Monday, June 29th, 2009
‘Goals’, ’solutions’ and ‘outcomes’ are commonly used words in business today. Yet a little known fact is, according to Roger Bailey, the creator of the Language and Behaviour profile, is that whilst 40% of people are motivated by goals, 40% are motivated by problems. The other 20 % are motivated equally by problems and goals.
So if you need to motivate your audience to do something, then it is vital to talk about the problems you want to get away from, as much as you talk about the goals that you want to move towards.
Thursday, May 14th, 2009
The answer is a simple one
- Be clear about your outcome
- Respond to the feedback about your current behaviour
- Have plenty of choice in how you act
That is it! That is the secret of success.
This ‘model’ addresses three fundamental reasons why people are not successful. Either they do not have a clear enough idea of exactly what it is they want, or, they do not respond to the feedback, or, they tend to try harder when something is not working. But as the well known saying goes:
‘If you keep on doing what you have always done, you will keep on getting what you have always got.’
It is interesting to note that those people most commonly found in positions of leadership, are the ones with most flexibility in how they act and how they respond to events.
So what holds us back from doing something different?
The answer to that question is habit. It is because habit feels so comfortable and familiar that it is a powerful force that conspires to keep us peddling the same old tune.
Using a coach is one such example of flexibility of behaviour that fosters success through helping individuals overcome their habits and develop more resourceful states and choices.
Monday, January 5th, 2009
Three men are laying the brick foundations. The first bricklayer, when asked what he is building, says, ‘Oh I am just laying bricks.’
The second bricklayer, when asked the same question replies, ‘I am building a church.’
The third bricklayer however, replies, ‘I am laying the foundations for a place of immense beauty and holiness, where people from all walks of life can come and seek solace and pray to the glory of god.’
Well no guesses as to who gets to work on time!
My point is that there is an immediate internal shift and a corresponding change in the manner of your speaking, if you connect with the bigger picture. So rather than thinking, ‘I really need to get over my fear of speaking in front of an audience’, you start to understand what is important to you about being able to speak in front of an audience. For one person it might be so that they can start being their very best. For another, it might be so that they can inspire other people. And for someone else it might help them to get noticed by their boss, so as to get a rise, so that they can afford to give their family privileges that they never had.
Before I speak in front of an audience I momentarily connect with what is important about doing what I am doing and in doing so it feels like I am filling my sails with a wind that inspires and motivates me. And it will for you too.
Wednesday, November 26th, 2008
As a speaker, it is easy to be thrown by the behaviour of members of the audience. (Actually it is not the behaviour that is the problem but the meaning we attach to that behaviour)
Common negative interpretation of behaviour:
- silence means uninterested
- looking away means bored
- fidgeting means wants to leave
Yet if we mentally change the meaning associated with the behaviour in positive ways, we can maintain our state much more effectively:
- silence becomes rapt attention
- looking away becomes considering what is being said
- fidgeting becomes lots of energy being released because of what is heard
Wednesday, October 8th, 2008
When I work with individuals on their presentation skills, I quickly point out that in business and in life, we are ‘presenting’ all the time. Every minute of every day you are communicating something, yet what you think you are communicating and what you are actually communicating are often poles apart.
For example, being ‘professional’ is not necessarily about about dressing smartly or being punctual. Rather being professional is about communicating exactly what you intend to communicate.
Carrying a copy of the economist might communicate that you are informed and interested in world affairs or driving a Toyota Prius might show that you care about the environment, whatever it is, you are continually giving people clues about your value system by what you do and say.
Given that relationship is key to winning and maintaining business, and given that shared values are incredibly powerful in forming and fostering good relationships (think of how many business deals are done through a mutual love of golf) then my advice is to give some thought to what values you wear on your sleeve.
A financial advisor came to meet me recently for an initial meeting, and he arrived in a big 5 series BMW. When I commmented on the statement it was making he said that he used to drive around in a mini cooper but the trouble with that was that clients would ask him if business was a bit hard to come by right now. For my wife however, the car suggested a flashness that she did not really appreciate.
What do your clients value, personally and professionally? Can you demonstate to them a resonation with those values without compromising your own integrity? If you can, then I would guess that you were a person with great influence and great presentation skills.
Tuesday, September 30th, 2008
1937 was the year that ‘How to Win Friends and Influence People’ by Dale Carnegie was first published. It has sold millions of copies since then, for the simple reason that the wisdom contained within its pages really works.
