Preparation IQ: Part 4

Many presentation coaching sessions this month. A big part of preparing for these moments is identifying the possible reasons why my clients wouldn't apply the lessons. Here is a short list I keep front of mind:

- Don't understand fully enough to apply
- Don't believe it
- Don't see the value of it
- Goes too much against the grain
- Failure
- Sticking out
- Have to get approval
- Don't know where to apply it
- Have too many questions
- Too vested in current way
- Have to get others up to speed
- Too difficult
- Enjoys the current way
- Unsure of outcome
- Uncertain of application
- Not paid to
- Don't have to
- Apathy
- Someone else is coaching them to do it a different way.

Keeping my eye on this list helps me to frame the lessons better and approach any hesitation I sense in the sessions. The best lessons in the world are useless unless the student's hurdles to application are identified and discussed.

Preparation IQ: Part 3

Part three of the Preparation IQ Series will examine our upcoming Oklahoma FFA Stand and Deliver speech training conferences.

Details

3-hours, 50-150 high school FFA members, purpose is to train them on how to write, research, practice, deliver and answer questions for competitive FFA speech contests.

Prep Techniques

- This is our 11th year to run these conferences, so we have the basic content, flow and techniques well developed. We start by reviewing the detailed notes we have gathered over the past few years. However, we sharpen the material every year by adding in new lessons we've developed, including new activities and providing updated resources.

- An important preparation technique for this type of skill-development conference is providing and clearly explaining resources and exercises the students can use and do when they get back home.

- There are 12 separate areas of speaking tips covered at Stand and Deliver, but in only three hours. Each section needs to be examined, but they are not all equally important. This means we have to prioritize and spend less time on the lower items.

- This is a "dry information" heavy program. Therefore, we must include a good amount of humor, interaction, small moments of fun, etc. The 7-Minute Rule must also be followed.

7-Minute Rule - Have the audience change the way they input information every seven minutes or so. Options: listen to speaker, watch a video, listen to other people speak, write notes, talk to partner, do an activity, reflective thinking, listen to music, group discussion, etc.

Preparation IQ: Part 2

Part two in our Presentation IQ Series focuses on a banquet speech I delivered tonight.

Details

30 adults, kick-off banquet for community leadership program, second time I have presented for group, most audience members hadn't heard me before, purpose was to be light-hearted and provide leadership inspiration.

Prep Techniques

- The most important element for banquet talks is to provide a simple formula or outline for the audience to follow. Keep it light. Nobody wants to "work" thoughtfully at a meal event. Therefore, I chose my Impact Model as the outline: Influence, Spirit, Class, Legacy. The content also fit one of the purposes - to provide leadership inspiration.

- Emotional content just works at evening meal functions; people are more pliable and ready to be entertained and moved. So, I combed through my material and pulled out a few fun stories, humorous bits, engaging yet location-appropriate activities (everyone had pen and paper), etc.

- This is a good time to mention where I go to access my resources and material. I primarily use Evernote. It is a free note-taking software for the computer, web and any iOS device. It syncs across all devices, you can create categories, you can search by key word, and much more! I have over 1,300 notes, but when I prep for a program, I really only need to look through two - one that has a wholesale list of all the activities I regularly lead and one that lists out all of my stories/acronyms/lists/etc. I also use Dropbox for repeatable handouts/posters/activity sheets/etc.

Good luck!

Preparation IQ: Part 1

My goal for this blog for 2012 is to provide insight into how I prepare for my programs with a new series titled Preparation IQ. Over the past 20 years, I have delivered thousands of keynotes, workshops and coaching sessions. This experience has provided me a wealth of secrets, strategies and formulas for preparing for presentation success. This year on this blog the secrets will be revealed.

Each time I will briefly overview the program details (audience members, content expectations, length, etc.) and then provide a few preparation techniques. I won't blog on each presentation (I have seven this week alone), but I will post many of them. Beginning with Ada Leadership YOUniversity...

Details:

25 adults, 6 hours of presentation time, content is networking strategies, electronic networking and "get to know you" activities.

Prep Techniques:

- This is my third year to present at this program, so step one is to review my notes from previous years. I get hired back because they like what I do. No reason to re-invent the wheel. Plus, there is an entirely new group of people each year, so I can use the same material.

- This program is very basic in terms of deliverables - help the class get to know each other and teach some networking skills. Therefore, it is very activity-heavy and data-light. I list out all the activities and exercises I plan on doing and create a basic outline. Since I have led all of them multiple times, I have a very good handle on how much time they will take. For this program, I know the audience members don't know each other very well, so I am very careful to keep the sharing at a surface level.

