Daily Question and Reflection:: In Public Speaking–What’s more important: content or delivery skills?

What is more important content or delivery style?

Reflection. Of course they are both important elements of influencing others.  Yet I would say that content is more important because it is providing the audience with value in exchange for their precious time. If you don’t have anything meaning to say don’t waste their time. On the other hand brilliant content only gets traction because of an engaging and inspiring speaker. Poor delivery = bored and disinterested audience.. Some of the greatest ideas are obscured and not brought to light because the presenter did not connect to the audience or lacked credibility during delivery. It’s much rarer to hear about a great content-free delivery. Style and charisma alone can get you far, but will eventually lead to little motivation to change points of view and action taken in support of the cause or idea.

 

Keys to Presentation Mastery: Ability to Read and Observe Self and Others

“You can observe a lot by watching.”  Yogi Berra

Check your level of competence in engaging audience members:

1. Do you have the ability to note your audience needs and expectations?

2. Ability to red verbal and non-verbal behaviors in the audience and use these observations to clarify and challenge audience members in a productive way?

3. Ability to mirror non-verbal behaviors of audience members like body positions eye contact patterns of facial expressions and vocal qualities that reinforce positive message you are trying to deliver?

4. Ability to read and note discrepancies between your self and the audience and then adapt on your feet to re-connect with the audience?

After reviewing the checklist evaluate your competence by scoring yourself from 1 poor to 10 excellent ability in performing these behaviors. The ones you are able to do keep doing and the ones where you score below 3 or lower can become improvement goals for your next presentation. You will find that through awareness, repetition and practice your connection with the audience and your ability to influence their points of view and action will soar.

Thanksgiving Message–Poem of Gratitude

The only antidote for “greed” is generosity. Giving begets receiving. He who does not give doesn’t deserve to be given to; it is unjust for a stingy  or greedy person to receive. When you give, you don’t lose what you have given but have invested into your future, ’cause the hand that receives from you is indebted to you and will be there for you in the future….maybe.

Thanksgiving message Poem On Gratitude by MW Hardwick 

On Gratitude 

Giving of yourself is hard…

Is not easy the excuses abound—

Too busy

Too selfish

Too poor

Takes too much time

Others are lazy…

The excuses  go on and on…

Yet we could tell a more optimistic narrative—

Make space and time for people who need help

Volunteer for one meal at the homeless shelter

See others in a new light

Decide in your heart to do more…

Go from just talking about others who need help

Too helping someone in need…

Say thanks for all you have and others have given you…

Match your values and action.

Start with simple –steps…

hugs, kisses to those you love..

Do it now…now… now…

It is the right thing to do…

 

 

 

Daily Quotes and Reflection: Pay attention too little things and Be Ready

Quote :“Being a starter for the game is not a big factor in who’s going to win. What counts is being ready at any moment to help the team on the floor or on the bench, once in the game playing with focus and staying in the game and at all times playing at full capacity, and doing your best.” Coach John Wooden

“It’s the little details that are vital. Little things make big things happen.”  John Wooden 

Reflection:

A great read for the Thanksgiving Holiday–Free e-book by Heath Brothers.

Recently, I was reading The Myth of the Garage by Dan Heath and Chip Heath. This e-ibook is from Crown publishers and is free to the reader. The articles are the best of the Heath Brothers columns from Fast Magizine articles from 2007-2011. The stories range from Mutual Fund investing through customer service. The insights about business practices are mind stretching and not always what you expect, so if you want a great read and some AHA moments try reading this bag of business surprises. To access and download the articles in the Myth of the Garage log into the Heath Brothers Resource collection at  http://www.heathbrothers.com/resources/download/ 

Sticky Presentation factors–Connecting through the eyes “One thought to one Person” and Pause.

Want to connect with your audience and reduce nervousness–Deliver one thought to one person in the room. Think about the physiology of vision.  Light enters the front of the eyeball, hits the rods and cones at the back of the eye, and creates an electrical impulse that shoots around the optic nerve to the optic lobe at the back of the skill.  Your brain then takes the better part of a second to decipher this electrical Morse code.  While the act of turning the electrical impulses into light, color and contrast is an unconscious brain activity, putting the shapes into a comprehensible context is a conscious brain activity.

