How To Present March Magazine 2012

MARCH 2012

www.michellebowden.com.au

IN THIS ISSUE Dale Beaumont shares his professional presenting tips You’ve got 5 minutes...

Irresponsible Innovation Are you fishing where the fish are?

Make your Webinars work Success Stories Keeping Time Engage your Audience www.michellebowden.com.au

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DIARY DATE INFLUENTIAL PRESENTATION SKILLS (2-day Public Program) Join Michelle at her next public program IN SYDNEY: • March 21-22 • May 22-23 • June 26-27 To register or chat about your specific needs please email: michelle@michellebowden.com.au

Who is Michelle Bowden?

Michelle is an expert in influential presentation skills in business. She has run her 2-day Influential Presentation Skills program over 570 times with many thousands of people and she’s been nominated for Educator of the Year 3 years running. Michelle is one of only 25 Australian females who is a Certified Speaking Professional the highest designation for speakers in the world. For a list of Michelle’s clients please go to: www.michellebowden.com.au

Michelle’s Update Welcome to the March issue of How to Present. This issue is packed with articles that will assist you to present with greater confidence and influence at work.

It’s conclusive - most audiences will give you less than 5 minutes to make a good first impression. Read You’ve got 5 minutes to find out more about your audience’s needs from my survey of over 800 respondents. Plus keep reading for some tips on how to Be Present so you engage your audience throughout your message, as well as how to Run a Successful Webinar with Lee Featherby.

And check out our handsome fox on the cover! Dale Beaumont is one gorgeous and impressive young man who is taking the world by storm one business at a time with his business entrepreneurs program Business Blueprint, at which I’ve personally had the honour to present. Dale’s shares his tips for presenting in business.

PLUS I’ve shared some of my language tips with The Power of Because, tips from the amazing Sam Cawthorn on Irresponsible Innovation. And David Penglase shares his ideas on Selling Success, plus I’ll remind you about some of the pitfalls for new speakers and presenters. And don’t forget, if you want to be inspired please be sure to read the success stories section too!

I had the pleasure this month of watching some of Australia’s best Ita Buttrose, Rod McGeogh, Lily Serna, Michael Coyne, David Jones and Kivi Bernhard and of course my favourite entertainer Mr Percival, plus Crazeehorse and Cosentino - you’ll see some of the photos from the Saxton Ultimate Experience in the photo pages at the back. I’m hoping to present my Speak Up and Influence People keynote at this event next year - how exciting!

So grab yourself a ’cuppa’, put your feet up and have a read! And most importantly, make sure you put the invaluable advice into immediate action so you see some fast results. Happy Presenting!

www.michellebowden.com.au

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SUCCESS STORIES! DAVID THOMAS BRIC EXPERT/ INTERNATIONAL SPEAKER

How did Michelle's program change your attitude to presenting in business?

It has caused me to think harder about the structure of my presentations, and to build rapport from the start (pacing and leading).

What positive outcomes have you achieved from improving your presentation skills?

I am feeling more and more confident about my capabilities as a speaker. This is leading to more and more bookings, great reviews and new opportunities for me all around the world.

In what specific ways have your presentation skills improved since completing Michelle's training?

I am more aware of my stance, the need to manage body movements more carefully, and to do more with less.

What were your top three take aways from Michelle's program?

1. Pace, pace, pace, lead.

David Thomas is well known in the Asia Pacific region for his experience, credibility and passion for identifying, building and facilitating business and investment relationships between developed and emerging countries. http://bricandchina.com/

2. What’s in it for them? WIIFM? 3. Finish on a high (do the Q&A earlier).

What kind of presenting do you do at work?

I speak to large audiences worldwide, and also in boardroom style workshop presentations.

What prompted you to attend Michelle's Influential Presentation Skills program?

I am constantly seeking to improve as a speaker, communicator and presenter. Michelle’s program is known to be one of the best around and, knowing Michelle to be an energetic, passionate and accomplished trainer, I felt it was definitely time to sharpen up my skills with her. www.michellebowden.com.au

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YOU’VE GOT 5 MINUTES

BY MICHELLE BOWDEN

When people think about entertaining, engaging presenters, mostly television presenters come to mind. I recently conducted a survey with over 800 respondents from the corporate world and personalities like Rove McManus, Hugh Jackman, Andrew Denton and Paul McDermott were frequently mentioned.

