Intention vs. superstition

A client of mine is a consultant who teaches the fine art and science of card counting to his clients, to enable them to legally "beat the system" of blackjack.

The speaking topic he is passionate about is decision-making and rational thinking -- how people make decisions using irrational or superstitious thinking vs. planning, preparing and processing. And he likes to tie this in with entrepreneurial thinking -- controlling your own fate and living life intentionally.

To prepare for a presentation, we discussed how he could use analogies to help the audience grasp his concept of having an entrepreneurial spirit combined with a rational game plan.

The perfect analogy: Card counting represents intention, preparation and controlling the game vs. the typical way people gamble -- fueled by hope, wishful thinking and flying by the seat of their pants!

Counting the cards is controlling your own fate rather than having it control you. This analogy can apply both to life and to work, and it fits with my client's tutorial on card counting as well as his own story of being a professional blackjack player that he shares in his presentations.

I think you already know my favorite analogy to public speaking; if you've been reading my blog for any amount of time, you've seen plenty of athletic analogies.

What is your favorite analogy to enhance the message of your presentation?

Reveal your secrets

A few months back, I wrote about being a tease, holding back a little from revealing all to your audiences. The benefits include not overwhelming them and leaving your real secrets for the people who hire you.

However, revealing secrets can have an upside! Witness our local farmers market magician below, demonstrating the steps to getting out of a straitjacket. He had already performed several astounding magic tricks (with a subtle and straight-faced sense of humor), and the audience was suitably impressed. At this point, he shows how to escape from a straitjacket (which I hope none of us ever has to do in real life!) -- which becomes an educational and fascinating display.

But even in revealing this magician's secret, he still has one trick up his sleeve -- a bowling ball, in fact -- to wrap up the show. A little bit of holding back, a little bit of revealing secrets. The perfect mix of fun, entertainment, and education!

Mehrabian myth busting -- animated!

Here's a clever animated video discussing the constant misinterpretation of Albert Mehrabian's communication research. Very entertaining!



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dboA8cag1M

Catching what the others miss

Yesterday I drove past a truck with the following tagline: "We catch what the others miss." It was the slogan for a cleaning company, and it seemed like a clever and concise way to differentiate themselves from other cleaning companies.

Then I started thinking about how that could be a slogan for just about any of us trying to differentiate ourselves in just about any field.

I often see myself as cleaning up other speakers' messes; that is, reminding and encouraging audiences that not all speakers hide behind dreadful PowerPoint, talk about themselves for an hour then finish late, or repeat canned presentations in a robotic, dreamlike state. It's my job to wake up the sleeping, engage the zombies and bring enjoyment to my audiences.

As a speaker, what are you doing differently? What do you catch that the others are missing?

Do you know more about your audience?

Do you focus on building a better emotional connection?

Is your content more relevant and applicable to the people in the room?

Do you respect their time by preparing thoroughly and ending on schedule?

Do you make your presentation more engaging -- and even fun?

Do you know your content well enough that you don't have to read your slides?

Do you know who you are as a person and let your unique qualities shine through?

What else are other speakers missing?

Using video and interviewing techniques

Here's another video from PresentationCampLA. Gena Haskett shares her expertise on using video to expand your reach online, and Tracy Pattin shares her knowledge of interviewing techniques.

Using Video and Interviewing Techniques from Lisa Braithwaite on Vimeo.

Olivia Mitchell on Twitter and presenting

The first PresentationCampLA video has been posted! Olivia Mitchell facilitates the discussion on how to incorporate Twitter into your presentations! I hope to get all the videos on the PresentationCampLA site, so stay tuned.

The video is blurry in places; we were experimenting with using the Flip video camera to record sessions, and we weren't sure of the range. But you can still see and hear what Olivia and others have to say.

Olivia Mitchell: Using Twitter in presentations from Lisa Braithwaite on Vimeo.

Here are some of Olivia's blog posts on using Twitter during presentations. Good stuff! She really turned me around on this.

And THEN what happened?

Here's a fun way to start a presentation: Open with a story, but don't finish it until the end of the presentation.

It works best if there's some drama and anticipation built into the story, so the audience gets caught up wondering, "What happens next?"

