Category: Presentation Skills

  • Presentation Disaster Zone: A True Story

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    Who wants to feel exposed and inept in front of an audience? No one! Yet recently, I observed a presenter obviously wish she could disappear…all for the lack of a sound check.

    This speaker had plenty of important content to deliver. The press was buzzing and there was excitement in the room.

    She was introduced, cleared her throat, and said “I’d like to kick off our time together with a short video. It will move you as much as it did me”.

    She clicked her remote and the video started, soundlessly. From the audience, we watched a silent video which showed people doing things we didn’t understand and saying things we couldn’t hear.

    “Oh!” the speaker gasped. Several people ran up to the stage and started clicking away. Soon we saw the computer’s desktop, then its settings, then some photos of her family members projected onto the screen. Still no sound. More helpers flocked to the stage as the room ignited with conversation and laughter. People checked their texts, wandered to the snack table, and even, in one case, began a loud phone conversation.

    As the video continued it silent display, the presenter’s face moved from bright to dark red.  I felt her pain and her sweat! “Let’s just skip the video”, she finally instructed the swarm of people onstage.  More images flashed across the screen until her PowerPoint presentation once again appeared.

    Nearly 15 minutes after she initially began, the presenter ad-libbed: “Well, what the video would have shown was…” Thanks to the lack of a sound-check, this speaker lost the powerful and dynamic opening she had intended. Her confidence was visibly diminished.

    What’s the moral of the story? There are several:

    1. Check ALL equipment on-site before you begin.
    2. Bring extra adapters, cables, connectors, and other potentially useful technical items.
    3. Be ready to give the presentation without any visual aids at all. Create and bring notes. You will find these helpful even if your equipment never lets you down.

    Don’t be taken by surprise! By being totally responsible for your presentation, you will never experience “presentation hell”.

  • Fake It ‘Til You Make It – Annoying Cliche or Truth?

    I occasionally surprise myself by uttering the cliché above while encouraging a shy person to improve their presentation skills and confidence. I used to secretly kick myself for using such a hackneyed phrase—until I read Richard Wiseman’s great book, “As If.” In it, he cites dozens of studies showing that if we act a certain way, we begin to think and feel that way.

    Here’s one scientific study that’s particularly relevant to presenters:

    Vanessa Bohns and her associates at the University of Toronto asked one group of volunteers to adopt a posture associated with dominance and power: these volunteers stuck out their chests and moved their arms away from their bodies. Other volunteers were instructed to curl up in a powerless-looking ball.

    Then, the experimenters placed a tourniquet on each volunteer’s arm and slowly inflated it. The band got tighter and tighter, reducing blood flow. Volunteers were asked to say when they could no longer tolerate the discomfort. Findings: those in the powerful posture were able to tolerate much tighter tourniquets that those curled up in a ball. Simply acting as if they were powerful and strong helped push away an unwanted emotion.

    So-step into that “magic circle” and fake it ‘til you make it! Roll those shoulders back, opening up your chest. Separate your arms from your body. Be BIG! No one will know you are quaking inside…go on and give it a try. Science supports you!

    Learn about Guila Muir’s Presentation Skills Workshops.

    Guila Muir is a premiere trainer of trainers, facilitators, and presenters. Since 1994, she has helped thousands of professionals improve their training, facilitation, and presentation skills. Find out how she can help transform you from a boring expert to a great presenter: www.guilamuir.com

  • The “I Don’t Feel Like Me” Blues

    that's not me yowlHave you taken a presentation skills course with me (Guila) and found yourself feeling strange, even “fake” as you practice unfamiliar behaviors?

    You may remember hearing my prompts during the session. They include:

    • Use the Magic Circle!
    • Own the Real Estate!
    • Drop the Figleaf!
    • Sternum Up, Shoulders Down! and even
    • Show Your Body!

    Sometimes, my workshop participants push back. They may tell me “That’s not what I do,” or “This doesn’t feel like me!” While I empathize with their discomfort, I’m also glad they’re feeling it. Behaving in a new way SHOULD feel different, even a little scary.

