Leadership & Concepts of Leadership

Leadership, a critical management skill, is the ability to motivate a group of people toward a common goal. These items will help you develop your skills as a leader.

The very essence of leadership is that you have to have a vision. It's got to be a vision you articulate clearly and forcefully on every occasion.

Leadership is a journey without a final destination. It demands self-improvement and self-renewal to continue.

Concepts of Leadership

The meaning of a message is the change which it produces in the image. - Kenneth Boulding in The Image: Knowledge in Life and Society

Human Relations

The six most important words: "I admit I made a mistake."

The five most important words: "You did a good job."

The four most important words: "What is your opinion."

The three most important words: "If you please."

The two most important words: "Thank you,"

The one most important word: "We"

The least most important word: "I"

Good leaders are made not born. If you have the desire and willpower, you can become an effective leader. Good leaders develop through a never ending process of self-study, education, training, and experience. This guide will help you through that process.

To inspire your workers into higher levels of teamwork, there are certain things you must be, know, and, do. These do not come naturally, but are acquired through continual work and study. Good leaders are continually working and studying to improve their leadership skills; they are NOT resting on their laurels.

Before we get started, lets define leadership. Leadership is a process by which a person influences others to accomplish an objective and directs the organization in a way that makes it more cohesive and coherent. Leaders carry out this process by applying their leadership attributes, such as beliefs, values, ethics, character, knowledge, and skills. Although your position as a manager, supervisor, lead, etc. gives you the authority to accomplish certain tasks and objectives in the organization, this power does not make you a leader...it simply makes you the boss. Leadership differs in that it makes the followers want to achieve high goals, rather than simply bossing people around.Bass'

(1989 & 1990) theory of leadership states that there are three basic ways to explain how people become leaders. The first two explain the leadership development for a small number of people. These theories are:

o Some personality traits may lead people naturally into leadership roles. This is the Trait Theory.

o A crisis or important event may cause a person to rise to the occasion, which brings out extraordinary leadership qualities in an ordinary person. This is the Great Events Theory.

o People can choose to become leaders. People can learn leadership skills. This is the Transformational Leadership Theory. It is the most widely accepted theory today and the premise on which this guide is based.

When a person is deciding if she respects you as a leader, she does not think about your attributes, rather, she observes what you do so that she can know who you really are. She uses this observation to tell if you are a honorable and trusted leader or a self serving person who misuses authority to look good and get promoted. Self-serving leaders are not as effective because their employees only obey them, not follow them. They succeed in many areas because they present a good image to their seniors at the expense of their workers.

The basis of good leadership is honorable character and selfless service to your organization. In your employees' eyes, your leadership is everything you do that effects the organization's objectives and their well being. Respected leaders concentrate on what they are [be] (such as beliefs and character), what they know (such as job, tasks, and human nature), and what they do (such as implementing, motivating, and provide direction).

What makes a person want to follow a leader? People want to be guided by those they respect and who have a clear sense of direction. To gain respect, they must be ethical. A sense of direction is achieved by conveying a strong vision of the future.

9 Tips for giving "a presentation that kills"

The jury's still out on whether creative professionals inherently love attention or despise it. Creating art, design or product for a living implies a desire to make something people will notice, and while there are those who never show their creations to anyone, they rarely make a career out of it. On the other hand, an artist, designer or illustrator is not the same as a performer: it's your work that's out there on display, not you, much as it might sometimes feel that way. This level of separation is attractive to many creative professionals, while others would rather be be right out there with their creation, describing it, talking it up, doing whatever it takes to make their willing audience love it with the same ardor they do.

It might be comforting to know that loving presenting doesn't necessarily make you good at it, nor does being ambivalent about it. Being a good designer is no sure indicator either: the brilliant creative who makes an ass of himself when put on the spot is practically a cliché. But whether you love the spotlight with all your heart or cower in the corner at the slightest hint of attention, chances are good you'll have to do some presenting in your creative career. And like most worthwhile skills, presenting is something that can be learned.

As creative professionals, we're often called on to show the results of our work in visual form. The mistake many of us make is assuming that a well executed visual can take the place of a well thought out presentation. It can't. When you're planning your presentation, think about it as a narrative arc: what story are you trying to tell, what's the beginning, middle and end, and why should anyone care?

"Presentation" is a pretty broad term. In the creative world, it often means pitching a concept to a client or another department in your own company, with the intention of winning a job, making a case for a specific creative decision, or informing them of a project's status. It can also mean a more general explanation of your own capabilities as a freelancer, consultancy or team. In both cases, you'll probably be showing some work, and you'll probably be talking to non-designers. With that in mind, we've put together a short list of tips to get you started on the right path. Most of them are pretty common sense, and revolve around a few basic themes: being prepared, telling a story, not being afraid to run the show. So here you are: 9 tips that can make the difference between crashing and burning, and soaring gracefully through one of life's more nervous situations.

1. You give the presentation, not your stuff.
Drawings, models, prototypes, movies, Powerpoint decks, sketches, renderings, and anything else you might bring to the table isn't what your audience really came to see. They came to see you; if they wanted to just look at sketches, they could have stayed at their desks and scrolled through a PDF. One of the fundamental rules of presenting is that people pay more attention to people than to things; that's why the ability to tell a story is so important.
As creative professionals, we're often called on to show the results of our work in visual form. The mistake many of us make is assuming that a well executed visual can take the place of a well thought out presentation. It can't. When you're planning your presentation, think about it as a narrative arc: what story are you trying to tell, what's the beginning, middle and end, and why should anyone care? Once you've got the story laid out, build a presentation to express it. The assets you assemble should support the story, so that when you get to that gorgeous rendering you spent 4 days on, your audience knows exactly why it's so great. You wouldn't create a design without solidifying the concept behind it first...why would you do that with a presentation?

