tagged: Presentation Training page: 1

The journey to give a TEDx talk: A documentary.

After the first TEDxColumbus event in 2009 at the Wexner Center, I remember thinking the day after: why aren’t I doing more of “THIS?”  This being helping speakers architect their story and find their voice.  And deliver what I am now calling “The Talk of Your Life.”  It is what lead me to create ar.tic.u.la.tion and the work I do every day.

Now, thanks to video producer Rich Bowers and his desire to follow the success of TEDxColumbus, the journey of two TEDxColumbus 2012 speakers and my passion for coaching people through this experience, we now have this awesome documentary. In a little over an hour, you’ll hear and see the pathway that Naomi Stanford and Jan Allen took on their way to the TEDxColumbus stage, and a lot of my ramblings on how I interpret the TEDx platform, preparation process and my coaching approach.

I’d like to personally thank Naomi and Jan for their participation and extra effort that went into this project. They allowed themselves to be vulnerable, transparent and authentic through each interview.   It is my hope and goal that it becomes another valuable and insightful tool for future speakers to use to appreciate the successful ingredients to a wildly successful talk and experience.

Because as Jan said, “You come out of this process a different person than when you went in.”

 

And here are Jan and Naomi’s full TEDxColumbus talks:

 

 

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When do you NOT need a story?

I got that question on Friday while I was training 80 HR trainers in our all-day Influential Storytelling workshop.  I promptly replied with an unusual thinking-out-loud-rambling-answer that “I didn’t think so.”  Then I promptly told a story why.

I was reminded when I heard this talk a few years ago when I sat in the audience craving a story to balance out the facts she was presenting. At the end, she told a story, but a wrong one (in my opinion). Her message did not resonate and in fact, it lost credibility with me.

Remember, the definition of a story is the bridge that connects what you do know and care about with what you don’t yet know and care about.

I went through several scenarios to test if there was ever a time you didn’t need one. Here’s my result:

– When you have data to share. Sure, you can use a story to help shape what the data is saying.

– When you have a procedure or how-to list. Of course, sharing a story can help someone sequence in their mind the steps you expect them to take.

– When you have an analysis or trend. It would be hard to share the trend without demonstrating one of the stories that represents the trend, right?

– When you want to introduce someone. Well, that in and of itself is a story of who they are.

– When you want to explain a rumor or challenge. It’s likely a metaphor will be needed to explain the vision to emerge from it.

I’m open, but having a hard time finding a time when a story can’t be used. It may not always be needed – but certainly, it can be desired – especially by your audience who wants to connect with your message.

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Elevators rarely get stuck.

Great critical thinking, provocative storytelling, clear governing thought and memorable supporting points.  All in 60 seconds.  It can be done!!

How so?

Listen here to a compelling story on the ultimate 60-second elevator pitch contest that aired on This American Life last Sunday.

It may make you re-think your next pitch.  And email.  And voicemail.  And blog post…

Enough said.

Going up?

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Hook ’em.

Everyone has their pet peeves.  I have my pet loves.  Among them, really awesome opening hooks.  As in, how do you grab your audience from the first words out of your mouth. That means, ‘Thank you for having me,” or,
“I’m here to discuss an idea…” are no where to be heard.

This week at TEDGlobal, among the 12 or so talks that I got to hear live (via our TEDxLive@Columbus livestream), two grabbed me:

Pamela Meyer’s talk on Lies.  She opened by accusing essentially everyone in the audience of being a liar: “The person to the right of you is a liar.  The person to the left of you is a liar.  And the person sitting in your seat is a liar.” (paraphrased since the talk is not published yet.  I’ll link it here when it is.)

Aside from an artfully chosen opening, her talk continued the same engaging cadence, weaving story and fact, detail and reason. Not to mention, she provided some great tips on how to spot a liar (hence the name of her book, Lie Spotting).

Now, if we believed in the rules of PERP (the sequence that helps audiences overcome the communication bias — Point, Example, Reason, Point), the next TEDTalk by Tim Harford, also a TEDGlobal speaker this week, violates them.  We aren’t exactly sure what his point is since he starts with his example, and he risks losing the audience by not sharing where he’s headed at the start.

But it matters not.

His opening hook story and his engaging storytelling style keeps you rapt to want to know more.  And in particular, how he’s going to weave it into a poignancy to which we’ll relate and want to hear more. Watch it here:

Lesson is:  Make sure you have your opening hook planned carefully.  Usually I suggest writing it last after the rest of your talk is complete.  Those nervous jitters can lock you down for the first few minutes of any talk — which is when you need to be most engaged and captivating.

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What it takes to be successful.

One of my clients called me yesterday to share how her recent presentation went. We’d spent about 6 hours together reviewing, practicing, taping, testing, editing and more. It was a 45 minute talk to a consequential group in her industry.

She couldn’t retain her excitement.

“So I started with that story we practiced – where I made them imaging a certain place and time that highlighted an uncomfortable moment with the ‘pain’ I wanted to help alleviate. And from there on, I had them paying attention to the core of my talk. It worked perfectly.” she said.

But she also said she arrived a day early and practiced 10 times in her hotel room. And the morning of the talk, she practiced 10 more times. Apparently, it paid off when she admitted there was one big error in her slide deck.

“My home office sent me a slightly different version than the one I was working from — and I didn’t verify that it was correct. During the presentation, I probably would have panicked had I not practiced so much, but when I hit the slide that didn’t match my notes, I went from memory and continued without a hitch.”

I asked her how she knew that her presentation went well.

“At the end they had dozens of questions. The other presenters had none.”

The lesson learned is that everyone has a different practice pattern to be successful. This client had identified she needed to improve before an even more significant speech later this summer – and used this smaller presentation as a “warm up” to the bigger one. While the topics are totally different, she now has a basis on which to gague what time and effort she personally will need to succeed.

“I understand how to construct the talk, make the slides effective and what practice I need. It’s a whole lot more than I’ve ever invested in any other talk, and I’m pleased to say, it paid off – especially in the confidence I have now to tackle the next one.”

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