Presenting: More Important Than Your Notes

For those who have a fear of presenting, I’m sure you’ve been to several workshops that promise to magically make you a better presenter after an hour, or so you dearly hope. I’ve gone to those too. The good news for all of us is that NON-VERBAL communication is actually more important than you forgetting your next point. Once you master how your body moves, you will become a better presenter. You’ve been reviewing the wrong notes all along!

 I am currently reading a great book called Body Language: It’s What You Don’t Say That Matters by Robert Phipps. This article will be a quick summary of the tips from the Presentation chapter from the book.  I’ve also added some stuff from a Voice and Speech course I took in university.

1)      Breathing is the most important thing in public speaking. Before you begin, take a deep breath and feel the ground beneath your feet. Sounds cheesy, but it will give you a confidence boost right off the bat.

2)      Decide on the formality of the presentation. This means choosing whether or not to button your blazer or leaving it open. The magic is in the details.

3)      If there is a podium, avoid hiding behind it and stand to the side if you can. It creates a better connection between you and your audience.

4)      Rule of thumb is to stand still when delivering your key points (this allows your audience to focus more on the key slides with information), and to move around in between to ease the tension.

5)      Studies show that retention when someone is speaking is 10%, and retention with speaking AND a visual is 51%. It’s a no brainer to try and add visuals whenever possible.

There’s another interesting concept I’ve recently discovered but haven’t had a chance to try yet.

Setting Up a Trigger When Presenting:

A trigger is a motion or action you set up throughout the presentation that you can start using near the end if you are trying to persuade the audience to your side.  This may sound a little bit manipulative but it’s just something that will help you, especially in sales presentations. For example, throughout the presentation move your right hand outwards when sharing information and bring in your left hand whenever you are interacting with the audience. By the end of the presentation if you require interaction but the audience is not as responsive, use the left hand gesture and it might be a trigger for them to participate.

Another great example of a trigger I read was using the clicking of a pen in a sales meeting. Every time there is a point and the buyer seems to agree, you ask “do you agree with this?” and when they say “yes” you click the pen. This creates  a trigger and when the buyer is hesitating about something, you might be able to click your pen and they will have more confidence to agree with your point.

I know this one sounds very sneaky. The disclaimer is that of course it won’t work all the time and if someone doesn’t want to buy something you are selling, they won’t buy it even after 100 clicks of a pen. The point is, you tried your best. You can set up a trigger that you are most comfortable with.

Hopefully the above tips will help you the next time you are presenting. Note that life is all interconnected, so chances are, even if you aren’t presenting in the near future, these will sure make you a better communicator.

 

Happy D-coding,

Darya

Phipps, Robert. "Chapter 7 - Presenting". Body Language: It's What You Don't Say That Matters. Capstone Publishing, © 2012. Books24x7. Web. Dec. 10, 2012. <http://common.books24x7.com/toc.aspx?bookid=46073>

Why Interviews Go Wrong: Top 10 Mistakes

I’ve recently had a unique opportunity to help out with recruitment and conduct behavioural interviews with potential candidates for a job opportunity at the company I work for. This was my first ever experience “on the other side”, since just two years ago I was the one applying for the same position.

What struck me the most was how important the non-verbal communication signals that candidates send are when making final decisions. The good news is that most of these “common mishaps” can be eliminated with some self-awareness and could significantly improve your interview scores.

Here are top 10 common mistakes that unsuccessful candidates made:

1)      Confidence or Cockiness? This is a very fine line. The best candidates are ones that have solid accomplishments but don’t over-exaggerate by repeatedly stating how awesome they are. Body language plays a role here - leaning back in the chair, with your legs crossed and looking way too relaxed can send off negative signals.

2)      Tone of voice – usually we hear people advise you to speak louder and clearer but I’ve noticed that variation in tone is key. We’ve had candidates that answered questions in theatre stage voices...we can surely hear them, but so could the interviewees next door.

3)      Eye contact – if there are multiple interviewers in the room, give each one a fair amount of eye contact instead of looking down or just only directing your answers at one person. The other interviewer wants to feel special too!

