When reviewing someone else’s presentation, use these lists to help.
Last night I coached a young woman who was being interviewed later this week for a $250,000 full ride scholarship to the college of her choice. She was tasked to give a 15 minute presentation and answer questions to an unknown panel. The challenge she faced is that the organizers from the admissions office gave her no guidance on what questions they wanted answered.
So she prepped a 12 minute demonstration of her robotic arm that won her all sorts of science olympiad awards and consequentially, admission into this prestigious engineering school (just the quarter-million-gulp-dollar-scholarship was on the line). The outcome of the review was that we worked hard to make her opening and closing about the college (not about her), to weave in her key message points about being creative and a problem solver, and found a few ways to interject an equally as impressive career in choir with a personal passion she had in rescuing cats. We walked away with a bit more humanism while not losing the intense technical jargon she believed they wanted to hear about her complicated robotic arm (all of which was way over my head, but I was not the intended audience, so I nodded and smiled during those minutes).
But as I listened to her talk, it brought me back to a training I did in content framing a few weeks ago for a large insurance company. My clients who sponsored the training are tasked daily with reviewing other people’s presentations and making giving them important feedback toward improvement.
But reviewing and giving feedback are hard to break down sometimes when you are busy. So I present here my definitive content review question guide – the critical questions you need to make sure are answered as you are reviewing any presentation.
As Atul Gwande taught us in the Checklist Manifesto, there are some checklists meant to be used before a task, and others, after. To that end, I have presented a “before” and “after” list for your use.
A jump start “before” list – top 5 questions to get a new presentation started:
Who is the audience you are presenting to?
What is the question on their mind?
What did they know about the topic beforehand? / What context do they need?
What is your bottom line answer?
What do you want them to do with the information after the presentation? (the goal!)
A review “after” list – what to look for after you’ve seen a presentation
Did I follow you? Did you tell me where you were headed in the first 2 minutes? Did you wander?
Do I know you / your story and why you have license to deliver the message (appropriate for new hires)?
Can I repeat your key challenge (problem) and answer to the challenge (solution)?
Did I know what you want me to do with the information?
Did each slide (if they were used) have a concluding idea, clearly stated in the header?
Did you give me anything to feel about the topic? Should I be scared? Excited? Moved to immediate action?
And lastly, do I see the intended audience inside the message? In other words, did you make the audience the central character of your story? (as opposed to the presenter being the central character).
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As I think about the student pitching for the scholarship, the most important improvement we made was in having her ask for the scholarship, “Choose me for this scholarship and I will bring my passion and creativity to four years of academic excellence on your campus.” In the “before” version, she never stated her goal. In the “after” there was no doubt – she was not just there to share her robotic arm. She was there to be chosen and most simply, to win.
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Is it Really a Presentation Problem?
The look I imagine these supervisors had before calling me with the "presentation problem."
These are calls I’ve gotten recently from clients, concerned about performances of some of their key women.
“She is fine when she’s one-on-one with colleagues, but as soon as she goes into a group meeting or presentation, she clams up. We know she has good communication skills, but she refuses to use them.”
“During the presentation, she didn’t read the room well. She’s done this talk many times and practiced it over and over. Just because a few people were unhappy with the direction, it must have thrown her off because she just kept talking. Someone in the pitch ultimately asked her to sit down in the middle of her unfinished deck.”
“I had a board member look at me and say, “You say they do good work (this internal team made of women), but wow their presentations are horrible. How could that be? – they are a communications team!”
“She has a great communication style and reports that she isn’t nervous, but every time she starts a presentation or even a conversation with a group – she begins to be blush. Her neck turns completely red for at least 15 minutes. How could that be so incongruent with what she’s feeling inside?”
“She answered a question of a board member that should have taken 1 sentence to complete. Instead she took 5 minutes to get it out. She knew the information, what happened?”
Five different industries. Five different situations. Five different women, ages, backgrounds. So what’s the connection?
Each of these calls came from a concerned supervisor. They wanted me to help coach these specific executives into better communication behaviors. You know, be concise. Answer the question asked. Speak up. Be clear. Be compelling. Be engaging.
But each of these executives had communication skills. Sure, we could work on a few improvements. But there was other work that had to be done first.
I’ll call it grounding.
My colleague Suzanne Roberts is the expert at this, and I’ll extrapolate what I’ve learned from her insightful and sustainable somatic coaching.
We each have history and experience that comes with us wherever we are. And if that history and those experiences have not been reconciled – they will rear their ugliness at times of pressure, stress and uncertainty. Like a consequential presentation.
We don’t feel grounded. Or maybe more exactly – we may have consciously convinced ourselves we are grounded – but subconsciously, we really aren’t. And then our “psycho-biology” kicks in. In short, our body works without the advent of self-control from our brain. The closed body stance. The flush neck. Ignoring other’s non-verbals. Over-talking.
