Thursday, May 24, 2012

My new name is...(and it isn't easy to do this!!)



Changes are happening!! It begins with the change of my last name from Johnson to Mann – I have avoided this for years, but can no longer dodge the maze of work to make a simple last-name change. So I'm now Christine Mann professionally AND personally AND I like it!
My email will change next week, our company name and webpage will also change – I’ve learned so much from many of you and I’m putting some of it to work – the old “work in progress”. I’ll post the changes as they take effect.

Question for you: How many of you have had to do this?!?!?

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Lou Holtz’s Three Rules of Life by Harvey Mackay

I always enjoy Harvey Mackay’s column about common sense, winning business practices and each week he concludes with Mackay’s Moral.
This week Harvey features Lou Holtz’s Three Rules of Life and they’re worth paying attention to.

"Everybody needs four things in life: Something to do, someone to love, someone to believe in and something to hope for."
I think you'll appreciate the entire column - it's one I've returned to over time as a healthy reminder.

Read it here

Question for you: Do you have someone close to you who doesn't live by these rules and is there anything you can do to help their days become richer?

Strong Relationships + Solid Leadership = Success for Everyone

Monday, May 21, 2012

Answer the Questions from the Proust Interview

I think it’s so much fun and so revealing of myself to take personality quizzes and “tests”. It’s even more fun to take them with someone else! The conversations that ensue….

Here’s one you may enjoy.

In the back pages of Vanity Fair each month, readers find The Proust Questionnaire, a series of questions posed to famous subjects about their lives, thoughts, values and experience. Reading Andre Maurois's Proust: Portrait of a Genius will provide more insight into what this is all about. (From http://www.chick.net/proust/question.html)


Many of us are more familiar with the interview format from James Lipton, the host of the TV program Inside the Actors Studio, who gives an adapted version of the Proust Questionnaire to some of his guests. It’s noted that Lipton has often incorrectly characterized the questionnaire itself as an invention of Marcel Proust.

The questions below came from the popular series of Nikki Heat books by Richard Castle. Fun reads!

The Proust Interview

From Heat Rises 2011, page 96

  1. Name your favorite author.
  2. Name your favorite hero in literature.
  3. Name your favorite poet.
  4. How do you wish to die?
  5. What musician has impacted your life the most?
  6. What qualities do you look for in a  man or woman?
  7. Who would you have liked to be?
  8. What’s your present state of mind?
  9. What’s your idea of misery?
  10. What’s your motto?
  11. What’s your ideal dream of earthly happiness?


Question for you: Which questions came easily to you and which were more difficult to answer? Did you give an answer for each question after some thought?

Strong Relationships + Solid Leadership = Success for Everyone

Thursday, May 17, 2012

18 Lessons from a Pro - Colin Powell

I'm on trip down memory lane in leadership training this week. The link below is to a presentation I uploaded to my website and once upon a time used in leadership classes - it was done by Colin Powell when he was Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and it's pretty powerful stuff.







This is a PowerPoint presentation and you'll hear applause at the beginning and the end, but there's no audio to it - just advance through the slides.

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

How's Your State of Mind?

I seem to be focused on attitudes, can-do approaches this week. The following is anonymous, but it was shared with my master training class many many years ago by a man we all loved in the corporate training facility - Mr. Sandy Banker. He carried it in his pocket and would pull it out anytime he cared to.





State of Mind

If you think that you dare not--you don't.
If you think that you'd like to win,
But you think you can't
It's almost a cinch you won't.
For out in the world you find
Success begins with a fellow's will.
It's all in the state of mind.

For many a race is lost
Before ever a step is run,
And many a coward fails
Before his work's begun.
Think big, and your deeds will grow;
Think small, and you'll fall behind.
Think that you can and you will find
It's all in the mind.

If you think you're outclassed, you are.
You've got to think high to rise.
You have to be sure of yourself before
You can ever win a prize.
Life's battles don't always go
To the stronger or the faster man,
But sooner or later the man who wins
Is the fellow that thinks he can.

Anonymous


Strong Relationships + Solid Leadership = Success for Everyone

Question for you: Do you think you can?

Monday, May 14, 2012

Does Your Attitude Impact Your Life?

Part of growing up is realizing that we have control over our attitudes and that we CHOOSE to have the 'tudes that we do.

I love what this man says - I was raised in home of 'think positively' and it took! My own mantra has been: the differeence between an adventure and an ordeal is attitude.

Charles Swindol says:
The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than an education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company, a church, a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past. We cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the string we have, and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it. And so it is with you. We are in charge of our attitudes.

