Stage Fright Got You?
Hands and legs quivering, knees knocking together, face turning red, pulse racing, mind whiting out – this is stage fright. The term is associated with the total melt down people experience when they get up on stage in front of an audience to speak. In Japan, there is even an association of stage fright victims who wish to suffer no more. Our exposure to the “stage”, broadly defined, is any occasion where we are required to get up and speak in front of others. This frequency increases as we get older.
Our work responsibilities are rewarded with a salary increase but also the obligation to give reports or speeches. We are innocently beavering away at our jobs, are recognised for doing well and given promotions or more responsibility. This is when we are forced to move out of our area of defined expertise and out of our Comfort Zone.
Tetsuya Miyaki is a typical example. He was a low level bureaucrat in a municipal government office. Promoted to become the head of a department, he suddenly found himself having to give public presentations, including to the municipal assembly. He immediately found that his ambitions had now out stripped his abilities. When he became the mayor of a city ward, the speech requirement exploded, and so did his stress. The opportunity to enjoy the fruits of hard earned prominence were removed, because this one piece of the work gamut was killing him. “I feel like I barely made it through my term”, he lamented.
Eye Off The Ball
This is what happens to us. With no thought for the future, we plough along working hard, looking for the rewards but forgetting the escalation of expectations that go together with that. If we took our nose off the grindstone for a minute and looked ahead, we would realise that if we go further up in the echelon of organisations, our ability to speak in a professional manner will come with the territory.
I was the same. I had no vision of what the future would require. When I was younger, a friend of mine asked me to be his best man at his wedding. I deferred and suggested an older mutual friend instead, citing my lack of experience with such a daunting responsibility. The real reason was my terror of having to speak at the wedding, instead of just sitting there cool, calm and collected, eating, drinking and enjoying myself like everyone else. Did I look ahead and realise this is what comes with future responsibilities and go and get some public speaking training? No. I just avoided the issue at every turn, running away from every request like a scared rabbit.
Eventually, I gave my first public speech. It was in Tokyo in late 1983, in Japanese and it was horrible. I was supposed to talk for 30 minutes but I finished in about 8 minutes. My nerves were severely ramping up my speaking speed. I read the whole thing, never looked up at my victims, didn’t smile, had no pauses, no gestures, no animation except high blood pressure giving me a big red face like a warning beacon.
I was stubborn too. Did I go and get training after this near death experience? No. I just kept on going along doing it the hard way. I ultimately gave hundreds of speeches in the course of my work responsibilities. I improved as I got more experience through simple repetition of the act, but I was still just an amateur bumbling along.
Revelation
When I took the High Impact Presentation Course with Dale Carnegie it was such a revelation. Two instructors, everything videoed, massive personal coaching – it was amazing. I just kicked myself for all of the opportunity costs I paid by not doing this when I was younger.
I was an idiot. I could have spent decades polishing my speaking skills, growing my potential rather than hiding from the opportunity. I could have ramped up my personal brand big time, if I had been even half smart and gotten the training. Like Miyaki san, for long periods of my career I was in pure, self-inflicted denial.
Don’t be stupid like me – get the training. If you are going to get anywhere in your career, you will need this facility to not just speak competently in front of an audience, but to speak persuasively. It is not a matter of if, only a matter of when. Are you going to let stage fright get you? Are you going to knee-cap your career growth? Are you going to be petrified every time you have to get up to speak? Do something about it. It is never to late to start.
Engaged employees are self-motivated. The self-motivated are inspired. Inspired staff grow your business but are you inspiring them? We teach leaders and organisations how to inspire their people. Want to know how we do that? Contact me at greg.story@dalecarnegie.com
If you enjoy these articles, then head over to www.japan.dalecarnegie.com and check out our "Free Stuff" offerings - whitepapers, guidebooks, training videos, podcasts, blogs. Take a look at our Japanese and English seminars, workshops, course information and schedules.
About The Author
Dr. Greg Story: President, Dale Carnegie Training Japan
In the course of his career Dr. Greg Story has moved from the academic world, to consulting, investments, trade representation, international diplomacy, retail banking and people development. Growing up in Brisbane, Australia he never imagined he would have a Ph.D. in Japanese decision-making and become a 30 year veteran of Japan.
A committed lifelong learner, through his published articles in the American, British and European Chamber journals, his videos and podcasts “THE Leadership Japan Series”, THE Sales Japan Series and THE Presentations Japan Series, he is a thought leader in the four critical areas for business people: leadership, communication, sales and presentations. Dr. Story is a popular keynote speaker, executive coach and trainer.
Since 1971, he has been a disciple of traditional Shitoryu Karate and is currently a 6th Dan. Bunbu Ryodo (文武両道-both pen & sword) is his mantra and he applies martial art philosophies and strategies to business.
Don’t Tell Me, Show Me
Japan is an interesting place where there is a lot of respect for people’s job titles and position in the company. Sometimes though, you are left wondering is this person really one of the elite or is this the best the elite can produce? American friends tell me Missouri is famous for it’s “show me, don’t tell me” mantra. When you can’t back up who you say you are with the goods, credibility declines rapidly.
This seemed like such a case. Seriously sad really. Our speaker had some excellent points to convey but due to silly basic errors, killed his organisation’s messages. I believe there is no excuse for this anymore. Today there is so much information available, so many role models, so much video instruction, so much access to insight, so much training, you really have to wonder how some organisations can do such a poor job.
The impressive thing was our speaker was delivering the talk in English, when that was not his native language. Actually, the level of English fluency was impressive. The speed was good, the pronunciation was fine, the speaking voice was clear. He came with a grand resume, part of the elite of the land, a well educated, senior guy. This was game, set and match to be a triumph of positive messaging and salesmanship. It was a fizzer.
I approached him after it was all over. Being the eternal Aussie optimist from the land of vast horizons, blue skies and wonderful sunshine, I thought our speaker would benefit from a bit of friendly, positive feedback on how he could help his organisation to do better. He wasn’t buying that and asked me for one example. Clearly he believed his talk went down a treat with the crowd, a group by the way, full of long term Japanophiles and boosters for things Japanese. He was in fact preaching to the choir, in audience terms, but even then his messaging went astray.
I asked for the first slide to be brought back up. A confusing coat of many, many colours, seriously dense with data, totally impervious to easy understanding – a florid mess in other words. They were all like this. Data was simply killing the key messages. When I suggested the slides were perhaps attempting to put too much on the screen at the one time, he said I was looking at the cleaned up version. He had taken the organisation’s standard slide deck and pared it back. “Pared it back?”, I thought incredulously. Well it was still ridiculous.
The other issue was the delivery. Our speaker chose to stand in front of the monitor and read to us what was on the screen, while having his back to us for most of the presentation. Fortunately, he was handsome, urbane, charming, international and articulate. He had all the natural advantages to carry the room to his way of thinking. Unfortunately, he failed completely.
What could our erstwhile hero have done? He made the slide deck the centerpiece of the presentation, instead of making his messages the key. We should all carefully cull our ideas and distill the most powerful and important. We should present only one idea per slide, restrict the colour palette to two colours for contrast and try to keep it zen-like simple. If our audience cannot grasp the key point of any slide in two seconds, then it needs more paring back.
Graphs are great visual prompts and the temptation is to use them as unassailable evidence. This usually means trying to pack the graph with as much information as possible, showing long periods of comparison and multiple data points for edification. Instead think of them like screen wallpaper. They form a visual background. We can then go to another slide showing a turning point in isolation or we can have a pop up, with a key number, emphasised in very large font. In this way, we can cut through all the clutter and draw out the critical proof we want our audience to buy. Trying to pack it all on one screen is a formula for persuasion suicide.
We need to learn some very basic logistics about presenting. Despite how the organisers have set up the space, move things around if possible to give yourself the best shot to present as a professional. Try to stand on the audience left of the screen. We read from left to right, so we want them to look at our face first and then read the screen. We want to face our audience and if anyone drops the lights so your screen is easier to see, stop everything and ask for the lights to be brought back up. We need the lights on in order that we can see our audience’s faces. We can then gauge if they are with us or resisting our messages. They can see us and we can use our gestures, facial expressions and body language to back up the words we are saying.
Changing the slides and the delivery would have made the speaker’s messages clearer and more attractive. None of the things I have suggested to him are complex or difficult. Why then are we still assailed with unprofessional presentations from smart people? He remained resistant, he is part of the elite after all but he didn’t get it. So I saw him riding off into the sunset on his quixotic quest to convert others to his organisation’s point of view. Good luck with that one buddy!
People will judge us on what they see. They will note our resume but they will make up their minds on what we present and the way we present it. Missouri’s rule is a good one to keep in mind when preparing to stand up in front of others and pontificate.
Engaged employees are self-motivated. The self-motivated are inspired. Inspired staff grow your business but are you inspiring them? We teach leaders and organisations how to inspire their people. Want to know how we do that? Contact me at greg.story@dalecarnegie.com
If you enjoy these articles, then head over to www.japan.dalecarnegie.com and check out our "Free Stuff" offerings - whitepapers, guidebooks, training videos, podcasts, blogs. Take a look at our Japanese and English seminars, workshops, course information and schedules.
About The Author
Dr. Greg Story: President, Dale Carnegie Training Japan
In the course of his career Dr. Greg Story has moved from the academic world, to consulting, investments, trade representation, international diplomacy, retail banking and people development. Growing up in Brisbane, Australia he never imagined he would have a Ph.D. in Japanese decision-making and become a 30 year veteran of Japan.
A committed lifelong learner, through his published articles in the American, British and European Chamber journals, his videos and podcast “THE Leadership Japan Series”, he is a thought leader in the four critical areas for business people: leadership, communication, sales and presentations. Dr. Story is a popular keynote speaker, executive coach and trainer.
Since 1971, he has been a disciple of traditional Shitoryu Karate and is currently a 6th Dan. Bunbu Ryodo (文武両道-both pen & sword) is his mantra and he applies martial art philosophies and strategies to business.
Dale Carnegie’s Three Iron Rules Of Public Speaking
Not everyone should be a presenter. We don’t need higher levels of boredom or disinterest than we have already. A big “No thank you” to those conspiring to waste our precious time. This does not mean that only a few super talented individuals can be presenters. We can all learn to become competent and become better presenters. This is “nurture” not “nature” in action. The key point is your motivation, why are you doing this?
Dale Carnegie pioneered business public speaking when he launched his first course in 1912. He proffered the 3Es as a solid requirement before we contemplate being a speaker and it still applies today. Those Es are “earned the right”, “ excited” and “eager” to present.
We have earned the right to speak to others about our subject because we have studied the subject and we have relevant experience. It is not limited to our direct experience, because we could be drawing on the experience of others. We should be a subject matter expert with formidable knowledge on a particular topic. We have been reading expert opinion and doing research on this subject, absorbing the key points and making them relevant to the business community to whom we are speaking.
This means keeping up to date, because there are always new findings and new ideas emerging. For many of us, what we were taught in school is different to what our children are being taught today. The reason is specialties like biology, archaeology, astronomy, mathematics, physics etc., keep pushing the boundaries of our previous knowledge.
Today there are podcasts, advertorials, blogs, LinkedIn articles, YouTube videos, conferences, workshops, subscription information products, etc., all expanding our world. These are separate to the traditional sources of published academic works, journalistic offerings, thought pieces in print and mainstream broadcast media. The internet provides massive access to everything you want to know on almost any subject and it is free. The recent spread of “content marketing” has meant that everyone is pouring forth even more high quality information and again, at no charge.
We must remain current because for sure, there will be members of our audience who are likely to be highly informed. As we know, everyone has instant access to everything today. While we are speaking, they can quickly go on-line and search for references we make to facts, situations and people. We do this ourselves don’t we!
We need to have reserve power – this is the additional knowledge of a subject, which we don’t have time to present during our allotted speaking time. To have reserve power requires we study our subject.
Experience is the other highly valuable arrow in our speaker quiver. Telling stories, based around our personal experience or observation is very powerful. Our audience may choose to disagree with our conclusion drawn from our experience, but they cannot argue with that experience or the context behind the conclusions we have drawn.
We need to draw on more than our own individual experience and that is where the exploits of others, particularly famous individuals, lends credibility to the story we are telling and the points we are making. People remember stories but they don’t recall disjointed facts and data for very long. We all have great stories to relate, but we forget to tell them during our talks. Instead we dole out dry facts and data, thinking this is what our audience is wanting. This could not be further from the truth.
