Tag Archive for 'preparation'

The Five Things I learned from my TEDx Talk – Nerves never go away. Create your own ritual.

Published on in presenter, Resources, speaking with purpose and You the Presenter. Closed Tags: preparation, tedx speaking in shanghai, warwick john fahy.

The Five Things I learned from my TEDx Talk

1. Nerves never go away. Create your own ritual.

2. Improvisation is the mindset for live events. Use the take-it-and-go approach.

3. You have to involve the audience. Plan your interactions.

4. Successful speaking comes in many styles. Find your speaking voice.

5. Timing a talk is the icing on the cake. Rehearsal is the key to perfect timing.

Over the next few blogs, I will share what I learned and how you can apply it to improve your public speaking skills. Here is part one:

1. Nerves never go away. Create your own ritual

I am sure you can relate to that feeling of worry which you feel before or during a public speech. Heart rate going a little faster. Sweat beads appearing on your forehead. But as an experienced speaker I rarely feel nervous. After all this is what I love doing and I really enjoy public speaking and sharing with an audience. So as the time for my TEDx talk came closer I found that I was getting all the symptoms. My mouth was a little dry and I couldn’t sit down without nervous energy building up. Why would this happen? Simply, the stakes were higher. The reputation of giving a TED talk and my own personal expectations to perform at a high level meant that this talk was more critical in my own mind.

So how can you reduce the inevitable nerves?

I have a ritual that I go through for conference speeches where I am faced by hundreds of people or TEDx talks where the potential audience is in the thousands or more. I like to move around while mentally tracing through my talk. I think about how I will open, move from one point to another, how to close and how to interact with the audience. I drink water to hydrate and by moving around I channel my nervous energy into physical energy. An important talk is a performance – a physical performance – so by preparing yourself physically you can start strong and allow your nerves to turn into enthusiasm. Before I go on stage I like to be alone but occasionally will have quick conversations to release more stress. I try to make myself and others laugh. This again puts me in the right frame of mind. I want to have light, engaging energy. I focus about the value and fun I will have with the audience. Once I get on stage and get started, my nerves disappear as I am focused on my audience and presentation delivery.

What is your ritual before your high stakes presentation?

Tick off a checklist to cover:

– Your opening 60 seconds

– How you will close

– Key transitions between slides

– How you will make eye contact with the audience

– Where you will stand

– How you will move around the stage

– Put yourself in a positive frame of mind

– Hydrate and get your physical presence ready

Next time I will have a look at another thing I learned from TEDx.

Warwick John Fahy runs workshops around Asia which help managers and senior managers from technical backgrounds to become more influential in business situations.

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/

Excellence in Public Speaking: A sprint or an Ironman?

Published on in executive presence. Closed Tags: executive presence, preparation, The One Minute Presenter, triathlon, warwick john fahy.

One of my hobbies is triathlon racing. I enjoy the mix of swimming, biking and running as it keeps training interesting and you meet a great bunch of people at triathlon races. Triathlon races come in different distances. For example, sprint, Olympic, half Ironman and the pinnacle of all triathlons: Ironman. These races can take an average racer from one hour in the sprint to up to 17 hours in the full Ironman. I completed the 2010 Ironman China regarded as one of the toughest races on the Ironman circuit due to the extreme heat of around 35 degrees.

As with any endurance sport, the race is really a race of two; you against yourself. Depending on your current fitness levels you need to choose your race carefully. If you are new to the sport, it makes sense to start with a sprint or Olympic distance race. If you are already a solid marathon runner or long distance biker, you could start training for an Ironman.

We can use the metaphor of triathlon to help you become a better public speaker. If career progression is important to you, public speaking needs to be a core skill you develop over time. Here are three ways public speaking is similar to triathlon:

It’s a race. Choose your race. Learn how to race.

To succeed in triathlon you need to know about swimming, cycling, running, how to transition from one discipline to another, managing nutrition in longer races and understanding what equipment will give you the most bang for your buck. In public speaking you also need to combine competency in these various disciplines:

Know your “stuff”: Understand your content inside and out without the need to look at notes.

