https://youtu.be/bRvNPjBGK0s

Successful speakers engage their listeners by pacing the message in a way that allows listeners to understand fully. The key is to allow your ideas to “land” when you speak. I recommend a technique based on one that I learned from my mentor, the Academy-Award-winning actress, Olympia Dukakis.

In today’s blog, I’ll present Step One:
Think in thought groups, instead of thinking in words. This will help your pacing to become organic, authentic, and compelling.

Research tells us that people don’t think in words. We think (and listen) in complete thoughts. Match the way you speak with the way your listeners listen! As you prepare to speak for business, focus on your thought groups by using these three strategies:

1. Review your notes and analyze your whole message. As you rehearse aloud, be conscious of the number of complete thoughts that you present in each sentence – probably one, two, or three complete thoughts in any given sentence.

2. Be mindful of the moments in your message when one complete thought ends and the next one is about to begin. These are your transition moments.

3. Here is a useful and fun technique adapted from the theater. My mentor, Olympia Dukakis, taught me a rehearsal technique that helps actors internalize the actions and emotions of each section of a play script. I have adapted Olympia’s technique for business speakers, so that you will become sensitized to your thought groups. Here is a good way to begin your rehearsal process:

1. Set out a few chairs, as you do in musical chairs, and begin by sitting in one of them.

2. As you rehearse aloud, move to a different chair each time you complete a thought. Speak each complete thought from a different chair.

3. Rehearse this way until your mind and body have internalized the moments when each complete thought has ended and the next one is about to begin.

This early rehearsal exercise will increase your awareness of your thought groups and will prepare you for Step 2 in this process (which I’ll be writing about soon).

Be sure to read my next blog and/or watch the videoblog: Step 2 for “Engaging Your Listeners: Allow Your Ideas to Land”.

May you be a successful speaker!

https://youtu.be/dDo238t9Ik0

One way to sound authoritative and enhance your credibility when you speak is to minimize your use of fillers:  those words that add no content.  Common fillers are “um”, “uh”, “so”, “well”, “like”, and “you know”.

Fillers often distract your listeners and decrease your ability to project confidence and authority.  Minimizing your use of fillers will help you enhance your image as an expert.

To minimize your use of fillers, rehearse this technique that actors use when they prepare to speak extemporaneously:

Set a timer for increasing time periods of time:  two minutes, five minutes, or seven minutes to start.  Record yourself as you speak in extended sentences on any business topic of your choice.  Choose a topic that you know well, something you enjoy speaking about (but not your elevator speech or a sales pitch).

As you speak into the recorder, imagine that each word that comes from your mouth is connected to the next one, which is connected to the next one, and so on.  Use the image of a long strand of pearls that are connected with no break.

Whenever you feel the urge to use a filler, do these three things:

1. Stop yourself
2. Pause
3. Say the filler silently to yourself

When the timer rings, play back the recording and monitor yourself for fillers.  Then repeat the exercise with different topics.

As you become comfortable with this exercise, increase the setting on the timer (five minutes, ten minutes, and fifteen minutes), until you can speak for twenty minutes straight, extemporaneously, on new topics:  without the use of fillers.

If you continue to rehearse this technique, you will find over time that you are reducing the number of fillers that you use.

You will sound more authoritative than you did in the past:  you will increase your credibility and your professional image when you speak.

At networking events, do you fail to project the image you desire? Do you find it difficult to turn networking conversations into relationships that lead to sales?

It may be because you are not speaking strategically to project a spirit of cooperation.

Here are some “Networking No-No’s” (behaviors that work against a spirit of cooperation):

• Doing most of the talking and/or interrupting your conversation partner: Instead, find out about the other person.  Ask questions, listen actively, and  respond with words and body language.  Mirror back to the speaker what you have understood him/her to say.  Let your conversation partner do most of the talking!