Strong Relationships + Solid Leadership = Success for Everyone

Question for you: How do you check your attitude?


Thursday, May 10, 2012

Are You Making Effective Presentations? Part 2 of 2

Today we finish a summary of the basics in making a presentation or speech. Diane DiResta's book, Knockout Presentations is a terrific and thorough resource.



Content today:
1. Do’s and Don’ts of Delivering Presentations
2. The Message of Color
3. Presentation Evaluation Form for Assessing Delivery and Organization (available online)

1. Do’s and Don’ts of Delivering Presentations

DO’s

Eliminate distracting behaviors

Videotape yourself and listen to your delivery.  Do you use non-words such as ah, um to fill in while you’re thinking?

Then turn the sound down and just watch.  How is your body language and facial expression?  What about your hands: do you use gestures effectively or do you keep your hands in your pockets and jingle your keys?

Be real

Audiences are more sophisticated than ever and will see through phoniness.  Be genuine and leverage your strengths.  Use personal examples when appropriate and allow time for your words and message to sink in.

Extend eye contact

Look directly at people in the audience for a complete sentence or two.  This generally takes five seconds or less to do and it helps you connect with the audience.

Expand your gestures

Not using gestures will make you look stiff.  Use your hands to emphasize key points or to draw attention to a visual aid.

Keep your posture in check

Standing up straight increases your personal presence and allows you to breathe properly.

Move with purpose

Rocking on your heels or pacing is distracting.  Stand still and focus on your gestures.  If you can’t stand still walk into the audience and talk directly to one person.  Then move toward someone else and talk to him or her.  Be careful not to wander too far away if you need to be close to your visuals.

Be enthusiastic

Get excited about your topic.  Be animated and expressive. 

Listen to your voice

Tape yourself and review that tape for pitch, pace, personality, etc but also listen to yourself during your presentation.  Some people tend to speak very rapidly when they are nervous.  If you find yourself running out of breath while you’re speaking, slow down—we all need to breathe.  Gasping for air causes you to rush and sound nervous.  Breathe deeply and parcel out enough air to finish the sentence.

Experiment with volume

A well-timed whisper or burst of volume may add a dramatic effect and stimulate audience interest.  Project your voice to ensure you can be heard in the back row of the room.

Use specific, precise language

Speaking is hindered by vague terminology.  Words like, “some” and “a lot” don’t say much and won’t convince your audience to take action.


Use vivid language

Paint a picture to give color to your speech.  Metaphors transport the listener to a different dimension, grab hold of the mind and stimulate the imagination.  The brain thinks in picture, not words.

Use action words

Persuade people to do something with active words they can visualize; create energy and a sense of movement.  Let your listeners visualize the action.

DON'Ts

Play with a pen or a pointer

This signals that you’re nervous.  Use a pen to write, and then put it down.

Turn your back on the audience

We connect with our eyes.  Learn to walk backward instead of turning your back.

Drink ice water

Ice water can cause constriction of the vocal folds.  Room-temperature water with lemon is the best choice for speakers.

Drink alcohol, coffee/soft drinks, or milk products

Alcohol is a depressant and may loosen your inhibitions too much.  The caffeine in coffee will make you jittery and feel more nervous.  Milk products create mucus, which will force you to clear your throat frequently.

Yell

If you have to get the audience’s attention, blow a whistle, play music or designate someone else to call the audience to order.

Plagiarize another person’s words

Not only can you be sued, but it means you don’t have anything to say.  If you quote another person, be sure to give credit.

Use ethnic slurs or highly charged words

Even the most common expressions may offend some people.

Use slang

Unless you’re making a point, slang will either date you, regionalize your or mark you as uneducated.

2. The Messages of Colors in the Presentation

Colors have subliminal messages.  After you learn what they mean, you’ll know how to use them.  Below are the emotional representations of the “hot” (red, yellow, orange) and “cool” (blue, purple, green) colors plus white and black.

Blue

This is the most popular background color because it’s peaceful and soothing.  Blue is calming, credible, conservative, peaceful, and trusting.  Blue is the background color of choice in over 90% of business presentations.

Green

An excellent background color for presentations that require interaction and/or feedback from the audience.  It’s restful and refreshing.  Green is harmonious, envious, growth, money, and relaxation.  It is also a good color to use as a highlight color.

Purple

This can also be a good background color.  Purple is impressive and spiritual and encourages vitality.  Use darker shades for backgrounds and lighter shades for accents.  Purple is vital, spiritual, whimsy, humorous (lighter shades), and detracting.

