Generating Enthusiasm Out of Thin Air

You never quite know what state of mind the audience will be in.  After 20 years of speaking and training I have developed a good sense on it, but I still am purposeful about planning in techniques to get the audience as engaged as possible.  This is vital for two main reasons:

1. The audience walks in with baggage.  Thoughts, experiences, feelings, relationships, projects, etc. from the previous week, day or even hour.  It is your responsibility to give them a compelling reason to check out of those and into the moment.

2. The audience needs time to ramp up.  You've been (hopefully) thinking about your content and how it applies to this audience for days, weeks, even years. However, your audience is just now getting it for the first time.  They need time to get up to speed.  Taking a few moments at the first of your program to get them engaged is effective at accomplishing this.

So, what are the techniques I use consistently to generate enthusiasm from the audience for today, this program, this content, this moment, etc.? Following is my standard checklist.

Lights - Either very bright or very dark with a very bright focal point (video, stage, etc.)

Temperature - The room should feel chilly when it is empty. It depends on the size of the room/audience, but I normally ask the facility to set the temperature at 68. Colder equals higher attention.

Music - Upbeat, age appropriate, etc. Have it playing before anyone walks into the room and use it throughout your program.  I have many moments where the audience is working with a partner and I always play music while the chatting or working is going on.  (Click here to view an image of my lists.)

Seating - The closer to the front and the closer to one another the better. If you have to assign ushers, rope off sections or take out chairs, do it.  It is that influential.

Me - Be nice, even care-ismatic. You can't yell people into getting excited. Reward whatever involvement they do give. Don't say things like "come on guys - you can do better than that." Smile. Look like you are enjoying the moment. Talk quicker. Walk quicker. Look and sound excited yourself. Don't overdo it though. Develop a sensibility of how much is just enough.

Level Awareness - This one is critical.  If I am walking into an evening session, I know the enthusiasm is most likely already at a 7 or 8. My job really is to just keep them there.  However, if I am walking in to a morning session or a traditionally boring session, they might be at a 3 or 4. My job then is to get them to a 5 or 6. I need to remember that they will probably never get to a 7 or 8 and I shouldn't expect that or work to get them there.

Be Specific with Instructions - You can't just tell a group of people to get excited. You have to tell them how you want them to act. ask them to... Yell, clap, stand up, high-five your neighbor, etc. Be specific.

If you have a specific situation or group of people you commonly deal with or know is coming up and you want some ideas, just email me.  owner (at) yournextspeaker.com.  I'll reply back quickly and with some ideas.  Good luck!

Big List of Tips from Recent Training

Following are twenty plus tips that were listed by the audience as the biggest take-aways from our two-day intensive effective presentation skills training.  This is a great list to bookmark and keep handy as a reminder before and during your next presentation planning moment.  


Top Learning Lessons from a Recent Effective Presentation Skills Training


* CAKE - The four techniques for controlling nerves. 
* http://authenticityrules.blogspot.com/2008/07/nervousness-its-piece-of-cake.html

* PowerPoint Upgrading - Less content, full-bleed/high-res images, keep lights on, use stark contrast in colors between font and background. 
* http://authenticityrules.blogspot.com/2008/01/tips-for-putting-together-powerful.html 
* http://authenticityrules.blogspot.com/2007/08/putting-power-back-into-powerpoint.html 
* http://authenticityrules.blogspot.com/2007/10/10-no-nos-for-powerpoint-use.html 

* Give Larger Packet At The End - This helps with focus. If you need to give them something during the meeting, give them pads to take notes and/or a one-sheet with the most important content over viewed in bullet-point form. 

* It’s Always My Fault - Take full responsibility for whatever happens in the presentation room. Never blame the audience, the time of day, the environment, the projector, etc. Learn how to leverage and make the most of every situation. Remember the example I gave about giving a presentation at the end of a conference where only 25% of the attendees are left. Celebrate that - those are the committed ones. 

* Pay The Debt - Leaders give unconditionally and step up with a smile on your face and love in your heart to help where others can't or won't. 