• Trying to sell your products/services: Instead, give before you get. Listen for ways that you can help your conversation partner. Offer introductions, suggestions, information, invitations, volunteering, advice, etc.  This increases the likelihood that your listener will want to collaborate and reciprocate!

• Being carelessly “broad”  in attempting humor with people you’ve just met: Instead, when using humor, stick to self-deprecating humor. Remember that individual sense of humor (influenced by culture and other complex factors) is a delicate and mysterious phenomenon. If you tell a joke or make a comment in jest that the listener doesn’t understand, misconstrues, or simply does not find funny, your attempt at humor may backfire. When you wish to use humor with a new acquaintance, poke fun at yourself. Most people will appreciate your humility and ability to take yourself lightly.

When networking, be a “smart talker” in the true sense of the word.  Project a spirit of cooperation and begin building relationships that lead to sales!

In my last blog, I opened with two compelling statistics about the impact of non-verbal communication and addressed three behaviors that influence face-to-face interactions:  smiling, the head nod, and placing the fingers in front of one’s mouth while speaking.

Here are four additional aspects of body language (specifically, the use of your hands) related to general tendencies in perception within United States:

1. Helplessness and/or an urgency to be understood are communicated when you speak with your hands open at chest level and spread sideways with the palms up.
2. Speaking with the hand(s) up and palm(s) facing outward can communicate messages influenced by gender:  When a man does this, it sends a placating message; when a woman does it, the message is flirtatious.
3. Pointing with a finger (and especially with an object, such as a pen) sends a message of aggressiveness.
4. A subtext of disagreement is sent when your arms are crossed over your chest.

Here are some tips regarding your body language during business communication, whether you are speaking informally or giving a formal presentation:

• Keep your hands open and available for natural gestures; do not plan or rehearse gestures!
• A waist-level position for the hands (with palms relaxed and fingers slightly curved) is often appropriate.
• When gesturing, use both hands whenever possible.
• Put pens and pointers down when you are not using them.

Savvy business speakers think about non-verbal communication the way that actors do:  they remain conscious of the fact that listeners who can see you are watching you very carefully and interpreting meaning from every aspect of your body language.

As you speak for business, be mindful of any physical behaviors you exhibit that may be sending unintended messages, and make appropriate changes (even if it initially takes you out of your comfort zone).  The results will have a dramatic impact on your projection of confidence, warmth, and authority — as well as your ability to persuade.

A Harvard Business School study revealed that that 55% of the success of your business speaking is dependent upon your non-verbal communication.  A 2007 study by the American Optometric Association found that vision was the number one sense that people would not want to live without.  Dr. Vince Young, an opthamologist at Albert Einstein Medical Center in Philadelphia, says, “Americans tend to fear vision loss more than anything – more than memory loss or heart disease.”

Savvy business speakers, like actors, are always mindful of the fact that their face-to-face listeners are watching.  They are observing four basic non-verbal communication pathways, and one of these is your body language/gestures.

Messages communicated through body language vary according to culture.  Here are a few things to remember about general perception among people raised in the United States:

1. A smile is the most direct way to say, “I’m happy to be in your presence.”
2. The head nod is very important in communication and tells the communication partner “I understand” and/or “I agree”.  It elicits a positive response in the partner and is particularly effective for salespeople and anyone involved in business discussions or negotiations.
3. Raising your hand or fingers in front of your mouth during business discussions can communicate a withholding of information or reluctance to be completely forthcoming.

Remember that your face-to-face listeners are not just passively seeing: they are watching you carefully and interpreting meaning from every aspect of your body language.  As you speak for business,  maintain awareness of these three  aspects of your body language and gestures, and strive to make any physical adjustments necessary — even if it takes you out of your comfort zone.  The more you practice new behaviors, the more comfortable these behaviors will feel “on your body”.

And look for my next blog, which will provide information about three more aspects of body language/gestures — to help you project a positive and professional image when you speak for business.