We are conditioned from babyhood to listen to stories and nothing beats a riveting account of a total meltdown you had in your business and how you fixed it. We love to listen to learn and relating our successes and failures is hungrily consumed by our audience, because it is real and relevant. They want it, so let’s become more professional and give it to them.
Being excited to present because we have positive feelings about our subject is another vital prerequisite for success. Watching the global head of a huge resources company give a presentation on the amazing things they were doing, but conducting the talk without the slightest sense of excitement for the topic, was a truly brutal experience. The slides were professional, the speaking speed was good, the flow was logical, he was handsome, expensively dressed, his shoes were glistening. It was horrible. It was awful because it was so bland, so devoid of passion for the subject. It was “painting by numbers” for someone thrust into the role of global representative for the company. He destroyed his brand on the spot.
We should never overlook the power of passion for our subject. We are the one creating this talk, so we can empty our heart into the topic without any reserve. We don’t have to pick a boring topic to speak on. Even a dull sounding topic can be brought alive in the hands of the person delivering the talk. When they feel and communicate their excitement for the topic, we pick that excitement up and it adds persuasive power to what it is they are saying. Enthusiasm is contagious, so let’s infect everyone in our audience.
Our erstwhile captain of industry mentioned earlier failed the other test, which is to be eager to project the value to your listeners. He was robotic, boring, formulistic and passionless. There were no take-aways for our businesses, redemption tales, no hero’s journey – there was just an hour of time, dull and devoid of all life forms instead. Let’s do our analysis of our audience and understand what will be of value to them and then provide it.
What could he have done? He could have asked the organisers about his audience. He would have discovered a majority of small-medium enterprises and a couple of large firms. Knowing this, he could have thought about what lessons does his mega-company have for much smaller firms. What global market trends would be interesting to his audience. He could have offered some hints on what helped him to climb the greasy pole to the top of his field. He could have shared some anecdotes on the famous personalities he had met so far in his business role. None of this occurred to him because he was selfish. He was just focused on delivering what his company did and not much more. He was focused on promoting his company by talking about what was interesting to his company. What about what would be interesting to the audience? Nary a thought for that.
The truly sad part is he had zero self-awareness. He will continue travelling the world killing his company and personal brands for a number of years into the future, totally oblivious to the damage he is doing. In those big organisations, the Emperor may have no clothes, but none of the “yes” men and women are ever going to let him know that.
He was speaking in Japan, so given how polite this society is, nobody in the audience is going to wander over and let him know he was a total fail. No doubt he left us for the next country to carry on the work of decimating his reputation with the next international audience. The presentation will have been totally identical, with no tailoring for the different culture or conditions.
Do us all a favour pleeeease – bulk up on the 3Es before you speak. And if you do, then you will project a highly positive professional image to your audience for your brand, company and yourself. Never forget Dale Carnegie’s Three Iron Rules and you will become a person of value and acclaim.
Action Steps
Engaged employees are self-motivated. The self-motivated are inspired. Inspired staff grow your business but are you inspiring them? We teach leaders and organisations how to inspire their people. Want to know how we do that? Contact me at greg.story@dalecarnegie.com
If you enjoy these articles, then head over to www.japan.dalecarnegie.com and check out our "Free Stuff" offerings - whitepapers, guidebooks, training videos, podcasts, blogs. Take a look at our Japanese and English seminars, workshops, course information and schedules.
About The Author
Dr. Greg Story: President, Dale Carnegie Training Japan
In the course of his career Dr. Greg Story has moved from the academic world, to consulting, investments, trade representation, international diplomacy, retail banking and people development. Growing up in Brisbane, Australia he never imagined he would have a Ph.D. in Japanese decision-making and become a 30 year veteran of Japan.
A committed lifelong learner, through his published articles in the American, British and European Chamber journals, his videos and podcasts “THE Leadership Japan Series”, THE Sales Japan Series and THE Presentations Japan Series, he is a thought leader in the four critical areas for business people: leadership, communication, sales and presentations. Dr. Story is a popular keynote speaker, executive coach and trainer.
Since 1971, he has been a disciple of traditional Shitoryu Karate and is currently a 6th Dan. Bunbu Ryodo (文武両道-both pen & sword) is his mantra and he applies martial art philosophies and strategies to business.
Goodbye Presentation Nerves
Unexpectedly, twelve time Grand Slam Tennis tournament winner Novak Djokovic has some good advice for public speakers. “I believe that half of any victory in a tennis match is in place before you step on the court. If you don’t have that self-belief, then fear takes over. And then it will get too much for you to handle. It’s a fine line. The energy of those moments is so high: how are you going to use it? Are you going to let it consume you, or are you going to accept it’s presence and say, ‘OK, let’s work together’. ”
What he is saying is we don’t worry about having fear or not having it, we look for how to control it. When we feel fear, our psychological fight or flight response provides energy to our major muscle groups in the chest, arms and legs. This is great energy to tap, in order to bring our belief and our passion to our messages. If the energy is a bit too high and you are feeling too hyperactive, then try and burn some energy off before you go on stage. Out the back, out of sight, pace up and down strenuously for about 5 minutes and take some of the edge off those nerves.
The opposite feeling of “butterflies in the stomach” is a result of the blood being directed away from our internal organs to our major muscle groups. The body is getting ready for survival mode. To overcome the butterflies feeling, just find a quiet place off stage, sit down and do some slow, deep breathing from the diaphragm to inject more oxygen into the brain. Take it slowly though, because if you do it too fast you may become dizzy. This oxygen hit will sharpen us up, get us concentrated and ready for the speech. The slower breathing will also help to slow down the pulse rate.
We should accept that fear is part of the process of public speaking. Let’s use the adrenalin coursing through our veins as a power source to hit key words, have more energy, use bigger gestures than normal and send our power vibe out to the audience.
Speakers who look tired, bored or uninterested, are never going to be persuading anyone of anything. I hate those presentations. I saw the head of a huge division of a major global resources company, give a totally lifeless presentation. This guy was rich, immaculately groomed, in charge of thousands of people and billions of dollars of revenue. Yes, he spoke in concert with the slide deck, was not nervous, spoke slowly and clearly but with absolutely no energy, passion or commitment to his message. It was seriously painful to watch and his audience was lost to his message about his company. Despite his big title and big bucks he was a dud. We judge the entire organization on who we see in action. Sadly that day, his organisation’s reputation was harmed as a result of his lifeless presentation.
I read that Frank Sinatra felt fear every time before he performed. He always worried that the first note would not be there. Once he got going however, he could relax and enjoy the process. That applies to us as well – we have to get that first couple of minutes settled down and then we can relax and enjoy the opportunity to help the audience through providing our message or our valuable information. Fine, but just how do we do that?
Here are some do’s and don’ts.
Don’t put unbelievable pressure on yourself by trying to memorise your talk. Do have some key points you can elaborate on though and have them in a logical sequence, that will be easy for an audience to follow.
Being able to speak to your points is a basic requirement. You have knowledge of your subject, you have experience in this field of expertise, you know stuff we don’t. You know what you want to say, so you can glance at notes briefly for data points as you need them.
Remember, in the room, only you know the order of the talk and the content, so if you get it mixed up, keep going, as no one else will know. Keep any disasters, errors and mistakes to yourself.
A recent speaker I saw got herself into serious trouble by trying to read the line by line from the screen on her laptop and also simultaneously make eye contact with the audience. Looking to and fro, she was losing her place, this triggered an attack of nerves, such that she had to stop speaking and try and regroup. The problem was obvious to all and she then compounded the error by telling us she was nervous.
She lost 100% of her credibility at that point. She should have paused briefly, taken a slow (silent) deep breath and carried on. We would have just imagined it was a pause. Nobody is going to dismiss a speaker who takes a pause or reflects before they speak. It is a very natural thing to do and we accept it.
Don’t spend all of your preparation time putting together the slide deck. The slides are not the main game – we speakers are the main attraction. Our face is one million times more convincing and more powerful than whatever is up on screen. Even when trying to use slides for impact, there are usually too many, too much text, too many different colours, poor sizing of graphs (too small and too many).
The tool itself is misused. If you can use photo images with no text and just speak to the point that is ideal. One or two words with the photo is also good. We don’t need a lot of text every time in order to be persuasive. Apart from our face, photos and images are the next most powerful mediums.
Also, don’t rely too much on video. There is always that break in the flow while the video is retrieved, the sound adjusted etc. I often see visiting big shot CEOs get up to talk, then abrogate responsibility for their presentation by going straight into the corporate video. What a wasted chance. They do this because they are scared, shy, lazy or out of their comfort zone. Unless the video is demonstrating something that can’t be shown at the venue, like a new technology etc., then don’t use it at all or make it very short.
We want the audience to connect with us, to become our fans, our supporters. We have limited time in which to do that, so don’t squander opportunities to connect with people.
Do allocate time for rehearsal. The amount of time spent before our speech is the key to success. Incredibly, most people spend zero time rehearsing and wonder why presenting is so stressful. Ideally, during rehearsal, have supporters provide feedback. Don’t just let them do this without any direction or they will start critiquing your performance and undermine your confidence. Rather, ask them for two pieces of feedback only – what was good and how to make it better.
If you can’t have a live audience during rehearsal, then watch yourself on video if possible. Most of us have video on our phones or iPads, so the technological barrier today is pretty low. If that isn’t available, then use a mirror and record the audio on your device, so you can review how you sound.
I have found that when travelling to give a presentation, the windows of the hotel room become mirrors at night when the room lights are off and this provides the visual feedback I need. Rehearse as you will give it, looking around at all sectors of the audience, gesturing, using voice modulation, inserting pauses etc., while talking to your imaginary listeners.
When live, don’t look down at your notes or laptop screen for too long. Do look at the people in your audience and make eye contact with individuals, one by one, so you can speak directly to as many people as possible. Around six seconds each works well – not too short and not too long. Look around the room but not in an easily predictable way. Don’t always going from left to right. Instead break it up, so you are looking at the back, then the front, the right, then the left. If you use predictable eye contact, people know what is coming and they mentally switch off. Keep them guessing.
Don’t make eye contact however, with audience members who are scowling, doubtful, unhappy, angry, negative, laughing at you, cynical or sneering. Do ignore them completely and look for the audience members who are nodding, smiling, agreeing and look either supportive or at least neutral. This will help to maintain your confidence and equilibrium.
I was giving a speech in Kobe in Japanese to a room full of 100 salesmen and one guy about half way down on the left, sat through my one hour talk and had the angriest expression on his face you can imagine. He did not seem to be buying one word I was saying. At the end of my talk, he jumped out of his seat and bolted up to the front. I thought he was going to punch me. Instead, he shook my hand and told me how great the presentation was and how much he appreciated it. I was almost speechless, given how hostile his face appeared during the presentation. So we never know how to interpret what appears to be negativity, but let’s be on the safe side and only look at our supporters.
Don’t be thrown by anything unexpected - the show must go on. So unless it is an emergency and we have to leave the building, keep going no matter what. This is not always easy. I was giving a speech to 300 people in Nagoya arranged by the local Japanese Chamber of Commerce. Again, I was speaking in Japanese, had barely gotten into my first sentence, when a senior official of one of the Japanese Government Ministries, sitting in the front row to my left, suddenly erupted into raucous laughter upon hearing my first burst of Japanese.
Being a non-native speaker of Japanese and always a bit shy about my dubious command of the subtleties of Japanese grammar, you can imagine how debilitating that very public outburst was for me. I looked at the guy incredulously, but kept going for the next 40 minutes.
In that instant, I had to put all of my linguistic self-doubts and paranoia aside. I purposely only made eye contact with audience members who looked like they were supportive. There were others in the audience who seemed to be impressed that I was trying to speak their language and that really helped me to keep going. I will never forget that rude outburst and when I think back to that incident, I am reminded that there is never a dull moment in Japan!
Like Novak Djokovic let’s tap into our nervous energy and work with it, rather than try and fight it. We need energy to be a successful presenter, so let’s try and surf the wave of our nervousness, rather than have it wipe us out.
Action Steps
Engaged employees are self-motivated. The self-motivated are inspired. Inspired staff grow your business but are you inspiring them? We teach leaders and organisations how to inspire their people. Want to know how we do that? Contact me at greg.story@dalecarnegie.com
If you enjoy these articles, then head over to www.japan.dalecarnegie.com and check out our "Free Stuff" offerings - whitepapers, guidebooks, training videos, podcasts, blogs. Take a look at our Japanese and English seminars, workshops, course information and schedules.
About The Author
Dr. Greg Story: President, Dale Carnegie Training Japan
In the course of his career Dr. Greg Story has moved from the academic world, to consulting, investments, trade representation, international diplomacy, retail banking and people development. Growing up in Brisbane, Australia he never imagined he would have a Ph.D. in Japanese decision-making and become a 30 year veteran of Japan.