    The Intensified You

    Why are you taking a presentation skills course? Presumably, it’s to improve your presentation behaviors. These behaviors can be defined as unique skills that improve your delivery of content. They are not skills to make you better at coding, supervising, engineering, making art, or any of the skills you already excel at doing.

    When you feel out of your comfort zone as you practice new presentation behaviors, give yourself a pat on the back. You are expanding your boundaries. You are stepping into your “intensified you” persona.

    “Intensified” or Fake?

    Your “intensified you” persona includes:

    • Speaking more deliberately, and probably more loudly.
    • Taking up more physical space through the use of gestures and posture.
    • Demanding attention, and thriving in it for the duration of the presentation.

    The “intensified you” persona is 100%, authentically, you. It is simply a stronger, more confident and powerful version of your everyday you.

    The New Science

    2,000 years ago, Aristotle proclaimed that acting virtuous would make one virtuous. More recently, Harvard researcher Amy Cuddy found that we become how we act. The way we use our bodies shapes who we are. We know now that change occurs from the outside in, not only from the inside out.

    By acting “as if” you belong in front of an audience, you start belonging in front of an audience. By looking powerful (even if you are quivering inside), you become more powerful.

    Embrace It

    The move from the “workaday you” to the “intensified you” might feel uncomfortable. Complain if you desire. But if you are serious about being the best presenter you can be, say “hello” to new sensations, postures, and movements. Start to enjoy a new side of yourself—the intensified you.

    “Our bodies change our minds. Our minds can change our behavior. Our behavior can change our outcomes.”

    Amy Cuddy

    Want more tips to improve your speaking self? Learn about Guila Muir’s Presentation Skills Workshop.

  • Sabotaging Yourself as a Speaker

    Recently, I had the honor to be an audience member instead of a presenter. By watching instead of doing, I got the opportunity to re-assess my beliefs about what makes speakers effective. Here’s what I noticed:

    5 Ways Speakers Sabotage Themselves

    Mechanistic Movement

    I’ll be honest here. I’ve only noticed a case of “robot-arms” this extreme a few times in the 20 years of my professional career. Every time one speaker said a certain word, he self-consciously drew a shape in the air with his hands. I counted five of these word-and-gesture-pairings. The effect was of an overly rehearsed, stilted high school actor.

    Tornado Talking

    Several presenters’ speed-talking, punctuated with very few pauses, led to audience exhaustion. Women presenters were the biggest offenders.

    Big Chest in a Tight Blouse (I couldn’t think of how to use alliteration here)

    The audience could see the lines of one presenter’s underclothes, and even what lie beneath them. Additionally, this speaker dressed more casually than most of her audience. (Do remember the rule: “Dress like your audience, but one step better.” )

    Boring Bearing

    Wearing sparkly clothes didn’t make up for one speaker’s inward-turned shoulders and powerless posture. (To learn about the Power Posture watch this great video:  http://www.ted.com/talks/amy_cuddy_your_body_language_shapes_who_you_are.html)

    Egregious Embellishment

    Several presenters used lots and lots of very, very, absolutely, incredible, awesome, unbelievable, excellent, top-of-the-line adjectives. It was as if these speakers didn’t believe the truth of their messages, so tried to pump them up to make us believe. The opposite occurred.

    3 Ways Speakers Increase Their Credibility

    I’m probably the audience member from hell because of my merciless observations. However, I wouldn’t want to imply that I didn’t see anything that worked. Here are three behaviors that added to the authority and credibility of several speakers.

    Purposeful Perambulation

    The (female) speaker moved toward the audience, then stopped when delivering important messages. She refrained from:

    • Pacing
    • Walking backward
    • Shifting her weight from side to side
    • Talking while walking
    • Standing like a cheerleader: (weight on one hip).

    She always included the entire audience with her body position, not just with her eye contact. As a result, her words were compelling.