Problem Explored

Eye contact or shifting-this is where we create a problem for ourselves as speakers. It is perfectly natural to look rapidly around the room when first standing in front of an audience.  This rapid eye movement creates visual over-stimulation.  It forces our brain to process incoming visual stimuli on a conscious level.  When speaking to a group, we have another conscious activity that is trying to occur simultaneously . . . the delivery of our prepared topic!  Our brains do not do two things at once very well, on a conscious level.  This is why our mind will sometimes go blank during the delivery of our prepared topic — to allow our brain to catch up on the processing of visual stimuli.

Solution to “shifting eyes” problem

Speakers naturally solve this problem by looking at ceilings and floors, where there is usually a blank space with little visual stimuli to process.  This works!  It would also work to close your eyes, as a speaker, to limit incoming visual stimulus.  For obvious reasons, closing your eyes would not be a good choice.  The most productive way to limit visual stimuli is to stare at the eye of an audience member.  (If you’re far enough away from your audience, you can stare at both their eyes at once.)  There are three advantages to limiting visual stimulus this way.

The benefits of controlled eye contact:

First, you can “read” the response from your audience as you deliver a whole thought to one individual.  Second, direct eye contact conveys sincerity in all cultures across the world.  Third, as a speaker, you get the advantage of limiting visual stimuli so you can think more clearly and reduce your nervousness. It is always nice to find a friendly face to interact with during the first few moments of your speech..

When pauses are added to this controlled eye contact technique, you enhance your  effectiveness and authenticity.  The pause packages your words into one cohesive thought at a time for the audience.  It also adds emphasis to the key points you wish to convey as a speaker.  Also, when you can’t think of what to say next, this pause buys you thinking time without giving away to the audience that your mind has gone momentarily blank. The mastery of this controlled eye contact technique + pause is the foundation skill for successfully talking to a group of people.

Assignment

For your next speech get it video taped or have a colleague checkout your eye movement and provide feedback on its effectiveness. Using this principle will help you in both delivery and connection with the audience. Good Luck.

Summary Technique process–Remember the technique–One thought One person. Pause and then turn your body and deliver another complete thought to another person. Have that moment of unique contact. Eye contact used effectively helps you connect and the more you can use it the more momentum and the less resistance you will have from the audience to your message..

Finding out what makes the difference in Presenting impactful Technical Presentations.

Technical presentations are loaded with facts and evidence to the point of diminishing returns if the  amount of information is not targeted and transmitted  in a relevant and meaningful way.  The audience even though they are ground in the subject matter , such as high cholesterol, diets, or financial planning can get lost if your message is not clear, concise and compelling. So what are the best and more effective ways to make the desired goal of transmitting information and change audience behaviors?  Checkout one of my most visited blog post on this idea–http://thewick.wordpress.com/2011/07/15/

Daily quote and reflection: Self-Awareness+Talent + Persistence = Personal Mastery

Daily quote: 

Those who lack talent expect things to happen without effort…At the core of every true talent there is an awareness of the difficulties inherent in any achievement, and the confidence that by persistence and patience something worthwhile will be realized. Thus,  talent is a species of vigor. ” Eric Hoffer 

 Reflection: Obviously, Hoffer had the insight to realize that identifying your talents or strengths was just one element in the equation for success.  Yet, their are many talented people who end up in life frustrated and disappointed in their accomplishments. They sometimes blame bad circumstances, luck or no money as reasons for their failure. If you look at the 10,000 hour rule of success it becomes apparent that after you have identified your strengths it is important to spend the necessary time to become proficient or to unleash your talent. The question becomes do you have the fortitude, energy and time or are you willing to settle for less?

The Inner Critic and the Outer Game of Life–Tips on How to “Play to Win”

“Sooner or later, those who win are those who think they can.” –Richard Bach

In this blog I will provide some proven tips for overcoming the negative “inner critic” and help you begin to practice how to access your positive and natural strengths ( Self 2  a concept articulated by Tim Gallwey), to conquer performance fears and the power of the negative critic (Self1)  in your mind.

I think that many issues and problem we experience can be traced back to the internal conversations and stories we tell ourselves about our self, other people and situations. If we are unaware of these internal dialogues or let them override our common sense we can make big errors in judgment. This “inner critic” can interfere with our ability to make decisions, take risk and perform below our potential. Some of the external behavior may lead to bad first impressions, lack of confidence, unhappiness, fears, such as heights, flying or public speaking and other unfortunate outcomes.

