SpeakU’s S-I-M-P-L-E Workbook · 2015-09-20 · Glossophobia, the fear of public speaking. The...

Thank you for your interest in the SpeakU presentation education program. Our program will walk you through developing successful, engaging, and memorable presentations using our proprietary S-I-M-P-L-E process; don’t worry we will make it simple. When completed, I’m sure you will look at presentations and your preparations differently, be a stronger presenter, and increase your sales and/or salary by being a better communicator and presenter.

I carefully developed this process during my decade of delivering thousands of presentations and coaching other presenters to be more engaging, confident, and successful in their delivery. My coaching has helped my clients acquire millions of dollars in bid presentations, increased hourly rates from content marketing, increases in salary, and increased speaker fees. My background in zoo education may sound unusual, but it lead me here and helped me see the entire picture of presentations. Unlike most presentation coaches and training programs that only cover delivering presentations, I will teach you how to prepare, practice, and refine your presentation, making your delivery even easier. In addition, because of my education background, we will review learning styles to ensure your audience fully understands while you command the room.

While presenting for the zoo, my audiences ranged from three-year-olds to high school students to their grandparents, this is why I became an expert in simplification, in which I tailored the complexity of my message to the audience’s understanding. [Try explaining complex animal biology to a 3-year-old and you’ll see why this is important.] This expertise lead me to training numerous technical professions to not only deliver strong presentations, but also to simplify their message so clients and prospects understand them and therefore buy from them. Over the following modules, I will walk you through my S-I-M-P-L-E process with videos, presentations, exercises, observations, and more training techniques to improve your presentation skills.

Founder of Speak Simple, creator of SpeakU Author of Speak Simple – The Art of Simplifying Technical Presentations.

SpeakU’s S-I-M-P-L-E Workbook

First Edition

Copyright ©2014 by Erica Olson

Published by Speak Simple

New Orleans, Louisiana

Printed in the United States of America

All rights reserved. Except as permitted under U.S.

Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication

may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in

any form or by any means,

or stored in a database or retrieval system, without

the prior written permission of the publisher.

Visit our website at www.SpeakU.com.

©2014 Speak Simple and SpeakU.com. All rights reserved. 3

IntroductionHow SpeakU is SetupUse this workbook as your guide through each of our modules. To help you learn and to keep things exciting, I’ve included multiple methods of learning including text to read, exercises to perform, videos to watch, audio to listen to, and supplemental materials.

Many lessons include audio recordings (represented by the icon on the right), videos from

Erica, videos of other presentations, and SlideShare presentations. You can access them all via SpeakU.com using your username (email address) and password. These materials are specific to the section you’re working in and will help demonstrate an skill or build your awareness of a common presentation mistake.

Write in Your Login Info

Username (usually your email address)

Password (you can change it at anytime)

©2014 Speak Simple and SpeakU.com. All rights reserved.4

IntroductionProgram OverviewSpeakU is a nine-part presentation education program designed to walk you through all of the elements of strategizing, creating, preparing, and practicing a successful presentation. The course materials come from my trials and errors presenting over 1,000 presentations and helping coach hundreds more to become better presenters. I back my research with psychology studies explaining the why things are the way they are and proven exercises to prepare you to be a confident speaker. This course includes all of the private coaching teachings that I do with my clients over the course of two years; I’ve compiled all that into a single workbook for you with supplemental resources online.

The workbook is broken into the following modules:

Introduction - This section focuses on Glossophobia, the fear of public speaking. The module explains why fear exists and some psychology proven techniques to conquer this disabling fear along with other resources to get you started with the trainings.

Strategy - A lesson on the thoughts and options that must be taken into consideration when

developing a presentation. The strategy you set is the backbone of your presentation and must be chosen carefully.

Identify - Discusses why you should identify who your audience is each time along with how to identify them. This section includes tips for choosing your talking points, organizing them, and discovering your transitions to easily move from one thought to the next.

Mechanics I - This entire section dedicated to your body language and gestures. Discover what your body does when you speak and tips to maximize your speech’s effectiveness with strategic movements.

Mechanics II - The second Mechanics module continues on previous message of body language. Here we discuss body language, focusing on your facial features, eye contact, and voice. All of these aspects can either been an asset or cause misunderstanding.

Personal - We will discuss why you need to personalize your message to your life and thoughts. This module discusses how to tailor your presentation to accommodate your


IntroductionProgram Overview [continued]

audience’s learning styles and personalities as well as offers tips on how to change your presentation every time you give it to keep your sanity.

Language - Many presenters often do not think about the verbiage they use when talking to an audience. We’ll review the importance of talking at your client’s knowledge level and items to remove from your word selection to ensure understanding, engagement, and retention.

Engage - This module reviews how to make a connection with your audience and strategies to add excitement to your presentation so both you and your audience do not get bored. Many times, engagement with a speaker is the difference between a good presentation and a great one, but most people can’t put their finger on it because it just “clicks”. We’ll review ways to utilize emotion to hook your audience’s attention and ways to lose their attention as well.

Conclusion - The final module summarizes what we’ve discussed throughout the trainings and reviews proper techniques to practicing your presentation so you are fully prepared to deliver

an amazing presentation. I include sage advice that I’ve learned through the years and what to do when things do not go according to plan.

I’ve also included an Appendix with resources to assist you including common key commands for PowerPoint, different monitor (display) ports, and how to set up a projector and laptop. This is followed by the Index that lists each major learning component and it’s respective page number for easy reference when brushing up on your skills down the road.

I’m always looking to improve my trainings. If you find any sections extra difficult or think of a new exercise or resource, please let me know. Enjoy your journey in becoming a better presenter and don’t forget to share your success story!


