Civiello Communications Group Blog

Conferences that Keep your Attention

Everyone battles with keeping an audience's attention. Fortune magazine had to capture and keep techies attention! Here's 3 ways they succeeded at FORTUNE BRAINSTORM TECH in Aspen:

1) Great line up of speakers - Big names in the tech business and beyond and they were interviewed in different groupings in different parts of the room. 

2) Reinforcing takeaways - They immediately captured a speaker's best thoughts, best quotes on a monitor beside the stage.

3) Working WITH the audience - They encouraged you to tweet...about what you were hearing onstage..everyone in the audience read your tweets in a crawl on monitors placed throughout the audience. 
 

Prepare to be Surprised

I just heard an NPR reporter ask an author what suprised her in her research on shoplifters. The author umm-ed and ahh-ed for too long and the delay risked the listener wondering if there was anything truly new. As a long time reporter for NBC, asking what surprised didn't surprise me. It's standard...a way of prompting an expert to edit their volumes of information and give the rest of us a reason to make room on our cerebral hard drives! I understand how the author or any expert could have trouble quickly identifying one thing out of reams of data but as a communication coach, I urge all of my clients to think in advance what surprised them before any interview or business presentation. If you don't, you rob yourself of the opportunity to make sure people remember your message.

Sticks n' Stones n' Bachmann

When Chris Wallace asked Michele Bachmann if she is a flake, my first reaction was to feel a little sorry for her. She looked hurt. But I don't want to feel sorry for someone who wants to be President. It wasn't a tough question, it was a nasty label that she could easily have written off as left wingers who "dismiss my views when millions agree or I wouldn't be sitting here." You might say hindsight is 20/20 but Bachmann had to be forewarned about the criticism. Indeed Wallace's question was quite long..plenty of time to lighten up..maybe retrieve the old saying "sticks and stones can hurt my bones but words can never hurt me." But then maybe she feared she'd get that wrong.

 

Questions could be the Answer to your Presentation Problems

Anne had a big personality but her presentations were flat. If you charted them like a cadiogram, you'd wonder if she had a pulse. I was working with her to prepare for her first town hall in a huge new job. She'd been at the company for a while, but this was a larger and largely new audiencce. We discussed the many questions they might have and developed her message. Midstream, Anne sighed, "I'm always so much better in Q&A." Like many, she looks and sounds more relaxed / less monotone and programmed when answering questions. I suggested she use the Q&A format to deliver her presentation. Bingo! Asking questions employees might ask and in the folksy way they might ask them, immediately connected her content to the audience and improved her monotone problem. Asking a question forces you to change your inflection / vocal tone. Using a Q&A format also can take an  audience by surprise. It made Anne look like a stronger leader..ready to take anything head on. Questions could be the answer for you too.

HOW TO SMILE MORE...WIN MORE SUPPORT.

You should SMILE more. Smiling is one of the easiest ways to warm an audience to you and your message but many speakers find it difficult to do. Clients, from the CEO talking to his employees to a print reporter gearing up for an appearance on the TODAY show, tell me ‘I’m not smiling because there isn’t much to smile about much less laugh.’ I get that. As a newscaster for many years I was often sharing serious news. We’ve all seen guests on TV suddenly flash a big smile where it seems inappropriate or inauthentic, and you just know they’ve been told to smile more. So, here’s the fix:  Make finding the lighter side of any presentation or interview part of your due diligence. Ask yourself “what is counter intuitive, surprising or, yes, amusing?” Can you share a story or deliver a soliloquy? Saying what you’ve often said to yourself or quoting someone else often prompts a natural smile. Even if you are sharing news about layoffs you should be talking about how you care and how you’ve assembled a team to help. That doesn’t merit a big smile but should be delivered with a warmer look that can lead to a warmer reception and show a different side of you as a leader.

