New Persuasive Presentations Blog
Thank you for following me on The Grab
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
Stand up, Speak up & Persuade. New Public Workshop – August 19th, 2015
Does the thought of delivering a presentation scare you?
Do you want to learn how to be confident in front of a group, think on your feet and deliver a persuasive and engaging presentation?
Then this course is for you!
I only do a few public workshops per year – my next one is at the end of July – Stand Up Speak Up and Persuade works and the lessons learnt stay with you for life.
“I was fortunate enough to attend the “Stand Up, Speak Up and Persuade” course at Scholle. Have attended many courses during my career, but this one has been a clear stand out, and has really stood the test of time. It has continued to resonate with me, and I continue to use the principles when preparing any presentation I do. I couldn’t recommend this course more highly to organisations and people who want really want to make an impact.” Randall Pearce – strategic Sales and Marketing Professional
Now is your time to shine – and I can help.
For more information or to discuss your in-house training needs, flick me an email:
Want to be a leader? Then you’d better speak up!
There are many skills you will need to master if you want to be a leader. You will need to be able to manage change, be a strategic thinker, have high integrity and of course, be an exceptional communicator.
Great leaders listen, empathise and consult, but they also need to be confident and have the ability to inspire and influence people. This is where public speaking comes in. In leadership, it is a deal breaker – if you are not seen and heard you cannot lead.
Here are three examples of people speaking up and demonstrating their leadership.
- Fix the feelings
What would you do if you were piloting the first flight after the Germanwings flight 4U9525 was purposely crashed into the side of a mountain?
This is what pilot Frank Woiton did.
He greeted and hugged each passenger as they boarded the plane. He openly spoke about the incident and said:
“Sure, I will take your from Dusseldorf to Barcelona. You can rely on the fact that I want to sit this evening with my family at the dinner table.”
Another unnamed pilot on a different flight stood at the front of the plane and spoke about how the incident touched him and the whole crew, how queasy they were all feeling but they all volunteered to be here. He spoke about his family and that ‘..he was going to do everything to be with his family again tonight.’
It’s hard when you need to speak when emotions are high. Great leaders don’t ignore how people are feeling,
they speak up.
- Own it
Great leaders deliver clear, strong messages. They do not mince their words, and they do not shy away from delicate issues.
When Chief of Army General David Morrison addressed the issue of reports of abuse of women in the army he made his stance very clear:
“Female soldiers and officers have proven themselves worthy… they are vital to us maintaining our capability now, and in the future.. If that does not suit you, get out!”
“Show moral courage and take a stand against it..the standard you walk past is the standard you accept”
I also like the medium he chose to deliver the message. Speaking on national television wan’t enough, he posted the speech on YouTube and it now has over 1.6 million views
If you haven’t seen it yet, it only goes for three minutes and it will make the hairs stand up on the back of your neck. You can view it Here
- Be true to yourself
Regardless of your political stance you can’t help but admire Julie Bishop. As Australia’s first female Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs she is highly educated, smart as a whip and has a travel schedule that would bring Richard Branson to his knees. And she manages all of this in pearls, heels and a killer suit.
She is not afraid to say what is on her mind and speak up.
“…women can’t have it all. They can have plenty of choices, but at the end of the day, they choose something which means they can’t have something else…”
“I’m a great supporter of free speech, but there are limitations on free speech. There are legal limitations on it, and we’re trying to strike a balance in this country. But if someone is promoting (terrorism)… we want to make that an offence in Australia.”
And if you ask her a stupid question, be prepared for her famous death stare!
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I’ll also sneak in a special commendation to Pat Rafter from Tennis Australia who was verbally assaulted earlier this month by Bernard Tomic’s father for his ‘hard line funding stance.’
He came back and said:
“We’ve talked amongst our team and we have decided we are now not going to support kids whose parents are vocally against everything we’re trying to do.”
and followed it up in The Weekend Australian with:
“Tennis Australia is about opportunity not entitlement.”
