Common Ground

Rule 4: Participants Not Spectators

Fortune Magazine recently ran a cover story on Generation Y in the workplace.  It's headline was "Manage Us? Puh-leeze."  A similar response is in store for any presenter who tries to lecture these Y-ers.

Generation Y matters, because it is almost certain to contain the talent you are most desperate to hire.  Increasingly, it will constitute an important segment of your client base.  So it make sense to understand how to communciate with that precocious generation born in the era of Thatcher and Reagan.

Generation Y is responsible for the explosion in popularity of blogging, the vast majority of votes cast in TV shows like Pop idol and the proliferation of websites like YouTube and Facebook.

The common theme is user generated content.

Today's audience expects co-billing with the presenter.  Throughout popular culture we are experiencing the rise of the audience as auteur, not spectator.

So once again the successful communicator will have to surrender the mantle of the expert and find ways for the audience to interact directly with the material.  This could be through breakout groups, case studies or keypads. Why not ask the audience some questions rather than endure those painful silent seconds waiting for them to ask you?  Anything to ensure the audience gets to shape (some of) the content.

Just about the only context in which the hour long monologue reigns supreme is in politics.  Avoid.

Rule 3: Design Matters

There are two aspects of design that you need to take seriously as a professional communicator.  One concerns aesthetics, the other functionality.

Let's take functionality first.  The chair you are sitting in was (hopefully) designed with your butt in mind.  The software I'm using was designed to produce this text.  What about your presentation?  I'm always amazed to be often greeted with a shrug when I ask coachees what the point of their presentation is.  Be clear about the purpose of your presentation - this is your core message.  "Begin with the end in mind" say NLP practitioners.  Nowadays software designers begin with the end-user in mind.  So should you.

Next, let's take the aesthetics of communication.  Look at what is hot in today's marketplace and generally there will be some presentational lessons to be learned.

For example, Nintendo's Wii is the current gaming phenomenon - it outsells its competitors two to one, depsite its inferior graphics.  Why?

Because people like the look.

Shigeru Miyamoto, the creator of the Wii's revolutionary controller, outlined the rationale behind the product to Fortune magazine:

"We were losing out to the TV remote.  So we thought: what kind of controller can we create that won't make people afraid to touch it?"

The Wii looks different to its competitors in that it doesn't glorify the complexity of its own technology - it conceals it.  It looks so simple that a whole new generation - the over 60s - have been persuaded to try gaming for the first time.

Takeaway for you: the look of things matters.  Specifically, simplicity is compelling. Simplicity, as a design principle, encourages engagement and trust.  (For lawyers, this is largely counter-intuitive.)

Here's a presentation that models the kind of aesthetic I'm talking about:

Rule 2: Authenticity Rules

First there was sleaze.  Then there was spin.  Finally there was Iraq.

The result has been a disintegration of trust in the spoken utterances of politicians, which has morphed slowly but surely into kneejerk distrust of any public pronouncement.

Your audience has developed a preternatural ability to detect fakery.  There is zero tolerance for corporate ventriloquism these days.  So if you have the temerity to speak words which you don't fully own - ones formulated for you by your PR agency or HR team - then pack a parachute.  You are certain to be shot down.

You must write your own presentations, regardless of whether you are the world's greatest wordsmith.  Richard Branson certainly isn't - in fact I don't think his presentation skills have improved one jot in all his years in business.  This is central to his appeal - he's not slick, but then the age is signally sick of slick.

Own the words you speak, and the way you speak them.  One way of doing this is to make them up on the spot.  If you have no script then you clearly haven't hired a scriptwriter.  Notes - of any kind - denote an amateur communicator or, worse, an inauthentic one.

If that is too scary, then find other ways to introduce some spontaneity.  Read and respond to your audience's reactions.  Speculate.  Go off-piste.

By conveying that this is a work in progress, not a finished product, you will be letting the audience know that the material is authentically yours.

