The Workshop Leader's Resource

The great thing about talking with great teachers is that they always have so much good stuff to say and David Rosman is no exception.  David shared an immense amount of information with us on this podcast about speaking to groups, political speaking and more.  You won’t want to miss this one!

Link Referenced In Today’s Show:

Edward Kennedy – Truth and Tolerance in America

Sun Tzu – The Art of War

President Obama – Yes, We Can Speech

Dave@inkandvoice.com

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Barbara Musser is an inspirational speaker and trainer and has designed and facilitated personal growth and transformational workshops for the past 20 years. She mentors women and teenage girls in living their unique purpose, and works 1:1 and in groups with people who want to break through and transform their lives.  For more information about Barbara, visit her website at:  www.BarbaraMusser.com

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We all have a mind, an imagination and words which are produced from combining language, syntax and grammar. This is mechanics. We put stories down on paper, offer metaphors for hitting a point home and in the process, we hope to get a moment of a totally silent audience. This is finesse. Embracing the art of authentic public speaking is a magical mixture of both.

Before I dive into this most fascinating topic, I wish to offer a disclaimer: my approach is unconventional. It will not work for those who enjoy their successful comfort zones – and more power to them. I am a fan of many things “guerilla”, doing things differently and realize that often, I am speaking to an already rather SAVVY audience. I am always refining the message and offering new twists on conventional wisdom. I keep it fresh not only for the participants, but also to remain engaged myself. Otherwise, I would get bored with my own words. I call this Going Off Script.

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Today’s audience consists of multiple generations each with their unique expectations from the speaker.   For the first time in history there are five generations in your audience.  One generation likes lecture style, another likes to share expertise.  The next generation likes you to ask their opinion & the youngest two generations prefer role play, videos, & other media. 

How can you tell who is in your audience?  Your best approach is to do an on the spot survey by show of hands.  A quick way is to ask:

• How many of you found work in job ads that said help wanted male, help wanted female? (Boomers & Veterans). 
• How many of you were latch key kids or your school mates were latch key kids? (Gen X)
•  How many of you prefer IM/ texting? (Gen Y & Gen M). 

Now you know who is in the room.

If you are speaking at a conference you can include these questions in your pre-program assessment.  Often the meeting planner can inform you who the audience is.  In the event that is not a viable option, the above on the spot survey should suffice.

Armed with these results you can instantly customize your program to ensure you speak the language of your audience.  By providing information in the manner your attendees desire, you will engage and wow them.

2. Verifying facts during your presentation 

There was a time when speakers were looked up to as the experts who brought knowledge to the marketplace and helped people to be more successful. While this is still true the game has changed significantly. 

With the ubiquitous access to the Internet speakers now have a new type of heckler to contend with. 

For example, at a recent conference for the medical profession in Las Vegas the speaker referenced an article on the industry and mentioned several items for the audience. 

After the lunch break when the audience returned, an attendee raised his hand.  Thinking there was a question, the speaker acknowledged him. 

The attendee then said, “I thought the speaker’s remarks were incorrect earlier.  So while at lunch I surfed the Web, found the article, and verified what was said.  Sure enough the speaker is wrong.  By the way, here’s the URL to get that article yourself and get the facts right.”

Gone are the days when your audience simply took notes and accepted your expertise without verification.  So today it is vital to not only verify your material, but to also confirm you have the most up to date information prior to stepping on the platform. 

Today the audience not only expects information, they expect the most up-to-date information possible along with where they can learn more if they desire.  So the night before a presentation, be sure to check online to ensure you have the most current information.  While you’re at it, check article links as they may have been deleted or the website removed.  Google often has a cached version though and that helps.

3. I want role play – not to listen you go on and on 

Forget about slide decks with 30 – 50 slides.  To really connect with today’s audience you must have fewer slides and more interaction. 

Presentations should be lively so that the audience is energized.  They want to interact and role playing helps them connect the dots and have a more transformational experience.

Many members of today’s audience are Gen X or younger.  They are the highly stimulated generation from gamers to video creators.  Sitting in a chair listening to you drone on through a PowerPoint presentation makes their eyes glaze over.  They used PowerPoint for their school projects in second grade so they need more.

Here are three ways you can engage them:

1. After explaining a point, provide them with a case study that they can solve.  Then have them role play the techniques they used to solve the case study.
2. Create a reality game or play “Jeopardy” with the clues including the tips you are teaching them or speaking about.
3. Give them an exercise to create something or think outside the box.  They are very inventive and sometimes create something that knocks your socks off.  I once gave a group straws, staples, scotch tape and colored markers.  They could build anything they wanted.  The winning entry was a “Bridge over Troubled Water.”

Time will fly by and you will find yourself in the role of facilitator.  When the attendees want the speaker back they actually request it.  This technique gets them really jazzed up and energized. 

Your job is to research and find fun examples for your role play.

4. Downloading during your presentation

In a recent presentation I recommended a book that would be helpful to the participants.  As I spoke, I noticed a young man who was very focused on his iPhone.  This is a normal occurrence during today’s presentations.  There’s even a term for it “Absent Presence.”

As I left the room for the break, he called me over to show me his iPhone.  During the presentation, had downloaded a free Kindle® app for his iPhone, visited Amazon, purchased, and downloaded the book, and was already reading it. 

What’s the point of this pitfall?  To inform you that just because they’re on their iPhone during your presentation, doesn’t mean they’re tuning you out.  Maybe they’re taking action on the recommendation you just made.

This brings us back to Pitfall #2 ‘verifying during your presentation.’  Today’s audiences are used to instant gratification and have the tools to get it.  So it is crucial that your recommendations and suggestions are correct.

