Presenter Coach
Ideas to improve your communication, presentations and speeches.16 October, 2006
Put your thoughts in order
- What do you need to say first, in order to attract their attention?
- What single point do you want them to remember most clearly? Make this your closing theme.
- How can you arrange the material so that the audience follows you from your opening comments to your conclusion?
I usually write the conclusion to my speeches first. This is the message that I want them to take away.
My main points come next. How can I move them from where they are now to where I want them to be?
For ten minutes or less, I use three points.
For up to an hour, I may use five points.
For a book or a seminar, Seven is as many points as I would try to make.
The objective is not to tell them everything that you know, but rather something that they don't know that will take them in the direction of your mutual objective.
To Put Your Thoughts In Order
- Put your main points in a logical order
- Attach sub points to the main points
- Add stories and support material to the sub points
- Put your thoughts in order
Visit my website Learning from experience for resources for people who help people learn.
- What single point do you want them to remember most clearly? Make this your closing theme.
- How can you arrange the material so that the audience follows you from your opening comments to your conclusion?
I usually write the conclusion to my speeches first. This is the message that I want them to take away.
My main points come next. How can I move them from where they are now to where I want them to be?
For ten minutes or less, I use three points.
For up to an hour, I may use five points.
For a book or a seminar, Seven is as many points as I would try to make.
The objective is not to tell them everything that you know, but rather something that they don't know that will take them in the direction of your mutual objective.
To Put Your Thoughts In Order
- Put your main points in a logical order
- Attach sub points to the main points
- Add stories and support material to the sub points
- Put your thoughts in order
Visit my website Learning from experience for resources for people who help people learn.
14 October, 2006
Toastmasters - A great place to practice speaking
Whenever I am asked about the best way to practice public speaking I inevitably suggest join a Toastmasters club. Go to the Toastmasters International website to find a club near you.
But how well does the confidence gained in Toastmasters translate into confidence speaking before other groups. Toastmasters speak before (mostly) the same people every week and you know everyone is there to help you along.
To answer this question let’s look at how we learn something new. Before we learn we are often an Unconscious Incompetent (we don't know that we don't know how to do it).
For some reason or other we become aware that we could learn. Maybe it's an invitation to speak at a friend’s wedding, maybe it is recognizing that the people who can speak well are advancing faster at work. There are a thousand ways that we may become aware, everyone's story is different.
Even though we are aware, we may not choose to do anything about it - or we may even choose not to do anything. Nevertheless, we are now a Conscious Incompetent. We know that we do not know.
If we make a decision to do something, the first few times we try may be quite uncomfortable. But we stay focussed and we concentrate and we get by. This is the phase of Conscious Competence. We are able to do it, but we have to concentrate.
With practice, and some motivation and support, with knowledge gained from the program we will gradually feel more comfortable, and eventually we will wonder what all the fuss was about. We will become Unconscious Competents. We do it out of habit.
Let me take an extreme example - if you pull your left ear when you are nervous, you may not know it. Someone may draw it to your attention - hopefully quietly and sensitively - and you will become aware. Now you are more likely to notice yourself doing it. Someone may suggest a positive alternative behaviour to help you avoid it - always keep your hands in your pockets. Doesn't look good, I know, but much better than the ear pulling. When you feel yourself about to reach for your ear, whamm hand into pocket. A conscious act. Eventually the habit will disappear and be replaced by another annoying one - hands in pockets - but this is less distracting and easier to change to meaningful gestures.
So back to your original question: the habits that you develop in front of your comfortable group will stay with you. The habit of making eye contact, the importance of a catchy opening, always leaving with a memorable close - they are readily translated.
The other side - being uncomfortable in front of a group of strangers will partly disappear, because you have more confidence as a result of your catchy opening, your eye contact and the fact that your hands are in your pockets, not pulling your ear. But the self belief that this group of people are interested in what you have to say may only come from speaking to several different groups and Toastmasters offers that opportunity, too with over 10,000 clubs in almost 100 countries.
