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More on Hooks: Presentation Skills

That well-known dramatic fear of public speaking (40% of American adults suffer from it) is also called stage fright.

Your hands shake, your mouth dries up, your heart pounds loud enough (you’re sure) for the audience to hear. You’d like to escape but your knees are shaking or too weak for you to run. You’ve heard of panic attacks and now you’re having one. Join a very large segment of humanity who have this phobia, also called "performance anxiety." You can add your name to a list which includes Barbra Streisand, Rod Stewart, Carly Simon and more.

Here are the four "A"s of stage fright:

1. Anticipation: Imagining the disaster you’ll be on stage.

2. Avoidance: Not going on stage and thus losing the chance to cope and grow an inner strength.

3. Anxiety: Those panicky physical symptoms which you’re sure will cause you to pass out.

4. Appraisal: The "Whew! I did it!" conclusions after the performance or presentation. 

Should you try to overcome your stage fright, here are some helpful hints:

1. Breathe from the diaphragm. Practice this type of breathing before going on stage.

2. No one can tell you’re a wreck. It’s just your inside self that’s panicking.

3. Realize you will be anxious and use the shot of adrenaline which comes from our "fight or flight" response. Turn it into power. You never know; dealing with anxiety just might improve your presentation.

4. Focus. Know your lines or your material.

If you're enjoying our blog, consider applying for a free seat in our workshop >> 

I recently came across an op-ed article in the New York Times by David Brooks that struck me as significant for the art of presenting. In his piece, Brooks examines "The Mental ABC's of Pitching" by the sport psychologist H.A. Dorfman. While the book is geared towards professional pitchers, I feel that Dorfman's advice can be extended quite naturally to presentations.

As told by Brooks, what Dorfman "offers is to liberate people from what you might call the tyranny of the scattered mind." This sort of tyranny is not closeted to baseball however: any highly demanding activity can be undermined by a lack of focus. The everyday mind is like an out-of-control chariot: without direction and jumping from one thing to the next, it is almost impossible to prepare for anything important. This is where mental discipline comes in.

I had a coach in high-school tell me that "you play the way you practice;" as I've grown older, I continue to see the truth of this statement. Through practice comes mastery. This is consistent with the story I tell in my workshop about Eugen Herrigel from "Zen in the Art of Archery." Herrigel spent 1 year learning how to stand, how to hold the bow and how to breathe before he ever put an arrow to the blow string. That intense practice frees up the mind from other distractions. This is also necessary in presenting. Now while I don't suggest you take a year to learn how to introduce yourself, nonetheless, master presenters must own their material and their technique in a way that they don't even have to think about it. There is simply no substitute for this type of practice. Mark Twain said it best, "It usually takes more than three weeks to prepare a good impromptu speech."

Returning to Brooks analysis of Dorfman, "by putting the task at the center, Dorfman illuminates the way the body and the mind communicate with each other." This is the essence of the teaching of our workshop: motivation follows action, not vice versa. If you change your behavior then you will change the way you think. As E. Thomas Berr PH.D put it in the The Tao of Sales: "It is easier to act yourself into a new way of thinking than think yourself into a new way of acting." Indeed, this is the essence of the Zen way: through intense practice of mindfulness (being present right here, right now) the mind can be calmed and focused.

Just like a baseball game, a presentation is a spectacle, with a thousand points of interest. Nonetheless, master presenters reduce it all to a series of simple tasks, and at the center is the task of presenting well, nothing else. By putting the task at the center, the presenter helps to push away their expectations, nerve and ego, and by doing such they can calmly and adeptly connect with the audience, their material, and deliver a masterful presentation every time.

Read More >>

Have you ever noticed that the most charismatic people all share the power of being able to tell a good story?

Nonetheless, storytelling is not a static art: as new media evolves, so does the way in which we tell stories. Recently, with the interconnectivity of media and the power of the Internet a new way of storytelling has emerged: the Alternative Reality Game or ARG.

The ARG is revolutionary in several ways: it is a complex and subtle way of telling a story that utilizes multiple media sources and requires a large and collaborative audience to work together to progress forward in the story; it is through the overlapping of fiction and reality that the ARG gets its name. Thus the ARG is powerful in a different way than the usual story: it is more about the audience than about the storyteller. By breaking down the traditional “fourth wall,” the audience has an active and essential role in the development of the story itself. Anything that includes the audience in such a way cannot help but be thoroughly engaging.

Now what can be gleaned from the new ARG phenomenon? Well, one of the places that the power of the story can be most effective – but is often underused – is during presentations and public speaking.

During your next presentation, try taking a page from ARGs: instead of standing rigid on the stage, try moving into the audience; instead of just using your voice, try using several media sources to get your point across; instead of turning your presentation into a lecture, try getting the audience involved in the story by asking questions and letting their answers help guide the way you tell it.

Once you’ve become an accomplished storyteller, you will have mastered most of the skills necessary to be a charismatic speaker.

Read More >>

If you liked this article, consider applying for a workshop >>  Our work has to be experienced to truly understand its value.  Once a quarter The Henderson Group holds a "By Invitation Only" Art of Presentation workshop in San Francisco, led by our VP of Services, Terry Gault.  With that in mind, we set aside a couple of free seats for the right candidates.

