Dr. Mark’s Ten Rules for Creating and delivering Transformational Presentations Using InsideOut Formula:

The greatest thing I’ve got going for me is my ability to believe in other people’s talents. I am a feedback mirror because I hear and see people doing things they can’t hear or see themselves doing. Every great communicator needs that kind of feedback or they will not be stimulated to change or grow.  Having confidence in yourself is important, but it helps to have someone who believes in you, too, whether it’s a spouse, a friend, a teacher, or even a coach. To be a great a presenter takes “Truth telling” which begins with courage and belief in yourself. So if you want to come across to your audience as authentic practice daily the actions listed in my “ten rules for presenting” they will speak volumes of who you really are and transform a speech into a transformation experience.

Dr. Mark’s Ten Rules for Creating and delivering Transformational Presentations Using InsideOut Formula:                                             

1. Be clear and concise, confident and compelling about your goals for the presentation.Don’t present anything you won’t want to sit through yourself

2. Learn that “Connecting with Others” is more about you than the audience. Do you believe in what you are presenting? Are you comfortable in presenting ideas and information to others?

3. Believe in your self—Know your strengths and use them. This will allow you the freedom to overcome nervousness and self-doubts.

4. Know nothing will bother or interfere with your performance and your ability to stay on message and in the moment.

5. Radiate and Resonate. Love what you are doing and your audience.—Be confident responsive and respectful. Your radiance is coming from the pure, utter joy of feeling alive–of being connected to your message and the audience.

6. Speak with passion–be energized and excited that you get the privilege of presenting  what you know that can help the audience members live a more fulfilling life.

7. Stay focused but flexible on audience interests, needs and engagement.

8. Be natural and authentic—Don’t try to hard to be someone you are not or say things you don’t believe.

9. Don’t worry about evaluations and results of the presentation. Stay in the moment observe, respond and focus on the process of conveying your message and connecting with the audience.

10. Seek feedback on how you are meeting expectations as you are presenting—use checkpoints

11. Close with a bang. Check for understanding. Wave the flag. Call for commitment, change and action

Extra Idea for getting ready to speak– Use “relaxation and release” tools to start in a great state of mind and energy…   be open to whatever arises.

Want to be a “Sticky” presenter focus on making your communication visible and tangible

We have reviewed and explained how to use the R.A.T.E.R. checklist  tool for more effective and “sticky” presentations in another blog on the Wick

R. Relevant to experience and daily lives of participants. Tap into their needs and wants. Meet their expectations to learn something they can use.

A. Assurance that your ideas have merit and basis in fact and experience–make your case evidence based with best practices woven in to emotional solutions.

T. Create a message that is Tangible ( concrete, specific and practical) not a high level theory. Keep message simple. appeals to sensory and visual needs of the audience. Let them discover the answers. Make the message tangible or concrete by using physical objects and specific fact-based evidence.

E. Focus on showing empathy and understanding of the audience POV by telling emotional and feeling stories. Meet expectations and tap into members experience through involvement and interaction.

R. Be responsive to audience questions, skepticism and challenges.  Use CPR technique (clarify mis-understandings, paraphrase and restate audience comments and input, reflect audience feelings and degree of support or disagreement) and active listening to connect with the audience. For example, when you are asked  for opinion deflect question to the group to stimulate discussion and generate ideas. Then summarize comments and agreements/disagreements  before giving your expert advise or opinions on the topic being discussed.

In the book Made to Stick, the Heath brothers argue that concreteness or tangibility “helps us understand– it helps us construct… insights on the building blocks of our existing knowledge and perceptions.” They suggest that tangible or concrete ideas “stick” better and are easier to remember and spreed to others. Nothing lends concreteness to ideas more obviously than the use of  physical objects or specific scientific-based  evidence.

A physical object is something tangible that the presenter brings forward to show and let them touch during the presentation—it can be a book, rock, picture or factual idea. The reason to use one is if its presence lends more concreteness and provides more interaction and discussion to your presentation. Does the physical object make something clear that is confusing? Does the a tangible provide and reinforce a visual explanation of something abstract? Does the physical model or fact  make your presentation more grounded in reality rather than theory? Use it only if you answered yes to those three questions. Don’t use a physical object or concrete fact in a casual way. Use it as a center piece of your presentation to connect and engage the audience.

