A unexpected presentation in living color

Here I am looking "unprofessional." And giving a presentation. 🤯

Even *I*, with my "live and let live" attitude about what constitutes professionalism, never dress like this to present. I just haven't found a fun, colorful, comfortable outfit that works for me, so I default back to my routine gray, black, white.

Once I'm done speaking, though, I'm back in my bright, colorful clothes.

So on the second day of the conference, when the speaker didn't show up for their breakout, I jumped in and ended up doing an impromptu session on remote/virtual presentations...

...wearing THIS outfit! A wacky patterned skirt, magenta sneakers, two chunky plastic cuff bracelets, my longest earrings, bright, bold, loud, and 100% me.

Did I do a great job? I think I did. 🤷🏻

Did I overthink what I was wearing before I stood up? No time.

Did anyone care what I was dressed like while they were receiving value and resources? Pretty sure that's a no (but we'll see if they write me into the evaluation, which still has the booked speaker's name for that session)!

🪄Once again, I find myself teaching what I most need to learn. And I need to go shopping, because the days of the black and gray uniform are over.

Are you still stuck in a rut with your presentation outfits? Tell me more!

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On The Everything Page you'll find everything you need to build visibility, credibility and influence through engaging presentations that move your participants into action: freebies, low-cost products and courses, and 1:1 coaching!

Who decides what's "inappropriate?"

She complained that I said "pee."

Once upon a time, an audience member e-mailed me to say that my language was inappropriate and to demand that I send an apology to the audience of 22 women.

(For context, I was explaining that your attendees need breaks during a long workshop or presentation or they'll be resentful when they have to get up to pee and miss some of your content.)

Also, I didn't say "resentful." I said "pissed off." She was offended by that, too.

If I had known the Ministry of Ladylike and Appropriate Language was going to be at my presentation, I would've...

…still said "pee."

I reviewed the evaluations and had a conversation with the president of the organization, one of my 1:1 clients. I had thoroughly researched the group when I accepted the engagement.

She and I concluded that this was the opinion of one person and not of the entire group. My client wasn't offended and apparently, neither was anyone else.

But it did bring up questions. How exactly can you KNOW what's going to offend someone? WHO decides what's "inappropriate?"

She was offended, but was I offensive?

Ideally, some words, attitudes and behaviors would always be considered universally inappropriate (think hate speech or the most vulgar curse words). And it would be easy to know what would offend people.

But we know for a fact that many people are not in agreement over what even constitutes sexist, racist, ableist, ageist, homophobic or transphobic language.

When I shared with my speaker friends that I had never had a complaint about offending someone, one of my colleagues said,

"You pressed the button...but she already had it installed."

Each of us presents on different topics.

Each of us has a unique personality and way of expressing ourselves.

Each audience is different and full of individuals.

The reactions we hope for vary from topic to topic, from attendee to attendee, from speaker to speaker.

Sometimes we're surprised when the reaction we get isn't the reaction we expected!

P.S. If you think my language was inappropriate, there's no need to share your feedback. I processed this incident years ago.

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On The Everything Page you'll find everything you need to build visibility, credibility and influence through engaging presentations that move your participants into action: freebies, low-cost products and courses, and 1:1 coaching!

My triple Axel moment

If you don't watch figure skating (and even if you do), you may not understand the importance of the triple Axel in competition.

First of all, it's the only forward-facing jump in the skaters' arsenal. All other jumps are executed while skating backward. It's also the most difficult of the six jumps figure skaters do, with the highest potential point totals. 

Women skaters are required to include an Axel in competition, usually executing doubles, but three American women have landed triples (requiring three-and-a-half rotations in the air) in competition. It's a pretty big deal.

You might have realized that I'm not a figure skater, but I did recently have a "triple Axel moment."

There was a time when you would see a skater skip a jump during their program and add it back in at the end. Adding in a jump that was missed is penalized now, and most skaters won't do it because of the precise choreography that's rehearsed over and over. But from time to time, you'll still see a skater throw in a jump late in the program that was unexpected. Something similar happened to me during the Storytellers Project event last month.

I had been practicing this ten-minute story for about two months. By the time the event came around, I was able to tell the story pretty smoothly each time I rehearsed. There were a few transitions I kept getting stuck on, but the great thing about a storytelling event is the fact that you're telling a story! It's not a presentation; it's not a TED talk; it doesn't have to be memorized or use the exact same wording every time. It's a story.

I was the first teller on stage; what a relief! I could sit back, relax, and watch all the other tellers once I was done!

I will confess that I struggled with some aspects of the event. First, there was a fixed mic on a stand in the middle of the stage, and we were not allowed to remove it or walk around the stage, for the purposes of videotaping. I'm used to moving around the stage or the room, and it was awkward to have to stand in one place. But I had practiced this way, so it wasn't as awkward as I expected it to be.

Another thing that was strange for me: Stage lighting! My speaking engagements are mostly trainings in training rooms or conference rooms. The room is fully lit and I can see and interact with everyone. In the case of the storytellers event, the room was darkened, there was lighting on me, and I could only see silhouettes of the audience members. Because I couldn't see their faces, I couldn't read their energy or nonverbal responses, and just had to listen for verbal cues (hmmm, ahhs, laughter), to know how I was doing!

I started my story, and to my delight, the audience was right there with me. Going first, I didn't know how "warmed up" they would be. Were they ready? Would I have to warm them up for the other speakers? Well, they were warm. Early on, I got a laugh just where I wanted it. I relaxed and got into the story.

And then... I lost my place! And this was not a segment I had ever messed up in practice, so I hadn't developed mental tricks to find my way back. It was GONE. In my mind, I panicked, but out loud, I just continued on with the first thing that came to mind.

