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For a community to work , there are three important factors –

There must be TRUST between the members of the group
Each member must CONFORM to the Social Norms
RECIPROCITY – each member must give without expecting anything in return.

The need to belong is apart of being human. So how can we work with this need to belong to help us within our community and with building our tribe for our business?

1. People love to be involved – and show their expertise.

2. Always show appreciation for whatever people help you with

3. There’s plenty of people out there to help, you only have to ask

“Magic Happens when people come together to share”

Whether this is on a business field or a community field , the relationships that are built are essential for people’s well being and the business well being. Be grateful for the help and assistance people give you. Then they will be delighted to assist you.

Here’s a marvellous article on ways approaches to building a community – http://www.inc.com/miki-agrawal/community-is-everything.html

Thank you to Phil Preston and Julie Garland-McLellan for their input into this article. The idea for this blog was from attending the National Speakers Association of Australia NSW chapter meeting.

Friday 28th February, 2014 – I had the immense pleasure of attending a lecture by Artist, Professor and Writer, Odili Donald Odita at the Barnes Foundation, Philedelphia.Odili Donald Odita is a Nigerian visual artist who has had an incredible career with numerous gallery and museum exhibitions – his works are on large industrial projects as well as in galleries.

Odili Donald Odita had a discussion about art on an intellectual level – about what artists were attempting to do with their art , in what ever medium they work. Odili was discussing the current exhibition at the Barnes Foundation by Yinka Shonibare MBE : Magic Ladders along with his own work. Odili focused on how artists like Yinka Shonibare use common influences of color, pattern and music to create a diverse range of artistic forms.

The discussion was enthralling, he raised many interesting concepts but I couldn’t help but think that with these following points, there was a real cross-over and similarity with art and delivering a presentation.

The artist needed to be Authentic– an artist can use ideas from various sources, put their own creative input into the ideas and then give back those ideas including their creativeness.
Then important concept here is to be Authentic with the delivery.When delivering presentations, this is the same – they are there to learn and be able to use the discussed ideas in their own world along with seeing the real you. As a presenter, sure discuss concepts others have discussed in the past but you need to be authentic – show your own passion , interest, enthusiasm about the presentation to really get your message across successfully.
By looking at art, it takes the viewer into a new place of consciousness. An artist wants to create a “Situational Pause” to make the viewer reassess their situation.This is precisely what a successful presentation does.A Successful presentation will take the audience into a new place of consciousness, bring a new awareness about the topic and make them think about their situation. If your presentation successfully does this , you will get your message across and most likely have your message stick in the minds of your audience.

You can do this with a story that your audience will identify with or by using emotion or even humour. Take your audience into a new place of consciousness and make them think!

So the similarities with art and delivering presentations are much closer than first thought – what situational pause can you put in your next presentation to make impact?

Join us at our Business Speakers Forum , 10th April, 2014 at the Chatswood club,
6 – 8.30pm. See: http://www.meetup.com/Business-Speakers-Forum/

By developing Public Speaking skills, not only is the skill of speaking in front of groups developed.By building the confidence to get up and speak in front of people this will impact on many areas of your life. This will assist you to achieve the success you are wanting.

By working on public speaking skills, You will:

Develop the voice within you to appropriately have your say. Build the confidence to speak your mind when required. By building this confidence, may mean you will get that promotion, gain that big client, get that new job, build more business, …

Public Speaking is a learned skill – by developing these skills those debilitating nerves will disappear and stop restricting you from achieving goals you would like to realise. When it comes to speaking in public, people hold themselves back from ambitions – new jobs and increased responsibilities because of the nervousness they feel when speaking in public. Ask and get to the public speaking training, you will be thrilled with the results.

By building confidence speaking to people and clearly getting your message across will all assist with more sales. If you are in Sales, by working on your public speaking skills you will develop the skills to get your message across clearly and concisely. You will also develop skills to keep your clients attention and interest.

You will be the leader you are wanting to be. If you are in the Technical Area or IT or any other role where you can make an impact , you will be able to train your staff more effectively. You will speak from a place of power and strength.

More Advertising and Sales campaigns will be won , more Business done. If you are in Advertising or any role that requires a presentation , by developing your public speaking skills when you go out to impress the client with your campaign , whatever the topic Advertising, Sales, Technical, IT, whatever, your connection with your clients will be impressive, they will listen more, take in more of what you are speaking about and you will be able to keep their attention.