So when I was talking to the supervisor of the woman who wouldn’t speak up. I asked a few basic questions because I suspected what Suzanne calls “secondary trauma.” Meaning, she wasn’t personally injured or hurt, but she was around someone who was. Or saw pain and suffering that impacted her. Indeed, her parents were divorced and she had a sister that died in her teens. But more importantly, she had a previous boss who gave her difficult feedback – harsh, rude, negative feedback. Not ever positive or developmental. In those meetings she’s feeling like she has a faultine she’s standing on. So she freezes. It’s safe there (really?). There’s no risk in freezing since you do nothing (your body says). Until your supervisor says your job is on the line if you don’t step up and contribute (yipes!).
Others may flee – avoid the situation. Others defend – talking too much – questioning themselves and their knowledge. And even others may fight back. Take a punch, blame the behavior on someone else. “They didn’t prepare me well for the situation I was about to enter.”
The woman that ignored the feedback? She was trained as a beauty queen as a youth. She didn’t know how to take feedback that wasn’t smiling and clapping, so that’s what she looked for. She ignored all other signs of not doing “perfect.” She had no recovery mechanism.
So as you evaluate, coach and monitor both yourself and your colleagues’ communication inefficiencies, be sure to dig a little deeper at the subconscious triggers that are informing behavior. Because like it or not, we carry all of our experiences with us and it take work to know how to have self-control to keep them from getting in the way of a great presentation.
Articulation Inc will be addressing these issues in concert with Unifying Solutions with a new workshop offering in Fall, 2014. Email ruth (at) articulationinc.com for more information.
No CommentsThe Talk of Your Life.
Which way do you read that?
The TALK of your life.
or
The talk of your LIFE.
I want to talk about both.
In coaching speakers toward a major talk – i.e. a Keynote address to 1000, a major presentation and of course, many TEDx talks – I have seen a recurring theme as one of the outcomes. Many, if not all, as a result of preparing the talk of their lives change the talk of their lives.
“I have not taught the same way since I delivered that TEDx talk in 2011,” reported Dr. Maryanna Klatt, a professor at The Ohio State University.
So what can be learned about how we prepare, organize, sequence and deliver our more casual deliveries of messages from the times that we have to stand at the podium with blaring lights in our faces, headsets taped to our cheeks and an audience of people expecting to be engaged. Even if you never have a chance to delivery that “platform” speech, you will more deeply understand what speakers like Maryanna experienced to apply to your own everyday deliveries.
In this series I hope to tease out many lessons I have learned over the last few years from my clients and TEDx speakers. I have read most (if not all) the books on presentation skills, public speaking, storytelling, but I have yet to find one that anchors from the point of view of the speaker him or herself. As I collaborate with dozens and dozens of individuals in helping them find their voice, their content and their story for the talks of their lives, I hope to reveal insight about mindset, organization, structure, story curation, practice and delivery that others can learn from.
I’m thrilled to have the collaboration of Rich Bowers who last year, during TEDxColumbus, built an archive of video footage for a documentary of a few speakers working their way through the TEDx pathway — from being selected to actually presenting. We expect to do the same again this year to compare with last year’s findings. We wanted to better understand what it took to prepare for this Talk of their Lives. Stay tuned for the findings. They may surprise you.
From the collaboration with Rich in addition to a host of data I’ve collected from my own ongoing clients, I hope to produce a useful series of posts that will help anyone prepare for any talk. Many of these topics I have blogged about for the last few years, but hope to sequence and relate to you, the speaker, in the order you need them. And the expectation is that it may change the way you change every talk you give in your life, not just the TALK of your life.
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Tools 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 CommentsOne 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 problem with the panel.
TECHColumbus Marketing Technology Panel. September 7, 2011
Let me thank the panelists from last week’s Women and Marketing event at TECHColumbus: Joan Manter, Nancy Bohman, Amy Marshall and Padma Sastry. I won’t repeat the content of the panel discussion since Nancy has a wonderful recap on her blog.
But what I do want to explore for a moment is the notion of the panel as a presentation format.
Yes, it may seem hypocritical that I’m in the photo above moderating last week’s panel and now want to question its veracity.
The reality is when I accepted the invitation, I insisted that we all gather to map out a ‘panel plan.’ And indeed, I made good on my promise and helped them wrestled a narrow topic presented in the form of five thought-provoking questions that each of us would answer. While unstated to the group, my goals in facilitating this plan were:
a. Do not have any replicating content, i.e., we each need to say something worthwhile and different;
b. Find a quality example (story, anecdote) to illuminate the ‘answers to the questions,’ i.e., give what we say a fighting chance to be remembered;
c. End on time, i.e. if we are remembered for anything, don’t make people blame us for being late to work.
So, interestingly enough, I believe the general goals from TECHColumbus in having the panel were to:
a. explore a topic that would attract an interesting group of women
b. showcase some industry experts on their turf
c. facilitate networking
All really noble goals.
