome the artificiality of the theater.  By this I mean that when you are acting on a theater set, you are not in a real space – it’s a representation of a real space.  It’s not a real living room or a real office or a real battlefield.  It’s a set.

When you speak to the other actors you are not speaking to your sister or your work colleague or a fellow warrior, you are speaking to another actor.

The problem for the actor is, “How can I behave and act in a believable and real way when I am acting in a false world?”  When playing Hamlet, how can I know how to behave when my uncle hasn’t married my mother, I haven’t seen my father’s ghost, and I am not a prince?

Stanislavksi’s system was taught to me by Phil Bennett at the San Francisco Theater Academy and later the Bennett Theater Lab in San Francisco in the 1980s.

Stanislavski discovered a key to unlock the imagination and he called it the Magic If.

The actor is encouraged to ask the question, “What would I do IF this really were my sister?  How would I behave IF this was a battlefield and I was a warrior?  How would I act IF I really did see my father’s ghost and IF I was a prince?”

Then the actor makes choices based on their own instincts and imagination.  They fulfill the actions that would seem appropriate given the circumstances. 

Stanislavski’s system demonstrates that the fulfillment of simple physical actions in pursuit of an objective using this Magic If will lead to genuine emotional involvement and truth.

This same principle can be applied to presentation.  It can more deeply inform the notion of authenticity and style.

As we ask the questions, “What do I want my style to be?  Who do I want to be?”, the Magic If can be extremely valuable.

If we ask these questions and determine that we want to be more charismatic or even inspiring, our ego may rebel.  “Oh, no, that’s not me!  I am neither of those things.”

Instead, try on the question, “If I really were inspiring and charismatic, what would I do?  How would I behave?”  Then simply DO THAT BEHAVIOR.

You have countless examples to draw upon from in your life experience.  In fact, the beauty of Stanislavski’s Magic If is that you don’t even have to consciously remember or recall the people who you saw as inspiring or charismatic.  Your brain retains that memory in the unconscious mind and your mind and body are quite capable of mimicking that behavior if you can get your own ego out of the way AND if you have developed strong technique.

You may find it helpful to watch videos or listen to recordings of speakers and leaders that you feel are inspiring and charismatic.  These elements of style may be easier to mimic having listened to Martin Luther King or Winston Churchill or watch video of John Kennedy or Barack Obama.

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photo credit: KalinaSoftware

This is compelling evidence that empathy is most important when engaged in communication with others.  It speaks specifically to the importance of empathy when practicing Empathic Paraphrasing or Interchangable Empathy technique in our Dialogue, Listening and Influence workshops.

"People just don't sue doctors they like," is how Alice Burkin, a leading medical malpractice lawyer, puts it. "In all the years I've been in. this business, I've never had a potential client walk in and say, 'I really like this doctor, and I feel terrible about doing it, but I want to sue him.  'We've had people come in saying they want to sue some specialist, and we'll say, 'We don't think that doctor was negligent. We think it's your primary care doctor who was at fault.' And the client will say, 'I don't care what she did. I love her, and I'm not suing her.'"

 

Recently the medical researcher Wendy Levinson recorded hundreds of conversations between a group of physicians and their patients. Roughly half of the doctors had never been sued. The other half had been sued at least twice, and Levinson found that just on the basis of those conversations, she could find clear differences between the two groups. The surgeons who had never been sued spent more than three minutes longer with each patient than those who had been sued did.

 

They were more likely to engage in active listening, saying such things as "Go on, tell me more about that," and they were far more likely to laugh and be funny during the visit. Interestingly, there was no difference in the amount or quality of information they gave their patients; they didn't provide more details about medication or the patient's condition. The difference was entirely in how they talked to their patients.