As I spoke, I reached into my brain to search for the missing piece of the story. Ahh, THERE it is! I remembered what it was that I had skipped, and as I continued telling the story, I now determined where to slip the segment back in.

Whew. Done. Segment re-inserted (my triple Axel moment), and my story continued to the end with no more mishaps.

It's hard to describe how I could be telling the story and engaging with the audience while being in my head rearranging the story so I could put the missing piece back in.

What I will say is that this is what experience gets you. I have been speaking, teaching and training for about 26 years, and I because I know my material and I don't fear making mistakes any more, I don't get into an outward "panic mode." I know how to stay calm and keep my wits about me. And I understand the importance of practice and rehearsal for newer material, so I can do things like rearrange a talk on the fly.

Skaters have muscle memory; their bodies know exactly what to do and when, even if they get thrown off in the moment by a mistake. They fall, and then they get up and keep going and complete the routine.

Speakers also have muscle memory. After having practiced out loud enough times, we can also pick up where we left off in a program, even after a mistake.

This is why I encourage my clients to practice more than they think they need to! And why I encourage my clients and audiences who are newer to speaking to take as many speaking engagements as possible. There is no substitute for experience.

As I came down from the stage and took my seat next to my husband, I heard him say "It was perfect." I said, "You didn't notice that I totally left out a piece of the story and then added it back in later?" Nope. He didn't notice a thing. Of course, he didn't have my story memorized. But he also didn't see me panic, didn't notice an awkward pause, and didn't find the flow to be interrupted in any way.

Success!

Click here to watch the video if you'd like to hear the story (it's about ten minutes long), and especially if you'd like to try to spot the mishap!

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On The Everything Page you'll find everything you need to build visibility, credibility and influence through engaging presentations that move your participants into action: freebies, low-cost products and courses, and 1:1 coaching!

Let go instead of holding on (to your content)

"Perfection is finally attained, not when there is no longer anything to add, but when there is no longer anything to take away."

~ Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, aircraft designer and author of The Little Prince

I'm fortunate that, in most of my speaking, I'm not required to be particularly concise. My speaking engagements are mostly trainings that range from three hours to three days, and there's a lot of room for spontaneous stories and discussion built into my workshops.

Of course, I still have to leave out a lot of content that I would like to use, because even over the course of three days, I will not be able to cover everything I know about public speaking.

But in the process of preparing for the upcoming Storytellers Project event in May, I'm having to approach my speaking in a way that is unfamiliar to me. I have to tell a story that took a year to unfold, in the course of 8-10 minutes. I have to be brief!

Ironically, I spend a lot of time working with clients who have very short presentations to deliver, such as keynotes (that might last 30 minutes) or speeches during public comment periods at city or county government meetings, that might only be 2-3 minutes long. I'm really good at helping them get rid of anything not critical to the core message while still maintaining emotional engagement, stories and the most important details.

In my Speak to EngageⓇ trainings, I display a slide with an image of a cleaver, and the words "Be brutal." You may have heard "kill your babies" or "kill your darlings," variations on the expression "Murder your darlings," originally attributed to Arthur Quiller-Couch, from his 1914 lecture "On Style."

What all of these expressions have in common with each other, as well as Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's quote at the top, is the concept of cutting, culling, thinning out, simplifying, tightening, reducing and narrowing down.

Notice that no one suggests improving your presentation (or your writing, or your aircraft) by adding a bunch of stuff. Even Coco Chanel was quoted saying "Before you leave the house, look in the mirror and take at least one thing off." Or something close to that. Which would be a problem for me as, lately, I'm only wearing earrings. I'm not sure I'm ready for the one-earring look.

Yes, we would all like to add more to our presentations: More facts, more data, more content, more humor, more persuasion! But as you add, so must you subtract. 

In fact, cutting and culling can be painful. It requires the ability to let go of something we want to hold onto, a piece of writing or a story we think will make all the difference!

For example, adding humor doesn't necessarily mean adding more words. It means rearranging what you've written so that the right words, in the right order, make the line funny. And we all know, logically, that adding more facts and data just confounds and exhausts our audiences.

Good writing and speaking are about how you express your ideas, in terms of how compelling, creative, intriguing, provocative or thought-provoking your words are. The number of words you use is not even a factor, except for the literal time frame you're given to express them.

The "New Beginnings" story I'm telling on May 9 for the Storytellers Project (tickets available here) is one of the shortest presentations I've ever given. It's not even a presentation. It's merely a story. I have ten minutes total, but right now it's at about eight minutes, and I don't want it to be much longer.

First of all, I have to memorize it! *Stomach does flip flops*

Second of all, I want it to be lean. I want it to be entertaining, and I want there to be enough detail and color so that the audience can feel connected to my story, and even feel like they're inside the story. But I don't want to go on and on, saying something in 25 words that I can say in 12.

It happens that I have a history of being too brief. In high school and college, when I was asked to write a ten-page paper, I couldn't stretch it to more than eight. Even the Storytellers Project story clocked in at five minutes the first time I delivered it to my coaches. They asked me to add more detail, so I did. But I'm a fan of brevity, a clean structure, and an easily navigated journey.

Still, this is a challenge for me, as I typically don't need to be quite so lean and quite so brief!

How about you? Are you a good self-editor? Are you willing and able to cut out the extraneous so that the beautiful and powerful core of your message can shine through?

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On The Everything Page you'll find everything you need to build visibility, credibility and influence through engaging presentations that move your participants into action: freebies, low-cost products and courses, and 1:1 coaching!

Why you need to take every speaking opportunity

I forgot my stuff.

I had a workshop Friday morning, and I thought I was ready, but I wasn't.

I had finished my slides, I had finished my notes, I had printed my handouts.