Well said Pat!
Is It Time To Ban PowerPoint?
Last month in the Australian Financial Review Westpac chief executive Brian Hartzer was quoted as saying “I think one of the dangers in large companies is that people start to think that their job is to create PowerPoints, [rather than] to make decisions and improve things for customers…. I am seriously considering turning PowerPoint off completely,”
He is not the first CEO to feel this way. In 1997 Scott McNealy, then president of Sun Microsystems, banned the use of PowerPoint throughout his company.
Should you be doing the same?
Or maybe you just need to get a big stick and empower your team and beat PowerPoint into submission
1. Look at your company communication culture
Often when I suggest to a client that they need to change the way deliver their PowerPoints they respond with “Oh, we can’t do that. Our manager supplies the templates and slide headings and we MUST do it this way!”
Forcing people to use PowerPoint is forcing them into ‘lecture mode’. People start telling rather than selling and presentations become predictable long winded and boring.
Your company communication culture starts at the top. Are your managers delivering great presentations or are they presenting with PowerPoint circa 1995?
2. Put PowerPoint last
Many people, when asked to deliver a presentation, open their laptops and start cranking out slides. Instead you should be:
- Setting an objective
- Tailoring your message to your audience
- Developing your topic
- Structure your presentation
- Making it persuasive
- Including a call to action
PowerPoint should be the last thing on your list before you start practicing and you may find that your presentation is better off without it!
3. ‘Flip’ your meetings
This idea comes from the flipped classroom model, where instead of teachers delivering lectures, information is sent out before for the students to read and class time is dedicated to discussion which the teacher facilitates.
How this would work for you
Instead of your team delivering a PowerPoint presentation they would instead email an executive summary of their recommendations and then facilitate discussion on the pros, cons and recommended improvements for the idea.
So there is no need to ban PowerPoint – you just need to learn how to use it to your advantage. If all this sounds a little scary, it’s okay, I’m here to help!
Speaking at a conference? Here’s what NOT to do!
I love speaking at conferences. It’s an opportunity to meet new people, challenge myself with new ideas and to travel.
Wherever possible I stay for the day so I can listen to the speakers before me. I love hearing and seeing other people present and understand how nerve wracking it can be to speak to a room full of strangers. But a keynote requires some special preparation and there are rules you need to adhere to.
Here are 5 things you should ever do in your keynote
1. Make it all about you
Let me tell you how faaaabulous I am!
Some speakers remind me of a bad first date – you know the ones when all they want to talk about is their house on the beach and the car they drive? I recently saw a keynote speaker show a rah rah company video and then proceed to talk about himself for a full 20 minutes. He did not start on his topic until 30 minutes into his presentation. The audience was not impressed.
Solution: Focus on the audience’s WIIFM (What’s In It For Me?) and your credibility will speak for itself.
2. Deliver a report instead of a presentation
This is a mistake I see a lot of novices make. They have done some research that has had some great outcomes and as a result they’ve been asked to present their findings at a national conference. They then proceed to deliver their research in its entirety and bore the audience until they are catatonic.
Solution: Deliver a ‘Persuasive Executive Summary’ and relate it to the audience. Those who want the detail can read the paper.
3. Let me show you the spreadsheet…
Keynotes and PowerPoint abuse seem to go hand in hand. Here’s a quick tip. Open your PowerPoint make the slides full screen and stand six feet away. If you can’t read the detail on your slide, neither can your audience. It’s time to escape PowerPoint purgatory.
Solution: Have a look at the blogs I have written on how to “Escape Powerpoint Purgatory”
4. You MUST do this!
There is a saying in sales: ‘Telling is not selling’. When I’m in an audience I take off my evaluator’s hat and enjoy the moment. But every now and then something will punch through that causes discomfort. I was listening to a speaker recently and I thought: “Maybe it’s just me…” but when I noticed the person on my left checking her emails and person on my right playing solitaire, I thought “Maybe not!”