 

The psychologist Nalini Ambady listened to Levinson's tapes, zeroing she removed the high-frequency sounds from speech that enable us to recognize individual words. What's left after content-filtering is a kind of garble that preserves intonation, pitch, and rhythm but erases content. She had judges rate the slices of garble for such qualities as warmth, hostility, dominance, and anxiousness, and she found that by using only those ratings, she could predict which surgeons got sued and which ones didn't.  -excerpt from Blink

Read more:  Doctors often shift focus from patients to themselves

This is about the tendency that some people have to tell their own stories as a way to build rapport and relationships.  However, I believe that keeping the focus on the other party or the customer is the BEST way to build rapport and relationships. 

That’s what we focus on in our dialogue-based workshops:

• Conflict Resolution
• Consultative Communication
• Consultative Sales
• TeleSales Mastery

photo credit: bobster855

The founder of Simple Green, Bruce FaBrizio, tells a compelling Creation Myth in this video profile on Lou Dobbs segment titled, “Business Unusual”.

FaBrizio was delivering chemicals in college when he watched a man fall into a tank of acids, cyanide and boiling water; “All the meat fell off his body before they got him out… it started there.”

He created a non-toxic biodegradable cleaner, and to start a business he borrowed “street money” at 60% interest to pay to have the product tested.  “Rocco” would show up to collect interest.   FaBrizio takes money to Las Vegas to win payroll.  He loses…

Download the segment here: business_unusual_v2 or here under Lou Dobbs - "Business Unusual"

Read about The Henderson Group Creation Myth here

Remember, you are working toward becoming extremely good at speaking English which is a primary requirement to being a top manager.  Let’s review the first three strategies.

I. Speak English EVERY DAY for 16 hours. In the car, on your way to work, rehearse…out loud… the names of each person in your office. Are you saying each correctly? Rehearse what you are going to say in your morning meetings.  Do you have your ideas organized? The appropriate vocabulary?  When you get to the office, write down what you wan to say and say it out loud. (If you do not have a private office, say it in a whisper….).  We must make our mouth move to the sounds in order to reprogram the speech sound movements.

II. Audiotape and Listen to yourself. Preferably while you are on the phone. This way, you get the best idea of how you sound to others.  (Note: Do not record the other person’s side of the conversation as it illegal in many areas of the USA). Record your “outgoing” telephone message every day.  Change the day and date on it.

III. SLOW Down! An average of 110 words per minute is best.  Sound interesting by speeding up an introduction phrase (to 140 WPM) …then pause for 1 second.. And, then list your points at 130 WPM, with a ½ second pause between each of them.  It will get others attention.

Now on to the next set of three effective communication strategies.
Western communication style has some pragmatic communication features that are very different from Eastern speaking styles.  Western communicators want an open, accessible communication style. This style is connoted by several types of body language.

IV. Eye Contact: The easiest way to accomplish this is to look at the other person’s Right eye.  One can maintain relaxed eye contact this way.  Especially when listening.  Your listener’s deeply appreciate this attention.  That said, it is not appropriate to maintain constant eye contact.  If you are speaking, you will periodically need to look away as you formulate an idea yet come back to the eye contact when you want to make a point.  It keeps your head up and relaxed.

Brian Tracy, a world renowned success coach, devotes four chapters to eye contact in his book “The Power of Charm: How to win anyone over in any situation.”   For those of you in China, Chaterhouse bookstore carries this book.  (When I was living in China, I bought my copy there).

V. Smile while speaking. A genuine smile draws people to you and your ideas.  Smile even if you don’t feel like smiling.  Physiologically, a smile accomplishes several critical voice and speaking needs.  A smile opens the airway allowing for effective replenishment of air while speaking.  We have often heard people speaking on residual air and sounding strained and too soft.  This loses the listeners attention. A smile also relaxes and opens the articulators for more effective targeting and pronunciation clarity.  When we speak with a more closed mouth, tension sets in and minimizes movements, making words sound mumbled.  Smile and be clear.

VI. Use open and accepting body language. Sit up or stand up straight.  It signals alertness and interest.  It also allows for adequate breathing. When we are short of breath we look tense and unaccepting.
Keep your hands and arms uncrossed. Again, crossing your arms restricts breathing. When one does this they seem to automatically put their chin down.  A physiological movement that also reduces airflow.  It is no wonder that folks who cross their arms and chin tuck look unhappy!