IntroductionInitial Presenter AssessmentDirections: Use this assessment to review a presenter’s skills, including your own. You can use this to learn what makes other presenters great by breaking down their presentation into manageable elements to review and improve upon. I’ve included three assessments in this workbook

for you to do for yourself now, in the middle of your learning, and at the conclusion to see how far you’ve come. (You may find it easier to have someone else assess your presentation. Have the same person do all three reviews to ensure consistency and continuity.

Prepared & Knows Subject (Not reading slides)

Voice Projection (Back of Room Can Hear)

Eye Contact with Audience

Body Placement in Room

Movement (Strong, Not Distracting like Pacing)

Body Gestures (Purposeful)

Props Useful, Not a Distraction

Vocal Tone (Confident & Smooth)

Articulation (Understand Words)

Pitch (Varies, but not to Extremes)

Pace, Moves Along Well

Simplification (No Jargon, Acronyms)

Audience Engagement / Interaction

Flow/Organization of Thoughts

Q&A (Handled Well & Succinctly)

Finish within Allotted Time

1 2 3 4 5

1 2 3 4 5

1 2 3 4 5

1 2 3 4 5

1 2 3 4 5

1 2 3 4 5

1 2 3 4 5

1 2 3 4 5

1 2 3 4 5

1 2 3 4 5

1 2 3 4 5

1 2 3 4 5

1 2 3 4 5

1 2 3 4 5

1 2 3 4 5

1 2 3 4 5

Score from 1 to 5, with 5 being near perfect

Total Score _________

Presentation Learning Online .comIntroduction

Lesson Synopsis

•OverviewofSpeakU

•Valueofpresentations/costofabadpresentation

•Whataudienceswant

•Presentationtrends

•Problemswithbusinesspresentations

•OvercomingGlossophobia (fear of public speaking)

•TheS-I-M-P-L-Espeakingprocess

“Just because you know how to talk doesn’t mean you know how to present”

- Robert Monaco


Introduction

When you hear the word “presentation”, most people immediately think of a vast room with large screens flanking a stage, a microphone, and several hundred people in the audience.

The fact is that every interaction with other people is a presentation and every time you represent your company, it’s an important presentation. Presentations happen every day on phone calls with clients, in prospect meetings, at networking events, and casual conversations with others about work. Some industries also encounter trade shows, media interviews, webinars, and conference presentations. As you can see, presentations are not limited to one definition or a certain number of people in the audience, but rather presentations are a dynamic way of

communicating to others about your company, offerings, or expertise.

Conversations and presentations have similarities, In both cases you must:

•Organizeyourthoughtslogically

•Wordformaximumimpact

•Tailoryourmessagetowhoyouaretalkingto

•Engage

•Adapttolistenerfeedback(bodylanguage)

Steve Jobs, the co-founder and long-time spokesperson for AppleTM, is still one of the most highly looked upon presenters. His simple slide designs and well-planned presentations sold millions of Apple products. He made their press releases a media and internet frenzy. Jobs’ presentations skills were so fluid, he made presenting seem simple, yet each presentation took months of planning and weeks of [unseen] practice. Without these strong presentation skills, Apple probably wouldn’t be such a successful company and one of America’s most admired brands.

The success of a business can be directly linked to how people represent their company. Formal presentations are a great opportunity to showcase your expertise to prospects and remind clients why they hired you. Presentations allow you to share your passion, expertise, and to engage people. Yet done wrong, presentations can back fire and actually hurt your opportunity to earn new business. Although casual presentations, such as phone calls and in conversations at networking events, are often overlooked, these are powerful opportunities to start and build on relationships and show your professionalism.

What Constitutes a Presentation?

Why are Presentations So Important?


Introduction

Attending, preparing, and giving presentations is a critical part of doing business. The big question is, what is the outcome of your presentations? How many presentations lead to measurable results? Selling Power and SalesOpShop recently conducted a survey of B2B sales professionals to get a better understanding of this subject.

How Much Time Do You Spend on Presentations?

Of the 170 participants in the survey, 76 percent indicate that they need presentations to do their job, and for 53 percent, this means they attend at least one to two presentations a week. The most prominent users are product managers, who attend several presentations a day, present once or twice a week, and together with marketing, spend as much as a full day in preparation. Sales, which accounted for 56 percent of the respondents, present less frequently and spend only a couple of hours in preparation.

The Value of Presentations [from http://blog.sellingpower.com]


Introduction

How Much Does a Presentation Cost?

Let’s consider the example of a small company of about 50–100 employees and assume that a mid-level manager creates and delivers a presentation to 10 people in the organization:

8 hours to create (@ $65/hour) $520

1 hour to deliver to 10 people (@ $65/person) $650

The total cost for one presentation $1,170

This excludes the cost of a conference room, projector, technical support, and condiments for the participants.

The Value of Presentations [continued]


Introduction

The Costs of Presentations Are Staggering!

Similarly, assuming a company uses conference rooms for its internal presentations and inside and field sales representatives for its external presentations, it will find itself investing the following:

$273,000/year per conference room on internal presentations

$88,000/year per field sales professional on client presentations

$12,400/year per inside sales professional on client presentations

A company that employs five outside reps and two inside reps will spend nearly $1 million annually on presentations. If you want to estimate the amount your company is investing, use our online calculator.

What Is the Outcome of Presentations?

There is great value in getting people together at a set time to share ideas and conversation initiated by a thought-provoking presentation; however, in most corporations, the majority of internal presentations are provided by untrained people who deliver monologues instead of engage in two-way conversations. As you can tell from the results below, approximately one out of two presentations is considered valuable enough and leads to a measurable result.

