Tag Archive for 'humour'

Speech Analysis by The One Minute Presenter on Sir Ken Robinson’s Feb 2010 TED speech: Bring on the learning revolution

Published on in Create Your Connection, Deliver with Style, interaction, Memory, produce your message and Resources. Closed Tags: , , , , , , , , .

In this follow up to his famous 2006 TED talk, Sir Ken Robinson makes the case for a radical shift from standardized schools to personalized learning — creating conditions where kids’ natural talents can flourish.

Sir Ken Robinson is a creativity expert and in this talks asks the question, “Why don’t we get the best out of people?” He argues that it’s because we’ve been educated to become good workers, rather than creative thinkers. Students with restless minds and bodies — far from being cultivated for their energy and curiosity — are ignored or even stigmatized, with terrible consequences. “We are educating people out of their creativity,” Robinson says. [Source: TED.com]

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

  • Metaphors help make your big ideas easier to grasp

  • Crafting taglines is a discipline in finding simplicity in your (complex) ideas

  • Telling a story that engages is an advanced skill

  • Closing quote can make your message stick

The areas that could be improved include:

  • Making humour work is a funny thing

  • Do you lose credibility if you use shaky facts?

  • Audience interaction is not only about a show of hands

Type of presentation

This is a follow up talk from his highly acclaimed 2006 TED speech and as such the expectations are higher. While well received by the audience, it is hard to imagine that this talk will have as much impact, as the message is lost among the jokes. Well written taglines are the highlight and although the closing quotation is beautifully chosen and delivered it is not exactly related to the idea of creating a learning revolution.

Metaphors help make your big ideas easier to grasp

Robinson uses three major metaphors in this talk, and they all work well.

1. Compares crisis in natural resource with the crisis in human resources (starts 02:30)

although the set up to this metaphor was not accurately made. Robinson says there is a “second climate crisis” when he actually means “ a second crisis”.

This metaphor is followed up later by saying “Human resource like natural resources are buried deep, you have to go looking for them” (04:15). Good analogy.

2. Comparing the education system with fast food. Results are a similar depleting of spirits and energies as fast food depletes the body. (13:00). This really hits home it’s point.

3. Education is like manufacturing (conformity and batching people) (14:35)

What we need now is one based on agriculture … an “organic process” (14:55)

This is a nice comparison and one that is not only easily understood it catches the zeitgeist as organic food is becoming a growing trend, especially among the typical TED talks viewer.

Warwick’s coaching tip: Finding a metaphor or model to frame your ideas on can be an excellent way to convey your message. Vivid metaphors will help the audience remember your big ideas and overall message.

Crafting taglines is a discipline in finding simplicity in your (complex) ideas

Warwick’s coaching tip: Robinson is a thoughtful speaker (in between the jokes) and this reflects the deeper thinking he has done on his topic. A good tip for every speaker is to leave the audience with the feeling that you know a lot more on your subject that you could possibly cover in your talk.

This depth is shown in the clarity and concisely of his taglines or sound bites. Robinson has helped the audience do the thinking by making the complex really rather simple to understand – a significant asset for everyone who wishes to be influential.

Good examples of taglines include:

“this is not a crisis of natural resources…but a crisis of human resources” (02:23)

“we make very poor use of our talents” (02:30)

“that’s simply improving a broken model” (04:40)

“what we need is not an evolution, but a revolution in education. This has to be transformed into something else.” (04:50)

“it’s a single function device” (when talking about a watch) (08:15)

“life is not linear, it’s organic” (08:55)

“we are obsessed about getting people to college\” (09:15)

“human communities depend upon a diversity of talent, not a singular conception of ability” (10:50)

“college begins in kindergarten….[pause]… no it doesn’t” (11:15)

“a friend of mine once said a 3 year old is not half a six year old” (11:40)

“we have built our education system on the model of fast food” (12:45)

Telling a story that engages is an advanced skill

The fireman story (starts 09:20 – 10:40) makes a strong point on the value of having diverse talent in a community.

The example of three year old children being interviewed by “unimpressed panels” with resumes (12:00) hilariously brings out the ludicrous nature of how competitive early education has become.

Warwick’s coaching tip: When selecting appropriate stories and anecdotes ask yourself does the impact part (memorable) of the story align with the main message you want the audience to takeaway.

