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Posts Tagged With: "Public Speaking"

Disguised Decay

Bert DeckerPosted by Bert Decker   |   February 5th, 2010   |   11 Comments   |  Tweet This

“Status quo is disguised decay.” -Pete Wilkinson

The truth is, status quo is a facade. You’re either improving or decaying. Some have put it that you are either growing or you’re dying. True. There is no in between.

What’s your goal as a communicator? To improve specific behavioral skills? To develop your communication skills to the next level? To be a highly-sought after speaker? Or are you at the top of your game – the pinnacle of your capabilities? You think?

We’re all moving along the continuum of effective communicators. Even when you reach your goal as a communicator, the journey continues.

Perfection is a dangling carrot, serving as a motivator to lean forward and do it. Whatever you have achieved, there is always more work to be done. This is especially true when it comes to your image as a communicator. At a Speaker’s Roundtable meeting last year, Don Hutson – a great speaker, good friend and author of The One Minute Entrepreneur said: “The image of a person, company or product is never a constant but an ever-changing variable.”

Your image – and the substance behind it – is indeed an ever-changing variable. And you don’t define it – others do. What you do and how you do it are constantly under scrutiny. There’s no end to the evolution of your reputation. It’s dynamic – interpreted by people in real time, all the time, every second you’re exposed to and interacting with others.

To rest in the confidence that you have secured for yourself a favorable image or reputation is to rest, period. There’s no room for inertia in a highly competitive world of constant motion – not when your objective is excellence. There is no capturing a dangling carrot. To be an excellent communicator, you must continuously solicit feedback. Ask, listen and learn. What they see is what they get. Learn what they see; then make sure what they’re seeing is what you want them to get.

Get on video. Often. Observed behavior changes.

Keep your eyes on the carrot and your ears peeled for feedback, and the communicator you seek to be will align with the communicator others see in you. Over time…


Categories: Communication Skills, Video - Use It
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A Dropped Call by Google

Kelly DeckerPosted by Kelly Decker   |   January 13th, 2010   |   2 Comments   |  Tweet This

When Google announced Nexus One earlier this week, it got a lot of press, but not just on the phone itself, which was mixed. But the press on the presentation itself wasn’t mixed – it was bad. Nancy Duarte said newscasters called it a disaster (though she liked the slides.) CNBC really panned it, calling Mario Carlos (the presenter) a ‘Johnson.’ It didn’t have to be that way. You can see the short clip of Mario below, and here’s a more complete version.

My guess is that the amount/time of preparation wasn’t the problem…it was HOW he prepared! (Which, unfortunately, is WAY too common.)

Likely spent all his time studying the market opportunity, adoption rates, features/benefits, competitive landscape, and perfecting the business abstractions.

What he shoulda/coulda/woulda done:

1. Get out of the weeds and focus on THE ONE thing, aka “The Lead of the Story.”

2. Add something (actually, anything) compelling. You’ve got to get the listener emotionally and actively engaged. We advocate using SHARPs (Stories, Humor, Analogies, References, Pictures) to help make your message sticky. He “tried” to do this by quoting a dictionary, which conjures up ZERO emotional resonance.

3. FOCUS on delivery. The falls by the wayside in so many business communications – not just the high stakes presentations. Without showing confidence and passion, he’s not motivating anyone to get that phone.

What are the takeaways?

-Prepare right

How you prepare is as important as the time in prep. It’s not just the research, the points to make, it’s also the behaviors. Communication rides energy, and there was precious little in this presentation that SHOULD have been exciting.  So…

-Rehearse right

Rehearse a lot, and rehearse on video. If Mario Carlos just rehearsed a few times, with an audience, and with video, it would have to be much improved. Observed behavior changes. I doubt if he would not get rid of his many hesitations and non-words if he had heard them. I doubt if he would have had such a flat tone if he had heard it. And I would think he’s smile a bit if he had seen it. But too late – the time to rehearse and get better is before the event. And ideally well before the event so you don’t have to think about the behaviors. Rehearsal time gives confidence in the content, as well as in oneself.