As for external presentations, the results appear worse. In the sales industry, the monologue, one-way presentation is so commonplace that it is referred to as “a talking brochure.” It is no surprise that a panel of buyers at the recent Sales 2.0 Conference in London rated only 1 out of 8 presentations valuable. When asked, “What do you fear the most?” the response was largely, “long and boring vendor presentations.”



Introduction

How Can Presentations Be Improved?

How can we deliver a better return on the sizable investment in both internal and external presentations?



Introduction

These responses can be separated into a few areas of improvement:

1. Prepare by researching your audience and develop a story line that matches the audience’s need.

2. Make your content exciting. Base it on relevant, reliable data and add telling visuals.

3. Improve your delivery by practicing, and with every practice shorten the presentation until it is between 12–15 minutes long.

4. Integrate a way to engage and involve your audience early on.

Rethinking Presentations

The biggest opportunity for presentations does not come from improving the way we present. There is a far bigger opportunity with new use cases powered by the latest presentation tools. These emerging use cases operate at a lower cost and provide a more meaningful and measurable return. Here are use cases that will make you rethink presentations altogether:

The briefing presentation – pioneered by account executives in need of a presentation before the meeting to make room for

conversation during the meeting, resulting in a shorter sales cycle.

The white paper presentation. White papers command the highest sign-up ratio of any online asset. Give your white paper exponential exposure with 100,000 views and 1,000 likes to drive lead generation.

The client road map presentation – developed by a product manager who wanted to let the client drive the discussion using double tap and swipe, resulting in a more productive conversation.

The online sales pitch – pioneered and developed by inside sales teams based on its efficiency and effectiveness. This includes desktop/application sharing for instant demonstrations.

The Starbucks experience. Conversations are moving from a conference room into a coffee shop, where you sit side-by-side and use an easy-to-navigate presentation tool to spark a conversation.

As you can see, a presentation no longer must take place at a set time and location, with a lean-back audience being asked to listen intently and ask questions at the end. These new use cases take aim at a lean-forward audience, and its goal is to drive conversation.


All rights reserved to http://blog.sellingpower.com.


Introduction

1 Audiences want to see you succeed- Many novice speakers are paranoid about speaking because they assume that when people gather

in numbers, they are judgmental and critical of everything. The audience wants to hear what you have to say, that is why they gave their time to be present for you. People don’t attend presentations hoping you fail (unless you are Sheldon from Big Bang Theory); they need to get something out of it.

In the end, it doesn’t matter what you’re wearing, how great your slides are, or that you have the perfect introduction, audiences don’t usually have specific expectations of what speakers should or shouldn’t do. They just want to see a good and informative presentation.

The audience is rooting for you, this maybe not as obvious as rooting for the home team during a sporting event, but they want you to succeed because they want to get something out of your presentation.

2Audiences want you to enjoy your topic- Preparing is one thing, making sure the audience has takeaways is another, but it’s

meaningless if you are not having fun presenting. There is no number of cool slides or helpful data that is going to overcome a dull, monotone presentation. [Think of Ben Stein in Ferris Bueller.]

Quiet and soft-spoken presenters will have to work hard to overcome this deficit [if that is you, we’ll

discuss how to overcome that, so don’t worry]; audiences want to be entertained and captivated by your enthusiasm and passion for the subject. It is then that the listeners will not be able to move or blink until the presentation is over and lean in, sitting on the edge of their seats. Audiences are rooting for your success and want to be equally interested and passionate about the subject as you are, they just need you to show them first. One of the best compliments I’ve ever received is that it is obvious I love what I do and that passion shows in my presentations. Passion is contagious, appreciated, and remembered.

3Audiences want to feel engaged and that you enjoy talking to them - The decision to attend a presentation is almost always

dependent on getting something out of it. Audiences want to be able to walk away from your presentation feeling justified that their time was well spent and it should be enjoyable too. Nothing is worse than being forced into something, your lack of enthusiasm always shows. This is different from being entertained because it is about your interest in talking to them, but the two needs are similar.

Your presentation should be as exciting as talking to a long, lost friend– your audience wants that level of engagement. Engage and excite your audience by sharing your passion, telling stories, inviting their input, and having interactive portions to your presentation.

3 Things Audiences Want


Introduction

The need for presentations is growing with 350 PowerPointTM presentations given each second across the globe according to Bloomberg Businessweek. No longer are presentations created to be used over and over, today’s business presentations are created and used only once before being recreated, personalized, or scrapped altogether. With the onset of content marketing, presentations are the fastest catalyst to becoming a subject matter expert and positioning your in front of your industry.

Some people claim that presentations are headed to extinction and they will not be needed in the future. The exact opposite is true because presentations are more important today and will continue to increase as the Millennial generation, that thrives on intercommunication, becomes more involved in Corporate America. According to Bloomberg Businessweek, over 350 presentations are given every second of the day across the globe – that is over a half a million presentations in a single day! Eric Bergman states that the vast majority of those presentations extensively use PowerPoint.

New trends are leading to presentations that are only used once. Back in the olden days, presentations were created, mastered, and used over and over numerous times. Today’s presentations need to be recreated and

repurposed to each specific audience to stay interesting and relevant, even if it is an already used presentation.

Not to mention the influence of social media – YouTubeTM, SlideShareTM, LinkedInTM Pulse, and other social media outlets are blurbs of presentations. They are short lived but impactful to the readers. Much like your spoken words matter in verbal presentations, these written presentations must be equally powerful if not more so.