Next time:  Design Matters

Rule 1: Insight Rocks (Information Sucks)

Most presentations are doomed before they start because presenters think their purpose is to inform.

But information is the world's most devalued currency.  There's more of it in circulation than any of us can handle - and you want to give people more of it?

Painful but true: there is no information you can present to your audience that they can't find out for themselves.

[Read that again - its implications are enormous, particularly if you trade in intellectual capital]

So you must treat your information as nothing more than raw material which you will mould, sculpt or weld together for your audience. Show us what we can't see, tell us what we can't hear.  What does your information mean.  [We all heard the stats about global warming for years, but it took Al Gore to show us why we should be as concerned about them as those paddling polar bears...]

To render raw information meaningful, you will need insight. Insight means having the ability to step back from your material and see it afresh, from the audience's perspective.  It means seeing what is not apparent (yet) as well as what is.  It means communicating your findings in the language of the chat room not the text book. 

Empathy.  Imagination.  Humility.  When did you last find that combination of traits on show in your lawyer, your FD or even your doctor?  That's because most professionals have yet to come to terms with the democratising impact of the world wide web.  No-one can base their reputation on what they know anymore, because we are all experts now.

It's not your information but what you do with it that counts.  Amaze us with it.  Inspire us.  Surprise us.  Just don't inform us.

Information + your interpretation = insight

Information - your interpretation = crap I've already forgotten

Next time: Authenticity Rules 

The Straight Talker's Manifesto

The word itself is an anachronism.  Why do we still talk of "presenting"?  Nineteenth century diplomats may have had to present their credentials at court; the same approach is unlikely to resonate for the ipod generation.

Instead of setting out to present, why not excite, stimulate or inspire instead?

Over the next couple of weeks I want to present a five point manifesto for transforiming the conventional and often mind-blowingly dull business presentation into something fit for its 21st century purpose.

For purpose it certainly has.  In an age where everyday communication is increasingly derisory - a bleep in your pocket, a buzz in your ear - a presentation ought to feel like the real deal.  You and your audience are, for once, together, same time, same space.  Genuine engagement should follow.  But most presenters are like the archetypal embarrassing parents, showing up with their bunch of scratched 45s hoping to impress an increasingly tech-savvy, sophisticated audience.

If you want to make an impact, if you set out to persuade, if you really want to engage hearts and minds when you speak, then you need to understand how a mixture of technology, politics and the emergence of generation Y have profoundly changed the rules for communicating with an audience.

We'll start tomorrow with point 1 - why insight rocks...and information sucks. 

McCartney's Mandolin

Writer of some of the most famous songs ever.  Former member of the world's greatest group.  Multimillionaire.  Wrong side of 60.  You'd sit on your laurels, right?

Not Sir Paul.

"I (just) bought a mandolin," he tells the current issue of Uncut magazine.  "It isn't tuned like a guitar so I didn't know my way around it. But the feeling of picking my way through and finding the chords was magic.  It was like I was 17 again."

There's plenty in that, isn't there, about life, love and the meaning of success?

Authenticity - How To Fake It

1. Look around for a while and see how stuff gets done round here
2. Work out how best to "fit in"
3. Try your new mask on for size
4. Plod along, happy in the knowledge that you look and sound like a "real" lawyer/teacher/consultant/manager etc
5. Ignore that dull ache in the back of your head most days when you look in the mirror
6. Serve time

Rule of One

Excellent reminder from Seth Godin about clarity and focus.  Nothing puts people to sleep like me opening up my two-page shopping list of Stuff I Need To Get Off My Chest.  Whether it's a sales call - have a clear objective, meet it & get the **** off the phone - or a presentation, having one clear point that you address in some depth wins out over the scattershot approach.  Used to be the Rule of Three.  Now it's the Rule of One.  Best presenters aren't necessarily the most charismatic - but aren't they nearly always the most ruthless editors of their own material?

Interview: Ed Roach

Ed Roach runs a brand consulting business in Ontario, Canada.  He posted a comment to this site where he talked about "reinventing" himself as a communicator.  His thoughts will interest anyone who feels that great communicators are born and not made.