I always have my tools in my bag, like my presentation remote, my VGA-to-USB adapter cable, markers and other items I take to my presentations. Except I didn't.

I drove 45 minutes from Ojai to Santa Barbara, feeling relaxed and confident. The topic wasn't new; it's a module that I usually teach as part of my Shake Up Your Speaking retreat. But for the first time, I was offering it as a stand-alone training.

I got to the venue and immediately started setting up. In the process of connecting my computer to the projector, I realized I had left my cable in my other presentation bag. And then I discovered that my remote was missing. I could envision in my mind exactly where it was: sitting on my desk, with a fresh battery installed. I borrowed a remote from my host, then miraculously spotted an HDMI adapter in the projector cart, and continued hooking up my presentation (at least I arrived early enough to troubleshoot).

It was time to begin, after an opening exercise and some announcements. I was introduced to the group and started my presentation. As I started speaking, I came to the slow realization that my notes looked nothing like the slides I was clicking through. I flashed back to my preparation and remembered that I had initially created a completely different presentation days earlier, then had changed my mind and replaced it with the current presentation. Unfortunately, with several files in the same folder, I had printed out the notes for the original presentation, not the one I was currently delivering.

Always a fan of transparency in my presentations, I openly shared with the group that I had brought the wrong notes, and quickly moved them to a side table. Had a brief laugh about my forgetfulness, and continued on.

At this point, having forgotten so many of my tools, and having brought the completely wrong notes, you might think that I would be in a panic and completely discombobulated.

But here's the thing: I've been presenting for 25 years. I remember walking into a classroom in the mid-90s, having completely forgotten my notes, and recreating them from scratch on a blank piece of paper provided by the teacher, just so I'd have something to call on if necessary. That was then; this is now.

I was able to flexibly adapt to my circumstances because I have done literally hundreds of presentations over 25 years.

Did I panic when I realized that I had left my tools in the other bag? Sure! And when I had the realization that my notes were totally wrong and that there was no way to make them work? Oh yes.

But because I have experience, and because I've been through many awkward and uncomfortable situations over the years, I was able to resume my presentation smoothly and make it work. And on top of that, I was able to use my own mishap as a teaching moment for the participants - one of my favorite ways of teaching!

Are you avoiding presenting because you fear a situation like this? Just think how fantastic it'll be, three or 10 or 20 years from now when, because you chose to take these speaking engagements, you are now prepared for ANYTHING.

It's your time now to get speaking engagements on your calendar. It's your time now, to say YES to speaking opportunities. Getting as much experience as possible is long-term protection against the insecurities and discomfort of making mistakes. You learn to deal with the unexpected and the unknown. You become comfortable with uncertainty.

And let me be very clear: Without this kind of experience, you will NOT become comfortable with uncertainty. You will never get used to being caught off guard and you'll never get used to getting out of your comfort zone.

So please. Take every speaking engagement that comes your way. Make engagements happen if they're not just falling into your lap. Find ways to get out there, to get in front of audiences, and to get practice.

Because days like last Friday will happen to you. And you can panic, freak out, and throw off your whole rhythm - taking the audience down with you. Or you can roll with the punches, make a couple of jokes, and keep going, making it all about the audience's experience and learning, and not about your embarrassing blunder.

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On The Everything Page you'll find everything you need to build visibility, credibility and influence through engaging presentations that move your participants into action: freebies, low-cost products and courses, and 1:1 coaching!

I did everything wrong

I'm a veteran speaker and trainer. My own experience of almost 25 years of speaking, teaching and training, plus my background in theater, my M.A. in Education, and my ongoing study and practice of the subject of public speaking are what I base my training and coaching on, and I consider myself an expert and an authority.

So how is it possible that I made such a huge rookie mistake, just three days ago?

Here's how it went down - how I sabotaged myself from day one.

A friend had a business trip she couldn't get out of, and her UCSB Extension class was going to be without a teacher. So she asked me if I could come in and be a guest speaker, since her students will be giving several presentations over the course of the program.

First mistake: I agreed to present in her two classes - with ten days notice.

I usually ask for a month lead time before presentations, because it's important for me to prepare properly - and I do have other work to complete during that time. It's not like I take a whole entire month to prepare, but snippets of time in between clients and my own programs and admin work.

But I like to help out my friends, and I thought, "No big deal. I can just do one of the presentations I do all the time, and it'll take no time to get ready."

Second mistake: Thinking I could just use one of my presentations I do all the time.

This was a completely different audience - high school students who are prepping for college by participating in this summer program. As I began to look at my content, I realized that my Speak to Engage presentation is too business-oriented. But the other one that might have worked, my Learn to Love Speaking presentation, was out of date, too rudimentary, and didn't include enough engagement concepts. And the presentations I usually give to high school or middle school students, didn't have enough presentation concepts, only confidence-building.

So I found myself, with a day or two before the presentation, creating a hybrid of presentations - a presentation I have never given, nor practiced.

Third mistake: Not giving myself time to practice.

New presentation, no time to practice, I just imagined that I would rely on my experience. I know how much time it generally takes to get through 60-75 image-based slides, and this was a 90-minute presentation. No sweat.

Fourth mistake: Expecting technology to work at the last minute.

The morning of the presentation, I tried to export my PowerPoint into Word for my notes. I do this with every presentation; my notes consist of the sentence at the top of each slide, with a comment or two below to remind me what I want to talk about or which activity I want to do. Kind of a bulleted list of the slides. I do this more to stay on time than to give me my content, which is all in my head.

Well, for some reason, only a portion of the slide headings would export into Word. No matter what I tried, I could only get about half of the slide headings to show up, meaning that there were going to be NO NOTES.

As I said, the content is in my head, but the notes show me, visually, how much content I still have ahead of me, so I can adjust my timing.

