Archive for the 'executive presence' Category

Impact and Influence: Lessons from presenting to the Board of Directors

Published on in Deliver with Style, executive presence and Influence. 0 Comments

There is no single presentation that can make or break a person’s career as a Board level presentation. Deliver a high impact presentation and your credibility and visibility can soar in the eyes of the company’s highest level directors. Stumble, fumble or mumble your way through and you lose respect in these decision-makers eyes. So what can we do to better refine a Board level presentation? Here are some areas to consider:

  1. Be precise
  2. Be concrete
  3. Be critical
  4. Be prepared

To read more about these areas to prepare, read the article here.

Be precise in your actions

By the nature of their roles, Board Directors are under a great deal of time pressure. They are unforgiving of people who ‘waste their time’ or are perceived to waste their time through a fuzzy approach. Remember, just because your intention is not to waste their time, doesn’t mean that they will see things the same way. When facing such a group, everything you do should be conducted with precision. For example:

  • Data you show should have a precise rationale and you should be ready to swiftly run through your calculations when challenged
  • Handouts should have a specific purpose and you should think about when is exactly the right time to introduce a handout. Plus, you should allow the Directors to read a handout before you talk it through
  • Opinions should be expressed succinctly and with certainty. Do your thinking before you face the Board and have an opinion that can stand up to questioning
  • Words and language should expressed precision and certainty. Eliminate too many modifiers like ‘might’, ‘could’ and ‘maybe’. State your case and back it up

Be concrete in your requests and recommendations

A challenge facing every presenter when preparing content is what level of detail is required. With a Board, you’ll face a situation where you know more about the given area. Many presenters fall into the ‘I know too much, so I say too much’ trap. While your ideas are important, even more pressing for a Board is the decision that needs to made as a result of your ideas. You must be really specific. Remember:

  • Vague and general concepts are not looked upon favorably by a Board. What exactly do you want from the Board?
  • Your proposal can only be approved when you know what you want. Be clear in what you are asking for in terms of resources and budget
  • How much do you need? What financial resources are you requesting?
  • How will this investment pay itself back? Express the ROI (return on investment) and other benefits that may accrue as a result of the investment?
  • How will you measure success? How will you track the investment returns? What are the key metrics?

Be critical in your thinking

The Board are hiring you to help them think through the parts of the business that you are responsible for managing. At a Board level presentation, you are expected to demonstrate that you’re the right person for this role. Clarity and critical thinking are crucial skills to have. For example:

  • While you’re preparing the content, test your assumptions by asking ‘why’. Why are we assuming this to happen? Why are we suggesting this as a solution? Why do we think this will be the reaction of customers?
  • If you’re uncertain about assumptions or how actions will be received, show how you will find about quickly and effectively. Suggest pilot projects or fast surveys

Be prepared as a high performing team

Placing a Board of Directors into a room is a tremendous investment for the company. Just calculate the cost per hour of this meeting. Your role is to ensure that a positive return is made for all parties. A systematic dedicated to preparation is required from you and your team. For example:

  • Individuals know their stuff front and back
  • Data has been checked and rechecked for errors
  • For team presentations, a true rehearsal has been conducted. This needs more than reading through slides but must have a stand-up, speak-out-aloud and timed rehearsal
  • Role playing possible questions that the Board will ask and how to address them
  • A assessment of who will be attending, what they are most concerned with and how to smooth over any weaknesses in the presentation

The Board presentation is a high stakes presentation that can launch or block a promising career. These areas should help you get started. Also, below we have links to other article that could help you prepare. If you need any support, reach out to me as we offer a range of services to help business leaders increase their impact and influence at the C-level.

All the best,

Warwick

Influence your audience with data

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Executive Presence for CFOs in China Part 2 of 3 : Positive Image Projection

7 things to know about how new Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella communicates in public

Published on in executive presence and The Engaging Speaker. 1 Comment Tags: , , , .

Satya Nadella is the new CEO Microsoft. No doubt we’ll be hearing more from him over the years. But how does he fare as a smart and engaging communicator? Here are seven points to consider:

1. He’s a subject matter expert. When you listen to his interviews and keynote talks, you’ll be left in no doubt that Satya is a tech guy. He’s knows his stuff. You’ll hear him talking a lot about the cloud.

2. He looks the part. Satya is very well dressed and exudes the look of a business leader without looking too slick. He has presence.