Q:  You say you were quite an introvert.  How exactly did you go about overcoming inhibitions/nerves to interact as powerfully as you now do?

A:  It is definitely hard. If we were talking theatre, I considered myself the back stage guy. I'd love to help, just don't expect me to take a bow. I always took the easy way out of any meeting situation, I simply kept to myself. I've read many books on networking, growing your business etc. But the common thing about all these motivational books was an assumption that everyone is an extrovert, easy to open up or place yourself in front of people.

I decided to start slowly and see if I could overcome the shortcomings of my character. First, when I was in situations where there were people to whom I may have to say "something", instead of climbing into my shell, I made a conscious effort to speak to 1 person before I left. It didn't have to be a conversation, just some light banter. This seemed to disarm me a little, it wasn't too bad after all. I was full of nerves but it intrigued me.

I started asking for help. I sort of recruited a good friend who is a management consultant to get feedback on what I was doing. He was very comfortable in sales situations. He is now my whining board. When I'm down I buy him lunch and he pulls me out of my funk.

Next I more or less decided that I should just jump into the deep end of the pool and see if I could swim. Public speaking - terrifying just thinking about the prospect. BUT, a friend told me it was the fastest way to establish credibility and pick up leads. Well, I thought - it will be a cinch to make it graphically appealing, and I worked hard on the script to get my points across.

The first time I launched into it, I didn't do too badly. Although I tended to go off script into a discussion. I noticed instantly that if I asked questions of my audience, they would actually participate. fascinating! The only problem was when my eyes went back to the script they danced all over the place to see where I left off.

I talked this experience over with my lunch buddy who simply advised me to throw away the script. He said, "Ed, you know your stuff, just talk to the screen". What he meant was, as the slide changes - glance at the screen and talk to what is up there. This was brilliant - it worked like a charm. I no longer had the anxiety of relying on a script. I just winged it and with each presentation let my interaction with the audience carry the presentation.

Q:  What, for you, is the secret of a great presentation?

A:  It is definitely engaging the audience. For me, it makes it fun and I love to think fast on my feet. People think it's amazing that you can come up with solutions right away. But of course it's not right away, it took 30 years to get that confident about what I do.

With my presentations it is important to have nice colourful graphics that are very professional. I use an old commercial from Apple that's speaks to 'think different'. This sets the tone with regards to the USP and branding. Know who you are talking to and gear to message to them. For instance I spoke with a Chief Financial Officer's Organization(CFO) once and was advised by my accountant to talk about saving money as their main concern is not about making money. They loved it. One portion of the presentation addressed the importance of icons - I had them yelling out the identities of the icons as they flashed on the screen. What a bunch.

Q:  Where can people go if they'd like to find out more about your work?

A:  My website is www.TheBrandingExperts.ca. I have recently added blogging as a way to build my web profile in much the same way I am doing my networking. I am engaging people in conversation.

Sick of Slick II

David Maister has a great podcast on relationship building, including key messages on listening and showing appreciation.  He covers most of the bases.  But what about the way you use your voice when you are trying to build a relationship or reach agreement?  BBC radio pointed me to some research on this oft-overlooked aspect of communication and relationship building - it's by Alison Fragale at the University of North Carolina.  The full paper can be found here.

Basically, Fragale divides vocal styles into "powerful" and "powerless".  The former is the gold standard to which many of us aspire - clear, distinct, forceful, powerful etc.  The second is what most of us do all the time: hesitate, circumlocute, pause, stammer etc.  Turns out that in a situation where there is a high degree of interdependence between speakers (ie sitting round the table with your work colleagues, doing the shopping with your spouse, up a mountainside with your best buddies...) the powerLESS style is far more effective in terms of getting your message across and reaching agreement.

For me, this is an extension of the sick of slick post.  The more we polish our presentation skills, the less authentic we seem, and the less power our communication actually has.