Instead of focusing on the behavior you want to change, focus on the irrational messages the “inner critic” is telling and selling to you. Poor thinking leads to negative messages and become an obstacle to a strong sense of self and impact performing in a natural, authentic and confident manner. To STOP the negative alien or critic from talking and under-minding behavior you must find ways to change irrational thoughts into positive thoughts.

Let me suggest five techniques to take control of the destructive and upsetting inner conversations with your self critic:

1. Practice mindful awareness. It doesn’t matter where the inner critic’s material is coming from because it could be achored in comments and experiences from teachers, parents, a coach or an abusive spouse or  other traumatic experience; the reasons and sources of criticism don’t matter you just increasing your awareness that these conversations are happening provides power over the critical thoughts.
2. Evaluate whether the message has any validity or truth’ Is it enabling you to accomplish the outcomes you want or is it preventing you from doing so. Be honest. (Sometimes, people are addicted to their problems and the stories that create them.)
3. Keep a self-journal. Write down word for word the internal dialogue with the critic. It might be something like the following:

• “You’re no good at X, Y or Z,,.”
• “You’re too uncoordinated to play sports..”
• “You’re stupid and not very smart when it comes to math.”
• “You’re to an over-educated bleeding heart liberal.”
• “You take things to seriously.”
• “You have no sense of humor
• “ You are not a good writer

4. Brainstorm solutions and new messages for changing the dialogue.

• Create powerful affirmations and clear messages to block the “inner critic”.
• Write solutions down on a 3 x 5 card that provide evidence for overcoming irrational messages or stories presented by the inner critic. I’m not talking about a bunch of positive puff statements I am suggesting telling the truth to yourself and the critic. Often, this is simply a matter of shifting your perspective and providing evidence that is opposite to the negative critic’s story or message..

5 Start telling yourself new messages, believing in focused attention and turning down or off the inner critic. Every time your inner critic begins to tell you that you are loser, stop him. Say, “No! That’s BS. Here’s the truth.” Then repeat your new message or affirmation. For example, At a critical moment in a tennis match the inner critic says you always miss the important points or you are a choker when the match hinges on your ability to serve out a match to win. You say STOP. Take a deep breath and remember times when you have overcome steep hills to win. You visualize winning the point and turn it over to your fluid and natural Self 2. You play every point going down to the wire with focus on the “here and now” moment and remind yourself of comebacks in the past. You say to the inner critic I am not a loser and I don’t quit. I just need to focus on the next shot and do the best I can.!

7 Principles for Applying Mental Toughness to Public Speaking and Presentations.

” Mental Toughness  is a state of mind, not a fact. No matter how much or how little stress we feel before a public speech we are about to give,  we’re always just doing what we’re doing, simply living this one moment of our lives to the best of our ability. So use that anxiety and fear to drive positive expectations and energy. ”  Dr. Mark W. Hardwick, Communication Coach  .

Winning seems so easy and natural for the Nadal’s and Feder’s of the tennis world. And in other sports too. But the real secret seems to be mental preparedness and toughness.  The perception that winning is easy we know is false but it does look like their work is play. Many of us chalk it up to the person is naturally talented and gifted.

In other world’s such as politics and business MT is also an important factor in being successful.

Obama seems to have it –calm and ”kool” under pressure yet lacking some toughness in regard to HCR, Oil Spill etc. Especially, if you are a progressive which we now know he is not.  This somewhat vague concept of MT could be the critical factor for identifying effective leadership in the 21st Century.

So what is mental toughness? It can be defined as the ability to access and maintain focus and determination to complete a course of action despite complexity, distractions, difficulties or unknown consequences. Some say it is the will to never give-up or quit.

So the question is: Can “mental toughness” (MT) be taught or is innate? Let’s look at the sports world where MT is often used to describe super stars. Many athletes and coaches think, MT is an innate quality or talent that you are born with and they believe it can’t be taught or learned because it is a part of your DNA or it isn’t. According to this school of thought mental toughness is usually something you’re born with and is reinforced early in life by your parents and environment. These authorities believe it’s hard to take a sensitive “mommies boy” and make him tough no matter what you do. This obviously is the nature vs. nuture argument. The nurture position states that people can be shaped and learn from different experiences, modeling and teaching.

