Our Influential Storytelling Class
Last week we re-launched our Influential Storytelling class. Like all good motors, it needed a tune up, and just in time too. These 15 participants came together from 7 different organizations to get down to the business of “story.”
One of the attendees in his evaluation said:
“It is rare that one experiences something that could truly change the way they behave. I like to tell stories but often feel that I give way too much info in the beginning and never get to the point. The idea of “architecting” stories is powerful AND I plan to use it.”
The workshop weaves blending of learnings we’ve had over the years between our critical thinking class, our four years of experience with TED and TEDx, our every day coaching of a wide range of speakers and our own pen-to-paper discipline of helping to write a major keynote address at least once a month. If we have a headline show right now in our toolkit of learning, this would be it.
Who needs this class?
Last week, the day after our class, I visited with a CEO of a major financial services firm. She recounted a situation where one of her top financial analysts had been meeting with their executive team for 8 weeks to review some trending data about a big part of their financial situation (I wish I could tell you what part but clearly it was sensitive and confidential). For 8 weeks during these meetings, she said they smiled and nodded, then politely put the charts and graphs in their folders each week, pretending to understand. It wasn’t until week 9 when the analyst came to the meeting with the following metaphor: “Let me explain that this situation I’ve been trying to paint for you is like cutting off the oxygen to our respiratory system. We are literally running out of breath.” She said it wasn’t until he related it to something she understood – the critical nature of breathing – that she finally “got it.”
Albeit a few weeks late, that is a well told story. Both the CEO and the analyst would have been well served to understand the power that a simple metaphor can bring – and how and when to use them. They also would have been well served to be able to coach each other on other effective storytelling tools – bottomlining, changing a point of view and a clear, concise message to list a few.
If you are having a hard time getting your critical messages across and evoking the behavior you seek to change, may we suggest a little dose of storytelling may just go a long way.
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The Value of ‘Values in Action’ Stories
So I guess if you don’t have company values, it would be hard to tell any “values in action” stories about them. But the reality is, we all drive our businesses on a set of SOME values – and we behave consistent with them every day. Harvesting those stories that best demonstrate how you live out your values needs to be an intentional effort, however, so they can be shared and passed around — building trust, resilience, reputation and maintaining a vision.
At the 2012 Annual Meeting of the Greater Columbus Chamber of Commerce, resource interactive Founder Nancy Kramer gave a resonating and lively speech reflecting on her company’s values and how they positioned resource for sustainable growth. We were fortunate to have the opportunity to partner with her on this talk, which, as you can tell if you watch through to the end, made it one memorable event.
Once you are done watching the talk, see if you can repeat back the stories she uses to demonstrate their values.
1 CommentBe committed
This week one of our clients hit a grand slam on a major talk. When reflecting internally how many discreet “steps” she took from acceptance of the invitation to the final delivery, we counted 26. And those are the ones we know about.
Giving a keynote address is a daunting task. You have to answer the question on the audience’s mind, achieve your own communication goal (to teach? Inspire? Sell?), entertain them and be done before they ‘check out.’. And lest we forget, hope they remember and repeat what you’ve just said.
Our tip this month is be committed to a quality process. Had our client not truly appreciated the time and attention her talk required, it would have suffered. From the revisions of the story structure, to recordings of early versions, to editing and narrowing, to practicing and rehearsing, this is like a seven course meal. No drive-thru customers need apply.
And what we learn from Kids
Last week we finished our six-week pilot class that ended with the first US based TEDxKids event that featured elementary school students as the speakers (only one other has been done in Scotland prior to ours). We learned a great lesson about public speaking. Start them early! See the videos here, and read about our class here. And a PSA: if you have kids, I guarantee you they, too, have big ideas that should be heard!
No CommentsThink you can
When I asked a client recently why she was nervous heading into a big talk, one of her first replies was “I beat myself up for the last bad talk I gave.”
Speaking when your medium isn’t language.
On the TEDxColumbus stage over the last three years, we’ve had a variety of performance artists: musicians, poets and such. This post is not about them.
It is about those individuals who have a medium other than their own voice, movement or acting to express their artistry (design, painting). I turned to wikipedia for a definition: An artist also may be defined unofficially as “a person who expresses him- or herself through a medium.”
But what happens when you ask an artist to communicate their thoughts in another manner – most commonly, language (written or spoken) – that also has critiques, deadlines, a huge audience and permenant record through video?
My hypotheses is that when an artist whose medium is not language is forced to communicate his/her work through language (spoken or written) the process is troubling.
So something oddly coincidental happened within the 12 hours before our TEDxColumbus 2011 event. Of the 18 speakers and performers, 3 of them attempted to impose changes to their slides within 12 hours before the program began. And by all accounts, they were the three artists of the group who were going to speak.