A committed lifelong learner, through his published articles in the American, British and European Chamber journals, his videos and podcast “THE Leadership Japan Series”, he is a thought leader in the four critical areas for business people: leadership, communication, sales and presentations. Dr. Story is a popular keynote speaker, executive coach and trainer.
Since 1971, he has been a disciple of traditional Shitoryu Karate and is currently a 6th Dan. Bunbu Ryodo (文武両道-both pen & sword) is his mantra and he applies martial art philosophies and strategies to business.
Rockin It Women Presenters In Japan
The presentations world is still a male bastion in Nippon. I attend lot of events in Tokyo and probably the vast majority of even the internationally oriented business audiences that I see here, have a 70/30 male female ratio. The number of women presenters though is about 5%-10%. In the case of very domestic, Japanese language based events, the female ratio of attendance is maybe 1%-2% and the speaker ratio usually a zero ahead of two or three decimal places.
For any presenter, understanding your audience is a key part of the preparation and delivery. Women are still walking three paces behind the men here in Japan but amongst those rarities who are female and who do get asked to speak to businessmen, I have noticed a few commonalities amongst the most successful. Here are some tips and what I have seen work well for businesswomen when speaking in public in Japan.
Confidence is the overwhelming positive first impression. This is communicated in a number of ways. The voice is strong and clear. Even relatively soft female voices can become powerful enough, through using the microphone technology available today, so there is no excuse for letting a weak voice derail the presentation.
Funnily enough, many macho male businessmen seem clueless about how to use microphones. You see them actually wave off the offer of the microphone, because they have a fear or distaste of it. Now if your voice is strong and the venue not so cavernous, then that may be completely fine. If not or if you have any concerns, spend some time with the microphone to understand how to use it properly, before the audience arrives.
Thumping the microphone at the start of your presentation and asking your audience if they can hear you at the back is the mark of the rank amateur. Also, consider a lapel microphone or a hand microphone, as good options for mobility during your presentation. If you are using a hand microphone and you discover your hands are shaking furiously through nervousness, then simply hold it to your chest, so it can’t fly around.
Eye contact is another powerful tool of the skilled female speakers. Looking at our audience allows us to connect with them. This might sound obvious, but sometimes looking at the many faces in the crowd peering wistfully back at us may suddenly trigger nervousness and self-doubt. The successful women I have seen in action pick out individual members of the audience, look straight at them and speak directly to them. They are constantly doing this throughout their entire talk. If the distance is far, then the twenty people sitting around that single person all think the speaker is making direct eye contact with them. Importantly, they are only holding the gaze for about 6 seconds, so it is neither too short nor too intrusive.
Japan has a cultural preference for very limited eye contact, so many people misunderstand the difference between our role in a normal conversation and our role as the speaker. They mix the occasions up and worry about making eye contact with their audience. Instead, they look at everyone and no one at the same time. This is ineffective and the speaker has an obligation to get their audience behind what they are saying. Woman or man, eye contact gives tremendous connectivity because we feel the speaker is addressing us directly. Good eye contact allows the speech to improve from being a one to many, to a one to one experience. It is so powerful because when the speaker looks directly at us, we feel they are personally connecting with us.
Looking at our laptop screens , the big screens behind us or our notes, takes our eyes off the audience. We don’t want that. We need to see the audience to ascertain whether they are buying what we are selling or not. Studying their body language, their faces helps us to read how we are doing with our audience. Are they following us, are they bored, are they in rabid disagreement? We need to know so we can adjust our delivery accordingly. Absolutely do not let some helpful venue staffer turn off the lights, so the room becomes darker.
This happens all the time. In my own case, recently I was presenting to a visiting delegation of lubricant distributors from Vietnam and sure enough the Hotel staff member turned off all the lights to make the screen easier to read. No, no, no! We want the audience to see us and we want to see them. The projector technology today is very good, so we can leave the lights on and everyone can still read the screen. When someone suddenly turns the lights off, I have seen the skilled women speakers stop presenting and politely request they turn them back on again. They know the power of eye contact.
The successful presenters want to use all of their body language to assist their communication so they are not trapped behind the podium. Podiums can sometimes be a challenge for shorter ladies. Trust me, having seen this a number of times, your carefully arranged coiffure bobbing just above the waterline of the top of the podium is not the best look.
If the podium is too high, ask for small platform to stand on, to give yourself some air space. This is another reason why we always need to get to the venue early and check all the mechanics and physical layout arrangements. Don’t apply a vice like grip to the podium, this looks nervous and negates our ability to use gestures to emphasis key points we want to make.
Standing apart from the podium, to the side or in front of it also works very well. You can easily turn the podium itself around ninety degrees, so that you can see the laptop screen and push any buttons, without having to stand behind it. In this way, you can see what you need to and your audience can see you.
Freeing ourselves from the podium is good and powerful female presenters don’t then pace across the stage, left and right, showing possible stress and anxiety. They usually stand to the left side of the screen, so that the audience will look at their face, listen to their voice and then read the screen left to right. They are communicating a subtle command - “look at me, now look at my information on this screen”. In this way they dominate the screen, rather than the other way around.
What they put up on the screen follows the “less is more principle”. Think Zen garden here rather than Times Square neon heaven. They see the value in having more images than text. They have one graph per screen not four and they don’t go crazy with more than two colours.
They make themselves the centerpiece of the presentation, not what is put up on the screen. By contrast, Japanese male CEO screen presentations are usually totally horrible. Crowded, obtuse, ugly, impenetrable, gaudy – they may be Japanese samurai businessmen, but clearly no Zen happening here.
Persuasive women demonstrate their confidence by NEVER EVER apologizing for their state of health, degree of nervousness, lack of preparation, jet lag or any other excuses. I doubt very many men care about the speaker’s health status or any other excuses from any presenter. The successful women have worked this out and they keep their health issues, etc., to themselves and want to be seen as true professionals.
They don’t seek sympathy by telling us: “I am sorry, I have a cold today” or “I didn’t have enough time to put this together”. In my experience, men don’t care all that much for that type of detail and there is no particular empathy for these types of excuses.
If these successful women presenters are ever feeling anxious, they make sure not to show it. Consequently, they are taken at face value by the men in the audience and get full credit for being a business expert in their area of expertise.
I was at a presentation recently by a visiting speaker and everything was going fine until about 5 minutes into the presentation. She started to lose it. Super surprisingly, she announced to us she was losing it and that she needed a deep breath. After a couple of repeats of this “poor me” routine, she finally pulled herself together.
She had done quite well at the start, telling us about her rise to success and how she did it, but at the meltdown point, as she got into her key topic, her entire credibility flew straight out the window. She damaged her personal brand beyond repair and forever.
The interesting thing is, unless she had told us, we probably would never have known she was so nervous. So no matter what, carry on as if it is all part of the plan. Generally we men are not that smart or sensitive, so we will never know unless you tell us.
There are plenty of professional, competent female speakers in Japan, so ladies, please take note of what is working for them and join their ranks.
Action Steps
Engaged employees are self-motivated. The self-motivated are inspired. Inspired staff grow your business but are you inspiring them? We teach leaders and organisations how to inspire their people. Want to know how we do that? Contact me at greg.story@dalecarnegie.com
If you enjoy these articles, then head over to www.japan.dalecarnegie.com and check out our "Free Stuff" offerings - whitepapers, guidebooks, training videos, podcasts, blogs. Take a look at our Japanese and English seminars, workshops, course information and schedules.
About The Author
Dr. Greg Story: President, Dale Carnegie Training Japan
In the course of his career Dr. Greg Story has moved from the academic world, to consulting, investments, trade representation, international diplomacy, retail banking and people development. Growing up in Brisbane, Australia he never imagined he would have a Ph.D. in Japanese decision-making and become a 30 year veteran of Japan.
A committed lifelong learner, through his published articles in the American, British and European Chamber journals, his videos and podcast “THE Leadership Japan Series”, he is a thought leader in the four critical areas for business people: leadership, communication, sales and presentations. Dr. Story is a popular keynote speaker, executive coach and trainer.
Since 1971, he has been a disciple of traditional Shitoryu Karate and is currently a 6th Dan. Bunbu Ryodo (文武両道-both pen & sword) is his mantra and he applies martial art philosophies and strategies to business.
Persuasion Power Trump Style
Donald Trump isn’t a textbook presenter. He breaks many of the rules of presenting, but nevertheless he has been effective in getting his message across. Love him or loath him as a contender for the Republican Party Presidential race nomination, as the Republican candidate and as the President, he won against the expectations of the vast majority of American political experts. He had large numbers of people turn out to hear him speak. What was he doing right? How was he being persuasive with the audiences who came to hear him. Are there any lessons here for us, when we come to give our own presentations?
He is authentic when he speaks. There is no speech writer grinding away in the background polishing his prose to within an inch of its life. He rarely used those semi-invisible prompters on the left and right to drip feed the polished input. He does have some notes to keep him on track, but he barely refers to them. He likes Twitter because it provides what he likes: brief, simple messages and gets him directly to his audience. This is how he speaks in public.
He is not a highly polished speaker by any means. He digresses, goes off on tangents, gets sidetracked, but the audience understands this is the price for the speaker being non-scripted. He keeps their attention because he concentrates on his audience. So let’s take the good bits of what is working for a guy who only relatively recently started as a public speaker and drop the rest.
Here are a couple of fundamentals we can all safely adopt - be yourself, don’t ape anyone else. Trump is not a copy of anyone and this adds to his credibility with those who come to hear him. So yes, be you, but try to be the professional you. Focus on your audience, not on the technology, the laptop, the big screen behind you or your notes. Having fewer thing to focus on makes the public speaking task easier, so divest distractions. Trump focuses on his audience, he seeks out interaction, the connection. We should look for opportunities to do the same when we are presenting.
One observation is that he has been getting a lot of practice over the last year or so. Prior to this run for the Presidency, he rarely had to make such long public speeches. Like the rest of us, he had to learn by doing. Repetition is key to learning new skills and so seizing every chance to present is needed to improve our professional craft.
Sounds terribly logical doesn’t it. However, many people shy away from presenting because they are lacking in confidence or are too nervous. For a very long time, I was one of them. I avoided public speaking because I was terrified and scared of failing. Fortunately, there are various techniques for overcoming nervousness. These can be learnt and by increasing the frequency of presenting, we gradually become more comfortable with the process. Eventually, I came to enjoy speaking, but I needed to get the practice to tap into the pleasure as opposed to pain zone.
Trump’s messages can be quickly understood. Build a big wall; everyone is more cunning than we are; make America great again; read my Art of the Deal; it’s my own money so I don’t owe anybody; politicians are useless; I am rich and successful; I know how to get things done; I am not politically correct; drain the swamp, etc. He is derided as a demagogue and rabble rouser but as a speaker he presents his ideas such that we can remember them. Isn’t this what we also want with our audience?
Think back though, how many key messages can you recall from the many business presentations you have heard over the course of your business career? I would guess not many or none. Here is the key question - will people remember yours?
When we speak, we need to have clarity around the key points we want to get across, in the time we have available. Taking on too much content (“death by Powerpoint”), nullifies the key messages we want to have resonate with the audience. A major information dump is also a communication killer, especially when quoting lots of data. Overload just destroys the message and the audience are lost.
I notice that diplomats are very much prone to data dump. They have an important role to represent their country and promote key messages. I used to work for the Australian Embassy here in Tokyo. I often thought some of those public speeches were killing the messages by overloading the audience with too much content. The intentions were tremendously sincere and purposeful but ultimately the delivery was ineffective. Did they ever get proper training and improve? No, they just kept on repeating the same error, over and over again. Less is more when it comes to the number of messages you want to get across.
Trump totally radiates self-confidence. Confidence certainly sells and if he had any self-doubt (?) about his new public speaking role when he started, he certainly has not shared it with his audiences. Now, we may not have his same degree of self-belief or his many billions, but we must exude confidence when speaking with our audience. Some people say, “fake it, till you make it”. Remember, in the room, the reality is that there is only one person who knows you are not confident and that person is you. Unless you run around advertising it, nobody else will have a clue. So never apologise for your perceived poor speaking ability, your lack of confidence, nervousness, that you have cold, or whatever – just carry on regardless.
In Dale Carnegie we bolster public speaking confidence through embracing the 3 E’s: We have Earned the right to speak, because we know our subject; we are Excited because of our positive feelings for the content; and we are Eager to share with our audience, because we feel this will help them. You will qualify under all three of these conditions, so go about your task with positive energy.