One of my clients has a great story about being detained at a casino for card counting; the casino thought he was using a computer, which is illegal. His story builds through being taken off the floor by security, waiting for an interminable amount of time after being questioned, with a tough-looking security guard staring him down and thousands of dollars -- all the money in my client's pockets -- sitting on the table between them. Then the door opens, and the casino manager returns...

At this point, he launches into his presentation on how he came to the point of being a professional blackjack player. His story lingers until the very end of the presentation, where he then relieves the audience's burning curiosity by telling the rest of the story.

I use this technique in my presentation on storytelling, where I leave the story of my house fire dangling until the end.

An unfinished story is a fun way to draw the audience into your presentation; just remember that the story has to be inherently dramatic, and that it benefits from lots of descriptive embellishment to bring it to life in the audience's imagination.

What dramatic story can you open with?

Preparing for the wrong audience

On this week's episode of Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List, Kathy is preparing for a set at the Apollo Theater. Aware that she doesn't have a huge African-American following, she sets out to test her material and get advice from black friends and celebrities, including the Reverend Al Sharpton, comedian Katt Williams and performer T.I.

She receives valuable advice about what not to say to the audience, but for the most part is told "Be yourself."

Nervous and uncertain about how her act will go over with the crowd, she arrives at the Apollo to discover that she's headlining Amateur Night and there are kids in the theater.

If you've ever seen Kathy Griffin's standup, you will know that she's not a PG comedian. She is known for using crude language and imagery in her shows; she is not a "family-friendly" performer.

She speaks to the producer of the show, who assures her that the kids will not be in the theater when Kathy takes the stage. This does not reassure her.

She starts her set and is winning over the crowd when one of her jokes crosses the line. The audience falls silent and the band starts playing music, indicating that her set is done. She awkwardly realizes she's being played off, thanks the audiences and bolts offstage.

Someone offstage criticizes her for using foul language with kids in the house. Kathy attempts to apologize and she and her assistants basically run for the limousine. Later in the episode, Kathy reveals a letter she has received from the Apollo, stating their disappointment with her material and advising her she is no longer welcome there.

I can see both sides of this situation.

The people who book the show didn't know that Kathy's humor is not appropriate for children? Why would they book a comedian, on Amateur Night, who is known for saying things like "Suck it, Jesus?"

Secondly, why did they not tell her that she was being booked for Amateur Night in the first place, a fact she didn't know until she arrived at the theater?

On the flip side, Kathy's preparation perhaps didn't go far enough in not finding out more about the show in advance.

At the point where she is already in the theater and discovers that there are children on the premises, I can't imagine how difficult it would be for her to change her act to accommodate them.

Kathy thrives on shocking her audiences, but she is also a professional who always researches the audience to make sure her humor will be appropriate and relevant to them. In this case, I suppose both sides were partly to blame for the failure of the performance.

This episode was a perfect example to me of the fact that, no matter how carefully we prepare, there will be times when we blow it, bomb or otherwise disappoint an audience. What can you do in this situation besides learn from the experience and move on?

Note: In researching more on this episode, I read several reviews of her performance by people who say they were at her show that night, and knowing that reality shows are edited for dramatic effect, it's not entirely clear what really happened. However, even as a hypothetical exercise, this is still a valid question: What would you do if you discovered you had prepared for the wrong audience?

"Who cuts your hair?"

One of my favorite little pleasures in life is being complimented on my haircut. Why is that? Because my husband cuts my hair, and I love giving him the credit. People ask if he's a stylist and I say no, he just likes cutting my hair. Over the years, he's gotten pretty good at it, too.

My husband was also a pastry chef for years. Where did he go to school? He didn't; he's self-taught and, of course, had some great mentors while he was learning on the job. Same with his knowledge of cheese, where he's considered an expert within his field.

The best way to learn is to DO. Reading is great, training is helpful, coaching is a start... but unless you do the thing you want to get better at, you will not learn, nor will you improve.

I am constantly in awe of those of my clients who have avoided public speaking their whole lives and are now about to make the leap. Some of them have taken classes, lessons or read books, but for the ones who have managed to get out of every possible speaking engagement, this is huge.

With all the fear that has held them back, they also know that they must start doing. They look for opportunities at church, in small meetings. They know they will have to make these opportunities happen if they are to succeed at actually learning.