Here are some additional trends that are happening in the world of presentations that you need to be aware about:

Casual- Have you ever heard someone say, it’s just a casual presentation? Just like the workplace is

Trends in Presentations


Introduction

becoming casual, so are presentations. Twenty years ago, every presenter was in suit-and-tie and today, Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of FacebookTM wears hoodies to presentations. Steve jobs was never caught without his black turtle neck shirt and jeans. The problem with casual presentations is that presenters get trapped in the mindset that they are casual and should be “off the cuff”. These presenters have been caught in the casual trap (bonus module) and do not prepare enough and therefore the presentations shutter and flop. These last-minute presentations can easily end in disaster, especially for bid presentations. Clients want conversation-like presentations, that they call “Casual”, but they still need you to be prepared. They use the word “casual” because they don’t want to hear an overused, scripted presentation that sounds like a boring bus tour.

Shrinking Audiences - Today’s audiences are also becoming smaller and many times, the audience is just a few people. Regardless of how many people are in the audience, they are still listening to what you have to say and the presentation should be every bit as formal as it would be if you were presenting in a keynote address in a ballroom. Whether it’s a few or lots of people in the audience, someone given up their time to listen to your presentation. It is for this reason that courtesy should be given to even small audiences.

There is an opportunity with a smaller audience, you have the ability to be more engaging and interactive, which allows you to develop a

relationship with each audience member, an opportunity not available with hundreds in attendance.

Interaction - Audiences large and small are demanding participation. This is in part to today’s technology that interacts with the user. We no longer just have one-way communication; today’s business world includes two-way conversations between companies and customers with social media, video games, and interactive kiosks and websites. You will see in most calls for presentations, selection committees are demanding presenters include some kind of audience participation. Regardless of whether you are giving a conference presentation or presentation at your office, audiences want to be included through engagement and participation in some way. (We will discuss the need for interactivity and engagement as part of our learning styles segment in modules 6 Personal & 7 Engage.)

Virtual Presentations - Today’s new generation of social professionals (Millennials), find it easier and more important to discuss things face-to-face, even if that means technically not in person. Technologies like Skype and Google Hangouts allows you to talk one-on-one with other people. Other webinar software’s like Go To Meeting, WebEx, and Talk Point make presentations possible without a central location. This has been dubbed as the “virtual presentation”.

Trends in Presentations [continued]


Introduction

These virtual presentations is one of the main reasons why presentations are becoming increasingly popular; today’s young professionals are socially active, communicate on a regular basis, and are savvy with technology to create presentations on a whim. They have likely created hundreds of presentations during their school career with many schools requiring PowerPoint presentations in elementary school.

With the young workers filling today’s entrepreneur incubators and traditional offices, these young professionals are driving the need for video on websites and webinars or webcasts. Even in fields where video was completely absent in past years are now dabbling in video promotions. This means that media presentations are on the rise and it is harder than you think talking to a video camera or microphone when no physical audience is present. If weak presentation skills exist, media presentations will magnify the weakness.

Techy presentations - New technology makes presentation development easier, and more attractive, but unfortunately, not always better. With programs readily available such as Microsoft PowerPoint, Apple’s Keynote, Prezi, and other up-and-coming presentation software’s, presentations are easy to create and share. Easy to create has also moved from the computer on your work desk, to the portable iPad, and now to the mobile phone. It is now possible to create presentations from your pocket and project them onto screens with projectors that fit loosely in your briefcase.

Not only are there new programs and apps for presentations, but the medium in which presentations are created and viewed is also changing. Visual aid slides now stand alone on SlideShare or can be paired with a voice recording. Media presentations are now recorded and regularly viewed on smart phones and tablets, this technology will require adjustments in who we communicate with and what to say to these new audiences.

Expert Presentations - Content marketing is a newer strategy for marketing companies, especially those in the Business-to-Business (B2B) space. This makes professionals subject matter experts and thought leaders in their field. To do this requires strong presentation skills and the ability to adjust their language when talking to audiences in and outside of their field.

Personal branding is becoming ever more import as experts strive to be the expert in their field and get paid high dollar. Simultaneously job candidates will have to master marketing and selling which requires understanding what makes an individual unique and how to position themselves, their message, and their value with clarity and impact. Lack of confidence or any uncertainty will be detrimental. Marketing in this fashion will continue to grow in popularity for every industry and every entrepreneur.

Necessity for Soft skills - The need for excellent presentation skills will increase due to the competitive nature of the business community. Products and services can quickly become commodities and in order to be persuasive,



Introduction

presenters will need to know how to capture and hold the ear of the listeners. These soft skills will include:

•Stories- Stories will no longer be the domain for the talented few. Leaders will be challenged to learn the art of storytelling to develop trust, express vision and to lead teams. Storytelling skills will be the a differentiation in the job market and certain companies have an existing culture of storytelling. The best interviewers will take initiative and invest in personal development to learn to tell stories instead of presenting their resume.

•Motivation - Motivation will always be popular topic as long as the human soul craves uplifting messages. But today’s presenters need more than a string of “feel good” stories. They must be able to provide value, tips, strategies, action steps, a different way of thinking along with those stories. Audiences are more demanding.

•Authenticity– Audiences are more sophisticated and less tolerant than ever and will value presenters who are genuine versus those who are salesy, slimy, and fake.

•Interaction- In today’s world, people are tired of being talked to and lectured at. People are becoming more social and crave interaction from the presenter on some level. Who wouldn’t want quality time with the presenter? It is up to us presenters to allow the courtesy for the audience to have the ability to interact with you during or after the presentation is finished.