There is an important cross-over point to become a successful a speaker. That occurs when you stop concentrating on yourself and what is wrong with you and then you start concentrating on your audience. We have to get to that point as quickly as possible. Employ the 3 E’s and you will become confident. Even if we are not super confident at first, never ever show that to the audience – they buy speaker self-belief and our job is to provide it.
Trump tell stories, lots of stories. NBC begged me to do a new season of The Apprentice; Carl Icahn told me he is ready to be my negotiator with China; I saw all of these Japanese cars in LA coming out of the biggest ship I have ever seen, etc. He weaves these vignettes into his speech to highlight his key points. Storytelling works and as he demonstrates, they don’t have to be lengthy stories to be effective. Sprinkle some real life stories into your presentations to make you and the content come alive for your audience. There are specific techniques for that though.
Talk about people, places and emotions that the audience can identify with. Don’t say, “we were having a meeting”. Talk about, ”It was winter in New York and we were in the wood paneled boardroom of the client, on the 36th floor of the Rockefeller Center, having a tough meeting with the CEO Jane Smith and I was becoming more and more nervous.” Now we have taken our audience to the place (New York, The Rockefeller Center, 36th floor company Board room), added in the people (my colleagues, Jane Smith), the season (winter), the atmosphere (conservative décor, tense). This story takes less than 15 seconds to tell, so it is very efficient to draw our audience into what we are saying. Now our audience can clearly visualise the situation in their mind’s eye and like a well written novel, they want to know what happened next. This is how we need to use stories in our talks.
Whether you agree with him or not, it is a simple fact that if a novice like Trump can learn to become persuasive as a public speaker, then we can too. He may become a great President or a disaster – time and your personal viewpoint will tell.
Regardless, take the advice offered here and study successful speakers, adapt what works, hone your skills and rehearse, rehearse, rehearse. The latter, by the way, is the most common error of unsuccessful presenters – they forget to make time to rehearse the speech before they give it to their audience. Some good advice in business is don’t practice on the client and that includes public speaking! Being persuasive is a massive advantage in life and in business and few possess this skill. Become one of the few.
Action Steps
Engaged employees are self-motivated. The self-motivated are inspired. Inspired staff grow your business but are you inspiring them? We teach leaders and organisations how to inspire their people. Want to know how we do that? Contact me at greg.story@dalecarnegie.com
If you enjoy these articles, then head over to www.japan.dalecarnegie.com and check out our "Free Stuff" offerings - whitepapers, guidebooks, training videos, podcasts, blogs. Take a look at our Japanese and English seminars, workshops, course information and schedules.
About The Author
Dr. Greg Story: President, Dale Carnegie Training Japan
In the course of his career Dr. Greg Story has moved from the academic world, to consulting, investments, trade representation, international diplomacy, retail banking and people development. Growing up in Brisbane, Australia he never imagined he would have a Ph.D. in Japanese decision-making and become a 30 year veteran of Japan.
A committed lifelong learner, through his published articles in the American, British and European Chamber journals, his videos and podcast “THE Leadership Japan Series”, he is a thought leader in the four critical areas for business people: leadership, communication, sales and presentations. Dr. Story is a popular keynote speaker, executive coach and trainer.
Since 1971, he has been a disciple of traditional Shitoryu Karate and is currently a 6th Dan. Bunbu Ryodo (文武両道-both pen & sword) is his mantra and he applies martial art philosophies and strategies to business.
Wow Them At The End Of Your Presentation
It is rare to see a presentation completed well, be it inside the organization, to the client or to a larger audience. The energy often drops away, the voice gradually fades out and there is no clear signal that this is the end. The narrative arc seems to go missing in action at the final stage and the subsequent silence becomes strained. It sometimes reminds me of classical music performances, when I am not sure if this is the time to applaud or not.
First and last impressions are critical in business and in life, so why leave these to random chance? We need to strategise how we will end, how we will ensure our key messages linger in the minds of the listeners and how we will have the audience firmly enthralled, as our permanent fan base.
Endings are critical pieces of the presentation puzzle and usually that means two endings not just one. These days, it is rare that we don’t go straight into some form of Q&A session, once the main body of the talk has been completed. So we need an ending for the presentation just given and we need another ending after the Q&A. Why the second one, why not just let it end with the final question?
The pro never lets that happen. Even the most knee quivering, voice choking, collar perspiration drenched, meltdown of a speaker is in 100% control while they have the floor. The audience usually let’s them speak without denunciation or persistent interruption. Life changes though once we throw the floor open to take questions. At that point speaker control is out the window and the street fight begins.
The members of the audience are able to ask rude, indignant questions, challenging everything you hold to be true. They can denounce you as a charlatan, scoundrel, dilettante and unabashed poseur. Sometimes, they even launch forth into their own mini-speech, usually unrelated to whatever it was you were talking about. Or they move the conversation off to a new place, which has nothing to do with your keynote content.
The original topic of your talk is now a distant memory. That is why the pros ensure they bring it all back together with a final close to the proceedings. The last word is now with the speaker, not some provocateur who happened to turn up to the event.
There are a number of ways of bringing the speech home. In the first close, before the Q&A, we might harken back to something we said in our opening, to neatly tie the beginning and end together. Or we might restate the key messages we wish to get across. Another alternative is a summary of the key points to refresh everyone’s recollection of what we were saying. We might end with a memorable story that will linger in the minds of the audience, that encapsulates all that we wanted to say.
When we do this, we should be picking out key words to emphasise, either by ramping our vocal power up or taking it down in strength, to differentiate from the rest of what we are saying. Speaking with the same vocal power throughout just equates the messages together and because it is not clear enough, makes it hard for the audience to buy what we are selling,
At the end of the final sentence we need to hit the power button and finish with a rising crescendo to really put the passion behind our position. Many speakers allow their voice to become weedy and just trail off into oblivion. They appear exhausted and energy drained, rather than on fire with belief. Instead of fading out, we need to bring energy to our final words. We then add a small pause to let our words sink in with the audience and then smoothly move into inviting audience Q&A.
Don’t miss this key point: always specify the time available for Q&A at the very start when you call for Q&A – never, ever leave it open ended. Why not? If you are facing a rabid gathering of foes, critics and opponents and you just end proceedings, it looks cowardly and weak, as if you can’t take it when things get hot. By mentioning the amount of time available for Q&A at the first close and then referring back to it again at the end, allows you to depart with your dignity intact. Just ending, packing up and departing can make you to look like an wimp, scurrying out the door, because you can’t take it. Not a great final impression.
Also, if you are trained on how to handle a hostile audience, you will sail out of there looking like an absolute legend. Few people have any clue on what to do when under pointed attack. The rest of the audience will look at you in awe and admiration, because they know if it had been them up there on the stage, they would have been mince meat. By the way, we teach this, if you are interested to know what to do when the gloves come off and all hell breaks loose, let us know!
Now, back to our topic. The second or final close can be very similar to what we discussed earlier for the first close. Tie it all together or re-state key points or a summary. In addition, this is also the point to use a pertinent quotation to leave a rousing call to action in the minds of your audience. Again, the voice rises in strength at the end of the final sentence. Don’t let it fade away.
When you get the ending right, you can then thank your audience, relax and bask in their warm applause. This is a good feeling.
Action Steps
Engaged employees are self-motivated. The self-motivated are inspired. Inspired staff grow your business but are you inspiring them? We teach leaders and organisations how to inspire their people. Want to know how we do that? Contact me at greg.story@dalecarnegie.com
If you enjoy these articles, then head over to www.japan.dalecarnegie.com and check out our "Free Stuff" offerings - whitepapers, guidebooks, training videos, podcasts, blogs. Take a look at our Japanese and English seminars, workshops, course information and schedules.
About The Author
Dr. Greg Story: President, Dale Carnegie Training Japan
In the course of his career Dr. Greg Story has moved from the academic world, to consulting, investments, trade representation, international diplomacy, retail banking and people development. Growing up in Brisbane, Australia he never imagined he would have a Ph.D. in Japanese decision-making and become a 30 year veteran of Japan.
A committed lifelong learner, through his published articles in the American, British and European Chamber journals, his videos and podcast “THE Leadership Japan Series”, he is a thought leader in the four critical areas for business people: leadership, communication, sales and presentations. Dr. Story is a popular keynote speaker, executive coach and trainer.
Since 1971, he has been a disciple of traditional Shitoryu Karate and is currently a 6th Dan. Bunbu Ryodo (文武両道-both pen & sword) is his mantra and he applies martial art philosophies and strategies to business.
That Vital Two Second Window
Question: how long does it take you on average to form a first impression of someone? My presentation training participants tell me “two seconds”. Wow, I nearly fell over when I heard that the first time. I was thinking, “what does this mean for the speaker?”. It could be in the boardroom, the meeting room, at the networking event, a public presentation or at the pitch to the client. Regardless of the occasion, one thing is sure – everyone is a critic.
Think back to the last time you saw someone present – be it an update, a project submission, an overview or a fully fledged speech. Were you indulging in a little mental aside, “I hope this is good”, as you swiveled around in your chair to view the speaker? Did the speaker get right into it or was there some logistical finessing of the laptop, the lapel mike (“can you hear me?”) or the notes being shuffled on the rostrum? Was the speaker looking at the audience or up at the huge screen behind them or down at their laptop? Did we have some good old hand microphone thumping to see if it was working properly? If there were any such diversions, then our two second window for the first impression has come and gone completely.
What would help us to maximize this incredibly brief two second window we have been given? Getting straight into the content without any distractions, is so important because it allows us to set the tone for the occasion.
Traditionally, we could thank the organisers for the opportunity to present. Doing this with a huge, warm smile would be a good use of the two seconds. Even if nature has not blessed you with a killer smile, give us the best you can do.
We could start by telling an episode, an incident, a story. We love listening to interesting stories involving real life and real people, because we can easily identify with the content.
We could refer to a member of the audience, immediately shattering the mental barrier separating speaker and audience. “Anne Smith from XYZ and I were chatting earlier and she made a very good observation about….”. We are now one unit – audience and speaker. We are being inclusive and this is a powerful connector that promotes a positive first impression. It also helps to lessen the critic propensity in our audiences.
After having launched into proceedings, we can now backtrack and use the laptop, our notes, the spreadsheets or whatever we need to explain the content. Rather than wasting our initial two second window on these adjustments, we instead get right into it and capture the attention of our audience from the very start. Once captured let’s keep them so.
Japan has a few set pieces with presentations. I am sure you will have seen some of these: have trouble with the technology, not be conversant with the content because one of the underlings prepared it, kick off with a perfunctory apology for being a poor speaker. To really set the tone, now look down and read every single word on the screen or on the notes page. Non-Japanese speakers though are often guilty of the same things, especially jet setting big shots winging in from afar for a cameo appearance.
Another powerful tool, left in pristine condition through underuse is voice quality. Again nature may not have blessed you with a deep throated baritone or mellifluous instrument that harkens the angels, but no matter, do the best with what you have. That means speak clearly, with sufficient volume, so that you can easily be heard. Use the microphone properly by holding it just under your chin and speaking across the mesh.
Have some variation in the delivery so it is not totally predictable. Hit key words with a roar or a whisper to highlight them. At the start, go for the roar rather than the whisper. Show confidence through voice power. Slowing the words down for emphasis is equally powerful. For example, “This--is--the--moment” and delivered slowly with a dramatic pause after each word. Our attention is all yours and we are bursting to know where you are going with this talk.
Eye power is a must. Pick a single person about half way down the middle of the venue and start by speaking directly to them. Smile and look them in the eye. We have now personalised our interaction in that first few seconds and created a connection with the audience.
I recommend holding the person’s gaze for around six seconds, as this allows for engagement without generating fear of retina radiation burn. Spend the entire talk selecting one person after another, randomly selected and speak to them maintaining eye contact. Do this without allowing your sight lines to stray to the floor, ceiling or the back wall. Keep your eyes glued on your audience. You not only want to enhance that one-to-one personal connection with your listeners, you also want to gauge their reaction to what you are saying.
This means carefully instructing the venue organisers beforehand to not drop the lights on the audience or yourself. You want to be able to read their faces for confirmation they are with you. We also want them to be able to see us clearly, rather than disappearing into the shadows on stage. As often happens, someone “helpfully” plunges the venue into darkness, so your slides are easier to see. Stop what you are doing and ask that the lights be brought back up and don’t continue until that happens.
Don’t leave it to random chance or good fortune – decide to own the first impression and enjoy the glide to the finish. When we understand how important the start is, we make sure it is a winner for us. After all you only have a couple of seconds to nail that positive first impression.