2. Know who you're talking to.
Talking to marketers is different from talking to engineers. Talking to executives is different still. Before you commit time to creating a presentation, figure out what your audience wants to know. An ounce of empathy is worth about a ton of misplaced effort in this case. When the meeting is being set up, take 2 minutes to ask who will be in attendance, what their jobs are and how they're involved in the project. Then think about what you'd want to know if you were them, tailor your talk to address those concerns, and emphasize what you have to offer them.
When I was still freelancing in New York, I once flew out West to meet with the client--a metal detector company--of a studio I was working for. Knowing that all of the project engineers would be in attendance, and that several of them were working feverishly to develop an improved detection scheme, I made sure to mention my background as a physics teacher, and my deep interest in the science behind the project (which was true). Not only did the meeting go well, but I established a positive rapport with the engineers that lasted the entire 2-year duration of the project.

3. Control the environment.
Presenting in a familiar room is a great luxury. You know where the light switches are, where people will probably sit, and how to plug into the projector. If you're smart, you'll get there before everyone else and get things set up: pin up your images, set up your boards, lay out your models, hook up your laptop, test run your first few slides, then blank the screen so your audience sees you first of all. If it's feasible to stand at the front of the room, that's where you should be waiting. Remember, they're here to see you, so even if the second thing you do is turn off the lights and give a slide show, the first thing you do should be to stand proudly at the front and introduce it.
Going to foreign turf to give a presentation is becoming more and more the norm though, so chances are good you'll get there last, having walked or driven or flown all morning. So, in addition to finding out all you can about the space beforehand (corollary to tip #2), you should be ready to present in a tin shack with folding chairs if need be. That means having all your images, boards, pinups, etc. ready to go, as well as pins, tape, collapsible easels or whatever else you need to display them. If you're giving a slide show and you're not positive there will be a computer and projector ready and waiting for you, bring your own. Nothing wrong with looking over-prepared. Then walk in, set your stuff down, shake hands, and introduce yourself. Walk to the head of the room and take your time getting set up. The four minutes you take to get everything ready speak volumes, so make sure they say "I'm supposed to be here. I know what I'm doing."

4. Don't talk so much.
Being prepared and knowledgeable does not mean being long-winded. One of the great advantages to having some facility with visual communication is being able to use an image or an object in place of a lot of talking and hand-waving. If you're giving a slide show, limit yourself to a minute of talking per slide, and aim to average less than half that. Does this contradict Tip #1? Not really--telling a good story doesn't always mean saying a lot. The Triplets of Belleville has a fantastic narrative, and it's essentially dialog-free.

5. Plan ahead.
Winging it rarely works. You might think you're off the hook as a creative, that you can bring in your brilliant ideas and beautiful images, toss them casually on the table and sit back while the less creatively-gifted ooh, ahh and pelt you with money, but you can't, and they won't. Showing up unprepared to a presentation where you are the star doesn't express competence and nonchalance, it expresses arrogance and disorganization.
If it's just a status update, spend an hour or two the day before planning out your strategy and gathering your assets. If it's a client pitch, you should know 2 days ahead of time exactly what you're going to say. What do you do with the remaining 48 hours? The same as you do with your creative work: refine, refine, refine.

6. One thing at a time.
If your story needs a period of speechifying, go to a blank slide, turn the projector off, or stand in front of your pin-ups. Be the center of attention for a bit. What you want to avoid is obscuring your story by trying to push through conflicting media streams simultaneously. Humans are excellent at synthesizing information from multiple sources, but not so good at paying attention to two or three things at once. This is why it's often so excruciating to listen to a presenter read the text off of their projected slide: most people's brain's aren't really wired to listen well and read well simultaneously. So don't make them.
Similarly, there should be no superfluous images or text in a presentation. Too often, presenters feel like everything they say needs to include an image, even if it doesn't communicate anything. If you need to show some text, show it and talk about it, and don't feel like it needs decoration (save your efforts for formatting and font selection). If the text can be related to an image, go ahead and show them together, but make it clear how they're related. You know how to use captions and callouts, right? Then use them.

7. Get it in a can.
Certain presentations you're going to give again and again. That's a good thing. If your job requires you to make the same client-pitch presentation 7 or 8 times a year, or you're called on to describe your firm's design research process every other week, you need a presentation template. Just as you might create an underlay for working out multiple sketch versions of a single illustration, or build a template that can be adjusted to fit a particular brochure layout or website, a presentation template can save you hours of work and improve your effectiveness. The advantages are similar: you can refine the template based on your experiences using it, making it cleaner and more compelling as well as more specific to your own strengths. A template-based presentation also gives you the sort of freedom a good underlay does, letting you try out various options and seeing how they look before going with the most appropriate.
The most obvious, and common, type of template is a Powerpoint or similar slide show, with spaces left for making it specific to a particular scenario. The template concept can be much broader though. If you use animations, a series of short video clips that are frequently useful can be compiled, then strung together to form the backbone of your show. Similarly, portfolio work that illustrates your strengths well should go in a file, complete with descriptive text and a layout coherent enough that they could be printed out and pinned up together, or projected in sequence, and look like they belong. If you don't have a really good-looking background layout, complete with frames, text blocks, callouts, a standardized color palette and the name of your company, department or yourself (if you're freelancing), then go make one now. If we had to re-invent the wheel every time we wanted to go somewhere, we wouldn't get there very fast.