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Only 38% of respondents thought presenters understood their needs as an audience member.

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More than half the respondents said that presenters generally read from their PowerPoint slides.

You’ve got 5 minutes if you’re lucky!

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Only 40% of respondents found presenters to be engaging.

Audience members typically give presenters less than 5 minutes to prove themselves before switching off.

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Only 28% of respondents said that they were moved to action after seeing presenters.

When asked about workplace presenters they had seen in the last 12 months: www.michellebowden.com.au

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YOU’VE GOT 5 MINUTES (CONT.) We know we need development

What does it all mean?

When asked about presenting they do at work: •

Over 60% of respondents admit to using their slides to help remember what to say.

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Nearly 60% of respondents admit to being frequently nervous prior to presentations.

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Only 37% of respondents feel that they are influential, persuasive presenters.

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75% of respondents believed that they would gain more respect for their knowledge and expertise if they were better public speakers.

Death by PowerPoint isn’t working!

When asked about workplace presenters they had seen in the last 12 months: •

50% of respondents thought presenters were a bit boring.

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Only 52% of respondents thought presenters delivered a relevant message.

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70% of respondents said that workplace presenters generally relied heavily on PowerPoint slides. www.michellebowden.com.au

There’s definitely room for workplace presenters to improve the way we present and influence. If we want our messages to ‘cut through’ more thought needs to be given to our audience’s needs. I teach the 5-Step Analysis model in my training to help you work out a) what the audience needs to hear and b) what you need to achieve as the presenter.

More thought must be given to the way we use PowerPoint. PowerPoint is a visual aid - it’s purpose is to reinforce your key messages for your audience. It’s not to remind you what to say next! Consistently relying on PowerPoint as a ‘script’ is boring for your audience and doesn’t do you any favours either. I recommend you learn how to use Disney’s Storyboarding and McCarthy’s 4Mat so you can design fast and present without notes. Happy Presenting!

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BE PRESENT

BY MICHELLE BOWDEN When you present, you need to BE PRESENT! A blinding flash of the obvious I hear you say! So why don’t speakers demonstrate this?

Next time you present, take some time before hand to plan what you’ll do to be in the moment, to be present with your audience.

It’s not as easy as it sounds to concentrate, marshal all your faculties, focus on what you’re saying, read the signals on the faces of your listeners, and when they ‘drift off’, pull them back into the moment.

Happy Presenting!

Remember that your audience could be somewhere else, but they’re not – they are here with you. And as the speaker, it’s your job to make this the best hour they are going to have all day. Let’s make it relevant and impressive!

There’s only one way to do that, an that is to be there for them - be present. Serve your audience.

Remember it’s not about you it’s all about the audience. So prepare your space, look into their eyes and smile at them and connect.

Then engage in a conversation with them.

Interact with them if you can – that really helps you to be present.

TESTIMONIAL “I would recommend Michelle Bowden’s Influential Presentation Skills 2-day program to anyone who really wants to accelerate their career.

If you want to improve your presentation skills then I suggest you think seriously about connecting with Michelle.

I wouldn't be in my excellent position in business if I hadn't invested my personal money and time attending Michelle's workshops. Thank you!!" Marco Scannone, Divisional Manager B.Braun www.michellebowden.com.au

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THE POWER OF ‘BECAUSE’

BY MICHELLE BOWDEN Some people are influential because they are good at using the right words at the right time.

One of those 'right words' is the word 'because'.

The power of 'because' has actually been documented by social psychologist Ellen Langer.

Langer performed an experiment where people asked if they could ‘push in’ where there was a line of people waiting to use a photocopier.

She tested three different ways of asking, and recorded the results: "Excuse me, I have five pages. May I use the Xerox machine?"

60% said "OK" - not bad really. People are actually a lot more accommodating than I first thought!

"Excuse me, I have five pages. May I use the Xerox machine because I'm in a rush?"