•Polling-Connectivity is a continual trend, in a society where there is less time for socializing and more stress, people want new ways to participate. Watch for increased live polling, tweeting, live streaming, and audience participation. Technology will level the playing field as speakers can now use inexpensive polling software on mobile devices. There will also be an increase in virtual presentations. I’m even coaching more clients remotely due to technology tools, saving me time and thus saving them money by not traveling across the globe.

Shorter Presentation Time - New research shows that the human attention span is continuously shrinking, from minutes to seconds. With 140 characters on Twitter, and 6-second videos on Vine, the world’s attention and patience is almost extinct. Traditional 90-minute break out sessions are also shrinking to 18-minute TED-like talks and the movement is gaining momentum. Is going over the time limit really an option?

Regardless of the reason why presentations are made they’re becoming increasingly necessary in the business world. Forethought should be given each time you have a presentation coming up to ensure it is successful and not a waste of time or a disaster.



Introduction

• No game plan - The main points and takeaways are missing leaving the presenter wondering if he/she made an impact on the audience and the audience wondering what just happened.

• Lack of preparation - This is always visible and usually manifests in the usage crutch words, bouncing around topics and slides, and either running way over or under on time as the presenter fumbles to deliver an impromptu presentation.

• Lack of skills - All presenters are not created equal, this is why some presenters charge thousands to present while others have to pay to present. Presenting takes practice to get good at it, it’s a learned skill not a natural one.

• Boring - Audience need to be engaged and want to be entertained. Dull, monotone speakers allow audience members’ minds to stray and for them to constantly look at the time wondering when it will be over.

• Talking over audiences head - The best speakers break down complex matters into simple speak so their audiences understand. People buy from who they are comfortable with and using big, complex words that do not understand doesn’t make them feel good.

• Too much text & bullet points - When you’re visual aid is littered with text and bullet points, audiences then read the screen instead of focusing on the presenter. Visual aids should be an aid, not the primary focus.

• Reading Slides - This is the easiest, fastest way to turn the audience’s attention elsewhere and is a telltale sign of not practicing. Unless you’re audience is under the age of 5, they can read the slides. Audiences reading your slides makes you as the presenter useless.

Problems with Most Business Presentations


Introduction

• Lower Hit Rate - Many professional service firms present to win new work through bid presentations. This allows the prospective client to get to know the team that will do the work and discuss their project more in detail. Companies with seasoned, strong presenters easily have a better closing rate over weaker presenters because their presentation skills represent knowledge and professionalism to prospects.

• Less Speaking Opportunities - Strong presentations perpetuate into more presentations, media interviews, and opportunities to write articles in your clients’ trade publications. A poor presentation can eliminate future chances of each of these PR (pubic relations) opportunities.

• Fewer Opportunities from Speaking Engagements - Most B2B (business-to-business) firms do some type of content marketing to attract new clients, which usually includes presentations for client associations. Just because you give a presentation doesn’t mean you automatically get new clients. Sometimes the opposite happens – you scare them away permanently with a bad presentation because you don’t sound professional and they do not feel comfortable hiring you.

• Lower Billing Rate - Presentations position strong presenters as industry thought leaders and these experts can make 20-300% more because of their level knowledge and perceived expertise from speaking.

• Besides the lost opportunities, poor speaking skills is also a waste of time - If you can close only 1 out of 5 prospective clients with a presentation, then you’re wasting time on lost opportunities. Closing just 1 out of 4 prospects means you have one less presentation (and proposal) to prepare for, which saves your firm money.

• Other soft costs of poor communication include mistakes internally - confused clients, and less repeat work because clients do not enjoy working with you.

Benefits of Being a Stronger Presenter

•Increasefirm’sbillingrate

•Increaseyoursalary

•Promotedtoleadershipposition

•Differentiateyourfirm&self

•Respectedbypeers

•Seenasindustryexpert,notacommodity

•MorePR–morepresentations,mediainterviews, and published articles

•Closemoredeals

•Betterrelationshipwithclients

•Shareyourexpertiseandviewpoint

•Bethecenterofattention(youdeserveit after all)

•Boostinconfidence

Cost of a Bad Presentation


Introduction

“The human instinct is to survive, and we always do. Things can only break you if you allow them to.” - Louise Jensen

Fear and nervousness in public speaking works on 3 levels: mental, emotional, & physical. A speaker’s mental and emotional fears are conquered by self confidence- a byproduct of preparation and experience.

The good news is that most audience members can not see how nervous you really are because it is kept inside. You will build self-confidence with preparation and experience. Without proper preparation, your nervousness can easily become visible in pacing, speaking rapidly, forgetting your place and message, fast movements like jingling your keys in your pocket, or pacing across the space.

Even the best presenters, including myself, thrive on having some nervousness, even though it does not show to the audience. Think of the presenter as a duck sitting on the water. Below the surface, the duck is kicking its feet furiously, while on top of the water, the duck appears cool, calm, and collected. The duck’s actions below the surface is how you may feel on the inside, but luckily, your outward appearance is still calm.

“According to most studies, people’s number one fear is public speaking. Number two is death. Death is number two! Does that sound right? This means to the average person, if you go to a funeral, you’re better off in the casket than doing the eulogy.” - Jerry Seinfeld

When Jerry Seinfeld quipped that at a funeral the average person would rather be in the casket than giving the eulogy, the joke was dead on: According to national surveys, fear of public speaking is America’s greatest fear, surpassing fear of illness, fear of flying, fear of terrorism, and amazingly, the fear of death itself! Regardless of whether you have normal butterflies or an undeniable fear, Glossophobia can be overcome. There are hundreds of pieces of advice to get past this heart-stopping fear but, most are just silly (like imagining the audience in their underwear). Here is the last resource you are going to need for conquering your fear or public speaking.

