Tag: Fear

Does Smiling Help or Hurt Presenters?
by Guila Muir
info@guilamuir.com

The actual answer to this question, based upon many studies and years of research, is “it depends.”

How Smiling Helps

The act of smiling changes our brain chemistry for the better. An authentic smile can:
- Boost mood and confidence by increasing serotonin, norepinephrine and endorphins.
- Lower heart rate, and
- Reduce anxiety.
These chemical changes obviously benefit presenters.

An authentic smile also makes other people feel good. An audience that feels good makes our job as presenters easier. In fact, when people see a smile, the reward centers of their brains turns on, making them happier. Who doesn’t want a happy audience?

So what could possibly be the down side of smiling?

How Smiling Hurts

Among primates, smiling means submission, “I am not a threat.” We humans still read smiling this way. Oversmiling makes you appear less confident and more desirous of approval. (NOT how you want to be perceived as a presenter!)

Most studies find that in general, women smile more than men. In fact, research involving nearly 110,000 people found that smiling is females’ default option. Audiences may perceive a constantly smiling female presenter as less competent and knowledgeable than a less-smiling female or a male. But males can oversmile, too.

To Smile or Not to Smile?

Here’s how I would answer that question. Before presenting, prepare yourself:
1. Pump up your enjoyment level. Tell yourself, “I will enjoy this,” or “I feel great,” or “the audience is my friend.” Allow yourself to feel positive.
2. Feel an authentic smile engendered by positive thoughts. Feeling 100% present, smile as you introduce yourself and take ownership of the presentation space.
3. Gradually and naturally, let your introductory (and authentic) smile fade as you get further into the material.
4. Be willing to smile and laugh naturally throughout your presentation. Always smile when welcoming people back from a break.
The bottom line is, as usual: Be yourself, with an addendum: Watch your smiles!

Learn about Guila Muir’s Presentation Skills Workshops.

Guila Muir is the premiere trainer of trainers, facilitators, and presenters on the West Coast of the United States. 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
November 8, 2011
Stand and Deliver!
Are you serious about wanting to increase your dynamism, power and energy as a speaker? Then you must stand up when you present.

Andy Eklund, a presentation skills expert, tells us:

“The vast majority of people are at least 50% less dynamic when sitting down, because their body movements are halved … and perhaps as much as 75% because everything else is restricted too. It’s more difficult to breath properly, which means it’s harder to project your voice. Hand gestures diminish, if not disappear. Eye contact disappears too because the person tends to read what’s in front of them.”

I want you to stand when you present because I want you to be powerful. I’m providing my favorite mottos and metaphors to help you remember to stand tall. Note: Please stand up NOW to try them out—you’ll find a favorite to use the next time you present:
- Imagine that your vertebrae are separated by small pockets of air.
  or
- Roll your shoulders “into your back pockets.”
  (This opens your chest.)
  or
- Imagine a string attached to the crown of your head, gently pulling it up while your chin relaxes downwards.
  (Don’t lead with your chin.)
  or
- Lengthen your neck and all else will follow.
  or
- Create “cleavage” in your back, between your shoulder blades.
  (woo-hoo!)
  or
- Point your chest to the place across the room where the wall meets the ceiling.
  or
- Simply think “UP.”
Remember-it’s not about rigidity, it’s about grace, strength and power as a presenter.

Learn about Guila Muir’s Presentation Skills Workshops.

Guila Muir is the premiere trainer of trainers, facilitators, and presenters on the West Coast of the United States. 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
June 5, 2011
Present With Purpose
To ensure a successful presentation every time, presenters should start by developing a clear, concise purpose statement. The purpose statement serves two important roles. It helps keep you focused and on track as you develop the presentation. It also helps your audience focused on your message from the get-go.

Before you present: Clarifying the purpose helps you avoid a data-dump. You will design your presentation with a focused viewpoint and avoid excess content. Because you are designing more efficiently, you save tons of time and energy.

As you present: By stating your presentation’s purpose in the first few minutes, you shape your audience’s expectations. You also make an overt commitment to achieving that purpose. This adds to your credibility as a speaker.

Here are a couple of examples:
- “The purpose of my presentation is to inform you of the new changes in our contract.”
- “My purpose today is to introduce the preliminary findings of our report.”
- “Today I will show you the 5 benefits of our new venture.”
Why Don’t More Presenters Do This?