94% said "OK" which was to be expected.

After all, the person said they were in a rush and most of us can appreciate what it’s like to be in a hurry. Providing the reason "because I'm in a

rush" boosted the effectiveness of the request by 34%. The researchers concluded that when the reason is believable and robust in it’s nature the use of the word ‘because’ is effective.

Here's the most remarkable find in this experiment: "Excuse me, I have five pages. May I use the Xerox machine because I have to make some copies?" (I mean honestly? "Because I have to make some copies" - what else would you be doing in a line at a photocopier?) Guess how many people let them in?

93% said "OK" - an increase from the original 60% of 33%! The word "because" is so powerful that the "reason why" didn't really seem to matter.

What can you do with this information?

Try using the word ‘because’ more often in your day-to-day communication. It will prompt you to find a robust reason for your request and will increase the likelihood that you will achieve your desired outcome. Happy Presenting!

www.michellebowden.com.au

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IRRESPONSIBLE INNOVATION

BY SAM CAWTHORN “retail is very poor at the moment, but we are weathering the storm as it will return to how it was”. He thought he was being positive and optimistic. I hear it all the time, how we are waiting for our customers to return to their previous spending behaviour. This irresponsible thinking is universal and we are trying to innovate by using techniques and formulas to get our clients to return to how they were.

This is called Bouncing Back. Bouncing Forward is innovation through creating. Another way to look at it would be what I like to call ‘Reactive Innovation’ verses ‘Proactive Innovation’.

Here is a list of the difference between Reactive Innovation & Proactive Innovation: R: Innovation through Bouncing Back P: Innovation through Bouncing Forward

Sam is the CEO for Empowering Enterprizes and has been featured in USA Today and the New York Times. He is also The 2009 Young Australian of the Year for Tasmania. In October 2006 Sam’s life changed forever when he was involved in a major car accident, where he was pronounced DEAD. He was thankfully resuscitated, but left with an amputated right arm and a permanent disability in his right leg. Sam was hospitalised and told he would never walk again. A year later he defied all odds taking his first steps into a new life, where his story would continue to INSPIRE and change the lives of people all over the world. www.samcawthorn.com Waiting for good times to return is irresponsible, and focussing on ‘the good old days’ to come back is ignorant. Recently I was talking with a manager of a large retail chain, who said that, www.michellebowden.com.au

R: Managing crisis through reactive processes P: Strategies for crisis management in place and ready R: Waiting for decline in productivity and profitability before innovating P: Always innovating for continuous growth R: Staff engagement and collaboration in crisis mode P: Staff engagement and collaboration within business DNA & culture R: The Past = The Future P: The Future is yet to be created Creating proactive innovative practices through Thought Leadership, is the secret ingredient for growth & staying ahead of competitors.

STOP being irresponsible & continue to proactively Create, Innovate & Bounce Forward…

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WEBINARS...BEWARE THE PITFALLS

BY LEE FEATHERBY Webinars are a bit like presentations...except harder!

They are harder for a number of reasons, not the least of which is there is no feedback from the audience so you don’t know if you have them engaged. Also, the audience aren’t even confined to the limits of common courtesy, they can answer phone calls, talk to office visitors or even get up and leave if they wish.

Despite that, there are some tricks you should know that will help improve the overall performance: 1. No animations, just appear. Because of bandwidth issues you should eliminate any animation other than “appear”. It’d be great if our webinars ran like TV shows but they don’t.

Any animations other than appear just don’t show up well so just keep it really basic.

2. Animate. Now, I don’t like to sound contradictory here but you should animate (in the format of “appear” only of course) because the audience will not see anything other than the slides to look at (even a web cam of you is usually small and a talking head only). If you don’t keep what’s on the screen relevant only to what you are talking about you will lose their attention. This is important in a presentation, critical in a webinar.

3. Don’t use videos. If you’ve got this far, I should have to explain this bit.

4. If you can, stand up. Sometimes it’s not possible to do this but if you can stand up and present during a webinar, you should.