- I make sure I have all the material, A/V and handouts necessary for my game plan.

- One of the most important prep items is your "30-second sales pitch". This is a statement at the beginning of your presentation designed to inform the audience on why it is important and valuable for them to fully engage. It must be stated from their point of view. For example, my statement for Ada is, "This multi-month experience can either be just something you did once or it can be a life-changing experience. The biggest difference is whether or not you forge friendships with your classmates. Our mission today is to jump-start that process. Join me."

There is much more that goes into the prep of each program, but after the series is complete, you will know almost every technique I use. I hope they help kick your Preparation IQ way beyond Thunderdome!

How Are You Fueling The Fire?

We had a traditional, old-school, masonry fireplace put in our new home and I love it.  We have it lit all the time.  My three primary fuel sources are great metaphors for the fuel sources we have at our disposal as presenters, teachers and trainers to set our audiences on fire:  firewood, Duraflame logs and cardboard.  If you want to have your group begging for more, make sure you have a good mix of all three.

Firewood - The long-lasting, primary fuel source that is the meat and potatoes of the fireplace fuel.  A fire without firewood would be weak, quick or non-existent.  This fuel source represents your "base content."  The stuff you have studied, practiced, refined, rehearsed, massaged and delivered over and over again.  This is the content you know makes a difference.  It comes in many different styles (stories, activities, formulas, lists, concepts, etc.), but it is all meaningful, connective and the main reason why the audience is there in the first place. Keep stocking up on this energy-rich material.  

Duraflame Logs - We are on propane and in our town you can't install a propane-fueled, open-air fireplace; primarily because, unlike natural gas, propane is not scented.  It could be running and you'd never know it.  So, Duraflame logs provide the chemical spark to get the fire going and the good ones provide energy to fire up those tree logs for up to four hours.  This fuel source represents any material, bits, activities, etc. that serve the sole purpose of bringing energy and combustibility to the room.  You can't rely solely on this fuel source (its not meaty enough), but it is necessary to get the fire burning hot in the audience and ready to receive and accept your big content. Where variety and quantity are the keys to the firewood content, you need only find two or three magic Duraflame log bits that hit a homerun every time to really take advantage of this fuel source.

Cardboard - Oh how it burns bright and hot and awesomely... but only for a few seconds.  This is a totally case-by-case (no pun intended) fuel source.  If we happen to have some extra boxes around, I will tear one up, use it as kindling and watch it burn!  It does go hot, but quick.  Cardboard represents your use of "in-the-moment" content.  Examples are headlines, recent news, current audience information, something that happened earlier at the event, etc.  These little tidbits have little long-term value, but can serve to peak the audience members' attention and help you kindle their desire to check in to your main message.  So, watch for these, insert them where you can, but don't rely on them.

Best of luck setting fires in 2012!

The Packaging Makes a Difference

Apple is known for its remarkable packaging.  The shipping boxes are perfect (minimal, simple, etc.), but its product boxes are the best - stylish, eco-friendly, cool. I have kept many Apple product boxes and repurposed them because of their design and weight.

Yet, I don't buy Apple products because of the box.  I buy them because they are awesome.  However, when it comes to your work (speaking/training), the packaging does make a big difference.  Case in point, I recently keynoted a massive student leadership conference.  Thousands of students flooded into the convention arena. Before my keynote was a welcome and a greeting from state education officials.  One of them stretched a 5-minute greeting into a 35-minute mini-keynote - leaving me 8-minutes for the actual keynote.

It wasn't a total train wreck.  He did have a good message and a compelling story.  Yet, this was the opening session and many students were already tweeting how boring the conference was. The rub was that he just stood behind the podium and talked. The problem was packaging.  He stood and talked at them for 35-minutes. This package type does not encourage, inspire or enable audience engagement. It chases it away.  Its a shame, too, because his content was important and powerful.  But after 7-minutes all of it fell on deaf ears because of inappropriate packaging.

Packaging Options for Audience Engagement:

• Audience interacting with each other
• Audience interacting with speaker
• Emotional stories, quotes, thoughts (humorous, inspirational, dramatic, sad)
• Music
• Properly-designed Power Points
• Variety in pace, tone and volume
• Speaker physically moving around the stage/room

Great speakers and trainers understand that simply saying something doesn't equate to someone else hearing it, understanding it or acting upon it.  You must package the delivery with an Apple-like caring eye for detail and design.  Best of luck.

New Delicious.com Tag: Speaking Tips!

Our Delicious links database continues to grow!  We are up to 1,493 bookmarks.