Shape a Madison Avenue or Hollywood message: Learn techniques from the masters of messaging so that your presentation has a clear, memorable message.

Rehearse like an actor: Dedicate sufficient time to focus more on your delivery than on your content. Dress rehearsing should take at least 60% of your preparation time. Most business presenters spend only 5-10% in real rehearsal.

Deliver like performer and entertainer: Understand that in a world of shortening attention spans, simply delivering information does not result in a change of behaviour. If you are intending to influence your audience you need to understand techniques that create a more engaging and entertaining experience for them.

Handle questions like a media professional: Most people are apprehensive about the Q&A session. As a senior manager you need to be always ready to step up and handle even the most challenging of questions. In fact, you should develop this ability so it becomes your most favourite format.

Success depends on how well you know your “race”. Become familiar with the components of public speaking and start to master them one-by-one.

Choose your intensity level

Every triathlete decides how hard they race. For example:

Just to finish in one piece
Win your age group [amateurs are divided by age]
Top 20 in the whole field
Win the race

This concept of intensity also applies to public speaking. Executives decide how much time and effort they dedicate to improve their speaking abilities. We can see this through the Speak with Executive Presence Pyramid:

0.0 Ineffective
1.0 Competent
2.0 Influential
3.0 Impactful
4.0 Change-makers
5.0 Executive Presence

Executives operating in the “Ineffective” zone just want to get through the presentation without “dying” and don’t show any style. In the “Competent” zone, the aim is to deliver a competent presentation in line with their peer group. Not a stand out but above average. “Impactful” zone executives consistently deliver confident presentations and are “always ready to deliver”. They string together influential presentations. They are the go-to executive when a media interview is called at short notice.

The level of your intensity will dictate how far you can take your influencing abilities.

It’s consistency that makes you stronger.

A myth of endurance sports is the “no pain, no gain” approach. If you wish to avoid injury and perform over a long time frame, there is absolutely no need to put yourself through high amounts of pain in your training. When he visited Shanghai, two-time Ironman World Champion, Chris “Macca” McCormack told me that consistent training is the key to success in endurance sports. I need a target,like a race, to get motivated to train. The target of a race helps me plan and execute a training plan over, a typical 20 week build up for a key race.

With this target, I scour my calendar for pockets of training time. I find the energy to get up at 5am to get in extra training session, and sacrifice weekend time for a long bike ride of up to 4 hours. Just having the race in my calendar helps me become a better time manager. A 20 week build up consists of four phases:

Preparation; low intensity training with a focus on building up endurance.
Base; start to add in longer sessions and sharpen up technique.
Build; weekly focus on different disciplines and plan nutritional needs.
Taper; reduce amount of time training and switch to shorter more intense sessions. Think through race plan and on-the-day details.

When getting ready for a big presentation, you can take a similar approach. In our workshops we use a 16-step guide which can be divided into four phases:

Preparation; purpose, message and organisation.
Base; mastering content, flow and critical moments.
Build; rehearsals.
Polish; final mindset and on-the-day preparations.

Effective preparation is the key to upgrading your skills. Pick an important presentation and work on sharpening up your performance at each phase.

In conclusion

Public speaking is like triathlon racing. Both can be painful if you don’t prepare correctly, but are extremely enjoyable when you commit to improving your performance over the long term. The takeaways:

It’s a race. Choose your race. Learn how to race.
Choose your intensity.
It’s consistency that makes you stronger.

Further reading:

What is triathlon? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triathlon

Ironman triathlons http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ironman_Triathlon

SWEP Pyramid

About the Author

Warwick J Fahy

“I work with senior executives working for multinationals in Greater China who lack the executive presence to effectively influence key stakeholders. While these executives are very smart, very knowledgeable and highly capable, a key piece missing. Their executive communication skills need polishing. I help executives build a strong foundation in executive communication so that they are able to better think, speak and act like a leader to set and implement strategy. Recently, we helped a CEO turn his communication style from being nervous and uninspiring into a more engaging, confident and purposeful executive.” Learn more about who I help here.

