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The Engaging Speaker shares relevant personal anecdotes that support a message

Published on in The Engaging Speaker. Closed Tags: , .

Find your personal anecdotes

I recently went to renew my work visa. While changing metro lines I was walking along reading The Economist. I boarded the metro going the wrong direction. By the time I changed back and got to the train station, I missed my train by 2 minutes. I went to change my ticket for a later one and the ticketing system crashed. When I arrived in Suzhou, the taxi took me to the wrong road. Later in the day another taxi couldn’t find the government building. After completing one process, the lift went up instead of down. Unexpectedly, the payment process changed to credit card only, no cash. As I was taking the urgent track I had to pay an additional fee; cash no card.

Throughout this experience I didn’t get too stressed. In fact, despite all the small obstacles I finished the whole process in two hours. Having lived in China for so long I’ve come to understand that the best state of mind in these situations is to be calm and amused. As a triathlete, I’ve learned to race the race as it unfolds and not the one I had planned.

 

Taking the above anecdote, I could link it to several messages:

1. In China a calm state of mind works best.

2. A plan is only as good as how you react to changes in the plan

3. Be prepared. But be prepared to adapt.

4. Getting things done in China come with stress.

 

There could be several different types of messages that I could relate to the personal anecdote. Collect your experiences and think about messages that can help people learn from your experiences. People love stories and they’ll focus in when you tell them.

 

One final tip when telling anecdotes: add small concrete details to make your story come alive and feel more real. Mr Orange, played by Tim Roth, in Reservoir Dogs was an undercover cop trying to infiltrate a heist gang. The scenes where Mr Orange is rehearsing his story with his colleague is a great lesson on how to add the small but important details in a story.

 

 

 

What can Nordic design teach us about influencing skills?

Published on in Create Your Connection, Events, Presentation Analysis and Speech Analysis. 4 Comments Tags: , , , .

I recently attended Nordic Innovation Week and was especially impressed by an event around what Nordic design is, how it’s regarded and how it can be used in China. As I listened to the three speakers, there were some good takeaways from an influencing and communication perspective :

Here’s what I observed:

 

Speaker 1: Lars Falk, VP of Design, China, Volvo.

Lars was talking around the context of building a design centre in China.

What he did well?

1. He made a human connection in the opening

Lars started by building rapport.

He showed his enthusiasm for the topic.

Shared his personal journey as a timeline.

He quoted Confucius “ wisdom is what you don’t know”

He contrasted the tastes of the Chinese consumers in 2011 and 2013.

He compared design tastes of different counties visually using their flags.

 

2. He set up the main content with a connecting question

“So what does China want?”

This gets the audience thinking along the right lines. He answers the question in a nutshell (great material and exterior design) and then moves onto the body of his content.

 

3. Good structure for the main content

Lars divided his content into three parts; Proportions, Dimensions and Interior Design.

He used impactful visuals to make his points in each section.

 

4. Attention grabbing close

Lars used a powerful but simple pie chart showing how 96% of a car in China should be on par with the best in the world. While the final 4% should be something special for China. This one chart really summed up nicely his topic. Then he closed it out with a quote from Einstein.

 

Speaker 2: Henrik Larsson, Head of Architecture of Inter IKEA Centre China.

Henrik’s talk was around implementing Scandinavian design in China through the eyes of IKEA’s real estate developments.

 

What he did well?

1. Set the context

Henrik briefly described IKEA’s approach to building around their stores to create a more complete retail presence and their current projects with shopping centres in Beijing, Wuhan and Wuxi.

 

2. He had a clear overarching structure

Why we do it

What it is

How to do it

This helps to keep the audience’s direction on track through the 30min talk.

 

3. Soundbite messages

Henrik used short and snappy messages throughout his talk.

We unify

We save

Design makes a difference

 

4. Used a clear visual style for slides

When running through the “What is it” section, Henrik used various characteristics to explain Scandinavian design (human, modern, functional) and had a clear visual for each point. The consistency ran through the characteristics. A large picture with key words dominated each slide. Each picture was a metaphorical representation of the big idea.

