Taking risks. 08/30/2010
 
Humor is scary. Anytime you use humor, you run the risk that no one will find the humor in your words. Haven't we all had the experience of launching a joke to a room full of dead air? It's humiliating. It's horrifying. But it happens. Rarely does it lead to instant death.
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I watched the Emmys last night. I thought Jimmy Fallon did a great job and I enjoyed the humor. But other people didn't like it and didn't think some of the bits were funny. Especially the accountant intros, which I particularly enjoyed. That's the way humor is - it either hits your funny bone or it doesn't.

You can feel yourself at the edge of a precipice every time you prepare to add humor to a presentation or even a conversation. You stop for a second and consider chickening out (and I'm not talking about a rubber chicken). Once you decide to proceed, if the humor works, it is an unbelievable payoff when someone laughs. It's an adrenaline rush. Comics are just laugh addicts.

That laugh is what makes it worth taking a risk. It's like a gambler rolling the dice-- you keep suffering the pains of loss just trying to hit pay dirt once in a while.

It is worth it to an audience when you take the time to add spice to your presentation. So go ahead, take a risk.
 
 
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You've been invited to be part of a presentation. Whether it will be a duo, trio, or quartet, it's frightening - on a whole new level of frightening.

It's scary enough to be on stage for all the world to see, knowing your lousy presentation could forever end your hopes of going on the Larry King Show.
 
But now, if you blow your part, you can be the ruin of someone else's career (or at least their day.) No one wants their actions to reflect badly on others. 

So how do you prepare for a shared presentation? 

1. Know your co-presenter. Make sure you have had a chance to hear your co-presenter speak. If you can't see an actual presentation, read something they have written - you can hear their voice in their writing. Does it mesh with yours?  If they are deep technical types and you are a light conceptual speaker, there may be a great way to play off the differences. If they share your sarcastic view of the world, you can work from a shared perspective.  But you need to know how you fit together.

2. Presentations are like a tennis game. Strong partners make the game better for both players. Don't let a stronger presenter intimidate you - truly great presenters know how to make others look good. Which leads me to my third point.

3. Focus on making them look good. Rather than worrying about what to say that will make you look smarter, funnier, or better on stage, spend your time thinking about how to make them look good. When you speak, refer back to their comments, connect to their message and show that you are actively listening while they speak. Use their name to connect your comments to theirs and engage them in your dialogue. Even if you disagree with their point of view, you can play off of their content to make your own point. (Read The Improv Handbook for more tips on playing nicely with others. )

I had the privilege of sharing the stage with two rock stars last week - James Marshall Berry and Rebecca Ryan. Both bring incredible smarts, insight, and even "hipness" to their presentation. How wonderful to be able to play the nerdy southern CPA against their cool, high energy, socially conscious smarts. Find the angle that works for you and make every shared presentation a blast.

Larry King's agent must just be sitting in your audience. You never know.
 
 

Today's lesson comes from the actual product, not the infomercial. If you happen to be one of the millions of people who, like me, purchased one of these marvellous miracles of absorption, then you know that they are actually quite good, right up until the moment when they become saturated. Once they are soaked through, they can't absorb any more liquid.

Now apply this idea to your next presentation. You have laid out your outline, covered all of the topics that you want to cover and created all of your slides. You've got your handouts and materials and you're ready to go. Your audience starts to show up and you get an adrenaline rush. You love teaching this stuff. It's wonderful to see people interacting and learning. You get through all of your material and then think of some new point or technique that you want to add in - right at the end. You have to cover it quickly because you are running short on time.

So what's the problem? Your audience is saturated.

They're ShamWows, full to the brim with all of those other concepts, they don't have room for one more thought. And it's the end of your allotted time. They're anticipating the wind-down.

Don't be tempted to become that informercial host who says "but wait, there's more."
 
 
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Or maybe I should say this “Countess” has no subjects.  

My job title is officially the “Countess of Communication”. That is the role I play in three different companies and working with all kinds of  clients - from wineries to CPA firms to an air filter company. I am supposed to get this whole communication thing.

But here’s the problem. 

Communication is hard. Darn hard. Really hard. Harder than it should be, even for a countess. 

It’s not hard in the sense of heavy lifting boulders in the hot sun, or figuring out the gene that causes breast cancer, or discovering why Basset Hounds have long ears.  Not that kind of hard, but hard in a – “dang, why did THAT just come out of my mouth” kind of way. 

Here is a sample of the communication related issues that made up my week:

1.Two meetings related to training for two generations who work together in business – communication is one of the issues in each case.

2.Communications consultation for a small business owner looking to get the right words for a marketing presentation.

3.Three PowerPoint slideshow reviews for people trying to get their message straight for upcoming presentations. 

  4. Two or three blog reviews/edits to add clarity to messages

5. Explaining the importance of DISC training in business – we see communication as the foundation to any successful business strategy. You must start there. 

But here’s the rub. 

Right smack in the middle of this communication-filled week, I had to sit down with a professional to address my own poor communication skills in dealing with my 20 something child. A child I adore. We sat next to each other on a couch and talked through the third party about things we couldn’t discuss directly. We live in the same house and hardly speak to each other. 