Red

Red is hot! It is a dominant color that calls attention to the message and stimulates audiences to take action.  Red is motivating but also represents pain.  As an accent color, it works well to catch and hold attention.  Note: for financial presentations do not use red as an accent color since red traditionally means loss, not profit.

Orange

Orange is an excellent contrast color against a dark background and a good choice for text or accents.  It’s a powerful and cheerful color that encourages communication.  Orange is happy, concentrating, intelligent and rebellious.

Yellow

Yellow stimulates the brain and promotes decisiveness.  Use yellow for text or accents — it’s an excellent contrast color against a dark background.  Yellow is bright, cheerful, enthusiastic, optimistic, and warm.  Use yellow in text and bullets, but be careful; big areas of bright yellow can be an irritation and can look washed out on a large screen in a big room.

White

Usually used as a text color with dark blue and other dark backgrounds.  You can use it for titles for text.  White represents a fresh canvas but add some accent colors if you use it as the main background color.  White is freshness, new, innocent, neutral, and pure.

Black

Black symbolizes a clean slate.  It’s used for emphasis and is associated with finality.  Black is sophisticated, independent, emphatic, and final.  Large areas of black add emphasis and highlight your information. 



Concern for the Color-Challenged

About 10% of males and less than 1% of females have a color perception defect known as color blindness.  This is an inaccurate term for a lack of perceptual sensitivity to certain colors.

There are three types of color receptors in our eyes:

Red

Green

Blue

We also have black and white receptors.

Color blindness results from a lack of one or more of the types of color receptors.  Most color perceptions defects are for red or green or both.  Another form of color blindness — yellow-blue— is extremely rare.

People who are color-challenged depend on the intensity of colors.  They may see them as shades of gray, but they can distinguish differences. 

The most common color perception problems are with certain combinations, such as yellow on green, green on red, red on green, blue on red, red on blue and red on black.


One Final Note

The way a slide presentation looks on your computer is usually very different from how it will look in a large room on a screen.

Graphics that look wonderful on a 15-inch screen appear too small or large on a screen.

Depending on the projection device being use, some colors may appear washed out.  For example:  When using white and yellow side by side on a graph or chart, the yellow may be so light that it will appear to be white.

Always test your slide presentation on a similar device before walking into the room to do your presentation.  One of the quickest ways to lose your audience is to be forced to make excuses for your materials.




Adapted from Knockout Presentations, by Diane DiResta

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Are You Making Effective Presentations? Part 1 of 2

This personal development skill has surfaced because I’m working with my sister on her commencement address for the special ed school at which she taught. She’s great on her feet in front of the kids, but has serious butterflies about making such a formal speech – got parents, peers, board members, etc. Very different from the classroom!

So I’ve resurrected a list of the basics in making effective presentations and remind her (AND myself) that: The man who believes he can do anything is probably right, and so it the man who believes he can’t. (Henry Ford)

But it doesn’t hurt to have a little help doing the ‘thing’, does it?
    

Part 1:
Key Factors for Successful Presentations
Presentation Myths

Part 2: (Thursday May 10, 2012)
Do’s and Don’ts of Delivering Presentations
The Message of Color

(available online)

Key Factors for Successful Presentations
Key success factors that must be considered when preparing a presentation are:

Audience

The first step in preparing a presentation, the step that has to be completed before you even begin to do your research and a task that is often discounted or overlooked - knowing your audience.

The basic content of presentation can be customized for different audiences.  Consider how a new product launch presentation for your workgroup differs from the presentation given to customers or to a group of sales reps. 

Now think about the different types of audiences with which you come into contact.  How do you vary your approach to the presentation and the actual content?  How often do you disregard your audience because, “I’m only speaking to fill-in-the-name?”

Content

Having the content of your presentation organized in a logical order is critical.

If you build a well-structured speech, your audience will come to hear you and will stay to listen.  Your message is what’s important but, if your speech is disjointed, or in disarray, the audience won’t hear it.

How often have you dreaded going into a meeting because you know the main speaker is difficult to follow? Or you dread the meeting because you’ve heard the speaker before and walked out wondering why you wasted your time?

Format

After you’ve done your homework, know your audience, have your content organized, the next question is how to actually present or display the material.

Slides, flipcharts, and handouts are the choices we consider most often but what should they look like and how many should be used?  What are you comfortable using and do you use that medium even if it isn’t the most effective in a given situation? 

Practice, Practice, Practice

If there is a recurring theme in any presentation skills class, this is it.  You practice while you’re learning presentation skills but most importantly, and what you will see and hear emphasized throughout, is that to be an effective/successful speaker or presenter you have to practice.