Closing quote can make your message stick

Choosing a quotation that sums up your message can be powerful technique. Like every tool, it can be misused. The trick is to find as close a match as possible to the quotation’s message and your overall speech message. Robinson chose a WB Yeats quotation (starts 16:40) which was beautifully connected to a powerful closing thought of “tread softly on our children’s dreams”. While a lovely closing, it is a little out of synch with the message of creating a learning revolution.

Overall this was a well received presentation, but there were a few areas which could have been improved.

Making humour work is a funny thing

While some of these jokes got an audience reaction, I did not like them as I felt they were often a shallow attempt at humour that did not develop or carry his ideas forward. Toward the end of the talk, the reaction from the audience dropped.

Example: ‘there is a hunger for videos of me’ (01:00) got a good laugh but really is too self indulgent for my tastes, especially when the set up used shaky facts (see below).

“I only had 18 minutes frankly..” – audience did not react, perhaps because all speakers have 18 minutes. (01:38)

“so as I was saying” (01:40)- again the audience laughed but it comes across as a little self-indulgent when being invited back to TED was an honour not made to many other speakers.

“if you don’t believe there is a major climate crisis, you should get out more” – audience did not react perhaps because the point is not really clear (01:50)

“I divide the world into two groups” (02:55) – while this got a good laugh, his follow up point did not come out so clearly. His point was that there are two groups of people in the world, those that “endure” and those that “enjoy” (03:30)

The joke about American history not being taught in Britain (05:50) while getting a laugh does not really add any impact to this message. And the set up referring to his lack of knowledge of what was happening in American at that time could have been cut out.

“it’s difficult to know what it is you take for granted. And the reason is you take it for granted” (07:10). Not that funny.

The anecdote about receiving his first guitar at the same time that Eric Clapton did worked well, “…it wouldn’t work no matter how hard I blew into it” (13:30)

This uses the element of surprise, self-deprecating humour and exaggeration to get a good audience response.

Do you lose credibility if you use shaky facts?

In the opening to the talk, Robinson explained that 4 million downloads of his 2006 talk had been made, so if you multiply that by 20 you get the number of people who had seen his previous talk. It seems hard to believe that such large groups of people are sitting around watching online TED videos. This multiplier is a rule of thumb often applied to print media which for example if a newspaper or magazine is placed in a library or office would be read multiple times by different people. I am not so convinced it applies to a world of individual downloads.

Warwick’s coaching tip: The opening of a speech should be about building credibility, and Robinson was doing this by sharing how many people had seen his previous talk. Instead of his comment “there is a hunger for videos of me” which seems bizarre, perhaps a better retort would have been to express surprise, shock or amazement. By bringing in some humbleness he would have come across as credible and not self-aggrandizing.

Audience interaction is not only about a show of hands

In this attempt at audience interaction – always a tricky part to navigate in any large conference talk – Robinson uses the “put your hands up” technique. A trusted – if rather overused staple of conference speakers. The problem with this type of interaction is that it comes across as superficial and many people don’t like engaging in this type of interaction due to its overuse.

The interaction starts by asking who was over the age of 25, and wearing a wristwatch. (07:20). The underlying premise is that people under 25 won’t wear a watch because it is a “single function device” [great tagline] and that everyone over 25 wears a watch to tell the time. But do they? Personally I don’t always wear a watch but when I do its more because I like the feeling of being “dressed up” and other people will wear watches for aesthetic reasons or – if you have spent thousands of dollars on a luxury watch– as a status statement. People over the age of 25 wear watches for many different reasons.

Warwick’s coaching tip: A better approach would have been to ask the audience what they thought his daughter called a watch. The answer of a “single function device” would have got a good laugh (as it did when he used it after this interaction) and would have made a clear point on how younger people view the world differently.

Conclusion

This was a well delivered and generally well received talk. While there are very strong aspects to the talk notably the metaphors and taglines used, a greater impact could have been made by making the big idea more visible. What is the learning revolution that is needed? Besides from being organic, how can it be created? Even high level, inspirational speeches need to suggest a direction for the audience to go following the talk. Not as impactful as the 2006 talk. I think this was a 5 out of 10.

To see Warwick’s analysis of Sir Ken Robinson’s 2006 TED Talk speech, click here.

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 I help here.

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

Speech Analysis by The One Minute Presenter on Sir Ken Robinson’s 2006 TED Speech ‘Schools kill creativity’ [long post]

Published on in Resources and Speech Analysis. Closed Tags: , , , .