The best place to put our hands is in the modified preacher pose with the tips of the index fingers touching and the smallest three fingers crossed.  Another option is the hands gently cupped in a “hand-hold”.
Keeping the large muscles of index and thumb finger relaxed, relaxes the forearm and above to the shoulders and neck (where your airway is located).

We have discussed three effective communication pragmatics strategies used in North American Business English.  I chose these three as they are critical in maintaining optimum speaking muscle interactions. When our airflow is restricted, the twenty plus speaking muscles become compromised.  This in turn diminishes one’s ability to use new articulation patterns while speaking.  These pragmatics also keep folks happy with us as we are developing a new speaking style….

Remember:

• Maintain eye contact
• Smile
• Use open and accepting body language

In over two decades and more than 15 separate productions, Cirque du Soleil has never had a flop. By comparison, 9 out of 10 shows on Broadway — productions aimed at the same sophisticated, big-ticket audience as Cirque — fail to earn back the money invested in them.

Cirque's reputation for never missing is so strong that, in exchange for half the profits, four Las Vegas resorts, as well as Disney World, each agreed to spend tens of millions of dollars to build a custom theater to house a Cirque show and foot half the show's production costs, which can hit $25 million.

Cirque du Soleil was hatched in 1984 by two high school dropouts — Guy Laliberté, a 23-year-old Montreal fire breather, and Daniel Gauthier, 24, a youth hostel manager. In what had to be one of the entertainment industry's most audacious acts of persuasion, they talked the Quebec government into granting them just over $1 million to develop a show around local street performers as part of a festival celebrating the 450th anniversary of Montreal's founding. The pair hired Dragone in 1985, and what he calls the "transdisciplinary experience" of circus blended with stagecraft, live music, and song became Cirque's trademark and a hit across Canada.

The moment of truth arrived in 1987 when Laliberté and Gauthier took their act to the L.A. Arts Festival. The pair knew that if the show flopped, they couldn't afford to fly the cast and equipment home. They needn't have worried, however: The standing ovation went on for five minutes, and by the time the box office opened the next morning, 500 people were standing in line. Cirque du Soleil was no longer a nonprofit organization.

Business 2.0, The Phantasmagoria Factory by Geoff Keighley

This is a great creation myth and captures the spirit and ethos of this remarkable organization, their audacity and their willingness to take huge risks to deliver a great experience to their audiences.

Learn how to Create a Story

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photo credit: StuSeeger

WomenEntrepreneur.com recently had a feature on Francesca Kuglen, HairZing: Social Responsibility in Action.

Francesca Kuglen is not only a client, taking The Henderson Group Art of Presentation workshop in 2005, but she is also the sister of our very own sales guru, Chuck Kuglen.

HairZing has a fresh, innovative and socially-responsible approach to both hairstyling and manufacturing.

HairZing Mission: bring business to female entrepreneurs in areas with limited resources and economic infrastructure.

Advice for would-be social entrepreneurs:

1. Do not pick a recession. "Timing is everything," Montgomery says. "Be sure you not only have your own life savings but about four other people's life savings," she jokes.
2. Have an open mind and be willing to adjust as needed. Kuglen and Montgomery figured they could communicate and make business work halfway around the world. "The answer is, we couldn't. They need managers," Montgomery says.
3. Be consistent. Kuglen and Montgomery want to help needy women everywhere, and they want to do it in an environmentally responsible way. See even in the U.S., those who sell the product tend to be single women or women who are struggling. Consistency also demanded that HairZing change its packaging to be more ecological. "We changed from a toxic plastic to a biodegradable plastic," Kuglen says. "That took a tremendous cost. We'd already designed a fabulous package. And we said, 'Let's go back and redo that.' "

- WomenEntrepreneur.com, Eve Gumpel      

Read the whole story >>

Focused individuals and groups like the Beatles, Tiger Woods and Tony Robbins have made the efforts to make the correct muscle movements to become very good at using their fingers to play an instrument or playing a sport and even speaking effectively.   Yet, some folks do the same thing repeatedly without changing.