You will understand the impact of good preparation, listening skills will be developed and ability to give supportive praise and feedback will also be developed. As a manager, by developing your public speaking skills, interactions with staff will be from a place of confidence.

You will be the expert in your field of endeavour. Confident, clearly able to express the concepts, knowledgeable and able to share the knowledge.

Don’t be held back. Build confidence in speaking in public and this will assist you in your journey to Success.

Business people are:

Strong and Powerful Individuals
Experts in their field
Capable in many areas

But when it comes to Promoting themselves –

They may find it difficult to know where to start
Modern Techniques can be challenging
Putting together a Presentation also can be daunting
May just not comfortable in Standing Out

By delivering presentations, you can Stand Out in front of a number of people and connect with them. This is the BEST way for people to get to know about you, what you stand for, who you serve, and what you help them do.

The next best presentation is by preparing a video , posting this on your website and this way your clients can get to know you. If you really connect with your audience , get your message across and get your audience’s interest then they will be interested in going a bit further into your sales cycle.

Delivering presentations successfully needs preparation and practice before the presentation. Video presentations need well written, short scripts and well prepared video to support the quality of your brand.

Developing Presentation Skills can be an amazing asset to build confidence around the area of promotion –

– Putting together a powerful presentation

– Connecting with your audience

– Really getting your message across

– Engaging with your audience

– Clearly explaining what you do

– Avoiding being bland or confusing

– Having a strong confident voice

– Standing Out – Being Visible and Credible

Would these skills assist you to promote your business? See: http://thespeakerspractice.com.au

At the beginning of the year ,especially, we are spurred onto dream more, create those goals that we want to achieve and see realised.But what spurs you on?What happens is that it all seems straight forward at the beginning and, yes, achievable – then the road blocks start to appear then the road blocks become hills then mountains that make us so uncomfortable that we can’t find over, around or even through.

So what can you do to get around those road blocks or climb those mountains?

Take public speaking as an example.

Speaking in front of a group is something that many of us find challenging. Some people would even rather not get that promotion if it meant not having to speak in front of groups. Being held back by a past difficult experience or lack of confidence.

So how can you learn and develop to get around this road block?

Learn – do some public speaking training – by learning the approaches to present well gives you the basis to work from, the confidence to prepare that presentation and experience in a safe environment. The Speakers Practice can help you here.
Grow – practice is the key – once you have the basics , keeping going, practice and more practice – taking every opportunity that comes your way whether its in a club environment, school council or workplace environment.
Develop – to develop needs persistence and resilience. Just keep going – small steps –even when the situation is challenging keep going and most importantly believe you can do it!
Achieve – Once you have done a presentation , or whatever your challenge is, look back and reflect at how far you have come – see that you have learnt, grown and developed and then continue on your journey!

Public speaking is a learnt skill – use these easy steps – learn, grow, develop and achieve and this will guide you around the road blocks to Success!

What ever your goal is for the future – Go for it!

The Voice is an exciting , performance based selection process for singers seeking to be the new, hot star. My family happened to get some free tickets to one of the blind auditions. We are under strict guidelines not to give away details – we are not allowed to say anything about the performances that got through or take photos of the auditorium or any part of the performance or performers – understandably – this is to keep the program a surprise for when it is broadcast. Still, audience members tried to snap that secret photo!

However, my interest is in what were the judges looking for? What helped the performer get through? It was gruelling for the performers and the standard is very high – they only had 2 minutes to grab the judges attention – what is it that made some performers stand out?

Whether it is singing or delivering a presentation at work – to get and keep your audience’s attention in whatever forum is the challenge for the presenter.

The Speakers Practice presentation skills training, the SpeakersTrainingCamp program ,details three very important areas that impact on the performance of a presenter.

Steak – the information and the way the information is structured during the presentation has a great impact on the overall ability of the audience to take in the content of the presentation.
Sizzle – the parts of the presentation that make us listen – examples like stories , photos, statistics – all sorts of methods to keep the audience watching and listening. For singers – it may be the highs and lows of the song and making some parts soft and some very loud – For presenters – it may be a story with a lot of emotional connection , using a pause to capture attention , a prop or some statistics and data that are presented in a clear, concise manner. You get to decide what works best and really gets your message across.
Style – this is the way the presenter delivers the content – eye contact, vocal variety, body language, and the list goes on. The important thing here is that the presenter needs to be authentic –

So what I learnt from attending The Voice Blind Auditions was that whether you are trying to get ahead on a top rating television show or you need to make a great impression with your next presentation to the boss, learning to develop these three major areas of your presentation – the Steak, Sizzle and Style , will really help the success of whatever your next presentation is.