-Get good feedback

Sure there had to be some feedback on an announcement of this size, but what kind was it to result in that performance. Honest? Helpful? Performance changing? I doubt it. Probably good feedback on the content of the slides, maybe timing, and of course what to be sure to include. But feedback on the experience itself? I really doubt it.

Communication is an experience – witness the name of our blog. It is a combination of what we say and how we say it, and the great majority of the time business people treat it like a written essay. If you say the words, people may not necessarily get it. They may be tuned out. As we were to Mario Carlos, and thus to Nexus, and thus to Google. Not a good experience.


Categories: Newsworthy, PowerPoint Abuse - Avoid It, Public Speaking, Special Event
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Warren Buffett knows about investing – in yourself

Kelly DeckerPosted by Kelly Decker   |   November 18th, 2009   |   1 Comment   |  Tweet This

When you see clips like these, it’s easy to understand why Warren Buffett is the man.

Now, of course, I LOVE the fact that he acknowledges communications as one of the #1 ways you can increase your human capital and value to your team, company, organization, and even family and friends, for that matter. (Of course, he should have  referenced Decker instead of the other guys.. Sorry, can’t help it.)

The best part though is that he’s a great model for effective communicating. He doesn’t just tell others to “do as I say, not as I do.” Here’s what he does well:

He’s incredibly likable. Guess what? You can be too! This is a skill that can be learned. He’s likable for three key reasons:

  • “Lightness of face” — Notice how he has the slightest of grins throughout the clip. He’s not foolishly smiling from ear to ear, just enough. This goes a long way for communications. Smiling is the simplest, although not always the easiest way to increase your likability to your listener. For example, you could be that grim-faced kind of person (not to say that you’re grim, just grim-faced) who processes and communicates information very seriously, maybe with a furrowed brow for extra concentration. That facial expression doesn’t do anything to help you connect and build rapport with your listener. We don’t buy long term from someone we don’t like – it would be too painful! So, next time go on and give smiling a try.
  • Conversational tone — It’s a town hall set up, so it should be that way. Not professorial, not a lecture – it feels like he’s just chatting with you.
  • He’s vulnerable — The great Warren Buffett also needed communication TRAINING! To be successful, you also have to have a constant eye on improvement. A forward lean toward progress. When’s the last time you invested in these skills? Communications training is often overlooked as a soft skill – but it’s critical to your success. Make it a new year’s resolution.

On the content side, he knows his audience. He uses a flurry of numbers to illustrate his point. Now mind you, this would NOT work in all circumstances, but this is to a group of Columbia business school students who squeal with delight at the thought of alpha, beta, and r-squared statistics.  These are human-scale stats to this particular breed. Human-scale statistics allows the listener to bring their experience to bear (learn more about this in Decker Made To Stick).

Warren Buffett gets it: invest in yourself and reap the return.


Categories: Communication Skills, Leadership and Communications, Public Speaking, Speakers
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Are you in the weeds?

Ben DeckerPosted by Ben Decker   |   November 5th, 2009   |   1 Comment   |  Tweet This

weeds4We’ve all been there – caught up in the shrinking world of tunnel vision.  But when communicating with others, being in the weeds can lose your audience.

Last week I coached two executives, neither of whom had used video feedback before.  In both of these sessions, we addressed the need to “get out of the weeds.”  Most often, when we’re in the weeds, we don’t realize it.  Having an outside perspective (such as coaching and video feedback) is important for this very reason.  When we are passionate and invested in a message, it’s our natural tendency to share as much as we can in as much detail as we can.  The material is so important, so brilliant and so valuable that we inadvertently create information overload in our fervor.

When you present your communications experience, are you in the weeds?  Consider these indicators:

  • The verbal content of your message is cluttered with verbosity, technical jargon, industry lingo, and too much detail.
  • The visuals presented are overkill (too many slides, too much text, little or no graphics).
  • Your presentation lacks stories, anecdotes, and humor.
  • Your intensity for the material blinds you from the need to connect with and engage your audience.

The answer?  Focus on two things and two things only.

  1. Your point of view:  What is the core message you want to convey?
  2. Your audience:  What’s in it for them?  What are they looking for in your message?  How can you focus on the aspects of your message that they’ll care about?

