communication skills drive your career

Communication SkillsDrive Your Career

Subtitle: “Whether you know it…or not!”

Session ID #: 9-1294

Track 9: Personal & Career Development

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PHOTOGRAPHY & VIDEO RECORDING POLICY

Dave Imming

• VP Quality and Perfect Execution

• Operations, project management, software development, marketing, quality

• Education:

- Chemical Engineer – Oklahoma State

- MBA – St. Edward’s University

• Many presentations, numerous emails, made lots of mistakes!

PRESENTER

EducationEducation

Other Work ExperiencesOther Work Experiences

Procter

& Gamble

Phillips

66

Zebra

Imaging

OUR MISSION TODAY

Improve your

communications

for career success!

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE THIS SPEAKER?

Winston Churchill

• Good

• Great

• Motivational

• Eloquent

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE THIS SPEAKER?

Steve Jobs

• Good

• Great

• Master storyteller

• Captivating

WHAT IF I TOLD YOU….

• Terrible

• Awful

• Nervous

They were BOTH:

• Age 29

• Speech in House of Commons

• Froze for three whole minutes

• Sat down in despair

• Covered his head with his hands

• Age 23

• youtube.com/watch?v=Eb9YTXmPolo

• Very nervous

• “I am definitely ill”

• “I am ready to throw up”

BECOMING A GREAT PRESENTER IS A JOURNEY…

Effectiveness

Time

LESSON 1:

“I am just like

Jobs & Churchill!”

AGENDA

1. Do communication skills matter?

2. Creating an effective presentation

3. Choosing the “right” communication(and tips for writing)

DO YOUR COMMUNICATION SKILLS MATTER?

You are communicating ALL THE TIME:

• Applying for a job via an email, letter or phone call

• Job Interviews

• Meetings – in person, teleconference, webconference

• Networking functions

• Speaking to colleagues and staff

• Writing emails, letters, texts

• Presenting – internal, customers, technical…

• Speaking engagements – Social, recognition…


Other people form opinions about you based on:

• What you say

• How you say it

• How “clearly” your ideas come across

• How they perceive the message they received

• Your upper management exposure isoften LIMITED to a few formal presentations

LESSON 2:

Communication

Skills Matter!

Question: If asked to do a presentation at work, two levels up,

I would: _________________________

20%

POP QUIZ

A. “jump right in with positive enthusiasm!”

B. “accept my fate and get busy working on it.”

C. “procrastinate until the last possible minute.”

D. “consider calling in sick or get a colleague to do it,

even if I lose respect at work…”

CREATING AN EFFECTIVE PRESENTATION

1. Create the Story

2. Refine & Rehearse

3. Stand & Deliver!


1.Create the Storya. Objective (Don’t make slides!)

b. Audience (Don’t make slides!)

c. Key Points (Don’t make slides!)

d. Storyline (Don’t make slides!)

e. Outline (Don’t make slides!)

f. Now make slides

1. CREATE THE STORY

Objective

• Why are you meeting? Why are you presenting?

• Outcome? What does success look like?

• Examples: Get your funding, co-workers trained

1. CREATE THE STORY

Audience

• Peers? Subordinates? Executives? Outside your company?

• Technical? Knowledge level?

• Demographics?

• Emotional? Expectations? Beliefs?

• Voluntary? Compulsory?

• Size? 3? 10? 40? 1,000? 3,000?

• Setting?

• Audience interests vs yours…?

1. CREATE THE STORY

Key Points

• What are the audience “take aways”?

• Answer the question “Why should I care?”

• What’s the “Ask” or “Call to action”?

• Do the “points” justify the “ask”?

1. CREATE THE STORY

Storyline

• What is the right “flow” or “sequence”?

• Opener: Attention getter? Factoid? Teaser? Background?

• What does the audience have to know first? Second? Third?

• Do they need a “mental model”?

• Logical argument? Emotional appeal? Both?