Standing will give you the freedom to talk just like you are in a presentation. This will bring energy and enthusiasm to your webinar (assuming you speak to a real audience with energy & enthusiasm). One of the best voiceover people I work with really “dramatises” her www.michellebowden.com.au

b o d y movements when she records. This p h y s i c a l expression really reflects in her audio recordings.

5. B e y o u o w n audience.

Webinars allow you to be a participant of your own presentation and in doing so, you can monitor the what your audience is seeing. Set up a separate computer (even you smart phone will do) next to where you are running the webinar. That way you can peek at it at any time to make sure the slide you have in front of you (as presenter) is the same as the audience.

Lee Featherby is the Managing Director of PowerfulPoints, Australia’s first dedicated presentation design studio.

He has an extensive background in management and marketing and has produced presentations for organisations as broad as the Commonwealth Bank, Lion Nathan and MacDonalds as well as a range of SME clients. He is passionate about ending “Death by PowerPoint”. For more information please go to: www.powerfulpoints.com.au

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YOU

IS IT TIME IMPROVED YOUR PRESENTATION SKILLS? COME JOIN ME! Dramatically improve the way you present and influence.

programs and who has been nominated for Educator of the Year for the last 3 years.

Attend one of my Influential Presentation Skills programs.

Absorb yourself in a generative and experiential approach. Learn something then practice, then learn something then practice…

It’s a life changing experience!

Group sizes are limited to only 10 people per program.

Risk free - 100% moneyback guarantee.

Endorsed by thousands of people from over a hundred corporations around Australia.

Interactive and personalised.

Facilitated by Michelle Bowden who has over 18 years experience running her

Risk free approach to a subject most people find ‘daunting’!

Plenty of time for you to get personal one-on-one time with Michelle’s during the program.

Address your specific, personal needs.

Learning with lots of laughter.

Techniques are embedded so you remember them decades later.

PUBLIC PROGRAM SYDNEY DATES: March 21-22 (full) May 22-23 June 26-27 August 22-23 ** Plus limited in-house dates available for a specifically tailored program for your team.

To chat about your specific needs or receive more information please email Michelle directly: michelle@michellebowden.co

TESTIMONIAL - DIY PRESENTER PACK Since moving to Australia I have switched from working as a Quality Assurance Engineer to a Workshop Facilitator and Corporate Trainer for a major oil and gas company. Hence, I needed to very quickly learn the best practices on how to improve on my communication to make it effective, engaging and enjoyable. I’ve always liked to learn from those who know it best, so I can avoid making the typical mistakes that we all do when we start doing something new. So I decided to work with Michelle Bowden and purchased her DIY pack. I would recommend Michelle's DIY pack to anyone who wants to rapidly make a great progress in influential speaking and still enjoy the experience! And as English is my second language, all the tips regarding making my voice rich and strong, including the tips on effective breathing are just priceless. The DIY pack has been so helpful that I bought it as a Christmas present for my whole team at work and they are loving it. Thanks Michelle.

Iwona Polowy, OPREP Advisor (Facilitator, Trainer), Woodside Energy www.michellebowden.com.au

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TIPS FROM A PROFESSIONAL SPEAKER 2. You can make a difference when you develop your speaking skills.

3. Great public speaking skills impact the whole of your life.

4. The hero and the coward have the same fear – the hero does it anyway! Keep learning and developing your skills.

5. Put up your hand and ask for help when you need it – find mentors and role models and tap into their knowledge.

6. Stories help people internalise your information, open people’s minds, draw them into your lesson. They are powerful so make a note of situations in your daily life that you can refer back to when you need them.

7. Be real! Remember you are not ‘above’ people in your audience. You might know more than them about a certain situation but all people are equal. This way your audience won’t feel like they have to earn your respect as they sit in your audience.

Dale Beaumont is a keynote speaker, a 16-times best selling author and the founder of Business Blueprint which is fast becoming Australia’s leading business education and mastermind program. Business Blueprint offers its members unprecedented access to the sharpest business minds in the country. Through live events, interactive webinars, step-by-step training videos and hand-on support, members rapidly transform their business and achieve record growth and profit. www.businessblueprint.com.au

9. When presenting to younger generations keep it high energy and stimulate the group.

10. Help people feel it’s part of a conversation, be interactive but don’t overuse the same techniques, and make it clear how the audience can reconnect with you.