Sir Ken Robinson is a creativity expert and in this talks asks the question, “Why don’t we get the best out of people?” He argues that it’s because we’ve been educated to become good workers, rather than creative thinkers. Students with restless minds and bodies — far from being cultivated for their energy and curiosity — are ignored or even stigmatized, with terrible consequences. “We are educating people out of their creativity,” Robinson says. [Source: TED.com]

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

  • Engages the audience with humour

  • Peppers the talk with anecdotes and quotes

  • Has a clear message through taglines

  • Uses rule of three

  • Stays on track even when telling jokes

  • Uses checking questions

The areas that could be improved include:

  • Clearer conclusion

  • Humour may not work for ‘larger’ audience

Engages the audience with humour

From the laughter, the audience clearly enjoyed the speech and the jokes. Robinson makes what could be a dry subject – changing the education system – into a humorous experience. Example of humour that worked:

  • Self depreciating joke about being in education (01:10)

Robinson starts an anecdote about being at a dinner party, then says that if you are in education you are not invited to dinner parties or at least not invited back. As he is in education himself, this works as a light hearted look at dull dinner party conversations. He follows this up with an important point, that while you may be bored with other people’s education experience, you loving talking about yours.

  • Famous figure from Stratford to LA (06:55)

He jokes about Shakespeare being seven years old and the trouble he would have caused his teacher and father. While this did not have a strong message, it was a light hearted transition to his next point – moving to LA. Also, he connects himself with the birthplace of Shakespeare which is subtle positioning.

  • Personal experience about son’s girlfriend (07:45)

When telling how his 16 year-old son did not want to go to LA on account of this having a girlfriend, Robinson jokes that he was leaving England because of his son’s girlfriend. Judging from the great laughter this really amused the audience. Perhaps they could relate!

  • Unexpected comment (03:20)

Early in the talk, after a large round of applause, he said “That was it by the way?” which got more laughter. Humour is very much about the unexpected. Some comedians call humour the moment when the train leaves the tracks. This comment is a perfect example. You expect him to move on or perhaps say ‘thank you’ but instead ends the talk. Laughter follows.

Warwick’s coaching tip: While humour is a great way to connect with the audience, it requires some advanced skills. Fundamentally a deep understanding for the audience and what they would find funny. Secondly, great timing in delivering a joke or punch line. The risk in using humour is that you can alienate your audience with an off-colour remark or badly delivered line. Always test your humour before hand on as many people as you can, including those that represent the audience.

Peppers the talk with anecdotes and quotes

Robinson uses anecdotes – which are short observations or stories – and quotations throughout his speech to good effect.

Anecdotes (15:10)

He finishes with a powerful success story about a ballet choreographer who had learning difficulties but because she was directed into dance school became a world famous choreographer of shows like Cats. Robinson notes that if treated today she would be diagnosed with ADHT, given pills and told to calm down. A powerful story that wraps up the urgency for a new way of approaching education.

Quotations ( 06:10)

He uses a Picasso quote ‘all children are born artists, the problem is to remain an artist as we grow up’. Again this is an excellent choice because it accurately sums up his message.

Has a clear message through taglines

Taglines – or soundbites – are short phrases that can be used in public speaking to help the audience understand a key point and remember the message after the talk. Robinson used taglines throughout his talk to convey his message:S

  • All children have tremendous talents and we squander them (02:55)

  • Creativity is as important in education as literacy and should be treated with same status (03:05)

  • We get educated out of creativity (06:20)

  • The purpose of public education is to produce university professors (09:35)

  • They live in their heads (10:10)

  • In the next 30 years, more people worldwide will be graduating through education than since the beginning of history (12:10)

  • Need MA instead of a BA …..process of academic inflation (12:50)

  • She isn’t sick, she’s a dancer (16:50)

  • People who had to move to think (17:05)

Warwick’s coaching tip: The speaker has the responsibility to edit down content into a clear message. The more work you do on this part of your content, the more successful you will be in conveying a clear message.

Uses rule of three

The rhythm of three is used to help both the audience and speaker remember key points. Robinson used this technique twice:

In introducing the three themes of his talk: creativity, uncertainty of future and capacity for innovation from children.