Where Does Stage Fright Come FromStage fright may take many forms, it’s unique to each individual but it has only one cause- PERCEIVED THREAT. Not actual threat, but perceived threat.

These reactions to threats are precisely what Charles Darwin tested when he visited a snake exhibit at a zoo in London. Darwin tried to remain perfectly calm while putting his face as close to the glass as possible in front of a puff adder snake that was ready to strike.

However, every time the snake would lunge toward him, he would grimace and jump backward. Darwin wrote his findings in his diary,

“My will and reason were powerless against the imagination of a danger which had never been experienced.”

He concluded that his response to fear was an ancient reaction that has not been effected by

Glossophobia


Introduction

nuances in modern civilization. This response is known as the fight or flight syndrome, but can also occur as a freeze, a natural process that is designed to protect your body from harm.

Since people naturally resort to thinking about self reputation and negative consequences the hypothalamus activates and tells the pituitary gland to secrete Adrenocorticotropic hormone or ACTH, which results in the release of adrenaline. Physical reactions begin (sweaty palms, cold feet etc.) and the body slouches into a low power position. Attempting to fight the feeling results in trembling as your blood pressure increases and your digestive system shuts down to maximize efficient delivery of even more nutrients and oxygen to your vital organs. When your digestive system shuts down, this is what leads to the feeling of dry mouth or butterflies.

Even your pupils dilate, which makes it hard to read anything up close (like presenter notes), but improves long range visibility, making you more aware of your audience’s facial expressions.

Your stage fright fear can be rooted in:

1. Genes - Genetics play a huge role in how strong your feelings of anxiety are in social situations. For instance, even though John Lennon performed on stage thousands of times, he was known for throwing up before going on stage for his live performances. Some people are simply genetically wired to feel more scared when performing or speaking in public.

2. Level of task mastery - We’ve all heard the saying, “practice makes perfect.” The main benefit of practice is to increase your familiarity of a given task. As this familiarity increases, feelings of anxiety decrease, and have less of a negative impact on performance.

In other words, the anxiety you feel about speaking in public will be less, the more comfortable you feel with your presentation.

To support these findings, in 1982, a team of psychologists watched pool players play alone or in front of crowd. The study found that:

Stronger pool players sank more shots when performing in front of a crowd, while poor pool players performed worse. Interestingly, the stronger pool players performed even better when people were watching them versus when they were playing alone.

What this means is if you know your presentation inside out, it’s more likely that you’ll give an even better presentation in front of a large audience than when you rehearsed alone or in front of a friend. If you ask most prepared speakers, “How it went?” after a presentation – they usually reply, “Better than I expected.” Proof!

This is the reason that I’ve always told my clients the presentation you practice and the presentation you delivered is two types of awesome! Your polished practice sessions is one awesome, but the presentation you delivered is expected to be different and just a different type of awesome!

Glossophobia [continued]


IntroductionHow the Brain Creates Fear

Old Brain

Mid Brain

New Brain


Introduction

The first thing to do is prepare, and prepare thoroughly. Identifying what your audience stands to gain and what you will get out of giving the presentation is a big relief. Preparing what points you are going to cover and what questions you may get is one way that you can take the stress of the unknown away. This makes it easier to relax. Preparing and practicing so the words flow out of your mouth effortlessly is a sure way to not get hung up on a thought or lost on what to say next. This kind of proper preparation cures up to 85% of stage fright for my clients. When an individual sits with the content of a presentation for more than 24 hours, there is nothing more to do than stand and share the information with others.

1. Change your train of thought - The next time you start thinking about what happens when you fumble your words or start stuttering, or you admit to yourself that you are nervous and this is going to suck, just STOP. Succumbing to nerves only worsens them. These types of nerves can lead to presentation inhibitors like dry mouth and sickness. Change your perspective, you have a secret to share and can’t wait because this secret is astounding!

Focus on your introduction, adrenaline builds during the first few sentences of your presentation and releases after a minute or two. If you can fight through the introduction then you can give a successful speech. Keep in mind, your audience is rooting for your success, not your demise.

2. Visualization really works - In the days before presenting, visualize yourself in the room as a

confident, successful speaker. Professional athletes use this method all the time for the perfect win. If it works for them, it will work for you.

We’ll talk about methods to keep an audience engaged in Module 8, but strategically pausing in the middle of a presentation for Questions and Answers can be a huge relief. You’ll think to yourself, if I made it this far, then I can make it to the end. You will psych yourself through the rest of it and make it work. These few minutes benefit the audience greatly, but also allows a secretly nervous presenter to re-hydrate and regroup without awkward silence.

3. Bring a security blanket - I’ve had clients still be apprehensive even after proper preparation is finished. I then suggest bringing the notes as a security blanket. If all hell were to break loose, then the notes are there for reassurance, but know that 99.9% of the time the worse case or even any bad case scenario will not happen. Place the notes on the podium or on the table with the projector. You don’t need them, these notes are only for comfort, not for referencing. Glancing down at a presentation invokes uncertainty that you don’t know what you are talking about and is the perfect scenario for “um” to appear frequently.

4. Re-program your brain - Connect tense feelings with positive experiences. The science behind fear is the tightening of muscles during times of stress; the type of stress like what you experience when presenting. This tightening links tension with stress and thus the next time stress is experienced the

Quick Tips for Curing Stage Fright


Introduction

muscles tighten automatically. To re-program your brain, you must tighten your muscles in times of happiness and joy so when you stand in front of people to present and tighten your muscles without thinking, your brain says this is a good thing. [Read more about using notes and the singer Billy Joel’s security blanket on our blog - http://www.speak-simple.com/notes-in-hand/.]