8. Look the part.
As a creative professional you're walking several fine lines. You're competent, but in a way that might be foreign to your audience. You take direction, but are stubbornly insistent on crucial details. You're rigorous but imaginative. Building credibility in the eyes of your audience means appearing to be all these things at once. The short form of the rule is to dress the way you usually dress, but a bit more professionally. The average designer, architect or illustrator has a decent understanding of color, pattern and stylistic trends, and this tends to play out in wardrobe selection.
The two mistakes creative professionals make when presenting are quashing that understanding in favor of looking completely "normal", or accentuating their "creativeness" to the point of parody. If you're presenting in distressed denim and a Very Cool T-shirt, most of your audience will be paying attention to your sloppy threads instead of you, regardless of how limited the print run on that shirt is. Conversely, if you have a boring suit that you only wear when you're presenting, your audience might wonder why they're paying someone who looks just like them to come up with new ideas--and you'll be 5% less comfortable if this is the only day all month you've worn a tie or heels. A button-up shirt and some decent jeans are the bare minimum for either gender, and no flip-flops. Nobody cares how comfy they are. (For a more detailed examination of how designers can dress for success, check out Robert Blinn's excellent piece from last month's Creative Seeds on interview attire; the rules are almost identical for presentations.)

9. Leave behind a good leave-behind.
You've heard the advertising proverb that it takes 14 exposures to an idea before you remember it. Your presentation counts as one, so if you want to leave an impression, you need to leave something behind. Assuming your audience won't be taking notes, a few printed pages per person will do a lot to keep the magic alive. This doesn't need to be much, a simple Word document with some thumbnail images is usually plenty; enough to remind the audience what you talked about in a minute or two of light reading. If you can write a few paragraphs with some annotated images, that's fine, or an outline with bullet points (or numbered items....like this one). If you planned out your presentation as a narrative, the notes you used to do this often become an excellent leave-behind with just a little fleshing out and formatting. What you must never, ever do is print out your entire slide show and drop this airy tome on everyone's lap. It'll go straight to recycling in most cases.

How to Deliver a Punch Line

The punch line gets its name from the delivery technique used. You must punch the line out a little harder and with a slightly different voice than the rest of the joke. Lean into the microphone and say it louder and more clearly than you said the setup lines. If the audience does not hear the punch line, they are not going to laugh. Just before the punch line you should pause slightly to emphasize and draw special attention to the line.
After you deliver the line, don't utter another sound. Give the audience a chance to laugh. Words or phrases appended to the climax tend to delay or impede laughter. Until you get some experience, it is really tough to wait. Beginners tend to be afraid that no laughter will come, so they keep going. If you keep talking during this period, you will easily squelch the laughter. As your confidence builds, pausing will become easier and easier. Sometimes waiting the audience out will actually give them a cue to laugh even if the joke wasn't that great.

Deliver the line to one person
When you deliver your punch line, deliver it to one person and one person only. It doesn't matter how large the crowd is, you can look one person right in the eye and deliver your line.
The person to whom you deliver the punch line is NOT randomly chosen. I deliver punch lines to a person I know is going to laugh. How do I know? I pay attention. That's how I know. It all starts with my pre-program research. If I have spoken to any of the audience members and they were laughing with me on the phone, I'll seek them out before the program so I know where they are sitting. That way I can look directly at them during the program.

Watch out for alcohol
Don't be fooled by an audience who appears to be having great fun. It could very likely have been induced by alcohol at their social hour. They may be oblivious to what's happening on-stage.

Head nods
After you have begun your presentation, another way to tell who to deliver to is by closely watching the audience. Some audience members who are really in tune with what you are saying will nod their head gently in approval. You should have great success delivering to these people.

Why deliver to the laughers?
There are two reasons for delivering your punch line to someone you know will laugh. The most important is that you want that person to be a good example for the rest of the audience. If you direct a punch line or comment to a person in the audience, the other members of the audience will naturally look in that direction. If they see someone laughing, there is a high probability they will laugh too. If you deliver your line to some sourpuss that hasn't laughed for 20 years, the rest of the audience will see an example of someone NOT laughing and they will be negatively influenced.
A 1976 study by Antony Chapman and D. S. Wright supports the notion that the lack of laughter or inappropriate laughter (the kind of laughter you would get if you pick on someone or some group inappropriately and they laugh to save face) are inhibitors of laughter.
The second reason for delivering your punch line to someone you know will laugh has to do with confidence. There is little chance that you will get old sourpuss to laugh no matter what you do. If you kill yourself trying and fail, as you probably will, it will knock your confidence level and affect the rest of your performance. Combine this with the fact that you will be ignoring the rest of the audience, who will be watching this person not laugh, and you'll be quickly swinging in the wind. Deliver to the ones that appreciate you!