I'm a cobbler, why couldn’t I just make us each a pair of soft, silky slippers to make it all better?  

Thank goodness for professionals.

 
 
What does it take for you to be inspired to create? How do you unleash your creative muse?

This is one of the most important things to know if you are a writer, presenter, or even an artist. 

For me, if I can find a humorous angle, an outlandish image, or a wacky quote that relates to my topic, the full presentation will unfold in a flash. It's really kind of a formula for me - I dig through the subject matter from sales tax to International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) until I find something that makes me laugh. If I can laugh about the topic, I can always find a way to relate the subject to my audience. And I won't get bored doing the research.  

This doesn't mean my entire presentation is going to be a Monty Python spectacle , but rather, humor is the key that gets my creative juices flowing. It's that juice that I need in order to create. By knowing my secret, I am able to write articles, whitepapers, presentations, and blog posts. I can't always predict the moment that my funny bone will fire; sometimes it is caused by a totally random outside association. Other times it strikes when I am reading through pages of black and white text. Who knew for example, that the Health Care Reform bill would include a provision that imposed a new tax on indoor Tanning Salons. We're talking about 2,559 pages of boring stuff relating to health care reform, filing requirements, etc. But right there in the middle of all that was this tanning salon thing. Where did that come from? There was my angle. Picture hoards of angry tan people wearing those funny little glasses and smelling of coconut oil rising up from those lighted coffin thingies in protest of the tax hike.

If you look hard enough at any subject, you can usually find some element of the absurd. 

What is your key? Are there trigger words or phrases that work for you? Are you inspired by rebellion, by cute and cuddly, by the triumph of the human spirit? Do you loathe chaos, get mad at the rule breakers, love great design? Spend some time thinking about that before your next presentation. 

And watch out for angry tan people.
 
 
You've been asked to make a presentation and you want it to go well.

You've heard about being authentic and maybe you've even read Lencioni's latest book Getting Naked.

So you go on stage and do one of the following:

1. Tell your audience you aren't good with presentation tools. (And do it right before you start showing your PowerPoint slides.)

Say things like "I'm not good with PowerPoint".
"I don't know how to advance these slides."
"I am not used to working with this computer."

This might feel authentic (especially if it's true) but you have just killed your credibility. If you don't know how to use the tool, then do something else - speak without slides or use a flip chart. If I am sittiing in the audience at this point I will assume that you didn't care enough about your presentation or me as a listener to get help with the tools. Use a tool that you know or do without.

2. Speak on something other than what is listed in the agenda.

This is a classic case of not delivering what is promised.

Sometimes the presenter has no control over a topic change. Maybe he is brought in as a substitute speaker and is given a new topic. I just attended a conference where this happened and all of the questions following the presentation were related to the original subject - can you answer questions on this topic? If you are the presenter, make sure that conference materials are updated to reflect your topic.

3. Go over your allotted time.

Or worse, start out your presentation by asking how long you have to talk.

Your audience will know how much time you have been allotted and will be annoyed that you haven't taken the time to be prepared up front. If you talk over your time and are sharing the agenda with others, you will appear inconsiderate and unprepared. And you run the risk of taking away from other sessions that follow you. Know how much time you have and stick to it. Assign a time keeper in the audience to give you a five minute warning.

4. Tell the audience they know more than you do on your chosen subject.

Again, kudos for trying to be humble, but  if I am in the audience, I will immediately begin to wonder why you are onstage if you don't know more than me. If I have paid to hear you speak I will be even more upset and will be unlikely to pay attention to anything that comes after this statement. Find other ways to show your humility - you might not be the expert on all aspects of this subject, but I bet there are areas where you have far deeper knowledge than anyone else in the room - work from that perspective.

5. Use a confusing theme that doesn't connect to your topic.

I love a good theme or analogy. Used properly, it can make complex information understandable. But done poorly, a theme can take away from your message. I have seen themes that are so obtuse they have no apparent connection to the topic at hand. That makes me want to solve the puzzle. I will obsess over the missing connection until I hear nothing the speaker has to say.  The same thing happens with overly detailed graphics. You flash a picture on the screen and I can't tell if it is a rabbit or a person's arm and I spend the rest of the time trying to figure it out. Rather than adding to your message, the image detracts from it. Your point never reaches my ears. Connect your theme to your point and use clear graphics.

There is a fine line between being authentic and losing credibility as a speaker. If you don't know the difference,  get someone to help you before your next presentation.
 
 
I was just thinking about this time change thing. It cracks me up that we can arbitrarily decide to mess with time. Who do we humans think we are? Isn't time a fundamental principle over which we have no control?

And yet, on the agreed upon day, we basically pretend it's an hour later by changing all of our counting mechanisms (clocks) and pretty soon it becomes real. 

If this works for time, I think there are a lot of other things we should mess with. I hereby declare the following days:

1. Ego savings day. March 25.  On this day, let's all agree to hand the boss's daily paycheck to the most underappreciated person in the company, and vice-versa. 