Engaged employees are self-motivated. The self-motivated are inspired. Inspired staff grow your business but are you inspiring them? We teach leaders and organisations how to inspire their people. Want to know how we do that? Contact me at greg.story@dalecarnegie.com
If you enjoy these articles, then head over to www.japan.dalecarnegie.com and check out our "Free Stuff" offerings - whitepapers, guidebooks, training videos, podcasts, blogs. Take a look at our Japanese and English seminars, workshops, course information and schedules.
About The Author
Dr. Greg Story: President, Dale Carnegie Training Japan
In the course of his career Dr. Greg Story has moved from the academic world, to consulting, investments, trade representation, international diplomacy, retail banking and people development. Growing up in Brisbane, Australia he never imagined he would have a Ph.D. in Japanese decision-making and become a 30 year veteran of Japan.
A committed lifelong learner, through his published articles in the American, British and European Chamber journals, his videos and podcast “THE Leadership Japan Series”, he is a thought leader in the four critical areas for business people: leadership, communication, sales and presentations. Dr. Story is a popular keynote speaker, executive coach and trainer.
Since 1971, he has been a disciple of traditional Shitoryu Karate and is currently a 6th Dan. Bunbu Ryodo (文武両道-both pen & sword) is his mantra and he applies martial art philosophies and strategies to business.
Find Your Leader Voice
Why are so few business leaders good communicators, given all the education they have received, starting at varsity and then later, through their workplace organisations? Leaders – let’s stop kidding ourselves, the reality is, if we can’t talk to people, we can’t lead successfully. The TED talk phenomenon, which has spawned TEDxEverywhere, should be having a positive impact on leaders. It would appear though, that not many of us are taking any note.
Leaders are often told they need to be “authentic”. That means to some, that it is fine to be dull, obtuse, monotone and forgettable. While dramatic oratorical flourishes are not required, congruency is a must. For leaders this means matching the way we communicate with the content of our message.
When we speak using a monotone delivery, placing equal voice stress on each word, sadly, our audience just tunes us out. They start to look for other points of stimulation, such as how we are dressed, our body language, our voice quality – almost everything except the actual key message content. They also escape to the internet through their addictive hand held device of choice. “Authentic failure” as a communicator is probably not what leaders have in mind as the desired outcome.
Leaders need to match their vocal variation and facial expression to the message being delivered. Congruency means emphasising key words or phrases, through either adding or subtracting voice projection. Whispering is as powerful as yelling, as long as the message content is aligned with the delivery mechanism. Dialing up and down the energy and speed when speaking, creates the necessary vocal variation to keep the audience focused on what we are saying and away from their portable blue screens.
Business leaders are often notable for speaking while exhibiting a “wooden face”, meaning they maintain the same facial expression throughout their talk. Good, striking, even exceptional news is greeted with the same fixed expression as announcing disaster, doom and gloom.
The simple rule is, if it is good news, let your face know and smile or show happiness. If it is bad news, look serious, worried, upset or fearful depending on the content and context. Get the face involved, because it is a million times more powerful as a communication tool, than whatever is up on the screen behind us. Captains of industry reliance on their slides to substitute for their poor presentations skill is a false dawn of hope and marks the amateur business speaker.
Voice speed can be an indicator of confidence or terror. Most of us, when nervous, tend to speed up and our ideas can rapidly begin to overtake each other. Pausing is needed to allow the audience to process and digest what they have just heard. Getting through the talk in the time we have been allotted, does not equal getting our message across. If we can’t absorb the key points because they keep tumbling out all over the top of each other that is a recipe for confusion not good communication.
We can also speak using our body. Our facial angle allows us to become inclusive and capture all of our audience, no matter where they are seated. The front, middle, back, the sides – the leader makes eye contact to engage with people in all parts of the room. Eye contact means actual engagement – looking an audience member in the eye and speaking to them for around 6 seconds. Less than that makes for a rather fleeting, perfunctory type of engagement. Locking on to their gaze for too much longer starts to burn into their retina and becomes uncomfortable.
Our feet, funnily enough, are important when speaking. Pointing them straight forward and using only our neck to swivel our head and engage the audience is projecting confidence, credibility and solidity. Often times, speakers are unconsciously facing their feet forward at an angle, favouring one side of the room over the other. They subsequently only engage that half, leaving the remainder of the audience in supreme neglect. Slouching, swaying, standing off balance, nervously striding about the stage may not be projecting the professional image leader’s desire.
Our hands can be a dilemma too. We either overemploy them, so that like the monotone voice, everything gets the same unbroken level of emphasis or we don’t deploy them at all. Behind our back, resting on our hips, thrust deeply into trouser pockets, held protectively in front of our body are the usual suspects in the crime of neglect of our hand’s communication strength when speaking. Gestures are powerful to emphasise the key points we want our audience to remember. As a general rule, 15 seconds for each gesture allows it to have impact. After that point, the strength subsides and the gesture just becomes annoying.
Being a “good speaker” is not the goal. Being a good person, who can speak convincingly is the real goal. There are plenty of spivs, spinners, crooks, dodgy politicians, shifty CEOs etc., who are verbose and quoting that brilliant Aussie gem: “can talk under wet concrete with a mouth full of roofing nails”. Leaders need their own voice to fully reach their audience, to persuade, to inspire, to be credible and memorable. You are the brand and what you say and how you say it matters. We judge the entire organization on you, so how leaders perform in public matters. Be congruent, authentic, be you, but be the best possible you.
Action Steps
Engaged employees are self-motivated. The self-motivated are inspired. Inspired staff grow your business but are you inspiring them? We teach leaders and organisations how to inspire their people. Want to know how we do that? Contact me at greg.story@dalecarnegie.com
If you enjoy these articles, then head over to www.japan.dalecarnegie.com and check out our "Free Stuff" offerings - whitepapers, guidebooks, training videos, podcasts, blogs. Take a look at our Japanese and English seminars, workshops, course information and schedules.
About The Author
Dr. Greg Story: President, Dale Carnegie Training Japan
In the course of his career Dr. Greg Story has moved from the academic world, to consulting, investments, trade representation, international diplomacy, retail banking and people development. Growing up in Brisbane, Australia he never imagined he would have a Ph.D. in Japanese decision-making and become a 30 year veteran of Japan.
A committed lifelong learner, through his published articles in the American, British and European Chamber journals, his videos and podcast “THE Leadership Japan Series”, he is a thought leader in the four critical areas for business people: leadership, communication, sales and presentations. Dr. Story is a popular keynote speaker, executive coach and trainer.
Since 1971, he has been a disciple of traditional Shitoryu Karate and is currently a 6th Dan. Bunbu Ryodo (文武両道-both pen & sword) is his mantra and he applies martial art philosophies and strategies to business.
How To Market Yourself In Under One Minute
Meeting new business contacts, expanding personal networks, promoting a reliable, trustworthy “Brand You” are the basics of business. By the way, even if our job title doesn’t explicitly mention “sales and marketing” we are all in sales and marketing. In modern commerce, even professionals in non-traditional sales roles like accountants, lawyers, dentists, engineers, architects, analysts, consultants all need to pitch their expertise to get new clients. This may not have been the case in the past, but this is the “new black” of the professions. When we try to influence a decision – buy my widget, use my service, fund this project, open a new market or even where shall we go for lunch - these are all sales and marketing efforts to get others to follow our ideas. Don’t miss this change and instead master the process, such that you get the business and not your competition.
By the way, first impressions are so critical. When I ask my class participants during sales training, how long does it take to form an impression of someone, the range of answers is usually between 2 and 5 seconds. Think about that. We are all so quick to judgment, we are shockers! An opinion is formed immediately and it takes quite a bit of effort to unwind a negative first impression. We would have to be crazy to leave that first impressions to random luck or happenstance.
Now given our first interactions with strangers are so important, are we getting the best result for ourselves and organisation? When we are out there representing our company and someone asks us, can we succinctly explain what we do, in a clear, informative, impressive and memorable manner? Based on my experience and observations from attendance at thousands of networking events, there is a lot of room for improvement. Those from the so-called professions are usually the worst!
An excellent formula is called the Wow & How. When we meet someone for the first time, after examining their business card, we should get the ball rolling and ask them about their business. Why don’t we just seize the moment and jump in and start impressing them with information about us and what it is we do? Well, you could do that but it is a hit and miss approach. We know that people love to talk about themselves, so don’t deny the potential client that chance. We also learn more by listening than speaking and so having them lead off is a win-win.
Hearing what they do also assists us in considering how best to explain what we do. We can emphasise certain aspects that we believe would appeal to them, based on what they have just told us, about what they are doing. If their industry has relevancy for something we have done, then we can mention that point and start building our credibility. We may have a business contact who can assist them, making ourselves valuable in the process. They may mention an issue and bingo, we are the solution, so we can zero in on learning more about the concrete problem.
By listening to them speak, we can also gauge their preferred personality type. We can then adjust our communication style to best suit their preference for interaction. If we notice, for example, that they are a very detail oriented person, we might add in more concrete detail than normal to explain what it is we do. If you are speaking with an accountant, three decimal places when quoting numbers is always appreciated! The opposite tack is best applied to big picture people - don’t kill them with the micro detail. If they are fast paced, then we need to speak faster and with more energy than normal. If they are very calm and considered, drop your voice and lower your energy to mirror them. Check you are not standing too close to them and give them some space.
Generally speaking, we all like people more who are like us. By adjusting our own style to match them, we are more quickly able to enhance our communication and understanding. Does this mean we have to be a schizophrenic with conflicting personality styles? No, but it does require that we master the language styles of the four main personality styles – Expressive, Driver, Analtyical and Amiable.
When it is our turn to explain what we do, we can really get things moving by using a three step approach:
They have asked the question from their side now, so this allows us to subtly lead with our differentiable advantage in the marketplace. This is brilliant, because we are responding to their request for more information and unlike everyone else, we are not pushing our unique selling points down their throats.
Importantly, our answer is more about the What we do, rather than the How we do it. We do this on purpose, because we want to explain the precise How in detail later, in the comfort of their office, rather than in short form at a noisy, distracting and crowded networking event.
So our answer would go like this: “Dale Carnegie has been around for a long time, so we have proven methods which trigger the behavior change needed to get the staff to produce outperformance”.
The explanation should be succinct and only take about thirty seconds, so each word is vital. The delivery must be practised and perfected beforehand. The delivery must be relaxed, purposeful and voiced with confidence. Simple things which appear effortless are often complex to perfect. There may be a lot of re-writing, before you can find the economy of words needed to get across the concept in such a way, the listener is drawn in to want to hear more on the How.
At the next business soirée you attend, roll out the Wow & How formula, delivered in the potential client’s preferred communication style and see the results. Study their reaction very carefully and keep adjusting the content, until you find the “all killer, no filler” combination that works best.
Every single person you meet judges your entire organisation and business on you. That is a heavy burden and one we have to master. Remember you only get one shot at a positive first impression, so let’s not leave that creation process to random chance.
Action Steps
Engaged employees are self-motivated. The self-motivated are inspired. Inspired staff grow your business but are you inspiring them? We teach leaders and organisations how to inspire their people. Want to know how we do that? Contact me at greg.story@dalecarnegie.com
If you enjoy these articles, then head over to www.japan.dalecarnegie.com and check out our "Free Stuff" offerings - whitepapers, guidebooks, training videos, podcasts, blogs. Take a look at our Japanese and English seminars, workshops, course information and schedules.
About The Author
Dr. Greg Story: President, Dale Carnegie Training Japan
In the course of his career Dr. Greg Story has moved from the academic world, to consulting, investments, trade representation, international diplomacy, retail banking and people development. Growing up in Brisbane, Australia he never imagined he would have a Ph.D. in Japanese decision-making and become a 30 year veteran of Japan.
A committed lifelong learner, through his published articles in the American, British and European Chamber journals, his videos and podcast “THE Leadership Japan Series”, he is a thought leader in the four critical areas for business people: leadership, communication, sales and presentations. Dr. Story is a popular keynote speaker, executive coach and trainer.
Since 1971, he has been a disciple of traditional Shitoryu Karate and is currently a 6th Dan. Bunbu Ryodo (文武両道-both pen & sword) is his mantra and he applies martial art philosophies and strategies to business.