As I've said before, the most important thing is to get started. Take action. Daydream, fantasize, cogitate, ruminate and plan all you want. But if you want to learn and you want to move forward, you must DO.

What have you taught yourself to do and how did you make it happen?

Wine and service

At the first tasting room yesterday we met Mike, a soon-to-be grad student studying management. His background is varied, from studying at the Culinary Institute of America to serving in the Air Force. Right off the bat, I discovered that his management philosophy is very similar to my public speaking philosophy.

Being in the hospitality field, he's noticed that many who work in hospitality are rather inhospitable, a challenge the industry needs to address. He commented on how many businesses are focused on the bottom line rather than making a good experience for customers or employees. Lack of foresight and "big picture" thinking make many companies just a place to work for most employees, rather than cultivating an environment where employees are invested, committed and take pride in their work.

[Side note: This reminds me of a conversation I had with an employee of a Nugget Market up near Sacramento. I asked if they had any plans to expand south, and the woman said no, that the store is interested in local expansion only and maintaining their status as one of the Fortune Top 100 Companies to Work For. They are currently #10. Cool, huh?]

The last thing Mike said before we left was that when he enters the tasting room to work, he considers it a stage and himself a performer. He strives to personalize the experience for each customer, in terms of tasting, conversation, etc. He considers the experience of each customer a "happening" that is unique to each person each time.

As a speaker, you already know you're on a stage. You already know you're a performer. But how important is it to you to personalize the experience for your audiences? How important is it to you to serve your audience? How important is it to you that your presentation is a once-in-a-lifetime happening for your audience? As I've asked before, are you canned or fresh?

What if, instead of just getting by, throwing together your presentation at the last minute, or focusing on your own needs for love and acceptance, the most important thing to you was creating a unique and positive experience for your audience every time? How would that make you a better speaker?

How are your manners?

I'm off to the wine country today for some tasting with a friend. I thought I'd leave you with a link to a post I enjoyed on manners and respect, by my speaking pal Nick R. Thomas.

Many of us write and speak about effective presentations, including the necessity for proper preparation, learning about your audience in advance, meeting the needs of the audience, etc. What is often forgotten in these conversations is that it's just plain rude and inconsiderate NOT to prepare properly, learn about your audience and meet their needs.

Here's an excerpt from Nick's piece:

"There is an expression that describes ignorant people: we sometimes say they 'don't know how to go on'. But, of course, some speakers do know how to go on...and on...and on... I'm not talking about overrunning by a few minutes (often with permission) during a successful 45-minute presentation but those people who have to be forcibly stopped after droning on for over an hour - and they are still nowhere near the conclusion of their material. Why? Because they didn't bother to time it and then allow for the fact that it always takes longer on the day."

I've written in the past about being inconsiderate, wasting the audience's time, and being a greedy speaker.

Check out Nick's take on good manners as a speaker and putting yourself in the audience's shoes.

One idea, one image

I'm building a PowerPoint for a client who will be speaking at a conference this summer. She asked me in several places to put multiple points on one slide and have them "fly in" as she clicked the remote.

My suggestion to her was to put each point on its own slide with its own image. That way, each individual idea stands out on its own.

Whether you click on each sentence to make it "fly in" or click on each slide to advance it, each idea takes the same amount of time to talk about. So if you think that cramming multiple ideas on one slide saves you time, it really doesn't.

Sometimes people panic at the image-based slide concept with one idea per slide, thinking that there will be far too many slides for their presentation. But when there's only one idea and one image per slide, the slides can flow by as slowly or as quickly as the ideas flow from your mind and mouth.

A 60-slide presentation like this is a lot different than a 60-slide presentation like this.

Don't crash and burn

Another Tour de France analogy (sorry, folks -- if athlete analogies bug you, come back in a couple of weeks when the Tour is over!):

Some teams and riders have been caught off guard by tight curves and hairpin turns, causing crashes or loss of time taking unexpected turns too cautiously. The reason? Not all teams ride or drive the course in advance.

Here are two tweets by George Hincapie about preparing for race days:

"Rode the course two times this morning, then will another time this afternoon before race time. Course is very hard..."

"Heading to check ttt course again. Had a great night sleep..."