3. Good energy. While not at the over-the-top energy levels of former-CEO Steve Ballmer, Nadella certainly brings good energy to his public talks. He has a clear voice, a good physical presence and cuts a dynamic figure. He brings good energy to the room.

4. During keynotes, he tends to speak a little on the fast side. Added to his high energy style this can become a little overwhelming after a while. His delivery can seem a little one tracked and one paced at times. A few pauses to break up ideas would help the audience digest his ideas. A shifting between energy states to create difference responses from the audience would improve his delivery.

5. He falls into the trap of a technical professional. He leads with content and forgets to have a message. If you stopped his keynote speech after five minutes and said, “Okay, so what was that about?”. You’d struggle to easily pick out a message or takeaway idea without retelling his ideas. Without a headline message, all the data points, process and buzzing ideas will be quickly forgotten.  As he becomes the figurehead of Microsoft, this will likely change. Why? See the next point.

6. I love the fact that he describes himself as a learner.  Satya defines his motivations as “Family, curiosity and a hunger for knowledge. “  This desire will make him a quick study and I’d expect we’ll see a very different public persona from Satya – especially to general and non-technical audiences – over the next 12 months.

7. He loves cricket. And if he can explain cricket to people who didn’t grow up with it – then there’s nothing he can’t explain!

To learn more about Satya Nadella, visit my Scoop page with articles from multiple sources. Click here.
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Big mistakes executives make while communicating

Published on in executive presence, produce your message and speaking with purpose. Closed Tags: , , , .

Speak without a clear message

Executives from technical disciplines, such as finance or engineering, often have a misconception that technical ability is more important than communicating effectively. The very skills that make technical experts successful actually prevent them from being promoted to senior management. They focus too heavily on process and small details when the situation requires something more concise. Unlike junior managers, a senior executive’s main role is to communicate a clear and compelling message.

Executives with presence understand how to tell the story behind the numbers, correctly balancing big-picture with small details. The best executives, such as Steve Jobs, communicate effectively using simple and concise language that conveys powerful and memorable messages. Jobs has honed this skill over the years and his product launches contain such gems as, “Today, Apple reinvents the phone” from the 2007 iPhone launch. This ability to express a situation in its simplest terms is often overlooked by technical executives. However, all effective executive communicators have mastered this art.

Here are some examples of four word messages which can be used as an “umbrella” message or overall message for a pitch, presentation, change initiative or campaign. Once you have an umbrella message, each supporting section would also be given a short message to summarize that section of information:

“Better city, Better life” from Shanghai Expo 2010.
“The best-run businesses run SAP”from SAP Advertising campaign.
“Stay hungry, stay foolish” – Steve Jobs commencement address at Stanford, 2005.
“Real Estate for Your World” from Century 21.
“The Ultimate Driving Machine” from BMW.
“The Company for Women” from Avon Products, Inc.
“Expect More. Pay Less.” from Target Corporation.
“Photonics in the Fast Lane” from Thor Labs.
“The Miracles of Science” from DuPont.

Taken from the book “Speaking with Purpose: “How to present ideas that matter in 18 minutes or less”. Learn more about the workbook here.

About the Author

“Warwick helps C-level executives, working in multinational companies based in Greater China, who need to become more confident and effective in their spoken communications. Warwick helps the executive project a clear message allowing them to express their opinions powerfully and gain respect from senior managers even when under pressure.”

Warwick is the author of “The One Minute Presenter: 8 steps to successful business presentations in a short attention span world”.

Buy The One Minute Presenter here.

Why are technical presentations so boring?

Published on in Create Your Connection and executive presence. Closed Tags: , , , , .

Well it depends who’s listening.

Obstacles when giving technical presentations to non-technical people:

  • Don’t adjust to audience’s level of understanding
  • Fear of exposure
  • The presenter’s style
  • Lack of skill in showcasing numbers
  • Forgotten storytelling skills

 

Don’t adjust to audience’s level of understanding

Giving a technical presentation to fellow technical people is easy. They see the world in a similar way to you. They understand your thinking and your acronyms. They know the context of your explanations. In short, they are much like you. It’s easier to be understood by people like us.

But what happens when you’re presenting to senior managers? I’ve seen this happen countless times. The technical presenter – whether from IT, engineering, quality assurance of finance – assume that the senior executives understand them. In fact, they often assume that because they’re senior managers they know the material BETTER than the technical presenter.