I have three big guesses as to why more presenters don’t develop and use a clear, concise purpose statement.

1. The lure of PowerPoint. Even though using PowerPoint to organize a presentation almost guarantees a data dump-style presentation, many presenters have grown up thinking this is the only way.

I have nothing against using PowerPoint as a tool once you have clarified the presentation purpose. In fact, I suggest putting your purpose statement on the very first PowerPoint slide!

2. The belief that the audience already knows what you are going to say. Your audience may know the fuzzy parameters of your speech. It’s your job to shape their expectations toward what you want to say.

3. Ignorance. Many presenters simply have never considered the importance of using a presentation purpose statement to guide their process.

Where to Start

The best way to develop your purpose statement is to start with this bare-bones template:

“The purpose of my presentation is to:

(1) verb

(2) audience (you can say “you” here)

to

(3) topic.”

Examples #1 and #2 above follow this template. Example #3 throws in a little “what’s in it for you” statement. All are effective.

My Challenge to You

Try it out! Create a purpose statement for your very next presentation. If you already have a presentation that lacks a purpose statement, develop one NOW and use it the next time you present.

You will find yourself and your audience more focused on the message. Let me know how it goes!
March 6, 2011
3 Rules for Excellent Presentations

I was excited to find John Medina’s great book, Brain Rules, in the San Francisco airport bookstore in 2009. The book is incredibly readable and valuable to trainers and presenters. I was thrilled most of all to see that Medina provides research to support 3 rules I’ve shared in my Train the Trainer classes for years.

1. Provide the gist, the core concept, first.

Verbalize and show your session’s purpose within the first few minutes of your presentation or training. Medina claims that you will see a 40% improvement in understanding if you provide general concepts first.

2. Give an overview of the class at the beginning, and sprinkle liberal repetitions of ‘where we are now’ throughout.

Provide clear transitions and summaries throughout your session. Clearly and repetitively explain linkages.

3. Bait the hook.

Every ten minutes, Medina gives his audiences a break from the firehose of information by sending “emotionally competent stimuli” (yet another word for ‘hook.’) A hook can be a surprising fact, anecdote, or question, and must must trigger an emotion: anxiety, laughter, nostalgia, etc. It must also be relevant. Use hooks at the beginning of each module.

Research suggests that by using these skills, you will prevent your audiences from “checking out” during your presentation. Not only that, but these 3 tips will enable you to enjoy presenting more. Have fun!

Learn about Training Development. Read more articles about training.

© Guila Muir.

November 26, 2010
Perfect Presentations: What Not to Wear
by Guila Muir
info@guilamuir.com

How to dress for credibility, while remaining true to yourself.

What to wear for a perfect presentation? As you design and polish your speech, developing visual aids and handouts, this question may fall into the background until dangerously close to the presentation. Suddenly, you look up: “Yikes! What am I going to wear?”

Your appearance impacts your credibility as a speaker. Don’t leave it to chance, and don’t wait until the last minute to decide what to wear. Just think of preparing your appearance as part of your overall speech preparation. Here are my favorite, possibly competing, guidelines:
- Stay authentic.
- Dress like your audience- but one step better.
Stay Authentic: Within reason, your attire must express who you are. If you feel like you’re wearing someone else’s costume, your verbal message may not ring true.

Dress Like Your Audience, But One Step Better: Appearing similar to, but slightly more dressed up than your listeners conveys respect both for them and for your subject. It enhances your credibility.

Use these five tips as a guide to dressing for credibility, while remaining true to yourself.

1. Wear well-made and well-maintained clothing.

Granted, no one will be checking your clothing’s seams or labels. But image consultants counsel that your audience can tell if you’re wearing a cheaply made dress or suit. You can probably feel it, too. Whether you choose to look conservative or creative, wear well-made clothing made from high-quality fabric. Avoid linen and other easily-wrinkled material.

2. Pay attention to details.

Even if your audience won’t see your shoes, make sure they are polished and that the heels are secure. Men should have a recent haircut and trimmed facial hair. Search for loose threads or inopportune gaps between buttons.

3. Wear your “Confident Clothes.”

Wear something that makes you feel sprightly and energized. This could mean sticking to the tried-and-true, so long as it’s one step above your audience and expresses your personality. Use a solid color that suits you near your face. (How do you know which colors suit you? Ask one of your color-savvy friends.)