At 13:00, Robinson says we know three things about intelligence

  1. Diverse

  2. Dynamic

  3. Distinct

Note how the words are alliterated (all start with the letter ‘d’) which is another memory device.

Warwick’s coaching tip: This is a great way to help organise your material quickly and it will help you memorise your flow.

Stays on track even when telling jokes

A strong part of Robinson’s delivery is that he knows his content so well that in the middle of introducing a list of three, he segues to a joke which gets a big laugh, and then comes back to the third point seamlessly. Although he may look like he is ad-libbing from time to time, I would be fairly certain that he has delivered this speech with these jokes many times before.

Warwick’s coaching tip: Remember to stay on track, especially when you get a good reaction from your audience. It is easy to get excited and get sidetracked.

Uses checking questions

Connecting with an audience can also involve asking short connecting questions. Robinson uses rhetorical questions, which do not require an answer:

…don’t you?

..am I right?

..wasn’t she?

Just by asking such a question, the speaker brings the audience along the path that he is taking in the talk.

Warwick’s coaching tip: Don’t overuse them and have a variety of different questions.

While this was a well received talk, there were a few areas which could have been improved.

Clearer conclusion

Robinson opens his conclusion with the following statement:

I believe our only hope for the future is to adopt a new conception of human ecology one in which we start to reconstitute our conceptions of the richness of human capacity (17:50)

This is too long a sentence (32 words) and is not very clear, alluding to the thinking of an university professor joked about earlier in the speech.

A couple of alternatives might have been:

  • I believe our only hope for the future is to completely change the way we look at education

  • I believe our only hope for the future is to take a much wider, more comprehensive view on learning

Robinson’s next phrase – a simile – was difficult to say and did not come out smoothly:

Our education system has mined our minds in the way we have strip-mined the earth for a particular commodity (18:05)

While the simile is a good one, the wordplay is not smooth, in particular “mined our minds” does not come off the tongue easily.

Humour may not work for ‘larger’ audience

From the audience’s reaction, they loved Robinson’s sense of humour. With a larger audience watching online, I wonder whether some of the more cliche jokes about his wife’s cooking play so well. I was reminded of British comedian Tommy Cooper in some of his joke telling. This distracted me from his main message. Compared to the positives this is a small point, but one worth considering when we face multicultural audiences.

Warwick’s coaching tip: You need to find a balance. Ask yourself does the joke have a point in content or moving the speech along. For example, when joking about moving to LA and his son’s girlfriend, Robinson then connected this to the fact that the hierarchy of subjects in school is the same all around the world. Limit jokes that are irrelevant to a minimum.

Conclusion

This was a well delivered and well received talk which demonstrated a deep understanding for the motivations of the audience in the room. It combined a nice variety of personal anecdotes, well chosen quotations and crafted taglines. While the sense of humour may not work for everyone and the content a little light on substance, it certainly conveyed a simple point well made. I think this was a 7 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 I help here.

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

Speech Analysis by The One Minute Presenter on Jamie Oliver’s TED Prize wish: Teach every child about food [long post]

Published on in Presentation Analysis and Speech Analysis. 3 Comments Tags: , , , , , , .

Jamie Oliver is a well known face as a British TV chef who conveys a down-to-earth, one-of-the-lads image. In 2010, he was awarded the TED Prize and gave a speech about fighting obesity in America. You can view the speech below.

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

  • Passion persuades more than anything

  • Open with a dramatic statistic

  • Humour makes a connection, even when delivering a tough message

  • Engage with the audience through questions and taglines

  • Visual aids illustrate key points

  • Memorable use of props

  • Pause from time to time

  • Challenge with powerful statements

  • Connect with use of word pictures

  • Define clear actions

  • Close with a wish statement

The areas that could be improved include:

  • Less use of note cards

  • More controlled gestures

  • More planned movement on the stage

  • Less aggressive tone of presentation

  • Better time management

  • Watch out for slang

If you cannot see the video above, the link here to view.

Type of presentation

This was a presentation to influence through grabbing the audience by the collar and shaking them. It was direct, punchy and powerful. For this reason it may put some people off the message, but it has many powerful techniques that we can learn from.

Passion persuades more than anything

Regardless of what you previously know or think about Jamie Oliver, you can see he is passionate for his subject. The entire 21 minute presentation is full of energy. Jamie’s vocal variety conveys his message with urgency, importance to the audience and – at times – care. He bounds around the stage and combines visual aids and props to add impact to his message. Whether you agree or disagree with his message you can see someone who is passionate for healthy food, for family and for the need to create a “food revolution”.