Why was I just printing out my notes the morning of the presentation? Because I was overconfident. There, I said it. Overconfident, complacent, all those things that happen to us when we have a lot of experience and think we can get away with winging it.

So I showed up with no notes.

What was the result of all of my mistakes coming together that morning?

I ran out of time. A lot of time.

At the end of the 90 minutes, I still had ten slides to go (for me, that's about 10-15 minutes of content). I had to let the students go without having finished the presentation.

To me, this is a cardinal sin of presenting. The presentation was good. The students were engaged, and I had no trouble integrating the hybrid concepts together. But running out of time means I literally left them without an entire section of material and my closing.

Feeling like a total idiot, I headed home to prepare for the second presentation.

I removed a couple of slides that felt redundant, and went over a couple of areas where I felt I had probably gone on too long or had too much discussion.

When I returned for the second class, I nailed it. The entire presentation, with interaction and activities, with Q&A, fit perfectly into 90 minutes. This is the benefit of experience, that I could fix the presentation after one delivery, trim my stories and discussion, and make it work the second time.

But to me, that's not good enough. I still had one classroom of students who had been shortchanged.

What are the lessons from this experience?

1. Never, EVER assume that things will go as planned with too-short notice.

2. Never, EVER assume that, because you've done this a million times, you can blow off proper preparation and expect to do your best.

3. Never, EVER assume that you are such a pro that you won't do something stupid and careless and disappoint your audience (actually, I don't know if they were disappointed, but they should be).

On the positive side (because you know me, and there's always a silver lining)...

1. I did have a chance to redeem myself with the second group, and I was able to figure out how to fix the problems in time for the second presentation. Experience does play a part in situations like this, both good and bad.

2. I realized that this hybrid presentation might be perfect for a group that I'm considering working with in the next month or so. I now have a whole new offering that I wouldn't have had if I hadn't been asked to speak in these classes.

I feel that part of my job as a coach and trainer is to be totally transparent, and let you see what really goes on in the world of professional speaking. I'm not perfect, and neither are you. But if we work hard to integrate what we learn from our mistakes, we will - at least - make these mistakes less often than the rookies. And when we do make rookie mistakes, we can clean them up faster.

I'd love to hear about a rookie mistake you made that you shouldn't have made because of your vast experience. Please share in the comments!

And for more speaker/trainer transparency: 

My friend Gloria Miele, another experienced speaker and trainer, was having some confidence issues on the other end of the spectrum. Check out her post about what to do when self-doubt rears its head. 

When Self-Doubt Sneaks Up on You

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On The Everything Page you'll find everything you need to build visibility, credibility and influence through engaging presentations that move your participants into action: freebies, low-cost products and courses, and 1:1 coaching!

So many great learning opportunities -- Join me!

I've got several super cool projects going on this month and next, and I want to make sure you don't miss out!

1. Bloom Your Online Relationships 30-Day Challenge

We are slightly more than halfway through, but you can join at any time, and you'll still have access to all the activities and the Facebook discussion group.

This is a challenge to focus on building relationships rather than list-building, fan-building, follower-building, and much of the stuff we spend time on when we're building online businesses.

The daily challenges are fun, thought-provoking, and creative, and I've found a few that resonated with me so much that I instantly implemented. And it's FREE!

Read about it here. My tip was posted on Monday, and it was about giving your community a gift "just because." You can read my tip here, but make sure to sign up to get all 30!

2. Outstanding Presentations Workshop

This webinar series, hosted by PowerPoint expert Ellen Finkelstein, features weekly guest speakers who will reveal their secrets and strategies on presenting and using PowerPoint effectively.

This program has already started as well, but you can sign up and get all 7 recordings, plus handouts and bonus gifts for just $17! That is a ridiculous price for all the presentation and PowerPoint expertise you're going to get!

My presentation is on September 30, on audience engagement, and this is not a presentation that you will ever see online or for this low price, as it's reserved for corporate and conference clients. Again -- $17 for all of these trainings? Don't let this opportunity get away!

Register here.

3. Interview for The Boomer Business Owner

I recently recorded a podcast interview with Charlie Poznek of The Boomer Business Owner on how public speaking can help you grow your business. Some of the points we covered include:

* The importance of audience research when creating a presentation
* Why you are the face of your brand at all times
* How to find affordable public speaking training
* Why passion trumps perfection in all great speeches
* Why you don’t need to have great speaking techniques to move your audience

There's also a special link on that page for podcast listeners for a rockin' deal on my Audience Avenger Alliance membership program, so check that out, too!

Listen here.

4. Speak to Engage: 7 Step Shortcut to Public Success is coming!

This is my most popular program that I only run once a year -- and it's coming back in October!

Save the date for this one: October 21. Registration isn't open yet, but you can visit the page and read about it here.

There will be special early bird rates when I open the program for registration in September, AND I will be offering a first-time alumni rate for clients who have taken this course before or purchased the home study program and want a refresher, so stay tuned.

Get all the updates on this program and special early bird rates by joining my mailing list.

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On The Everything Page you'll find everything you need to build visibility, credibility and influence through engaging presentations that move your participants into action: freebies, low-cost products and courses, and 1:1 coaching!

Come see me this weekend in Santa Barbara!

Sneak peek at what's in my Speakers Survival Kit!

Are you going to be around Santa Barbara this weekend? I've got two events coming up (well, one is technically on Monday), and I would love to have you join me!

1. On Friday and Saturday, I'll be at the Women's Festival at Earl Warren Showgrounds. 

My Expo booth will have interactive activities and a drawing for a fabulous Speakers Survival Kit (over $50 value).

Admission to just the Expo is $5.00.