4. Make sure it’s comfortable.

You are NOT allowed to tug at or re-arrange your clothes while presenting. Wear your outfit around the house a few days before your presentation to ensure that you can move comfortably. Then put your outfit aside, including all underwear, jewelry and shoes, and go back to prepping your speech.

5. Dress to look taller.

Consider wearing a solid color for both pieces of your outfit. This will help you appear taller and help you tap into the “Intensified You.”

So—to pull together both my responses to the question “What should I wear?” I leave you with these words: Let your personality shine through even as you “fit in” with each specific audience.

Read more articles about Presentation Skills. Learn about Guila Muir’s Presentation Skills Workshops.

Guila Muir is the premiere trainer of trainers, facilitators, and presenters on the West Coast of the United States. 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
August 15, 2010
3 Words to Weaken Your Presentation
I’m here with some good news for most presenters—along with some cautions you’ve probably never thought about.

The Good News: “Ums” Won’t Kill You

Speakers, don’t worry so much about using fillers like “um” and “uh. ” These only become problematic when other distracting factors are in play. Your audience will only notice your “ums” if:
- You haven’t practiced, so you don’t know where you’re going next.
- You don’t enunciate clearly.
- You don’t exude enthusiasm about your subject.
To some degree, a speaker’s occasional “um” gives the listeners’ brains an opportunity to catch up—we can speak faster than we can listen. Michael Erard, bestselling author of UM…Slips, Stumbles, and Verbal Blunders, and What They Mean sums it all up by saying: “Want people not to notice your ‘um’s’? Be interesting.”

The Caution: Three Words to Weaken Your Presentation

Some words we use to strengthen our presentations paradoxically weaken them instead. Which example below sounds more powerful?

I love you.

I actually love you.

I recall watching a woman presenter, extremely confident in most situations, speaking to a hostile and primarily male group. Not only was this group opposed to her message, it had the power to sway mass opinion throughout the organization.

To my surprise, this usually dynamic speaker came off extremely unconfidently. Her voice, dress, and manner were the same as usual, but I noticed that she used the word “actually” in nearly every other sentence. Unconsciously, she was attempting to ingratiate herself to this powerful audience.

Research by Erickson, Eind, Johnson and O’Barrr discovered that a few specific words deprive a speaker of power. Surprisingly, we often use these words to underline or “pump up” the importance of our message. By over-reinforcing our message, we seem to be “protesting too much.” Our credibility takes a hit.

These words are:

Really, (really) As in: “It’s really, really a good cause.”

Truly, As in: “It’s truly the best software.”

And, or course, actually.

Watch your use of these words, particularly when faced with an audience that challenges you. Strip them out, and your speech will be more powerful, direct, and credible.

Read more articles about Presentation Skills. Learn about Guila Muir’s Presentation Skills Workshops.

Guila Muir is the premiere trainer of trainers, facilitators, and presenters on the West Coast of the United States. 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
July 13, 2010

3 Tips to Deal With Audiences from Hell

Resistant dynamics can be found in any audience. Here are three essential techniques to stay sane as a presenter.

1. Check Yourself.
Ask yourself: What am I feeling about this audience? Why? What’s the worst that could happen?

Prepare yourself emotionally and physically. Make sure you’ve had enough to eat, and drink plenty of water. If you find yourself going “on stage” expecting the worst, or not being prepared for many questions and challenges, you set yourself up for failure.

2. Don’t Let the Hostile Faces Hook You.
Your goal is to present to the best of your ability, to everyone in the room. Don’t get emotionally connected to the few unhappy audience members.

Acknowledge and respect the dynamics in the room. Detach from them. Most likely, these have nothing to do with you.

3. Present as if Everyone Were Uncommitted.
I borrow from Don Pfarrer’s book, Guerilla Persuasion, for this incredibly helpful final tip. I’ve used it often, to great success.

Assume that every audience is comprised of four different groups. Each group is either friendly to your message, hostile, indifferent, or simply uncommitted.

Here’s the strategy: Focus on the uncommitted. In this way, you will successfully address everyone in the audience. By focusing on the uncommitted, you will construct and present your message more thoroughly and persuasively.

All 4 Audience Segments Benefit When You Focus on the Uncommitted.