4)      Open body language – sit up straight. Also, if you rest your hands on the table where the interviewer can see them it will help you look warmer  and relatable.

5)      Read the interviewer(s). Do they look bored?..if so, try to sound more animated and start wrapping up the super-duper-important-and-informative autobiographical novel you are trying to share in one breath.

6)      Be self-aware of your composure beyond the interview room since other company employees might still see and hear you in the hallways.

7)      Bringing up too much personal life- It’s ok if you would like to share a life changing situation that’s related to the question, but don’t get too personal and cross the “too much information” boundary.

8)      Answers with too many fluffy words but no substance- Be specific. Use the STAR  method (Situation, Task, Action, Result) when you provide examples. Try to quantify your results when possible. For example, saying “I was involved in charity X and raised $10,000” is better than “I enriched the community through my work in charity X”.

9)      If you have a blog or website- only post the link of it on your application if you would want the employer to look at it and you think it will help you get the job.

10)   Honesty – I’m not going to say that we can pick up a fib every single time, but we can certainly notice it when you keep changing your answer with the follow up questions we ask. Just be honest straight up. Dishonesty won’t get you a call back.

 Another favourite thing that I’d love to share is a TED talk: “Your Body Language Shapes WhoYou Are” which explains how certain body language poses can help you build confidence before an interview.  

Remember, nothing beats coming prepared, and practice, practice, practice...that’s what friends ...(and Google!) are for.

Happy D-coding,

Darya

Credits to: Tegan, Vicky and Naryan for adding their experiences to my growing collection of interview anecdotes.

TED Talk: Your Body Language Shapes Who You Are

This is one of my favorite Ted Talks on how body language can be used to build self-confidence and positivity. Turns out we can not only fool others with our body language, but also ourselves. Another reason non-verbal communication is so powerful. 

Watch: Amy Cuddy: Your Body Language Shapes Who You Are

Happy Holidays!

How to Spot a Lie

Thanks for checking out my first blog post! I’m calling the blog “D-Code” because I’m going to focus my articles on something that fascinates me – decoding non-verbal communication. I’m a believer that being able to read non-verbal cues and being aware of one’s own can not only help you with your career, but also in your personal life as well. Double win!

                This week, I wanted to share some insights into spotting lies. Here are some facts about lying that will maybe one day help you spot dishonesty. Much of this is taken from Dr. Paul Ekman’s research into microexpressions ( source: paulekman.com , also there is actually a TV show called Lie To Me that further explores his ideas).

Generally, most people who lie will subconsciously display one of two emotions. They won’t be as dramatic as the photos, and will probably last less than a second. Pay attention.

Fear – will be a lot more subtle than below

                Guilt – similar to sadness, but avoids eye contact and lowers head, often, no guilt felt when the liar is of a higher authority

Here are some things that are a bit easier to notice:

1) Eye contact: contrary to popular belief, people that are lying often make more eye contact than usual in order to give the appearance of being honest. (This is one of my most favourite ones because that’s how I crack all of my brother’s lies about where he actually took my car).

2) Telling a story backwards: If you are recalling a story from your memory, it will be easy to tell the exact same one backwards. If you made it up...not so much!

3) Multi-tasking: while someone is telling you a story that you think might be a fib, ask them to do a simple task, such as make a cup of coffee. Then ask them questions while they are doing the task – if they pause what they are doing for a few seconds to answer, it’s possible they are lying because sometimes you can’t multitask and tell a lie.

4) Shifting eyes to the left: looking in this direction usually means a person is telling a lie. If they are retrieving something from their memory, the eyes tend to shift to the right.

Remember, sometimes these cues are not displayed by the individual, are too quick to notice, or mean something else depending on the context of the situation. It takes practice to read the cues correctly, but  hopefully you hang out with honest people and won’t be getting a lot of it.

Happy d-coding,

Darya

P.S. Feel free to leave any more tips you know in the comments or suggest some other body language topics you’d like to read about in the future.