Practice doesn’t make perfect.  Only perfect practice makes perfect. Vince Lombardi



Presentation Myths
Here are the top ten myths most people have about making presentations along with a brief reality check.  As you read through these, honestly determine how many of these myths you hold true.  This quick assessment will enable you to quickly identify some of the areas in which you need to work.

1.      It should feel natural
Says who?  Most people come to presentation skills training because they want to eliminate nervousness.

Reality: You can control and manage your nervousness but you can’t eliminate it.  For most of us, the fear of making presentations never really goes away.  Some nervous energy is good - it keeps you dynamic.  The goal is to channel your nervous energy into a positive performance.

2.      Start with a joke
While humor is important, it’s different from comedy.  If you’re not a “natural” at telling jokes, you might alienate the audience.

Reality: Don’t do it.  You don’t have to be funny to be effective.  Use humor or irony instead of telling a joke or simply start with a story or quote.  Throw away the jokes.  More often than not, they backfire.

3.      I  just need to believe in myself and I’ll develop confidence
Confidence is a quality held by those lucky people who can walk into any room and look perfectly at ease in any situation.  We admire it.  We envy it.  We want it, so much so that we’ll go to great lengths to cover its loss or lack.

Reality: Confidence comes from three things and only three things: 1. Knowing what to do, 2. Learning how to do it, and 3. Doing it often enough so that you can do it with confidence (practice, practice, practice). 

4.      Memorize your speech
Memorizing your presentation increases your nervousness.  What happens if you blank out and forget a word?  You’ll have to quickly skim your text or tolerate long, embarrassing silences.

Reality: It’s more effective to memorize concepts, not words.  If you forget a word, you can make your point another way or go on to a new point.  Your audience will not know the difference.  Avoid using manuscripts.  Notes and outlines will more helpful in keeping you on track. 

5.      It’s the content that counts
The content counts, but in today’s world, style all too often holds the advantage over substance.

Reality:  Audiences remember approximately 7% of what you say, 38% of how you say it, and 55% of what your body is doing.  This means that if your body is doing something just a little out of the ordinary, your audience may not even retain that lowly 7%.  Appearance, body language, and posture all play a part in your effectiveness as a presenter.

6.      I must appear professional
In trying to appear professional, presenters fall into the trap of using language and acronyms that only an expert on the topic can understand.  Presenting material in an  incomprehensible way usually appears stiff.

Reality: A professional is someone who has expertise.

A presenter is someone who shares that expertise with others

A professional presenter makes certain the audience gets the information

A pseudo-professional presenter is someone who wants to show off

Unintelligible presentations do not transmit information; information that is not transmitted cannot be bought or bought into

7.      Look over the heads of the audience
Stare at a spot on the wall instead of looking at your audience to decrease your nervousness.  Actually, this technique increases nervousness because you begin to feel alienated from your audience.  Would you meet a person and stare over their head while you’re being introduced?

Reality: Look directly at key individuals.  We connect through our eyes.  Look at a few people in different areas of the room, one at time.  This creates a relationship and it’s less scary to give your message to each person than to a large crowd.

8.      Rehearsing makes me stale
Most people hate the rehearsing as much as they fear doing the presentation.  One of the main reasons for this fear is the same one that causes most people to avoid public speaking – the fear of exposing inadequacies.  The dread of rehearsal has to do with exposing oneself to oneself and this causes people to put off rehearsal as long as possible

Reality: Rehearsal is not memorization, nor is it going over what you want to say in your mind.

Rehearsal is a process during which you:
Learn and internalize that material
Develop and internalize complementary facial expressions and body language
Create and internalize interesting vocal inflections
Develop and internalize vocal patterns (where do you speed up/slow down, speak softly or loudly, etc.)
Only after you’ve done all of the above can you pull everything together and keep your focus on the audience.
Practice - Practice - Practice 

9.      Easy for you
We all have watched professional presenters, trainers, speakers, etc., and it looks so easy it’s difficult to believe that we could ever be that good.

Reality: Professional presenters make it look easy, but not because they do this for a living.  The truth is that even the most experienced presenter is nervous going in front of an audience with new material.  What they learned to do is avoid falling into the myths and pitfalls discussed on this list.  What any successful/effective presenter does is take the time to:

Learn who his/her audience is and what they need
Make sure the content of the presentation is organized in a logical sequence
Use the best possible format for the situation (e.g., it does no good to develop a set of slides or transparencies if there’s no way to show them).


10.  Practice, Practice, Practice.


Adapted from Knockout Presentations, by Diane DiResta