The Strategic Communicator » Political Communications

How to Pump Yourself Up Before a Presentation During a Slump

Sharí Alexander — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 12:17:58 +0000

The day will come when you have to give a great presentation and you’re not feelin’ your mojo. In this podcast I cover 5 tricks I use to bring up my energy and feel my best before getting on the platform.

Effective Business Communications and Twitter

Sharí Alexander — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 14:00:18 +0000

When Twitter first came on the scene, I must admit I thought it was ridiculous. 140 characters to say something. What in the world could you have to say that’s worth saying in 140 characters? Well, I’ve been converted to the Twitter world.

After posting through the restrictive medium, I have found communication through Twitter to be fascinating. Especially when you compare how much CAN be said in 140 characters vs. how very little is said in meetings that last over 2 hours. I believe Twitter has taught us to be more specific, succinct, and powerful in our communications.

In my business presentation training, I teach there is power in brevity.

“I have a dream.” | “Ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country.” | and more recently “Yes we can.” … All in less than 140 characters! These guys were way ahead of their time, in more ways than one!

William Henry Harrison

And just to prove the point, on a rainy day in 1841 President William Henry Harrison delivered the longest inaugural speech in American history (8,444 words) and 31 days later died of pneumonia – thus serving the shortest presidency in history.

So, not only is there power in brevity, but it can save your life!

Public Speaking Coach: Creating a Successful Relationship

Sharí Alexander — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 12:00:13 +0000

As a Public Speaking Coach who works with various public figures on their public speaking, I find the dynamic of the coaching relationship fascinating from client to client. Every client is unique in their wants, needs, challenges, and goals.

Earlier this year Harvard Business Review posted some interesting findings on why coaches are called. They found that ten years ago executive coaches were hired to fix “toxic behavior”; however, now coaches are being hired to develop skills and improve potential. This is probably why we have seen speech coaches hired more and more. Couple this finding with the fact that communication skills ranks high in necessary leadership skills and you have a growing need.

So when it comes to speech coaching, how can both the client and the coach create a successful relationship?

1) Motivation

As the survey shows, the client must be motivated to change and improve. The coaching relationship will come to a screeching halt if the client isn’t motivated and willing to make changes. In a speech coaching relationship, this means trying new approaches and tactics, doing the homework, practicing, and taking an honest look at their communication style and effectiveness. Continuous push-back does not facilitate growth and improvement.

2) Trust

There needs to be complete trust between the client and their speech coach. When you either reach a certain level of fame or rank within your organization, fewer and fewer people will give you their honest opinions, especially when it comes to speeches and how meetings were run. No one wants to feel the backlash of upsetting the “the big guy” (or gal). That’s why the client needs to trust the coach to give them honest and educated feedback.

3) Work

Hiring a good public speaking coach isn’t the same as hiring a speech writer. Speech writers will give you the words to say. A speech coach works with you on anything from developing the message of a speech, setting goals for the speech, the delivery of the speech, measuring the effectiveness of the speech, the persuasive power of the speech, and the follow up communications after the speech. Needless to say there is a bit more effort involved for the client than just reading words on a page. Plus, the return on investment is much higher because the client is developing a skill-set that will serve him/her for the rest of their career, improve their leadership abilities, create an improved corporate culture, increase positive publicity,…the list can go on and on.

That’s it. Only 3 main ingredients, but all three need to be present in order to create the best speech coaching relationship possible.

Give ‘Em What They Want!: Getting Your Audience Interested in Your Presentation

Sharí Alexander — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 14:54:35 +0000

As I’ve discussed in previous posts, it’s important in your presentation to have a balanced mix of what your audience wants to hear and what they need to hear. It is sometimes difficult for presenters to distinguish the difference between the two – because it’s all interesting to us!