I asked them after why they were disengaged and they said:
- “She came across as preachy and a know it all”
- “I don’t appreciate being told what to do”
Solution: Tell stories. Share your challenges and what you learnt from them. Use inclusive ‘we’ language rather than ‘you’. Pose questions to the audience and increase interaction.
5. Go over time
Several years ago I spoke at a conference where the two previous speakers went over by 20 minutes each. I was the last speaker before lunch and you could see the audience was getting testy. I checked with the conference organiser first and then I stood up and said:
“I’m going to tell you what you need to know about delivering a persuasive presentation and I’m going to do it in 20 minutes” I received my first standing ovation when we broke for lunch on time.
Solution: Franklin D Roosevelt’s advice to his son on public speaking was “Be sincere. Be brief. Be seated.” Conferences are planned down to the last minute – if you want to be invited back, you’d better be on time!
This year I have delivered keynotes across Australia and overseas on topics ranging from persuasion and making your message stick, through to presentation skills and “escaping PowerPoint Purgatory’.
My audiences have consisted of accountants, lawyers doctors, CEO’s, HR professionals, trainers and managers. If you have a conference coming up I’d love to have a chat to see if what I deliver can meet your needs.
Stand up, Speak up & Persuade – July 29th 2014
So you want to be a confident speaker? You want to be able to think on your feet? You want to be able to put together a persuasive presentation easily and quickly?
Great! I’ll see you at my Stand up, Speak up and Persuade workshop!
- Date: Tuesday July 29th 2014
- Venue: Education Development Centre, Milner St, Hindmarsh SA (Only 5 mins out of the city)
- Still only $550.00!
This workshop is limited to 10 participants only – so I can focus on your needs.
“Sharon is able to transform people into good presenters that thought they might not otherwise be”
Want more information? Email me for a flyer or call me as I’d love to have a chat.
Authority vs Credibility – Which one will work for you?
Robert Cialdini in his book Influence – The psychology of persuasion, credits authority as one of the pillars of influence. He cites the 1963 Milgram experiment where volunteers were more likely to be influenced by an individual who they perceived had authority.
The challenge for us is that authority in business is in decline. The days of control and command are long gone and many organisations are doing away with corporate hierarchy altogether. Today, in order to get our job done, we need to be able to influence those we have no authority over.
So if we have less authority, what tools do we have to help us be more influential?
The answer is credibility.
The Oxford dictionary defines authority as the power or right to give orders, to make decisions and enforce obedience. Unless you work in the military or a para military organisation, you may have a little trouble trying to ‘enforce obedience’. Credibility is defined as the quality of being trusted, convincing or believable, which is something that we can earn rather than wait until it is bestowed upon us.
Here are 5 ways you can boost your credibility in your next presentation.
1. Establish trust
Do your homework on your audience. Understand their jobs and the burning issues that they are facing. Work on building rapport as soon as you meet them. Smile, shake hands, ask questions and listen intently.
Share a personal story that relates to your message. A West Virginia University study by Myers and Brann in 2009 demonstrated the benefits of self disclosure in building credibility.
2. Weave in credibility
Demonstrate that you know what you are talking about. Give us examples of your expertise. Tell us the projects you have worked on and the results you have achieved.
If you use examples that are relevant to your message and your audience you will enhance your credibility rather than come across as boastful.
3. Ensure your non verbal signs match your message
Now is the time to stand tall, raise your head and look people in the eye. In western culture we instinctively don’t trust people that don’t look at us. We perceive your clasped hands as a lack of confidence and an upward intonation at the end of a sentence makes it sound like you don’t know what you are talking about.
4. Be authentic
Keep it real and accept your humanity and the limitations of your product or idea. Nothing kills credibility faster than if you bluff or promise things that you can’t deliver. If you don’t know the answer, reply with: “I don’t have that information available on me now, but I can email it to you as soon as I get back to my office” This will help maintain your credibility rather than shatter it.