We cover body language during presentations in module 4, but it is impossible to feel stressed and depressed when your head is up, you’re breathing full healthful breaths and thinking and talking about what you are pleased and excited about. Whether it’s days before or during a presentation, your body language and posture affects your psychology of stress. [Read more about holding your head high on our blog – Chin Up. - http://www.speak-simple.com/chin-up/]

Develop a hierarchy of around 10 fear-producing scenarios, labeling them from least amount of fear to greatest amount. Rate them on an anxiety scale of zero to 100, in which zero is calm and 100 is the most fear imaginable. For example, sitting on the couch at home with your spouse could have a zero rating. Making a presentation to your spouse at home could be a 10 rating, while making a presentation to your spouse at your work’s presentation hall could have a 20 rating, and so on. Your worst fear of public speaking should have a rating of 100. Sit or lie down and imagine the scenario on your lowest ranking fear (rated zero), for example, sitting in your living room. Breathe and practice relaxation techniques. Imagine the

next scenario. Make the situation as detailed and lifelike as possible. While thinking of this scenario, give your body relaxation cues. Do not move on to the next scenario until your body is relaxed. Move to the next scenario while maintaining relaxation. Progress through the scenarios, one by one, taking time to relax your body as it experiences tension and anxiety. Don’t rush this process. When you are able to maintain relaxation through all the scenarios, the process is complete.

Stop doing relaxing breathing exercisesBreathing techniques date back to ancient times and are backed by modern science as a way to relax. Unfortunately, in this case, you do not want tranquilizing effect. You want to be alive, alert, in the zone, and excited about your presentation, not relaxed and losing energy.

Many experts suggest a different technique know as the Stimulating Breath or Bellow Breath. This is an adapted yoga technique that raises alertness and energy. Inhale and exhale rapidly through your nose, while keeper your mouth relaxed and closed. Keep your breathes as short as possible and the same time length both in and out. (Make sure you don’t do this in front of your audience or when your microphone is one because it is a noisy exercise.)

Ideally, you will get fast enough to have three sets of breathes in and out per second. This produces a quick movement for your diaphragm, but you should NOT do it for more than 15 seconds your first few times. As you get accustomed to the exercise, add 6 seconds at a time until you reach a full minute.

Quick Tips for Curing Stage Fright [continued]


Introduction

This exercise will make you feel invigorated like you just had a great workout. You’ll be ready to share your passion and have the energy level to do it now.

Conclusion of Glossophobia. The ultimate way of removing nervousness is through proper preparation including Strategy,

Identify what you are saying, thinking of delivery (Mechanics), making it Personal, considering the Language you are using, and Engaging the audience; otherwise known as my S-I-M-P-L-E method. Through the 8+ modules, I’ll walk you through becoming a more confident and stronger presenter.

Quick Tips for Curing Stage Fright [continued]

Exercise - Calm Stage FrightCBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy) is a common course of treatment for eliminating psychological symptoms such as glossophobia (fear of public speaking or stage fright) and other mental health conditions. It is a way to get people better and keep them better with minimal possibility of relapse by focusing on thoughts and behaviors that are associated with stressful situations.

When people develop new ways of thinking and how to behave during times of stress, they develop skills that allow them to identify, evaluate and change the thoughts and behaviors that cause the stress they can gain the ability to conquer the fear.

Automatic thoughts are the words that come to mind spontaneously when looking at something that represents your fear, like looking at a picture of an audience and the sweaty palms start automatically. When we are able to change the thoughts, we have the ability to think positively.

Thoughts are directly connected to moods, and when you are able to change the thoughts, you have the ability to change your mood.

Depression comes out in these negative thoughts that usually:

1) self critical

2) negative about ongoing experiences

3) negative about future

Exercise: Think of that nerve-wracking presentation experience.

How awful was it on a scale of 0 to 100%?

Imagine, your big toe was lobbed off by the lawnmower.

How awful is that on a scale of 0 to 100%?

And now how awful is that nerve-wracking experience compared to losing your big toe.


Introduction

Fear is “all in your head”, but you need tools to overcome that negative thinking. The next few pages are powerful worksheets and exercises from the Psychologists at Psychology.Tools. If you find

you need additional help, look at their website for more resources.

This first diagram illustrates the cycle of thinking that leads and overcomes fear.

Resources on Glossophobia from Psychology.Tools

All rights reserved to http://psychology.tools/. For more information, contact Psychology Tools.

Precontemplation

Contemplation

Preparation

Action

Maintenance

Relapse

Upward Spiral - Learn from

eac

h (re

)laps

e

No intention ofchanging behaviour

Aware a problem exists.

No commitment to action

Intent upon taking action

Active modi�cation of behaviour

Sustained change - new behaviour

replaces old

Fall back into old patterns of behaviour

Stages Of Change

PSYCHOLOGYT LS http://psychology.tools


IntroductionResources on Glossophobia from Psychology.Tools


Intrusive Thoughts

Most of the time the JUDGING and FEAR brains work �ne together. The trouble is they don’t exactly speak the same language, all the time. What happens if they get their wires crossed?

Fear Brain: “I have just been reminded of something dangerous or awful. I know! I will generate a thought about this awful thing to warn the Judging Brain to take care. After all – better safe than sorry!”.

Judging Brain: “Oh no! I have just had a horrible thought! This thought must mean something – it must be true. I need to

stop having this thought or get rid of it somehow. THIS THOUGHT IS DANGEROUS!”