 

5. Closing in reality

After abstract (and highly interesting) discussions around Nordic design, Henrik came back to reality and showed some plans from current developments. We learned about the anchor layout, how multiple attraction points are developed and key traffic pullers in each development. It was a good way to show how the principles are applied.

 

Speaker 3: Olle Carlbark Director SCA Innovation Centre in China, SCA.

Olle’s talk was based around introducing SCA and a case study of launching a product in the baby diaper market In China.

 

What he did well?

1. Set the journey

Olle opened with a quick slide showing the agenda clearly. Four sections:

This is SCA

Innovation

Relaunch Sealer

China insights

 

2. Keep self-directed information short

I was interested to learn about SCA but sometimes company profiles can drag on. Olle kept it short and used visuals to show the wide range of brands his company covered. His message “Europe’s largest forest owner” was a nice soundbite.

 

3. Case study

A case study on relaunching a product with some innovative safety features and package design that catered to local needs was capped off with a video TV commercial. Using a mixture of media is a good way to break up your delivery. All media used should be relevant and consistent in quality and message.

 

4. Close with clarity

Olle finished with a slide showing main innovation drivers in China. Three points.

 

 

Conclusion

All speeches were well structured, included personal touches and generally had very clear impactful visuals. It helped make the experience of learning about Nordic design and how it’s applied in China enjoyable and easy to digest.

 

The Engaging Speaker is aware of the changing energy in the room

Published on in Attention spans, Deliver with Style and interaction. Closed Tags: , , , , , .

Surviving an Ironman race needs control of your energy

I’ve completed the grueling Ironman Triathlon which is a race involving a 3.8km open water swim, 180km bike ride and finishes with a marathon, back to back all on the same day. The race has a cut off time of 17 hours and I finished my last one in around 12 hours 30 mins. Needless to say, it’s a long day and your energy levels change throughout the day. Nervous excitement before the swim. Steady rhythmic effort to complete the swim. A burst of energy on the bike before settling into a long ride with ups and downs, trying to hold on to your pace in the final 60km while holding back enough for the run. The marathon starts at a lively pace. It’s the final segment and if everything falls apart, you can always walk. You hold a pace, keep it ticking over. Everything seems good until half way through, muscles start to cramp, pain comes. Your pace drops a bit, you fight it to keep going. From 30-38km, you’re in complete pain, you think about quitting or walking. Somehow you keep your body moving forward quietly encouraging yourself and feeding off the energy of the crowd’s cheers. Finally you hit 38km, you realize that in 2km it’s only 2km to go. You perk up. Your pace rises. You find a new wind. You’re going to finish. The final one kilometer, you’re hitting euphoric levels as your endorphins kick in. You finish the marathon practically sprinting, fall over the line and break down into a heap. Before standing up with a warm painful glow of completion. Success.

 

Energy levels change through a presentation

The Engaging Speaker is aware that energy levels change through a presentation. Shorter presentations are easier to plan. Longer full day sessions require more detailed mapping. Remember people are fresh in the morning so get right into the content. Keep things moving along. Set the tone for starting and ending breaks on time. Plan your afternoons particularly carefully. Participants energy levels tend to dip around an hour to two after lunch, especially if they’ve had a big hotel buffet lunch. During this time period, move towards more physical exercises. Add higher impact team activities. Move things around. Shift venues. Keep things moving, changing and adapting. Finish strong. Have a clear conclusion to the day. Keep a couple of short energizers in your pocket in case the energy plunges. Don’t be afraid to try new things. Ask the participants what they’d like to do to pick up the energy.

 

Be aware that you create the energy in the room, not the audience

If you looked at your last talk or upcoming presentation in terms of creating energy, what would your energy chart look like? Would it be high at the start and then gradually falling away to nothing? Would it be low at the beginning, peak in the middle and drift off? Or would it look like a read out of a healthy heart with regular peaks and troughs. A good presentation should start and finish strong but should allow time to reflect, time to pick things up and a time for interaction.

 

What energy map are you creating?

Map your presentation’s energy chart. Is it in line with your message? A rallying sales meeting will start high and finish higher. A senior management crisis talk will have moments of low before building up momentum towards the end. The Engaging Speaker sets the tone for the talk and creates the energy, the enthusiasm, the experience for the audience.