How To Command The Rabble
The Master of Ceremony (MC) goes to the microphone to get the programme underway but the audience are simply oblivious, caught up in their own riveting conversations. The situation is much worse at receptions where alcohol is already flowing and the people down the back are generating a roar, a positive din, that drowns out the speakers. Apart from bona fide members of Imperial Families, everyone is fair game in the “let’s ignore the speaker” stakes. Cabinet Ministers, eminent speakers, famous personalities all struggle to get the attention of the crowd. When it is our turn, what can we humble beings do about this?
Here are some ideas that will shut down the noisy rabble and provide a proper platform for the speaker to be heard.
Make sure to turn off the background music well before you are ready to start. Surprisingly, this is often forgotten by the organisers. Speakers should not try to compete with irritating white noise in the background, so check this will be done before you are due to launch forth.
Preferably always have someone else introduce you. Their job is to quiet the room in preparation for your presentation. This doesn't always go to plan though, because it can be a lucky draw on who introduces you. Usually, they are not skilled speakers themselves and so they may do a lame job at best.
If you are in the MC role yourself, about to introduce the programme speaker, avoid the charisma by-pass problem of no presence in the room. I recently saw a giant of a man, fulsomely mustachioed, boasting a hulking frame, draw up to the microphone and in a tiny faint voice try and call the assembled masses to order. He had absolutely no success, so even an imposing physical presence is no guarantee to cut through the clatter.
On the other hand, if you worry about speaking behind high podiums and appearing to your audience as a stylish coiffure just peaking above the water line, always arrive early and have the event staff provide a small raised dais behind the podium for you. We always want the audience to easily see our face. Even better, dismiss the podium altogether, because now we can use our body language to maximum effect. If you are using a laptop on the podium, turn it to the side, so that you can see the screen and stand facing the audience, so there are no barriers between you. The technology should be at our command and not commanding us.
As noted, voice projection is key for cutting through crowd noise. Today’s microphone technology is very good, so you don’t need to have a stentorian voice to be heard. However, placing the microphone too close to your mouth creates dissonance, making it harder to hear you. Mysteriously, some speakers have the opposite problem and hold the microphone so low that there is almost no sound being heard. These errors are easily avoided if you just hold the microphone about a hand’s spread in front of your mouth and speak across the top of the microphone mesh.
When you face a challenging noisy crowd, make sure to hit the first few words very hard. To get things going, start with a strong “Ladies and Gentleman” with power invested into the first word and remember to draw that first word out slightly (Ladieeeeees). Elongate it for effect but don’t overdo it . Now include a small pause before a strong finish to the phrase. This will generally shut the room down and gather everyone’s focus on the speaker. If it doesn’t produce that “hear a pin drop” silence, then go again with strong voicing of the next phrase, “May I have your attention please”. Again, add a pause and let peer pressure quiet your audience. If it is still noisy, repeat this phrase once more and do not start until you have total silence.
I have seen speakers using assorted cutlery to bang on a glass, to create a chime that signals it is time to “shut up everyone and listen”. It works, however, one word of warning - don’t speak while pounding. Let the chime effect work for you and when the room pressure builds to a point where you have achieved silence, put the glass down, pause and then start. Why pause? This builds anticipation and curiosity, both of which work in our favour when trying to get attention to what we are saying. Using pauses during your talk is also powerful for focusing everyone on the message you are delivering
Similarly, you can also use powerful music to drown out the crowd’s babble and make them listen to what is coming next. Just a short piece will do, as it signals action is about to commence and people will switch their gaze to you at the front of the room. After the music ends, again use a slight pause and then start.
We can’t be effective communicators if people are not listening, so our first task is to quiet the room. Using these techniques will produce the right break in the chaos for your message to be heard. Some final advice, don’t practice on your audience. Spend time rehearsing your talk, so that you are confident and comfortable that you can command the room from the very start.
Action steps
Engaged employees are self-motivated. The self-motivated are inspired. Inspired staff grow your business but are you inspiring them? We teach leaders and organisations how to inspire their people. Want to know how we do that? Contact me at greg.story@dalecarnegie.com
If you enjoy these articles, then head over to www.japan.dalecarnegie.com and check out our "Free Stuff" offerings - whitepapers, guidebooks, training videos, podcasts, blogs. Take a look at our Japanese and English seminars, workshops, course information and schedules.
About The Author
Dr. Greg Story: President, Dale Carnegie Training Japan
In the course of his career Dr. Greg Story has moved from the academic world, to consulting, investments, trade representation, international diplomacy, retail banking and people development. Growing up in Brisbane, Australia he never imagined he would have a Ph.D. in Japanese decision-making and become a 30 year veteran of Japan.
A committed lifelong learner, through his published articles in the American, British and European Chamber journals, his videos and podcast “THE Leadership Japan Series”, he is a thought leader in the four critical areas for business people: leadership, communication, sales and presentations. Dr. Story is a popular keynote speaker, executive coach and trainer.
Since 1971, he has been a disciple of traditional Shitoryu Karate and is currently a 6th Dan. Bunbu Ryodo (文武両道-both pen & sword) is his mantra and he applies martial art philosophies and strategies to business.
Storytelling For Business
Best intentions, higher callings, righteousness – all good stuff but without good communication, our efforts fail. Instinctively, we all know storytelling is a great communication tool, but the word itself is a problem. We associate it with bedtime stories and therefore the idea sounds a bit childish. In the modern era, Hollywood talks about the arc of the story or in politics, the media punishes the lack of narrative. Actually, this is storytelling just dressed up in more formal attire.
The other problem with storytelling is that we are not very good at it. It seems too simple, so we gravitate to more complex solutions – frameworks, theories, models, four box quadrants, pyramids, Venn diagrams – anything to appear more convoluted and pseudo-intelligent. If we present something complex, we must be smart. On the other hand, anyone can tell a story. Ah…but can they?
How many really good business stories have you heard lately? Have you been captured by the speaker, as they have taken you into a story that has you emotionally and logically involved? In my observation, businesspeople are usually poor communicators. To ensure they never improve, they are invariably uninterested in “childish solutions” like becoming a great business storyteller. They totally miss the point. We can tell stories that are credible, relevant and absorbing. We do this by adding in colour, action, personalities, locations, situations – all manner of rich fabric to the story. We paint a powerful word picture that the listener can visualise in their mind’s eye.
No matter what industry we are in, we have four main business communication objectives. It might be to increase credibility for our organisation or to inform an audience of some pertinent information. It might be to move people or it might just be for entertainment purposes. The Business Five Step Storytelling process focuses on moving people to action. We might tell this story from the point of view of our own experience in the first person or we may refer to the insights of someone else, told in the third person.
We begin by clarifying the “Why” it matters. The story draws out the immediacy and relevance for the audience of the problem or issue. This is a critical step, because everyone is surfing through hundreds of emails, Facebook and Twitter posts, LinkedIn updates, Instagram messages, etc. They are dealing with family, work, financial and health issues. There is a tremendous competition for the mind space of our audience. If we don’t have a powerful “Why” to grab attention, game over right there. This is where storytelling is so powerful. We move straight into the world of the story, to highlight the gap, the failing, the challenge. Replacing the usual bromide beginnings of talks (Thank you for inviting me; It is a pleasure to speak to you today; etc.), we move straight into emotion and action: “The Marunouchi Board Room mood was dark and grim. As Jim stood up, looking at the faces around the table, he knew this was an all or nothing moment….” If you hear a talk with a start like that, you definitely want to hear what is going to happen next.
We now move straight on to the “What” – the information they need to know. This is knowledge they don’t already have or have not sufficiently focused on as yet. This will bring forth data or perspectives, which are pertinent, immediate and grip our audience. Imparting key points, each linked with firm evidence, is essential today because we are all card carrying skeptics. There is so much false information floating around, we are permanently on guard against feeling cheated or foolish.
We must communicate to the audience what they need to do. This might be our own recommendation or we may relay that of the third person in the story. For example, “Bill told me the whole marketing team, Nakamura, Adam, Tanaka and Ohira had spent weeks working back late, almost missing the last train becoming a regular occurrence. Constantly refining the database, each time with a much sharper angle for the buyer’s perspective, they were getting closer and closer to the key insight. Ohira mentioned to me the reems of paper generated were piling up on every flat surface in the office, they could hardly move but finally the answer became clear. Over a twelve month period, constant split testing and independent validation upon validation registered the same pattern. To produce the follow up communication sequence that will consistently produce the best results we need to….”
Having isolated out the issue, imparted some evidence to provide more compelling reasons to take this issue seriously, we now tell the “How” to move forward. This will explain in some detail what needs to be done, so that the listener can take immediate action: “The vendor’s programmers needed to be involved with the marketing team, as they scope out the action steps. By the way, the flow chart map in our largest meeting room in the Otemachi office spanned across every wall, even the glass door, in some places three layers deep. It was complex but visually easy to follow. Mitsuo walked me through the paper covering the walls, tracking each iteration and step, emphasing the colour paths created by the red, green and blue marker pens. Step One was….”
To deal with any potential doubts or concerns, we head them off by exploring the “What Ifs”. We join the listener in the conversation going on in their mind concerning the fears they might have, about what is being suggested. We address these in the story, so that there are no or few residual barriers to taking action: “There were doubts among the London Board members – plenty of them. What if the data was too old now, given the speed of change we were facing. In fact, we found that the constant split testing allowed us to keep updating our hypothesis, so we were always close to the buyer viewpoint”.
Finally, we repeat the “Action Steps” we recommend, succinctly and clearly, so that these stay fresh in the mind. “After the wrap-up meeting was held over pizzas and beer back at the Toranomon Hill’s office, we isolated out the Five Steps we found which worked best. In this specific order: Step One….” Compressing the steps into numbers like three, five or seven work best, as they tend to be easily recalled. Few people can hold elaborate data points in their head. Keep it short, keep it memorable.
Embed the key messages in a series of stories that we can follow along with you. Unfold the point of the talk with plenty of real people and real situations stitched into the telling. The richer the detail and the more real the story, the easier it will be to take our audience with us. Being dull and boring like everyone else is an option, just not a very good one. With a simple storyline embedded into the explanation, we will be so much more memorable and persuasive.
Action Steps
Engaged employees are self-motivated. The self-motivated are inspired. Inspired staff grow your business but are you inspiring them? We teach leaders and organisations how to inspire their people. Want to know how we do that? Contact me at greg.story@dalecarnegie.com
If you enjoy these articles, then head over to www.japan.dalecarnegie.com and check out our "Free Stuff" offerings - whitepapers, guidebooks, training videos, podcasts, blogs. Take a look at our Japanese and English seminars, workshops, course information and schedules.
About The Author
Dr. Greg Story: President, Dale Carnegie Training Japan
In the course of his career Dr. Greg Story has moved from the academic world, to consulting, investments, trade representation, international diplomacy, retail banking and people development. Growing up in Brisbane, Australia he never imagined he would have a Ph.D. in Japanese decision-making and become a 30 year veteran of Japan.
A committed lifelong learner, through his published articles in the American, British and European Chamber journals, his videos and podcast “THE Leadership Japan Series”, he is a thought leader in the four critical areas for business people: leadership, communication, sales and presentations. Dr. Story is a popular keynote speaker, executive coach and trainer.
Since 1971, he has been a disciple of traditional Shitoryu Karate and is currently a 6th Dan. Bunbu Ryodo (文武両道-both pen & sword) is his mantra and he applies martial art philosophies and strategies to business.
Making Yourself Clear
Public speaking throws up many fears and challenges for all of us. As part of High Impact Presentations, one of our public speaking courses, we have been surveying the various participants for the last four years about the types of things they most want to improve. The most common request, from both Japanese and English speakers, is to “be clear when presenting”. What do they mean by clear? The speakers want their message to get across to the audience, to be easy to follow, to have some impact from their efforts to get up in front of others and speak.
This is not easy, mainly because we keep snatching defeat from the jaws of victory! There are some errors we make which kill our ability to communicate with the audience. Here are some critical factors to make sure that situation never occurs.
Firstly, we should decide what is the purpose of our talk? Is it to Entertain people, so they leave feeling warm and fuzzy about us and our organization? Is it to Convince them or to Impress them that our organization is reliable and trustworthy? Is it to Persuade or Inspire them to take some action that we are recommending? Is it to just Inform them of some recent data or information that is relevant to their industry? We need to be crystal clear about what we are trying to do with our talk, before we even worry about the design, production and delivery.
Secondly, we need to thoroughly investigate beforehand just who will we be talking to? What is the generational mix, the age demographic, the male/female split? Are they experts, amateurs, dilettantes, critics, supporters, potential clients, etc.? We need to pitch our talk at the right level for the audience – no dumbing down to the exceedingly well informed, insulting them at every turn. We don’t want to be an acronym heaven dweller or a specialist jargon snob, baffling the punters completely. We need to gauge our listener’s level of comprehension and make sure we are talking to them at their level of expertise.