Warwick’s coaching tip: While you need to express passion in your own way and to suit your audience and type of presentation, ask yourself how you can add more passion into your next speech. Where can you bring up the energy by expressing your own commitment to the message you are delivering.

Open with a dramatic statistic

We all know that the opening is one of the key parts of a presentation. Oliver’s first words were “in the next 18 minutes, four Americans that were alive will be dead through the food that they eat.” He allows a two second pause for the message to sink in before starting his presentation. This sets the tone for what was a challenging message and also demands the audience’s attention.

Warwick’s coaching tip: Your opening is so important to set the frame and context for your presentation that I often recommend you write if after the main content and close has been thought through. The opening should be the wrapping, around your presentation journey and key points. Using statistics, powerful statement and quotations are a good way to get the audience thinking along the same lines as your presentation message.

While being dramatic attracts attention, so too does using humour.

Humour makes a connection, even when delivering a tough message

To illustrate his point on how prevalent obesity is, Jamie gestures to two thirds of the audience and says “you are already obese”, then to the other one third he says “you lot are alright now, but don’t worry we will get you eventually.” The audience laugh and his point is clearly made.

From time to time, Jamie drops in short opportunities for the audience to laugh. For example, he plays on his nationality and the British-American relationship, by saying

“England is right behind you …as usual”.

He even managed to get a laugh through sarcasm – a risky strategy – when talking about how important school food is. He firstly used numbers: 31m children, 2 meals a day 180 days a year before commenting that “ you could say that school food is important”.

He also used self depreciating humour by saying that the audience must be “waiting for my rant”. Although after an already hectic opening 9 minutes, I wonder if the audience were laughing because they felt it was already like a rant.

Warwick’s coaching tip: Humour can be difficult device to use effectively. It’s about how appropriate the humour is to the audience, how relevant it is to your message and how naturally you can deliver it. My best advice is to find your own voice while on stage, so that you feel comfortable that the audience is seeing the real you. If you are naturally humorous – and most people are – look for appropriate ways to work it in to your presentation. Always test your humour before you use it live.

While humour helps you make a connection with the audience, there are other interactive techniques you can employ.

Engage with the audience through questions and taglines

Use of questions

Jamie employs some familiar techniques to engage with the audience. For example, asking simple questions: “How many have children?” He does a good job of bringing his point home by saying that your children are the first generation who will have a shorter life span than their own parents. He then points to a person in the audience and says “your child will live a life 10 years younger than you”.

Warwick’s coaching tip: Personally I am not sure that singling out a person in the audience really adds impact to the message. In fact, it only served to embarrass the audience member as she looked down after this statement was addressed to her. While you are passionate about your subject, make allowances for people who are not quite at the same level as you. My advice is never to call someone out in a presentation, you risk alienating them and the rest of the audience might side with them.

Use of taglines

As mentioned above Jamie uses humour peppered throughout his presentation which the audience react well to for the most part. He also gets response through using clear and well delivered statements. For example, “We’ve got to start teaching our kids about food in schools. Period.” This got spontaneous applause. Jamie added a cut it out gesture when delivering the word “period” which added impact to this phrase. Well delivered and well timed.

Warwick’s coaching tip: When you are preparing your message look for ways to wrap up your message into short memorable phrases or taglines of around ten words. These are easy for you to remember and also can be practised and rehearsed so that they come out with a pop.

A memorable presentation is not only the words you say, but also the images and emotions the audience take away.

Visual aids illustrate key points

Jamie used several visuals that drove his message home in a powerful way.

Charts

A chart showing the causes of death in America showed how low homicide was on the list

compared to diet related diseases. Jamie’s point was with that all the fear generated through media that focuses on homicides was such a mis-direction when so many more people die from bad diet.

Photographs

Oliver showed a picture of Britney, a 16 year old with 6 years to live because she is eating her liver to death through a toxic food diet. This was a powerful visual that put names and faces to the statistics. You are more likely to remember Britney’s face than a statistic about obese 16 year olds. By showing the picture of a massive queen-bed sized coffin, it is a powerful and poignant way to convey the impact of the problem. It closes the gap between cause and effect.