* Simple is Good - Keep the moving parts of your presentation to a minimum. Only include a prop, PowerPoint, handouts, etc. if it is the absolute best way to communicate that portion of the presentation. 

* Small Things Add Up - Everything in the room either adds, subtracts or distracts from your credibility. 

* SPG - Debrief/processing technique. Solo, Pair, Group. Most times when I use it I leave off the Solo. 

* Use Beliefs and Values as Evidence - If you need to convince someone to implement a change in meeting or presentation technique, you will need evidence that is convincing. The best kind takes you and that person out of it. 

* Positive Self-Talk - Biggest barrier for most professionals to take their speaking abilities to the next level is the words, "I am not good in front of people." Stop using these words. If you can't stop, just add the words "right now". I am not good in front of people right now. You can get there. 

* 7-Minute Rule - Most important single strategy to increasing audience engagement and content retention. 7-Minute Rule - Change the way the audience inputs information every seven minutes or so. Options: listen to you, listen to a peer, think, take notes, read notes, read flip chart, watch video, watch PowerPoint, do an activity, partner talk, group work, etc. 

* Have a List Goal When Flip-Charting - When getting group ideas on a flip chart, set a goal for the number of submissions the group needs to give. This creates an open loop in the room that everyone will naturally want to help close. 

* Emotional Connection - To increase engagement, include the human element in every presentation. Tell a story, let us know you better, etc. 

* Engagement Options - Emotional, Intellectual, Social, Physical. 
* http://authenticityrules.blogspot.com/2012/06/how-to-get-keep-manage-attention.html 

* Just the Right Amount of Data - Less is more. 

* Metaphors - Use easily recognizable metaphors to explain concepts that not many people in the room (or the elevator) understand. 

* Put Yourself in Their Shoes - Think about how you would like to be approached or spoken with if you were an audience member. Also, plan your presentation according to their barriers, understanding level of your content, how they can connect with you, what you have in common with them, how they will want to or need to apply your content, etc. 

* CVS - Every time you see this pharmacy, you will think of this tip. CVS - Concrete, Visual, Simple. Keep your content and presentation structure simple and easy to follow. 

* Know Your Enemies - Understand what will be barriers to the audience checking in fully and plan strategies to leverage these. 

* Hook it - Use acronyms, list, etc. to provide the audience a better chance to remember your content a week later. Give them hooks to hang your content on. 

* Have a Clear Purpose - Start with this. Why are we here? What is the purpose of today's meetings or presentation. Be specific and audience-focused here. 

* 30/7/90 - The three Flow time rules. 30-Seconds - The audience decides in the first 30-seconds whether they want to fully check-in or not. 7-Minute Rule. 90-Minutes - Take a full break every 90-minutes. 

* List of Questions - http://authenticityrules.blogspot.com/2012/12/questions-to-ask-before-your-next.html 

* 7 Authenticity Rules 
 * Gravity Rule - Know your self 
 * Iceberg Rule - Know your content 
 * YourSpace Rule - Know your audience 
 * Surgeon Rule - Know your tools 
 * 7-Iron Rule - Know your flow 
 * Mask Rule - Know your enemies 
 * Mavericks Rule - Know your difference-makers 

* Misc. Resources Mentioned

 * http://www.AuthenticityRules.com 
 * http://plileadership.blogspot.com 
 * http://www.YourNextSpeaker.com 
 * http://www.evernote.com 
 * http://www.DropBox.com

Questions to Ask Before Your Next Presentation

Paraphrasing Albert Einstein, you have to ask the right questions if you're going to find the right answers. This is true for effective presentation planning. Following is a list of must-ask questions that will help guide your work as you develop your next presentation.