Thirdly, we should rehearse our talk before we give it. Sounds straight forward doesn’t it, except that hardly anyone does this! In sales we always advise, “Never practice on the client”. Presenters should heed the same sage like advice. If we prepare the talk in writing, we may find the cadence is different when we say the words out loud, compared to when we read it on a page. We also may find we have misjudged the time completely and be too long or too short. We need to start singling out key words we want to hit harder than others for emphasis. Speaking in a boring monotone is one of the most common errors of non-professional, non-competent speakers.
Some Japanese speakers have complained to me that they are at a permanent disadvantage with public speaking, because the Japanese language is a monotone, non-tonal language. True, it lacks the tonal variety of English but there are two simple changes we can make when speaking Japanese to break out of the monotony. Apply pace to speed up or slooow right down. Another variation is to add more power to a word or phrase or to speak in an audible whisper, removing the power altogether. Both of these techniques will help monotone speakers vary their presentation and maintain the interest of their audience.
Fourthly, get the mechanics of delivery right. The message cannot stand by itself; the quality of the content is not enough; the supreme value of the data is insufficient - if people can’t hear you. Yes, physically they can hear you are speaking, but when the content and the delivery are not in harmony, only 7% of the message is actually getting through to the audience. That is a shockingly low number.
The research on this is quite well established and it makes sense. When the message content is not congruent with the way you deliver the message, we get distracted by how you are dressed, by your body language, by the tone of your voice. As an example, if I said , “I am really excited about the prospects for this new technology” in a totally flat, no energy, barely audible monotone voice, with a bored, unhappy expression on my face and delivered it while looking down at the lectern and not at my audience, only 7% of people would get the message. Many speakers make it hard for themselves because they talk to precisely no one. They look at their notes or the screen or the floor or the ceiling; anywhere, but at that sea of expectant faces carefully scrutinising them.
Engage your audience by using eye contact and keep each person’s gaze for around 6 seconds to make the eye contact meaningful, without it becoming intrusive. Japanese friends tell me “In japan, we are taught not to make eye contact”. That may be the case for normal conversation but once you have an audience, you are now in a different role. We need to step it up if we want to have the audience buy what we are saying or to keep interest in our message.
This is where making eye contact for 6 seconds works so well. The members of the audience feel we are speaking directly to them and they gravitate to us as a result, because we have engaged them. Also, get you face involved! If it is good news, then smile; if you suggest doubt, have a quizzical expression on your face; if the information is surprising, have an expression of wonder; if it is bad news look unhappy or concerned. A wooden face, totally devoid of expression is a tremendous waste, when we have so much potential to add power to our words with our facial expression. Japanese speakers can gain a lot here because often they fail to take advantage of the face as a medium of their message.
A well placed pause is a brilliant way to get the audience focused on what we have just said. Often when we are nervous we speed up and start running the ideas together. This makes it hard for the audience to digest the key points, because the points are rapidly overwhelming and replacing each other. A pause also gives us time to regroup our thoughts and calm down a bit, if we found we were getting a bit too fast in the delivery.
Throw in some gestures to add power to the words, but don’t maintain the same gesture for longer than 15 seconds. Utilise your palms, so that they can be seen by the audience. Don’t hide them behind your back, or lock them up protecting your groin or keep them hidden away in your pockets. This is the classic refuge of my fellow Aussie executives. They don’t know what to do with their hands so one slip into the pocket. The really confused CEOs from “downunder” put both hands in their pockets for a stereo effect. A gesture made too low may not be able to be seen by parts of the audience, so make the gesture zone between chest height and head. The gestures should be natural and not Shakespearian or thespian. Leave acting to the experts, be natural, be your “professional” self.
When we know why and who we are speaking to; when we get voice, face and hands working in unison to add strength to what we are saying, we get 100% of the audience to clearly absorb our message. It is quite clear what we have to do isn’t it!
Action Steps
Engaged employees are self-motivated. The self-motivated are inspired. Inspired staff grow your business but are you inspiring them? We teach leaders and organisations how to inspire their people. Want to know how we do that? Contact me at greg.story@dalecarnegie.com
If you enjoy these articles, then head over to www.japan.dalecarnegie.com and check out our "Free Stuff" offerings - whitepapers, guidebooks, training videos, podcasts, blogs. Take a look at our Japanese and English seminars, workshops, course information and schedules.
About The Author
Dr. Greg Story: President, Dale Carnegie Training Japan
In the course of his career Dr. Greg Story has moved from the academic world, to consulting, investments, trade representation, international diplomacy, retail banking and people development. Growing up in Brisbane, Australia he never imagined he would have a Ph.D. in Japanese decision-making and become a 30 year veteran of Japan.
A committed lifelong learner, through his published articles in the American, British and European Chamber journals, his videos and podcast “THE Leadership Japan Series”, he is a thought leader in the four critical areas for business people: leadership, communication, sales and presentations. Dr. Story is a popular keynote speaker, executive coach and trainer.
Since 1971, he has been a disciple of traditional Shitoryu Karate and is currently a 6th Dan. Bunbu Ryodo (文武両道-both pen & sword) is his mantra and he applies martial art philosophies and strategies to business.
How To Destroy Your Reputation In 60 Seconds
It is a big crowd, yet the conversation suddenly dies and a hushed silence now sweeps through the room. All eyes are fixed forward, as the MC tears at the envelope and announces this year’s award winner. Polite applause fills the air as the proud selectee stands up, glances around smiling, shakes hands and navigates between the maze of tables and chairs up to the podium. Receiving the prize, obediently posing for the photographer, our winner turns and begins to move gingerly towards the microphone. Facing the assembled crowd of industry peers, personal and organisational brands now begin to disintegrate.
They have that deer-in-the-headlights glazed look in the eye, as they contemplate a packed room full of searching, quizzical faces. Their throat suddenly seems Sahara parched, words struggle to get out, both legs feel weak, and the mind is a total whiteout.
What finally does come out of their mouths are strings of pathetic Ums and Ahs. There are particularly strained and embarrassing silences as they obviously struggle, thinking what they want to say. Their speech is incoherent, nervous, unconvincing and clearly killing them. In one minute they have gone from hero to zero in front of their industry peers. Some cowards even run from the microphone, declaring they will not take the opportunity to make any comment. Their general demeanor screams FEAR and their face looks particularly taut!
We are talking about a one minute acceptance speech here. An opportunity to promote your organization, promote yourself, thank the troops, etc. Why are so many people so poorly prepared to represent their organization in a public setting, where there is no excuse and every likelihood that you will have to get up and speak?
One speaker though, addressed the podium radiating confidence, stood up straight, and spoke with energy and clarity. It was short – maybe two minutes maximum, but it sounded so professional and competent. So it can be done – what is the difference?
The most telling point was the majority of speakers had obviously done zero preparation and this speaker had worked out what needed to be said. The majority had not considered what they might say, until they swung their torso around towards the microphone. That is not a lot of preparation time!
Actually, a short one or two minute speech is probably the most difficult talk we will ever give. It is so brief, we have to really plan it well. We also need to rehearse what we are going to say beforehand. Don’t ramble on and please, let’s not practice on our audience!
There are only a few points we can make when forced to be so brief, so we have to select the most powerful messages and dump the rest - there is no time for dross. As we say it has to be “all killer, no filler”. We need to be projecting massive confidence, even if we are dying from nerves on the inside. By the way, only we know that is the case. Definitely choose and commit not to show it to the crowd, keep that vital information to yourself.
It is a good practice to hit the first word we speak hard, to eliminate any hesitancy. With that good energy level established , we should maintain our voice power, to project confidence to everyone in the room that we deserve to be up here, getting this award. Remember we all critics and we judge your entire organisation on you. If you rock, we think your whole organisation is great. If you are a dud, we assume everyone down at your shop is a numbskull.
When speaking to the audience, our eyes should be singling out specific individuals at each table to speak to directly, as if we were having a friendly chat over the backyard fence. We are only speaking to them for about six seconds though. More than that becomes intrusive and less doesn’t allow for any meaningful engagement with that person. We then switch our gaze to another table across the room, repeat the process and start engaging someone sitting there. In a one minute speech we can engage ten tables in a room, which with around 8-10 guests at a table is pretty good coverage.
We also won’t waste our chance in the limelight by applying a vice-like grip on the lectern. Instead we are going to free up our hands for gestures. We will accentuate particular thoughts and points, with the use of our hands. We will definitely slip in a pause after a key point, to really let it sink in. We will add extra voice strength to selected words, to give them added emphasis. We will use animation in our face to drive the key message hard.
If there is even the remotest chance you will have to get up and speak, be prepared, be “A Game” ready, be organised and be great. Rehearse what you will say many times, until it flows smoothly and convincingly. You may not win but if you do, you will be ready. Don’t snatch defeat from the jaws of victory on the awards dais. Make it a personal and professional triumph instead.
Engaged employees are self-motivated. The self-motivated are inspired. Inspired staff grow your business but are you inspiring them? We teach leaders and organisations how to inspire their people. Want to know how we do that? Contact me at greg.story@dalecarnegie.com
If you enjoy these articles, then head over to www.japan.dalecarnegie.com and check out our "Free Stuff" offerings - whitepapers, guidebooks, training videos, podcasts, blogs. Take a look at our Japanese and English seminars, workshops, course information and schedules.
About The Author
Dr. Greg Story: President, Dale Carnegie Training Japan
In the course of his career Dr. Greg Story has moved from the academic world, to consulting, investments, trade representation, international diplomacy, retail banking and people development. Growing up in Brisbane, Australia he never imagined he would have a Ph.D. in Japanese decision-making and become a 30 year veteran of Japan.
A committed lifelong learner, through his published articles in the American, British and European Chamber journals, his videos and podcast “THE Leadership Japan Series”, he is a thought leader in the four critical areas for business people: leadership, communication, sales and presentations. Dr. Story is a popular keynote speaker, executive coach and trainer.
Since 1971, he has been a disciple of traditional Shitoryu Karate and is currently a 6th Dan. Bunbu Ryodo (文武両道-both pen & sword) is his mantra and he applies martial art philosophies and strategies to business.
Presentation Effectiveness For All
We are such a judgmental lot aren’t we! We form opinions about people within seconds of seeing them, often even before we hear them speak. We judge their dress, their body language, their style without knowing anything about them as a person. We are slow to unwind our first impression as well, so those first seconds of any interaction are vital.
We are all critics too, when it comes to presentations. We want the best, we want to be educated, entertained, wowed in our seats and we are usually disappointed. We carry that history of disappointment around with us like heavy baggage, to the next presentation. We shamelessly hold others to a level of accountability, we never wish imposed upon us!
The cold, hard reality is that Presentation Effectiveness can be a make or break skill in the workplace. At some point in your career you will be asked to present information to a group. It doesn't have to be a formal occasion. It might just mean answering a question or being invited to express a view or opinion. It is your job to ensure that you are ready to step up to the call. An individual who can present confidently and effectively immediately differentiates themselves from the rest of the group. Whether you are a pro or a beginner with presenting or public speaking, here are some practical tips for improving your presentation and communications skills.
Getting Rid of the Stress of Public Speaking
Many people are terrified of speaking in front of a group. Everyone is staring at you, your palms are sweating, your pulse is racing, strangely your throat feels suddenly dry and parched, your energy levels have dropped to precipitous levels, your knees might even be knocking as the fight or flight adrenalin kicks in.
Many of us can accomplish pulling off a presentation, but feel a certain amount of fear and stress. Speaking in front of groups does not have to be stressful or nerve racking; instead, the experience can help you stand out and get noticed.
Here are some tips that will help you fight through your anxiety and deliver an effective presentation:
Prepare, Prepare, Prepare
If you have a complete understanding of your material, it will definitely give you an advantage during your presentation. However, do not feel you have to memorize your material; you just need to be familiar with it.
You can read key points as mental prompts to help you keep the flow going in the best order, but don’t read it if you can avoid it. Many people are wedded to their text. They spend the entire time making eye contact with their own words on the sheet in front of them, rather than with their audience and then wonder why nobody was impressed with their presentation. Look at your audience – talk to them as if it was fireside chat, be relaxed and engage with everyone. I recall a brilliant lecture I attended at Harvard Business School, as part of an Executive Education Programme. One of the Professors had written down a list of 10 words on the back wall behind the audience. This was his 3 hour lecture presented entirely without any visible notes. A list of key words you talk to can be your presentation too or you might use the slide deck as the navigation to move your talk along.
