Tag: Presentation Skills

  • Great Presenting: Enthusiasm or Entertainment?

    Entertaining presenter

    Should trainers and presenters strive to be more entertaining? It depends on what drives you.

    Enthusiasm or Entertainment?

    Enthusiasm is about expressing your passion for the subject. You ignite participants through showing your own zest. You may even experiment by doing things outside of your comfort zone in order to pass on your excitement.

    Entertainment is all about you. Do you want the participants to like you? Can you make them laugh? Do you treasure the feeling that you are “wowing” them with your personality and/or skills? Do you want to be remembered as a great performer?

    Three Tips to Spark Your Own Enthusiasm

    Many, but not all, trainers and presenters show a preference for modeling authentic enthusiasm over simply providing entertainment. With that in mind, here’s how to pump your enthusiasm when you train or present.

    Be Authentic, But Be “Bigger”
    Tie in pieces of your personality while pumping up your personal energy. Don’t just use your head, use your entire body when you present. (Read “Speaker Energy: Make it Work For You” for tips.)

    Re-Discover Your Own Compelling Reasons
    Why are you teaching or presenting? Create your own definition of success for what you do.

    Forget Baseball, Play Frisbee Instead
    Don’t just pitch your content to students. Instead, create a reciprocal energy flow. Toss out  “Frisbees” of content, and then encourage participants to do so as well–not only back to you, but also to each other.

    Concentrate on the Intrigue of Your Subject Matter

    As a trainer, presenter or facilitator, your enthusiasm motivates participants. Their energy rises to meet yours. Your session is memorable…authentically.

  • Presenters, Don’t Crash the Plane!

    Do your presentations “run out of gas”? Many presenters take their audiences on a wonderful journey. But then, for the lack of a flight plan, they crash.

    Why are Conclusions Important?

    A closure is not just where you stop. A great conclusion reinforces, summarizes, and ties up the session. Take action to prevent YOUR crashing the plane the next time you present!

    Landing Skillfully

    Make sure that your closure is short, that it relates to the body of your speech, and is inspirational. Consider closing after you do a Q-A session, not before.

    3 Guidelines

    • Close just once. Don’t bounce around.
    • Don’t just stop. (“That’s all, folks!”)
    • Give a hint you will conclude (“In conclusion…”) and then DO it.

    Three “Never-Fail” Ways to Conclude a Presentation

    1. Make a Call to Action. Passionately seek commitment to a new course. Examples:

    • “When you do ________and _________, you’ll see a huge improvement.”
    • “Join me! Be a part of the solution. Sign up right now.”

    2. Return to the Opener.
    Example: “Well, what happened to Mr. Albright, who you met at the beginning of my talk? (Tell them.) “… and it’s all because of the services we provided.”

    3. Look to Past and Future.
    Example: “Five years ago, our industry…. Today, things have changed substantially. To meet those changes, we must…” (briefly summarize points.)

    In Conclusion…

    Presenters, don’t crash the plane. Pilot your presentation to a successful conclusion. Your audience will appreciate the flight!

     

  • When YOU are the Bored Trainer (or Presenter!)

    We’ve all had bored trainers and presenters. They lack passion, energy and spark.

    But what happens when YOU deliver the same material over and over and over again? How do you keep it fresh?

    5 Tips That Refresh

    1. Remember the “Turf” That Comes With Being a Professional

    Whether you are an athlete, an actor, a tour guide, or a trainer, the ability to perform at the same expert level time after time comes with the territory of being a professional. Professionals “give it their all” each time they perform.

    2. Re-Arrange the Order of Things

    Re-arranging content may feel risky when things are working just fine as they are.  However, you’ll be amazed at how refreshing it feels to present a content block either earlier or later than usual.

    3. Initiate and Enjoy Interaction

    Each group’s energy is different. Have fun with that! Meet and “hob-nob” with individuals during the breaks. Listen for any unique words or concerns. Be sure to ask plenty of questions.