Find out whether your executive team is performing to the best of their potential with Warwick’s article “10 Warning Signs Your Leaders Lack Executive Presence”. Email me and I’ll send you a PDF version.

Warwick is the author of “The One Minute Presenter: 8 steps to successful business presentations in a short attention span world”. Warwick is author of the forthcoming book ‘Speak with Executive Presence in China’ . Now available on Amazon.com.

Five ways to know if you are a presentation professional or a presentation amateur

Published on in executive presence, Resources and You the Presenter. 4 Comments Tags: Deliver with Style, executive presence, preparation, The One Minute Presenter, warwick john fahy.

Professional or amateur?

What is a professional? My key words are high standards, excellence, role-modelling, expertise, high status and remuneration.

The original meaning of amateur comes from the Latin root for love {amo} and used to be applied to hobbies and sports eg Olympian athletes had to be amateurs until the 1970s and today all boxers must still be amateurs. While it does have positive meanings, the word tends to be used more with “sub-par” and shoddy performance. Used as an contrast to professional performance.

I am a keen observer of business presentations, and have seen common behaviours that I think are amateur and should not be employed by business professionals, especially the C-level executives that I work with. If you are doing the following five things in your presentations, you might wish to consider the message you are sending your audience, and consider taking a more professional approach:

#1 You hit the microphone before you speak [to test that it is on].

The message you send the audience: “I have not done a sound check before the meeting and I have no concern at all that blowing or hitting the microphone sounds awful and looks worse. “

The Professional’s approach: You arrive early to the venue. You seek out the technical staff. You check the volume and sound quality from all the microphones. You prepare a backup microphone. You make sure that there is no feedback from the microphones when you move around on the stage.

#2 You run your presentation off a USB stick

The message you send the audience: “I didn’t think through the possibility that there would be a problem. Don’t worry, I’ll take a couple of minutes during the presentation to reload my USB and presentation.”

The Professional’s approach: You realise that it’s quite easy for a USB stick to disconnect, and that the most stable solution causes the least problems. You load your presentation onto the computer’s desktop. You test it by running through all your slides. You still plug in your USB stick as a backup. It’s there in the unlikely event that you will need it.

#3 You read from your slides

The message you send the audience: “I have done so little preparation that I don’t know what I really want to say, so I have written my whole script on this slide. And now I am going to read it word by word, even though you can read it much faster than I can say it.”

The Professional’s approach: You understand that text based slides are boring, dull and result in very poor memory retention. You know that the audience switches off when they see such slides. You rehearse thoroughly so that you have a clear message which each slide supports. You make your slides more visual – using pictures, simple charts and tables – rather than dumping data or cramming text. You prepare a handout if you need to pass on technical details or financial information.

#4 You walk across the screen while you are presenting

The message you send the audience: “I am so unaware of how this looks, that I think it’s fine to walk in front of the screen, stretch across the screen to reach the computer to advance the next slide, or even present with the slide projecting onto my face.“

The Professional’s approach: You understand that a presentation is a performance where you are in control of the stage including the technology and lighting. You use a wireless clicker to remotely advance slides. You practice with the clicker so you know how to use it. You are discreet while using it and point it at the computer – not the screen – when advancing slides. You ‘black out’ the screen when you need to walk across the stage so that the slide is not projected onto your face. You are in control of how and when the audience sees the slides. The slides support you and your message, not dominate the whole presentation.

#5 You finish with the Q&A

The message you send the audience: “I don’t mind the presentation finishing with low energy, or the final words being, ‘No more questions? I guess I’m finished then.”

The Professional’s approach: You know that the main purpose of a presentation is for you to deliver a message to your audience that they will remember, take away and possibly act on. You know that question and answer sessions often peeter out and are not a strong way to round off a presentation. You have prepared – and perhaps scripted – your close so that your key messages get reinforced and the audience know exactly the next step they should take upon leaving your presentation. There is a clear and motivating call to action.