Open with Confidence.
Here is a big secret - only you know you are terrified. Unless you tell us, we will imagine you are competent, after all that is what we are expecting. Japan of course, loves to start a presentation with an apology, often mentioning what a hopeless speaker the individual is. No, no, no! If you are sick don’t tell us. If you are nervous don’t tell us. If you are sad because your cat died, don’t tell us. Don’t say anything about how you feel, because then the focus is on you and not where it should be - on your audience. Work the room instead – focus outward not inward.
Your opening gives your audience a first impression of your presentation. Make sure not to leave anything to chance. Your opening sets the tone for your entire presentation. No ums and ahs please!
Here is how to avoid the usual speaker opening kicking off with hesitation in the form of Ums and Ahs.
Select the first word of each sentence and hit it. Purse your lips once that sentence is completed and then hit the next sentence’s first word. Once you finish the sentence purse your lips again. Keep doing this and hesitancy and timidity will disappear from your image as a speaker.
Also lift your speaking volume up to about 30%-50% higher than in normal conversation. This is not a normal conversation, so it needs a different approach. Stronger volume communicates greater confidence (even if you don’t have any!). You usually have microphones so you don’t have to shout but lift your energy.
If you have a reasonably strong voice and it is a small gathering, dispense with the microphone, so that your hands are free for using gestures.
Focus on a Few Key Points.
Know the major points you want to make. This will help ease your worry and increase your confidence. You should also use electronic visuals, note cards, or memory techniques to outline your key concepts. If you need some prompts then prepare them. If you are using a teleprompter make sure you can carry on without it.
Famous Hollywood Director Michael Bay just got started on his Samsung sponsored public presentation in Las Vegas. When the teleprompter failed, in short order so did he. You can see the disaster unfold on YouTube – it’s sad to watch.
Remember, the slides, the flip chart, the teleprompter are all secondary to you – you are the message. Importantly, only Michael Bay and the host on stage knew what he was going to say that day. By abruptly walking off stage in shamed, burning silence he said to the entire audience that he had forgotten his message, that he failed. He could have carried on with his thoughts and we would never have known it wasn’t the intended content.
Support Ideas with Evidence.
It is always important to provide evidence to support your main points. Supporting evidence will help your audience understand your points and will give you a chance to explain your points more fully. Point-evidence; point-evidence; point-evidence is the way to go. Just because you say it doesn't mean we believe it is true. Prove it!
Close with a Call to Action.
This will be the last impression your audience has of you and your presentation. It is important to ensure the closing reflects the purpose of the presentation. Your closing should summarize your content and give your audience a clear direction.
Don’t forget that you must repeat your close again, after the end of Q&A. Most people lose control of the proceedings when they get to Q&A and many a meltdown has been witnessed at this vital last impression juncture.
Don’t allow someone’s random question content to define your final impression or final message for the audience. I remember I was giving a presentation in Japanese, to an audience of HR professionals about how great Dale Carnegie training was and teaching them how to use some of the key human relations principles.
It was going gangbusters until we got to the Q&A. This very charming, well dressed Japanese lady in her early 70s put her hand up to ask a question and for the next 10 minutes launched into her own speech!
You must stay in command of the messaging and so the show ain’t over until you sing the last line of the wrap up after Q&A. Repeat your close so the last message they get is the one you want them to get. This is the mark of the pro!
Action Points
Engaged employees are self-motivated. The self-motivated are inspired. Inspired staff grow your business but are you inspiring them? We teach leaders and organisations how to inspire their people. Want to know how we do that? Contact me at greg.story@dalecarnegie.com
If you enjoy these articles, then head over to www.japan.dalecarnegie.com and check out our "Free Stuff" offerings - whitepapers, guidebooks, training videos, podcasts, blogs. Take a look at our Japanese and English seminars, workshops, course information and schedules.
About The Author
Dr. Greg Story: President, Dale Carnegie Training Japan
In the course of his career Dr. Greg Story has moved from the academic world, to consulting, investments, trade representation, international diplomacy, retail banking and people development. Growing up in Brisbane, Australia he never imagined he would have a Ph.D. in Japanese decision-making and become a 30 year veteran of Japan.
A committed lifelong learner, through his published articles in the American, British and European Chamber journals, his videos and podcasts “THE Leadership Japan Series”, THE Sales Japan Series and THE Presentations Japan Series, he is a thought leader in the four critical areas for business people: leadership, communication, sales and presentations. Dr. Story is a popular keynote speaker, executive coach and trainer.
Since 1971, he has been a disciple of traditional Shitoryu Karate and is currently a 6th Dan. Bunbu Ryodo (文武両道-both pen & sword) is his mantra and he applies martial art philosophies and strategies to business.
Delivering Presentations With Clarity
There are a number of common structures for giving presentations and one of the most popular is the opening-key points/evidence-closing variety. We consider the length of the presentation, the audience, the purpose of our talk and then we pour the contents into this structure. Generally, in a 30 minute speech we can only consider a few key points we can cover, so we select the most powerful and then look for the evidence which will persuade our audience. This is where a lot of presentations suddenly snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.
The structure flow is a simple one. The analysis of the occasion is straightforward, but at this next stage we can get confused about what we are trying to achieve. We might become so engrossed in the evidence assembly component that we forget the crucial “WHY” aspect of this effort. We are not here to produce mounds of statistics, battalions of bar charts or proffer reams of text on a screen. Technically oriented presenters love to bludgeon their audience with detail, usually forcing the font or scale to be so small, it is barely visible on screen.
No, the WHY is all about persuading the audience to agree with our conclusion or way of thinking, This is communication skill rather than archeological or archival skill. Line charts, pie charts, comparison tables are trotted out to do battle with the perceptions and biases of the audience. The errors though include a presentation style where the actual detail is impenetrable and so is not fully accepted. The tendency to imagine that this superb, high quality data will stand by itself and not require the presenter to do much, is another grave error. “I don’t have to be a good speaker, because the quality of my information is so valuable”, is a typical, if somewhat pathetic excuse.
Another common error is to invest the vast majority of the available time for the presentation preparation on the accompanying slides for the talk. Digging up the data, tweeking the detail, creating the charts, arranging the order etc., keeps us quite busy. So busy, in fact, that we forget to practice the delivery of the talk. We find ourselves peering down at our audience, presenting the content for the first time up while at the podium. We are in fact practicing on our audience and this is definitely not a best practice.
How should we fix this approach? Some examples of evidence are really powerful when they are numbers, but instead of drowning our audience with too many numbers, we can select a gripper and use a very big font to isolate out that one number. We then talk to that number and explain what it means. If we want to use line charts or trend analysis, then one chart per slide is a good rule. We don’t split the visual concentration of our audience. We speak to the significance of the trend, knowing that our audience can see the trend line for themselves.
To improve our communication effectiveness, we go one step further and we tell stories about these numbers. Who was involved, where, when and what happened. We recall stories more easily than masses of data, so the evidence and context are more easily transferred. This helps to get us around to the WHY of our talk, the key point we want the audience to absorb. And we practice the delivery over and over until we are comfortable we have the cadence right. We recall Professor Albert Mehrabian’s study about the importance of not just what we say, but how we say it. Emphasising particular words, adding gestures for strengthening key points, engaging our audience by using eye contact, allowing pauses so ideas can sink in and reducing distractions so our actual words are absorbed.
Structure, rehearsal, storytelling and congruent delivery combine to create a powerful success formula for presentations.
Action Steps
Engaged employees are self-motivated. The self-motivated are inspired. Inspired staff grow your business but are you inspiring them? We teach leaders and organisations how to inspire their people. Want to know how we do that? Contact me at greg.story@dalecarnegie.com
If you enjoy these articles, then head over to www.japan.dalecarnegie.com and check out our "Free Stuff" offerings - whitepapers, guidebooks, training videos, podcasts, blogs. Take a look at our Japanese and English seminars, workshops, course information and schedules.
About The Author
Dr. Greg Story: President, Dale Carnegie Training Japan
In the course of his career Dr. Greg Story has moved from the academic world, to consulting, investments, trade representation, international diplomacy, retail banking and people development. Growing up in Brisbane, Australia he never imagined he would have a Ph.D. in Japanese decision-making and become a 30 year veteran of Japan.
A committed lifelong learner, through his published articles in the American, British and European Chamber journals, his videos and podcasts “THE Leadership Japan Series”, THE Sales Japan Series and THE Presentations Japan Series, he is a thought leader in the four critical areas for business people: leadership, communication, sales and presentations. Dr. Story is a popular keynote speaker, executive coach and trainer.
Since 1971, he has been a disciple of traditional Shitoryu Karate and is currently a 6th Dan. Bunbu Ryodo (文武両道-both pen & sword) is his mantra and he applies martial art philosophies and strategies to business.
The Presenter’s Mindset
Our mental approach to our activities determines our success. We know this in sports and in business, but when it comes to speaking in public, we somehow manage to forget this vital point.
We know we have to make a presentation, so we get straight into the details and logistics, without spending even a moment on our proper mindset for the activity. Given we are putting our personal and professional brand out there for all to see, you would recognise this was a fairly important opportunity to get it right.
The mindset game is a critical one, especially if we are nervous about giving presentations. Confidence is paired with credibility in the presentation game and we have to exude both. We may be very unsure, nervous, even petrified but we must never show that side to our audience. Hesitation kills the message delivery and therefore the impact.
Often we think that our wondrous content will carry the day, that we can be hopeless presenters, but somehow it won't matter. There are few subjects where we are the font of all knowledge and therefore everyone else has to put up with our ineptitude.
Normally, we are competing for the attention of our audience. Social media has made a hell for presenters because within two seconds our audience can escape to any number of other more interesting worlds. People are becoming used to multi-tasking, reading their Facebook feed, while they are doing something else like listening to us.
We need to have a powerful faculty to compete with the wonders of the Internet. A big part of our appeal is our message’s worth and the delivery of that worth. Both are required. To get the right combination, we need to sell that we are confident in what we're saying and our content is valuable. This means we are able to deliver the talk without having to read the text. We can talk to key points in front of us or up on the screen. This is different from burying your head in text notes and not engaging your audience. To have the confidence to work the room while speaking, means you have to know the content. You created it or adjusted what someone else put together for you.
Start with a powerful opening, including the key message captured in your conclusion. Isolate out 3-5 key points so make your argument and support them with evidence. Design both your first close and your second close for after the Q&A.
You have managed your schedule well, so that there has been ample opportunity to practice the delivery. People who are spending all their time on the making the slides
forget they have to rehearse the delivery for an audience. They usually prefer to practice on their audiences, then wonder why the whole thing was very flat with no engagement of their audience.
In the weeks leading up to the talk we are the thinking about what we want to say and how we might say it, we are combing the media and books for juicy quotes and examples to back up what we are saying. We are playing it out in our mind's eye. During this mental imagining, we see ourselves as very confident and successful - we are predicting our success by seeing it before we even do it. We are seeing the audience nodding and agreeing with what we say. We can see ourselves enjoying the moment and feel in full control.
When we have rehearsed, we know the timing, the cadence of the talk. We know where to pause, which words to hit harder than other to emphasize our key points. We are confident on the flow of our talk and with this knowledge we can now relax and enjoy the process rather than dreading it.
Action Steps
Engaged employees are self-motivated. The self-motivated are inspired. Inspired staff grow your business but are you inspiring them? We teach leaders and organisations how to inspire their people. Want to know how we do that? Contact me at greg.story@dalecarnegie.com
If you enjoy these articles, then head over to www.japan.dalecarnegie.com and check out our "Free Stuff" offerings - whitepapers, guidebooks, training videos, podcasts, blogs. Take a look at our Japanese and English seminars, workshops, course information and schedules.
About The Author
Dr. Greg Story: President, Dale Carnegie Training Japan
In the course of his career Dr. Greg Story has moved from the academic world, to consulting, investments, trade representation, international diplomacy, retail banking and people development. Growing up in Brisbane, Australia he never imagined he would have a Ph.D. in Japanese decision-making and become a 30 year veteran of Japan.
A committed lifelong learner, through his published articles in the American, British and European Chamber journals, his videos and podcasts “THE Leadership Japan Series”, THE Sales Japan Series and THE Presentations Japan Series, he is a thought leader in the four critical areas for business people: leadership, communication, sales and presentations. Dr. Story is a popular keynote speaker, executive coach and trainer.
Since 1971, he has been a disciple of traditional Shitoryu Karate and is currently a 6th Dan. Bunbu Ryodo (文武両道-both pen & sword) is his mantra and he applies martial art philosophies and strategies to business.