But therein lies the problem with the panel, in general. It is not designed with the very broad audience in mind. At least the audience as a person listening to content. Trying to decide what is important. Who is credible. What they should take back to their desks and repeat to their colleagues. In between three cups of morning coffee. Rather, it is designed with the audience as a person who wants to network and be seen.
I visited Wikipedia a while ago on a whim looking for insight. My hypotheses was correct (for once). The “panel” was created as a listening tool, not a talking one. As in panel of judges, listening to a case.
You can see from Wikipedia’s list of purposes that a panel serves, none of them center on inviting a group of people who don’t know each other to sit together and talk to others who are there to listen. It is usually the other way around.
I asked someone at our local discussion forum which I admire greatly, Columbus Metropolitan Club, once, why do you have panels? And his candid response was: it helps to drive a crowd. If there are experts on the panel with whom people can affiliate, then there will be attendance. Fair enough.
But I’ll say it out loud. As an presentation format, I’m not a big fan of the panel. Tough for panelists to get connected, coordinated and in a good flow; tough for the audience to follow, comprehend and be impacted.
As a tool for resonating an idea, creating buzz, telling a true story, transferring knowledge or even evoking one emotion, don’t look to the panel.
As a tool to market your organization, gain some awareness, or as a vehicle for networking, sign it up.
No CommentsSeek the question
A friend told me recently he was invited to speak to the Board of Trustees at his institution. We discussed that while he knew the topic well, he didn’t know the exact question he was answering.
“Does there need to be a question,” he asked?
So — You decide which pathway would bring him to a more resonating presentation:
#1 : Address the topic: The college’s role in commercialization. His likely talk: Broad, linear, maybe rambling, definitely programmatic.
#2 : Question focus (hypothetically): Why is our college’s commercialization role slipping against other universities and what can we do to regain our leading role, and furthermore, more revenue for the institution? His likely talk: audience attentive, result oriented, anecdote rich, recommendation specific, highly resonating.
So this month’s tip: seek the question, even if your audience hasn’t expressly stated it. You must reveal the primal issue tugging at their minds to assure they will listen. And not to mention, it helps to achieve some critical presentation goals:
– it forces you to be relevant today. (i.e. can’t use the old talk from last month)
– it assures your talk isn’t a conversation with yourself
– it gives your story (i.e. the answer) hope of being syndicated (i.e. repeated)
And if you don’t know the question, don’t give the talk! Your audience will thank you for it.
No CommentsHow was your summer?
In our Influential Storytelling class at ar.tic.u.la.tion, we apply critical thinking methodologies to help properly frame a story. So on our summer family vacation a week ago, I thought I’d test the logic with my 7 year old daughter. What better story to practice than “what I did this summer,” knowing she’d be quizzed upon returning to school in a few days.
We found some post it notes at our cabin (lucky us) and brainstormed every memorable summer moment. After coming up with 40 points, I suggested we try to group them in 3 themes. We came up with four different grouping options:
One set were grouped by who participated in the moments with her and her brother – us, her sitter or others.
Another group was where they did them- at home, in town, or out of town.
A third was by old things, new things and things to repeat.
The last was by activity type – sitting down, standing up or in a pool!
Before you claim I’m a horrible parent for inflicting such a rigorous overlay to my daughter’s outstanding summer, she called uncle and stopped it as it was “boring.” And it was.
We hadn’t gotten to how to weave in the great visual support for any example – such as of learning to play tee ball, learning about Cleopatra in Cincinnati, building a train with her brother in the basement art space, or watching movies outdoors at the local park. For a seven year old, the fun was in the examples, not the story structure. Fair enough for a girl still on vacation.
The point is that she won’t have time or space to report all 40 activities when she answers the question. Ideally, she’d have a great narrative rooted in three general groups that revealed a supporting example- and illustrated succinctly why her summer was so awesome. Of course I don’t expect her (yet) to understand this, but by the time our official Storytelling Class closes each time, our clients certainly should.
So, tell me, how was your summer?
No CommentsOne Keynote, Five Parts.
Experience Columbus, our travel and tourism bureau, invited articulation to help curate their “keynote address” for their annual meeting. These five dynamic people pictured above ended up being the participants in what became a ‘fam tour’ — five short stories that wove a larger story about how Columbus is a great destination for tourism and travel — told like they may share it with a reporter who was visiting Columbus. Dare I say, we had a phenomenal experience working each story so that it was true to their own personal perspectives but working as a larger unit for the audience to follow and enjoy.
Many thanks to Christina Getachew, Kamal Boulous, Joe Santry, Jeni Britton and Nannette Macijeunes for their fantastic cooperation and even more outstanding deliveries. Some of you were hesitant, nervous and reluctant — but in the end, everyone really embraced the theater in the round, the teleprompters and headsets like it’s a part of your every day job. Bravo!
Christina Getachew as seen on the projection screen at the Experience Columbus luncheon.