What is the difference?  Having someone scoring you via a scorecard or placement in sports; having an audience that gives feedback or an audio-recording that indicates when unwanted notes were played.  Scoring yourself……

Yet, in speaking another language, especially English, we often do not get the quick feedback of how well we are using our motor speech system to hit the target pronunciations.

Our listeners often consider reminding another of the mispronunciation or asking for clarification as being  “rude”.  Rather, our listeners go ask other folks what we just said or just ignore what we said entirely…..

The speaker only begins to realize that they have not spoken to be understood after they get ignored for a promotion, a prime project or have received a smaller than expected raise.  For some ESL speakers, this can take several years to become apparent.

In Malcolm Gladwell’s popular new book, “Outliers: The Story of Success”, Chapter 2, he cited research showing that even though one may have talent, it will take practice….around 10,000 hours of practice….to become Extremely good at anything. This is two to four years of daily practice.

How to Harness the “Power of the 10,000 Hours”: Three of Ten Strategies:

1. Speak English only every waking moment for 2-4 years.  Using 16-8 hours/day at 365 days/year, this adds up to about 10,000 hours.  Considering that many folks have been in English working environments for over 2-4 years, this should not be too much of a problem.

2. Become one of your own coaches….. Audio-tape yourself DAILY when speaking on the phone. Rewind, put your earphones in and listen to yourself.  Put yourself in the other person’s place.  What did your colleague hear?  Dropped articles? Dropped syllables? Stress on the wrong syllable? Sound substitutions? Speaking at the speed of light?

3. S-L-O-W Down!  Listen to an audiotape you made of yourself (See #2). Time yourself for a minute from the middle of the tape.   Count EVERY –uh; -ah; as well as EVERY word. Do this in 2-3 second segments. It may take an hour to get it right. And . . . It is worth the effort.

This is VERY Important.  If you are over 110 words/ utterances in a minute, you are way too fast for your listeners to understand you and your accent.

Recap:   Speak English EVERY DAY for 16 hours.  Audiotape and Listen to yourself.  SLOW Down!

Remember, do you want to be passable or extremely good at speaking English?  Just one of the team or a top manager?  -The Articulate Advantage

Also read: Harnessing the Power of the Voice in Public Speaking

photo credit: db*photography

Looking to keep your skills sharp for job hunting or career advancement?  PresentationCampLA is a grassroots, do-it-yourself event that aims to help individuals better present themselves and their ideas.

On Saturday, June 20, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., participants will gather at BlankSpaces in Los Angeles for a unique collaborative experience: creating a public speaking conference from scratch. The group will decide collectively at the start of the day which topics they would like to hear about, who will teach them, and the order of sessions for the day.

PresentationCampLA is a great opportunity for participants to learn from, teach to, and network with professionals involved in improving presentations in the Los Angeles area - and around the world!

PresentationCampLA website: http://barcamp.org/PresentationCampLA
Register here: http://presentationcampla.eventbrite.com/
Twitter hashtag: #pcampla

Our work has to be experienced to truly understand its value.  We use these workshops as a way to introduce our work experientially to new prospective clients.

About the workshop:

Building rapport with an audience and moving them to action requires the ability to confidently present information that convinces and engages even the most skeptical customer. This intensive work educates and motivates participants to deliver high-impact presentations.

Using interactive methods, rather than lectured instruction, participants cultivate a personal style – a style that gains the audience's attention through confident composure and meaningful interaction. Through the Henderson Group's unique and proven feedback model, participants receive immediate feedback from instructors, peers and videotape, enabling them to rapidly learn, reflect and improve their presentation skills.

The results of this work:

• Competently present ideas and information to groups of people
• Energize and persuade audiences using stories and metaphors
• Effectively communicate with peers, superiors and customers
• Move business objectives forward by quickly engaging with customers and colleagues and creating influence.

"The skills we learned in this class can be translated into our every day life, every interview and every sales call we ever make."
- Oracle

Contact us for more information.

Click here to reserve a seat >>