This is mostly not the case. Often the higher you go in an organisation the more distance a manager is from the heart of the technology, or techniques. A good presenter will adjust their content to match the audience’s level of understanding.

 

Fear of exposure

After ten years of working around Asia with technical professionals, I’ve come to believe that a trait of a technician is “I say too much because I know too much”. I think that these very intelligent people suffer from a fear of intellectual exposure. If they don’t show how smart they are on their subject matter expertise then they will be judged.
Often the opposite is the case. The reason why we like TED talks so much is because very intelligent people are talking on very technical topics and making them so very accessible for everyone. I think to use the analogy of you should be able to express what your presentation is about to an intelligent ten-year old. In today’s world you’re rewarded for saving people time and energy. Don’t worry we know you’re smart!

The presenter’s style

In my experience as a presentation skills educator, I’ve observed thousands of presentations from technical executives. I’ve noticed that they tend to be very process-driven. They start at the beginning and they end at the end, often going into excruciating details along the way. They tend to be deliver with a very steady and on-the-low-side energy level. They’re often completely focused on the data. This is largely due to the style of the presenter. Technical presenter’s love this style. Most audience’s don’t.

Lack of skill in showcasing numbers

Technical presentation need numbers. Often in detail. But does this mean that all the numbers should be shown all at once on one slide!

No. But why do so many presenters do this? I think it’s risk-aversion (another trait of technical presenters!). The thinking is “if I put all the numbers up, the audience will work out which ones are important”. But the presenter needs to shape the meaning. When working with numbers the law of contrast and comparison needs to be used. Presentation of numbers need to be simplified so that the data supports a particular message. This is simple to understand once you know the techniques. By judging from the amount of slides I see crammed full with charts and data tables, it’s not yet fully and widely understood.

 

Forgotten storytelling skills

What do stories have to do with technical presentations? Well, a lot. If you want to engage and hold an audience’s attention these days, you better learn story telling skills. Learn how to pace and adjust your voice and your energy levels. Learn the flow of a story. How to create tension or curiosity. And importantly how to have a morale (or message) to your story. You have to tell the story behind the numbers. That’s your job!

 

Ask us about “The Technical Presenter” Workshop which helps technical professionals communicate concisely, engagingly and memorably to non-technical audiences. Your meeting productivity will shoot up!

Warwick John Fahy and The One Minute Presenter Team

 

About the Author

“Warwick helps C-level executives, working in multinational companies based in Greater China, who struggle to get their point across and influence their key stakeholders. Warwick helps the executive project their message with confidence allowing them to express their opinions powerfully and gain respect from senior managers even when under pressure.”

Warwick is the author of “The One Minute Presenter: 8 steps to successful business presentations in a short attention span world”.

Now available on Amazon.com.

Sign up to “52 Tips to more confident public speaking” newsletter at www.warwickjohnfahy.com

Stop wasting your time. Start rehearsing effectively

Published on in Deliver with Style and executive presence. Closed Tags: , , , .

Rehearse Like an Actor: What Executive Presenters Can Learn from the world of theater

 Stages to move through to be well-prepared for every high stakes presentations.

 1. Script read through

2. Run – throughs

3. Tops and Tails

4. Cue-to-Cue

5. Dress rehearsal

 

One of the most common excuses that executives use before they deliver presentations is that they didn’t have enough time to prepare. Picture this scene. The board of directors are filling up the meeting room before the annual strategy review session. The financial director walks up to the front of the room, plays with some pieces of paper, coughs, looks down and then says he doesn’t think he is prepared for the presentation.

No doubt you have seen variations of this presentation opening. What impact does this have on his credibility? It immediately sows seeds of doubt in the minds of senior managers. Perhaps, after all, this director is not capable of higher positions.

Business presenters often spend hours preparing PowerPoint slides only to deliver a low-energy dull presentation in front of the people who will be deciding their promotion prospects later in the day. While you don’t have to become an actor to be a good presenter, you can certainly learn from the stages that each actor goes through to be totally ready.

 

 

Stage 1: Script read through

At the start of rehearsals, actors read through their scripts, first alone, and then with the other actors. Script mastery is just the first step in their performance preparation. Most business presenters struggle to complete even this stage, often unable to express coherently what their talk is all about. Every presentation must have a clear overall message with content clearly separated into distinctly different ideas. An opening that sets the context and engages the audiences by addressing their most pressing concerns. A body that divides the content into separate sections or to use a theater word “scenes”. A closing that brings all the content together into a clear outcome, reinforces the overall message and moves the audience into the next part of the meeting, often the question and answer session. An important tip to remember is that at this stage the outline does not need to be perfect. There is still opportunity to modify during the next steps. This stage is ideally done with pen and paper. It should take you no longer than 30 minutes to outline your talk.