About the Author

Warwick J Fahy

Now available on Amazon.com.

How to think quick when faced with unexpected questions

Published on in executive presence and Master the Q&A. Closed Tags: executive presence, preparation, questions.

Download this article as a PDF file.

Learn easy-to-implement strategies to communicate more effectively with your senior managers

One of the most challenging skills for executives to masters is handling unexpected questions. An unexpected branching off into a related subject or a sudden request to give an opinion often leaves even senior executives stuck.

This is an important skill to master as most communication is handled through discussion than through formal presenting. Here are some tips:

A. Use thinking hooks to give you time and cue in your reply

I teach executives to use a simple framework called Open Your Mind. In this framework I introduce the concept of a thinking hook. This is a simple, all-purpose, all-weather tool to help you structure an answer more clearly.

An example of a thinking hook is to use cue words like “Firstly, I would like to talk about x” or “In my experience, the most urgent priority is …Y”

The value of a thinking hook is that it sets up your reply by giving you thinking time. Likewise with a two part thinking hooks; while you are setting up your answer, you might not know what you will say in your answer. The hook leads you into the answer:

“On the one hand….On the other hand…”

“From perspective X…..From perspective Y”

“Based on past performance….Looking at future estimates”

“John, that’s an interesting observation. There are two things that come to mind. First, …… “

“The first thing that comes to mind is…”

These phrases tell your brain to think of two things to say. As you are a technical expert, you will find it no problem to come up with two things to consider. Usually, the first things that come to mind are the most important. The thinking hook format buys you time when you are under pressure.

B. Contrasts with two part thinking hooks

You can use thinking hooks to offer alternative views. By introducing your answer with this format you provide a very clear opening, allow the audience to know the direction of your answer and importantly give yourself some time to prepare an solid reply.

“John, with this question there are two approaches. One for residential, the other for commercial. Let’s take a look at the residential issue first as this can be covered quickly…..Now, let’s have a look at the commercial aspects….

“We need to look at two perspectives here. They offer two distinct approaches. They are A and B. From A’s perspective……From B’s perspective….”

C. Communication tip: Take a deep breath before replying

Give yourself a second or two to think before you get into your answer. The difference between a top presenter and an average communicator is that top performers are comfortable pausing before giving an answer. Take a short pause before you deliver your answer during the Q&A.

D. Prepare fully but allow some flexibility

Before a conference call or presentation where you expect to face questions [as an executive you should always expect to express your opinions], spend time to think through the topics, issues and areas that may come up. Tagline your thoughts in soundbites. Now you are mentally prepared. In the meeting, be ready to hook to one of the points. Be ready to branch off to new areas. Expect that you may cover the points in a different order or a different way depending on how they are raised in the meeting.

The test is how easily you can explain your talking points to your audience. It is not enough that you understand an issue. What counts is how you convey the content in an easy to understand format.

Summary:

Think through the issues in some depth
Write down possible questions on these issues.
Ask possible follow up questions
Prepare your answers into soundbites
Use two part thinking hooks to cue in your answer
Project as much confidence as you can in every answer

While you may occasionally be stumped by an expected or tough question, through good preparation this will not happen often. The better you handle questions, the higher your credibility – an important competency in executive presence – will rise among your superiors and peers

So what now?

If you are ready to take a step up in your career, contact us for a initial complimentary strategy session where we can outline approaches to help you starting speaking like an executive.

About Warwick J Fahy

“Warwick is passionate about helping executives, working in multinational companies based in Greater China, speak out with executive presence so they can think, speak and act like a leader. I help executives turn the complex into compellingly simple message that are understood, passed on and acted on.”

Learn more about who I help here.

Download the Speak like an Executive Executive Communication White Paper here (PDF, 237kb)

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.

New: Read “The One Minute Presenter” as an e-book. Available in all maor e-book formats here.