Here are two tweets from Levi Leipheimer:

"Rode the course this morning, had lunch, now I'm in my room getting ready 2 go 2 the bus/start & ride the course again, I start at 4:37 CET"

"Rode 4 laps of the TT today, getting to know it is important, deciding on gears to use isn't so easy"

Not only are George, Levi and their teams checking the course once, but they're reviewing it multiple times.

Riders will note how tight the turns are, how bumpy or gravelly the road is, where there might be slippery painted lines on a rainy day. They will note when and where to brake and shift, how steep the ascents and descents are, and where there are flat areas and shade to recover. And they'll look for spots on the course where there are headwinds, tailwinds, or crosswinds. These notes allow them to plan their team and individual tactics and timing, and to be as fully prepared as possible.

Why should you check your venue in advance? To find out:

• Where the audience will sit and where you will stand

• What equipment is available and where it is, if permanently placed

• If the room can be heated or cooled appropriately

• If there are street noises, sounds from other rooms, echoes from lack of floor and wall coverings, or noise from air conditioning or fans?

• Whether the room is the right size for the number of people attending?

• Whether your equipment works with the equipment being provided (computers, projectors, sound systems, etc.)?

• Where tables can be placed to put your notes, props, water, products for sale, etc.?

• What the lighting is like and where it's focused

• If the doors slam or close quietly in case people come in late (you might need to tape the door latches flat)

And more!

Don't crash and burn because you didn't bother to check a new venue thoroughly.

A lesson from George Hincapie

Professional cyclist George Hincapie writes on Twitter (@ghincapie) today:

"Flatted with 25k to go, came back to group moved to front then crashed with 20k to go. Never been so scared on the bike as I was today."

At 36, Hincapie is a veteran rider of five Olympic Games, 13 Tours de France, dozens of international races, and has several national and world championships to his name.

Yet he still gets scared on the bike.

Sure, today's stage in the Tour de France was rainy and dangerous. Hincapie's injuries in past races include a separated shoulder, fractured wrist and broken ribs. He has good reason to be apprehensive.

But George keeps riding. He keeps getting on the bike and giving it all he's got. He hasn't risen to the position of team captain, won stages and races, and received awards like "Most Aggressive Rider" by letting his fears inhibit him and hold him back.

George faces disappointment regularly as a competitor; two days ago he wrote about being disappointed with his ride -- for about a minute.

No matter how hard, how frightening, how challenging the course, George keeps getting back on the bike.

So you're afraid of getting up in front of an audience. You're afraid of criticism and failure. You're afraid you won't do your best or meet your goals. And sometimes you won't. So what do you do?

How do you face your challenges and disappointments?

The rewards of ending on time

Something I noticed at PresentationCampLA was that most of the speakers didn't have a system in place to keep track of their time. We regularly had to interrupt sessions and ask them to wrap up so we could move on with our schedule (which started out late as it was!).

I had my trusty timer with me and still managed to go over time by a minute, so imagine how much harder it is to stay on track with no clock or timer!

As a reminder about why it's important to keep to your time, I wanted to share this brief story with you from Rita Risser, The Court Jester.

"I was scheduled to speak last on a main stage panel where we were each supposed to talk for 10 minutes and then take Q&A for 30 minutes. The first two speakers spoke 10 minutes. The third speaker took 50 minutes, despite the fact that the meeting planner came in and told her to wrap it up. The meeting planner left and the speaker finally wrapped up at noon.

She turned it over to me, telling me to go ahead and speak, going over lunch. I smiled, said I knew better than to compete with lunch and that I would be available to anyone who wanted to talk that afternoon, or by phone or email. Results:

Audience laughed and clapped and ran out of the room.
Meeting planner couldn’t thank me enough for not talking.
Meeting planner changed the afternoon schedule and gave me 20 minutes to speak.
Several good contacts called and emailed afterwards.
Meeting planner asked me back the next year — and not the other speaker!"

It doesn't matter if you're the last speaker before lunch or the first speaker before coffee; going over time sets back the schedule, keeps the audience from making other sessions or getting to their next appointment on time, and makes you look inconsiderate at best and completely out of touch at worst.

First of all, practice your presentation so you know how long it takes. If it's long, cut, cull and edit your content so it fits. Keep in mind that audience interaction will take up some time, so make sure you have a cushion built in; practice finishing a little early to be safe.