So to help you find the “want to knows” here is a small (and growing) list of ideas. Please keep in mind, the “want to knows” are not necessarily the steps, processes, or action items. Instead, a “want to know” is the picture you paint of how their life will be if they implement your suggestions. You have to make the end-result crystal clear in their minds in order for them to even consider listening to you action plan. Read through the list and see if you have any “want to know” you’d like to add…

Tomorrow will be better than today – How will your information make their life a little better?
Make more money (ideally as easily as possible) – Please, no scammers here.
Have more time – We all wish we had more of it. Paint the picture of how your information will give them more time with their family, more time for their hobbies, more time…for anything!
To be heard – Ever wish you could be more assertive and get what you want? So does your audience!
To achieve their dreams, no matter how distant they seem.
Be more attractive to the opposite sex.
Be less stressed and find peace.
To find love
To get (earn) respect

“Want to knows” aren’t extremely complicated. We all want the same things. We all have the same basic and innate dreams. It is best if your presentation can appeal to those basic desires.

Leadership Communications: Avoid Being a Bad Leader

Sharí Alexander — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 14:34:22 +0000

Recently my article “Being a Bad Leader: 5 Ways to Improve Your Leadership Abilities Through Communication” was featured in Training Magazine Online. Click here to read the article!

Getting Presentation Feedback from Your Audiences?… Don’t Trust the Usual Sources (Part One)

Sharí Alexander — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 13:38:49 +0000

Too often presenters are trying to get feedback on their presentations from either unreliable or pointless sources. Here are a few pros and cons to the usual feedback sources.

People talking to you at the end of a presentation. Usually, right after a presentation, you will have a few people come up to you, shake your hand, and say ‘good job’. What many speakers seemingly forget is…sometimes people are just polite. Who wants to be the guy that walks up to a speaker and say ‘wow, that was a waste of my time.”? Nobody! So, if you won’t do it, why do you think your audience will say it to you when you bomb?

I’m in no way implying that all of your audience members are being disingenuous. I’m simply wanting to open your eyes to the fact that not all of them are being honest. This isn’t to say that you can’t trust the compliments from your audience. However, I propose that you think beyond a few nice comments.

When you do a debrief on the success of a presentation, instead of only thinking about the complimentary comments after the speech, I recommend that you also consider:

How many people inquired about your services
How many people recommended you comment another group to speak to
How many people said they would mention your name to another individual or group
How many people asked for you to follow up with them, and gave you their business card

These types of discussions after a presentation signify true success. Audience members are wanting to take action with you. They are wanting to do business with you. They are wanting to be your advocates and refer business to you. This goes beyond end-of-the-presentation pleasantries.

Now, let’s say you’re speaking in front of a group that can’t necessarily do future business with you. They’re not your buyers. And let’s say they don’t run in the same circles as your buyers. How can you tell if they’re being genuine in their end-of-the-presentation comments?

I would pay attention to if they mention anything specific about the program that they can use and put into immediate use. It’s also great when they mention a specific part of your program they enjoyed the most. For example, it’s quite different when someone approaches you and says, “Great job. I really enjoyed your speech.” versus “Great job. I never really thought about X that way before. You really helped me understand that.” Or, “Thanks for coming. Great program.” versus “Thanks so much. I’m going to use your ideas and steps on X. I can use this right away!” One comment implies the audience member is being nice, the other comment implies they received value from your presentation and are grateful/impressed/happy/pleased/inspired – fill in whatever adjective you like.

Presenting What You Want to Say Vs. What They Want To Hear

Sharí Alexander — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 14:49:43 +0000

In my workshops and seminars, I teach my audience to determine what the audience needs to hear and what the audience wants to hear. More often than not, the two can be as different as night and day. And yet, having a balance of both in your presentation will aid in the success of your speech.

Unfortunately, many of us have a difficult time figuring out which is which – a “need to know” vs. what is a “want to know”. Presenters usually confuse a “need to know” as a “want to know”, which is a big mistake. If your entire presentation is delivering “need to know information”, you run the risk of your audience getting bored and suffering from left-brain fatigue.

Look at it this way, as an audience member, would you prefer going into a presentation telling you everything you “need to know” (step-by-step process of a new business policy), or what you “want to know” (how new policy will give you more free time)?

