This article first appeared in my business column at AMEX.
“When you advertise fire-extinguishers, open with the fire,” says advertising executive David Ogilvy. You have only 30 seconds in a TV commercial to grab attention. The same applies to a presentation. The first 30 seconds of your talk is crucial. This is the time your listeners form an impression of you, and of what’s to follow.
Like a fine thoroughbred, you need to hit the ground running by starting strong. Instead, many presenters are more like old, tired workhorses—they start weak by wasting those first precious seconds with platitudes and pleasantries. Brain research shows that we don’t pay attention to boring things. Surprise your listeners with a hook that immediately grabs their attention.
The key is to make sure that the hook is brief, well-rehearsed and pertinent to your topic. What follows is 12 hooks that will grab your audience’s attention—and keep it.
1. Use a contrarian approach. Make a statement of a universally accepted concept, then go against conventional wisdom by contradicting the statement. For example, a market trader starts by contradicting the commonly held advice of buying low and selling high. He says: “It’s wrong. Why? Because buying low typically entails a stock that’s going in the opposite direction—down—from the most desired direction—up.” This is a provocative opening that engages the audience right away.
2. Ask a series of rhetorical questions. A common way to engage the audience at the start is to ask a rhetorical question. Better still, start with a series of rhetorical questions. A good example of this tactic is Simon Sinek’s TED presentation. He starts with: “How do you explain when things don’t go as we assumed? Or better, how do you explain when others are able to achieve things that seem to defy all of the assumptions? For example, why is Apple so innovative? … Why is it that they seem to have something different? Why is it that Martin Luther King led the civil rights movement?” A series of rhetorical questions stimulate the audience’s mind as they ponder the answers.
3. Deliver a compelling sound bite.Use a catchy phrase or sound bite that has pungency and watch how the audience perks up. Innovation expert Jeremy Gutshe opens his talk with: “Culture eats strategy for breakfast. This is a sign that is on Ford’s strategy War Room. And the lesson from it is not how good your PowerPoint slide deck is, what it really boils down to at the end of the day is how ready and willing your organization is to embrace change, try new things and focus in when you find an opportunity.” To be effective, the sound bite needs to be brief, interesting and compelling.
4. Make a startling assertion.A surefire way to gain people’s attention is by starting with a startling or amazing fact. Take the time to research startling statistics that illustrate the seriousness of what you’re going to talk about. For example, a presentation about conservancy can start with: “Every second, a slice of rainforest the size of a football field is mowed down. That’s over 31 million football fields of rainforest each year.”
5. Provide a reference to a historical event. There are times when the day that you present may have some significance in history that can be tied to the subject of your presentation, as an opening gambit. You can easily look up what happened on any day in Today In Sport or a more general site such as This Day In History. You never know what pertinence it might have that will add some pizzazz to your presentation. It’s worth a look.
6. Use the word imagine. The word imagine invites the audience to create a mental image of something. Ever since John Lennon’s famous song, it has become a powerful word with emotional appeal. A particularly skillful use of the word occurs in Jane Chen’s TED talk.
She speaks about a low-cost incubator that can save many lives in underdeveloped countries. Chen opens by saying: “Please close your eyes and open your hands. Now imagine what you could place in your hands, an apple, maybe your wallet. Now open your eyes. What about a life?” As she says this, she displays a slide with an Anne Geddes‘ image of a tiny baby held in an adult’s hands. There is power in asking the audience to conjure up their imagination, to play along. This tactic can easily be adapted to any topic where you want the audience to imagine a positive outcome, or a vision of a better tomorrow. It can be used, as well, to ask them to imagine being in someone else’s shoes.
7. Add a little show business. According to research, 100 percent of Americans quote movies, primarily comedies, in conversation. One of the primary reasons is to entertain. Movies occupy a central place in most people’s lives and a well-placed, pertinent movie quote at the start of a presentation can perk up your audience. Here are a couple of examples: “There’s not a lot of money in revenge” (from The Princess Bride) and “The first rule of leadership: everything is your fault” (from A Bug’s Life.) And here are a couple of sites for movie quotations to start you off: Best Business Quotes From The Silver Screen and The Best Business Wisdom Hidden In Classic Movie Quotes.
8. Arouse curiosity.You can start with a statement that is designed to arouse curiosity and make the audience look up and listen to you attentively. Bestselling author Dan Pink does this masterfully in one of his talks. He says: “I need to make a confession, at the outset. A little over 20 years ago, I did something that I regret. Something that I am not particularly proud of, something that in many ways I wished no one would ever know, but that here I feel kind of obliged to reveal. In the late 1980s, in a moment of youthful indiscretion, I went to law school.” Curiosity here leads to some self-deprecating humor, which makes it even more effective.
9. Use quotations differently.Many speakers start with an apt quotation, but you can differentiate yourself by stating the quotation and then adding a twist to it. For example, “We’ve all heard that a journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step. But we need to remember that a journey to nowhere also starts with a single step.” You can also use a quotation from your own life. For example, in a presentation on price versus quality, I have often used a quote from my grandfather, who used to say: “I am not rich enough to buy cheap.” There are innumerable sources for online quotations, but you might also consider The Yale Book of Quotations, an app that brings together over 13,000 quotes you can adapt to your purpose.
10. Quote a foreign proverb. There is a wealth of fresh material to be culled from foreign proverbs. Chances are your listeners have never heard them so they have novelty appeal. Here are some examples: “Our last garment is made without pockets” (Italy); “You’ll never plow a field by turning it over in your mind” (Ireland); “The nail that sticks up will be hammered down” (Japan), and “Paper can’t wrap up a fire” (China). Here is a site for foreign proverbs.
11. Take them through a “what if” scenario. A compelling way to start your presentation is with a “what if” scenario. For example, asking “What if you were debt-free?” at the start of a money management presentation might grab your listeners’ attention as it asks them to look forward to a positive future. It can intensify their desire for your product or service. Using a “what if” scenario as an opening gambit is easily adaptable to almost any presentation.
12. Tell them a story. Stories are one of the most powerful ways to start a presentation. Nothing will compel listeners to lean in more than a well-told story. Science tells us that our brains are hardwired for storytelling. But the story needs to be brief, with just the right amount of detail to bring it to life. It must be authentic and must have a “message,” or lesson, to support your viewpoint. Above all, it must be kind. As Benjamin Disraeli said: “Never tell an unkind story.”