They otherwise distinguished themselves by a few screaming characteristics. And the fact is, I’ve had several other clients and TEDx speakers who have exhibited the same behavior. But it wasn’t until I saw them side by side within 24 hours did I finally get it.
The characteristics were:
– The process of preparing a talk was torturous. Having to meet any deadline, having to go through any edit or review, having to had the talk DONE before the talk itself was simply a life-altering experience. And not always a good one.
– Their topics kept evolving. Sure, they were generally in the same realm of the idea they originally proposed discussing, but the end result was fairly far distant from where we started. Imagine someone saying to you: “I’m going to be a devil for Halloween” and they turn up on stage looking like an angel. That might be great for Halloween but not a TEDx talk.
– To the aforementioned point, they never finished their talk so therefore they didn’t really practice it. And when they showed up to rehearsal, they were still in an edit mode. And the next day, another edit. And really, through their sleep the night before the event, another.
– In hindsight, they wanted to talk about a different topic altogether. Everyone wants to give a different talk after they’ve given one, that’s pretty common. But these folks wanted to pick a different topic.
Earlier this year, I had the pleasure of working with another local artist in preparing for a book tour. When we were done working on her talk, she said she thought she needed a second talk. The creative genius in her didn’t want to be done.
I am placing no judgment on the way these colleagues of mine navigate the pathway of getting on the stage to make remarks. I’m simply suggesting, if you are one of these people, please remember that the best talks benefit from rehearsals and practice. And if you are in a constant state of revision, then the talk never quite is done and well, probably is never really practiced.
Be okay with a moment, just a moment, of ‘done.’ There will be plenty more revisions to make to artwork, drawings, concepts and plans that don’t involve an audience trying to follow – or subsequently share – your ideas.
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Visual, Verbal and Vocals, not just for High Schoolers
Allyson, my outrageously dedicated associate, got to take the stage herself this week for the first time since joining ar.tic.u.la.tion full time in May. She was invited to speak at a local high school – not our typical audience – so she worked hard to adjust one of our favorite tips for them on connecting your vocal, verbal and visual presentations. Below she shares her experience and a few ways she got her message to resonate:
A good friend of mine asked me to speak in her public speaking class at a local high school. I’ve helped to write presentations in the past, but this was my first experience creating it on my own for ar.tic.u.la.tion and presenting on my own. Needless to say, I was a bit nervous. Fifteen year-olds can be brutal and my friend didn’t provide me with much direction, “speak about your ar.tic.u.la.tion stuff,” she said. I thanked her for being so specific.
I finally settled on talking about connecting the visual, vocal and verbal in a presentation. (Knowing that they recently finished a unit on non-verbal communication, I thought this could be a strong topic- my friend agreed.) This is topic we’ve discussed 100 times with our adult clients, but how do I make it relevant to a high school student?
I broke it down. What are visuals? Most of us think that visuals are describing the powerpoint slides you create, that is not always the case. Visuals consist of everything the audience sees, including your appearance, your non-verbals (gestures, eye movement, pacing) and any visual aids you use. Easy enough.
Next, it was on to vocals. Most people probably think vocal and verbal are the same thing. Not so. When we say vocals we are describing the presenters pace, tone, volume, etc. This is where I caught the kids attention. Who remembers this ad from FedEx from the late 1980s? I knew they wouldn’t (they weren’t born yet) so it was fun to share :
The kids thought it was hilarious and not just for the outdated technology. They couldn’t understand him as he was a little loud and fairly monotone. This is exactly what I was hoping for. It is easy to let your nerves get the best of you to and speak too quickly, especially as a new speaker. It is important to pause so the audience has a chance to process what you’re saying. These pauses also allow you, as the speaker, to collect your thoughts before you move on to the next topic.
Finally, we discussed verbals and the importance of choosing your words carefully. No one wants to sit in a presentation that is filled with jargon that they don’t understand. I illustrated this by using jargon from Harry Potter. Most of the kids in the room were familiar with the Harry Potter books or movies. So, they understood the idea of muggles, horcruxes and quidditch. However, if they were explaining the story to their parents using these terms might be confusing (if their parents aren’t familiar with the story). The students could truly relate to this topic. This was a perfect example of knowing your audience. Had I been in a room full of adults, this example might not have worked so well.
I finished my presentation by watching a clip of performance poet Sarah Kay, who does an excellent job of connecting her visuals, vocals and verbals in a very rehearsed but seemly natural way that the students would understand.
Connecting the visual, vocal and verbal is something that every presenter needs to remember and practice. It doesn’t matter if you are a 15-year-old public speaking student or a seasoned presenter, we tend to neglect connecting these elements and the audience can tell. Spending a little more time practicing the content will help any presenter decide where to place pauses to be most effective, how to gesture during a particular section, where to add inflection and when to change the slides (if you are even using them).
No CommentsTools of the trade
Rose Smith, during her highly provocative poetry performance at TEDxColumbus, challenged us all to betools. You know, as in a conduit for helping others, making change or doing good.