- What is the core purpose of my program?
- Why should the audience care about my content?
- What are the top 3-4 pieces of information I hope my audience will remember one week after my presentation?
- What makes me a credible expert in this area?
- What are stories I can use to get the human element into my presentation?
- How will I purposefully get the audience interacting with me, as well as each other?
- What do I think are going to be the common questions audience members will ask?
- What is the current knowledge level of the audience regarding my topic?
- What are the barriers to the audience engaging?
- Am I primarily informing, educating or motivating?
- What will the first 30-seconds sound like?
- How am I helping the audience follow my presentation?
- What is the closing call to action?
- What do I expect the audience to do with my information?
- How am I helping the audience retain the information; i.e. encouraging note taking.
- What props, AV elements, handouts, etc. are necessary?
- What content needs to be taken away because it doesn't strongly support the core purpose or is information overload?
- Where can the audience access my content and contact information after my presentation is over?

How to Build a Keynote

Follow the tips below the next time you are preparing to deliver a keynote.

1. Make only three main points. If you can, give each point equal time. Additionally, make all of them tie back to the one Big Idea of the keynote - an opening belief/concept/philosophy/etc.

2. Begin with a moment of engagement. 3-5 minutes. Physical, social, emotional, etc. Get them purposely engaged in the presentation at the very start.

3. Bridge that opening moment of engagement to your Big Idea. Present one challenge or question or leadership strategy that all your points will tie back into.

4. Use personal stories.

5. Help them think application.

6. If you are going to use a prop, video, music, crowd interaction, etc., keep it simple and practice beforehand.
Follow the 7-minute Rule. Reference this post - http://authenticityrules.blogspot.com/2007/02/be-smart-presenter.html

7. Save your most emotionally charged or intellectually amazing message for the last.

8. Leave them with momentum; end your presentation with application action points. How do expect the audience to act differently because of your message?

394720 or Bob

(This is a repost of one of my most popular posts...)


You enter a room labeled The Numbers Room. You see fifty people walking around with name tags on and they look like this...

394720
273427
394751
404816
591233
92751
11982
821873

You then leave and enter a different room labeled The Names Room. You see fifty different people walking around with name tags. Only this time the name tags look like this...

Bob
Steve
Julie
Rick
Tom
Jennifer
Will
Ashley

Question: In which room would you expect to remember more people's names? The answer, of course, is The Names Room. Remember this the next time you need to deliver a message that you want to stick. The people in The Numbers Room might very well be thoroughly and accurately labeled, but the chances their names would be remembered is slim to none. To deliver a "rememorable" message, leverage the hidden secrets of the Names Room.

1. Short. Less information is more.

2. Easily Recognizable. Short names and unique faces work for humans. Give your message a short name and only show its "unique face" and you have a winner.

3. Easily Recallable. Look away and spell Bob in your mind. Now look away and "spell" 394720 in your mind. Big difference. Use simple words and phrases to "stickify" your message.

4. Easily Transferable. How many Bobs have you ever heard of?

5. Overcomes the Knowledge Gap. You probably have never seen 394720 as a name before. So, your mind has to work harder to try to remember brand new information. However, you have heard, seen and dealt with the name Bob all your life. Find a way to take pre-existing words, concepts, or labels and give new meaning to them; instead of creating words from scratch.

Video Answers to Five Questions

Following is a link to a cool short (8 minutes) video of me answering a few basic presentation skills questions with another speaking expert.  Enjoy!

http://www.finaldrivetv.com/blog/?p=263

How to Get, Keep & Manage Attention

Great speaking, teaching, training and presenting is strongly influenced by great attention management. The best content in the world can be missed by even by the best audience members if attention is not managed properly. The following four keys should play a major role in each of your presentations. When you implement these strategies, make sure you mix it up and add variety in how you use each.

1. Intellectual Engagement - Any great presentation gets people thinking in a new, fresh, and unique way. This is the meat of the talk and you have to have it, but to really engage the brain you have to give new information, tell a unique story, package the info simply and creatively, etc.

2. Emotional Engagement - This is the Ying to the Yang of intellectual engagement. People are driven by and pulled around by emotions. If there is no heart or humor in your presentation, you are missing a key engagement tool. So, get them laughing or tell a heart-felt story. Get the human element in your presentation, even if you are delivering dry, serious content.