Journalist and entrepreneur Mitch Racliffe said, “A computer lets you make more mistakes faster than any invention in human history—with the possible exceptions of handguns and tequila.” Even when you haven’t made any mistakes, the unexpected can, and usually will, occur at the most inopportune time: when you’re delivering a high-stakes presentation to a prospective client, or at an event such as a trade show.
Don’t be caught off guard. Here are some helpful tips and tools to help you deal with these potential problems so you can focus on your company message.
1. Know how to recover a corrupt PowerPoint file. Just before your presentation, you might discover that you’re unable to open your PowerPoint file. This can easily happen with very large files. Echo Swinford, Microsoft MVP, provides step by step guidelines on what to do if this happens to you. Print the article and keep it with your presentation material, as you never know when you might need it. There are also third-party recovery tools that can help you if you’re unable to recover a corrupt PowerPoint file, including Kernel PowerPoint Repair Software, Stellar Phoenix PowerPoint Repair, and Unistal PowerPoint Repair Tool.
2. Pack a PowerPoint Viewer. If you’re not using your own laptop for the presentation, make sure that the presentation laptop supports the version of PowerPoint you used to create your presentation. A simple way to avoid any unpleasant surprises is simply to download the free PowerPoint viewer onto a flash drive to take with you.
3. Don’t rely on Internet connectivity. Internet connections aren’t bulletproof. If you need to display information from your website, or any other website, be prepared in case the Internet connection is interrupted during your presentation. A simple solution is to create a few slides with screenshots of all the pages you need for the presentation. One of the easiest ways to capture screenshots is by downloading Skitch, a powerful, free program. Skitch will even allow you to annotate the pages to add useful information (and it provides a video demonstrating how to use the program).
4. Know which movie file formats to use. It pays to become knowledgeable about which file formats don’t work with PowerPoint so you can convert your video file to avoid a nasty surprise. This list from Microsoft tells you which video file formats will work with PowerPoint. If the file format is not there, you will need to convert your movie file to a format that PowerPoint supports. One quick way to do this is to use a free file converter such as Zamzar. Upload your movie file and convert it to an acceptable format such as MPG.
5. Eliminate color illegibility. You may be surprised to discover that the font color you used for your presentation doesn’t display well on a projector. This is often the case when marketing departments use, for example, pale color fonts to match the color of the logo. You can use the Color Contrast Calculator to find out if the colors you’re planning to use on your slides provide enough contrast to be clearly seen by the audience.
6. Avoid animations. You may find yourself running out of time and having to speed up your presentation. In that case, the complex, slow animation you had planned will slow you down. We look foolish standing there watching for an animation to take its course. Better to limit the use of these animations or avoid them altogether.
7. Use your own remote. It’s surprising how many people still advance slides by using the down arrow on the computer. A remote gives you power to move around and focus your eyes on the audience rather than on your laptop. Invest in a remote you can carry with you. When they rely on whatever remote is at the venue, speakers often fumble, go backward instead of forward, and fiddle with it until they get used to it. This chips away at your presence. Don’t forget to pack extra batteries for your remote.
8. Know the electrical voltage and outlets used abroad. If you’re presenting abroad, come prepare with the right adapter or plug. Electrical Outlet gives you a handy list of electrical outlets used worldwide.
9. Disable notifications and sleep mode. Even though we’re all aware of this, it’s easy to forget this step. Deactivate screen savers, Skype, instant messages, email alerts and other pop-up windows. They make you look unprepared. Also, disable the sleep or standby mode on your laptop. This WikiHow article will show you how to disable automatic sleep. If you’re using Windows 7, you can also use the Windows Mobility Center to adjust your settings to Presentation Mode. With one click, you’ll prevent your laptop from going dormant in the middle of a presentation and all system notifications will be turned off.
10. Beware of labels on DVDs. If you plan to show a DVD that you borrowed from the library, don’t. The adhesive label is more than likely to create problems. The same applies to a DVD you create. Use appropriate markers for writing on DVDs and know where to write to avoid problems.
11. Use several backup methods. It pays to be paranoid when it comes to backing up your important presentation: Don’t rely on just one backup method. Use two flash drives to back up the PowerPoint file, as these devices aren’t infallible. Consider also backing up your presentation online by using an online storage program such as Dropbox, iCloud or SlideRocket.
Murphy’s Law of Thermodynamics tells us that “things get worse under pressure.” We can relieve this pressure by knowing how to stop presentation demons in their track.
Samuel Butler said: “Fear is static that prevents me from hearing myself.” We all have an inner voice that tells us when we need to have a difficult conversation with someone—a conversation that, if it took place, would improve life at the office for ourselves and for everyone else on the team. But fear drowns our inner voice. It induces us to procrastinate having the conversation for fear that it might elicit a negative reaction. Meanwhile the offending individual continues to provide substandard performance, missing deadlines and the like; or having interpersonal conflicts, and exhibiting toxic behavior.
The consequence of not facing these issues head-on is costly. A CPP Inc. study of workplace conflict reveals that employees in the U.S. spend roughly 2.8 hours per week dealing with conflict. 33% of employees report that the conflict led to personal injury and attacks, and 22% report that it led to illness and absence from work. 10% report that project failure was a direct result of conflict. A similar study by Psychometrics in Canada, showed that 32% of employees have to deal with conflict regularly. More alarming is a recent study by Accenture revealing that, even in this challenging economic climate, 35% of employees leave their jobs voluntarily because of internal politics.
Substandard performance and unmanaged conflicts will adversely impact your bottom line. Businesses are losing billions of dollars because leaders have not stepped forward to deal with these difficult workplace issues decisively before they get out of hand. One way to step forward is to have the difficult conversation early on before the problems escalate and damage morale, and the business.
If you are unsure how to best approach this crucial conversation, here are some tips to guide you:
1. Be clear about the issue.
To prepare for the conversation, you need to ask yourself two important questions: “What exactly is the behavior that is causing the problem?” and “What is the impact that the behavior is having on you, the team or the organization?” You need to reach clarity for yourself so that you can articulate the issue in two or three succinct statements. If not, you risk going off on a tangent during the conversation and end up having an unfocused discussion. The lack of focus on the central issue will derail the conversation and sabotage your intentions.
