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Improving Presentation Skills Without Judgment

November 6, 2009 By admin 2 Comments

Ever wondered how weight loss is just like presentation skills? No? Me neither – until today.

This month I re-started a very rigorous work out routine (P90X). This is my second time with the 90 day program. I only made it through 60 days at the beginning of this year. Since then, I’ve worked out occasionally, but within the last few weeks I’ve hardly worked out at all and have enjoyed many tasty foods. I’m sure you can imagine the result.

I have been thinking about beginning the workout program for quite a while now, but couldn’t bring myself to do it. Why? Because I was judging myself. I was disappointed with myself and my inactivity. I felt ashamed. And, honestly, I was afraid. I was afraid of feeling like a failure if I tried and realized how far I had fallen from where I was.

I finally was able to start the difficult workout all over again a few days ago because I gave myself one rule: NO JUDGMENT. All of my fears, insecurities, and worries stemmed from the judgments I was placing on myself. I deemed myself to be out of shape, weak, and a gooey mushy blob (at least in my head). But once I released myself from the grips of my own judgment, I allowed myself to just do the process.

It was still tempting to let my judgments creep in my mind. In my “workout room” (aka the living room), there is a mirror in which that I would occasionally catch my reflection. Every time I caught a glimpse of the imperfections I told myself, “No judgment. Keep going.”

This is the exact same process you need to take if any fears, worries, or concerns are holding you back from improving your public speaking skills. If you allow your preemptive judgments of yourself to stand in your way of taking chances, presenting at your next business meeting or taking the platform at your trade association, you will never give yourself the freedom to grow and improve.

Make a rule for yourself: NO JUDGMENT.

If you stutter, forget your place, wander too much on the platform, get your papers shuffled up, or even accidentally trip – no judgment. There will be time later to debrief yourself on what went well and what could have been improved, but don’t stop yourself before you start.

Stay in the moment. Focus on the process, not on the potential future outcomes. Once you give a speech or step out of your comfort zone in any way, give yourself a big pat on the back! (I used to reward myself with ice-cream, but I guess I need to find a new reward as I continue the workout…dang!) Each time you give a speech, run a meeting, host a webinar, or lead a training session, put a gold star in your calendar because that’s an accomplishment. Just doing it is an accomplishment in and of itself. I don’t care if you have the worst presentation of your life! You did it! And you learned from it. Next time you’ll do better.

While I work on developing my fitness by working the process and doing the workouts, I want you to develop your public speaking skills by focusing on doing more presentations and stepping out of your comfort zone. Focus and just do the process.

In fact, if you give a presentation, speak in front of any group, or reach outside your comfort zone, I want you to leave a comment here. Share your accomplishments with our community! I look forward to hearing about your process with no judgments!

Filed Under: Communication Observations, Public Speaking

Sharing Your Lessons from Tough Times

November 4, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Latest Podcast from Shari’ Alexander:

Your greatness is born from tough times. In this episode, Shari’ Alexander shares how to turn your current struggles into a great story someday.

Filed Under: Business Communications, Communication Observations, Public Speaking, Storytelling

Networking for Introverts

November 2, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

by JOH_3164

Wondering how to overcome shyness when networking? Not a fan of approaching complete strangers? Don’t feel the urge to deliver your 30 second elevator pitch right after saying hello to someone? Don’t feel like listing off the benefits of your services to someone who unwittingly asked what you do for a living?

Networking for introverts has never been easy. Don’t worry. You’re not alone. Not all of us feel comfortable being a “power networker” – which somehow has translated into being a pushy conversationalist. Networking is not nor has it ever been intended to be the battle of “you need what I got”. It doesn’t matter if you have an outgoing, charismatic personality or not. Networking boils down to having a successful conversation.

As it has been said, “The good Lord gave you two ears and one mouth. Use them in that proportion.” The key to networking – and therefore selling – is asking questions. Your focus should always be on the other person. You never know where their specific needs, wants, skills, or other connections might be. Don’t focus on asking only leading questions that result in your pitch. You can factors those in, but you’ll miss out on many future opportunities if you don’t venture outside your prepared script.

If knowing that you only have to talk half as much as you anticipated for a networking event isn’t enough for you brave those extroverted waters, then how about setting a goal? Instead of thinking about having to shake hands with every person in the room, why not take a more targeted approach? Plan to meet only 5 people. Get in and get out. Perhaps, next time you can plan to meeting with 7 or 10. This will not only let you make your networking quicker, more targeted, and more efficient, but you will also have fewer follow-up conversations after the initial meeting. (Hint: always follow-up if there’s a good connection.)

And if talking less and meeting fewer people isn’t making networking seem a bit more tolerable, there’s nothing wrong with the buddy system! Bring a friend. Compete with each other. Who can meet the most people? Or better yet, who can meet the most qualified people. After each conversation, go to your buddy, make jokes, debrief, and search out your next complete stranger.

Filed Under: Business Communications

Body Language-How to Find the Most Important Person in the Room

October 19, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Networking events. Association meetings. Conferences. Regional meetings. Trade shows. Each of these events represents an opportunity. Making the sale. Making the right connection. Exchanging business cards with the right person.

