Tag: Kite

  • 5 Ways to Energize Your Presentations

    What’s the difference between presenting and training?

    Presentations are typically delivered one way, from speaker to audience. Great training sessions, on the other hand, are interactive.

    To spruce up your presentations, try injecting these five techniques borrowed from active training:

    5 Ways to Enliven Your Presentations

    1. Preface your presentation by briefly stating a relevant problem. Ask participants to be ready to solve the problem by the session’s end based on what they’ve learned.
    2. Distribute a list of questions for participants to answer as you present. (By directing participants to listen and search for information covered, you actively engage their attention.)
    3. Ask a relevant question and make it clear you expect the participants to think about it; then have them share their responses with one other person. (Optional: then elicit few of those responses.)
    4. Interrupt yourself periodically and challenge participants to give examples of the concepts presented thus far or to answer “spot-quiz” questions.
    5. Provide a “quickie” self-test either before, during or after the session.

    These techniques shift several responsibilities onto the audience, where they belong:

    • the responsibility to learn
    • the responsibility to engage, and
    • the responsibility to remember

    However, your responsibilities as a speaker shift a bit, too. You must move from spraying audience members down with an “information hose” to having more of a dialogue.

    Be sure to let your audience know what you expect of them before introducing each technique. And don’t let them slide back down into passivity—keep them awake and involved!

    Learn about Guila Muir’s Presentation Skills Workshops.

  • Are You a Super-Trainer?

    Assess Yourself and See!

    What attributes do all super trainers share, no matter how different their styles?

    Rate yourself from 1 (I’m not so great at this) to 3 (I do this every time!) on the guidelines below. Then read the strategies, which will transform YOU into a Super Trainer.

    Three Essen­tial Attrib­utes of Super Train­ers

    1.  Content Knowledge

    Of course, this comes first. If you don’t know your subject, you shouldn’t be training it. However, you DON’T have to know every last detail before you’re ready to train.
    My self-rating on Content Knowledge:

    1                                                        2                                                       3

    low                                                                                                                        high

    2.  Willingness To Have Fun

    This one’s a potential danger zone. Some trainers have so much fun themselves that they remain oblivious to the participants’ needs, insights, and potential contributions.

    Having fun doesn’t mean you are able to toss out jokes. Willingness to have fun means relaxing WHILE you exude dynamism and energy. It means connecting with the participants WHILE you focus on content and time management. It means enjoying the participants WHILE retaining your unique role as trainer.

    My self-rating on Willingness to Have Fun:

    1                                                        2                                                      3

    low                                                                                                                        high

    3.  Use of a Well-Structured Training Design

    Have you ever wondered about the source of the following issues?

    • Bad marks on your training evaluations (excluding comments about cold coffee or overly warm training rooms)
    • Participant hostility, side conversations or passive-aggressiveness
    • Lack of participation
    • People sleeping

    The invisible culprit is often how the session is designed, not the presentation skills of the trainer. Design affects everything related to the training.

    Training design is training architecture. A badly–designed course will sag, fracture, and even crush the best trainer.

    My self-rating on Use of a Well-Structured Training Design:

    1                                                        2                                                      3

    low                                                                                                                        high

    Strategies to Pump Up Your Training Skills

    Even if you rated yourself high on the preceding attributes, these strategies will enhance your training:

    1.  Content Knowledge

    Ensure that you have included only the absolute “MUST-KNOW” material into your training session. When you develop the session, test each part of the training by asking, “is this a ‘must-know’ piece of information, or is it merely ‘nice to know?’ Toss the ‘nice to know’ pieces. Remember-less is more.

    If a participant asks you something you cannot answer, remember that it is OK to say “I don’t know. Let me find out and get back to you,” but only if you really will follow up. Meanwhile, acknowledge that a participant in your group may well have the information you lack. Don’t be afraid to ask. Doing so helps you build community with your participants.

    2. Willingness To Have Fun

    The more prepared you feel with your content and training structure, (attributes #1 and #3,) the more fun you’ll have.

    But you must also examine your beliefs about people. Do you feel they are mainly a drag, or do you find them interesting and quirky? Do you like yourself? Are you accepting or judgmental? Your underlying beliefs about yourself and others either boost or impede your level of relaxation and ability to have fun in the training role.

    It’s worth your time to examine your philosophy of teaching. Do you buy into a “boot camp” mentality? Alternatively, do you feel oversensitive to students’ needs? Heighten your awareness of your philosophy and actions, and then make changes if needed. Fun will follow!

    3. Use of a Well-Structured Training Design

    Here are three guidelines to ensure your training architecture is sound:

    • Never organize your training session using PowerPoint.
    • Carefully and thoughtfully develop learning outcomes. Organize all your content to achieve them.
    • No matter how experienced a trainer you are, take a basic class in course design. It may challenge the way you think about training!