The problem is that as presenters, our “need to know/want to know” filter is faulty. What sounds like a “want to know” to a presenter is actually a “need to know” to the audience”. So how can we fix our faulty filter?

You have 2 options.

Interview a potential audience member. Get it straight from the source. Say, “I’ll be speaking on X. What would you like to learn from a program that covers this?” Or, “I was thinking about covering X and Y. Which of those would be more of interest to you? Do either pique your interest?” And then, shut up. Don’t go into your speech. Don’t disagree with what they say. Just listen. You’d be surprised at how much valuable information you can learn from your audience members.

If, for some reason, you can’t get a hold of a potential audience member, you can have a friend interview you about your topic. This is another great way to find the need/want to knows. You will easily be able to tell what is interesting to your friend by the questions they ask you. Pay attention to what topics they ask more questions about. You should easily be able to discern what you should keep in your speech and what you should cut.

Can you think of any other ways to help you differentiate “want to knows” and “need to knows”?

How to Measure the Success of a Speech

Sharí Alexander — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 14:39:17 +0000

In “Reasons Why Audiences Applaud at the End of Your Speech”, I pointed out many reasons why audiences applaud and give standing ovations other than you delivering a fantastic speech. Therefore, it is foolish to use applause as your only measurement for determining the success of a speech. When working with my clients, we begin by defining the specific outcomes/measurements we will use to determine the success and improvement of a presentation. So, what measurements can you use? Here are a few options:

Percent of the audience that purchases your products/services after the speech
Number of referrals after the speech
Increase in positive written testimonials. People will usually say nice things to your face, so it’s not the best idea to rely only on what people tell you right after your presentation.
Percent of the audience that signs up for your newsletter
Increase of blog subscribers
Positive recommendation letters from clients
Increase of hits to your website after a speech
Number of business cards exchanged
Number of prospecting/follow up meetings scheduled

What other measurements do you use to determine the success of your presentation?

Reasons Why Audiences Applaud at the End Of a Speech

Sharí Alexander — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 15:36:30 +0000

Often speakers think that their audiences applaud and give standing ovations because they are a good speaker. Sadly, this is not always (actually, it’s rarely) the case. Here is a list of reasons why your audience might applaud at the end of you speech.

The speech is over… finally
The speech is short
You have a powerful story (overcoming paralysis, climbing Mount Everest, surviving Cancer, etc.)
The information you gave was helpful (even though your delivery was terrible)
You are the boss, and they don’t want to hurt your feelings
You tried and they applaud the effort
They are happy the next speaker/headliner is coming next
You are someone important
They feel bad for you and don’t want you to feel embarrassed
You announced some happy news at the end (“A new car for everyone in the audience!”)
You have a powerful message and are an excellent speaker

We are a very polite society. We applaud for many reasons other than “you have a powerful message and are an excellent speaker.” Don’t make the mistake of judging the success of you speech solely on the applause you receive at the end.

Presentations: Being Natural in an Unnatural Setting

Sharí Alexander — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 12:49:12 +0000

Very often we become baffled by the fact that speaking in public is more difficult and uncomfortable than it should be. After all, we speak every day to people. Why should a group of people be any different?

What we must realize is that when we are speaking to a group we have to work hard on being/appearing natural in an unnatural setting.

Think of it this way: You’re at a family reunion and your crazy Aunt Clarra is trying to get candid photos of everyone. She never puts down the camera and is telling everyone to just “act natural”. As much as you try to ignore it, you know that there is a camera somewhere near by that could be focusing in on you. Doesn’t it feel slightly unnatural? Ar you more aware of your movements? Do you keep a smile on your face a bit more than normal? Is your posture just a bit more straight than usual? Even though part of your mind is consistently scoping to find the location of the wondering camera, you still try to act perfectly normal when talking to your other relatives. You are trying to be natural in an unnatural setting.

Now, multiply that feeling by 10, 50, or 500…however many people you have in your audience. A part of you mind wants to focus on all the people (cameras) focusing on you.

Don’t get frustrated if you don’t instantly feel as comfortable in front of people as you would like. It takes practice.