Make it Memorable

Now in order to be an idea virus or something audience members will want to go out and tell others about you must also make your message memorable, clear, concise and compelling. Demonstrations, physical object and startling facts can create some of the most dynamic, memorable moments in a presentation. Audiences are very likely to remember the prop you used, and what you did with it, so don’t stumble in your presentation or your risk will not be worth the benefit you were seeking. Ensure that your tangible object has a dynamic, unforgettable purpose in your presentation. If there’s a chance it’s going to be perceived as a gimmick or fall flat with the audience, or its purpose is not relevant enough to the topic at hand, don’t use it.

When presentations disappoint, one cause most likely starts with a failure to recognize that presentations are two-way communication processes and that boredom comes quickly when audience members get lost on too much information or you have not painted or provide reality based tangibles for the audience members to engage and interact with.

Consider ways a Tangible can strengthen and intensify your presentation. If you’re speaking about a device, it’s fitting to show the audience the device at the beginning of your pitch. If you’re reporting a statistic, it’s very effective to make the visual “stick” by bring out a tangible object. Be creative! Have fun with it. And take the risk to enhance your performance and message please share your stories with the rest of the Wick Community.

More from Dr. Berne Brown on Vulnerability, Shame and Connecting

Vulnerability is our most accurate measurement of courage”. Dr. Berne Brown

The most  viewed blog post on The Wick is a TED speech by Dr. Berne Brown. She talks about the power of being connected and vulnerable through the lens of dealing with our shame. Her conclusion is that what makes people vulnerable and feel inadequate is what makes people beautiful and happy. To find meaning we need the ability to empathize, belong, love.  This is a very personal and humorous talk by a truly authentic person.  She shares a deep insight from her research, one that caused a breakdown and sent her on a personal quest to know herself as well as to understand why shame is always whispered and hidden even from our conscious self. Her insight about  shame is groundbreaking and priceless.

Now she is back with more insights and over 5 million views of her Houston TED speech. Again she opens and models her vulnerability with a funny story about what success has taught her about vulnerability. Don’t miss this thoughtful and reflective speech.

Connecting and Shame

Winning from Within: To be experienced as a “sticky presenter” learn about “thin slicing” concept and other ideas.

 

You will gain tremendous credibility, become much more believable, facilitate your audience understanding and engagement if you look one audience member in the eyes and provide a clear, concise and compelling message. Instead of leaving audience members shaking their heads and saying to their neighbor “I don’t have any idea what he just said.”  “Experts” who use jargon and acronomes to communicate bold ideas generally leave audience members in the dark, disinterested and bored.

Malcolm Gladwell touches on this phenomenon in his book, Blink. He talks about “thin-slicing,” or “the ability of our unconscious to find patterns in situations and behavior based on very narrow slices of experience.” He explains how too much or too complicated slides can cloud an individual’s ability to accurately analyze a situation, and how an excellent communicator needs to be concise and clear in presenting their message or suffer the I don’t care what you are saying reaction. In other words, mini-impressions do count. And although you never get a second chance to make a first impression, you do get a chance to make your next presentation understandable and clear to your audience. It will help you build your credibility and connection with the audience.

Three Other Strategies for “winning from within”:

Capture your audience’s attention. Think about one of your favorite presenters? What style or techniques did they use draw you in — humor, tangibles, relevance, emotions, surprise, or something else? Think about how you could incorporate strategies and techniques into your next important presentation.

Convey a clear and compelling message. Consider the key message for your audience. What do you want to try and convey to engage and connect with them, and how are you going to use your connection with audience members to generate curiosity and aqttention? How are you going to frame the message to make your point sticky and meet the audience needs? Now, think about your own messaging — what is the most critical takeaway you would like the audience to understand and receive? How might you deliver your message to ensure your audience walks away with this understanding and commitment to take action?