Simplify your material.  Divorce the details that excite you but alienate your listeners.  Become a master of exclusion and a facilitator of a memorable message.  Take “you” out of the message.  Focus on your listeners, learn them and create an experience that leaves an impact on them.

Want to connect your message with your audience?  Get out your weed whacker!

Photo credit: gracieshoots


Categories: Communication Skills, PowerPoint Abuse - Avoid It, SHARPs and Stories, Speakers, Video - Use It
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Grab a mop!

Kelly DeckerPosted by Kelly Decker   |   October 29th, 2009   |   2 Comments   |  Tweet This

I know.  Another Obama post? Put your politics and feelings about health care and the economy aside to learn a great lesson here. Obama brings ideas to life with his words. He did it again on Tuesday at a rally for Senator Creigh Deeds, Virginia’s democratic candidate for governor. With the election just one week away, Obama stumped for Deeds and drew on his own experiences to inspire Virginians to action.

“When I showed up after inauguration, they had left a big mess on the floor. So I got a mop, and I started cleaning up their mess. That’s okay, I don’t mind.  But you know — you know, it does bother me when they start saying, ‘You’re not mopping fast enough.’ ‘You’re not holding the mop the right way.’ My attitude is, why don’t you grab a mop?”

He used the concrete analogy of a mop instead of what most politicians and business leaders might have said (warning: this might sound all too familiar to you):

“After inauguration, it became even more apparent that our economy is in crisis. As we strive for bipartisanship, they continuously blockade our endeavors, impeding on our progress instead of joining the effort.”

But instead, hemop drew a picture. Simply. Right away, you can see that mess and that mop. Then, he tugs at the hardworking, roll-up-your-sleeves drive in all of us – calling us to action, instead of making our eyes glaze over.

This is a quick example of the power of being concrete to drive a message home. We thoroughly explore concreteness (and all Made To Stick SUCCESs principles) in our Decker Made To Stick Messaging workshop – and find that people walk away saying that it will change the impact of their messages immediately.

Think about this the next time you chime in at a meeting and want to get your point across. What could you do to remove abstractions and make your message resonate?


Categories: Communication Skills, Political Communications, Public Speaking, SHARPs and Stories, Speakers
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21 Days to Change a Habit

Bert DeckerPosted by Bert Decker   |   August 20th, 2007   |   1 Comment   |  Tweet This

Habits
Maxwell Maltz said it takes 21 days to change a habit. Boo-ya! …or right on!

Our communications behavior is made up of literally dozens of habits, which we need to know first (video feedback) and practice to modify, improve or change second (practice, practice, pracice.) Maltz proved it in his self help classic Psychocybernetics.

In over 20 years coaching and consulting, my biggest frustration is clients just don’t want to practice. If you don’t like to practice either, here’s a great post that should help get you over that hump – on a good new blog I found by Bert Webb (it’s not just the name.)


Categories: Musings, Short Bits
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The Dobson Experience 2

Bert DeckerPosted by Bert Decker   |   July 15th, 2007   |   1 Comment   |  Tweet This

Dobson_tall_2
Dr. James Dobson is an icon to many millions – founder of Focus On The Family with a daily radio broadcast that is one of the largest in the world. (Also author of a dozen books, and national spokesperson for Christian causes on all of the major TV talk shows.) This past week I was privileged to spend some time listening to him in a few different settings – and I’m not sure whether I was more impressed when we were chatting on the  tender of our cruise ship berthing in Sitka, Alaska, or when he was speaking to 1,000 people about the passion of his heart – the importance of the family.

The Hard-Soft Surprise
A tall man at 6′3", Jim Dobson is soft spoken, and mild in manner. He LOOKS approachable, and even in the formal setting of speaking to thousands he jokes, and kids and gives asides. In two major addresses he started with some pictures of his first grandson – the pride and love was palpable. And then a story or two of hunting, or his recent visit with Prince Charles, or how he had to kill a bear to save his life. He is an interesting man, to say the least. Dare_to_discipline
(He’s also the author of the mega best selling "Dare To Discipline.")

But then Dr. Dobson is called Jim by people who don’t know him well (including me) because he acts ……

Read the rest of this entry »


Categories: Leadership and Communications, Musings, Public Speaking, Speakers
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