2. On Monday, March 10, I'll be speaking at workzones in Paseo Nuevo.

The topic is "Speak to Engage: Make your Presentations Meaningful and Memorable." The event starts at 6:00 with networking, wine and cheese, and the presentation begins promptly at 6:30.

This event is FREE, but space is limited, so do RSVP. All the details are here.

I hope to see you this weekend in SB!

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On The Everything Page you'll find everything you need to build visibility, credibility and influence through engaging presentations that move your participants into action: freebies, low-cost products and courses, and 1:1 coaching!

Take every opportunity to be uncomfortable

On Thursday, I was on a train headed to San Diego for a live training on video and stage charisma by my colleague, speech and media coach Ruth Sherman, when I saw a note from her on Facebook that she might need me to introduce her.

Turns out, her planned introducer couldn't make it at the last minute and she needed a quick sub for the event, which was the next day. The introduction would include not only Ruth's scripted bio, but some personal stories from me about how I know Ruth and my experience in her VideoCharisma program.

Would I do it? Click below to watch the video and find out!



If you can't see the video, please click here to view on YouTube.

Would love to read your responses on the YouTube page!

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On The Everything Page you'll find everything you need to build visibility, credibility and influence through engaging presentations that move your participants into action: freebies, low-cost products and courses, and 1:1 coaching!

Want to build confidence muscles? Listen to my interview!

Don't miss my interview on Thursday with Debbi Dickinson of The Professional Woman's Virtual Summit. This summit is featuring sixteen fabulous women, with a wide ranges of messages about balancing work, love and play in your life!

If you...

• Want to learn top strategies for work/life balance
• Want to effectively minimize stress in your life
• Want tips on how to excel in your career
• Are ready to set goals to reach your dreams...

... then this telesummit is for you!

My interview is on building your confidence muscles and getting out of your comfort zone. We talked about a lot of different things and I offered a bunch of great tips (plus, there's a free gift at the end...)

Sign up (for FREE) for the remaining days of the summit and listen to my interview on Thursday, November 15! The calls are usually held at 8:00 pm EST/5 pm PST.

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On The Everything Page you'll find everything you need to build visibility, credibility and influence through engaging presentations that move your participants into action: freebies, low-cost products and courses, and 1:1 coaching!

Getting and keeping the audience's attention - interview

If you missed my interview by Sharyn Abbott on August 31, you can listen here. We talked about how to get and keep the audience's attention... among other things. It's about an hour long.

Listen to internet radio with VoARadio on Blog Talk Radio

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On The Everything Page you'll find everything you need to build visibility, credibility and influence through engaging presentations that move your participants into action: freebies, low-cost products and courses, and 1:1 coaching!

Meet me in Las Vegas, October 9-10!

What's the fastest, surest way to bore your audience to tears, destroy your own credibility, ruin any good points you have to make, and kill even the best presentation?

Use PowerPoint.

At least, that’s what a lot of people used to say, but not anymore...

PowerPoint presentations used to be synonymous with too many bullet points, tiny font you can't read, and putting people to sleep. It just sucked the energy and life out of any speaker’s presentation.

And in unskilled, inexperienced hands, all of these things are still true. After all, who wants to listen to someone fumble with a pointer ("...maybe it's this button...where is that slide?...") and mumble to a screen with their back to their audience? (Read this post for some true-to-life examples of presenters I've seen do these things.)

But skilled speakers know that used the right way, PowerPoint can add emphasis, dramatic flair and fun to your presentation. You can actually make strong visual points that your listeners will remember what you're talking about — especially when you're presenting graphs and charts or presenting to a large group.

So how do you harness the magic of PowerPoint instead of letting it be a huge distraction? How will you use PowerPoint to:

► Win over new clients?

► Train employees better?

► Make better presentations to managers, execs, and shareholders?

With Dynamic Presentations Training Camp!

This two-day camp will cover just about all of my best general presentation tips and tools, with emphasis on creating effective PowerPoint.

Registration is now open -- Join me October 9-10 in Las Vegas!

Hope to see you there!

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On The Everything Page you'll find everything you need to build visibility, credibility and influence through engaging presentations that move your participants into action: freebies, low-cost products and courses, and 1:1 coaching!

Will you meet me on the East Coast this September?

Here I come!

Have you been wanting to take advantage of my training or coaching services but find the distance to be a barrier? Well, now's your chance!

I'm attending a three-day workshop in Portsmouth, NH from September 12-14. Since I rarely get to the East Coast, I thought I would take the opportunity to schedule some speaking/training or coaching appointments while I'm there.

Which of these topics tickles your fancy?

Build Skills and Confidence: Learn to Love Public Speaking,

Sell Yourself, Not Your Stuff: Promoting Your Business Without Sounding Like a Commercial,

or Tweet me: Use Twitter to Make Connections That Build Your Business?

My most popular topics lately have been:

Networking Works: Build Relationships to Build Your Business,

Speak Up: 5 Daily Challenges to Build Your Confidence Muscles at Work, at Home and in Front of an Audience

and Take Your PowerPoint From Mess to Success.

Most can be delivered in 90-minute workshops or longer half-day trainings that include practice. Here's a link to my speaking page with more information.

Have a speaking engagement coming up this fall and you'd like some personal attention?

I'm also open to scheduling some individual in-person public speaking coaching sessions. Coaching packages can be started by phone or Skype before I leave California, and the in-person session(s) used to view delivery or a live presentation. I'm flexible!

If you or someone you know can benefit from this rare opportunity for my in-person presentation skills coaching or training on the East Coast in September, please get in touch, and feel free to pass this along to your contacts.

I'm looking forward to seeing you in person this fall!

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On The Everything Page you'll find everything you need to build visibility, credibility and influence through engaging presentations that move your participants into action: freebies, low-cost products and courses, and 1:1 coaching!