Focus on differentiation. Think about what distinguishes the best communicators from the rest. How does the speaker use his presentation to connect with people in a unique way? What sets you apart from other speakers? How can you stick and highlight your distinctive message?

When you combine these three elements, you’ve got the potential for a persuasive “hotspot.” The key is having these components ready so that you can recall them under the pressure of giving a speech or presentation. To access these elements on the spot will require mental toughness and calmness. For example, the best presenters are always prepared to connect with the audience by thinking quickly on their feet and changing their address to fit the needs of the moment. Similarly, the best leaders often are not those who provide the most data, or speak the loudest or longest but are those who speak in a memorable and inspiring way over and over again.

Our world is filled with noise, information, distractions and rules; so having someone’s undivided attention — even for 60 seconds — is an opportunity that shouldn’t be wasted. If you can use those 60 seconds to capture their attention, deliver your message, and distinguish yourself from others, you’re likely to be heard, understood, and remembered. What presenter  wouldn’t want that? Remember: never let the rules over-rule your common sense and intuition as a communicator. 

Want to Bring a Wow experience to your next Presentation? Be Passionate and Mentally Tough

” Concentration and mental toughness provide confidence and are the difference between a boring presentation and a WOW experience for the audience.” MW Hardwick, Presentation Coach

Design with Purpose and Deliver with Confidence.

What matters to you is shown by your passion. Your passion will draw others to your cause. Emotional words and message are more important in hooking people and generating a contagion. Meaningful purpose gathers extraordinary support. The right idea—framed in emotion—grows exponentially through social media and word of mouth advocacy. Checkout how, The Dragonfly Effect, encouraged a social media project 100k Cheeks, to raise awareness and increase the number of people enrolled in the International Bone Marrow Registry.

If you isolate one thing about high achievers that has put them at the pinnacle of success above anything and everything else, it is the ability to communicate and connect with confidence and openness to audience members. I call this constellation of factors the mental toughness factor.

Call it mental toughness, confidence, courage–it is the profound ability to stay
in connected and overcome obstacles in the face of taking risks, challenges, loss, and adversity.
This new knowledge will empower you to perform at the top of your game because relevant information + knowledge = confidence and power, because 90% of success as a presenter is belief in yourself and mental toughness.
That’s why you owe it to yourself to take the next step to build your confidence and character as a public speaker. Try out these techniques and I assure you that your next speech will not be boring.

Daily Quotes and Reflection: Power of First Impressions

Quotes:

The answer is that we are not helpless in the face of our first impressions. They may bubble up from the unconscious – from behind a locked door inside of our brain – but just because something is outside of awareness doesn’t mean it’s outside of control.”
Malcolm Gladwell, Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking

 Its’  all about storytelling. It’s about creating a connection to the audience.”

Reginald Hudlin, President of Entertainment, BET

 Reflection: 

Spend more time on making a strong and lasting “first impression” on the audience. Like the old saying, you only get one chance for a great first impression. Overcoming a lack luster open to your presentation,  like a flat  or non-energized beginning, and then having to change that initial  poor image, takes lots to time and effort. Your initial first impression can make or break your presentation.

Action Assignment: You may not be making a speech today, but is helpful to practice how to make good first impressions. Today, stop and try to make a positive impression on someone you don’t know. After the interaction circle back to get some feedback–How did you come across to this person and what was their first impression of you? There is a lot to learn here because we all have “blindspots” between how we want to come across to others and their actual experience of you. 

 

Death by “boring” presentations and how to Eliminate them

“Speech is power. Speech is to persuade, to convert, to compel.” Ralph Emerson

 When you have a captive audience take advantage of the opportunity, do not bore them to death. Presentations are critical in promoting your ideas and advancing your career. Presentations are a wonderful platform for capturing people’s attention, interest and changing their point of views. It is one of the few mediums that if used properly contain the human interaction  necessary for changing and promoting new ideas and behaviors. Yet with the innovation of PowerPoint and other presentation templates the opportunity to make a ” unique connection” is generally lost or squandered on uninteresting and boring lectures.  