 

Motivation and MT from Sports to Presentations

 

The root of mental toughness lies in motivation. Those who are deemed mentally tough typically exhibit what sports psychologists call “intrinsic achievement motivation.” A study featured in Psychology of Motor Behavior and Sport defines this as the desire to be self-determining. People who are intrinsically motivated are self- starters, willing to push themselves to the brink for the love of their sport or activity. They need little encouragement to give their best effort, and they often do well setting their own goals. For others, who are called “game players” they only begin to jell when the pressure of competition is on. They go through the motions in practice and drive coaches crazy. They only shine in the chance to compare themselves with others. These guys have what’s called “achievement motivation” and do their best only under the gun. You hear them say things like give me the ball I want to take the penalty kick or final shot when the BB game is on the line. They do not fear failure.  All things being equal between two competitors, whoever is higher in achievement motivation will be the better athlete, hands down.

Other researchers have said that motivation is important but brain chemistry can over ride desire/motivation if he player experiences anxiety. With too much anxiety detrimental changes in our brain and biochemical reactions take place. Stress research calls this the flight or fight response.  Now we have new brain research evidence reported by Dr. James Loehr, a famous performance psychologist, and Daniel Goleman, known for his work in Emotional Intelligence, that links negative thoughts and arousal with the stress hormone cortisol.  Cortisol is produced by the adrenal cortex.  Cortisol has been associated with feelings of anxiety, tension, helplessness, and loss of control.  Positive thoughts and pleasant experiences are linked to a positive trigger or rush of adrenaline, and an increase of epinephrine and norepinephrine. The positive jolts make for better performance.

Having an optimistic attitude can help increase the positive effects of epinephrine and norepinephrine.  Optimism, which produces these positive brain chemicals reduce many anxiety symptoms and can provide performers with the positive energy to focus and concentrate on the activity at hand.

By learning to “look on the bright side,” of challenges and seeing stressful situations as opportunities for growth, you increase the likelihood of producing a positive mental and arousal state.  This positive mental state leads to a chain of biochemical events that mobilize the brain and the body to cope more effectively with the situation.  A positive reaction to stress can then lead to what Dr. Loehr, calls the challenge response, which counteracts the negative effects of stress and improves your performance and enjoyment in presenting and speaking to groups. The challenge response helps leaders and high performance jocks to be more calm, relaxed, alert, energetic, inspired, and enthused. Mental Toughness, a phrased coined by internationally renowned peak performance guru Dr. Jim Loehr, has it roots in tennis, where Loehr first came to prominence. Applied to tennis, Mental Toughness training specifically targets physical rituals before and after points to help create focus and calm during a tennis competition.

Applications for staying focused and being mentally tough in making presentations

 

Practicing Mental Toughness techniques prior to your presentation will help you handle more stress during your performance. Below I will share the mental set and  rituals of Ideal Presentation and Mental Toughness principles:

1. Be your own best supporter and critic–slow down, take a breath and begin presenting with confidence

2. Be clear, concise and committed to meeting the needs of the audience and challenging them to rethink positions and take positive action for change.

3. Believe fully in your ability and strength to communicate effectively, so you can present openly, naturally and confidently to your audience.

4. Be prepared to present greatly by demonstrating your passion for the topic and message.

5. Present with an authenticity and believability that is sincere and resonates with the audience

6. Don’t try to hard to be accepted or worry about the outcome of your communication.

7. Love the challenge of communicating with whomever and connecting with others.

Mental Health Breakthroughs: Taking Risks to create a positive and fulfilling life

Researchers have long wondered how some people with severe Mental Health  problems can manage their issues and symptoms well enough to build meaningful and  successful lives.  A great example is the work that Dr.Elyn Saks is doing at Saks Institute for Mental Health Law, Policy and Ethics to study mental health and society. The Institute was funded by a $ 500,000 MacArthur Genius Grant.

I have blogged about Dr.Saks before on thewick and now her new work is adding to our hope that people living with severe Mental Illness know how to survive and prosper in creating meaningful lives that celebrate mental courage and personal perseverance. Despite battling schizophrenia and acute psychosis since she was a teenager, Saks is a nationally recognized scholar in mental health law, criminal law and the ethical dimensions of medical research.