Here is a story that I often use to make this point:
I recently had a conversation with the leader of a band who practices in a garage not very far from my place. Suspecting that he couldn't afford a watch I rang him and told him what time it was. To extend the conversation I politely, although politeness at 3 am is not the same as politeness at midday, asked him "WHY ARE YOU PLAYING THAT MUSIC IN THAT GARAGE ANYWAY?"
He explained to me that they would not let him play at the Sydney Opera House until he got it right. In the garage he could practice the same song over and over in the hope that the nuances that he applied to the music would meld.
He also explained that he received some interesting feedback from my neighbors that was enabling him to adjust the material to suit a wider audience.
He admitted that some of the feedback was not useful (some was physically very difficult) but every now and then he obtained some evaluation that he could use.
Grateful that I had been able to add to his total knowledge, rather than going to sleep (an impossibility, anyway) I compared his method to my participation in Toastmasters.
The Toastmasters club is like a garage. I can try new things before an audience that will give me valuable feedback. Some I choose to ignore, some I modify before include it, some I accept totally.
In return I am asked to provide applause and feedback to my fellow members.
When I get it right in this low risk setting then I will be ready to take it to the real world.
Visit my website Learning from experience for resources for people who help people learn.
But how well does the confidence gained in Toastmasters translate into confidence speaking before other groups. Toastmasters speak before (mostly) the same people every week and you know everyone is there to help you along.
To answer this question let’s look at how we learn something new. Before we learn we are often an Unconscious Incompetent (we don't know that we don't know how to do it).
For some reason or other we become aware that we could learn. Maybe it's an invitation to speak at a friend’s wedding, maybe it is recognizing that the people who can speak well are advancing faster at work. There are a thousand ways that we may become aware, everyone's story is different.
Even though we are aware, we may not choose to do anything about it - or we may even choose not to do anything. Nevertheless, we are now a Conscious Incompetent. We know that we do not know.
If we make a decision to do something, the first few times we try may be quite uncomfortable. But we stay focussed and we concentrate and we get by. This is the phase of Conscious Competence. We are able to do it, but we have to concentrate.
With practice, and some motivation and support, with knowledge gained from the program we will gradually feel more comfortable, and eventually we will wonder what all the fuss was about. We will become Unconscious Competents. We do it out of habit.
Let me take an extreme example - if you pull your left ear when you are nervous, you may not know it. Someone may draw it to your attention - hopefully quietly and sensitively - and you will become aware. Now you are more likely to notice yourself doing it. Someone may suggest a positive alternative behaviour to help you avoid it - always keep your hands in your pockets. Doesn't look good, I know, but much better than the ear pulling. When you feel yourself about to reach for your ear, whamm hand into pocket. A conscious act. Eventually the habit will disappear and be replaced by another annoying one - hands in pockets - but this is less distracting and easier to change to meaningful gestures.
So back to your original question: the habits that you develop in front of your comfortable group will stay with you. The habit of making eye contact, the importance of a catchy opening, always leaving with a memorable close - they are readily translated.
The other side - being uncomfortable in front of a group of strangers will partly disappear, because you have more confidence as a result of your catchy opening, your eye contact and the fact that your hands are in your pockets, not pulling your ear. But the self belief that this group of people are interested in what you have to say may only come from speaking to several different groups and Toastmasters offers that opportunity, too with over 10,000 clubs in almost 100 countries.
Here is a story that I often use to make this point:
I recently had a conversation with the leader of a band who practices in a garage not very far from my place. Suspecting that he couldn't afford a watch I rang him and told him what time it was. To extend the conversation I politely, although politeness at 3 am is not the same as politeness at midday, asked him "WHY ARE YOU PLAYING THAT MUSIC IN THAT GARAGE ANYWAY?"
He explained to me that they would not let him play at the Sydney Opera House until he got it right. In the garage he could practice the same song over and over in the hope that the nuances that he applied to the music would meld.
He also explained that he received some interesting feedback from my neighbors that was enabling him to adjust the material to suit a wider audience.
He admitted that some of the feedback was not useful (some was physically very difficult) but every now and then he obtained some evaluation that he could use.
Grateful that I had been able to add to his total knowledge, rather than going to sleep (an impossibility, anyway) I compared his method to my participation in Toastmasters.