Most presentations today could be finished in five minutes by simply handing out your deck of slides.  Most rules of “adult learning” are violated in boring presentations. For example, some speakers try to influence you by “telling and selling” rather than engaging and connecting with the audience needs and wants. These type of presentations end-up being speaker and content centered rather than audience-centered.

So the question becomes if presentations are so boring and unproductive, why do we continue to have meetings and presentations that are obviously a waste of time and resources?

Part 1–Art and Science of Presentology

” …the key question for Mastery: is the potential for mastery innate or just hard work ? …How  anyone can commit to 10,000 hours of deliberative practice… the difficulty is how anyone can motivate themselves for 10000 hours of grueling deliberative practice” ? Boscoh

Four Pillars of Presentology–Designing and Delivering Extraordinary Presentations

Successful Strategies for “Winning from Within”

1. Message

2. Methods

3. Mechanics

4. Mental

So what makes a Master Presenter? I didn’t create any kind of scientific ranking while making my choices, but did consider five criteria:

1. Does the individual’s message and ideas resonate to the audience—Relevance Factor?
2. Are the ideas presented in a way that connects with the participants needs and expectations? Unique Connect Factor?
3. In what ways can the message inspired me to take action or put the ideas to work immediately? Action Factor?
4. To what degree has the presentation affected me personally? Memorable Factor?
5. Know your strengths and “go with what you have” and make improvements from this starting point to reach your goals? Focus Factor?

For example, if you want to be more expressive and charismatic find out through feedback what you need to change and then use Ericsson’s Deliberative practice or a process like “Smart Steps” for personal change.Tell me what you think works or doesn’ t work with this Presentology framework.

Daily Quote and Reflection–Why do Presenters fail to connect?

Daily Quote: “The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.” – George Bernard Shaw

Reflection:

1. Presenter assumes communication or message is interesting or understood by audience

2. Presenter doesn’t spend time building rapport or trying to connect with audience, so confidence and credibility are questioned

3. Material is not useful or relevant to audience needs and expectations

4. They’ve heard it all before—you don’t stimulate their curiosity

5 . No roadmap or agenda, is provided so participants—are lost, bored or  confused

6.  Presenter doesn’t take learning styles into consideration and presents too much information or just lectures without any involvement of audience members eg, too detailed and too many PPT slides.

7.  It’s too long  and attention span of participants wanes or  you go over the allotted time

8.  Close is just not compelling or powerful enough to inspire participants to action

Want to reduce Stress and Performance anxiety for next Presentation?

Deliberate practice, good preparation in knowing your topic,  and an authentic connection pays big dividends in reducing performance anxiety. Next time you need to   present to an audience, follow these four steps:

1.Keep audience focused and interested by capturing their attention in the first 8 seconds of the speech. You want them to lean in and be curious about what you have to say–Check-out my past blog on how to accomplish this in as little as 8 seconds. http://thewick.wordpress.com/2012/01/17/

2. Be confident in your topic. Your audience already believes that you’re the expert, so don’t try to bluff. If the people you’re presenting to feel you’re unsure of your material, they’ll lose interest in your presentation.

3. Be ready for questions.  Imagine questions people might ask. Construct answers before you give your speech. Either incorporate the answers into your presentation or be ready to provide them during Q&A.

4. Memorize the first minute of your presentation. You experience your greatest anxiety at the beginning of a speech. Knowing the opening of your presentation will give you a good start.

5. Start with audience interactive activity–like completing a one page inventory on the topic to be presented , such as Stress Management. Have audience members complete self-awareness and goal setting sheet. Then use the Pair-Share discussion tool where audience members share with a neighbor their reactions to the inventory and one change goal for the day. After 10 min you can introduce yourself and do a de-brief. Everyone gets engaged and you learn about the audience members level of understanding and needs.