While my tip this month isn’t as deep, her challenge made me think about the tools that the speakers used during TEDxColumbus in their variety of preparation pathways (and let me tell you, there was some variety!). So, if you are making your list for Santa, here’s a few things to consider:
– A whiteboard. Map out your talk to see the main buckets of information or how it will flow. When you get away from your computer, the logic of your talk can have more meaning. Claudia Kirsch and I spent an afternoon shaping her sequence on a whiteboard which became a major point of clarity in refining her key messages.
– Your own personal clicker (yes, you can own one too). So that when your slides are done, you can practice working on transitions so that your verbal – vocal and visual messages align. We lent ours to Maryanna Klatt to practice with her slides, she said it made the world of difference. (Here are a few options of where to get one.)
– A recording device. The analog version would be a tape recorder, the digital might be voicememos on your iPhone or iPad. Theresa Flores used this extensively in her practice, whereby keeping the story in her head (and off of a script, the computer or notes) and making immediate improvements to her pace, sequence and influctions.
– Time. Give yourself the gift of some more days or hours to prepare. Bart Overly said he spent 100 hours preparing this talk (take a look at his slides and you’ll know why), Alex Bandar spent between 30-40, a more typical expenditure. Either one of them will tell you the time helped them be as prepared for their talks as any they’ve given.
While you may not be giving a TED/TEDx talk anytime soon, chances are one of these tools might come in handy for your next talk wherever it may be.
No CommentsIt’s my turn for the stage
This week I’ll be speaking at the Cityworks (X)po in Roanoke, Virginia. I was invited to speak on behalf of the TEDx global community, which now equates to 3417 events in 117 countries. Humbled, yes. Nervous, no. Since this is my “TEDx” season, the content is omnipresent in the brain, especially thanks to a great hour-long talk show with our leading local radio host.
For those of you curious about my preparation runway for a major talk, here are my 5 steps. These aren’t for everyone, but they work for me.
- Research on everything. Audience, venue, potential facts to include, reading trends, other related videos. Then let simmer.
- Work on governing idea – what’s the one thing I’ll leave them with? Develop no more than 3 key buckets of support. Brainstorm stories to resonate the buckets.
- Talk it through on my voice memos app. Transcribe it. Reverse engineer the outline to revise number two.
- Talk it through again, and make a list of visual imagery I need to resonate the stories. Research, download, buy or borrow visuals.
- Practice, syndicate and practice again. Make a note card with outline as backup.
One Client’s Pathway to Resonance
Everyone has their own preparation path toward great speaking, we’re thrilled to see what changes our clients have made in theirs.
One of our clients shared with me in an email that her speaking style had improved so much after her sessions with us. I asked her for what strategies were helping HER the most. Her response:
“In the past sometimes I would just wing it. I would know the topic and would just go for it. This new way I am ready to speak on every slide, I know it cold. They could do the slides backward and I could do it. I can also tell you exactly how long my program will be.
The other thing is the stories. I told stories in the past but did not place them in certain places on purpose – for example the story at the start to get their attention and why this program is something “they” need to hear…
I have also changed how I am introduced. I never liked for people to hear all that info about me. So I am much more comfortable with a short intro that tells them why they should listent to me.
The other thing I am doing different is I used to be a walker and now I stay behind the stand and it keeps me focused and helps me to look around the room in a more controlled uniform matter.”
No CommentsThe Coaches’ Coach.
My normal client is the person or team that wants to up their game in their critical thinking, storytelling and/or presentation skills. Last week I switched hats and became a coach to the coaches.
A group of curators from TEDx programs in San Diego and Jackson Hole asked me for some help in how they should coach their speakers. So I put together my thoughts, we fired up a webinar and I woke up from an early evening nap to join in the group at 9pm (my time!). I was supposed to be teaching them tips, but instead, I learned a few things too. Here are three worth sharing:
A. When coming up with an idea to discuss, always challenge yourself to think bigger. San Diego had a speaker who was a “Horse Whisperer” but her real idea was about how we listen to and respond to things in nature. The assigned coach struggled with the “so what” when discussing the Horse idea, but got to a “aha” when we moved it one level higher.
B. Don’t assume your speakers will understand the basic tools of a great talk (besides their big idea). Included but not limited to: the opening hook, making the audience the central character of the story, give them the bottom line first and create visuals with WORDS first and then resonate them further with images. If someone hasn’t ever given a talk before, these tools will help anchor the beginning of a great framework.
C. And lastly, you can make a good speaker out of a great idea. But you cannot go the other way. As we were talking, I was reminded that it’s really okay if a speaker’s style does not outshine their idea. But even a bad idea cannot be saved by a great speaker. (And in the case of a TEDx organizer, it is a big hairy sign to not extend the invite to speak).
I’m happy to send the webinar recording to anyone that would like to see it. Just email me here.
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