3. Physical Engagement - All physical movement, from high-impact ropes courses to a simple knuckles bump, creates a boost in energy. Leverage this simple principle and include an appropriate amount of physical movement in your presentation. For more content heavy presentations, this movement could include: giving a high-five to a partner, turning your chairs forward, standing up and switching partners, standing up and interacting with others, etc.

4. Social Engagement - This is one of the easiest techniques to pull off and yet so many speakers do not use it. Get the audience interacting with each other. This could be as simple as, "Turn to a partner and teach them the lesson you just learned using your own words." If all the audience is doing for 30/45/60 minutes is just listening to you, you are not effectively managing their valuable attention resource.

The Four Keys to Effective Concept Teaching

The next time you find yourself teaching conceptual information (possible solutions, best case scenarios, suggestions for change) to an audience, structure the flow of each point using the following four keys:

1. Understanding - Go CVS on your approach to bringing everyone to the same level of understanding. Be Concrete, Visual and Simple with your words.

2. Value - A concept is only as good as it is valuable. This requires personalization for that particular audience on that particular day. Why should they care today and why should they act tomorrow?

3. Barriers - Anytime you present a solution or action without addressing the potential barriers to application, you are leaving your audience assuming... and people always assume the worst. Your idea is dead the minute you stop talking.

4. Application - Leave your audience with momentum by clearly explaining where and how they can practically and personally apply the concept. This is a must for any presenter with the goal of motivating change.

7 Authenticity Rules Quick Lessons

A few quick lessons for applying each of the seven Authenticity Rules.

1. Know Your Self - What is your unique take on your content? Give them your opinion, your viewpoint, a story from your life, etc. Quotes from famous people work, but anyone (and everyone) can do that. Give us something new, fresh and, therefore, more interesting.

2. Know Your Content - Prepare your material early. Become intimately familiar with your content so when you present you can focus on the audience, not on what you are going to say next.

3. Know Your Audience - Ask yourself these questions:

• What specific action(s) do you want your audience to take after the presentation?
  
• What barriers are going to exist between you/your content and the audience?
  
• How are you going to connect early and often with them?
  
• What do they already know about your topic?
  

4. Know Your Flow - Follow the 7-Minute Rule: Switch up the way they input information every seven minutes or so. IE - listen to you, take notes, do an activity, watch a video, share with a partner, reflect, listen to a peer talk, group discussion, look at a slide, etc.

5. Know Your Tools - Less is more. Keep your props and resources simple and easy to use.

6. Know Your Enemies - Control your nerves; don't get rid of them. Use CAKE:

C - Change your perspective. Think of nerves as a good thing.
A - Audience-focused. Put your attention on them, not you.
K - Knowledge. Know your stuff top to bottom.
E - Experience. Speak and speak often.

7. Know Your Difference-Makers - Advanced speakers need to continue to learn more and get better. Rookie speakers need to ask questions, overcome your fears and get good.

 

New Authenticity Rules E-Book

The new Authenticity Rules E-Book is here.  Following are just a few of the questions answered in this complete speaking and facilitation handbook.

• What is the best way to control nerves?
• What are your three biggest enemies?
• Why is authenticity so important?
• What is the CVS Formula?
• What makes a great keynote?
• How do you keep an audience engaged?
• Why does it matter how you give driving directions?
• What can you learn from a kangaroo?
• What is the Can’t Ignore Club?
• How do you make boring content engaging?
• What is the 7-Minute Rule?
• What are energy gaps?
• What is the difference between effective and non-effective coaching?
• How do you establish credibility?
• What are the steps to effective workshop planning?
• How do you handle difficult audience members?
• How do you know what the audience wants to hear?
• Why does your personality determine how you should build a speech?
• How is a surfer like a great presenter?
• What is the MOVE Formula?
• What do you do when a herd of water buffaloes attack your presentation?

Click here to purchase your copy today ($5).