2. Youth savings time. October 17. On this day, everyone who is over 50 will be entitled free access to a carnival, amusement park, or water attraction (without the scary killer whales) for a full day of play. They will be allowed to bare their midriffs at any time during that day, as long as they agree to cover them up the rest of the year. 

3. Smart savings day. June 4. We all agree not to laugh at any dumb statement made by non-locals of Napa during any wine tasting, restaurant experience, or spa treatment. 

4. Fat savings hour. January 16. At the appointed hour, the person who can consume the most calories will be crowned the king of the universe entitled to all of the rights and priviledges of the position. 

5. Gravity free day. August 14. On this day, we will all pretend that the laws of gravity no longer apply. We will spend the day standing on our heads for as long as is humanly possible (or we can fly on one of those special planes if we can afford it.) 

Add your own list of laws that need to be messed with
 
Idol thoughts 03/07/2010
 
I know, there are a million lessons that can be drawn from watching American Idol. And everyone and their brother has probably already written a million posts after watching the show. 

But at the risk of "being indulgent" which is one of Simon's trademark negative comments about a singer, I just have to join the fray.

One of the main lessons I get from watching the parade of singers each week is this. They have to be memorable. Even the people who did those embarassingly terrible auditions in the first week of the show had that right. They were memorable. (They got on TV, didn't they?) My gosh, the Pants on the Ground guy became an Internet star. At the final show, one of my favorite parts is getting to see those people for another 5 minutes.  

I'm certainly not advocating that you strive to be a terrible presenter. Clearly that is no way to get invited back or to build credibility.  

BWe're talking about entertainment. 

Delivering a good presentation, just like singing a good song is not enough. You have to provide something that gives you an edge, add some color, add some flavor, mix in spice, emotion, and energy. The leading singers in both the men's and the women's competitions had something about them that went beyond their singing voice.

We all remember the big guy who's wife had a baby during auditions. We noticed the woman with the dreadlocks and the great voice.

Simon talked about singers who were forgetable over and over. Randy said things like it just wasn't there for me, dog. Ellen tried to be funny when she said essentially the same thing, there's nothing unique about what you did. And Kara talked about the need for singers to find and convey their own unique style.

Presentations are just songs without the music and the band. But there are plenty of judges - every single member of your audience. So make your next presentation memorable and authentic and you'll be invited back.
 
Being "salesy." 02/11/2010
 
As a presenter at accounting events all over the country, one of the things I have learned not to do is to "be too salesy."  In fact, I didn't really have to learn that, I have a natural aversion to the "S" word because I am an accountant.

But when you are presenting to a room full of accountants who are there to earn their requisite hours of Continuing Professional Education there are only two mortal sins you can commit :
1. Finish before your 50 minute scheduled time
2. Be seen as selling something.

And of the two, the "S" one is the more likely to get you uninvited from future events.

But if you think about it, aren't we all selling something? How can you give a successful presentation without selling? You might be selling an idea, or a concept, a technique, or a piece of software but what you are really up there selling is YOU. You are selling your expertise. You are sharing your passion on some subject and you are trying to communicate.

Now you might not be earning a commission for your "sales pitch" but you are selling just the same.

So the next time I get invited to speak (at a free event) and receive this warning :

" ... but any kind of "pitching" for individual clients and/or workshops may only occur during individual post-meeting networking."

I will reply as I did this time to the event for jobseekers : 'The only thing I am selling is my passion for improved communication, which means more now that it has ever meant to the success of individuals." 

Here's to more not less selling in your next presentation.
 
 
This might come as a shock to most presenters. And it's even a bit scary because it sounds like it's something you can't control. But the single most important contributor to a successful, knock-it-out -of-the-park, killer presentation is your audience.

Think about it. The right audience can provide the energy that makes a good presenter great. A bad audience can suck the life out of even the best presenter.

So what I am saying, really? (I get that alot.) Am I advising you to go hire a team of expert audience members? Do I suggest a canned laugh track for your next presentation? Should you pay your family (assuming they are fans) to sit in on your next session?

Not exactly. What I suggest is that you invest as much if not more time figuring out who you are speaking to, what they care about, and how to promote your session or talk than you do creating those lovely PowerPoint slides.

By gathering as much detail as you can about the people who will be listening to your presentation, you can insure that your message resonates with them. When a message connects, or even inspires them to disagree, your audience will come to life in a way that brings fire to your subject matter. 

And how you promote your talk is critical to ensuring that the people who end up in your presentation are the people who really want to hear what you have to say.

Sometimes you get lucky with a topic that is spot on or the timing is just right and other times you can guide or direct your topic so that your angle is exactly right for your audience.

Last week, I had the good fortune of presenting to 60 of the most engaged, entertaining, and fun Estate and Gift Tax folks you ever want to meet. I wish I could claim some responsibility for the energy that sizzled in the room - but it was more like a happy accident for me. The audience rocked! Of course, the excellent wine they were drinking may have had something to do with it. (See next week's tip #2 about serving alcohol to your audience.)
 
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