Audience Segment	What Do They Want From Listening to You?	Dangers of Focusing Only on This Segment	How This Segment Benefits When You Focus on the Uncommitted
“Friendlies”	Satisfaction, affinity.	Too easy — you may assume too much.	Their knowledge and commitment is deepened.
“Hostiles”	To see you fail.	Increases your own defensiveness. You may come off abrasively and unlikable.	They experience human respect, openness and reason from you (and are likely to mirror the behavior).
“Indifferents”	To be left alone and unchanged.	You may tie yourself up into knots trying get a response.	They may get the message, while not being hammered by you.
“Uncommitteds”	To experience a reasoned, well-thought-out, good-natured exposure to the issues.	NONE!	They get the best of YOU: affinity and reason. You won’t cut corners by assuming support where it might not exist.

The bottom line is: KNOW YOUR STUFF. Be ready for questions and challenges. By checking yourself, not getting “hooked” by hostility, and focusing on the Uncommitted, you take great strides towards more resiliency and professionalism as a presenter.

Read more articles about Presentation Skills. Learn about Guila Muir’s Presentation Skills Workshops.

Guila Muir is the premiere trainer of trainers, facilitators, and presenters on the West Coast of the United States. 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

February 10, 2010

Can You Hear Me Now? Three Tips to Rise Above the Crowd

by Guila Muir
info@guilamuir.com

WOW, the pressure on public speakers is great. Speakers and audiences realize that PowerPoint won’t save anyone anymore. The focus now shines on YOU more than ever before. How can you be heard above the crowd?

1. Do your homework.

What are your audience’s needs, wants, anxieties, biases, “personality?” What history do people bring into the room? What do you need to know to ensure that your message fits this audience?

Presenters who don’t ask these questions are like basketball players trying to dunk in the dark. All they can do is hope for the best.

2. Raise your fitness level.

Quality presentations demand energy. You owe it to your audience to exude vitality. To increase your energy and vitality, you must build your physical endurance outside of speaking situations.

It really doesn’t matter how what size you are. It does matter that you increase cardiovascular fitness in your everyday life. Do whatever turns you on, from walking the dog faster to taking up some scary and exciting new sport.

3. Start with the end in mind.

Always ask yourself: “What do I want to this presentation to achieve?” Don’t move ahead to organize your presentation until the answer satisfies you.

Yes, audiences expect more from speakers these days. But you can rise to the challenge–and rise above the crowd–simply by integrating these tips into your life as a speaker.

Read more articles about Presentation Skills. Learn about Guila Muir’s Presentation Skills Workshops.

Guila Muir is the premiere trainer of trainers, facilitators, and presenters on the West Coast of the United States. 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

© 2009 Guila Muir. All rights reserved.
You may make copies of this article and distribute in any media so long as you change nothing, credit the author, and include this copyright notice and web address.

October 22, 2009
The “Intensified You:” Key to Giving a Great Presentation
by Guila Muir

“An ounce of energy is worth a pound of technique”. (Anonymous)

When people describe the best speaker they’ve ever seen, the word “energy” always comes up. What are the secrets of exuding energy, vitality, the life force, as a speaker?

Be Big

Regardless of what size you are, take up more room. Become the “Intensified You.” Practice in front of a mirror:
- Stand up straight.
- Use your arms and hands to create space around your body.
- Pump up the volume in your voice. Try saying, “Hello! My name is…” in a healthy and robust voice.
- Pour yourself in. Be 100% present.
Practice “being big” before you get in front of a group!

Come Alive in the Magic Circle

Once you stand up and speak, you step into the Magic Circle. This is your space to shine. This little patch of earth is your Real Estate—so own it. Show what you’ve practiced-be big, take up room, and pour the energy on.

When you step out of the Magic Circle, you can relax. You no longer have to take up space…you can go home and “be little” as you watch TV. But you owe it to your audience to shine when you’re in the Magic Circle.

Energy is Key

Your ability to exude energy plays a huge role in your success as a speaker. Just try “pumping it up” a little in your next presentation, and you’ll experience a true difference.

Read more articles about Presentation Skills. Learn about Guila Muir’s Presentation Skills Workshops.