To Win from Within–Start with Straight Thinking and Straight Talking

INTRODUCTION: THE BIG IDEA –Redefining the Inner Game                                      

Approximately 40 years ago, Tim Gallwey developed a powerful self-development model called: the Inner Game. His principles and methods over the years inspired and continue to ring true for many people. His principles have been the foundation for people to improve their performance and self-confidence inside and outside the sports world. The exciting thing now is how neuroscience research on the brain says that the joy of feeling good is a conscious state of mind, rooted in the neocortex, the region of the brain responsible for thinking, planning, and decision–making: You ace you opponent in tennis or get a standing ovation after a speech and think, “I really feel good.”

This research on the brain is shedding light on how the inner game is tied to the neocortex synapses and neurotransmitters. The brain works to influence and propel our outer world behavior. The critical cornerstone of Galleway’s model and the Inner Game principles is the distinction between different internal voices called Self 1 and Self 2.  For definitional purposes Self 1 is the voice characterized by critical and doubting internal self-talk that evaluates and provides obstacles for performance improvement, and Self 2, gives voice to the natural source of your talent, confidence and capabilities to be the best you can be.  Self 1 is the unproductive thinking driven by fear and self-doubt that interferes with your ability to reach your true potential. Self 2 is the voice that emerges naturally from your own deepest experiences, convictions, values and mental wiring.  Many of the difficulties in succeeding in business are related to the ability to be an effective communicator, whether speaking one-on-one  or 1 to thousand in a big ballroom.

New Presentation Playbook for “Winning from Within”

“Knowing yourself and being present and sensitive to expectations and needs of others is the beginning of “learning how to learn.” Mark W. Hardwick, Ph.D. 

In a world where communication effectiveness is the critical key to success for team and interpersonal interactions–many of us do not spend enough time on improving our people skills. In essence, my vision is to change the world of presentation one performance and one person at a time. The way I teach it varies from engagement to engagement and person to person. Some of my teaching is one on one coaching, sometimes in small groups and some times to large audience trying to model and demonstrate effective engagement and connection strategies and tactics.I like to thoroughly understand who I am talking with and identifying what they want to accomplish to become better communicators.

The Presenter’s Playbook for Winning from Within. Includes but is not limited to the following principles:

1. Embrace the challenge of the presentation and opportunity to show your best.

2. Trust and believe in your message and ability to deliver it in a memorable way.

3. Get out of worrying about acceptance and results and into the process of connecting with the audience

4. Be audience-centered and focused not self-centered and arrogant.

5. Be prepared to accept surprises and be confident that nothing will upset you on the platform.

6.  Learn to be flexible and open and ready to change at any moment by reading your audience and listening for non-verbal feedback

7. Don’t just “wing it”  learn to love planning, design and deliberative practice.

8.. Love your message and audience–don’t effort or try so hard be authentic. Learn to be in the moment and play to your natural strengths

9. Respect audience attention span and learning capacity.–Don’t over load them with facts , figures and information

10. Remember — Perfection is a killer to spontaneity so be  present in the moment and  have fun doing it. Be your own best friend.

 

 

 

The Presenter’s Voice–Overcoming 7 Errors of ineffective Communication

” Communication between leader and constituent is at the heart of everything.” John Gardner

Process with Structure key elements: Process and principles trump techniques every time

• Deliberative Practice
• Curse of Knowledge
• Delivery and design Principles–Unique Connection

Seven fatal errors of communication– The biggest flaw with communicators is assuming that they have connected, their message has taken place. and people will know how to execute it.

1. People are listening and with listening the message has been internalized

2. People understand what was communicated–check to see if they get it.

3. People care what was communicated–Show people what is needed to be more selfless

4. People agree with was communicated–Communicator must over come cynicism and doubts

5. People are inspired and motivated take action on new ideas–Create support systems and models for change

6. People are willing to change their ways without evidence that it is the right thing to do–Provide facts and emotional reasons for change that overcome the fears of changing 

7. People are able to push pass uncertainty and doubt with only limited exposure to a message.–Need for continuous and frequent reinforcement of message by communicator

Daily Quote and Reflection:Sticky Presentations –Nail the Close

Daily Quote:  Winston Churchill once said: “Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak. Courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.”