2. Know your objective.
What do you want to accomplish with the conversation? What is the desired outcome? What are the non-negotiables? As English philosopher, Theodore Zeldin, put it: A successful conversation “doesn’t just reshuffle the cards: it creates new cards.” What are the new cards that you want to have in your hands by the end of the conversation? Once you have determined this, plan how you will close the conversation. Don’t end without clearly expressed action items. What is the person agreeing to do? What support are you committed to provide? What obstacles might prevent these remedial actions from taking place? What do you both agree to do to overcome potential obstacles? Schedule a follow up face-to-face meeting, phone call, or email to evaluate progress and definitively reach closure on the issue at hand.
3. Adopt the right mindset.
Spend a little time to reflect on your attitude towards the situation and the person involved. What are your preconceived notions about it? Your mindset will predetermine your reaction and interpretations of the other person’s responses, so it pays to work on approaching the conversation with the right mindset. The right mindset is one of inquiry. A good doctor diagnoses a situation before reaching for his prescription pad. This applies equally to a leader. Be open to hear first what the other person has to say before reaching closure in your mind. Even if the evidence is so clear that there is no reason to beat around the bush, we still owe it to the person to let them tell their story. A good leader remains open and seeks a greater truth in any situation. The outcome of adopting this approach might surprise you.
4. Manage the emotions.
Most of us were likely raised to believe that emotions need to be left at the door. We now know that this is an old school approach that is no longer valid in today’s work environments. It is your responsibility as a leader to understand and manage the emotions in the discussion. The late Robert Plutchik, professor at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, created a Wheel of Emotions to show that emotions follow a path. What starts as an annoyance, for example, can move to anger and, in extreme cases, escalate to rage. We can avoid this by being mindful of preserving the person’s dignity—and treating them with respect—even if we totally disagree with them. In some cases, you may have to respond to a person’s tears. In the video “How To Handle Tears At Work,” Anne Kreamer, author of It’s Always Personal: Navigating Emotion in the New Workplace, provides several strategies. These include acknowledging the tears rather than ignoring them, offering the person a tissue to give them a chance to gather their thoughts, and recognizing that the tears communicate a problem to be addressed.
5. Be comfortable with silence.
There will be moments in the conversation where a silence occurs. Don’t rush to fill it with words. Just as the pause between musical notes helps us appreciate the music, so the periodic silence in the conversation allows us to hear what was said. It gives us an opportunity to reflect. It lets the message sink in. As Susan Scott says in Fierce Conversations: Achieving Success At Work And In Life One Conversation At A Time, “let silence do the heavy lifting.” A pause also has a calming effect and can help us connect better. For example, if you are an extrovert, you are likely uncomfortable with silence as you are used to thinking while you are speaking. This can be perceived as steamrolling or overbearing, especially if the other party is an introvert. Introverts want to think before they speak. Stop talking and allow them their moment—it can lead to a better outcome.
6. Preserve the relationship.
A leader who has high emotional intelligence is always mindful to limit any collateral damage to a relationship. It takes years to build bridges with people and only minutes to blow them up. Think about how the conversation can fix the situation, without erecting an irretrievable wall between you and the person.
7. Be consistent.
Ensure that your objective is fair and that you are using a consistent approach. For example, if the person thinks that you have one set of rules for this person and a different set for another, you will be perceived as creating favorites. Nothing erodes a relationship faster than perceived inequality. Employees have long-term memories of how you handled situations in the past. Aim for consistency in your leadership approach. We trust a leader who is consistent because we don’t have to second-guess where they stand on important issues such as culture, corporate values and acceptable behaviors.
8. Develop your conflict resolution skills.
Conflict is a natural part of human interaction. Managing conflict effectively is one of the vital skills of leadership. Have a few, proven phrases that can come in handy in crucial spots. For more tips on how to handle conflict, read my article: No Batteries Required: 8 Conflict Resolution Tips.
9. Watch your reaction to thwarting ploys.
In a Harvard Business Reviewarticle, Sarah Green lists nine common mistakes we make when we conduct a difficult conversation. One of these mistakes is how we handle thwarting ploys, such as stonewalling, sarcasm, and accusing. The best advice is to simply address the ploy openly and sincerely. As the author says, if the ploy from your counterpart is stubborn unresponsiveness, you can candidly say: “I don’t know how to interpret your silence.” Disarm the ploy by labeling the observed behavior.
10. Choose the right place to have the conversation.
Calling people into your office may not be the best strategy. Sitting in your own turf, behind your desk, shifts the balance of power too much on your side. Even simple body language such as leaning forward towards the person rather than leaning back on your chair, can carry a subtle message of your positive intentions, i.e.: “We’re in this together. Let’s problem solve so that we have a better workplace.” Consider holding the meeting in a neutral place such as a meeting room where you can sit adjacent to each other without the desk as a barrier. Don’t exclude the coffee shop.
11. Know how to begin.
Some people put off having the conversation because they don’t know how to start. The best way to start is with a direct approach. “John, I would like to talk with you about what happened at the meeting this morning when Bob asked about the missed deadline. Let’s grab a cup of coffee tomorrow morning to chat.” Or: “Linda, I want to go over some of the issues with XYZ customer and some concerns that I have. Let’s meet tomorrow morning to problem-solve.” Being upfront is the authentic and respectful approach. You don’t want to ambush people by surprising them about the nature of the “chat.” Make sure your tone of voice signals discussion and not inquisition, exploration and not punishment.
12. Train other leaders on how to handle the difficult conversation.
Handling the difficult conversation requires skill and empathy, but ultimately, it requires the courage to go ahead and do it. The 19th century American politician, William Jennings Bryan once said: “The way to develop self-confidence is to do the thing you fear and get a record of successful experiences behind you.” The more you get into the habit of facing these issues squarely, the more adept you will become at it. It will take your leadership skills to the next level.
How successful we are at selling ourselves, our products and our services depends on our ability to stand up and be heard. What often prevents us from telling our story successfully is not our inability to articulate what we do, or how strongly we believe in the value of what we offer. Instead, it is simply the fear of speaking in front of an audience. Being nervous while presenting can put a dint in your credibility and have an adverse effect on achieving your business goals.
To manage the fear of speaking in public, you need to first understand the root cause of the fear. One of the best explanations comes from Scott Berkun, in Confessions of a Public Speaker. Berkun says: “The design of the brain’s wiring—given its long operational history, hundreds of thousands years older than the history of public speaking . . . makes it impossible to stop fearing what it knows is the worst tactical position for a person to be in.” That worst tactical position is standing alone, in an open place, with no place to hide, without a weapon, and facing a large group of creatures staring at you. As Berkun puts it: Being in this situation, “meant the odds were high that you would soon be attacked and eaten alive. . . Our ancestors, the ones who survived, developed a fear response to these situations.”
