New Persuasive Presentations Blog

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My blog has now been incorporated into my website, you can view it here www.persuasivepresentations.com.au

I look forward to seeing you there!

Regards

Sharon Ferrier

Strike a pose…

Many years ago when I was working in the pharmaceutical industry, I attended a conference on managing depression. One of the keynote speakers spoke of research that showed that if you took people with mild depression and encouraged them to grin like an idiot in front of a mirror everyday it actually lifted their mood.

This got me thinking… our physiology can affect our psychology.

I wondered if this would work with confidence?

Turns out it does.  Amy Cuddy a Psychologist and Associate Professor at Harvard Business School has done significant research in this area. Her research shows how “power posing”  – standing in a posture of confidence, even when we don’t feel confident – can affect testosterone and cortisol levels in the brain and in turn, make us feel more confident.

You can see her TED talk here

So, before you go to that interview or head out for a networking event, do yourself a favour and strike a pose!

Nailing the Interview

Shakespeare in his play ‘As You Like It’ commented that:

“All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players”

We are on show and give mini presentations every day. We may be contributing to a meeting, explaining a new piece of equipment to a peer or trying to persuade a six year old that ice-cream is not an essential food group.
We need to be clear, eloquent and persuasive and no mini presentation is more important than the interview. So it pays to approach your interview like you would a speech.

Here are 5 tops to Nail your next interview.

1. Prepare
Research the company well. Prepare a list of questions that show that you know more about the company than what is written on the front page of the website. Practise your answers to some of the behavioural interview questions you may receive. Don your Confidence Cloak. Confidence is an attitude. Get in the right head space and you can fake it. Remember, nerves are like an iceberg: you feel all of them but the interviewer only sees 10%; the rest is hidden below the surface.

If all that fails – then imagine the interviewer sitting on the loo – it’s bound to put a smile on your face!

2. First impressions count
People will look you up and down and start assessing you after three seconds. The key here is to be memorable for the right reasons. Pay attention to detail – scuffed heels and frayed collars will be noticed.
Once you start talking they will listen for 10 seconds before they start asking themselves “Do I like what I am hearing?”
Everything your Mother told you still applies: “Shake hands, smile and look ’em in the eye.”

3. Be aware of your body language
Act like a confident person. A confident person stands and sits tall. They hold their head up slightly and lean in when speaking. Confident people smile frequently and alternate eye contact when speaking to more than one person.

4. Structure your responses
When answering questions there are several steps to remember:

1. Listen – Not only to the words but also to the body language that may reveal the hidden message behind the words
2. Pause – No need to rush in quickly
3.  Tease out the question – Clarify to ensure you understand what it is they are asking you
4. Reflect back – to confirm
5.  Use a response structure such as PREP to structure your answer:

5. Finish strongly
According to the primacy and recency theory, we tend to remember what we see first and last. Leave them with a strong impression. Reiterate why you are the best person for the job and ask them what the next steps are.

*****

As with all things, practice helps. Get a trusted friend to interview you, practise your responses out loud, tape or video yourself and correct any bad habits you were not aware of. Give yourself the best possible opportunity to shine and then relax knowing you’ve done the best you can.