Product Launch like an Executive – Memorable product launches Part 3

Published on in Deliver with Style, Finish on Time, presenter and You the Presenter. Closed Tags: preparation, rehearsals, successful business presentations, The One Minute Presenter, warwick john fahy.

In part three of this three part look at product launches, we will build on “Less is More” as featured in Part 1 here and Taglines in Part 2.

Rehearse, rehearse, rehearse

One of the most overlooked part of a presentation preparation is the rehearsal. Most presenters think making a slide deck is enough. Or silently clicking through slides. While others may deliver it out aloud while alone in the office. Any rehearsal is good rehearsal, but the best type is putting yourself in the actual same situation that you will face on the day.

Jobs is a role model as he conducts live on-stage rehearsals to ensure every aspect is thought through from start until finish. He is known for putting in hours at a time in the days leading up to the big day. This has helped create a culture of presentation prowess in Apple that showed in the launches that were given by Job’s colleagues in his absence due to surgery. Are you a role-model for presenting in your company?

Allocate one whole day before your next big presentation and spend the day rehearsing in a live environment with your slides, projector, and clicker ideally on the actually stage that you will deliver the product launch. If there is a question and answer section in your presentation, rehearse that too by inviting your team members to fire questions at you from the floor. Time spent in live rehearsal will show when you deliver with style on the day.
Make sure you don’t sell your next product short by cutting corners on the big presentation launch. Investing time to deliver a visually stimulating, tagline-rich message will allow all your stakeholders to walk away with an easy-to-remember message. A good presentation can then be passed onto your sales team to use in front of key accounts and helps your marketing team push a consistent powerful message through your usual marketing channels. An added benefit will be that your high standards of presentation preparation will trickle down to your team members.

RESOURCE BOX

Warwick John Fahy is the international executive speech coach for senior executives, business leaders and entrepreneurs who need to influence clients, investors, shareholders and team members. His highly practical approach and deep cross cultural intelligence have made him a sought-after business presentation coach throughout the world.

Warwick is the author of the acclaimed book, The One Minute Presenter – 8 steps to successful business presentations in a short attention span world. For free executive speaking tips visit http://www.oneminutepresenter.com/blog

To arrange presentation skills training or coaching to build your executive presence visit this web site.

For a media interview call +86 1391 786 7502.

Preparing before your presentations: Sharpen Your Focus

Published on in Memory and You the Presenter. Closed Tags: preparation, presentation purpose.

In this tip, you will learn how to become more aware of the type of presentation you deliver.

What do you mean by presentation?

Understanding when you are presenting and when you are expected to present is a key first step in awareness. Some companies don’t use traditional meetings, with stand up presentation and PowerPoint slides. But does that mean they don’t present? Of course not. A business presentation can take place in almost any location or venue. For example, conference calls, annual meetings, board of directors gatherings, marketing or product roadshows, client meetings, trade or industry conferences, financial IPO roadshows, department meetings, or just a cup of coffee with your boss. The list goes on.

Originally the word “presentation” was first used in the 14^th Century from the word “representation” which often referred to a theatrical performance. Moving forward to the 21^st Century, my definition of presentation is “a performance with a purpose“. Today’s tip looks at the purpose part. Future tips will consider performance.

What is your purpose?

Why are you presenting? What is your general purpose? A four step model can help you define your purpose: DRIP

D is for differentiating. Your general purpose is to highlight the differences between your proposal, your product, your company and other choices. What is special or unique about you, your proposal or your product.

R is for reminding. Your general purpose includes updating a group of people on a project’s purpose, keeping a team on track for a project deadline or even keeping you and your purpose top of mind with a senior management team.

I is for informing. The most common type of business presentation. Topics cover new regulation and laws which a group needs to know about, product updates and upgrades.

P is for persuading. This general purpose is to bring a group of people around to your point of view. Necessary when selling, gaining acceptance for an idea or proposal, or asking for budgets.

Any time you need to communicate a message, you need to first be aware of your purpose. Once you are clear on your purpose, selecting appropriate content, examples and delivery becomes more focused.