Good Luck!

The Speakers Practice has invited Australian Business owners to submit articles on the topic of the Presentation Skills in the workplace. Contributors are experts in their industry , discussing aspects and giving advice concerning presentation skills in their field of expertise.

Julie has spent the last 10 years successfully assisting hundreds of people in overcoming fears, anxiety and a multitude of adversities. Julie is a therapist and speaker. She is currently studying to complete her qualification as a registered psychologist.

Julie is the leading Australian expert in Stress Management and her clinics are on the Central Coast and Crows Nest in Sydney.

Handling nervousness – How do we reduce those nerves when speaking ?

So do you find yourself sweating and feeling sick in your stomach when you think about speaking in front of people?

Do you have a fear of forgetting yours words?

How about, do your hands start to shake and your mouth goes dry?

In this video, Adrienne McLean is interviewing Julie Mac for our Friday Forum – Julie explains why some of us have these symptoms, why it happens, and what we can do to reduce those nerves when speaking. There’s some valuable ideas and approaches that we can all implement.

The Speakers Practice has invited Australian Business owners to submit articles on the topic of the Presentation Skills in the workplace. Contributors are experts in their industry , discussing aspects and giving advice concerning presentation skills in their field of expertise.

Phil Preston , a Strategic Engagement Specialist.
Phil is a former investment manager, responsible for researching and analysing $40 billion of investment exposures, and has since set up his own strategic engagement practice. He was invited to become a member of the first global practitioner network that specialises in helping businesses create shared value strategies

Phil’s work centres on community engagement. He helps busy people balance their work and home life and do something meaningful in their community. And he helps businesses go beyond donations and volunteering and finding ways of improving their financial returns and, at the same time, making a positive impact on the world. This is what we call ‘shared value.

This discussion covers how a business in Queensland went from Broke to the Top Franchisee in Australia in only 2 years. This is an incredible feat – it was done by implementing the “Shared Value” approach whilst promoting the business approach by speaking. Here’s Phil Preston discussing with Adrienne McLean how it all happened.

There is some real take home approaches that built the business by speaking

In your presentation , what are you focuing on?

If you are bombarding your audience with a huge amount of information, haven’t really thought about the real purpose of your presentation and if your presentation isn’t clearly organised – you will loose your audiences attention.

The audience’s attention is not very long – you have around 5 minutes – if you haven’t grasped your audience’s attention and interest in that time – their attention will start to waine and you will have to work much harder to get over your information that is so important to have you there in the first place.

Your focus when presenting your business overview, your pitch or speech is crucial.

Here are a number of questions that need to be asked when preparing a presentation.

1. Who is your audience and Why are they at your presentation?

2. What is the purpose of your presentation – Why are you giving this presentation?

3. What is the message you are wanting to leave your audience with? What is the thought you want your audience to remember about your presentation – in the next week, the next month, the next year from your presentation?

4. In your presentation, what are you focusing on? Is the focus of your presentation really matching your message and objectives of your presentation?

5. Are you focusing on the needs of your audience and is everything you are focusing on matching with your audience needs?

These are five crucial points that you need to be really clear about and focusing on when preparing, practicing and presenting your presentation? If your aim is to keep your audiences attention right through your presentation – Be very clear on these five points.

If you are wanting to work on your presentations, contact Adrienne McLean on adrienne@thespeakerspractice.com.au

The use of Umms, Ahhs , Errs or other Filler words can be the norm for some people when they deliver a speech at work or in various forums – this is the way a speaker gives him or her-self time to think of the words they want to use. The problem is ,that if you Umm and Ahh, it is distracting to your audience- The audience are there because they are interested in your topic or about your experience. You may be brilliant and an expert in your field but alot of Umming and Ahhing will be disruptive during your performance.

How can the use of these rather annoying words be stopped so you can impress with your knowledge?

All the very best with working in this area – with awareness and practice you can certainly eliminate those Filler Words forever!