Metaphors

Oliver used a simple triangle tying main street (industry) – home – school together. And this then provided some structure to the rest of his speech. Using such a familiar metaphor to help simplify complex relationships is a great help to the audience who might not be as familiar with a topic as the presenter. It helps to simplify the subject.

Videos

As a TV presenter he had a lot of material to delve into. Short clips were used to highlight his point. For example, a video showing children guessing (wrongly) what the vegetables were that Oliver was holding up. A powerful way to emphasis his point.

He used another video to convey a point, by following it with a startling statement, “You are killing your children, but we can stop that “

Use of props can be another effective way to get your message across.

Memorable use of props

To demonstrate how much sugar is contained in milk in American schools, a wheelbarrow full of sugar is brought on stage and Jamie scoops out the amount of sugar a child would drink in one week – from milk alone – then a month – until as he tips up the entire wheelbarrow load of sugar and pours it over the floor – he makes his statement that this is how much sugar one children consumes in five years of elementary school – just from milk. Superbly memorable device.

Sometimes it is not what you say or show, but what you don’t say.

Pause from time to time

Although on the whole this was a whirlwind of a performance with little time to reflect, Jamie does employ good techniques, like using a pause to let his point sink in. After telling that obesity costs American US150bn per year. He pauses for two seconds, and follows up with “in 10 years it’s set to double”. He also paused after delivering his opening statement as mentioned above.

Pauses are a great way to set up an important message or phrase.

Challenge with powerful statements

Controversial statements

He follows the wheelbarrow dumping with a punch line that got applause that rammed his point home, “any judge would find any find government of old guilty of child abuse. That’s my belief.” The implication is that the current government is also guilty of child abuse. This could have back fired but the audience seemed to love it.

Warwick’s coaching tip: While courting controversy can be an effective tool to employ, it is a device that should be tested and measured for the audience. Some controversy will work better with internal audiences rather than external stakeholders. Be fully committed and think through all the possible repercussions. If you still think it is worth it, or if it is a point of principle, deliver it with gusto.

Comparison statements

Jamie compared the negative impact of obesity by saying that smoking – which everyone would agree is unhealthy – costs American less than obesity. This is a good device when you can find a statement that almost all your audience agree (or disagree) with.

Connect with use of word pictures

Jamie employs a technique of word pictures which are short phrases that triggers visual images in the minds of the audiences. Examples include:

“Landscape of food built around them”: to emphasis how children are trapped by poor food choices

“We need to re-boot” : to indicate the need for a fresh start

“Obese before she gets to primary school” : to highlight the seriousness of the problem

“At the sharp knife edge of the problem”: to show how close he was to a situation

If your purpose is to persuade, inspire, or influence leave the audience with some action steps.

Define clear actions

Towards the end of his presentation, although he was running out of time, Jamie highlighted clear actions that needed to happen to turn the bad situation around. He used a checklist or shopping list approach going through all the relevant stakeholders.

These included:

  • Supermarkets – help us shop with a food ambassador in every store

  • Brands – need to put food education at the heart of their businesses

  • Fast food industry – wean us off the sugar, fat, salt with government regulation (not self regulation)

  • School – cook proper fresh food cooked on site (this got applause)

  • Children – be able to cook 10 recipes before they leave school (applause)

  • Workplace – corporate responsibility needs to get more involved in diet

While these are worthwhile objectives, I wonder whether they are too general and wide-ranging for any action to be actually taken on them. I would have preferred a more personal message for the audience to take responsibility, and this came in his closing statement.

Especially if you are delivering a tough message, look for ways to lighten the tone.

Finish on a positive note

While his tone tended to be a little preachy at times, towards the end Jamie finished on a lighter note by acknowledging all the great people and things that were already going on in America and urging this good work to be funded. And he gave a plug out to the First Lady who has made health in schools one of her pledges. This was a crowd pleaser and helps lighten the tone. “Support Ms Obama do the things she wants to do” (Michelle Obama has recently set up an organic garden in the White House).

Close with a wish statement

Jamie read out a closing statement that was also put on the screen. It summarised his message succinctly:

“I wish for everyone to create a strong, sustainable movement to educate every child about food, inspire families to cook again and empower people everywhere to fight obesity.”

That concluded his presentation and was a great way to summarise his presentation’s message and also his bigger picture objective.

While this was a dynamic presentation, there were a few areas which could have been improved.

