Mark Jeffries - Communications Consultant, Presentation Coach and Keynote Speaker

Here is a question for you: if you heard yourself speaking on the radio would you stay listening or flip to the next channel? Here’s another one: When you look at your slide deck does it excite you or fill you with regret?

These are some tough questions that you need to answer especially as Spring Conference season is here and the audiences are on their way! If you have a presentation to give over the next few weeks, check out these four essential guidelines to either add to your success or at least stop you from being “evaluation score” condemned by an audience!!

Timing:

Nobody will ever come up to you after your presentation and say, “I wish you had gone on for longer”. No matter the level, intellect or industry – all audiences have “other things to do”, so your presentation should never take their time without very good reason. Every minute that audience gives to you, you need to make worthwhile. All too often, I see people delivering a speech across 40 minutes that only needed 20. So, be honest with yourself and with your audience – with only 20 minutes worth of truly valuable insight and content, you should only take 20 minutes of people’s time! If you really want to win on timing – end it early. When an audience has an expectation of, say 30 minutes and you end after, say 25 minutes, it’s seen as a great and unexpected ‘gift of time’!!

LIFE by Powerpoint:

We’ve all heard the phrase “Death by Powerpoint”, and most of us have suffered its effects. This happens for only one reason “WORDS ON A SLIDE”. It’s just like “SNAKES ON A PLANE” – They are unwelcome, inadvisable and can lead to an early death!! Too many people use their powerpoint slide deck as a script. it is NOT a script, it should simply be an illustration of your ideas. Show graphics, charts, images, screengrabs and infograms. The second you start showing paragraphs of words two important things happen: Your audience starts to reading and, as a result, stop listening! If you want to give them words to read, simply present them with a handout and sit yourself down! Use PowerPoint or keynote or prezi as simply an illustration of your wonderful message.

Pace down/Punch up:

When I used to host TV shows in the UK, I was trained to speak in a certain style. I was told that an On-Air voice should sound interesting, passionate and compelling. The reason? Well, if you sounded like you were interested in what was being discussed, hopefully the viewers would be convinced and stay on your channel. The same is fundamentally true in your presentation. Do you SOUND interesting? Forget the content for a second – what is your tone like? Does your voice have a rhythm and melody that, when heard, is both easy and compelling? Are you speaking too fast (Clue: yes) – slow down and give yourself time to articulate! The best way to test yourself out is to record yourself on any audio device discussing your topic. Listen back to it (yeah, I know, it’s not easy). Would you want to listen to yourself?? If not, add some animation – some punch – to your voice and win over that audience!!

Bonus tip:
Provide “Write-down” facts for your audience. Here’s the rule – if you think that your fact, the thing you are going to talk about is interesting enough for members of your audience to write down and take away with them – keep it in!! If not, you may need to seriously consider brutally hacking it off the presentation all together. The rule is this: You have to either entertain or inform an audience – if you are doing neither – you may need to call a taxi!

It has been shown over and over again that those people who can command an audience always rise quickly to the top – make sure that person is you!!

There are moments in every business week when things don’t go in your direction. A pitch or tender gets awarded to your competitor, the job you so wanted gets given to someone else, your suggestion in a meeting gets overlooked, the client you pursued goes “in an other direction”… So, what happened? How badly did you screw up?

Very often, those decisions are decided on the tiniest of things – a slight moment, a single word or an unspoken message that tilts the scales against you.

I recently had dinner with a client in Los Angeles and he was telling me the story of a Consultant who was delivering a two day engagement in order to win a much larger contract for his firm. The team noticed something odd. On day two, he wore exactly the same outfit as day one.

So what?? There might well have been a very good reason, but the consultant said nothing and it just gnawed away at the team making the decision – so much so, that the scales tipped away from this otherwise very competent professional. The bigger job went to someone else.

As much as we would want to hope that we could never be swayed by something like that, it is natural human behavior to notice these things and to make judgements based on them.

Those scales are permanently fluid and judging all that we do. No matter how strong the relationship is with your current client or employer, consider each day, each meeting as a brand new start. Act as you would on Day 1. In addition to listening, watching and anticipating – focus on what you are doing, on how you are being perceived, on the value and benefit that you bring and make sure those scales continue to move in your direction.