Understanding that our brain can’t tell the difference between a real threat (a pack of wolves about to attack you) and an imagined threat (a group of your peers watching you present) is the first step to overcoming the fear. This awareness can help you manage the “false alarm” that happens in the absence of real danger. How so? As you feel your heart racing when you first start your presentation, you can consciously and deliberately interrupt the fear response with a quick deep breath and a rational thought: “This is just a false alarm.” The more you get into the habit of interrupting the fear response as soon as you feel it happening, the quicker you will prevent it from being your default response every time you present in front of a group. You must ingrain in your mind the thought that the fear of public speaking is simply a misfiring of the caveman “fight or flight” fear response and that you can overcome this.
Here are some practical tips to help you manage performance anxiety so that you can focus on your key messages:
Re-frame the questions you ask yourself. When you worry before a high stakes presentation, you may have a tendency to ask yourself negative questions, such as “What will happen if I forget my material?” or “What if I mess up?” This form of self-talk is like throwing gasoline in a room on fire. All it does is heighten your anxiety. Replace these negative questions with positive ones. Take an inspiration from Seymour Signet, a specialist in helping people overcome public speaking anxiety. He advises to ask yourself: “What will happen if I knock it out of the park?” You can view more of Seymour’s tips in his video “Ask Yourself Good Questions.” Give this a try; it will calm the noise in your head.
Practice as if you are the worst.When you know your material well, there is a tendency to get sloppy when practicing a speech: you might flip through the slides, mentally thinking about what you are going to say, without actually rehearsing out loud exactly what you plan to say. This results in a presentation that is not as sharp as it could be and might cause you to be nervous once you have 100 pairs of eyes staring at you. You can also forget some important sub-points and key sound bites. Avoid this by practicing out loud and verbalizing your complete presentation. For a high stakes presentation, do this at least five times, at spaced intervals, to encode your material in long-term memory.
Practice your transitions. It is also crucial that you practice your transitions—the words that link one idea in your presentation to the next. These are easy to forget if you don’t practice them and you end up with a staccato presentation. Transitions are the silken thread that guides your listeners through your story. Here are some examples of transitions: “Now that we have established. . .”; “This leads us to. . .”; “My next item is particularly crucial. . .”. If you don’t practice correctly, you will end up practicing your imperfections from one presentation to the next.
Memorize the sequence of your slides. Knowing the sequence of your slides so that you can anticipate and announce a slide makes you look in control. This will increase your composure as you know where you are going next. Nothing erodes your credibility faster than having to look at a slide to know what you have to say next. Being perceived as credible boosts your confidence and reduces your anxiety and the fear of failing.
Create a back up slide for some of your answers. One reason people often experience anxiety before a presentation is the fear that they will be asked questions that might be difficult to answer. Don’t get caught off guard. Think carefully of what potential questions might arise and rehearse your best answers. Go one step further by creating slides for some potential questions about complex issues. You can include in your slide important information, numbers, stats, or even a pertinent graph or pie chart that would be helpful to the audience. If such a question arises, it is quite okay to say: “I anticipated that you might be asking this question. Let me display a slide that will clearly show. . .” Rehearse some of your answers to questions with the same care as you rehearse the presentation.
Visualize Your Presentation. A study at Harvard University showed the value of visualization in developing a skill: Two groups of volunteers were presented with a piece of unfamiliar piano music. One group was given a keyboard and told to practice. The other group was instructed to just read the music and imagine playing it. When their brain activity was examined, both groups showed expansion in the motor cortex, even though the second group had never touched a keyboard. Visualization is a powerful mental rehearsal tool that peak sports performers use regularly. Einstein, who is credited with saying that “imagination is more important than knowledge,” used visualization throughout his entire life. Take advantage of this tool and visualize yourself successfully delivering your presentation. Concentrate on all the positives of your presentation, and visualize the entire talk, in detail, from your introduction to your conclusion.
Stop seeing your presentation as a performance. Instead, as Jerry Weissman puts it “. . . treat every presentation as a series of person-to-person conversations.” The more you remind yourself of this, the more you will be able to shift your focus away from the fear-inducing thought that you are required to perform.
Take some deep breaths. This simple advice cannot be emphasized enough. When you are nervous, you breathe rapidly and shallowly. This is telegraphing to the audience that you are not confident. Slow and measured breathing is a sign that you are in control. Before you go to the front of the room, concentrate on taking a few, slow breaths. Repeat this a few times. When you start to speak, remember to pause and breathe after you make a point. Psychiatrist, Fritz Perls, said it powerfully: “Fear is excitement without the breath.”
Try ‘power posing’ before the presentation. Harvard Business School Professor Amy Cuddy discovered that simply holding our body in an expansive pose for as little as two minutes results in a higher level of testosterone in our body. Testosterone is the hormone linked to power in both animals and humans. At the same time, the expansive pose lowers our level of cortisol, the stress hormone. In her TED video presentation, Cuddy shows a number of expansive poses, such as spreading your legs, placing your hands on your hips, or striking the CEO pose: legs resting on desk, and arms behind your head. You can apply this advice before a presentation to lower your stress level and give yourself a boost. Instead of hunching over your notes or Blackberry, find a spot where you can have some privacy and adopt an expansive pose: make yourself as big as you can by stretching your arms out and spreading your legs, or stand on your tiptoes with your hands in the air. Give it a try.
Pause Frequently. In “The King’s Speech,” a movie about the true story of King George VI, one of the successful strategies the speech therapist uses to help the king overcome his stuttering is the use of pauses. Pausing helped the king regain his composure whenever he was gripped by anxiety. The same strategy can help you. When you feel anxious while presenting, consider pausing more frequently. A few strategic pauses between points have a calming effect.
Come to terms with audience expressions. Your anxiety level is increased when you misinterpret the audience’s facial expression. In normal conversation, we are accustomed to getting feedback from the listener: a nod or a smile, here and there, that signal approval. But when we present, audiences listen differently. They are more likely to give the speaker a blank stare which does not mean that they don’t like what they hear; more often than not, it simply means they are concentrating on the message. This is especially true of members of the audience who have a preference for introversion.