Less use of note cards

Generally I advise all speakers who are on stage to avoid holding notes in their hands. They become a distraction, they can get mixed up and also they can sometimes be used as a pointing device – none of which add to the impact of the message.

Now, in this case it needs to be said that Jamie is dyslexic and he mentions this towards the end of the presentation. I would recommend that Jamie leave the notes to one side to refer to them when needed. He really didn’t refer to the notes much during the presentation, so he knew his content well. Given his dynamic presenting style if he did need to go to a table to flick through the notes, it would give a pause for the audience to process his fast-paced message. Also, this would have avoided him smacking his notes into his hands which makes his passionate delivery verge into aggressive or authoritative areas.

More controlled gestures

As mentioned above, Jamie overused certain gestures that made him come across as aggressive. In particular the hand baton and chopping gesture.

Warwick’s coaching tip: Be aware of the message you send with your hand gestures. A common gesture is a rhythmical gesturing of the arm up and down – like a baton or a conductor. This is often because the animated speaker is conducting the music of his words while speaking. These hand baton gestures can often convey a very assertive and authoritarian meaning. President Clinton was often called on his raised forefinger hand baton, which he has modified in later life to a clasped hand baton. The hand chop which Jamie was using albeit with his notes in his hands can come across as aggressive because he wants his ideas to cut through the confusion or perhaps inertia of the current situation. Many gestures are culturally linked and go back to our earliest stages of human evelopment. Read “Peoplewatching” by Desmond Morris for more great insights.

More planned movement on the stage

Jamie’s movement on stage was generally erratic and random and he tended to look at the screen behind him more often that was needed. This meant he turned his back to the audience breaking eye contact and connection. While it is fine to refer to the screen, limit the amount of times that you physically put your back to the audience.

Less aggressive tone of presentation

While passion is a great motivator for change, preaching at people is not. From time to time, Jamie’s tone felt a lot like he was blaming the people in the audience for the problems. He put special emphasis on words like “disgrace” when mentioning the labelling practices in America. I don’t believe that this was his intention but at time it did feel like there was an “us” and “them” dynamic. I felt that Jamie was an outsider and if you make the audience feel this way you lessen your impact.

Jamie directed his speech directly in the audience. After establishing early on that almost everyone was a parent or aunt or uncle, he frequently used language that put the audience as the people responsibility for the obesity problem and for its solution. This tactic could backfire if people who were not obese or lived very healthy lives felt that it was not their problem, or if over-weight people felt badgered or berated. Oliver played a thin line between berating and being passionate.

Only very late in his presentation did he mention what was probably on people’s minds. Why should I – as an American – be listening to this British guy tell me how I should be eating and looking after my children? By raising this a lot earlier, he could have dispatched this thought and got the audience to focus on his overwhelming evidence.

Warwick’s coaching tip: If you ever feel there is some barrier between you and the audience, then get it out the way as early as possible in as light hearted way as possible. If you try to ignore the “elephant in the room”, then it will come back later and walk all over your best bone-china crockery set!

Better time management

Small point but he did seem to be running out of time and his presentation went over time.

Warwick’s coaching tip: If you are ever in doubt about your content cut it down. With audience interactions like laughter and dramatic pauses you are likely to over longer than the timing in your rehearsals. Look for the content that contributes the least to your main message and cut it out.

Watch out for slang

Given that his audience are in America and online globally, I am not sure how many would know the English slang for “one thousand” is a “grand”. This is a small point because certainly compared to his usual style of using lots of slang, Jamie did do a good job of making his language accessible for the wider audience.

Warwick’s coaching tip: When speaking to international audiences, audit your language. Take out slang or localisms. Explain jargon and acronyms.

Conclusion

Overall an excellent presentation brimming with passion, good interaction with the audience and employing good visuals, videos and props as well as well crafted taglines and powerful statements. As is often the case with passionate speakers then tend to project too much energy, are often mis-directed in their stage movement and go over time. Overall, I would give this a solid 8 out of 10.

About the Author

Warwick J Fahy

“I work with high-potential senior executives who need to be more confident and influential with their key stakeholders. I help the executive quickly and powerfully express their opinions into message based presentations – even when under pressure.”  Learn more about who I help here.

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.