5. Look the part
Yes, you will be judged on how you look. Fair? No. Reality? Yes. Dress appropriately for your position and consider your audience’s perception. So if you’re speaking on personal fitness, you better look better than me in lycra. When presenting to the board, spend a little extra time making sure that you are professionally attired in clothes that match the company culture.
I once asked an Elders employee what would happen if he arrived on a farm wearing his Italian wool suit and silk tie and he replied, “Well, you gotta remember that farmers own guns…”
So… now it’s your turn. What are you going to do to enhance your credibility?
Snipers, Hijackers and Clowns – Managing the tricky personalities when you present
It’s what people fear most during a presentation: Some smart Alec up the back hijacking your presentation, the clown that leads your audience into a giggling fit and the sniper who wants to shoot you down. We have all experienced them at some time. But you can prevent them from occurring.
Here are 3 reasons you may have a disruptive audience and what to do about it.
1. They’re experiencing cognitive overload
Pitching your presentation at the right level is vital. Too much jargon and acronyms quickly increases the cognitive load and can leave your audience feeling overwhelmed. Too simplistic and they get bored and before you know it, the clowns take centre stage to relieve the monotony.
The solution:
- Do your homework. Speak to as many people as you can to gauge their understanding of your topic
- If in doubt, eliminate jargon – as it can alienate people
- Use stories, metaphors and analogies to explain your topic
- Watch the body language of your audience and check constantly for understanding
2. They’ve been sitting too long
Have a look at the people in your audience. What is their normal job? If it’s not sitting for eight hours a day you better get them moving!
The solution
- Get ’em up. Especially after lunch
- Get them to demonstrate what it is you are discussing
- Have exercises where they can practice the skill rather than talk about it
- Move them around the room to interact with other people. An easy way to do this is with coloured stickers on name tags or workbooks
3. They need to talk and contribute
Adult learners bring a lifetime of experience to the table and they all have Google in their pockets. They need to be able to tie in their experience to your message. Talking enables them to develop the link and cement the learning.
The solution
- Small group interaction. (Don’t ask ‘any questions?’ to a large group as you you will hear the sound of silence)
- Give them challenging topics to discuss
- Ask them how they would apply this to their workplace
- Ask them what they think – Yes? No? and if not why not?
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Good luck with handling your snipers, hijackers and clowns and if you have a particular challenge you have, let me know below and I’ll share some recommendations.
Road rage in aisle three!
A few weeks ago I was idly wandering the aisles of the local supermarkets, trying to find the mythical breakfast cereal that is both healthy and tasty when I came across a roadblock.
An elderly gentleman had parked his scooter opposite a product display while he perused the tinned fruit section and I watched as the woman in front of me became increasingly agitated.
She tried several times to squeeze past with no success and ended up almost hopping from foot to foot while muttering under her breath… and yet she said nothing. By this stage a bottle neck was developing with people queuing behind me and despite her frustration the woman did not speak up.
I decided in order to prevent an escalation, it was time to intervene. I stepped past the woman and approached the man who was oblivious to all the drama around him.
“Excuse me Sir. We have a bit of a problem as we can’t get past your scooter – can I hold your basket so you can back it up a bit? Thanks so much.”
The man was happy to oblige and the woman smiled and thanked me and we all went happily on our way.
Now you may well be thinking – “Well DUH – Simple really – all she had to do was say something!” And yes, it is simple – but simple is not always easy.
So what stops us from speaking up? In most situations it’s that dirty little F word – fear. It is fear which holds us back and stops us speaking out.
We:
- Fear confrontation
- Fear rejection
- Fear looking stupid
- Fear criticism
- Fear being seen as pushy
- Fear being judged
- Fear people not liking us.
Our fear is disabling and makes us passive and as our frustration grows we bypass persuasion and launch straight into pushy. I see it frequently in offices, meetings, boardrooms and, occasionally supermarkets!
Here are 5 simple steps for speaking up to prevent the molehill developing into an unsurpassable mountain.