Hi, my name is Lisa. I'm a paranoid preparer.

I've been behind on blogging this week as I'm finishing up projects and prepping to travel to the World Tea Expo on Friday, speaking on Saturday about business networking.

Have you ever had that terrible feeling on the way to a speaking engagement, or worse, while you're on site, that you've forgotten something and there's nothing you can do about it?

I'm big on preparation, as you know, so even for local presentations, I'm a bit of a paranoid preparer, in that I'm always afraid I'm going to leave something behind, so I bring EVERYTHING I could possibly need. This has come in handy; several times I've needed batteries for my remote, masking tape to hold flip charts together, and other various and sundry odds and ends.

Now add to that the fact that I can't just run out to Staples or the drugstore if I need something for my presentation, because I'll be staying in a hotel next to the Las Vegas Convention Center. You can see how my preparation paranoia balloons just a bit when I travel.

I try to leave nothing to chance in my presentation prep (realizing that some things are just not under my control), which means that, even though the convention center supplies the computers and projectors, I always bring my own.

I've planned -- and tried on -- an outfit with a waistband so that I can wear the transmitter that comes with the lavalier microphone. This can be a bummer for women, because we don't always want to wear an outfit with pockets or waistbands when we speak. I had a cute dress in mind for this workshop, but alas, it was not to be. However, I prefer a lavalier mic to a handheld mic any day, so I'm grateful to have that option!

And, considering that on one of our Las Vegas trips, the airline lost my husband's luggage (until the very last day of our trip, after we had already bought him a new wardrobe), I'm packing my speaking outfit in my carry-on, which is my speaking bag and has everything I need for my presentation. Some speakers don't check bags, but frankly, I'm too old and creaky to lift my suitcase into the overhead compartments these days, and the worst thing is dragging that bag onto the plane and finding all the overheads full already. So yes, I check a bag, and take my chances.

But actually, what I'm paying most attention to right now is my voice. I have no appointments today, so I can rest it. But tomorrow I'll start my day in a dry, air-conditioned airplane, which will drop me into the dry desert air of Las Vegas and more air-conditioning in the hotels. My 90-minute workshop is first thing Saturday morning, which means if I don't hydrate today and tomorrow, I may suffer the consequences. I also have a bit of a sore throat, which means I will also be incorporating salt gargles today and tomorrow for some healing.

I will say that, having spoken at the World Tea Expo before, these are some of the best-organized and well-planned conferences I've attended. At some conferences, the speakers almost seem like an afterthought, pretty much fending for themselves, but not here. I've written before about how WTE manages every detail for the speakers, down to taping the door latches in the breakout rooms so the doors are silent if people come and go. I feel completely confident that, if anything goes wrong, they will be able to fix it. Working with thorough and conscientious organizers is always such a pleasure.

For two handy preparation checklists that you can use before your presentations, download my free handouts: Presentation Tools Checklist and Presentation Readiness Checklist.

Do you have a speaking engagement coming up that you're prepping for? Tell me about it in the comments!

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On The Everything Page you'll find everything you need to build visibility, credibility and influence through engaging presentations that move your participants into action: freebies, low-cost products and courses, and 1:1 coaching!

What's the relationship between confidence and nervousness?

Last week, I gave a 10-minute presentation based on some of the challenges in my 12 Speaking Challenges for 2012 program. The topic was on building your confidence muscles, and the message was that these particular challenges can be done at any time -- no audience necessary -- to help build overall confidence, which leads to confidence as a speaker.

One of my points was that you don't have to feel confident to look confident. There are both mental and physical aspects to confidence, and oftentimes if you work on the outer appearance of confidence, you will also build your inner confidence. At the end of the presentation, one of the audience members asked how I felt -- the "inner me." What do you think I said?

Here was my response (turn up the volume to hear the question that's asked) -- it's only 11 seconds:



If you look at Nicole's face at the end of the video (left of screen in purple pullover), that pretty much sums up the audience's reaction.

Why is it so surprising that a confident person (me) can also still be nervous?

For me, nervousness is a temporary condition, spurred by my desire to do well, the great unknown of how the presentation will go, and sometimes other factors -- in this case, feeling like I had too much material for a ten-minute presentation. It also usually dissipates fairly early on in a presentation, but because this was a short gig, it never fully went away. (This is a group I speak in front of regularly, and I'm frequently trying out new material on them.)

Confidence, however, is more permanent and deep-seated, once you develop it. I have complete confidence in my topic, my message and my ability to connect with the audience, and it's pretty hard to shake that. Even if I make a mistake (like a dopey blunder I made in this presentation where I referred to someone known to everyone in the group by the name of another group member), I have some momentary embarrassment, but it doesn't affect my overall confidence in the long run.

Nervousness also has something to do with realizing that we just can't control everything. Even when we think we have control, it doesn't take much to shatter the illusion. Witness technology failures, lost notes, bombed jokes, mind-blanks, and unexpected questions.

The flip side of that nervousness is the confidence in knowing that the best we can do is be prepared for mishaps by anticipating obvious things that could go wrong, and then doing our best to handle them in the moment with humor and grace!

Confidence grows with every minute of experience you gain and every accomplishment you put away in your back pocket. Once you've built confidence, it's pretty hard to destroy it.

Nervousness is common, it's fleeting when you learn how to manage it, and it coexists happily side by side with confidence.

What's your take on the relationship between nervousness and confidence?

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On The Everything Page you'll find everything you need to build visibility, credibility and influence through engaging presentations that move your participants into action: freebies, low-cost products and courses, and 1:1 coaching!

How I critique myself

Hearing from audience member I'm still #1 on Google

I'm putting my money where my mouth is.