How to Present -­‐ Presenta-on Skills Tips from the Masters features essen-al business

Here are Dale’s top tips for presenting in business...

1. A clever way to leverage your time and labour is to present to more than one person at a time to win new business, to take on an investor or bank, to build your business, to teach others it’s critical to master presenting.

www.michellebowden.com.au

8. When dealing with people more senior than you assume you have earnt their respect and communicate with them as the expert you are.

presenta-on skills -ps, and techniques from 14 of Australia’s top keynote speakers. You can listen to all the interviews including more invaluable advice from the inspiring Dale Beaumont by purchasing your very own copy of this must-­‐have business resource. Purchase your own copy here.

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DO YOU FISH WHERE THE FISH ARE?

BY DAVID PENGLASE I'm a firm believer in maximising my chances of success in everything I do. This means a bit of planning, a lot of energy and focus, and taking specific measurable action.

I see a lot of people on the shores of Botany Bay near where I live, spending time on what they would call fishing - but I rarely see them catch anything .....so I call it "waiting"....not fishing. If there aren't any fish to be caught....how can they call it fishing?

In sales we can't afford to be 'waiting'.

We need to have activity that's fishing where the fish are. In other words, we need to be visible to our existing and prospective clients and doing things that catch their attention because we're creating value for them.

How, when and where are you communicating the value you create when you sell what you sell? Something to think about... http://www.davidpenglase.com.au/home.html

What's your strategy for being seen to create value by your existing and potential clients?

DON’T LOOK AT YOUR WATCH!

BY MICHELLE BOWDEN There are a number of traps that inexperienced presenters can fall into when they first begin presenting. Any one of these traps can make your presentation look less professional than it otherwise would.

Although you need to keep track of how you are progressing through your presentation, be careful of how often you look at your watch.

It can be helpful to have the watch on the lectern rather than on your arm. The audience likes to believe that you are there for them and you that you are enjoying being there with them. If you constantly look at your watch, it makes it look as though you cannot wait to finish the presentation and get away. It can also cause the audience to start looking at their watches too!

www.michellebowden.com.au

Consider rehearsing the presentation so you know roughly how long each section takes.

And be sure to add some group interaction and use those moments to check the time. Consider using a screen view that shows you the time and your slides at the same time. Or you could even use a little travel clock that sits neatly on the lectern.

And of course, be sure to finish on time. It’s the cardinal sin of speakers – going over your allocated time and cutting into someone else’s time – so please don’t do this! Happy Presenting!

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EXPERIENCE

CD OF THE MONTH

It’s your last chance to visit some 150 paintings, drawings and sculptures that fill most of the ground floor of the Art Gallery of NSW. These are ‘Picasso’s Picassos’, personal and revealing works that he kept to shape his own legacy.

Genius! And highly recommended

Thinking of improving your presentation skills but don’t want to go on a training program? You need to grab a copy of How to Present - Tips from the Master. Tips from 13 of Australia’s top public speakers. Go to my website

BEAUTY M.A.C Eyebrow crayon is selfpropelling, self-sharpening, brow defining. Confidently adds what you need: shape, colour, density in one streamlined tool just like a pen.

Packed with reader anecdotes and lists to help you organise your sugar-free life, this book presents one of the most accessible and achievable strategies around for losing weight and avoiding some of the more pernicious lifestyle diseases that are increasingly associated with excessive sugar consumption.

BOOK OF THE MONTH

MICHELLE LOVES...

Here are some of my favourite things for you

COFFEE TO GO...

How convenient! Flatterware collapsable cups!

SUGAR-FREE

HEALTH AND FITNESS Looking for a short, sharp workout that’ll inspire you to the next level of fitness, while strengthening and toning your body? CXWORKS™ is for you!

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How to Present Magazine

OK, I know it’s MY book! If you are serious about really improving your business presentation skills then you need this book. Go to my website

INDULGENCE At Sniff Soy Candles they live for fragrance and truly love what they do. Check out this citrus and herb candle - delicious!

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Photo Gallery

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