INSIGHTS (on leadership/self-leadership)
As a professional speaker, I can tell you that few people were as admired for their presentation skills as Apple founder, Steve Jobs. He forged his own rules for presenting effectively over years of doing big, dramatic “rollouts” of game-changing Apple products. I recently came across a good summary of his secrets, and wanted to share those here (along with my own perspective).
1. Use simple language. Be clear. This is about avoiding jargon and making sure you’re clear in what you want to communicate.
2. Facts tell, stories sell. Use facts as support for, not as the driver of, your talk. Research shows that compelling stories activate the subconscious, emotional-processing part of the brain where most of our decisions are actually made. By using stories, your ideas will be more memorable, more inspiring, and more capable of influencing the outcome you’re seeking.
3. Use vocal variety. Speak loudly, or softly, at points of emphasis. Pause for dramatic effect. Speed up your vocal delivery at times when you want the audience caught up in excitement, slowing it down at times you want them to think.
4. Use minimalist slides. Bullet points bore. Too much is too much. Less is more. Use images to help paint a picture. The idea is to focus on connecting with the audience versus reading off a slide.
5. Rehearse, then rehearse some more. When you know your material really well, you’re not focused on trying to remember that material when you’re “on stage.” Instead, you’re relaxed, confident, and focused on the nuances of your delivery that will help your presentation stand out.
6. Own your space. Use your “stage” well. Use movement strategically, to add energy to your talk. For example, stand still as your default, but move towards the audience when making an emotional point. Ensure your movements aren’t a distraction, but an aid in telling the story you want to tell.
Bonus rules
7. Give your audience a gift. This is about raising the bar on the content of your talk. Does it deliver an epiphany, a transformation, a solution to a problem, a direction and plan to get started, or even entertainment and escape? Make it memorable by making it matter.
8. Open, and close, strong. Hook the audience early- it’s a huge missed opportunity if you don’t. Don’t come out and say “Hi, I’m Susan, it’s so great to be here.” Start with the opening line of your story. Get right into it – pull the audience in immediately. Close with a line that ties back to your opening line, thus closing the loop on the experience you just provided.
IMPERFECTIONS (a mistake many make)
Want to better adapt to change? Make the right Change Choice. That is, in the face of change, will you choose to see change as happening “to” you (a mistake too many make), or “for” you? As I share in my latest book, The Mentally Strong Leader, making the mistake of seeing change as happening “to” you looks like the left-hand column (below). Strive for the column on the right.
IMPLEMENTATION (one research-backed strategy, tip, or tool)
Research has long supported that music is one of the greatest, albeit overlooked, productivity enhancers in existence. This piece in Fast Company reminded me of the specific productivity bumps you get when either actively, or passively listening to music. I share this to encourage you to strap music onto your productivity toolbelt more often.
Active listening (fully engaging and “giving in” to the music) has been proven to help you:
• Regulate stress
• Reset emotionally
• Refocus
• Reenergize
Purposeful passive listening (choosing music to support a task without fully focusing on it) has been proven to help you:
• Engage in deep, or big-picture thinking
• Incubate ideas and be more creative
• Daydream
• Enhance your mood
Leave a Reply