Some clients tell me that they have been advised to practice in front of a mirror when they are rehearsing for a business talk. I discourage this strategy because it trains you, the speaker, to place focus on thoughts that can hinder your power to persuade and your projection of a positive, professional image.

When looking at ourselves in a mirror, most people become preoccupied by the way we look; this is probably human nature and unavoidable. Rehearsing for any business talk should be a process of training oneself to focus the mind correctly:  focusing on your purpose, goals, and objectives that are concerned with and directed toward the listener.

Rehearsing in front of a mirror actually trains you to focus on how you look; it develops and reinforces a preoccupation with self: a very unproductive habit.  The best speakers, conversely, focus outward:   they have trained their minds to do so.

Consider the slow-motion films of Olympic runners crossing the finish line, drenched in sweat, their faces distorted with effort, expending every last ounce of energy to achieve a goal. In their passion to win, they don’t have the slightest care about how they look.  They simply cannot waste their energy on such a concern.

Correct focus and a lack of concern for one’s appearance while speaking also applies to actors.   Unless the character she is playing is preoccupied with how she looks, the actor cannot spare any energy thinking about her physical appearance.  In order to be convincing, she must use all her energy to pursue her acting objectives: to get what the character wants in a given situation.

This is exactly what the business speaker must do:   focus on the needs, desires, and interests of the listeners – and, most importantly, on the actions that the speaker is taking towards those listeners.

Of course, at some point, business speakers must consider facial expressions, gestures, physical demeanor, and attire, etc.  This must occur before the talk begins: during the planning/rehearsal stages.   After you have done the correct internal preparation and rehearsed effectively — and once your physical demeanor matches your focus on the listener — you should forget about your appearance in front of the audience.   At that point, you are free to forget about it, because you are focusing on your objectives and your listeners.

But rehearsing in front of a mirror reinforces the habit of thinking about yourself while you are talking to your audience.   And consider this: a speaker’s preoccupation with self is usually detected by the listener and often projects arrogance or a lack of confidence.

So, rehearse constructively, and rehearse aloud:
• Keep your face up and out
• Focus on spots(s) on the wall or in the room in front of you
• Use the power of imagination: “paste” a friendly face on those spots as you speak, and direct all of your underlying communication actions outward: toward your listeners

This will have a dramatic effect on your power to persuade.

I recently read an article by Kevin D. Wilde (VP and Chief Learning Officer at General Mills) about the shortness of time that managers get when they need to persuade their CEO’s of the value of proposed initiatives.  Wilde suggests that, when you have just a few minutes to win over the CEO, it is crucial to make your message “executive crisp”.Wilde makes excellent recommendations for advance preparation before speaking with upper management: (1) boil the message down to its essence, (2) communicate that the need is real and that the solution is practical, and (3) make a logical connection between the need and the proposed solution, etc.  While very useful, these strategies fail to address two key ingredients in the art of persuasive speaking:  visual and vocal impact.According to a Harvard Business School study, only seven percent of the success of business speaking is based upon content.  A full ninety-three percent of the impact that business speakers make is based on their visual and vocal impact:   how they deliver their message to build belief within the listener.In this blog, I will offer a few visual strategies that will  help increase your persuasive power with upper management, no matter what department you work in, and no matter how little time your are given to make your case.   In my next blog, I will address the vocal strategies that will help. Be sure that your visual performance projects poise and passion.  Whether you are seated or standing, imagine that your legs are tree trunks and that your feet are the roots of a tree extending deep into the ground.  Stand away from furniture and resist any temptation to lean for support.  If you are seated, sit tall, leaning forward slightly from the waist up (to help convey interest and enthusiasm).  Make eye contact throughout your talk, and maintain a smile that is varied in accordance with your content, moment to moment.  Gesture with both arms/hands whenever possible, rather than one.No matter how many minutes upper management can spare, your best content will have persuasive power only when your visual and vocal performance convey your own conviction, poise, and passion.    Stay tuned for my next blog, to read about vocal strategies that will give you real persuasive power.