    4. Increase Your Self Awareness in New Areas

    Knowing your content as intimately as you do is a luxury. It enables you to tune into how you are presenting it. Are you using online tools? Are you making eye contact? How is your lighting and voice projection?

    5. Feel Fortunate!

    How many of us get to do jobs that involve such a high level of physical, emotional, and mental exercise all at once? From a purely selfish standpoint, what a great way to keep your brain young! Additionally, you are transmitting information that helps your participants. You are “doing good” in the world. How many people can really say that?

    I hope these five tips help you keep your presentations fresh—not only for your participants, but for YOU, too.

  • Can a Room Kill You? Yes!

    How to Ensure Your Physical Space Works For You

    Have you ever felt that something’s just not working right, no matter how well you know your material, how confident you came in, or how much you practiced?

    You may be experiencing an attempted “Death by Room.” This malady has knocked many a trainer and presenter to their knees—and kept them there. The disease is preventable. But to overcome it, you must take these tips to heart.

    3 Tips to Prevent “Death by Room”

    1. Ask yourself: What do I want?

    Do you want a dialogue or a monologue? Many presenters espouse one theory (for example, “participation is good,”) but everything they do communicates a different message (like “sit down, look at me, and shut up!”)

    The seating arrangement provides a strong, non-verbal statement from the minute your participants walk in the door. Make sure your room set-up is congruent with your message.

    TIP:

    If you desire interaction, you must provide a seating arrangement that allows participants to talk easily with one another, as well as with you. This may involve using round tables, a “U” shaped set-up, or rectangle tables pushed together. If you must use a “theater style” set-up, ensure that participants can move their chairs into small working groups of 3-5.

    2. Don’t make assumptions.

    Here are a few common assumptions that kill trainers/presenters:

    • “I sent a diagram—I know the room will be set up just like that.”
    • The space doesn’t matter. Content’s the thing.
    • I don’t need to see the room until it’s time for me to start.

    TIP: When possible, set up the room yourself (with help, if necessary.) View the room the night before. If this isn’t possible, arrive at least one hour early. Remember, the way your space is organized can impact your presentation as much as your content knowledge.

    By eliminating your assumptions, you’ll sleep better the night before an important event.

    3. Rehearse in the room.

    There is no way that a professional actor would work in a space in which he or she had not practiced. Professional trainers and presenters make the room their own by visiting it, testing it, and practicing in it.

    TIP: Deliver the first 3-5 minutes of your presentation. Check the acoustics. Does the room absorb your voice, or can it carry with ease? Walk around the area from which you will present. What parts of the room could be blocked from view? Remember that all participants must be able to see you at all times.

    Can a room kill you as a presenter? YES—but only if you allow it to. You can prevent “Death by Room” by attending to these three easy steps.

  • What is a Trainer? What is a Facilitator?

    A pet peeve of mine: Trainers who either lecture or simply read their slides, but who call themselves “facilitators”. Training and facilitation are very different animals.

    Different Roles, Different Skills

    A trainer absolutely must be a content expert. Surely, the best trainers integrate facilitative techniques to make learning easy, but at core they must “know their stuff” intimately.

    Great facilitators need not be content experts. In fact, sometimes those who run meetings the best are those who know least about the subject. Instead, they focus on the quality of the process itself.

    This chart shows the core differences between being a content expert and a facilitator.

    Con­tent Expert or Facil­i­ta­tor?

    Con­tent Expert (Tell)

    Facil­i­ta­tor (Ask)
    Presents Infor­ma­tion Guides Process; Ensures Multi-Directional Com­mu­ni­ca­tion
    Pro­vides the Right Answers Pro­vides the Right Questions
    Clear Purpose (and Learning Outcomes if Training) Clear Outcomes for the Group’s Process

    Are You a Trainer or a Facilitator?

    If you are a trainer, your best bet is to combine the roles shown in the chart. This will ensure you’re doing your job as a content expert while eliciting robust engagement and involvement.

    If you are facilitating a meeting but must impart information at some point, inform folks what you are doing. When you unexpectedly begin to tell instead of ask, confusion arises and engagement shuts down.

