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I spent some time in George Best International airport in Belfast recently coming back from a fundraising workshop with the charity Concern Worldwide UK

When I entered the airport departure lounge I saw the usual television screens with departure and arrival information but I also saw something I had never seen before…

Normally, when your flight has not been called, the screens show the message “Please wait in lounge”  but in Belfast airport thy had a different message!   Somebody had clearly thought about the impact of words and had harnessed their knowledge to see if they could increase the amount of money people spend whilst waiting for their flight.

Can you guess what they did?

They changed the message from “Please wait in the lounge” to “Relax and shop”

To me this is a classic example of how changing the words people read can have a major impact on their behaviour.   If you want your audience to do something, then tell them what it is you want them to do!

How could you use this simple lesson to become more persuasive and influential

I’d love to hear your examples or comments!

I often get asked for tips to help people who have to deal with more senior people. One of the most common questions in this area is how do I project authority and credibility.

One powerful way to do this is to simply focus on keep your head still when you speak! Sounds crazy I know but it is true and it works. Head stillness is one of a number of key non verbal cues that effect the way we are perceived by others.

if you don’t believe me - take a look at this clip from Dirty Harry and see for yourself.

A few days ago I was running an advanced presentation skills course and when one of my participants gave her first presentation it was clear that she had fallen into the trap of confusing a presentation with an information dump.   Its not that her content was bad, there was just far too much data and as a result it was almost impossible for the audience to tell the wood from the trees. Couple this deluge of data with a series of very wordy bullet point slides and you have a recipe for disaster.

Thankfully, by the end of the workshop she was starting to get the message and had reworked the presentation into a much more impactful and easily digestible package.

So next time you come to write a presentation remember that less is more.   Be kind to your audience, don’t overwhelm them but instead only present relevant key facts thst help you tell the story you want to tell.   You can always put the extra facts in a concise but detailed handout for those people that really must have all the data!

Today is worldwide blog action day and as a supporter of this campaign I want to talk about what we as presenters and communicators can do to help end poverty.     Poverty is a very big problem and an emotive topic. Whilst most of us would agree that it is a bad thing, we may also believe that it is inevitable and that there just isn’t enough wealth, housing or food to go around.

Seems to me though that, whether this is ultimately true or not, we can still take action to reduce poverty at home and abroad.  So I’d like to challenge you to do just one thing today to tackle the issue of poverty.  Maybe just thinking about it is a good start.  Perhaps you might feel the urge to donate a few quid to a charity that works to help eliminate poverty be it at home or abroad.   Maybe you could choose to buy fairtrade products to help ensure that growers in third world countries get a better deal. Maybe you could buy a copy of the Big Issue rather than walking past the seller on the high street.

Remember too that poverty isn’t just about money, its about attention and even love.   Give your loved ones a little bit more TLC today and you will have made a difference!

In several of my previous posts I have talked about the importance of having a clear outcome for your presentation or speech. Today I’d like to take a look at the next step in the design process - finding a
logical flow.

Your audience need to see that there is a path between your starting point and your outcome and they need to see this logic early on or they will switch off!   Nobody wants to listen to a ramble or apparently disconnected set of information that doesn’t appear to be going anywhere.

So what can you do? Well one way is to consider an “off the shelf” template. There are a number of tried and tested story formats from which you can choose the most appropriate one for your message ad audience.  Here are a few of the simplest and most effective ones.

• The Chronological flow:
  This is a simple, past, present and future structure where you start by talking about the history of the organisation, project or approach then move on to talk about the current situation before finally painting a picture of future developments.

• The Pro’s and Cons Analysis:
  This approach harks back to the classic exam essay question  “Compare the pros and cons  of various  options and then recommend the most appropriate one.”

• The Problem/Solution mode:
  In this template you start by identifying an amplifying a problem or issue faced by your audience,  Then you propose a solution and support your recommendation with appropriate evidence.   This model is often used to great effect in TV commercials for cleaning products.   Scene one - “Oh no! you have a sink full of dirty dishes and your wife is due back in five minutes! Scene 2 - “Don’t worry, a quick squirt of  New JIFFO Cleaner and everything will be sparking clean before you know it!” Scene 3 - “Phew I with JIFFO that was so easy”, Husband putting clean and sparking dishes away just as his wife arrives home”

• The Solution First template:
  In this approach you start by outlining the solution to a real problem, challenge or issue facing your audience and then work backwards to explain how you got to this solution. It’s a bit like a murder mystery where the murderer is revealed early on in the drama and the interest lies in the story of how thy came to be in this position

Choosing a template:
If it is not immediately obvious to you which template to use I suggest you start by getting away from the computer and start by jotting down the main ideas in your presentation onto post it notes.   Stick these up on a suitable wall or whiteboard and step back to see the bigger  picture.  What makes sense?  Move them around and read them as if you were a member of your audience?   What order is simplest?   T and clearest from the listeneres perspective? Next ask yourself “What type of story flow will suit this situation
and help me achieve my desired outcome?”

Crafting a great presentation takes a little more time but the results are always worth it!