5.  Tweeting & Texting during your presentation

A new occurrence for speakers today is tweeting during your presentation.  I know how you feel when that happens.  That’s why I have resorted to asking attendees to get in their one text before we start and during their breaks.

If you are speaking at a conference, be aware that the tweets and texts might be sent to the people currently in your audience or on their way to the workshop. 

One conference speaker experienced this pitfall when they had low turnout for a seminar that previously had blowout attendance.  Evidently attendees tweeted “don’t come to this workshop, the speaker is not very good.”  On reading this many attendees decided to attend a different session and the speaker’s credibility was crushed.

Conversely, if you are a good speaker with an engaging style, the tweets would be “hurry up and get to this session.  The speaker is fantastic.”   This could turn a low turnout session into a blowout session and it’s all happening in real time.  

Take them seriously

These five pitfalls are just the tip of the iceberg when speaking to a cross generational audience.  Yes, I know, today all speaking engagements are cross generational.  However, speakers who do not take these pitfalls seriously, may find themselves with an empty calendar wondering what happened?

Have you ever walked into one room and had your program go really well and done the exact same presentation fall flat with another room?  Well, the challenge may have been your audience.  Your presentation may be tailored perfectly for one generation but disastrous for another.  In this free teleseminar, we’ll be talking to Yvonne F. Brown who is a specialist in Communications with Different Generations.  Yvonne can tell you the secret to connecting with an audience of any age.  Learn the tips, tricks and secrets to speaking the right language to each audience.

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Speaker Bio
Known as a highly effective public speaker, and communicator, Yvonne F. Brown has taught seminars on inter-generational and inter-cultural communications in the U.S., the U.K., and Canada.

As a professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), Roosevelt University, and College of DuPage, Yvonne teaches a variety of communication courses, including interpersonal, intercultural, organizational, conflict management and career growth. She has also conducted seminars for such corporations as Deloitte Consulting, Lockheed Martin, Citrix and Ft. Campbell Credit Union.

Yvonne has an impressive management background in the consulting industry. She managed staff for a 70 store retail chain, recruited, trained, developed training sessions and curricula.

Yvonne is heralded by participants as the best speaker and trainer they ever had. Her enthusiasm is contagious. She understands group dynamics, and is creative in developing programs that are powerful, interactive and entertaining. Visit her at www.yvonnefbrown.com.

Show Notes

Traditionalists – tell them what to do – take notes and think about it later

Baby Boomer – like a challenge – use case studies and sample examples and let them work on it

Gen Xers – interactive – will ask questions and challenge you

Gen Y – like to play games like jeopardy – turn your presentation into a game – use video

Digital Babies – video and digital interactivity is key

Links:

Yvonne F. Brown

Kelle Sparta – Speaker Coaching and Consulting

Cauldron Retreats – Where Women Who Lead Come to Be Held

Want To Learn More about the Needs of Different Generations?  Read:
The Cultural Creatives – How 50 Million People are Changing The World

Managers, trainers, and even ‘real people’ sometimes have to present in front of three to hundreds of people. Unfortunately, most presenters aren’t trained with the best presentation tools. Instead, they just copy each other. So, we in the audience are frequently bored silly. It doesn’t have to be that way. Take a look at the three speaker tips below to make your next time in front of a few –or many—enjoyable, memorable, and equally enjoyable for your audience.

Three Powerful Speaker’s Tips

1. Don’t lecture for more than 10 minutes. Adults just don’t have that long an attention span (too much on our minds!). Change it up. Use various “alternative delivery methods”–methods to teach other than lecture. In my Instructor Development course, I help students learn these teaching methods by modeling them so they can observe me teaching. Then, we de-brief on what we did. Finally, each student teaches a short module using creative methods, and the rest of the students provide feedback. (We really only learn when we do something). Doing greatly increases confidence–and competence.

2. When you want to change adults’ perceptions, beliefs, or knowledge, don’t just start talking to them. You may just cause them to shrink more into their beliefs, and to defend it (have you observed students who live to argue with the instructor?)

How to tackle the ‘old belief’ challenge:

Prepare students to learn something new. For example: Use a ‘true-false’ or ‘multiple choice’ to start the presentation, or to check learning. I do this in my IDW course in the middle, and ask students how they would have answered at the beginning of the course–and then contrast that with their new perceptions and learning. It creates lots of ‘ahas’ with them, and further cements their learning experience.

3. Don’t just read from the PowerPoint on the screen (and, just as onerous, provide the student with the PowerPoint as the “outline”.) If an instructor does that, I feel I want to just take that outline and leave. I can read, thank you! Too many presenters/trainers rely on PowerPoint to do the teaching.

Use that Right Brain of Yours

Effective teaching is much more than just talking. It should be creative. Use all the “attention strategies” at your disposal (that means to get them into your repertoire).

Suggestions:

Use props, stories, various audio-visual aids, handouts to control the audience “contour”. I learned this as a musician playing for dancing. You direct how you want the audience to dance, and you ‘contour’ the whole experience (slower to faster, then back to slow). As a great instructor/ facilitator, you can direct your audience in an awesome learning experience. It just depends on the skills you bring to the table.

It’s Worth the Effort

Most presenters/trainers aren’t in it for the big bucks (where are those big bucks, again?). They’re in it to assist others. Gaining and practicing presentation skills helps us give back better. The bonus: Deep appreciation from our audience. We’ve even been known to change lives for the better! No amount of money can provide that sense of accomplishment.

Carla Cross, CRB, MA, is a National Realtor Educator of the Year, international speaker, and author of training and coaching programs for most of the international franchises. She was recognized as one of the 50 most influential women Realtors of 2008. She’s the author of the new comprehensive training resource, The Ultimate Real Estate Trainer’s Guide, and the new presentation resource, Knock Their Socks Off. See her coaching and training resources at www.carlacross.com.