Stage 2: Run – throughs

With an outline in hand it’s time to have a run through. This should be rehearsed until the content is memorized. Find blocks of rehearsal time. Instead of going to a restaurant at lunch, grab a sandwich and take a walk in the park. While walking around, talk through the presentation without looking at notes. Speak it out while driving into work, or book a meeting room to practice the delivery. The key here is that it should be spoken aloud as new ideas will arise while the delivery becomes smoother. Don’t use a computer or any slides at this point. The aim is to be 100% comfortable with the flow and content. Modify your outline as ideas come up. Add supporting points, rearrange sections. You should be able to stand up and deliver a speech without looking at any notes or without any supporting visuals. This stage might take a day for familiar material or up to a week for a high stakes meeting. This is the stage where you build up your confidence.

Stage 3: Tops and Tails

The two most important parts of a presentation are the opening and closing. Both parts attract the greatest audience attention and are the best opportunities to deliver a takeaway message. They are often delivered with a higher level of authority and punch. Take the opening two minutes and rehearse it as a stand-alone section. Record it and while listening to the recording, look for ways to make the delivery more impactful. Use crisper and sharper words. Make a closer connection to the audience with words they relate with. Likewise, repeat this approach with the closing. This is the final chance to convey the message and leave the audience with a positive impression. The opening and closing sections can be scripted word-for-word for very important talks, however, never read from notes. It lessens your impact. This stage should only take around 30 minutes because by this stage you are very familiar with your content and message.

Stage 4: Cue-to-Cue

The biggest stress is often caused by projectors so always plan a technology check for all your presentations. For smaller conference room presentations, go at least a couple of hours before to connect your computer to the projector, test the sound and video and ensure the mouse clicker works. For larger settings, arrive the day before and work with technicians in the venue. Spend time on the stage and walk around planning where to start, how to move on the stage and where to finish. Rehearse a couple of sections of the presentation with a microphone to hear what volume is needed to fill the room. Once you are set-up do your best not to move anything.

Stage 5: Dress rehearsal

This covers your on the day preparation. Regardless of what time the presentation is due to start, schedule a time for a dress rehearsal. Rehearse in the same room if possible using all the technology planned and microphones needed. You will speak the entire presenation aloud word-for word. This final run through boosts confidence for the live version. The second delivery of the day will be smoother and you will appear more natural.

 

CONCLUSION

90% of the executives I work with don’t know how to rehearse adequately. They waste time on inconsequential parts of the presentation while ignoring their personal impact. By going through these five stage of preparation you will feel more confident and be more relaxed to deliver a powerful presentation that influences your audience.

 

Do you or your team need help?  We work with executives on the “how tos” of more natural and influential business presenting. Feel free to contact us at any time to learn about the step-by-step approach we have taught thousands of executives around Asia. 

Two warning signs that executives need help with their public speaking, communication and presentation skills

Published on in executive presence and speaking with purpose. Closed Tags: , , .

I work with many senior executives from CEOs and CFOs to Presidents and Country Managers. Many of these executives are from technical disciplines like finance, engineering and IT. Regardless of their culture or language,they often share some bad habits which I suspect is a result of what it takes to be successful in their technical roles. Firstly, they know too much so they say too much. A presentation of 20-30 minutes is not the time to download your complete knowledge on the audience or to bamboozle them with a stream of facts and figures that are not put in a clear context. These executives are too process and detail-oriented when it comes to delivering a high level executive presentation or conversation.

Secondly, if you believe that a successful leader is an accomplished communicator, do you agree that a business presenter who stands and reads word-for-word from the slides is reducing their credibility as a leader? You wouldn’t turn your back on someone when you are having a one-on-one conversation and expect them to think you are sane. So why do so many business presenters think it’s okay to turn their backs to an important audience?The audience can read faster than you can narrate the words on the slide, so what value are you adding? Many senior executives are painfully unaware about how they are coming across and – clearly – do not know how to rehearsal productively for important speeches and presentations.

These two symptoms are often a sign of deeper communication issues. I suspect – from working with many executives around China and Asia – that these are warning signs like a beacon being lit into a dark night. When I see these behaviours I start to notice other communication issues holding these executives back.