Three Mind-Tickling Techniques to Make Your Presentation Content More Memorable and Motivating

Raw information tickles the logical mind and bores the rest of the mind to sleep. The result of an overly logical presentation: bored, sleepy listeners who remember nothing and do nothing. Great presenters start with raw information, add their opinions, color it with imagery, and give it personality. The more of the mind you tickle, the more retention and motivation you reap. Additional parts of the mind you can tickle include: long term memory, imagination, and emotion.

Long Term Memory
Adults know a lot. Unlike children who come to us with clean slates, adults harbor vast reservoirs of knowledge and experience. Great presenters do not fear this knowledge and experience. They use it to their advantage.
The fastest way to create learning is to link the unknown with the known. Since adults know so many things, opportunity for linking abounds. Simile and metaphor provide the means. A simile uses the words “like” or “as” to bridge the unknown with the known. Example: It tastes like chicken. I don’t care what food I’m discussing. You now know how it tastes. Metaphors link without the words “like” or “as”. Example: That business is a three-ring circus. You can probably think of multiple businesses that fit a three-ring circus description.
One year, the city that hosted the Super Bowl was vying to host an upcoming Summer Olympics. A reporter interviewed the mayor of that city and asked about his confidence level in hosting an Olympics after the recent success with the Super Bowl. The mayor responded by acknowledging the recent success, but then cautioned, “Hosting the Olympics is like hosting 15 Super Bowls per day.”
A COO of a healthcare organization used a wonderful bridge to lead into a brainstorming session on marketing ideas. He mused, “Suppose we were in the business of attracting squirrels. How would we attract them? We would climb up a tree and act like a nut. Now, what kind of nuts do our squirrels like?” Employees laughed and joined in enthusiastically to offer new “nuts”.

Imagination
The mind loves pictures. We dream in pictures. We daydream in pictures. We remember faces and forget names. We forget street names and remember landmarks. Have you ever given someone directions like these? “Go about one mile. Then you’ll see a big white church and a nursery across the street. Take a left. When you come to the fire station…”
I participated in a research study in college that still fascinates me. To earn extra credit in a psychology course, I agreed to be a guinea pig for the graduate students’ research project. The graduate students sat me down and told me they were going to read 20 sentences to me. My job, visualize or imagine each sentence as vividly as possible for 30 seconds. Then we would proceed to the next sentence. Based on only that information we began.
Being the good student, I visualized intently, practically crinkling my nose to see the images. After 20 sentences, the graduate students blindfolded me and walked me down a hallway to a water fountain. They told me to take a drink of water. They blindfolded me again and escorted me back to the original room. They took my blindfold off, handed me a blank piece of paper, and instructed me to write as many of the 20 sentences as I could remember in 60 seconds. Despite my unnerving walk down the hall, I wrote down 18 sentences exactly as they had read them to me within 60 seconds. I had no idea a test was coming.
Visual aids provide a perfect opportunity to incorporate pictures into a presentation. Yet, most presenters squander the opportunity by using bulleted lists of words and numbers as their visual aids. Challenge your bullet points. Clipart programs abound. Dress up boring graphs. For high profile presentations seek the assistance of a graphic artist or employ internal talent.
If real pictures elude you, paint word pictures on your listeners’ minds. Similes and metaphors, by their nature, paint vivid pictures like the 15 Super Bowls or the squirrels and the nuts. Take conceptual or technical ideas and create pictures for them. In a former life I used to be an actuary in the insurance industry. I recruited from colleges and gave presentations about the actuarial profession. To educate students about actuarial science and motivate them to pursue the career, I defined an actuary as a mathematical fortuneteller. Reaction from students, “Hey, that sounds pretty cool.” (Now do you believe word pictures are powerful?)

Emotion
People take action for emotional reasons not logical ones. Most people logically understand the hazards of cigarette smoking, yet they continue to smoke. Most people logically know that healthy diet and exercise keep them vibrant, yet they eat chocolate cake and watch TV instead. Sales professionals claim that people buy for emotional reasons then justify with logic. Have you ever purchased something you couldn’t really afford? Enough said.
In general, people are motivated emotionally by “moving towards” happiness or “moving away” from pain. When your alarm clock sounds in the morning, why do you get out of bed? If you answer, “Because I love life and I can’t wait to start another spectacular day. Carpe Diem!” You would be motivated by “moving towards”. If you answer, “Because if I don’t get up now I’ll be late for work and get fired.” You would be motivated by “moving away”.
Add an emotional element to your presentations by explaining to listeners the rewards of action (moving towards) and the consequences of inaction (moving away). Be sure to address both ends of the spectrum. If you only dangle rewards, the “moving away” listeners tune out. If you only threaten doom, the “moving towards” listeners sour.
A recent prospect wanted presentation skills coaching for their software experts because for the first time their Users Group conference included other companies. I advised that if they went forward with the coaching, the improved presentations would create a buzz that would drive some of the increased traffic into their sessions. Then I warned that if they didn’t pursue coaching, lackluster presentations might cause an exodus of once guaranteed audience members to other companies.

Summary
Raw information tickles the logical mind, but bores the rest. To increase motivation and retention, tickle more of the mind by appealing not only to logic, but long-term memory, imagination, and emotion. Use similes, word pictures, “moving towards”, and “moving away” to join the ranks of great presenters.

Speak with passion and you'll inspire others

In March 20, 1775, Patrick Henry stood before the Virginia Assembly in Richmond and delivered what many have proclaimed to be "the greatest speech in the history of America." Why was it so memorable? The address was filled with fervor and emotion.