    Enthusiasm Embodied

    The best presenters appeared to be enjoying themselves. They displayed passion about their subjects. Their voices were both deliberate and naturally excited. They gestured authentically to emphasize their messages. (For the best article I’ve found on exuding enthusiasm as a speaker, see: https://gm.wp.zi3.xyz/training-development/the-joy-of-training/).

    Audience Advocacy

    This term, coined by Jerry Weissman, simply means that the speaker continually let us know how his information would benefit us. Sprinkled throughout his presentation, he asked questions like:

    “Now, why is this important?”

    “Why should YOU care?” and

    “Why am I telling you this?”—and proceed to answer in ways that made it clear how his information was in OUR (the audience’s) best interest.

    Potent Presenting

    When you lose the first five behaviors listed above, you’ll stop asking yourself, “Now, why didn’t that work like I thought it would?” By integrating the last three points, your public speaking becomes more compelling, dynamic and powerful. Enjoy!

    Want more tips to improve your speaking self? Learn about Guila Muir’s Presentation Skills Workshop.

    Guila Muir is a premiere trainer of trainers, facilitators, and presenters. Since 1994, she has helped thousands of professionals improve their training, facilitation, and presentation skills. Find out how she can help transform you into a great presenter: www.guilamuir.com

  • FEAR, Revisited: Manage Your Presentation Nerves!

    AfraidDo your hands sweat at the mere idea of public speaking? Does your stomach flip-flop, your mind go blank?

    Four guidelines from professional speaking coaches will help.

    1. Don’t hate your nerves.
    Remember that your goal is NOT to overcome fear. Your goal is to deliver an effective message. When you invest yourself fully in your message, fear takes a back seat.

    2. Be able to clearly state your presentation‘s purpose.
    Your nerves will undermine you if you’re not able to state the purpose in one short sentence, starting with “The purpose of my presentation is to…”

    In the words of Dianna Booher, an international communications skills expert: “If you can’t write your message in a sentence, you can’t say it in an hour.”

    3. Work That Heart.
    Cardiovascular fitness acts as an “anxiety shield.”  Whatever physical exercise you like, do it, and do it regularly. Your lowered blood pressure, heightened endurance, and increased oxygen flow will protect you against an attack of nerves.

    4. Do it over and over. The best way to feel calm and confident is to practice your presentation multiple times, OUT LOUD, both by yourself and in the “real world.”

    Use these four suggestions as you prepare for your next presentation. The antidote to nervousness is not “out there” somewhere…the keys are already inside of you.

    Want more tips to improve your speaking self? Learn about Guila Muir’s Presentation Skills Workshop.

    Guila Muir is a premiere trainer of trainers, facilitators, and presenters. Since 1994, she has helped thousands of professionals improve their training, facilitation, and presentation skills. Find out how she can help transform you from a boring expert to a great presenter: www.guilamuir.com

  • Which is More Important? How You Design or How You Present?

    Businessman dressed like superhero thinking over whiteAfter observing trainers for years, I realized one counter-intuitive, yet powerful, truth. Design (the way you organize your training session or presentation) often trumps “how” you present it in terms of effectiveness. That is, the rational, linear, and creative planning you used to develop your session may ensure your success MORE than the way you use your voice, hands, or body language.

    Shocking! Isn’t using your charming personality enough? Isn’t it enough to “go with the flow,” enjoying your interactions with the audience (or just the sound of your own voice)?

    When I’ve asked audience members how much they learn from flamboyant, charismatic speakers, I often hear “I really enjoyed the speaker. But once I thought about it, I realize I didn’t get anything out of the session.”

    Three Magic Elements

    So what about the opposite type of presenter? She may be severely introverted. She may even slouch and not make much eye contact. Of course, she, too, can ruin a session. BUT: if this presenter has:

    • Designed her session using a logical flow of information,
    • “Baked” interaction between the participants (not just with the presenter) into her design, and
    • Reduced her dependence on PowerPoint,

    The chances are high that her participants will leave her session feeling grateful. They may not remember being “bowled over” by the speaker, but they will have gained practical knowledge or skills they can actually use.