You can access further tips for managing presentation anxiety in my book, Presenting with Credibility: Practical Tools and Techniques For Effective Presentations. There is a Japanese proverb which says: “Fear is only as deep as the mind allows.” Put your mind on developing your key company messages and crafting your story. Replace time expended on worrying with time spent on preparing thoroughly for your presentation by knowing your material cold, and practicing it beyond the point of pain. Then go out there and win them over.
The ability to speak in a way that creates an emotional bridge that connects us to others is one of the most admired qualities of leadership. A person who has mastered this is said to speak in “the leader’s voice.” The leader’s voice is captivating: it makes the audience want to lean in to listen to every word that person has to say. What does it take to be that voice in the room, to speak in a way that qualifies as authentic leadership communication?
This article will provide some of the core principles for elevating a speech from a mere recital of facts into a more powerful communication. Recently, we saw a good example of this in the brief, 5-minute speech that President Obama delivered to his campaign staff the day after the election. The purpose of the speech was to thank the campaign workers for their efforts in helping the President win the re-election. Rather than the perfunctory “I couldn’t have done it without you,” or “you were a great asset to winning the campaign,” Obama delivered a thank you speech that was evidently straight from the heart. What exactly did he do that makes this an exemplary piece of leadership communication?
Authenticity, Humility, and Optimism.
First, there were three enduring leadership qualities that came through loud and clear: authenticity, humility and optimism. All three are hallmarks of any effective leadership communication:
Obama’s authenticity shines as he talks about his early days as a community organizer and his desire to make a difference: “I didn’t really know how to do it. . . a group of churches were willing to hire me. . . and I didn’t know at all what I was doing.” Authentic, personal communication is vital for any leader who seeks to connect with his constituents.
Humility is a very attractive trait in a leader. It is the antithesis of hubris, the excessive, arrogant pride which often leads to the derailment of some corporate heroes. Mark W. Merril said: “Humility does not mean you think less of yourself. It just means you think more of others.” That’s precisely what Obama illustrates in his speech. He tells his audience: “You are so much better than I was. In so many ways, you’re smarter, and you’re better organized, and you’re more effective.” He goes further by stating that “the work that I did in those communities changed me much more than I changed the communities.”
Leaders are purveyors of hope. They can see around the corner and instill in people the hope and belief that tomorrow is better than today. That’s precisely what Obama does several times in his short speech. He says: “I’m just looking around the room and I’m thinking wherever you guys end up, you’re just gonna do great things.” He expresses an optimistic view of the future that awaits his staff long after their work as his campaign staff has ended: “And whatever good we do over the next four years will pale in comparison to what you guys end up accomplishing for years and years to come.”
Speak on Three Channels.
In Voice Lessons: Applying Science to the Art of Leadership Communication, Ron Crossland tells us that the most effective communicators use three channels to boost the impact of their communication: the factual, emotional and symbolic. Too often, leaders speak only on the factual channel, but facts alone rarely inspire. It is the emotional and symbolic channel that powers a leader’s communication and helps him or her convey important leadership messages. Obama’s speech is a particularly good example of a leader who is gifted in using the emotional channel, in an authentic manner.
Communicating on the emotional channel is a two-part process: first, a leader needs to speak about his emotions, about how he feels about his topic. We admire those who are cool under fire, but we don’t connect with a leader who is dead cold. A poker face is good for poker, not for inspiring others. People want to know what their leader feels; it creates transparency, it brings us closer to those we lead and engenders trust. The emotional channel dominates Obama’s speech to his staff. He expresses his own emotions which center around confidence and admiration for his staff, and genuine gratitude for their efforts and loyalty: “I am absolutely confident that you are going to do just amazing things in your lives;” “I am really proud of you;” “You guys won’t disappoint me.”
The second part of the emotional channel is your constituents’ emotions. It is having the empathy to understand and recognize the emotions of others in the room. On that score, Obama refers to their hard work and shows that he genuinely understands who they are, what they have done, (“you all are just remarkable people”) “and most important, what they will accomplish in the future: “Your journey is just beginning…You’re just starting.”
The symbolic channel taps into the power of symbols (or metaphors,) and storytelling. Here too, Obama’s speech fits Ron Crossland’s framework nicely. Obama uses several metaphors: He refers to the indomitable spirit of people as “the grit . . . of ordinary people.” He also borrows a metaphor from Robert Kennedy when he refers to the “ripples of hope that come out when you throw a stone in a lake.” This is a particularly apt metaphor that would resonate in a roomful of young people. He also honors his audience by making them the wellspring for his own hope and fortitude. He refers to them as “the source of my strength and my inspiration.” He tells them that they had an uplifting effect on him as he grappled with difficulties: “You’ve lifted me up, each and every step of the way.” Another powerful metaphor.
Storytelling, a major component of the symbolic channel, is a powerful leadership tool. This is echoed by Terry Pearce, in The Mastery of Speaking as a Leader. Pearce provides three rules for powerful leadership communication: speak on topics you really care about; incorporate personal experiences that have formed the basis for your beliefs, values and convictions, and structure your speech as a story. One could say that Obama’s entire short speech is a personal story about his dream to make a difference—starting from his efforts as a 25-year old community organizer on the South Side of Chicago, during the Ronald Reagan era, to where he is now: “I felt that the work that I had done, in running for office, had come full circle. . . , because what you guys have done . . . means that the work that I’m doing is important.”
Invoke History.
Finally, throughout his speech there is a sense of history: “What you guys have accomplished will go on in the annals of history, and people will read about it, and they’ll marvel about it.” As Terry Pearce says in his book, Leading Out Loud: Inspiring Change Through Authentic Communication, “leadership communication is about growth and change, words that contain a past, a present and a future—a story line.” We can clearly follow the thread of this story line in Obama’s speech. He adds meaning to their work and this is another requisite for a successful leadership communication: leaders need to connect the dots for people and help them see the greater purpose for their work.
In today’s climate, especially, it is important for leaders to speak in a way that connects with people, a way that engenders loyalty and commitment. Authentic, personal experiences, empathy, a hopeful vision, stories and metaphors are powerful weapons in a leader’s arsenal. They are the megaphone for the leader’s voice.
Meetings may be the number one complaint in today’s workplaces. More and more people view attendance at meetings as a form of time theft that they have to endure. This mind-set causes some to show up at meetings in person, but not in spirit. Woody Allen’s often quoted words that “eighty percent of success is showing up” works in reverse here—it is better not to attend a meeting at all, than to show up as a potted plant. Emotional disengagement in meetings leaks through and this is not in anyone’s best interest.