Summaries don’t steal thunder they spark memory

In summary, summarize more often. It guarantees people will stay engaged longer and remember what you’ve said. Recently I worked with an executive planning a day long briefing on her company. The CEO was going to open up the day and then speaker after speaker would provide updates on their departments. The CEO was given a "high level" but colorless script saying that they are going great guns..but no proof..no examples of success. The executive explained that she didn’t want the CEO to steal the thunder of upcoming speakers. All you have to do is look at a newscast to know that’s wrong. The anchorman opens with a “tease” of what’s coming..a brief preview of top stories to make sure you stay up for another hour. If you look at a graph of audience attention span over the course of a 20 minute business presentation, it looks like a cross between a V and U. It’s highest at a presentation open, sinks gradually over time and then returns as you close. Why? Because you’ve signaled you’ll summarize. Just saying ‘in summary’ or ‘inclosing’ causes people to tune back in because in this information overloaded world, it sounds like you’ll give them the essential take away. What you should takeaway from this is that you should summarize more frequently. If you have 3 points of differentiation, say its your superior people, products and processes..after each, summarize. If you are opening a day’s program give me the highlights without worry of repetition..people can’t remember what was said a few minutes ago let alone an hour ago.

Fear of Public Speaking – the Royal Fix

The King’s Speech is a contender for Best Picture when the Oscars are announced next month, and it offers us more than great entertainment. In the business world, just about everyone has to present and many dread it. While the world isn’t listening as it was to King George in the late 1930s, it can feel like it. And while most of us don’t stammer like “Bertie,” we share the fear behind his affliction, the fear that others will judge us harshly. How the King overcame his speech problem can help us commoners speak better:

1)    Focus on your audience: Like many CEOs, the King didn’t mix with his audience. They were like a sea of faces. His coach had the King look at him, speak to him as he spoke to millions about going to war. It’s always easier to speak to someone you know and like, so if you are speaking on a phone paste a few pictures of your employees on your desk, and on stage, pick 3 encouraging faces in different parts of your audience and speak to them.

2)    Pause: You’ve heard the saying, “take it one step at a time.” The King slowed down and began to take his speech just a few words at a time versus looking at an eternity of copy. He marked his script for those frequent pauses, slash lines for breaks. Frequent pauses allowed him to breathe more regularly and that in and of itself helped calm him. Pausing can help you become a smoother and more effective speaker; it adds gravity, and allows your audience time to digest what you’re saying.

3)    Project: Speak up. The King’s coach would provoke him, rile him until he shouted even swore. The provocation prompted him to project. It uncapped and tapped the energy he was holding inside. It smoothed his speech, and again, improved his breathing. Before taking the stage many professional speakers will stand in a room, speak loudly, do a few pushups, versus sitting quietly mouthing words. So speak up. You’ll speak better.

4)    Practice: I know you’ve heard “practice makes perfect,” but who has the time? Well, the king of England knew that to lead effectively, he had to speak like a leader. He committed to daily practice, speaking more slowly, pausing, and projecting. It worked for Bertie. Ironically, his father lamented, “We kings used to have to simply look good and wave,” but then came radio. Now there is 24-7 TV and social media.

Make 2011 the year you’ll become a communication king.

In 2010 it will be more what you do..

In the annual round up of new years resolutions, the Financial Times called for executives to refocus on what they communicate..not just what they say, but what they do. Think auto executives flying in private jets to to ask for taxpayers money. That translated to arrogance, people out of touch with what the public wants and expects..not what those execs wanted to convey. Today in my executive communication training we look closely at tapes to see what message their body language is sending. We discuss how their every action in public can be picked up by bloggers and can affect the image of their business. The next time you deliver a speech or participate on a panel what you do on the way to the stage matters as much as what you say behind the podium.

A Crystal Ball for Crises

It is human nature to look at a competitor's crisis with a little smile. "Hey, might be an opportunity to pull ahead of them!" The German word for this is schadenfreude: enjoyment obtained from the troubles of others. But in fact, the competition's crisis is often a crystal ball for your next one. Look at the growing scandal over expenses in the British parliament. While they aren't competitors, when that news broke every U.S. lawmaker here should have been thinking what would happen if his expenses fell under scrutiny. In fact front page news in the Wall Street Journal today is a call to make House and Senate detailed spending records avialable online. Today they are contained in printed volumes with vague descriptions such as "purchased equipment." My corporate clients often say they wish there was a way to predict trouble. There is: Look at the news as smoke.. Remember "where there is smoke, there's fire" and fire spreads.