I help technical executives to overcome these types of problems that are holding them back from being more influential and effective. In fact, with some pointed advice and application of a few simple techniques these executives- who are generally very smart and very competent in their field – are able to sharpen up their spoken communication and come across as more engaging and – importantly – to speak with a message. They have a point to what they are saying and they are able to make it more persuasively. And let’s face it, if you are a senior executive in a multinational company in a complex market like China, communication is your job. I help executives acquire the skills so that more effective communication becomes a learned skill – they don’t need to think about it too much – so they can get on with their real job of leading their company through change.

If you have an executive who is important to the success of your organisation and they could do with a boost in confidence, self awareness and polish in their communication and public speaking ability, why not give us a call? We can assess the situation and if we feel we are not the right solution, we’ll let you know. We have a very clear idea of the type of clients we can help. And we only want to do our best work with all our clients.

Warwick John Fahy is author of The One Minute Presenter: 8 steps to successful business presentations in a short attention span world. Read Warwick’s blog and download an e-version of The One Minute Presenter at http://www.oneminutepresenter.com/

Warwick is Asia’s leading business presentation coach working with business leaders who need to influence clients, investors, shareholders and team members. His results-driven approach and deep cross cultural understanding make him a sought after business presentation coach throughout Asia. Download a free report “10 Warning Signs Your Leaders Lack Executive Presence” at http://www.warwickjohnfahy.com/

How influential are your leaders and managers?

Published on in executive presence and Influence. Closed Tags: , , , .

You can download this article as a PDF file here.

We have designed a one-day or two-day hands-on workshop that show leaders, managers and service professionals how to use, apply and combine influencing techniques

Influencing is :

  • Situational; you need to adapt your approach for different people at different times

  • Needed in combination; no single technique will work in every situation

  • Value based; you need to offer something of value to the people you wish to influence. No value. No influence.

  • A catalyst; influential people are able to get more things done quicker.

  • Dynamic; things change. A technique that worked last year may not work this year if everyone is exposed to it.

Influencing is not:

  • Manipulation; your intention and purpose should be as transparent and ethical as possible

The Influencing Matrix:

We have researched 15 key influencing approaches that have been tested to consistently work over time and across cultures. They are:

  • Scarcity

  • The Force

  • The Vision-caster

  • Walk your Talk

  • The Connector

  • The Rules

  • The Give-and-Take

  • Silent Allies

  • Do me a Favour

  • The Vulcan

  • The Coach

  • The Robin Hood

  • Dr Feel Good

  • Be Likeable

  • The Pharaoh

To learn more about The Influencing Matrix…

We conduct workshops which are tailored to your industry and leadership challenges. To learn more about how your leaders can apply The Influencing Matrix, contact Warwick at warwick@warwickjohnfahy.com or call on 021 6101 0486.

the-influencing-matrix2

If you never fail, you’re not pushing your comfort zone enough.

Published on in executive presence. Closed Tags: .

Effective leaders play a bigger game by pushing their comfort zones. This stressful cycle involves facing a zone of uncertainty, which once mastered, becomes comfortable. For each change, set three targets with the SAS acronym: a survival goal, an acceptable one and a superb target. A single target risks you feeling like a failure if it’s missed. But in reality by working towards a target, you expand your comfort zone. Remember, if you never fail, you’re not pushing your comfort zone enough.

Are you an influential executive?

Published on in executive presence and Influence. Closed Tags: , , , .

Key point summary:

A. Influence is the number one skill a high performing executive demonstrates

B. Leadership teams need to set and cascade the “story” behind strategy and change initiatives

C. Individual executives must be able to express the message in different formats and lengths

In John C Maxwell’s book “Becoming a person of influence”, he says that “if your desire is to be successful or to make a positive impact on your world, you need to become a person of influence. Without influence, there is no success.”

For today’s executives who project influence and confidence, this means getting more done through their teams. As companies move towards global and matrix organisations, being effective means less command-and-control and more encouraging, advocating and inspiring. The best executives are able to attract people and resources by defining and expressing a purpose. Much like Steve Job’s famed “reality distortion field”, the most influential executives can create an environment where people contribute more, are willing to see things through and ultimately care more about the outcomes.