Meetings are a prime opportunity to show leadership in the room. Whether a meeting is well run or not, as a participant, you can stand out from the crowd by doing your share to contribute to the success of a meeting. Here are some pointers:
Be a front-seater.
Don’t sit in the back of the room, waiting to make a speedy exit. Get out of the shadows and choose a seat right opposite the leader, if you can. This will increase your visibility and opportunities for engagement.
Don’t be the first to leave.
Stay behind, speak with the meeting leader. Offer your feedback if the meeting was helpful to you. Make a genuinely appreciative or constructive remark. Thank someone for their contributions.
Build on the ideas of others.
Honor a colleague’s idea by referring to it and adding your perspective. Acknowledging someone else’s contribution is rarely done and is the mark of a leader.
Criticize ideas not people.
Arguing against an idea is fair game but attacking people in the process attracts negative attention. Personal attacks, especially in a meeting with others, are emotional violations. Replace statements such as “I don’t follow your logic at all” with “Jim, help me understand how you arrived at this conclusion.”
Make positivity your hallmark.
There are those who pride themselves for being “The Devil’s Advocate.” Research shows that these individuals snuff the life out of innovation. Be the voice in the room that infuses the meeting with positivity. Leaders value those who adopt a positive stance and help others see what’s right and what works, rather than focus on what’s wrong. A study showed that senior executives use positive words four times as often as negative words. That’s one way to genuinely boost your executive presence.
Be brief to be heard.
One of the most frustrating issues in meetings is individuals who ramble on and, often, take the meeting off track. State your issue succinctly and get to the point quickly; if this is a problem for you, think through the sequence of your ideas before the meeting, paring down unnecessary details. Master the 30 second answer—this is especially important if you are meeting with C-level executives. Meetings are expensive: don’t use the meeting for discussions that are best handled in a one-on-one meeting.
Above all, learn to notice the silent messages your peers are giving you when you stray from the topic and waste their time. You know the signs but you may have developed a habit of ignoring them: do they avert their eyes, drum their fingers, seem restless, speak with a neighbor, check the time or catch up on their Blackberry messages? Do too many people start to take bathroom breaks? Catch yourself: acknowledge that you digressed, go back to main topic and briefly reiterate your main point.
Learn to build rapport.
First meetings, especially, are crucial for developing rapport that can lead to a successful business relationship. Knowing as much as you can about the person you are meeting is now a lot easier and faster with Noteleaf; this is a novel Google application that creates a mobile profile of your meeting. It includes the photograph of the person you are meeting with, the LinkedIn profile, work history, mutual acquaintances, and tweets. This application will make your search for rapport building topics easier.
Nowhere is rapport building more important than in the first sales meeting with a prospective customer. In the video, Rapport Building, Ian Gilbert, president of Third Core, provides some useful advice on how to accomplish this successfully. It involves a sincere desire to understand what is important for the client as well as knowing what questions to ask. Start the discussion by asking them what they would like to get out of the meeting. Aim for the right tone: as Gilbert states, “too much reverence… or too much salesman like behavior… creates the wrong kind of bond.” You want to create as near a peer relationship as possible based on the value that you may be able to bring to the meeting. This enhances your meeting presence.
Tom Peters, business author and speaker, once said: “Meetings are the # 1 leadership opportunity. Like it or not, meetings are by definition the principal stage for exhibiting leadership.” While Peters’ statement is directed at leaders, it applies equally well to meeting participants. Choose every meeting opportunity to showcase your leadership abilities. It will set you apart from the crowd.
Alfred Hitchcock, the master of suspense movies, once said: “Always make the audience suffer as much as possible.” Today, this statement can easily be applied to the majority of speakers delivering business presentations. Giving a bad presentation is tantamount to mental abuse. What’s more, no matter how important or valuable our content is, if it is not presented in a way that sparks and maintains attention, we lose.
Here are nine practical tips to help you deliver engaging presentations that will keep the audience focused on your message:
1. Be mindful of the 10-minute rule.
It is a well-known fact that attention wanes after about 10 minutes. However, most presenters seem to forget this and continue to drone on for an hour or more; they move from mind-numbing slide to slide, unaware of the painful effect on the audience. When you create your presentation, plan to have a strategic change every ten minutes. A change can be as simple as asking a good question that can stimulate some audience interaction. It can be showing a pertinent video clip, telling a relevant story, or getting the audience to do something, such as analyzing a diagram. You can also press “B” on your keyboard to blacken your screen. Then switch to presenting the next segment in your presentation using a different medium, such as writing on a flipchart or whiteboard. Sameness generates boredom; a change, even minor, recaptures attention.
2. Use images.
In Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home, and School, Dr. John Medina reminds us that “Vision trumps all other senses.” When we hear a piece of information, three days later we’ll remember only 10% of it; but if we add a picture, we’ll remember 65%. The message is loud and clear: text-based slides are ineffective in maintaining attention and aiding memory. Spice up your presentations with images. You can get good quality, affordable images from sites such as iStockphoto and Fotolia.
3. Represent bullets in graphical form.
Show some of the bullets on your slides in an appealing, visual way. The SmartArt feature in PowerPoint is a good choice, however, since most presenters use SmartArt, stand out from the crowd by buying different diagrams from sites such as Duarte or Slideshop. Check out Prezi, as well, and watch how this presentation software energizes your talk.
4. Honor the audience.
Nothing perks up an audience more than switching the limelight from you to them. A simple statement such as: “I know there is a great deal of talent in this room. I encourage to bring that talent to bear and share your thoughts on the topic with the rest of the group.”
5. Use alternatives to lecturing.
There are many alternatives to lecturing when you deliver information. For example, you can decide to present one part of your presentation in the form of a mind map: draw the mind map on a flipchart as you speak or animate the mind map in your slide, using mind mapping software such as Matchware or Mindjet. Give it a try and see how it keeps the audience more focused on your presentation.
6. Connect the dots for people.
Help people see the flow of your presentation so that they can easily understand where you have been and where you are headed. Use signposts, such as “The first reason was . . .Now, I’ll address the second reason…” Above all, insert transitions that help people understand why they should care: “What I am going to say next is especially crucial for the success of this project…”; “The one thing I would like you to remember is…”; “Why is this important to our company?”; “What does this mean for us?” These transitions answer the crucial “So What?” question in the audience’s mind and helps to re-engage audience members who may have tuned you out.