THE RULE OF THREE

Many stories use the “Rule of Three”:

• Easy to remember (shortest pattern)

• Used in various forms:

- Simple or cumulative(Method 1, 2 and 3)

- Ascending(Good, Better, Best)

- Contrasting Extremes & Balance(Too hot, too cold, just right)

• Blood, sweat and tears

• Calm, cool and collected

• Past, present and future

• Stop, look and listen

“CLASSIC” STORY LINES

The Seven Basic Plots

1. Overcoming the monster (Dracula, Star Wars)

2. Rags to Riches (Cinderella, Great Expectations)

3. The Quest (Odyssey, Raiders of the Lost Ark))

4. Voyage and Return (Alice in Wonderland)

5. Comedy (Much Ado About Nothing)

6. Tragedy (Macbeth, Carmen)

7. Rebirth (The Frog Prince, A Christmas Carol)

Have fun with the audience, dropping the breadcrumbs……leading to: conclusion, surprise ending, recommendation

By Source, Fair use,

https://en.wikipedia.org/w/

index.php?curid=40498231

MAKE YOUR MESSAGE “MEMORABLE”

• Simple – the core of the idea

• Unexpected – grab attention by surprise!

• Concrete – specific, tangible, real, examples

• Credible – must have enough believability

• Emotional – need to see “why important?”

• Stories – we forget facts, but retain narrativesBy Source, Fair use,

https://en.wikipedia.org/w/

index.php?curid=15963038

PERSUASIVE SELLING / PRODUCT INTRODUCTIONS

1. Answer the one question that matters most

• Why should I (the audience) care?

2. Twitter-Like Headlines

• “MacBook Air: World’s thinnest laptop”

• “Apple reinvents the phone”

3. Provide an outline (and clear transitions)

4. Make numbers meaningful

• “1,000 songs in your pocket” (not Gigabytes)

• “20,000 iPhones sold per day” (not 4 million iphones sold)

5. Passion, enthusiasm - have fun!

BUSINESS ISSUES

Common BUSINESS ISSUE storyline:

1. Background (past)

2. Current Situation (present)

3. Problem / Opportunity Statement (decision)

4. Alternative Courses of Action (+++ / ---- of each)

5. Recommendation & Justification (why?)

6. Summary / Next Steps (ask / future)

CRAFTING AN EFFECTIVE “CLOSE”

A. Briefly recap the journey

B. Reveal the conclusion

C. Make your “ask”

D. Tie back to opener

In Summary:

• Key point 1

• Key point 2

• Key point 3

1. CREATE THE STORY

Outline

• Key Points + Storyline are decided! Yay!

• Write outline:

- Document the sections, flow, storyline

- Where do the key points make their entrance?

- What information, facts or sub-plots lead up to the key points?

- Craft the opening and closing (Attention getting? Ask?)

• What slides help you tell this story? Where and when?

• Transitions? Gaps? Points of confusion? Rabbit holes?

• Do the key points and the story justify the ask?

Key Points

• Key Pt 1

• Key Pt 2

• Key Pt 3

Storyline

Detailed

Outline

1. CREATE THE STORY

Now make slides!

1. CREATE THE STORY

This is a “document” And THIS is a “slide”

Seize

the Day!

MAKING GREAT SLIDES

• Consider a slide as a “sentence” – what is the MESSAGE?

• How best to convey the message?

• Tombstone?

Diagram? Photo? Prop?

Or Demo?

Or Audience Participation?

Numbers, graph?

IDEALLY, KEEP IT SIMPLE…

ONE CHART ONE IDEA

In 2018 SUVs and Trucks were over HALF the market!

MORE SLIDE GUIDELINES

• Limit amount of text, because too much text can be a little overwhelming and distracting to read, I mean, seriously, you don’t have to include every single word that you are considering saying during your talk, you could, but don’t!