Thought Leaders use SlideShare best practices to Inspire and Build Business

Recently, I ran across an article by Jesse Stanchak on Smartblog. He was reporting on a panel discussion he had with Alison Watterson of Hewlett-Packard and Dora Smith of Siemens on how their companies were using social media  platforms to share new ideas and generate new business development contacts.  ”SlideShare is akin to Flickr or YouTube, in that it’s a network built around sharing a particular type of content … you’re sharing slides from a presentation that was created with Microsoft PowerPoint or a similar business tool. These slides are often used to accompany presentations at conferences or even at internal meetings. These slides are often seen as pure distillations of thought leadership, since they’re designed to inspire others and are composed of easily digestible chunks of information. For B2B firms and other companies that are trying to use their expertise as a way of attracting and enchanting followers, a SlideShare deck can be an easy way to share your message with your target audience.”

The essence of  Watterson’s  ”best practices” presentation,  are shared below:

• “Get permission. Don’t assume every deck is equally shareable. Make sure you’re not disclosing any proprietary information in your deck before posting it.
• Have a target audience in mind. Who is this deck for? What problem does it address? Craft your decks so that they take on a particular topic in a way that naturally appeals to your ideal customer segment — whether that’s chief information officers, HR chiefs or some other professional group.
• “Further their thinking.” Great decks challenge assumptions and get people talking.
• Put SlideShare’s lead sheet to work. You can upgrade to SlideShare’s professional version and ask viewers to fill out a contact information sheet to see your entire deck. That sheet  can let you know who you’re reaching with your thought leadership and give you the means to follow-up with them later”.

So what creative ways are you using to reach possible new clients?

Exercise on Interpersonal Conflict: How to control frustrations and anger to solve problems

 

“If we don’t change the direction we are going, we are likely to end up where we are heading.” – Chinese Proverb

Of the three basic emotions that lead to poor productivity and interpersonal flare-ups —disappointment, frustration and fear—frustration leading to anger is the most destructive. Your particular situation may involve enormous frustrations and disappointments with others or yourself.  (“I needed to find better ways to handle Danny’s tantrums before I create a never-ending battle of the wills.” Darn him for always having a melt down when I need his cooperation.”) or enormous self-anger (“Why, why, why can’t I be a better Dad when things are not going well with the kids; m expected reaction just raises the temperature and sets him off. I really hurt our relationship when I get anger.” Whatever the proportions, some feel frustrated guilty but resist letting the situation escalate to anger, shouting and demanding; others acknowledge their frustration and inability to handle the situation but feel “stuck” in same old patterns.. Most of these regrets get you stuck in unproductive perseverance.

Considering frustration and anger separately makes both more useful. Right now, think of something or someone you are frustrated with… With that situation or person in mind, finish this sentence: “I’m frustrated that __________.” Repeat the exercise until you run out of frustrations and things related to that person or situation. For example, if you are  frustrated with a building contractor not finishing on time or making major errors on the project, you might say, “I’m frustrated and extremely disappointed that I have to stay on top of every piece of this remodeling project or it doesn’t get done on budget or in a timely manner. I’m angry that I chose such an incompetent builder and that this project is taking up all my time and energy. ” So this first exercise gets at the root causes for the frustrations.

Now that you have fully itemized the causes for the frustrations make another list of possible solutions needed to be implemented to solve the causes. In this part 2 of the exercise begin each sentence with the phrase, “I’m frustrated and angry at ________ because________ and I want to resolve this by _____________” For example, “I’m angry at Bill, the builder,  because of the cost and time over runs and I want to solve this by instituting a daily meeting to set priorities and action items for completion. To ensure we stay on task I am immediately bringing in a new supervisor for the project.” I’m sad about the need for this tight structure and supervision and the finger-pointing and blame game that has been going on” Write down the solution based  on your identification of the causes for the frustrations and anger about the personnel and situation.

Underneath frustrations is the feeling of disappointment when looking back at what we could have done. It does have a piece of self-loathing. Also, anger for what took place or is still happening. Try learning the lessons the experience is teaching you now rather than looking back and obsessively contemplating what could have been. Reflecting on Warren Buffet’s view of looking back may help you put frustrations and disappointments in perspective–”I never look back. I figure there is so much to look forward to that there is no sense thinking of what I might have done. It just doesn’t make any difference. You can only live life forward.”  So as you think about your frustrations right now–If you had the opportunity for a “do over” what would you do differently? What can you do now to correct the situation or put the project back on track?

Finally, remember that you need to focus on living and working fully and intensely in the present, with minimal infringement from the past failures or miscues to solve this problem and improve productively and enable others on the team to do their best work.