7. Learn the art of the question.
Have a repertoire of questions that you can draw from in the moment. While we all know the value of open-ended questions, it is sometimes difficult to think of them on the spot. Above all, use questions that keep the conversation going when someone asks you a question or makes a comment: For example, “What led you to this conclusion?”; “How would you explain this?”; “How does this tie in with…”; “Could you give me an example of what you mean?”; or simply: “Tell me more.”
8. Don’t use the slides as your speaking notes.
It is astounding how many otherwise intelligent people continue to display slides that are dense with text and expect the audience to simultaneously read the slides and listen to them speak. This is by far the most egregious sin a presenter can commit. In the RSA Animate, 5 Things Every Presenter Needs To Know About People, Dr. Susan Weinschenk illustrates how the visual channel trumps auditory. As Weinschenk states, “If you have complicated information for people to read or look at, then they are not going to be listening to you anymore. The sensory combination of slides that are filled with text and a speaker who is talking is just a bad combination.” Don’t do this.
9. Avoid the graveyard shift.
If you can, avoid presenting right after lunch. The optimal time for maximum attention are the hours between 7:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m.
It is a privilege to have people listen to us. With that privilege comes a responsibility—the responsibility to deliver our information in a stimulating and intellectually engaging way. It pays to devote some time to learn how to improve your presentation skills. Business author and speaker, Tom Peters, put it best: “Presentation skills are worthy of extreme, obsessive study.” This is a smart business move for anyone whose success depends on communicating key company messages.
One of the most common reasons we experience presentation anxiety is the fear that we will forget what we have to say and, therefore, risk losing credibility. And the remedy that many adopt to address this fear is to create PowerPoint slides as a memory aid. This is short-sighted because nothing erodes your credibility as a speaker faster than signaling to the audience that you are dependent on your slides.
Seasoned presenters are able to announce a slide before showing it. At a minimum, they know their material so well that all they need to do is just briefly glance at the slide to know what’s coming next. You can achieve this by learning to use some simple memory boosting practices to better remember your presentation material and, in so doing, reduce your anxiety.
Here are nine tips to help you remember what you have to say:
Use the Palace Method
Research into brain science has now proven that there is a very deep connection between the way we remember an event and the space in which it occurred. The brain system that is important for memory is also important for space; in other words, we remember things on the basis of spatial locations or “spatial scaffolds.” This is an ancient memory technique, commonly referred to as The Palace Method or Mind Palace. To learn how to use the method, watch Joshua Foer’s video: “To Remember Better, Build a Mansion in Your Mind or read the author’s book, Moonlighting with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything.
Use Mind Maps
Mind maps are diagrams that allow you to lay out all of your presentation material in a visual shape rather than in list form. This can be a powerful memory aid as the visual shape or image is imprinted in your brain and makes it easier to recall the information than a linear list of items, especially if you are a visual learner. Try practicing your presentation from a mind map rather than from traditional notes and see what happens.
You can draw mind maps manually or you can purchase mind mapping software such as Matchware or MindGenius.
Know the value of focusing for 8 seconds
Memory experts tell us that it takes an uninterrupted eight seconds for a piece of information to be processed through the hippocampus and into memory—this is how information is encoded in our brain. Examine how you go about preparing for a presentation. Are you concentrating fully on the task of transferring the information from your notes into memory? Or are you in the habit of interrupting yourself by checking email, reacting to each Blackberry ring or answering the phone? Remember the crucial 8 seconds rule and carve out dedicated time when you can be laser-focused on rehearing the information without any interruptions. You will not only know your material better but you will also shorten your preparation time considerably.
Practice the 20-20-20 rule of rehearsal
How long should you be rehearsing your presentation? Memory experts recommend the 20-20-20 rule which prescribes going over the details of a presentation for 20 minutes, then repeating the same material twice more. If material is not repeated within 30 minutes, it is not encoded into long-term memory.
Rehearse out loud
Researchers have found that memory improved by more than 10% for words spoken out loud. Rehearse your entire presentation out loud for no less than 5 to 6 times. Do this and watch your confidence in the material grow as you not only boost your memory of the material but you end up turning the presentation from a mere recital of facts to something that you have truly internalized—it changes the presentation from a thespian activity to a message that you deliver from the inside out.
Practice to music
Music is an effective tool to help us retain information. Dr. Georgi Lozanov, a psychologist, developed a methodology for teaching foreign languages which involved using baroque music with about sixty beats per minute. This type of music activates the left and right brain; the simultaneous action of both hemispheres maximizes the retention of information. Students not only learned in a fraction of the normal time, but they had an average of 92 percent retention. The same applies to retaining your presentation material. Consider listening to music while rehearsing your presentation, to help you absorb and retain large amounts of information.
Record your presentation
A simple, yet surprisingly not widely-known, feature in PowerPoint is the record narration function. This allows you to record yourself delivering your presentation and then playing it back. Hearing yourself narrating your presentation from slide to slide will boost your ability to remember your material, as you are now using a visual and auditory memory aid. If you are unfamiliar with this feature, see the step-by-step video “How to Record a Narration for a PowerPoint Presentation for Dummies.”
Rehearse before bedtime
Neuroscientists have uncovered a link between sleep and learning and memory. Sleep enhances the consolidation of recently-acquired information in our memory system. So, if you rehearse your presentation just before bedtime, you are more likely to remember the material more easily in the morning. Try doing this for your next presentation.
Improve your working memory
Working memory, also referred to as our “mental chalkboard” is a system in our brain that allows us to temporarily retain and manipulate information necessary for complex tasks such as language comprehension, reasoning and learning new things. Improving our working memory can be helpful in controlling our ability to pay attention and remember things. In a Psychology Today article, William Klemm, Professor of Neuroscience at Texas A&M University, writes that research now shows that working memory can be strengthened by training. He refers to Cogmed, a new computer software program, which has been found helpful in improving working memory through a series of daily exercises. More on Cogmed’s method can be seen in this video.
Keep in mind that only you know the ideas that you intend to present. If you forget a part, simply move on and the audience is not likely to even notice. You are not delivering an opera where the audience has a libretto to follow your script. If you remember something later, simply say so: “There is one other item I would like to add,” or “Let me digress for a moment to mention another point.” As the 19th century public orator, Henry Ward Hughes said long ago, “Worry is rust upon the blade.” Stay sharp by replacing the time used for worry with time spent to acquire some of these memory improvement tools.