Challenges are plentiful. The business world is fast moving and complex. Change is hard to predict. While it’s relatively easy to set strategy and announce a new vision, making this a reality takes much more work. The leadership team needs to play an active role in cascading the benefits of change and selling it to the company. Obstacles like resistance to change, confusion over the reason why change is necessary, reluctance to adopt new working styles all play a role in slowing down the implementation of important change projects across global organisations.

Executives need to play a more active role in communication. Today people are looking for a combination of management and leadership from their managers. To fully engage the talents, energy and commitment, a good executive not only delegates a clear package to her team but also articulates the “why” – the importance of the project to the organisation as a whole. Setting the context and connecting it to the individual project gives the team a stronger reason to buy into the project. It also acts as a guiding star for the team as they move forward and handle project challenges.

Degrees of separation reduce your influence. While many leaders like to think that the fact they said something once will engage the whole company to act, often the reality is very different. From my experience, working with leadership team very often there is no clear shared understanding of the direction of the company in terms of how the individual executives talk about it with their peers, subordinates and partners. If there is no shared clarity at the top, how can we expect middle management to be confident in expressing a consistent theme to their reports?

Even a charismatic CEO is not enough. People are most influenced by their line managers and while the CEO may engage his leadership team and inspire them. Unless these executives are also rolling down the same message, it’s impact is lost. What is needed are executives and middle managers who are equally proficient at influence. In large global organisations where a change initiative is planned worldwide this is essential otherwise all the effort into creating a strategy is lost once it drops below the leadership team.

Use this checklist to test how influential your leadership team’s messaging is:

1. Does the leadership have a clear vision and strategy for the next three years?

2. Has this message been refined and talked about so everyone is on the same page?

3. Is there consensus among the leadership team?

4. Has everyone agreed to share this message regardless of their personal resistance or objections?

5. Has the leadership team gone through a simulated media-style interview where they are put on the spot and asked to deliver the key message?

6. Can the leadership team deliver the key point of the message without slides?

7. Have the top executives committed to cascading the message to their line managers?

8. Acid test: If you asked five people in your organisation about the strategy or change initiative, how consistent would their answers be?

This polishing and refinement is often overlooked by leadership teams and executives are left to their own devices. This leaves too much up to their own personal opinions. Once the CEO and top executives have committed to the strategy, everyone needs to get on-board. By ensuring that their story is aligned, the change has a higher rate of success. How well are your executives influencing?

All the best,

Feel free to contact us at any time.

Warwick John Fahy and The One Minute Presenter Team

Speech Analysis by The One Minute Presenter on Ginni Rometty, first female CEO of IBM

Published on in executive presence, produce your message and Speech Analysis. Closed Tags: , , , .

Ginni Rometty is a very well prepared presenter with a clear structure and message. She delivers in an energetic and engaging manner and speaks in way that helps the audience understand her message.

You can watch the video of this speech here. [Tip: if you double click the video, it will play with subtitles in full screen]

Length of speech: Under 12 minutes

Here is my breakdown of the speech. The things that are great about the speech are:

  • Rapport building from the start
  • Framing the presentation
  • Let’s the audience know the purpose
  • Connecting questions
  • Vocal Pacing
  • Uses Taglines to deliver clear messages
  • Uses statistics and anecdotes to support message
  • Gestures add energy and impact to key messages
  • Rule of three

The areas that could be improved include:

  • Stretching supporting points to make them fit an idea
  • Fluidity

Here is my breakdown of the speech. The things that are great about the speech are:

Rapport building from the start
Started with a rapport builder about travelling in bad weather and the color purple. Good reaction from the audience. Great ice-breaker. Ginni also uses people’s names from time to time which is part of her personal style. It works to bring the audience closer to the speaker.

09:40 Ginni also employs a call back technique that many stand up comedians use. She sets up her point by citing the study mentioned in the opening.

09:55 Calls back the Drucker quote mentioned earlier. “the best way to predict the future is to create the future”

Uses ‘we’ throughout the speech to include herself in the challenges facing the CIO audience [Ginni was IBM CIO at the time of this speech]

Framing the presentation

This is a good technique which Steve Jobs would employ. Overviewing the talk in 30 seconds:

00:50 Smarter Planet is a Business Strategy, Why is it resonating?, A decade of smart

Let’s the audience know the purpose

03:10 How can you think differently when implementing. Uses examples to  add credibility to what is coming with Eindoven’s pilot roll-out 70% pilot traffic, Tennessee Valley Authority – largest public utility, and Shell.