But how do you know who Mr. or Ms. Right is? Who is the person who can green light your product or service within their company? [Read more...]

Filed Under: Body Language, Business Communications

Professional Presentation Tips

October 13, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

What makes a great speech great? Creating a new presentation or speech can feel like a daunting task, but we can never get frustrated and give up. Slapping together a few points and sticking them on a PowerPoint won’t be beneficial to you or your audience. So much can be gained from a great speech, and yet so many people don’t even come close to receiving the amazing results a speech can provide. Recognition, promotion, a raise, more sales, warm leads, increased inquiries, referrals, more spin-off business, and so much more.

Weak presentations are the result of poor (or misguided) preparation.

Weak presentations lead to weak results.

Here are 5 Lessons to always keep in mind when developing a speech. Great speakers never forget these: [Read more...]

Filed Under: Business Communications, Leadership Communications, Public Speaking

Why Meetings (and Meeting Presentations) Matter

October 8, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Meeting Presentations Matter to the Bottom Line

Meetings and effective meeting presentations matter more than ever.

I recently stumbled upon some interesting statistics about the ROI organizations receive from coordinating their large company-wide meetings at the Meetings Mean Business site – http://www.meetingsmeanbusiness.com/.

With the unfortunate economic downturn, companies and other organizations drastically cut back on their meetings. And as the statistics below demonstrate, these organizations could be doing themselves more harm than good by canceling such gatherings.

Meetings Mean Business:
1. For every dollar invested in business travel, companies realize $12.50 in incremental revenue.
2. More than half of business travelers stated that 5-20% of their company’s new customers were the result of trade show participation.
3. According to business travelers across all industries, 25% of existing customers and 28% of revenue could be lost to competitors if customers were not met in-person.

Face-to-face conversations, networking, and presentations obviously lead to wonderful business opportunities. So if your company is thinking about canceling any important event in the near future, provide them with this information and other enlightening facts found at www.meetingsmeanbusiness.com.

Filed Under: Business Communications, Corporate Communications, Public Speaking

Communication Skills for Leaders: What You Can Learn from Coca-Cola CEO

October 5, 2009 By admin 1 Comment

Coke CEO Muhtar Kent Understands Communication Skills for Leaders

Communication skills for leaders is an undeniable necessity for any organization. Imagine the importance of communicating effectively and clearly to 92,400 employees in over 200 countries. That’s the responsibility Coca-Cola CEO Muhtar Kent has every day. Fortunately for Coke, Kent understands the importance of effective communication within his expansive organization. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Business Communications, Leadership Communications

Effective Business Communications and Twitter

October 1, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

When Twitter first came on the scene, I must admit I thought it was ridiculous. 140 characters to say something. What in the world could you have to say that’s worth saying in 140 characters? Well, I’ve been converted to the Twitter world.

After posting through the restrictive medium, I have found communication through Twitter to be fascinating. Especially when you compare how much CAN be said in 140 characters vs. how very little is said in meetings that last over 2 hours. I believe Twitter has taught us to be more specific, succinct, and powerful in our communications. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Business Communications, Communication Observations, Corporate Communications, Leadership Communications, Political Communications, Public Speaking

Sports Speech Gone Wrong

September 30, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Tennessee men’s basketball coach Bruce Pearl spoke at a charity function last Thursday and made an unfortunate off the cuff joke (see video above). Pearl’s comments were recorded and broadcast soon after the event.

Any public figure, especially sports figures, should recognize by now that anything you say is likely being recorded by someone. If you slip up, chances are it will be on the internet. Unfortunately for Pearl, ESPN quickly picked up the story.

Professional athletes and coaches make many public appearances – as well they should. They not only do they need to create positive PR for their career and their team, but their fame and name recognition can put a spotlight on many charitable causes by speaking at an event. However, when a speech is not well-prepared and is unprofessional, the coach or player can make themselves look bad, along with their team, their town/state, and even overshadow the charitable event. In Pearl’s case, he hit a whammy by accomplishing all three.

Thankfully Pearl quickly came out with a sincere apology and is mitigating the bad PR from the event. What do you bet the apology is a well-crafted and rehearsed message? It’s a shame that the speech itself wasn’t as equally well-crafted and rehearsed. He might not have gotten into this situation in the first place.

Filed Under: Sports Speeches

How to Ask Good Questions

September 29, 2009 By admin 1 Comment

When you need help from someone, it can be difficult to swallow a small piece of pride and ask. When you need someone’s approval, it can be frustrating trying to string together the right words in the right order to get the “yes” you want. And when you want someone to do something they probably don’t (like getting your husband to clean the garage) it can feel like diplomatic negotiations.

How you ask a question determines the route a conversation will take. Avoiding push-back, making gentle suggestions, and being assertive are just a portion of the question asking martial arts. With a few insights into question asking techniques, you will quickly hear the sweet sound of “yes” more often. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Business Communications, Influential Communications, Strategically Speaking