There is a growing body of research on the link between likability and authenticity and trustworthiness. Even expert witnesses, providing court testimony, are viewed as more credible if — in addition to appearing trustworthy, knowledgeable, and confident — they are also likable. The same applies to a presenter who seeks to establish credibility in the eyes of the audience. Likability, coupled with authenticity, is one of the cornerstones of credibility as a speaker.
During presentations, we often unwittingly behave in ways that make us unlikable. Some presenters subtly manifest annoyance if someone asks an adversarial question; others slip into veiled sarcasm with an audience member they may not like; a few may inadvertently seem to ridicule someone who makes what they consider to be a vacuous point. Those on the receiving end perceive these emotional signals we are transmitting even if they are subtle. The messages clearly announce to the audience members involved that we don’t like them and they become receptors of our negativity towards them.
A presenter who is emotionally intelligent learns to control this emotional leakage. While this is the decent thing to do, it is also a smart thing to do: In an interview on Management Consulting News, Robert Cialdini, author of Influence: Science and Practice, states that “People can tell when you like them. And everything changes in the hands of somebody who likes me. Maybe I believe an insurance agent or a stockbroker is a real expert. Well, expertise may not be enough. I want an expert who likes me and then I’ve got both sides covered.” We are more likely to protect the interests of those we like, which boosts our trustworthiness and credibility.
As a presenter, then, being likable is as important as being knowledgeable about your topic. Keep in mind the 15/85 percent rule of presentations: 15 percent of your presentation’s success is based on your formal education, background, and knowledge. The other 85 percent is based on who you are rather than what you know. As Keld Widinberg Jensen (nominated best speaker in Scandinavia) put it: “The main reason you will be successful is whether people will trust you and believe in you…whether they will find you credible and likable.”
How can you boost your likability as a presenter? Here are 12 pointers:
Respect the listeners’ intelligence by not lecturing to them.
Use “we” or “us” when referring to groups.
Show genuine friendliness to the audience. The simplest way to do this is to smile and to use people’s names.
Disclose some personal information. This makes you approachable and more familiar and natural to the audience.
Be confident without being arrogant. A little humility is attractive and makes us likable.
Allow people to save face, that is, to maintain their dignity. Even if you don’t agree with an audience member, don’t use defiant contradiction.
Be authentic. If you don’t know something, admit it. Readily acknowledge a potential error or an uncertainty.
Practice small courtesies such as thanking an audience member for asking a question or making an observation.
Use a conversational tone and less technical jargon.
Don’t take up all the oxygen in the room. Listen attentively and give audience contributors their moment — turn the limelight on them.
Take a likeability test to discover the positive and negative feelings that you produce in others. Self-awareness precedes self-management.
Observe someone you consider likeable and try to dissect what makes them likeable, whether online or in person.
In the words of Roger Ailes, president of Fox News Channel, “If you could master one element of personal communications that is more powerful than anything… it is the quality of being likable…. If your audience likes you, they’ll forgive just about everything else you do wrong.”
There is a large body of work concerning the way women’s communication style differs from that of men. For example, there is research suggesting that females downplay their certainty, while males downplay their doubts. In an effort to crack the female linguistic code, some have even gone so far as to assert that women and men speak different languages. But stereotyping the way women or men speak is dangerous and can be misleading.
A more reliable way of looking at the issue of communication styles is to look at it from the point of view of personality which is independent of gender. Some individuals have a more personal or trusting approach while others have a more impersonal and skeptical approach to communication. Within the framework of a personality assessment such as the Myers-Briggs, these different types are labeled as Feelers and Thinkers.
If you are not sure whether you are predominantly a Feeling or Thinking type, you can take a quick quiz here. Thinkers place more weight on objective principles and analysis when making decisions while Feelers are more influenced by a concern for harmony and impact on the people involved. Thinkers are more questioning and critical, while Feelers are more accommodating and accepting of others.
If we are influenced by stereotypes, we might conclude that the majority of males are overwhelmingly Thinkers while statistics indicate that a whopping 43.5 % of males in the U.S. are Feelers. As for females, statistics show that approximately 25% have thinking preferences, i.e. are firm, tough-minded, ends-oriented as opposed to those with feeling preferences who are gentle, tender-hearted, and means-oriented.
With this in mind, here are recommendations for improving communication with both types, regardless of gender:
Tips for Thinkers:
Work on being more approachable.
Consider that your style may be intimidating to some team members. Intimidation is not your ally. Work on making others feel safe in your presence. They will be more likely to share their insights with you and support you.
Listen without judgment.
If you habitually use an evaluation approach when you listen, i.e. you judge and then either agree or disagree, consider listening without judgment at first. This requires a great deal of discipline but suspending judgment and giving the other person the space to be heard is a prized skill that will instantly improve your interactions with others. As Steven Covey has said: “Seek first to understand, then to be understood.”
Use discretion when questioning others.
Know when questioning others’ insights and contributions adds value to the discussion and when it is gratuitous and the result of force of habit. For example, at your next meeting, ask yourself if your questioning approach is to genuinely look at the bigger picture or if it is sub-consciously intended to show how smart you are. If it is the latter, temper your zeal with discretion.
Tips for Feelers:
Don’t avoid difficult conversations.
Most of us have at least one conversation that we are avoiding—a conversation that the longer we put off, the worse the situation becomes. Develop the courage to face these difficult people issues. You do this by acquiring a few conflict resolution tools to help you become more comfortable with adversity. A primer for learning how to conduct these high-stakes conversations is Difficult Conversations: How to Discuss What Matters Most. Courage is a muscle; the more we use it, the stronger we become.
Wait for others to ask for advice before proffering it.
In your desire to help, do you have a tendency to rush in to give advice, to solve others’ problems for them? Establish clear boundaries of what is your problem to fix and what is others’ concern. Offer advice, if you are asked, but refrain from being everyone’s savior. Consider how being consumed by others derails you from focusing on what matters.
Improve your decision-making process.
Balance your strong concern for the people issues with a concern for the bottom line. Set up priorities and develop a more analytic approach when making decisions. Take this test to find out how good your decision-making style skill is. If you need help in this area, consider examining the 40+ decision-making techniques at Mindtools to increase your ability to make more impartial decisions.
It helps to understand that there is no good or bad when it comes to Feelers or Thinkers—both approaches are necessary aspects of healthy communication. But each type also carries liabilities, especially when done to excess. Winston Churchill once said: “Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak. Courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.” Both Feelers and Thinkers could benefit from this advice.