It is a frequent recommendation of mine that speakers videotape themselves on a regular basis, so they can be on the lookout for bad habits and mistakes. I try to do this, but am not nearly as regular as I would like to be. And sometimes my presentations are videotaped at organizations where it's not appropriate for me (or I'm not allowed) to post them publicly.

Yesterday I took video of a presentation I gave to one of my networking groups, based on a recent blog post about rookie mistakes. I've decided to show you my personal critiquing process.

I, like many other speakers and performers, am uber-sensitive and highly critical of myself. I try to be fair, but I tend to watch my videos with a mixture of fascination, angst and cringing.

Here's the video, with about five minutes of presenting and about five minutes of Q&A. Watch as much (or as little) as you like, then join me below for my critique of my bad habits!






Watch on YouTube if this video isn't working.

First, let's get the negative stuff out of the way.

1. I laugh at my own jokes too much.

2. My hands have a mind of their own; gestures tend to be repetitive.

3. I could have directed the audience better to my theme of "rookie mistakes." Another example of not enough preparation.

4. My closing is weak (as usual, as I find closings incredibly awkward). Closings are the bane of my existence as a presenter.

5. I make screwy faces, and I don't mean the goofy ones that I do on purpose.

6. I should have had the person with the video camera film the audience members as they asked questions so they could be heard better. I assumed sound would be okay in that room.

And, because every presentation has good parts, I always make note of what I liked and what I think worked.

1. I am clearly enjoying myself, and the audience is feeding back my positive energy.

2. I'm connecting well with the audience.

3. Most of the humor works the way I anticipated it, although I'm surprised the "blinding white building" line didn't get a laugh, as that's one reason our group left its last meeting location for this new one.

4. Despite the short lead time I gave myself to write and practice the presentation (you don't want to know), the structure helped me remember everything, and I didn't lose my place once.

5. As this was a more scripted presentation than what I typically give (and therefore outside my comfort zone), I think I did a pretty good job of coming across as natural and not overly memorized.

6. I'm very happy with the way the opening stories led into my presentation, and the way the closing picked up where I left off at the beginning.

And there you have it: A typical critique of my own presentation. While I've been working on my skills in front of audiences since I was a teenager (and been paid to speak for almost 20 years now), I know I still have a lot to learn, and I'm constantly working to improve.

I don't fall into the trap of comparing myself to other speakers, because we are all individuals who have our own styles and our own personalities. I struggle with my perception of "professional" (i.e. boring and stilted) vs. "authentic" or "fun" (i.e. undisciplined and informal). I realize there's much more gray area and overlap between these definitions than I allow.

I also know that some of my challenges may stick with me forever. Such is life. But I love what I do, and if I can continue to share that love and energy with my clients and audiences and help them find that joy in their own presentations, then I consider my job mostly done!

Do you critique yourself? Are you willing to share?

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On The Everything Page you'll find everything you need to build visibility, credibility and influence through engaging presentations that move your participants into action: freebies, low-cost products and courses, and 1:1 coaching!

Just when you think you're prepared...

It's been a long time since I had an outright disaster during a presentation. In fact, I don't think I've ever had one, unless I've completely blocked it out.

More frequently, I'm chastising myself for minor mixups and negligence, "Why did you forget this?" "Where did you put that?"

Yesterday was no different. I gave an hour-long workshop on effective PowerPoint for the Nonprofit Support Center here in Santa Barbara, a workshop that's technically still in development as it was only my second time presenting it. The content is there, and I like how it's coming along so far.

But these tiny details that no one but me would notice or care about keep slipping by.

I meant to bring my Flip video camera or camcorder to record myself. Forgot the video camera. I keep trying to remember to bring a camera, even to get some still shots. Forgot the camera. The biggest annoyance of all: Forgot my introduction.

I have recently developed an introduction that is way better than the boring bio that is usually read by the person introducing me. It's funny, it's silly, it's totally me... and I have misplaced it or forgotten to bring it with me three times in the last six months.

I have a large file box filled with all my supplies. My remote, my giant pen for the mailing list, my noisemakers, my handouts, my timer, my bags of hard candy... EVERYTHING is in that file box. Except, somehow, this introduction that I usually e-mail ahead to my introducer, who tends to misplace it as well. But this time I hadn't even e-mailed it, so my organizer just had the bio from the website registration page.

When my PowerPoint looked like hell on the organization's projector, I whipped out my own and had it looking great in a couple of minutes (after all, I can't very well give a presentation on effective PowerPoint with a crappy looking slide show). But the introduction? Nowhere to be found.

Why does this chap my hide so much?

Because it's the beginning of the presentation, and I want everything to be perfect. Sure, I understand that there's no such thing as perfect. I say it all the time on this blog. But that doesn't stop me from trying!

I hate the idea of boring the audience with yet another boring bio, formatted boringly with boring information about me they don't care about.

So today, I am going to do two things. I'm going to print out yet another copy of my introduction and place it in my file box. I'm also going to paste it into Google Docs and Google Notebook so I can always access it, no matter where I am (already done!).

It took me six months to figure this out, but I'm finally going to do what I have to do to be organized.

Do you have a minor annoyance that keeps popping up in your presentations? What are you going to do about it?

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On The Everything Page you'll find everything you need to build visibility, credibility and influence through engaging presentations that move your participants into action: freebies, low-cost products and courses, and 1:1 coaching!

Only 4 days left to register for public speaking group coaching in Santa Barbara!

A recent Wall Street Journal article highlighted successful entrepreneurs who discovered that improving their public speaking skills enabled them to gain more clients and grow their businesses. It makes sense that strong communication skills and being perceived as an expert in your field through speaking engagements would help to build your business.

But where does the average entrepreneur find this kind of training? Right here in Santa Barbara!

Santa Barbara's only public speaking group coaching program kicks off a six-week fall session on September 14 from 6:30-7:30 p.m.