    The Role of Speaker Energy

    An ounce of energy is worth a pound of technique. Roger Ailes

    What is the one thing that would improve that second speaker’s delivery? The simplest ingredient is energy itself. All audiences respond to the level of energy a speaker exudes. That’s why some speakers have come to rely on energy alone.

    First, you must build an extremely robust foundation. Do that by integrating the three elements above into your session’s design. Then rehearse your session, exuding a much higher level of energy than you would use in any other professional situation. Rehearse it out loud, several times. Maintain that same energy level each time.

    When it’s “Showtime,” you will be amazed at the positive effect that your good design, combined with your high energy, has on your audience. They will remember YOU, and most importantly, they will remember your message.

    Want more tips to improve your speaking self? Learn about Guila Muir’s Presentation Skills Workshop.

    Guila Muir is a premiere trainer of trainers, facilitators, and presenters. Since 1994, she has helped thousands of professionals improve their training, facilitation, and presentation skills. Find out how she can help transform you from a boring expert to a great presenter: www.guilamuir.com

  • Embracing “Figleaf” for Presentations

    Oh, if only I could advocate Figleaf, since it’s the go-to position of many presenters. After giving Figleaf a thumbs-up in this fantasy scenario, I could also wholeheartedly endorse the following, both online and IRL:

    • slumping shoulders forward
    • crossing arms in front of the body
    • crossing legs.

    I can only imagine how relieved my clients would be if I could promote these popular behaviors.

    Unfortunately, it’s not going to happen. If we are serious about presenting effectively, we can’t afford any of these. Let’s take a look at the worst offender. Then we’ll review our options.

    What is Figleaf?

    Figleaf occurs when you place one or more hands in front of your midsection or abdomen. Using “Figleaf”, even while sitting, closes you in and hunches you inward. It can lower others’ perception of your credibility.

    Why Does Figleaf Occur?

    Our brains are hardwired to protect us. When we feel exposed (as many feel when presenting) we react by covering up. As Malcolm Kushner says in Presentations for Dummies, “it’s like you’ve just discovered your nakedness (or lack of anything intelligent to say) and want to hide it from your audience.”

    What Are Options to Figleaf?

    The good news is that great alternatives exist. All of the following will make you look more credible:

    • Bend your elbows slightly and align your middle finger with your shoulders. Allow your hands to relax and face each other. Move your wrists slightly as you talk. OR
    • Move your hands from the shoulders instead of from the elbows. OR
    • Demonstrate with your hands:  “On the ONE hand”, or “our FIRST priority should be…” (bring your hands up for visibility if online).

    To Avoid Figleaf

    All you need is willingness…willingness to try something new, even if it makes you feel exposed at first. You will see an immediate improvement in your confidence and competence as a speaker.

    Want more tips to improve your speaking self? See our Presenting Confidently and Concisely Workshop.

  • Dive In!
    Presenting and Open Water Swimming

    I am an “adult onset” swimmer. Learning to swim at age 46, I trembled with the same anxieties as many of my Presentation Skills clients. I even heard myself describe my experience using the same words. Swimming was unnatural, awkward, unnerving, and out of my comfort zone.

    Twelve years after my first lesson,  I continue to feel amazed at how many parallels I continue to discover between swimming and presenting. I often ask my workshop participants for similarities they perceive between these two divergent activities. Their collective wisdom will help YOU overcome your “fear of the water:”

    1. You must prepare

    Workshop participants cite this similarity most often. This makes me happy. Open water swimmers can literally die (and sometimes do) for lack of preparation. Presenters can metaphorically “die” if they are not prepared.

    Keep the ratio of 1:3 in mind. For each hour spent presenting, it’s wise to put aside a minimum of three hours to design, prepare, and rehearse your material.

    2. You must keep focused on the final goal

    For swimmers, effectively sighting on the final buoy helps determine who wins and who loses. Open water swimmers can end up swimming hundreds of extra yards if they don’t continually keep their eyes on where they want to end up. Those who sight poorly end up off-course, exhausted, and maybe even wounded: One swimmer I know ran into a piling and broke a tooth because lost sight of his final goal.