• Font 30 Works, Font 24 okay, Font 16 a bit difficult, Font 10 ugh!, Font 8 you idiot!, Font 4 no no no

• Fonts – limit to two

• High res graphics, avoid clip art

• Use animation / transitions sparingly

It’s just the beginning!

USING GRAPHS EFFECTIVELY

Pie - Percentages Column/Line – change over time

Kinesthetic, 5%

Auditory, 30%

Visual, 65%

Learning Style

0

20

40

60

80

2016 2017 2018 2019

Production (Actual)

0 20 40 60 80 100

North Location

South Location

Downtown

Campus Store

Monthly Sales ($K) By Store Location

Horizontal Bar – compare quantities

NEVER DO THIS!

I KNOW this is

kind of an eye

chart, but…

BAD THINGS WILL HAPPEN TO YOU - LIKE “THIS”!!!!!

Okay, maybe not this bad, but your

presentation won’t be well received!


1. Create the Story


2. REFINE & REHEARSE

2. Refine & Rehearsea. Practice, Practice, Practice

b. “Clear” your slides

c. Touch � Turn � Talk

d. Script � Highlight � Key Messages

e. Final rehearsals


Practice, Practice, Practice

• Start off by yourself

• Practice OUT LOUD!

• Be intentional with gestures

• Don’t memorize, focus on ideas

• Practice “clearing” all complex charts

“CLEAR” THE SLIDE

“Allow me to continue droning on about my last chart…rehashing points I have already made…”

While a new, interesting visualis put in front of you…

“This graph shows the distribution of last year’s sales by vehicle type.”

WRONG WAY RIGHT WAY

Blah, blah,

blah about

LAST chart…

“This graph shows how SUV’s have become the largest segment of the market!”

OR…

TOUCH � TURN � TALK

• Facing AWAY from audience

• Voice in wrong direction

• Reading your charts

• Not knowing slides

WRONG WAY RIGHT WAYRIGHT WAY

• TOUCH – section of chart to draw attention (point, pointer)

• TURN your head to audience

• TALK when you’re facing them


Practice with other people

• Formally – the whole talk (family, soon to be former friends)

• Informally – portions of the talk (lunch, dinner, hallway)


Script � Highlight � Key Messages

A. Script

- Follow outline

- Write out exactly what you want to say

B. Highlight

- Now highlight most important words / phrases

- Delete other words

C. Key Messages

- Rephrase/refine wording for each highlighted area

- Final product � Key messages


Final Rehearsals (done refining)

• When the slide comes up, think to yourself…“I have three points, ____, ____ & ____”

• Practice “clearing” slides

• Practice intentional gestures, move purposefully

• Get feedback and/or video your presentation

• TED Talk presenter Dr. Jill Bolte-Taylor practiced her talk 200 times. "Stroke of Insight" has been viewed over 22 million times and ranked as one of the most popular TED talks of all time.

• 1 hour speech � 30 hours of rehearsal (not including development)

YOU DO NOT WANT YOUR AUDIENCE…

WHAT??HUH??

• Not relevant

• Not enthusiastic

• Moving too slow

• Charts too dense / Font too small

• No outline / unclear transitions

• Didn’t “clear the slide”

DAZED & CONFUSED

DISTRACTED


1. Create the Story


3. Stand & Deliver!

3. STAND & DELIVER

3. Stand & Delivera. Be prepared = Be confident

b. Stage Presence

c. Managing nervous energy

3. STAND & DELIVER

Be prepared = Be confident• Your practice and preparation will make you confident

- Words

- Gestures

• You have a strong self-interest in the topic – Show it!

• Relate how YOU FELT about the topics as you discovered them, learned more about them, what was interesting to YOU…? What did YOU wonder about?

• You DO NOT have to be funny, clever, eloquent, sophisticated –just be YOU!

• Enthusiastic!