Tremendous subtlety of meaning is conveyed by voice. Not just nuance and emotional context, but basic meaning of words varies according to vocal inflection.

Emotional Affect

Do not hesitate to be vocally expressive in business presentations. If you tell your audience about an exciting product in a dull, monotonous voice, your words and your voice are not in alignment. It is an uninspiring pitch if you talk about "ground breaking developments" in a quiet, lifeless voice.

Personal Stories

Telling a personal story provides abundant opportunities to stretch your vocal dynamism. When introducing a new character into your story, alter your voice to signal the audience "this is the other person." Don't say "he told us to finish up in an angry voice." Instead, make your voice his and say sharply "Dammit, finish up NOW!"

Map Your Outline

Note where you want to create vocal emphasis (opening, and closing lines, key points and potentially dull sections). Circle or underline words you wish to emphasize.

Silence

What is the easiest way to regain an audience's attention?

Stop Speaking

One of the most powerful uses of your voice is to not use it at all. Silence peaks attention and gives you an opportunity to take in information about the audience.

Most presenters have a natural aversion to it. We consciously seek to fill any silence with "ahhhs, uhmms" and inane chatter.

Learn to Control Your Voice >>

Some of the seeds we offer will bear fruit immediately, others will germinate for a time and pop up to surprise you in communications to come.

Do not become discouraged if at first your mind is numbed by the number of things we are encouraging you to be aware of and to try.

Little says more about you to those with whom you interact with than how you answer their questions.

Some people show annoyance when a question derails their monologue. Their body language reflects the thought, “why is this person interrupting?”

A question indicates interest in your subject — embrace it.

1. Pause one second before answering.
2. Answer the question simply and directly. Don’t skirt it but also don’t answer more than was asked.
3. Confirm, “Have I answered your question?” Anything but a clear yes means no.

Continued >>

Verbal fillers make a speaker seem less articulate and less sure of themselves and their message. Here are techniques that can help to shed the use of verbal fillers (uh, um, so, like, you know, basically, etc.)

1. Video tape or record yourself delivering a presentation or in a conversation. Watch your videotape or listen to the recording once just counting your verbal fillers. It may be painful and embarrassing but can fuel your determination to shed the fillers.

2. Enlist the help of others - your partner / spouse, friends, coworkers, family, etc. Empower them to repeat your fillers whenever they hear you using it.

3. Listen for your use of verbal filler at ALL times, whether presenting, in conversation, on the phone, in social situations, etc.

4. Don't beat yourself up about it. Just make a mental note and remind yourself that you want to …  More On Verbal Filler >>

 Below, Slam Poet, Taylor Mali, performs his speech 'Totally Like Whatever'

One client approached me during a workshop and asked, "Terry, you are telling me to demonstrate more power and authority with greater volume AND you are telling me to be authentic. That feels like a contradiction to me. Can you help me with that?"

Having heard variations of this question over the years, I felt that I had a breakthrough in articulating my meaning that particular day.  I asked him, "If the desire to demonstrate greater power comes from deep inside you, and the realization of that in your style requires that you change, what could be more authentic than that?"

The question that I put to clients and to workshop participants is not, "What is your style?" as "What do you want your style to be?" Not, "Who are you?" but "Who do you want to be?"

Recently, I was introduced to Carol Dweck’s book, "Mindset: The New Psychology of Success".  I recommend it very highly. Dweck is a psychologist who has taught both at Columbia and Stanford Universities.

Her central thesis is that there are 2 basic mindsets that people operate from:

• The Fixed Mindset
• The Growth Mindset

For more on how mindset relates to communication style click here >>

Below, Carol Dweck speaks about The Fixed and Growth Mindsets. 

 

 

This video was sent to me by my meditation teacher.  It's a talk by neuroanatomist Jill Bolte Taylor.  Having a stroke the thought hits her, "This is so cool." 

As the caption reads on the TED Talks page:

Neuroanatomist Jill Bolte Taylor had an opportunity few brain scientists would wish for: One morning, she realized she was having a massive stroke. As it happened — as she felt her brain functions slip away one by one, speech, movement, understanding — she studied and remembered every moment. This is a powerful story about how our brains define us and connect us to the world and to one another.

From a public speaking / presentation skills standpoint:

• Dr. Taylor uses movement extremely effectively. 
• Her use of a very surprising prop may shock you but will certainly compell you to pay attention.
  
• Her expressive (though thin and reedy) voice expresses her emotional journey very effectively.
• She also demonstrates great humor, vulnerability, and passion.

She also offers her personal and scientific observations about how the two halves of the brain function:

• She uses an ineresting metaphor comparing the Right to a Parallel Processor and the Left to a Serial Processor. 

She says that the Right:

• Is concerned with This Present Moment.
  
• Thinks in pictures.
  
• Learns kinesthetically.
  
• Unites and connects us with others.

Meanwhile, the Left:

• Thinks linearly and methodically.
  
• Is focused on the past and the future.
  
• Picks out details, categorizes and organizes.
  
• Thinks in language. 
• Is the voice that says, "I am" and, hence, separates us from others.

It's a compelling and powerful story - well worth watching. BTW, this is an 18 minute video and it takes awhile to load. Or you can go directly to the TED Talk video here.