Connecting questions

A higher level skill which involves using a question to connect or engage with the audience [without waiting for interaction] and then delivering a key message or point.

02:25 And you may say, what’s so interesting about that? Except it connects….

06:00 But what do you guess is the number one inhibitor for growth? Lack of integrated information

06:15 As growth returns, what kind of growth? And that’s what I meant by pushing the boundaries

07:05 How do you go make a market? This is where I really assert…

Vocal Pacing

Clear and easy to understand throughout. Shows how to deliver to an international audience.

Uses Taglines to deliver clear messages
03:10 3 Observations
1. The New Normal “productivity while you grow”
2. Pushing the Boundary “through data”
3. New leadership for new economy “compliance”

Uses statistics and anecdotes to support message
Ginni uses a mix of data to support her point. She cites EIU reports, IBM studys, anecdotes, statisitics on CEOs changing position and also historical data referring back to past recessions. She doesn’t use slides and instead deliver short precise anecdotes to back up her points.

Example from section on The New Normal

05:20 Statistics: EIU report 90% of CEOs → focus on productivity. IBM study CFO 70% input to growth agenda BUT lack of integrated information

07:15 Example of health insurer using data

08:00 Statistics on 2,700 CEOs positions change

Gestures add energy and impact to key messages

Ginni uses gestures actively and throughout the presentation. Some gestures include:

00:50 – count to three on her fingers [although the third point was forgotten!]

01:00 risk and efficiencies using the ‘on the one hand, on the other hand’ gesture

02:00 ‘foundation’ ‘rollout’

03:20 Three observations

03:35 ‘pushing the boundary’

Like all energetic speakers, Ginni tends to over-gesture. In other words, many gestures are not linked to a clear point. In my opinion, this does not distract too much and does not detract from her message.

Warwick’s coaching tip:

Note the way that Ginni linked specific gestures to her key message, like ‘pushing the boundary’. This is intentional and most like pre-planned. After you have identified your presentations key message see how you can create a simple gesture to add impact to it.

Rule of three

Structure is made clear at the beginning:

1. The New Normal “productivity while you grow”
2. Pushing the Boundary “through data”
3. New leadership for new economy “compliance”

08:00 New leadership for that new environment and that new economy [repetition of ‘new’] adds more impact

08:40 “Bold, open-minded and persuasive” is a good example of rule of three in a message

11:30 for conclusion wrapped up with three main messages

The areas that could be improved include:

Stretching supporting points to make them fit an idea

Ginni used an example of Kraft introducing a product just after Great Depression to support her point that leaders need to be bold, open-minded and persuasive in difficult times. The Kraft example worked but the others felt too stretched.

2001 while Apple launched iPod on 23 October 2011 after the 9-11 event that Ginni alludes to – this launch would have been in plan for months or years. In 1954, Texas Instrument introduced the transistor radio but it had been in development for many years and the bottleneck was around finding a suitable manufacturer.

Warwick’s coaching tip:

It’s good technique to find supporting evidence to back up your message. Ensure that the points you choose are credible and realistic for the audience. Avoid stretching an example to fit your piont. Try to find a point that matches the message. Ginni ‘s message here was around leaders being “bold, open-minded and persuasive”. Perhaps it would have been better to find examples of individual leaders who took bold decisions in this tough times. Like for example, Steve Jobs saying we are going ahead with the iPod lauch even though the country and economy was in a state of shock. Getting a personal insight here would better match the point.

Fluidity

Having seen other presentations from Ginni, this one seemed just a little below her usual high standard in terms of the fluidity. At times it seemed like Ginni was trying to recall key messages and this made certain parts seem a little disjointed. But not so much to get in the way of her clear messaging.

Conclusion

A very well structured presentation with clear messages and energetic delivery. Ginni is a great presenter and you should certainly watch this video and her other presentations. This one was a little off-par in terms of smoothness but that it just a small quibble. If everyone presented in such an engaging and clear style, business presentations around the world would be so much better. A solid 8 out of 10.

About the Author

Warwick J Fahy

“Warwick helps C-level executives, working in multinational companies based in Greater China, who struggle to get their point across and influence their key stakeholders. Warwick helps the executive project their message with confidence allowing them to express their opinions powerfully and gain respect from senior managers even when under pressure.”Learn more about who Warwick helps here.

Warwick is the author of “The One Minute Presenter: 8 steps to successful business presentations in a short attention span world”.

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