Then, get yourself a timer, put your watch in front of you where you can see it, do whatever you have to do to end on time.

Audiences appreciate it, meeting planners love it, and you look like a hero!

70 years of history in three minutes

I watched the movie "The Kingdom" the other day, and while the movie was average, the opening sequence was one of the most captivating I've ever seen.

As a vehicle for information and setting up the backstory of the movie, the sequence, just over three minutes long, was stellar. The compelling and educational montage combined text, music, still photos, and film and audio clips to tell the story of the relationship between the United States and Saudi Arabia since 1932.

If you think a story can only be told through words, and images are superfluous or "fluff," check this out. And even if you don't think that, check it out! There doesn't seem to be a way to embed this, so please click one of the links below.

Brightcove player

Yahoo player

Let the fireworks begin!

For those of you celebrating Independence Day this weekend, I hope you have an opportunity to relax, have fun and celebrate the freedoms we sometimes take for granted.

And speaking of freedom, I wish you freedom from self-doubt, freedom from fear, freedom from rigid rules, freedom from self-consciousness and freedom to be yourself.

Yes, I'm talking about those things holding you back from enjoying success and confidence as a speaker! Let the fireworks begin!

You're not done yet

In a previous post, I wrote about resting on your laurels, that thing people do when they feel they've reached the pinnacle of success and decide they no longer have to make an effort.

That post was about Michael Phelps, a phenomenal swimmer who, after breaking several US and world records and winning seven medals at the 2004 Olympics, went on to win all of his events in the Olympic trials and break additional world records. Of course, you all know what happened next.

Here's another Michael who was never content to rest on his laurels. From an interview with Geraldo Rivera in 2005:

Geraldo Rivera: Do you ever look back and contemplate, oh my goodness, Thriller is the biggest selling musical performance ever? Do you ever get your arms around that?

Michael Jackson: I think about it, sometimes. But I try not to think about it too hard. Because I don’t want my subconscious mind to think I’ve done it all. "You’re done now." There's so much. That’s why I don’t put awards or trophies in my house. You won’t find a gold record anywhere in my house. Because it makes you feel accomplished. "Look what I’ve done." But I always want to feel, no I haven’t done it yet.

Keep working, keep striving, keep stretching! Why quit while you're ahead? You can always do more and do it better.

Image: Agence France-Presse/Newseum

Budget cuts kill public speaking classes

There are certain classes we all took in high school and college that we never would have taken if it were up to us. Many of us struggled through math or science or history or English, but in the long run we've understood why those classes were important, and we've integrated the knowledge and skills into our daily lives and work.

I was reading about a school board budget debate recently and the chairperson of the school board said this:

"I'm not sure we need drama, debate and public speaking."

These were all courses with low enrollment, so the school board was recommending cutting them.

First of all, I'm impressed that this school even offers public speaking. Most students don't get this opportunity until college, if at all.

However, I can understand why the public speaking classes have low enrollment. People are scared of public speaking! Teens are especially insecure in front of their peers and the thought of standing in front of the room and giving a speech is not at all appealing.

And most young people are not looking ahead to how their classes will help them in the future. They're just trying to do whatever they have to do to graduate. If public speaking isn't mandatory, most kids are not going to seek out this class.

If I had my way, public speaking would be mandatory in schools. Because just about every single thing we have to do in our lives involves public speaking. Most people will participate in a job interview (or 50). Most of us will have to speak up in a meeting at some point (or hundreds). Most of us will have to convince, persuade or influence another person one day.

Public speaking is as universally necessary a skill as knowing how to read or multiply. Yet in many cases, public speaking training is seen as a luxury, a frivolous extra.

I suppose most teachers could find a way to include public speaking instruction as part of their classes. And that would be ideal, incorporating it into many different aspects of education in the same way we face public speaking in many aspects of our lives.

Then again, those teachers would all have to know how to teach public speaking, wouldn't they? And from personal experience and long-term memory of monotonous, droning teachers, that's quite a stretch.

If schools started teaching public speaking in the elementary years, we might actually catch kids before they develop self-consciousness and fear of speaking in front of a group.

What do you think about including public speaking in schools? What would be the best way to incorporate it so every student has a chance to learn?