    Let’s make a pact right now to always be clear on what role we are embodying. Are we training? Or are we running a meeting? Our understanding makes the process more clear, and easier, for everyone.

    Give your training skills a lift with The Kite Workshop! Contact Guila today.

  • Enthusiasm in Training

    As a trainer or presenter, enthusiasm goes a long way in making you the best you can be. As your joy excites your participants, their energy rises to meet yours. People feel good. Work gets done.

    But what if your enthusiasm has taken a hit? How can you regain a sense of joy while giving a presentation or training a group?

    These five practical steps will help.

    1. Create a list of 10 positive aspects about the subject. Your brain may balk at doing this, but you’ll be forced to see the subject in a new way. Its “newness” will stimulate you in unexpected ways.

    2. Do something physical. When your blood pumps aerobically, it helps wash away your “blaahs.” Don’t wait — you can take a walk right now.

    3. Visualize yourself being enthusiastic. Take a moment to close your eyes. See yourself as you would from the outside, feeling fantastic and emanating positive energy. Seeing yourself this way can kick-start your acting this way.

    4. Smile. Research has shown that when you smile, even if that smile doesn’t come easily, your brain chemistry changes. Try smiling and feeling joyful, even if it is difficult. You’ll be surprised how it “ups” your mood.

    5. Get excited about the success of those around you. When you express authentic enthusiasm about what others are doing, your own mood improves. You start feeling excited about what you’re doing, too.

    Keep the vitality and magic of life as you train, facilitate or present. It will be your gift not only to others, but to yourself.

  • Focus on the Uncommitted in Your Audience


    Presenters, do you fear waves of animosity coming from your audience? Or have you ever believed your audience to be friendly and accepting, only to receive a terrible shock?

    One of the best “Presenter Tricks” I know is to present as if everyone in your audience is “uncommitted”. Doing so allows you to effectively deal with crosscurrents, hostility, and support–all at the same time.

    This chart identifies the needs of all the segments in your audience. By focusing on the uncommitted, you benefit everyone!

    Audience Segment What Do They Want from the Experience? Dangers of Focusing Only on This Segment? How This Segment Benefits When You Focus on the Uncommitted
    “Friendlies” Satisfaction, affinity. Perhaps a pep-talk. Too easy – you may assume too much. Their knowledge and commitment is deepened.
    “Hostiles” To see you fail. To hear you say something wrong. Increases your own nervousness and 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. To the exclusion of the rest of the audience, 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. You construct and present your message thoroughly, persuasively and with confidence.

    By focusing on the Uncommitted, you take great strides towards more resiliency and effectiveness as a presenter. Try doing this the next time you present.

     

  • 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

  • Not Just Your Grandmother’s Pun!

    lrs1659My grandma was “word-clever” almost until the day she died. I especially remember her corny puns and plays on words, which made me both laugh and groan. Researchers Alan Seidman, of Johnson and Wales University, and Stephen C. Brown, of the University of Alaska, say “Puns are a humorous way to get adult learners to think more critically about any subject.”

    Puns Can Help Adults Learn

    Believe it our not, research has found that we can use puns to help adult learners in the classroom. Puns represent a true form of critical thinking as the brain stretches itself to find dual meaning for certain words (Lems, 2013). Puns can also improve memory, because the internal incongruity they create helps students recall information (Summerfelt et al., 2010).

    Try using puns you grew up with, or others you find on websites. You can used them as Hooks, to reinforce a point about a particular topic, or as pun-filled riddles. Here’s an example of the latter, used in an adult geography class:

    Q: What is the capital of Antartica?

    A: The letter “A.”

    enhanced-buzz-7300-1339008891-9

    A couple I’ve enjoyed:

    Sleep? There’s a nap for that.

    If you take an exam in a freezing cold room, you might become a testicle.

    So have fun as you use puns to bring your classroom alive!

    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 trainer: www.guilamuir.com

    © Guila Muir

  • 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.