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What Leslie Nielsen, ‘Airplane!’ and ‘Naked Gun’ star can teach business presenters

Published on in Deliver with Style, presenter and You the Presenter. Closed Tags: , , , , .
No need to be serious

No need to be serious

One of the funniest films of the 1980s has to be ‘Airplane’ – a parody of air travel – with Leslie Nielsen playing a deadpan role with a line that he became most known for. Amidst all the chaos going on in the movie, people would frequently say:

“Surely you can’t be serious!”

Nielsen’s character would reply:

“I am serious. And don’t call me Shirley.”)

With a career spanning six decades, Nielsen is a good role model for business presenters. Here are a few things we can learn:

Be open to comedy

Nielsen played serious roles for over 30 years before he moved into comedy and parody roles, like the Naked Gun franchise. As business presenters are we open to comedy? I recommend that all presenters follow stand-up comedy as much as possible. There is nothing harder in the world that being in a dark room full of people with a microphone and having to make them laugh for 40 minutes. Watch as much stand up as you can -either live or on video. Buy a book on how to write a joke and bring humour into your business presentations whenever you can. Make sure that you are staying on the right side of good taste as a corporate presentation is not as racy as a comedy club. If you are not sure check with a friend before you deliver.

Be known for something

Nielson was best known for the above catchphrase. What is your catchphrase? What are you known for? I like the phrase “you get what you give” which acts as one of my guides in life. It prompts me to give as much value as I can as freely as I can. You might have a quotation from someone, or advice you received from a teacher. Have a handy catchphrase when you are presenting to your team – it can help them understand what drives you better and also help them catch your point.

Be in it for the long haul

In a world where Facebook keeps people busy and unproductive, the work ethic may be a thing of the past. I hope not. Nielsen worked into his 80s and appeared in over 100 films and 1,500 television programs over the span of his career, portraying over 220 characters. Whatever field you are working in make sure that you are in for the long haul. Imagine you are on a 50 year career journey. What do you want to achieve? Putting off writing that book? Why not give yourself two years and set the target of writing 20 words a day. People underestimate what can be achieved through consistent effort and so they keep postponing starting a project.

Take a leaf out of Nielsen’s book and remember to be:

  1. Open to comedy

  2. Known for something

  3. In it for the long haul

And why not take another look at Airplane or Naked Gun and refresh yourself on how funny films really don’t need computer graphics to be funny.

e-book download : A copy of  The One Minute Presenter for only Usd10 here.

Ever feel like you are presenting to goldfish and puppies?

Published on in Attention spans, digital immigrants and digital natives. Closed Tags: , , , , , , .

Toddlers, goldfish and puppies are not the most especially attentive of audiences. But you can learn a lot from their attention spans. There’s short. And they won’t hang around if they feel bored.

toddlers-bored

Does your audience ever feel bored?  This often happens when you present too much information with not enough time to connect the dots with vivid examples and practical applications. The result? Very little digestion and a completely unmotivated audience.

Brain studies have shown that using graphics (images, charts, pictures) first while introducing a topic the retention and interest goes up. Digital natives – who have grown up with interactive technology (video games, internet) like to think in fast bursts. Use graphics to quickly show a path, overview a topic or summarise findings.

goldfish

Goldfishes are not known for having long memories.  But to be honest, today’s audiences can often resemble goldfishes. But that’s your fault. Test it. Ask someone who has listened to your presentation one week later, what some of the key messages were and you will be amazed if they even remember listening to the presentation. Boring information is like watching paint dry: it takes up some time and then you forget all about it.  Instead of delivering a “watermelon” of information to your audience, use spaced learning techniques.  Help your audience recall key points but going back to them during the presentation, refreshing them after breaks, inserting colorful summary slides or graphics and giving quick “Q&A quizzes” throughout the day.  The more you create chances for your audience to deepen their understanding, the higher their memory retention.

puppy

(Wo)man’s best friend he may be, but a puppy can be a real handful. Puppies learn through play and massive amounts of interactivity. They bring a digital native attitude to learning.  Growing up playing PlayStation, Xbox, and countlesss other handheld consoles, digital natives expect all experiences to be “fun”. Work and learning included.

Yes. It’s important to treat yourself seriously and be good at what you do. But don’t treat your presentation too seriously if you want your audience to stay engaged and remember what your key messages are. Humour works.  But even if you are not that funny, high amounts of interactivity will help you keep your audience awake. Pop quizzes, short discussion, role plays, two-player face offs (PK games) will all help increase interaction and keep the energy alive!