Being coached is the mark of true leaders
Some leaders are afraid to let other people know that they took public speaking coaching. I want to explain why it’s a mistake, and why the best leaders are proud of being coached. The Consulting Partner who hired me back in 1996, for a company that was then called Andersen Consulting, was an extremely charismatic person and an excellent orator. One advice he gave openly to his peers, and to us young consultants, was to get professional public speaking coaching to become better orators. He was proud to say that he took coaching sessions.
Continue ReadingWhat happens when two political parties use the same rhetoric?
What happens when two parties position themselves in a similar manner on the same topic? Simple: the one which is the most credible wins. By “most credible,” I mean “the one that incarnates the rhetoric with the most authenticity.” There is a mistake that has been made by many traditional parties. Some traditional parties saw new parties start to gain popularity by advocating extremist views. So they started to adopt a slightly watered down version of these views to attract voters. But they were terribly wrong. By doing so, they got doubly punished: they destroyed part of their credibility by betraying their historical values, and also managed to give a broader acceptance to these extremist views, making them more mainstream and putting extremist ideas in the spotlight. The exact opposite of what they intended to do.
Continue ReadingEstablish a Connection First
You’ve probably already seen those presenters who climb on stage and rush into their presentation, apparently oblivious to the fact that they have an audience in front of them. Once they’re done, they rush out of the stage, as if you didn’t exist. To avoid looking like one of these presenters, try to establish a connection with the audience as soon as possible. Look and smile at them as you enter the stage. Then take a few seconds to perceive the atmosphere and the feelings of the participants. If the mood is cheerful and relaxed, it will feed you with energy. And if the mood is hostile and tense, you will not commit the mistake of opening your talk with a comment that could come off as extremely insensitive to the needs and problems of the people in front of you.
Continue ReadingCliché slides
You’ve probably all seen these slides: they use a picture which is “cliché,” like two shaking hands. Using a few of these clichés is fine, because they are often the clearest way to illustrate the idea of the slide; it’s nice to be creative, but clarity of the message comes first. But some presentations seem to overflow with these clichés, using them on every slide. So I asked myself the question: why are some presentations nearly cliché-free, while other presentations are full of them? This question is not as trivial as it may seem. In fact, after some thinking and reviewing the presentations that used a lot of clichés, I realized why: it’s because their narrative is cliché. They are loaded with abstract business concepts such as engagement, empowerment, synergies, but are empty of concrete elements. These presentations promise a lot, but have nothing concrete to show for it.
Continue ReadingWash that Ted right out of your head: new post-Ted presentation
The days of the expert or reliable narrator are over. We have entered the “Disinformation Age” where fake news, conspiracy stories, and meme warfare rule. One of the most prominent casualties, at least from a presentation perspective, is the TED-like style, top down, subject matter expert: the teacher or preacher schooling their passively sitting and listening students. We see trust move from the command and control leadership style and morph into something vastly flatter, decentralized/distributed, and perhaps even autonomously self-organizing.
Continue ReadingMeet Camille, your new contact
A funny thing happened when I was describing my “dream job” to a friend. I imagined a company whose mission would be to help people become great presenters, and had a culture that was both supporting and nurturing while remaining professional and attentive to clients’ needs. My friend said: “I know that company!” A few weeks later after a relaxing summer vacation between positions, I found myself in the company of all my new colleagues, some whom I met for the very first time, at our annual Fall team meeting. We spent the next few days together working night and day on exactly what my role would be and how we can better serve our partners and clients.
Continue ReadingHow to Check If Your Presentation Remote Works Without Anyone Noticing
It’s your turn to present. You’ve launched your presentation and enter the stage. But how do you know if your presentation remote is working? If you start clicking back and forth between your first and second slide to see if it is working, everyone will notice what you’re doing, and you will not make a great first impression. Luckily, someone shared a simple tip on twitter. Just duplicate your first slide. Your first two slides are now identical. In the notes of the second slide, write “MY REMOTE WORKS”, or something similar. Now you can do just one click and if the note appears in the Presenter view you can be sure your remote works. Only you will see it and the audience will keep fully engaged with you.
Continue ReadingUse eye contact to stop moving around on stage
Moving with purpose on stage is good. Moving around aimlessly is not. It’s what we call derivative actions, things that we do unconsciously that betray our stress, lack of confidence or lack of preparation. Luckily, it’s very easy to stop parasitic movements, but the solution sounds counterintuitive: use eye contact to “anchor” yourself on the ground. Yes, that’s right. Making eye contact with your audience will stabilise your attention and will prevent your feet from moving you around the stage.
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