Fear Brain: “I was right! I knew that thought was important – Well I know my job, I need to produce more of these thoughts!”

Judging Brian: “NO NO! Not more of those awful thoughts.I need to get away from them or avoid them or distract

myself”

Fear Brain: “Proved right again! Those thoughts must be very important if Judging brain is so desperate to get away from them. I BETTER MAKE SOME MORE”

Judging Brain: “These awful thoughts won’t stop! What does it say about me to have these thoughts? I must be a bad

person to have them. It must mean I am weak.

Fear Brain: “The Judging Brain is really being a�ected by those thoughts, they have got to be very important indeed. I BETTER KEEP CHURNING THEM OUT!”

And so the story continues… But what needs to change to make it stop?

Here is the bit of your brain that deals with threat.

It’s job is to alert you to potential danger by generating

and sending danger related thoughts to the Judging

brain and anxious feelings to the body. It is not smart,

it can’t tell the di�erence between what is real and

what is imagined. It is not under direct conscious

control. It does its job quickly, but often when it doesn’t

need to. It has a ‘better safe than sorry policy’.

Let’s call it the FEAR Brain.

Here is the conscious bit of your brain. The smart

you. The bit of you that knows where you are and

what you are doing. The bit that can make plans

and can decide what to have for tea.

Let’s call it the JUDGING brain.

Why do they persist? A tale of two brains metaphor



Introduction

What If ... ?

When we say to ourselves “what if … ?” we are often identifying a potential danger:“what if something terrible happens?” “what if it all goes wrong?”

Each time we do this there are many equally plausible positive possibilities that we are failing to see. If we only see the bad possibilities and not the good ones thenwe have an unbalanced view of the situation

Try to come up with 3 ‘glass half full’ ways of seeing each ‘glass half empty’ one.

Negative “What if ... ?” Positive “What if ... ?”

What if Kirsty makes jokes about

my weight again?

What if I crash the car? What if I don’t?

What if I’m a very careful driver?

What if I get there safely like every

�her time?

What if we have a nice time?

What if I’m a�ertive this time and

tell her how she makes me feel?

How does each kind of “what if ... ?” make you feel?Which is more likely than the other?





Introduction

What If ... ?

Negative “What if ... ?” Positive “What if ... ?”

What do I know now about my “what if’s” ?





Introduction

CBAntecedent / triggerelief / thought

onsequences• What was the situation?• What thoughts or beliefs did you have about the situation?• How true did that belief seem where 0% is not true at all and 100% is absolutely true?

• How did you feel when the situation happened?• How did you act?• How did others react?

ABC Belief Monitoring





Introduction

Talk for 2 minutes in front of this image of an attentive audience.

Exercise - In Front of an Audience


Introduction

See,thatwasn’tsobad!


Introduction

If you haven’t seen or don’t remember the movie Maid in Manhattan with Jennifer Lopez and Ralph Fiennes, this reference may be odd. In one scene, a well-spoken political figure, Christopher Marshall, played by Fiennes talks with Jennifer Lopez’s character’s son (Ty Ventura) about the boy’s fear of public speaking.

This scene perfectly describes two things about stage fright: 1) It is in your head and there is nothing to fear 2) You can channel that fear into something else.

Watch how Ralph Fiennes’ character calms the boy’s nerves with an ordinary paper clip.

Christopher Marshall: You know when l come here most is when l have to make a speech... ...and l get nervous.

Ty Ventura: You get nervous?

Christopher Marshall: Sure.

See that? Sometimes when l have to stand up in front of people... Ty Ventura: ...my heart kind of races, and l can’t remember my words.

Christopher Marshall: Same here. I know.

Ty Ventura: Really? Same with you? Wow.

Christopher Marshall: Well, in my business, it’s not a good thing.

Ty Ventura: What do you do?

Christopher Marshall: What do l do? I want to show you something. I hold on to this.

Ty Ventura: A paper clip? Was that a paper clip?

Christopher Marshall: It was. I had to find something... ...to draw the nervous energy away from my heart. Like a....

Ty Ventura: Like a lightning rod?

Christopher Marshall: Like a lightning rod. Exactly. All the energy goes into the paper clip.

Ty Ventura: And then what’s left is... Your speech.

Christopher Marshall: Yeah, a smooth, and l’d like to think... ...very compelling speech.

Christopher Marshall: Some of the best speakers in history... ...a paper clip.

Maid in Manhattan – Paper Clip Scene

All rights reserved to Sony Pictures. We merely cite this story for educational purposes and we do not own the rights to the movie.


IntroductionPresentations Made S-I-M-P-L-EI break up my presentation preparation and education into the 6 components that spell out S-I-M-P-L-E. Each step is vital to having a great presentation, although most people skip all the preparation and only worry about the physical

delivery, what I call Mechanics. Someone can have strong mechanics and still deliver an unmemorable presentation that is just a waste of time because they do not follow the other 5 steps.

Crucial elements to consider in your game plan including time management, room layout, whether to use a visual aid or prop(s).

Knowing your audience, determining your goals, setting your thesis statement, your organizational strategy and transitions.

Physical delivery of the presentation including body language, gestures, eye contact, vocal, and facial expressions.

The emotional connection you have with the topic, sharing parts of yourself, and customizing your presentation to your audience including learning styles.

Ensuring your audience understands your message including simplification.

How to compel and entertain your audience.


Introduction

Watch Steve Jobs’ presentation introducing the iPhone in 2007. Many say he is one of the best presenters of his generation. Can you pick out a few reasons why he is so highly regarded?

What makes Steve Jobs so effective as a presenter?

Awareness - Why So Effective?

Notes / Lessons Learned

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