Guila Muir is the premiere trainer of trainers, facilitators, and presenters on the West Coast of the United States. 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

© 2009 Guila Muir. All rights reserved.
September 9, 2009
“I Thought I Would Die!” How to Deal With Stage Fright

First, let’s surface what you probably already know:

• Americans rank the fear of public speaking far above the fear of death (41% to 19%, respectably.) Way overused by speaking coaches, this statistic was first reported by the London Times in 1973 in a survey of 3,000 Americans.

• No one has actually ever died from public speaking (except, perhaps, William H. Harrison, the ninth president of the United States. He died of pneumonia soon after delivering a two-hour inauguration speech outdoors in the winter without a coat or hat.)

• “Butterflies can be your friends.” (Admit it — you DO know this, at least intellectually.)

Yet: do your hands still sweat at the mere idea of speaking in public? Does your stomach flip-flop? Do you avoid public speaking at all costs?

Well, bad news first: there is no golden bullet for stage fright. Although some fearful speakers swallow beta-blockers (drugs developed to manage cardiac arrhythmias,) the reality is that no outside intervention will reliably rescue you. Which brings us to the good news!

You are capable of dealing with stage fright. The antidote lies within you. And, surprisingly, the antidote is not only to practice, practice, practice! (Although you must practice a presentation at least 4-6 times to feel proficient anyway.)

Three Guidelines
If you’re serious about changing your pattern of stage fight, I’d like you to make a commitment: Take some time to read and reflect on these guidelines before running off to the next activity on your “to-do” list. If you give yourself time to fully integrate them, I guarantee that you will feel more comfortable the next time you present.

Guideline #1
To quote speaking guru Jean Hamilton: “Become friends with the part of you that is scared.”

In order to change our patterns, we need to accept our whole selves. Too often, my clients truly hate the part of themselves that is nervous. They’re incredibly hard on themselves! These clients end up being “nervous about being nervous,” compounding their discomfort and alienation. This downward spiral quite neatly lays the groundwork for a dreaded “out-of-body” experience when they present.

To quote Hamilton again: “Often the scared part of ourselves is diligent; it really wants to do a good job. It has a lot of energy, and it can also be vulnerable. Diligence, energy, and vulnerability are valuable assets to a presenter.” In fact, add “authenticity” to that list of characteristics, and you’ve got all it takes to be an effective, dynamic presenter.

Love that part of yourself that is scared. Don’t reject it. You may even want to give it a name, and to picture what it looks like. Then accept it. You will feel more whole, stronger, and more full of integrity.

One more quote from Hamilton: “When your scared part begins to realize its value, it can begin to relax.”

Guideline #2
Be clear on the purpose of your presentation.

If you’re not able to state the purpose clearly in one short sentence, starting with “The purpose of my presentation is to…”, DON’T give the presentation. Nothing will make you more obscenely nervous than feeling unclear about your presentation’s ultimate goal.

Remember—your goal is NOT to overcome fear itself. Instead, your goal is to design and deliver an effective message. Suggestion: if given a choice between taking a class on “body language for presenters,” and “how to design a presentation,” choose the class on design, hands-down. A well-designed speech with a clear purpose is one of the most powerful antidotes to fear you will ever possess.

Guideline #3
Keep yourself physically fit.

Physical fitness reduces anxiety. It’s as simple as that. A state of fitness simply means that your heart and lungs are able to get enough oxygen—and if there’s anything we need to think and present effectively, it’s oxygen. Oxygen soothes nerves and increases our resilience as speakers.

I often tell my clients “It’s not what size you are, it’s how fit you are.” Many, many studies make a clear link between fitness and lowered anxiety in general—and nowhere does this become clearer than during the stress of a presentation.

Whatever physical exercise you like to do—do it, and do it regularly. Your lowered blood pressure, heightened endurance, and increased flexibility will act as a “shield” against an attack of nerves.

That’s It!
Let these three suggestions guide you as you prepare for your next presentation. Remember, the antidote to nervousness is not “out there” somewhere…the keys are already inside of you.

Read more articles about Presentation Skills. Learn about Guila Muir’s Presentation Skills Workshops.

Guila Muir is the premiere trainer of trainers, facilitators, and presenters on the West Coast of the United States. 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

© Guila Muir.

March 8, 2008

Tag: Fear

How Smiling Helps

How Smiling Hurts

To Smile or Not to Smile?

The Good News: “Ums” Won’t Kill You

The Caution: Three Words to Weaken Your Presentation

Be Big

Come Alive in the Magic Circle

Energy is Key