These bookmarks cover ten different leadership areas (communication, relationships, goals, etc.), specific ideas for fellow speakers/trainers (activities, books, videos, etc.) and, as of today, a new tag titled Speaking Tips.  This category already has over 100 bookmarks covering everything from building a speech, engaging an audience, storytelling and much more.  Check it out!

http://www.delicious.com/pliblog/speaking_tips

Facilitation Techniques

A collection of the best facilitation techniques I teach and practice.


Click here for a high-res version.

- Posted from the road using my iPhone.

Top 6 Tools to Engage Literally Any Audience

Your audience needs you to be skilled at earning, managing and maximizing their attention. Whether they pay attention to you and/or retain your message or not is primarily your responsibility.  The following six tools are invaluable resources for highly effective trainers, speakers and teachers needing to engage any audience of any demographic - students or adults.  Especially in today's noisy world, just asking your audience to sit and listen is not enough.  If you want them to hear, process, retain and take action on your material, you must be skilled at getting them actively involved in the experience of the moment, not just the content of the message. 

6 Audience Engagement Tools

1. Turn to a partner and...
(Social and physical engagement)

The audience members interact with someone next to them.  This interaction could involve talking about a content piece or doing a two-person activity. Remember to allow groups of three if necessary, give clear instructions on what they are supposed to do and be extra clear on how they know when their interaction is supposed to end.

2. Have you ever...
(Emotional engagement) 

High-level interaction doesn't always mean getting up and moving around or doing an experiential activity with a partner or a team.  Engagement can also be emotional.  When you tell stories they can directly and emotionally relate with, you are painting them into the picture of your message instead of simply asking them to watch you paint it.

3. When I start the music...
(Social and physical engagement) 

Obviously an effective method for getting them engaged in your presentation is to lead an activity.  Always have music available to set the mood of the activity and to intensify the experience. Two of our favorite resources you can access to find great activities to lead are:  The Activator book - includes our top 50 activities with instructions, material needed, debrief options and more.  Thesource4ym - this site includes a search query that lets you quickly filter through their hundreds of activities and games. 

(To access the music we play at our programs, just search "YourNextSpeaker" in the search box in the iTunes Music Store.)

4. Take a second and write down...
(Emotional engagement.) 

We don't learn at a high level by just hearing something or doing something - we learn by talking, reflecting, processing and/or writing. These are the elements that allow inputs to sink in and become part of who we are.  If you can, have your audience members take notes or do reflective writing during your presentation. This also gives your message legs as they take their notes back home.

5. Raise your hand if...
(Physical and emotional engagement) 

Similar to "Have you ever...", this technique involves the audience actually responding to you as you ask questions or run through a list.  Getting the audience to physically demonstrate their connection to your message or a portion of it also serves to break down any barriers between you and the audience.

6. This is difficult to say, but...
(Emotional engagement)

When you are bold and transparent and share a personally moving story (tragedy, failure, etc.), you earn a load of attention points from the audience. Make certain it is the right time and place for it though. This is difficult to read, but there are certain venues or events where it isn't professional to share deeply. However, if you believe in your heart it is the best way to get your message across and it fits the venue, go for it.  When you risk big, the audience can win big.


WARNING...

If you read this post thinking, "These techniques would never fly with my group because this is not how its always been done," it is probably because your group has historically been subjected to presenters who either simply talk at them or talk at them while also talking to a PowerPoint. These are safe, acceptable and, most of the time, horribly boring experiences.  Be better than most, include some audience interaction, watch your presentations turn into turbo-charged learning machines and your way will become the new "this is how its always been done." Good luck!

Leadership Quote Cards

There are so many positive outputs from an engaging conservation about leadership and related topics. I have put together a new tool for you to lead your groups in this effort - The Leadership Quote Cards. Feel free to print these poster size and hang on the wall for big groups or print postcard size to use with small groups. They are a powerful tool to get discussions and thoughts started on multiple (there are 28 cards) topics.

Download the PDF here.

APPLICATION IDEAS

• If you are using them with a big group, have everyone pair up, stand up, roam around the room and go up to each poster and share whatever comes to mind.
• For a small group, pass out the cards, give each person a few minutes to write down their thoughts and then go around the room asking each person to share their thoughts.
• For a small group, hold up a poster and have everyone share a thought or question related to it.
• For a big or small group, go to reflection time. Post the posters on the walls and, with pen/paper in hand, have each person walk around and quietly journal an initial thought response to each quote.
• Get the group into teams of 4-6. Give each team a card. Have them design and present a skit/commercial/speech/etc. based on the card's quote.