The great patriot concluded his oration with these stirring words: "Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty, or give me death!

Powerful, memorable addresses are the result of a deep passion the speaker has for his or her subject. It is virtually impossible to inspire others if you are not personally committed.

I once watched an attorney give his opening statement during a trial. He spoke in a monotone voice, droning on and on about what the evidence would show. There was no life, no persuasion.

I could sense the jurors thinking, "If this isn't important to him, why should it be important to me?" Remember, every audience is a jury - voting up or down on your effectiveness.

Your objective is to change minds and move hearts. As professional speaker Janet Fox once said to me, "Leaders understand that they don't just sell widgets."

TRANSFER IT!

It is not enough to speak with passion and enthusiasm - you must transfer those same feelings to your audience. The transference comes through your voice, your gestures, your body movement and your mastery of platform skills.

Inspiration is contagious - even more so in the hands of a capable leader.

Nido Qubein advises, "If something is wonderful, say it like it's wonderful; if something is sad, say it like it's sad; if something is important, say it like it's important."

FEELINGS OF THE HEART

Perhaps the quickest way to decrease speech anxiety is to allow the emotion of the subject to fill your heart. As speaker Roxanne Emmerich says, "When you are so committed to the meaning of your message you can't contain yourself, there is no energy left for being nervous."

Can you always make a passionate speech? No. If your assignment is to give a data-filled, informative session, follow the laws of good speaking and stick to the numbers. You can save enthusiasm for another time.

RAISE THE TEMPERATURE

Here's what I have learned by watching the pros. They know how to grab the attention of their audience early, yet they don't overplay their emotional cards during the first half of their presentation. They let the speech simmer and build to a boil - slowly raising the temperature along the way. Then wham! At the conclusion, everything is bubbling over - the conviction, the intensity and the power.

Speaking coach Martha Burgess says, "It's energy that makes you visible, that gives you presence. It's called 'performance energy,' and is the basis of dynamic leadership."

You cannot fake enthusiasm; it must rise to the surface from deep within. There's no substitute for that fire-in-the-belly passion that causes your audience to feel something.

It's not what you think; it's what you believe

LAWS OF SPEAKING

* Become aware of your distracting habits.

* Keep both hands free.

* Gestures should mirror your thoughts.

* Make your movements deliberate.

* Dress conservatively.

* Don't seek perfection, but naturalness

Seven Strategies for Handling Difficult Questions

What to Say When You Don't Know the Answer
Honesty is the only policy when presenting to a group. However, blatantly admitting, “I don’t know”, in response to a direct question from an audience member can be disastrous. The solution is to be honest and maintain credibility at the same time. No one can know the answer to every question. It’s how the inevitable situation is handled that separates great presenters from amateurs. Study the following seven strategies and keep them in your back pocket so that you can field even the toughest questions with confidence.

1. Reflection
Repeat the question and toss it back to your audience, “Does anyone here have any experience with that?” When you allow the audience to help you, they will save you without ever realizing it. In fact, the audience will revere you because adults love to be involved and share their knowledge. After you have fielded all of the contributions, be sure to summarize and add your own ideas if any have been sparked by the interaction. Summarizing at the end helps you to maintain control and authority. Always repeat questions before answering for the same reasons.

2. I’ll Get Back to You
This is an old standard and it works well if you do three things. First, write the question down. Be conspicuous. Make sure everyone knows you are writing the question down. I go so far as to tell the audience, “I am writing this question down.” Second, tell the questioner exactly when you will get back to them. Be honest. Then do it. Can you get back to them by the end of the day? If it is an all-day program, can you get back to them after lunch? Third, be sure to get the questioner’s contact information if you don’t have it. All of these things make this strategy very powerful. It is not smoke and mirrors. It is an opportunity to go the extra mile, expand your knowledge, and impress your audience.

3. Defer to the Expert
This is a more sophisticated version of the Reflection technique. Sometimes a question is legitimately outside of your area of expertise. You may be a marketing expert and someone asks a question about the engineering aspects of a product. This is a question that requires an engineer. If there is an engineer in the room you could say, “Sally, you’re an engineer. Do you have any insights into that?” If there are no engineers in the room, state that you will confer with an engineer and get back to them. Notice I have just combined two techniques.

4. Compliment the Questioner
For this to be effective, the compliment must be sincere. Sometimes I get lulled into thinking I have seen and heard it all on a particular topic. It never fails though, someone comes out of left field with a question I have never thought of and I say, “That’s a great question. I’ve never thought about it that way. Does anyone here have any ideas on that?” (I have just combined two techniques.) When I use this strategy it is usually not a conscious decision. It’s a reaction. That’s how sincere it needs to sound. It always works when it’s sincere because audience’s love to be complimented. I might also combine this technique with I’ll Get Back to You.

5. Answer a Question with a Question
Sometimes questions are too narrow or too general to answer. Reserve the right, as the expert, to open a question up or close it down by asking a question in response. Once upon a time I was a software trainer. One day a woman asked me a very specific question, “What does that button do?” I had no idea, but I didn’t confess, “I don’t know.” Instead I asked her a question, “What is your goal in pushing that button?” She elaborated for me and explained what she wanted to accomplish. I knew a way to help her and it didn’t involve pushing that button. She was happy. I was honest, credible, helpful, and very happy.