Sneak Preview!
I have been working hard on an innovative, state-of-the-art offering for my clients –
“The Mark Jeffries Communication Academy”. Working closely with a very skilled team, we are turning my keynotes and books into a highly effective, web based, coaching solution. More details very soon but as a sneak preview of just one of the elements of what each user will experience, have a look at the attached video which serves as an introduction to the all-powerful weighing scales that I have referred to in today’s blog. Have a great week.

Do you suffer from this??

Yup. Me too!!

Here’s why…..

So – You’ve got your message, your concept and your story all ready to go…but what about your voice?? Here, Mark Jeffries reveals how just your tone can make the essential difference.

I had the misfortune of being in the heart of the storm that raged across New York and the whole of the North-East USA. By 8pm on the Sunday night, my lights flickered, dimmed and then went out. Out went wi-fi, cellphone service, hot water….everything.

The destruction was unthinkable and we have all seen the proof of what a “Frankenstorm” can do.

Once the storm had passed, in Manhattan, It became a tale of two cities. Pretty much everyone North of 26th street had power, cafes and stores started to re-open and life began to return to what looked like…‘normal’.

South of 26th Street and it was a very different story., no lights, no phones. Fewer people walking on the streets and an eeriness that was very sobering in these high-tech times.

It was truly the dark zone and from those powerless streets you could stare north, up the empty Avenues and see the twinkling lights of Midtown. People started to migrate towards the power and were relieved at the generosity of store and restaurant owners who offered up power strips for charging phones directly outside and inside their premises.

While carrying some essentials for my apartment to a hotel in “The Light Zone”, I met some employees from Con Edison – the power supply company for that part of Manhattan. I wandered up to them and said, “Come on, be honest, how big a problem is this?”

One of the more senior guys looked at me and replied, “Put it this way, imagine taking your television … dipping it fully into the ocean for about an hour then lifting it out, plugging it in and expecting it to work.”

I knew the problem was serious but until the perfect analogy was used, I just couldn’t picture the challenge that these fine people have in front of them.

It got me thinking. At every level of business, especially in the more complex industries like IT and finance, we all have times where we need to explain a concept or an idea and have people understand very quickly. I would like to think that we can all take a page out of the very busy book of Con Edison. Spend some time thinking of your most complex ideas and then consider their “Analogy-equivalents” in the real world.

Create the imagery and implant the idea AND the understanding.

I will not complain now as I wait for power to be restored. The TV in the ocean is what I picture now … as those hard working folk work day and night to repair just one element of a truly destructive event.

Like many event People, I spend a great deal of time on the road or more accurately in the air, moving from hotel to hotel like a Nomad…

So, I thought I would share three things that I do that make life just a touch easier.

1. Carry the Jacket
As a bloke, it’s all about the suit!! I always pack my suit trousers – or pants – but never the suit jacket. I carry those – often three at a time. The main reason? Should they get all creased up in my bag, Pants or trousers are easy to press – I can do that in no time using the hotel room iron …jackets are obviously much more of a challenge and usually will need to be sent off to the hotel dry cleaning or pressing service…pricey!!

 
2. Picture this!
I forget things all the time. As I move from hotel to hotel on trips, I often arrive, check in, dump my stuff in the room and then head down to the conference area. Only later, as I try to find my room again do I realize that I have completely forgotten what room I’m in!! I end up feeling like George in that episode of Seinfeld when they lost the car in a shopping mall car park. My solution? Easy!! When you leave your room for the first time, use your smartphone to take a quick pic of the room number!! Sure it ends up in your photo stream – but who cares? At least you can now get to your own bed!!

Oh THAT's my room!

3. It’s check out time.
Time always runs out. If you are like me you end up racing out of the hotel, panicking about time to get to the airport. The last thing you need at that epic moment is to stand in a line at the hotel reception desk, checking out and ensuring you have the zero balance receipt document. Here’s what I do now. On your day of departure, get up nice and early, go check out waaaay before you plan to leave the hotel and ask them to keep your room open until later. job done, paperwork filed! Now you can leave your room at the very last nanosecond and race off without stopping!

What little tricks do you use??