    It’s always good to re-visit the essentials; all Super Trainers do. Integrate these Top Three into your training, and you’ll find yourself among the greats!

    Want more tips to improve your trainings? Learn how Guila Muir’s Instructional Design Workshop can help you to create powerful, effective training sessions.

    See free newsletters full of tips and techniques for improved training: http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs071/1101469784148/archive/1101880413533.html

  • Four Gender-Specific Presentation Blunders

    by Guila Muir
    info@guilamuir.com

    Is it true that men tend to make certain types of blunders while presenting, and women others? In my experience, yes. I have worked with hundreds of individuals and single-sex groups, and notice recurring, gender-specific behaviors that sabotage presentations.

    In the interest of advancing further research, I submit these very common blunders, and give you the tools you need to prevent them.

    Most Common Presentation Skills Blunders: MEN

    1.  Guys, you wander aimlessly too much. Move with purpose ONLY. Pacing or shuffling weaken your delivery and your message.

    The best reasons to move are:

    • When you are changing a subject.
    • When you are changing an emotion.
    • When you’ve been in one place for the entire time.

    Stand and deliver, then move.

    2.  Get those thumbs out of your pockets or your waistband. This posture is called “genital framing.” Do you really want to express “check me out, I am a virile male” during a high-stakes financial talk? (Or maybe you do…What do I know?)

    Instead, use your hands and arms in a natural way to emphasize your words. You can even just let your arms hang down at your sides (now that feels weird, doesn’t it?)  Just don’t tuck your hands away…anywhere.

    Most Common Presentation Skills Blunders: WOMEN

    1.  Read the following. Is Mary credible?

    “Hello. My name is Mary Smith? I am the communications director? And I’ve worked here 15 years?”

    I’ll bet your answer is NO.  Mary just sabotaged herself, big-time. Even if she is most credible person in the company, she now has to earn back the credibility she lost through the upward inflection at the end of her sentences.

    Professor Yia Hei Kao of Claremont University is just one of many researchers and linguists who have found that when women end their sentences with an  upward lilt, they project uncertainty, tentativeness, and the desire to please others.

    Women, is THAT how you want to come across? We no longer need permission to speak, so why act as if we do?

    Practice introducing yourself. Listen for the upward swing at the end of the sentences. Enlist someone else to help if you are not sure what you’re hearing. End your sentences with a downward inflection. This “fix” is one of the most important things you can do to increase your credibility as a speaker.

    2. Stand evenly on both feet. Don’t heap your weight onto one hip. This “cheerleader” stance makes you look like you’re posing for a photo shoot. To come across as grounded and powerful, BE grounded from the floor up.

    OK, men and women. I hope these tips help you. Share them with those of the same and the opposite gender. Let’s all work towards a world full of improved presentations!

  • 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

  • Stand and Deliver!

    Excellent presenterAre 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

  • 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!

  • 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.

  • Sharpen Your Training Brain

    by Guila Muir
    info@guilamuir.com

    As a trainer, do you struggle mentally as you develop a new course? Are you ever “stuck” when you try to think of ways to improve your class?

    There is a scientifically sound way to boost your brain power, pick up your energy, and improve your focus as a trainer. Although it’s very complicated and takes years of schooling and practice (Ha!), anyone can do it. The scientific cure to your fuzzy brain is to go outside.

    In a world where many people suffer from Nature Deficit Disorder (go ahead, look it up) the science is clear. Merely seeing nature makes you healthier, even it you view it through a window.1 Getting out into the natural world is even better. Many studies confirm that simply by going outside, you positively impact your blood pressure, cholesterol, stress, and outlook on life.2

    What do these findings have to do with training?

    • Sluggish brains make sluggish training. Wake yourself up by taking a quick walk.
    • You bring an “incomplete self” into training when you feel separate from the natural world. Call it integrity, holism, spirituality or synthesis, you owe it to yourself and to your participants to be your “whole self” when educating others.
    • Walking in nature makes you smarter. An experimental study showed that people who walk in nature perform cognitive tasks 20% better than those who walk in an urban setting.3 Don’t you want to maintain that mental edge in front of your class?

    Get out, walk, and enjoy…your training will improve as a result. You can count on it!

    1. Kaplan, 1992a; Lewis, 1996; Leather et al., 1998

    2. Moore, 1981; Kaplan and Kaplan, 1989; Hartig et al., 1991; Ulrich et al., 1991a; Rohde and Kendle, 1994; Lewis, 1996; Leather et al., 1998

    3. Berman, Jonides, Kaplan, 2008

    Learn about Training Development. Read more articles about training.

    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.

  • 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

  • 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