6. Parallel Answer
If you don’t know the bull’s eye answer to a question, offer what you do know quickly to demonstrate some credibility and then combine with a previous technique. When I was a software trainer I used to be an expert in the Lotus spreadsheet package. However Microsoft’s Excel began to gain popularity and I had to learn it so I could teach it. In the beginning I was on a learning curve. Sometimes I would be asked a question about Excel that I didn’t know the answer to, however I did know the answer in Lotus. Quickly I would say, “I know that is possible in Lotus. I’m not sure if that is available in Excel. I’m writing this question down. I’ll research it at the break and get back to you.” Refrain from droning on and on about your parallel knowledge. Brevity is the key to this technique.

7. Set the Rules
You can avoid many difficult questions simply by setting rules for questions in the beginning. Whenever you present to a group, you are the leader. You are accountable for everything, so lead. My experience is that if you set rules and follow them, the audience respects you. If you make rules up as you go along, you lose credibility.
The number of rules you set will vary depending on the topic. When I taught technical subjects, I set lots of rules because I knew the questions would be many and varied. I would start a software seminar by saying, “I welcome general questions at any time about anything on the agenda. If you have a specific question about a project you are working on or a subject outside of the agenda, please see me at a break for a private consultation. Because we have limited time together, I reserve the right to stop taking questions and comments. This is not personal. It is to make certain we cover every topic today.”

Summary
You can’t know the answer to everything. It’s how you handle yourself. Study these seven strategies and use them to maintain credibility and confidence.

Gain commitment by connecting with your audience

"What are the qualities you admire most in a speaker?"

The answers have included words such as "authentic," "passionate," "motivational," and "humorous." One person told me, "A good speaker relates to my problems and offers solutions."The common thread found in most responses is that people want to relate to a speaker in a meaningful way. Terry Pearce, in Leading Out Loud, states, "The unmistakable conclusion of contemporary social research is that people are eager to commit. They are truly starved to connect with competent, trustworthy leaders."

The connection is the major distinction between an ordinary speech and one that has the potential to make a difference in someone's life.

Remember, the ultimate purpose of most presentations is to move your audience toward a decision.

THE BOTTOM LINE

You should not concern yourself about what you receive as a result of the speaking engagement - whether it be remuneration or respect. You need to ask, "What am I going to give? Will my listeners take away something worthwhile?"

Every person seated before you has a need, and you have the opportunity to fill it. Lilly Walters, in her exceptional book, Secrets of Successful Speakers, suggests that you imagine that the minds of your audience are hurting. Says Walters, "Your message can touch and heal if you allow it to."

Audience benefit is the bottom line. That is what must guide every addition, deletion and revision you make to your program.

From the beginning, tell your listeners how and why they will greatly benefit from what they are about to hear. In essence, you're saying, "Listen up! Here is vital, important information for you!"

As author Morton Orman says, "Sometimes we get so caught up in the presentation that we forget that our purpose is to provide value to the audience."

THE CREDIBILITY FACTOR

Do your listeners see you as authentic and credible?

Lee Glickstein, founder of Transformational Speaking, believes that "authenticity is . . . one of the most effective leadership tools around. In an age of cynicism and distrust, it is one of the few things that inspires people to action." And he adds, "What we say doesn't count for much if people don't believe us, or if they don't think that we believe ourselves. Today, enlightened business leaders build trust and get results by revealing their authentic selves and setting an inspired example.

"If you want to check your credibility, test your material on your kids. My 10-year-old daughter, Erin, recently gave this sage advice: "If you have something to say, say it. If not, shut up!" You'll never motivate others unless you believe in yourself - and have total faith in what you are communicating. As author Granville Too good states in The Articulate Executive, "Once you stand for something, you have set yourself apart from every speaker - even if you may think you're not a particularly good speaker yourself."

On a cross-country flight, I was seated next to a college professor who told me about his speaking activities during the Vietnam war era while he was a graduate student at Stanford University. He believed the anti-war movement needed to take its case to the masses, so he would speak anytime - anywhere.

"Can you imagine what it was like addressing a conservative Kiwanis Club about the anti-war movement - and what a bad idea it was to invade Cambodia?" he told me.

At the conclusion of his speech, which received limited applause, he noticed a man following him to his car, anxious to talk. Instead of showing signs of anger, the short, rotund elderly gentleman was smiling. The man approached him, pointing his finger, saying, "You know, son, I didn't agree with what you said in there, but you had style. And I respect that in a person.

"To his astonishment, the man began to talk about his lucrative siding business and how he didn't have any heirs to take it over. Amazingly, the stranger was offering the student an opportunity to work for him and ultimately own the business. "If you can speak like that to a group of Kiwanis members, you can do just about anything," he exclaimed.

The graduate student kindly refused the offer, but he never forgot the man's kindness. "I also learned the power of the spoken word," he told me.

REMINDERS

* Connect with your audience by giving them something of value.

* Your objective is to provide benefits.

* People have needs that you have the opportunity to fill.

* Believe in yourself and your message.

* Authenticity is a critical leadership tool.

When you stand for something, you set yourself apart.

The 10 biggest mistakes speakers make when they take the platform to speak

Some of the top executives in the country step to the platform and fall flat on their faces as speakers. How could these intelligent, business savvy executives, who are so adept at running a company, end up boring an audience?

After watching and working with executives from all walks of life, I've compiled this list of the 10 biggest mistakes business leaders make when they speak. Avoid these mistakes and you will speak like the leader!