I have just spent the last three weeks hosting and speaking at events in 8 Cities across 3 countries. At those events I also had the opportunity to see an array of other corporate speakers. That “experience” has inspired me to put together some instant “quick-fix” ideas on quickly and easily improving the “corporate presentation”. There’s so much more – but if you have a presentation to give over the next few weeks, check out these three essential guidelines to either add to your success or at least stop you from being “evaluation score” condemned by an audience!!

Timing:

Nobody will ever come up to you after your presentation and say, “I wish you had gone on for longer”. No matter the level, intellect or industry – all audiences have “other things to do”, so your presentation should never take their time without very good reason. Every minute that audience gives to you, you need to make worthwhile. All too often, I see people delivering a speech across 40 minutes that only needed 20. So, be honest with yourself and with your audience – with only 20 minutes worth of truly valuable insight and content, you should only take 20 minutes of people’s time! If you really want to win on timing – end it early. When an audience has an expectation of, say 30 minutes and you end after, say 25 minutes, it’s seen as a great and unexpected ‘gift of time’!!

LIFE by Powerpoint:

We’ve all heard the phrase “Death by Powerpoint”, and most of us have suffered its effects. This happens for only one reason “WORDS ON A SLIDE”. It’s just like “SNAKES ON A PLANE” – They are unwelcome, inadvisable and can lead to an early death!! Too many people use their powerpoint slide deck as a script. it is NOT a script, it should simply be an illustration of your ideas. Show graphics, charts, images, screengrabs and infograms. The second you start showing paragraphs of words two important things happen: Your audience starts to reading and, as a result, stop listening! If you want to give them words to read, simply present them with a handout and sit yourself down! Use PowerPoint or keynote or prezi as simply an illustration of your wonderful message.

Pace down/Punch up:

When I used to host TV shows in the UK, I was trained to speak in a certain style. I was told that an On-Air voice should sound interesting, passionate and compelling. The reason? Well, if you sounded like you were interested in what was being discussed, hopefully the viewers would be convinced and stay on your channel. The same is fundamentally true in your presentation. Do you SOUND interesting? Forget the content for a second – what is your tone like? Does your voice have a rhythm and melody that, when heard, is both easy and compelling? Are you speaking too fast (Clue: yes) – slow down and give yourself time to articulate! The best way to test yourself out is to record yourself on any audio device discussing your topic. Listen back to it (yeah, I know, it’s not easy). Would you want to listen to yourself?? If not, add some animation – some punch – to your voice and win over that audience!!

It has been shown over and over again that those people who can command an audience always rise quickly to the top – make sure that person is you!!

People buy people. Are they buying you? 

I am sure they are, but here are three things you can try this week to instantly upgrade how buyable you are to your colleagues, your team and your clients!

Online Update

Update your linked in profile. Make it feel alive. I am always surprised at how some people allow this key “online Brochure” to slowly decay!! The fact that you are listed is a great start, but unless you remain active and current, it will look like you’ve given up business and gone off to herd cats or something. If you show the world that you are prepared to let your on-line brand fester – it might say something about you in business.

Social Media needs to be fed, nurtured and watered.

Every time you add content, your online presence looks fresh and green. When you let it dry out, it withers.

Here’s an immediate fix – connect your Linked-in to your Twitter feed (you do have one, right??) that way, every Tweet duplicates itself on your Linked-In page and you benefit from an instant “freshness Upgrade”. 

Listen to your colleagues….and remember

People love it when you remember what they have said. It makes people feel more valued and more connected to you. In fact, It’s one of the three Rs of connecting - Recall. So, actively listen to what your colleagues, clients or team have planned for their evening. It may require some mental effort, but if you can remember some of what they told you and then ask them about it during the next day, you’ll instantly win some new devotees and have people thinking you are even cooler than they already did!!

Spread the Word

Actively find some cool and timely blogs or articles with useful or inspiring content and send them out to people – on a Sunday evening. It not only shows you care, are connected and seem to be an aggregator of what’s cool…but you are devoting an element of your weekend to add value to people’s upcoming week!

If you are an iPad or iPhone person download Flipboard - a very cool way to view and share what’s trending.

In just 3 simple steps you have instantly added to your ‘buyability’ and tilted the scales in favor of your personal brand!

Whether it’s a pitch, meeting or job interview – Mark discusses innovative ideas on how to improve your chances of success!