    Presenters also lose when they drift away from their stated purpose. Remember to carefully craft and state your purpose. (Here’s an article that will help.) Then remain accountable to your purpose throughout your presentation, even if metaphorical winds, chop or waves  try to toss you off course.

    3. You must stand tall

    Efficient, graceful swimmers demonstrate the same physical skills as presenters. Although swimmers remain horizontal, the fastest ones elongate the back of their necks. Their shoulders roll back and down to achieve the most powerful stroke, and their chests press into the water.

    Presenters, if you practice these exact physical techniques, you will appear more credible, authoritative, and strong in front of any group.

    Both in swimming and presenting, conditions can be rough. The first few strokes can feel icy. But if you’ve taken these three participant-generated tips to heart, you will overcome those challenges within the first few minutes. Then everything will go “swimmingly!”

    Send me your “swimming” and “presenting” analogies!

  • Electronic Devices in the Classroom


    by Guila Muir
    info@guilamuir.com

    I stood over the two participants, saying loudly, “No! No! No!” At first, they were so immersed in their screens that they didn’t even know I was there. As they returned to the present world, their faces changed from screen-fascination to shock. What was I doing, looming above them, looking so stern? They hadn’t heard a thing since they’d pulled out their devices.

    I wondered the same thing. What was I doing there? Why was I so irritated? As a trainer, had I lost emotional composure (a major element of credibility, according to McCroskey, Holdrige & Toomb’s 1999 research)? Had I blown it completely as a trainer?

    The class had just returned from a break, which I’d prefaced with “The break would be a great time to use your electronic devices.” That statement has been successful with dozens of groups. During breaks, participants check messages, and then totally participate during class. I made a decision some time ago that I wouldn’t state overt behavioral guidelines in my training sessions. Now I was beginning to think my subtlety had been a big mistake.

    What’s the Big Deal?

    I don’t take much personally after twenty-five years as a professional trainer, but lack of participation in a highly interactive session is the one thing that “gets my goat.” When a student uses his electronic device during class, I don’t understand why he is taking up space in the room. Recent research also shows that student performance goes down when cell phone use is allowed during training, (Duncan, Hoekstra, and Wilcox, 2012). When students text in class, other students are distracted as well (Tindell and Bohlander, 2012).

    “It’s Just the Way It Is”

    Most universities have created behavioral guidelines addressing electronic devices, with consequences attached:

    “A student may not use an electronic device during class time without the express permission of the instructor. Use of cell/smartphones during class time is always prohibited, as is leaving the room to answer or make a call.” (Texas State University).

    “Using electronic or wireless devices in the classroom is a privilege, not a right. Instructors may reduce points awarded for participation in class or other graded activities for the inappropriate use of electronic or wireless devices.” (University of Wisconsin).

    Most trainers in business situations make a verbal statement about this issue as well. My not stating aloud my clear expectations in this instance was, well, my bad.

    Strategies to Govern Use of Electronic Devices in the Classroom

    Trainers, this classroom management issue falls squarely in your lap. Your participants may be modeling behavior that supervisors demonstrate or tacitly condone. In fact, it may well be an organizational norm. I have noted the lack of personal presence due to screen addiction in almost all the organizations I have worked with over the last five years.

    So it’s up to you, and me, to challenge this in our classrooms.

    Your statement about the accepted use of electronic devices needs to come before you get into any content—right up front, after describing what your participants will be able to do as a result of the class. You can state your specific expectations aloud as well as provide them in written form. These might sound like:

    “Please use your electronic devices during the break. Turn them totally off,” (my preference), “or put them in vibrate mode during class.”

    “You may use your electronic devices to research specific points during our training. I will tell you when these opportunities occur.”

    You must provide frequent breaks anyway—not so much to allow participants to check their devices, but to ensure physical movement and an opportunity for students to relax and reflect. I like to give breaks every 60 to 75 minutes.

    Moral of the Story

    Although electronic devices are endemic in society, they should only play small and highly specific roles in the classroom. So, trainers, it’s up to us to ensure that behavioral expectations are crystal-clear. As I learned, subtlety around this issue doesn’t go very far in this screen-world we live in today.