1. Starting with a whimperMany speakers begin with a polite, "Thank you very much for that kind introduction." Rather trite, don't you think? Instead, start with a bang not a whimper. Give them a startling statistic, an "in your face" statement, an interesting quote, a news headline . . . something powerful that will get their attention immediately.

2. Attempting to imitate other speakersFamous speakers can lend guidance to your speaking style, but it is a mistake to attempt to emulate these individuals. Effective speakers adapt their own style to the platform, speak conversationally and do not attempt a wholesale conversion of their personas. You cannot connect with an audience without authenticity. Authenticity is lost when you aren't yourself on the platform.

3. Failing to "work" the roomIf you fail to take advantage of the time before your presentation, you have lost an opportunity to enhance your credibility with your listeners. You should always arrive early to greet your audience prior to your talk. Of course you would do this at your own functions. But when you speak to external groups, make it a point to "work the room" - don't arrive two minutes before your speech and leave immediately after it. Your audience wants to meet you. Give them this opportunity.

4. Failing to use relaxation techniques before saying a wordEvery speaker has some anxiety before taking the platform. Use your time before the presentation to relax. Breathe deeply from your diaphragm for two minutes. Simple exercises such as shrugging the shoulders or tensing/releasing your body are helpful. Listening to music in the car helps relieve pressure. Do whatever it takes to relieve some of the anxiety that accompanies every speech.

5. Reading a speech word for wordIt has been said that the last time someone read to you it was your mother and she was trying to get you to sleep. Instead of reading, use a "keyword" outline. These keywords will prompt complete thoughts as you speak. Look down at the keyword, look into the eyes of the audience - then speak.

6. Using someone else's storiesRule 1 - Your audience wants to connect with you. Rule 2 - Your audience will connect with you when you tell your own stories . . . not stories from Chicken Soup for the Soul that they might have heard or age-old tales from Winston Churchill. While you might weave in brief quotes or short stories from other sources, you must illustrate your most profound thoughts from your own actual life experiences. And if you don't think you have any interesting personal stories to tell, you aren't looking deeply enough. They are there for the telling.

7. Speaking on a subject without passionYou want your audience to do something as a result of your presentation. Whatever you want them to do, there is a better chance that they will do it if you show that you are passionate about your subject. An added benefit is that your fears will dissipate when you are truly excited about your subject matter. Speak with passion . . . and you will inspire others.

8. Ending with questions and answersMost executives end their sessions with a question and answer session. Instead, tell the audience that you will take questions and then say, "We will move to our closing point." After the Q&A, tell them a story that ties in to your main theme. Or summarize the points made during the presentation. Conclude with a quote or call to action. Whatever you end with, make it memorable.

9. Failing to adequately prepareIt is amazing how many executives will take the stage without adequately preparing. They may have someone else write their speeches without their input. They may write their own rambling presentation that has no organization or purpose. These amazingly bright individuals end up losing an incredible opportunity to demonstrate their leadership skills in a way that can immediately increase their credibility. Twenty minutes before the right group of people can better enhance their perception of you as a leader than a year behind your desk!

10. Failing to recognize that speaking is an acquired skill Many executives believe that speaking before groups is easy and does not take any special training or skill development. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Effective speakers learn how to present in the same way they learn the tools needed to operate their business. Speaking is like any learned skill. It takes time and practice.

The good news is that these common speaking mistakes are easy to avoid if you recognize them. The even better news is that most executives will not take the time to make these adjustments in their speaking styles. Those who do make these changes will find themselves alone at the top, and the top of the leadership ladder is a great place to be when making a presentation!

LAWS OF SPEAKING

* Become aware of your distracting habits.

* Keep both hands free.

* Gestures should mirror your thoughts.

* Make your movements deliberate.

* Dress conservatively.

* Don't seek perfection, but naturalness.

Make Every Presentation A Theatrical Performance

Next time you are about to make a presentation, take a deep breath and imagine yourself walking on stage - about to give the performance of your life. Every business presentation is a form of theatrical performance. A theatre play succeeds or fails depending on how well it engages with the audience and how well the actors perform on the night. Audience members will like a show if the story appeals to them and if the actors perform it effectively. It's exactly the same with a business presentation.

There are things about how a theatrical company plans to succeed that we can apply to the business world; the structure of the story and how it is produced are both very important. These factors can determine success or failure, before any actor has spoken a word. Equally the actors must be sufficiently rehearsed so that they can do justice to the story and its production. If you want a good format for your next sales presentation, think of the 'Inspector Colombo' series. Most people will know of this TV detective developed by the actor Peter Falk, who portrays him brilliantly. The Colombo stories are built around a similar structure and plot formula. At the beginning, we see a crime being committed (usually a murder) and the thing that makes compulsive viewing is then watching and waiting to see how Colombo manages to nail the criminal.

This is an excellent format for a sales presentation. The outcome can be revealed at the beginning, leaving no mystery about what you want to happen; with this approach, you make your 'proposition' up-front. The rest of your sales presentation puts across the arguments and details needed to justify your proposition. Business people don't attend sales presentations just to be entertained and intrigued, they want to get some value from their investment of time. Next time you give a sales presentation work out the costs in terms of salary and overheads and you'll probably find you are putting on the most expensive show in town. So you must give attendees the value they deserve. They will be interested in your 'story' (otherwise why would they give up time to listen to it?) and they will want you to help them reach a conclusion. Your aim is to make their conclusions match your recommendations.