Making friends and influencing people is a skill. And very often if people are not experiencing good business relationships and having influence, then they will resort to trying harder at whatever it is that they are currently doing. But that simply leads to them getting more of what they are already getting.
I like the simplicity of his principles. The 6 key points he makes are:
- Become genuinely interested in other people
- Smile
- Remember that a person’s name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language
- Be a good listener. Encourage others to talk about themselves
- Talk in terms of the other person’s interests
- Make the other person feel important - and do it sincerely
In my experience, influential people often have 3 or 4 of the above capabilities, and what really takes their capacity for influence to the next level is to ensure that they are practicing all 6 steps. It is not rocket science and it absolutely works.
Thursday, August 28th, 2008
Anxiety and nervousness are increased when your focus prior to a presentation is on your performance.
This is largely alleviated if you switch the focus of your attention from you and onto your audience. In other words think about how much you want to communicate your message. Care about the audience hearing your message, rather than your performance, and in doing so you will find that you feel much more congruent about speaking.
Thursday, May 22nd, 2008
One of the biggest errors made in a presentation (and the one most easy to avoid) is the error of including too much detail. Time and again, when I view a PowerPoint that a client has put together I find myself wading through dozens of slides, crammed to the rafters with text. The thinking, they tell me, is that if their presentation is highly informative, then they will be alright? Wrong I am afraid.
Too much detail can be the quickest way to bore an audience to death, and to make you, the presenter, look equally dull. Rodger Bailey, the creator of the Lanugage and Behaviour Profile, found that in a work context, 60% of people will prefer to work on the overview, or at the conceptual level. They can concentrate on details but if there is too much detail it will quickly irritate them. Only 15% handle small pieces of information well. (The other 25% are able to process the big picture and the detail). Yet all too often, presentations are seen as opportunities to get alot of detail across to your audience. The statistics indicate that if you continue to do this, then you will continue to switch off the majority of your audience.
So what does this mean for you? First and foremost it means that presentations, in the main, should paint the big picture, with the detail being covered for example in a handout that you can refer to, but not bore your audience by wading through. Use slides to write a few statements or headings, which you can then expand upon without reading from the screen (another bad habit).There are times when you can assume that the percentages above will be slightly skewed. For example, there are some groups that are quite naturally detail orientated, and when presenting to them, then include detail to your heart’s content. Lawyers and accountants are two such groups that thrive on detail. But the next time you are presenting at board level, then leave the detail in a document that they can read at a later date should they so wish.
Thursday, April 17th, 2008
It is very common for speakers to ‘bounce’ (or flit) their eyes around an audience, not actually ’seeing’ anyone. Unfortunately it makes your audience feel that you are talking at them rather than to them, and the net effect of this is that they find it hard to connect to you.
And when an audience connects to you, it is more likely that they will be open and receptive. Therefore doing what you can to connect is an important aspect of public speaking.
When practicing your presentation, present to something and move your eyes purposefully, holding your gaze on different objects in the room you are practicing, for at least 3 - 5 seconds. When it comes to being in front of your audience, the 3 - 5 seconds of eye contact may feel to you like a long time, but it is just the right amount of time for the audience.
Thursday, March 6th, 2008
I recently coached a man who had been suffering acute anxiety for 6 months because of being asked to be best man at his friends wedding. One of the first things we did together was to shift his thinking away from giving a dazzling witty speech, to giving a speech that he cared about. Rather than being a procession of well used jokes his speech became something more unique, more touching and therefore ultimately more entertaining.
When you care about what you are saying, your nerves are eclipsed by your energy and enthusiasm and then speaking in front of an audience actually becomes something you can enjoy. The simplest illustration I can give is for you to imagine talking to a group of people about something that you have no real interest in. Now imagine what it would be like to talk about something you are completely passionate about. How much easier and more enjoyable would that be?
Out there in the world we may be called upon to present about a subject we have little or no emotional connection to, so does this mean that we have to resign ourselves to a mediocre performance? No it does not. What it means is that if you want to present at your best you have to find a way to care. I am reminded of the story of the Zen monk who applies the same vibrant mindfulness to cleaning the loo as he brings to his mediation practice. In other words he chooses to make cleaning the loo something immensely important because it is another opportunity for him to practice stilling the mind.
So when you are presenting to an audience about something seemingly mundane, can you discover the importance in what you are saying? Can you find the extraordinary in the ordinary? When you do, your audience will be right there with you, I promise.
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© Alex Marshall :: for presentation skills and public speaking
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