3. STAND & DELIVER

Stage Presence• Breathe deeply & project voice

• Be present in the moment

• Read the audience

• Vocal dynamics

• Use dramatic pauses if appropriate

• Stand and move with authority

CONTROLLING NERVOUSNESS / ANXIETY

• Being a little nervous is NORMAL

• Visualize a successful talk

• Know the “main ideas” for each slide

• Know your talk, especiallythe first two or three slides

• Nervousness � too much adrenaline � MOVE your body

Right Way! �

(purposeful)Wrong Way! �

(random)

CONTROLLING NERVOUSNESS / ANXIETY

WRONG WAY RIGHT WAY

• Focus on ONE PERSON for ONE COMPLETE idea!

• 5 seconds at least

• Rest of room fades away (1:1)

• 1:1 � Calmness ☺

• Scanning back and forth rapidly

• Too much stimulus for brain

• Over stimulation � Anxiety

3. STAND & DELIVER

If something goes wrong…

• Don’t make it a big deal

• Have lines ready:

- “You gotta love computers…”

- “THAT didn’t happen in the practice runs…”

- “I guess Flickr isn’t showing photos today…”

• Grin and bear it

• Worst case – Go back to YOUR STORY

- “What you’d be seeing now is a chart showing how production has been decreasing over time…”


1. Create the Story


3. Stand & Deliver!

LESSON 3:

Not magic!

Preparation &

Practice!

AGENDA




PhoneCall

WebEx

Meeting

Letter

Webpage

DO NOT USE THE SAME TOOL FOR “EVERYTHING”!

Texting

Favorite communication tool (usually email)

CHOOSING THE “RIGHT” COMMUNICATION – “NEEDS”

• Communicating with ONE person? A FEW? MANY?

• SIMPLE message? Or COMPLICATED?

• PERSONAL?

• URGENT?

• Require ACTION for recipient?

• Need Q&A? Feedback? (2 way communication??)

• Awareness? Discussion? Educational?

CHOOSING THE “RIGHT” COMMUNICATION

TextFormal

Reports

“Richness”

Personal

2 way

Visual

Impersonal

1 way

TextHard to capture

Hard to distributeEasy to capture

Easy to distribute“Dissemination

Convenience”

Email

WebEx

Teleconference

Meeting

Phone Call

Grapevine

Key Takeaway: You have

choices, with different

strengths and weaknesses –

use them!

ONE WAY COMMUNICATION

Key Takeaway:ONE WAY communications can go WRONG in SO many ways!

TIPS FOR WRITING

• Considerations are similar to a “presentation” (audience, message, story, flow, using an outline, etc.)

• “Denotation” and “Connotation”

• Readers interpret “tone” from word choice and phrasing

• ARE YOU SHOUTING?????

• No feedback, no clarifications: one chance to get it right

I am

unclear,

but I want

money…

TWO GREAT RULES OF WRITING

“The essence of writing is rewriting”

“Don’t write to be understood…

…write so that you cannot be misunderstood”

1.

2.

TIPS FOR EFFECTIVE BUSINESS WRITING

• Make it easy to read or scan

• Simple and clear headline

• Avoid jargon and clichés

• Be brief

• Use active voice

• Proofread

AGENDA




LESSON 1:

“I am just like

Jobs & Churchill!”

LESSON 2:

Communication

Skills Matter!

LESSON 3:

Not magic!

Preparation &

Practice!


1. Create the Story


3. Stand & Deliver!

OTHER COMMUNICATIONS & WRITING

1. You have many tools, use them!

2. Consider complexities, size of audience, distribution…

3. Written is great, but challenging

Other communications:

TextFormal

Reports

“Richness”

Personal

2 way

Visual

Impersonal

1 way

TextHard to capture

Hard to distributeEasy to capture

Easy to distribute“Dissemination

Convenience”

Email

WebEx

Teleconference

Meeting

Phone Call

Grapevine

BUSINESS RESULTS ACHIEVED

Improve your

communications

for career success!

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communication skills drive your career

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