    Let me know your experiences with this topic!

    Research cited: Duncan, D., Hoekstra, A., & Wilcox, B. (2012). Digital devices, distraction, and student Performance: does in-class cell phone use reduce learning? Astronomy Education Review, 11, 010108-1, 10.3847/AER2012011.

    Tindell, D. & Bohlander, R. (2011). The use and abuse of cell phones and text messaging in the classroom: A survey of college students. College Teaching. 60. Pgs. 1-9.

    Want more tips to improve your speaking self? Learn about Guila Muir’s Presentation Skills Workshop.

    Guila Muir is a premiere trainer of trainers, facilitators, and presenters. Since 1994, she has helped thousands of professionals improve their training, facilitation, and presentation skills. Find out how she can help transform you from a boring expert to a great presenter: www.guilamuir.com

  • The Curse of Knowledge

    by Guila Muir
    info@guilamuir.com

    Think of a skill you have, (such as driving, swimming, writing, reading…) Would you say you are unconsciously competent with this skill? That is,

    • Can you do it without thinking about it?
    • Is it part of you, like an instinct?
    • Would you have a hard time explaining the steps of this skill to someone with no knowledge at all about it?

    All of us have skills like these. And it’s great that we do! And yet, here’s the big question. Can this level of expertise actually hurt us as teachers, trainers or presenters?

    Before taking a guess at the answer, consider this experiment Elizabeth Newton did in 1990 at Stanford University. She assigned volunteers to one of two roles, either a “tapper” or a “listener.” Each tapper was asked to pick a well-known tune such as “Happy Birthday” and tap out the rhythm on a table. The listener’s job was to guess the song.

    Over the course of the experiment, 120 songs were tapped out. Listeners guessed only three of the songs correctly, making the success ratio only 2.5 percent. But before they guessed, Newton asked the tappers to predict the probability that the listeners would guess correctly. They predicted 50 percent. The tapers were flabbergasted by how hard the listeners had to work to “get” the tune.

    Why?

    The problem is that once we know something (for example, a song’s melody or a skill), we find it hard to imagine not knowing it. Our knowledge has cursed us. The more intimately we know a subject or a skill, the harder it may be to effectively teach or present it to others in a way they can understand. We may find it impossible to fathom how to teach because we don’t know where to begin.

    The Need for “Conscious Competence”

    It’s common knowledge that experts who know the most about a topic don’t always make the best teachers. In fact, some of the very worst teachers have the highest levels of knowledge and expertise. These experts have lost touch with conscious competence, and they wonder why their students aren’t learning.

    As presenters and trainers, we must come to our subjects anew. We need to get in touch with what the Buddhists call “beginner’s mind”, an experience of openness, eagerness, and lack of preconceptions. But we must also “crank ourselves down” from unconscious competence to conscious competence.

    Conscious competence is the state we’re in when we are able to do a skill, yet must still concentrate on its steps and nuances. It’s the state we inhabit when we don’t feel like an expert, even if we are. Even if we must concentrate in order to do the skill correctly, we can verbalize each step we take. We are not on automatic pilot.

    A Challenge

    So-beyond the need to “know your stuff,” which elements do YOU believe are most important to make a great teacher? Here’s this month’s challenge. Please take the time to answer the question, What makes a great teacher, trainer, or presenter? in the “add new comment” box below. I’ll publish the most-often stated ideas in our next newsletter.

    Thanks to The Art of Explanation, by Lee Lefever, for introducing me to the Stanford experiment.

    Learn about Guila Muir’s Pre­sen­ta­tion Skills Workshops.

    Guila Muir is a pre­miere trainer of train­ers, facil­i­ta­tors, and pre­sen­ters. Since 1994, she has helped thou­sands of pro­fes­sion­als improve their train­ing, facil­i­ta­tion, and pre­sen­ta­tion skills. Find out how she can help trans­form you from a bor­ing expert to a great pre­sen­ter: www.guilamuir.com