Reflection: We all could learn from this advice. Strong opening that hooks and captures the audience members curosity and a strong closing that inspires them to action. In my coaching I have seen presenters hurriedly do a summary, ask for questions while packing and other closes that flop or plop. The flop is a close that doesn’t impact the audience or reinforce your message like a quote that is not relevant to the message you want the audience to remember. The flop could be as bad as saying–”well folks that’s all I have to say.”  The “plop” is a remark that goes out to the audience but doesn’t get a positive response. It is important to close your speech with as much energy as when you open the speech. This is a time to have a powerful story that reinforces your message or request that is so powerful to move people to action or change their thinking.  This lack of nailing the close is an opportunity missed. For example,I recently saw a doctor when presenting keep looking at his watch and flying through complex slides just to get to the finish line on time. He ended is speech by saying, well I guess that’s all the slides I have. Thanks. WOW what a let downer and terrible closing that was. In fact, your last remarks when presenting are valued all out of proportion to the total amount of effort you put into the presentation. This powerful factor of audiences remembering the last thing they have seen or heard been studied by communication experts and linguist and is called the Recency Effect.

Action Activity: For your next presentation work on fine tuning your final message by practicing it in front of some colleagues and getting feedback on how it grabbed them or in what way it needs improvement. Some expert presenters memorize their closing and use the story format or quote to reinforce their message. Don’t missed an opportunity for your message to be experienced as inspirational, memorable and energizing. Remember your closing will be how your performance in the main is judged . Good Luck.

Want to craft your own free MBA type Learning–Don’t miss this series on Excellence by Tom Peter’s

Want to participate in your own custom designed MBA course in Excellence don’t miss this series by Tom Peter’s one of the top ten consultants in business since Peter Drucker.

” In the 30 years since the publication of In Search of Excellence, I’ve given 2,500+ presentations on organizational and personal excellence. For the last two+ years I’ve been pulling those 30 years of materials together. Throughout 2012, we will release, one part every two weeks, essentially “the best of”—a heavily annotated, 23-part mega-“presentation” titled “Excellence. Now.” This video gives you a preview. Use this material as you wish and please “steal” all you want! —Tom Peters

Check this one out on | # 5 Strategic Listening

“IN-effective  Leaders talk, EFFECTIVE leaders LISTEN. “Strategic Listening” is arguably the #1 competitive advantage”.

Daily Quote and Reflections: Re-thinking your Communications– If you think it, it will stick

Daily Quote: “People tend to think that having a great idea is enough, and they think the communication part will come naturally. We are in deep denial about the difficulty of getting a thought out of our own heads and into the heads of others. It’s just not true that, “If you think it, it will stick…”    Chip and Dan Heath, from their book –Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die  

Reflection:  One of our first  ”Process with Structure” design principles for Smart-Steps is to  “Think Expectations and Needs” Focus on the audience and people you are trying to influence and provide information too.  It is important to thoroughly understand the situation people find themselves in, what is the most important problem they face, how have they tried to solve it in the past and what can be done now to correct the issues they face. If you want to be a communicator keep your message concise, clear and simple.

Remember the four sides of a problem model presented by Dr. David Kolb. It is important to spend at least 50% of your time defining a problem before rushing in with solutions. This rushing in is caused by your vast experience and expert knowledge called the Curse of Knowledge. Don’t rush in with a pat solution to a problem, just because you have seen similar situations or problems before. One size doesn’t fit all is marrow way of approaching problem solving or solution finding ways. Look for differences in the problem situation to  individualized your approach through brainstorming and searching for the right alternatives and be open-minded in trying to  discover new answers even if it means starting over with a clean slate.

Also, focus on the uniqueness of the presenting problem so that you can customize the solution and message from your audience point of view and needs. Always remember to ask over and over again do these solutions fit the problem and expectations of your audience members goals? And is my message clear, concise and simple? The Process with Structure approach to personal and smart-step change is based on the idea of making problem solving, opportunity finding and creating messages a creative work of art and science.