I read a great post today from Coachlisab on what to do at the end of a presentation and how we shouldn’t be too self critical.   I also noticed a comment from one of Lisa’s readers saying this was not so easy to do in practice.   So many people seem to be programmed to only look at what didn’t go well.   I’ve seen some great presentations where, after it was all over, the presenter could only talk about the fact that they forgot to mention one piece of information tell one little story.

I am not saying that we need to put on the rose tinted glasses and ignore our mistakes (although maybe that might not be such a bad idea to try and redress the balance for some people I have coached.)   What I am saying is that we do a balanced analysis of our performance.

Here’s a thought.  Next time you complete a presentation,  Take a piece of paper and draw a line down the middle.   At the top of one column right the words “Things I did well”   and at the top of the other “Things I could improve on”

Now take a moment to review your performance making sure that you give at least equal attention to both columns and aim to write more things in the did well column than the could improve on column.   be objective, and remember that what you write down doesn’t need to be a major thing.

• if you actually showed up for the presentation despite your nerves, that’s a positive!
• If you got to the end without drying up, that’s a positive.
• if you communicated more than half of your main messages that’s a positive.
• If somebody congratulated you at the end, that’s a positive

In terms of the “Things to improve” column I recommend that you limit it to a maximum of three things you could possibly do better.  Pick the ones you think would make the biggest impact.

Now finally, look at the positives again and ponder which of those strengths can help you the improve the most if you do more of them?

Be an equal opportunities employer of your own behaviour and learn to deliberately notice what went well as well as what could be improved on.   It’s only being fair!

Why is it that so many business presentations are dry, dull and innefective? Well it could be the presenter’s delivery style or it could be the tedious and wordy powerpoint slides they insist on using but I think there is an even more dangerous principle at work here.

I think that most business presenters think that emotions are left at the door when one walks into the office. People want facts right? Disspassionate, rational arguements supported by lots of data right?

NO! No! No!
It is impossible for us to check our emotions in at the door. Human beings are by definition emotional and therefore no matter how logical we like to think we are, emotions are at the heart of our decision making strategies. If you want to “motivate” your audience to do something as a result of your presentation then you have to engage their “emotional brain”.as well as their logical and analytical side.

Sometimes these emotions will be positive and you can have them imagine what it will feel like when they are experiencing the benefits of your recommended course of action.

And, as I have commented before in earlier posts, sometimes you need to arouse negative emotions such as fear or discomfort. “Imagine what will happen to the company if we don’t adapt to the recent technological changes sweeping our specialism?” “Will we still have a business in two years time if we don’t act now?”

So, realting all this to your own presentations in the future. Think how great you will feel when you can clearly see that your audience are following your arguments and you can tell from the smiles on their faces and the nooding heads, that they are ready and indeed eager to implement your suggestions as soon as they get back to their desks.

Of course you could just keep on doing things the way you have always done them, relying on cold hard facts to do the job on their own. But can you afford the failure rate that such a one sided strategy will inevitably bring? Sure it will work sometimes but is that really good enough in todays tough business climate? Only you can make the call.

I heard my good friend Jim Culverwell use the phrase “pitching beyond the room” last night whilst discussing his approach at networking meetings like BNI and Peer Group Learning.  I loved the phrase  because it sums up a truth that most people who network seem to completely ignore and I had to share it with you.

Many people join networking groups because they just want to sell to the other people in the room.  The challenge is that most groups are full of other people in the same position and in truth, few either need or can afford your services.   So should you give up on networking?  Absolutely not.   What you need to do is remember one simple fact.

Understand that everyone in the room has a huge  network of their own consisting of friends, family, neighbours, colleagues, clients, ex colleagues, social club members, sporting partners and almost certainly some of those people would love what you do and could afford to pay for it if they knew what you did and how you could help them.   In order to capitalise on this inescapable truth , you need to design your pitch to  be attractive to those people who are not in the room but who are connected to those that are.   You also need to help your audience to make the connection in their heads between you and their friend, colleague or client.

How can you do this?  Well one classic way is to verbally paint a picture of the type of person you would like to connect with.  For example I might ask the audience to think of anybody who they know has recently been promoted to a position where they have to stand up on their hind legs and speak in public.   Perhaps they have a friend or neighbour who has been complaining to them about how uncomfortable they feel having to fulfil this new responsibility.   If they have someone like that in mind then II ask them if perhaps they would do both of us a favour by simply making an introduction.   Think of the goodwill that helping a  colleague or client will bring you and all you need to do is put me in touch with them.

So that’s what I mean by pitching outside the room.   Firstly you need to make the mindset shift and realise that the people in the room are not your prospects however they can become your gateway to the type of people you really want to connect with.

Secondly you need to structure your presentation so that you help them to identify potential people who might genuinely benefit from what you do.   It’s all just common sense really but I see people ignoring it every day and I know that their short sightedness and inflexibility is costing them dearly!

Thanks Jim for the timely reminder

This video clip serves four purposes for students of presentation and public speaking skills:

1. It demonstrates the value of a clearly structured message
2. It shows how things like eye contact, body language and vocal variety engage the audience
3. It shows how simple visual aids with well chosen images add to the presentation
4. It contains a valuable message that we all should learn and take heed of.

Enjoy