1. Pleasantries first
- “Hi Geoff, sorry to disturb you, have you got a minute?”
2. Clearly state the problem
- “I received your report today, but it is missing the SA figures.”
3. Ask for what you want
- “Can you please add them and email it to me as I need to print out copies for the presentation this afternoon.”
4. Offer to help if appropriate
- “I rang Julie and she’s sending through the latest stats.”
5. Thank them
- Thanks, Geoff – I appreciate it.”
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Simple! But not always easy, so it is worth asking yourself “I know, but do I do?” And next time you encounter a road block choose speaking up rather than road rage.
Get the most out of your next conference
Heading off to a conference soon? Here’s how to get your money’s worth from this experience.
Charles Jones said “You will be the same person in five years as you are today, except for the people you meet and the books you read.” Earlier this year when I MC’d the AITD/ARTDO International Conference I put a slightly different twist on this quote. I said “You will be the same person you are at the end of this conference except for the speakers you hear, the exhibitors you visit and the contacts you make.”
I attend and speak at conferences around Australia. They are great for professional development but even more importantly, they are great for reconnecting and building your network.
Here are five ways for you to get the most out of your next conference.
1. Go prepared
Think about what you would like to get out of the conference, what you’d like to see and who you’d like to meet. Research the speakers a little and think up some questions you’d like to ask them. There’s always an opportunity and if you have a question ready ahead of time you can be the first one in. You could even contact them via LinkedIn or Twitter and let them know you are looking forward to seeing and hearing them speak.
Now is also the time to perfect your grab. Your grab is your response to the question “So… what do you do?” Rather than say “Oh, I’m just a practice manager” Say “I am the practice manager for Fantastic Lawyers in SA. I help our team do what they do best and this year we won the Adelaide Law Firm of the year award for the fourth year in a row.”
2. Be brave
Now is the time to don your ‘confidence cloak’. For many of us networking does not come easily, and we often feel self-conscious meeting people for the first time. My recommendation is to wear something professional that you feel good in and practice a few icebreakers. My favourite conversation starters at events are:
• The venue – “Have you been to the Sydney Convention & Exhibition Centre before?”
• The food – “Did you try the lemon tarts? Soooo worth the calories!”
• The speaker – “So, are you a fan of General Gosgrove?”
• The event – “Are you a member of ALPMA?”
• Significant news of the day – “Did you hear who won the ALPMA/Telstra Thought Leadership Awards last night?”
• A compliment – “I love your jacket; red is my favourite colour to wear.”
3. Get there early
It’s always easier to walk into a room before the masses arrive and rescue a wall flower. There is always a person standing there looking lost because their friend has not arrived as yet. Go up to them and say “I don’t know anyone here so I thought I’d come up and introduce myself.” Congratulations – You’ve just made a friend for life.
If you are attending a conference for the first time, or don’t know anyone else attending, look for host stand in the Trade Exhibition and introduce yourself the people who are running the booth. They will happily introduce you to other members, delegates and exhibitors.
4. Make the most of the breaks
As tempting as it is to check your emails and make some calls, remember to be present and make the most of the experience. Grab your lunch and walk over to meet someone new – you never know what may come out of that meeting. Take the time to introduce yourself to the exhibitors and visit each booth. I find this is the quickest and easiest way to find new developments that are occurring in your industry.
5. Follow up
Write on the back of their business card a brief description and what you chatted to them about. Make a note if you promised to send them something and follow up within the week. I find one of the easiest ways to stay in touch is to connect on LinkedIn. Make sure you download the free LinkedIn Contacts app before you go, as it enables you to save a new contact as well as make notes on where you met them and who introduced you.
At the end of the conference you will be a different person. It could be due to the speakers you heard or the exhibitors you visited, but most likely it is because of the people you met. Rarely do we have an opportunity to share ideas and information with like-minded individuals. Conferences provide an opportunity to do this. Follow these five suggestions and you’ll make the most out of your next conference.
THE GRAB - How to grab their attention and make your message stick! 