Public speaking group coaching emphasizes building skills and confidence in a safe and encouraging environment, and includes exercises, discussion, opportunities for practice, and videotaping of practice presentations. For entrepreneurs on a budget, group coaching is more affordable than individual coaching and -- with a group size of only six people -- it's more personalized than a seminar.

Some of the topics covered include managing fear and anxiety, engaging your audience, structuring a presentation, creating a strong opening and closing, PowerPoint design principles, proper preparation, relaxation tools, and more. Tuesday meetings are held in Santa Barbara from 6:30-7:30 p.m.

Public speaking is a critical skill for today's entrepreneur and is one of the best personal and professional development tools for building confidence, through speaking practice and experience.

Reserve your spot now!

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On The Everything Page you'll find everything you need to build visibility, credibility and influence through engaging presentations that move your participants into action: freebies, low-cost products and courses, and 1:1 coaching!

Another challenging venue

I recently wrote about some oddly configured conference rooms I've presented in, and here's the latest interesting venue, from last night:

This is the new event pavilion at the Ventura County Museum. It's a beautiful space, with a courtyard out front featuring stone walls and a series of glass mosaics showing scenes from local history. The pavilion has a state-of-the-art new projection and sound system and will be a great venue for large engagements.

It might not be easy to see from this picture (I should have put a person in the picture for scale), but the pavilion is huge. The ceiling is high. And at the event last night, there were about 20 people present, seated at four tables placed in the front third of the room.

In a room like this, it's hard to create a presence (even for a larger-than-life character like myself), and hard to feel connected with your audience.

The sound echoes -- when people talk, their voices dissipate in the huge space (luckily, I don't have problems with being heard myself). I had to ask people to repeat their questions and comments several times. I decided against using a microphone because of the size of the audience; I felt it would create even more psychological distance, although the sound might have been better.

I was dwarfed by the impressively giant screen. It wasn't physically chilly in the room, but there was a sense of coldness and distance, even though I was standing right in front of the tables.

As you know, I was sick yesterday, and had to dredge up some extra energy to get through the presentation. So on top of the extra energy, I needed to put out even more energy so I wouldn't get lost in the space.

It was a challenge, and I didn't feel that it was my best presentation ever, but I had a good time and the audience and I made the best of the space. I enjoyed working with the very professional staff of the Ventura County Museum in getting set up. And thank you to ISES, for inviting me to speak at their meeting!

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On The Everything Page you'll find everything you need to build visibility, credibility and influence through engaging presentations that move your participants into action: freebies, low-cost products and courses, and 1:1 coaching!

How are your observational skills?

During last night's Tour de France coverage, commentator Craig Hummer made the following segue:

"We should make note of the area's most famous landmark, the coal mine behind us. A lot of riders, Bob, are going to have to dig deep today."

Clever! He managed to give a bit of information about the area, and use the expression "dig deep" as a subtle double entendre, in order to transition to his next idea.

Observational humor is a well-known public speaking tool, where the speaker takes something that has happened or is happening in the room and spontaneously brings it into his presentation for a laugh. Here's an example from John Kinde's Humor Power blog:

"At a company awards luncheon it seemed as though nearly everyone receiving 5, 10 and 15-year service awards had started in the company's telemarketing department and had subsequently worked their way into other jobs. I added a new line to my opening monologue. 'People call me a comedy magician because they laugh at my magic and they're mystified by my jokes. But I wasn't always a comedy magician. I used to work in telemarketing!' It was on target and received a great response. The audience appreciated the fresh, spontaneous nature of the remark."

But what about using observation in a non-humorous way? (Is there a name for this? Observational talking?)

This is simply where you refer to people, events and surroundings throughout your presentation to use as examples and to illustrate your points. You don't necessarily have to be as clever as Craig Hummer, but think about how you can bring back something someone said or did as a way to make a point.

You might find it difficult to use your observational and listening skills during a presentation while you're talking and thinking and trying to stay focused on your topic. However, you will improve the more you try it, and the more you focus on the audience instead of yourself and your need to be liked or your various discomforts.

I recently gave a training to an organization that was using the meeting room at our local zoo. They had about a half-day of training planned, after which they were going to take a train ride around the zoo and visit some of the behind-the-scenes animal living areas.

In my opening to the presentation, I asked two of my typical questions, one about how many people love or dread speaking, and the second about how they rank their skills as a speaker. My third question was "How many people in the room have fed a giraffe?"

This brought a little humor and shook things up a bit with the observation that, not only were we at the zoo, but that the group would very shortly be hanging out in the giraffe's "bedroom." I did have to mention that I was a Zoo Camp counselor 20 years ago and that part of my training in deflecting embarrassment was walking around the zoo day after day, singing songs at the top of my lungs, trailed by a group of six-year-olds (aka The Squirrel Monkeys).

Members of my referrals networking group have become masters of observation. At one meeting, Ellen, whose products include vitamins and healthy cleaning products said, as part of her 30-second "commercial": "We need this kind of excitement every month...so don't get the flu!" At another meeting, Linda talked about looking at people's rings to determine if they might need a wedding photographer -- a segue from our resident jeweler, Calla's commercial.

Listen to your audience. Watch what they do. Notice how they joke amongst themselves. Notice what's happening in the room, outside the room, around your space. The more you focus on the group and the setting, the more you can use observation for both humor and illustration purposes. Your audience likes to know that you're paying attention to them, so there's an added bonus of bonding and connecting with the group through showing that you're in the moment with them.

How have you used your observational skills to liven up your presentations?

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On The Everything Page you'll find everything you need to build visibility, credibility and influence through engaging presentations that move your participants into action: freebies, low-cost products and courses, and 1:1 coaching!