Here's a simple four-point 'Colombo' style structure for a sales presentation. This format could apply to any presentation with the objective of persuading the audience to take a course of action.

1. The problem or situation requiring a solution
2. The nature of your solution (proposition)
3. The justification for your proposition
4. The recommended next steps

Once the story has taken shape, you must practise your 'performance' (note the 's' spelling, in this instance the word 'practise' is a verb not a noun). Actors rehearse their lines, moves and gestures to bring their story to life. And that rehearsal (or 'practise') is very important. Most people would agree that the Royal Shakespeare Company gives a more memorable performance of 'Hamlet' than the local amateur dramatic society, despite the fact that both groups are using the same story and the same words (most of the time). That's partly due to the ability, the training and the experience of the performers, but it's also due to the time they take to practise (there's that 's' word again), or 'rehearse' if we use correct theatrical parlance.

Every performance starts its life in a rehearsal room but some final rehearsals are done on the stage where the play is to be performed. You might not get that luxury with your presentation but you must be comfortable with the performance environment and the media that you intend to use. Whenever you can, insist on seeing the location beforehand. A theatrical company takes about two weeks (full time) to rehearse a three hour play. And that doesn't include time spent creating the text, the author has done that. Those figures give a ratio of about thirty to one for rehearsal time versus performance time. Admittedly a lot of theatrical complexity comes from the number of actors involved (and probably some of their moods and tantrums) and the fact that they have to learn a script word-for-word. But play these numbers how you like, the point is still valid. Once you have built your compelling story there is no substitute for practise, practise and even more practise.

Regard every presentation as a performance you are making to a critical audience who has paid for its seats and you'll start to reap some rewards. You won't win any Hollywood Oscars but you will win more business. Break a leg!

Bringing technical presentations to life

Start strong
Many speakers begin with a polite, "Thank you very much for that kind introduction." Rather trite, don't you think? Instead, start with a bang not a whimper. Give them a startling statistic, an "in your face" statement, an interesting quote, a news headline . . . something powerful that will get their attention immediately.Never apologize. If you are tired, unhappy, depressed, worried, or upset, your audience probably won't know it unless you draw attention to it.


Be yourself
Many technical presenters are introverts and attempt to avoid speaking because they think that they need to alter their "normal" speaking voice. While it is true that a quiet person must raise his or her voice when speaking to an audience, you do not have to greatly alter your normal speaking voice on the platform.
In fact, to attempt a wholesale conversion of your persona while speaking is a serious mistake. You cannot connect with an audience without authenticity. Authenticity is lost when you aren't yourself on the platform.
So speak conversationally. Allow your dry wit to come through if that is truly who you are. Be yourself.


Network with your audience before the program
Take advantage of the time before your presentation to mingle with your audience. Make it a point to "work the room" - don't arrive two minutes before your speech and leave immediately after it. Your audience wants to meet you. Give them this opportunity.


Use relaxation techniques before saying a word
Every speaker experiences some anxiety before speaking. Use the time before your presentation to relax. Breathe deeply from your diaphragm for two minutes. Simple exercises such as shrugging the shoulders or tensing/releasing your body are helpful. Listening to music in the car helps relieve pressure. Do whatever it takes to relieve some of the anxiety that accompanies every speech.


Use a "keyword" outline to make your presentation
It has been said that the last time someone read to you it was your mother and she was trying to get you to sleep. Instead of reading, use a "keyword" outline. These keywords will prompt complete thoughts as you speak. Look down at the keyword, look into the eyes of the audience - and then speak.


Use your own stories to illustrate a point
You have many stories that you could use from your experiences to illustrate points. Most technical speakers fail to relate personal stories. You may not realize it, but your audience wants to connect with you. They can connect more easily if you tell your own stories . . . real life experiences that illustrate points. And if you don't think you have any interesting personal stories to tell, you aren't looking deeply enough. They are there for the telling.


Find passion in your topic
This may seem difficult for a technical presentation, but I've talked with many technical presenters one on one and you can feel their passion for their topic . . . off the platform.
You want your audience to do something as a result of your presentation. Whatever you want them to do, there is a better chance that they will do it if you show that you are passionate about your subject. An added benefit is that your fears will dissipate when you are truly excited about your subject matter. Speak with passion . . . and you will inspire others.


Don't end with questions and answers
Most technical presentations end with a question and answer session. Instead, tell the audience that you will take questions and then say, "We will move to our closing point." After the Q&A, tell a story that ties in to your main theme. Or summarize the points made during the presentation. Conclude with a quote or call to action. Whatever you end with, make it memorable.


Presenting is an acquired skill
Many technical presenters believe that speaking before groups does not take any special training or skill development. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Effective speakers learn how to present in the same way in which they learn the tools needed to develop their own technical skills. Speaking is like any learned skill. It takes time and practice.
Every speaking opportunity is an opportunity to move others to action. You can accomplish more in a 60-minute presentation to the right group of decision-makers than you can sit behind your desk for a year. Take advantage of this opportunity by learning the skills needed to make exciting technical presentations. You'll see the difference on the faces of your audience . . . and on your bottom line.


LAWS OF SPEAKING
* Become aware of your distracting habits.
* Keep both hands free.
* Gestures should mirror your thoughts.
* Make your movements deliberate.
* Dress conservatively.
* Don't seek perfection, but naturalness.