The Toastmasters club is like a garage. I can try new things before an audience that will give me valuable feedback. Some I choose to ignore, some I modify before include it, some I accept totally.
In return I am asked to provide applause and feedback to my fellow members.
When I get it right in this low risk setting then I will be ready to take it to the real world.
Visit my website Learning from experience for resources for people who help people learn.
How to make an interesting subject unintelligible
Allegedly the Air Force was having a lot of trouble explaining how missile guidance systems worked, so they put together this audio clip.
http://www.micom.net/oops/USAF%20Training.wav
Hope it helps.
http://www.micom.net/oops/USAF%20Training.wav
Hope it helps.
13 October, 2006
Writing for speaking or reading
Is a speech just a verbally delivered essay?
Russ asked: Is a speech a verbal essay?
I mean, does it have all the structure of an essay and you just say it with craft or is the actual structure different? Does a speech have to be simpler, use more examples and repeat the same point in different ways or is there some other ingredient?
I guess what I am ultimately saying, if I make an essay and present it with skill is it the same as making a speech and presenting it with skill?
No Russ they are not the same.
People cannot go back to ensure that they got the message.
People read at their own speed, whereas they have to listen at a speed that you dictate. Thirdly, the sound of words makes a difference.
The first difference is that people cannot go back and reread to ensure that they got the message.
This is the reason speechwriters tell them what you are going to tell them, tell them and then tell them what you told them.
In a written outline, you may use bullet points then headlines to summarize then expand. e.g.: 1. People can't go back, 2. People read at their own speed, 3. The sound of words makes a difference.
Then use a bold type at the start of the paragraph where you introduce the concept.
You need to do the same thing in a speech, but you don't have the advantage of bold type or bullets.
You create these with words.
In a speech you include the following text much of which would be redundant in a written essay:
I am going to look at the differences between speech and essay writing on three planes; 1. People can't go back, 2. People read at their own speed, 3. The sound of words makes a difference. Firstly, let us look at this issue of people not being able to go back and reread when the delivery is oral:
Following names or titles is one place where a written account may use a chart or a side bar or a headlined section of the text to identify the characters in the story.
In the spoken version it is necessary to re-anchor the characters, for example: - James - the policeman -
Then summarize - probably not necessary or need not be as detailed in a written essay:
So you see: if a person's mind wanders while reading, and they really want to read the information they can go back. This is not practical in a spoken version, so information may need to be repeated to place it in context.
The second difference is that people read at their own speed, whereas they have to listen at a speed that you dictate. Good speech writing requires attention to this.
Some people will scan or speed read a text, but they are obliged to listen to the full version from your mouth. If I have ten minutes to review a topic before going to a meeting, then I can scan the introductory paragraphs, and maybe the first par under each headline of a well written well laid out article. To listen to a recording of a speech I will not be able to get the message in any less time than the speaker took to deliver it. Well, fast forwarding, cuing and reviewing may help, but it's more disruptive than helpful.
The intended length of the text may also influence the way that you write it.
If this is, as I suspect, a college assignment - then you have been asked to submit 2500 words or whatever. I will rewrite it, then submit it as an article for a magazine that also gives me an assigned number of words.
For a speech, your writing has to be such that you can still deliver the key points of your message even if the previous speaker has very rudely taken a large part of your assigned time. This happens regularly at conferences where industry experts and professional speakers are on the same program. Savvy program organizers know to put the pro on last in a block (say between morning tea and lunch, there may be three speakers - the experts come on first, the good speakers last.). Incidentally most of the experts write essays and read them. The pro speakers write speeches and adapt them to suit what has been said before and other changing circumstances.
On the other hand as a professional speaker, I have been asked to fill two consecutive slots, because someone has failed to appear. With a well written speech this is not a problem. Items can be added or subtracted to suit. This type of framework is unnecessary in an essay.
> Thirdly, the sound of words makes a difference.
There is a term Onomatopoeia - which refers to words which sound like what they mean. Buzz and hiss are examples. In spoken delivery speeding up a passage may be facilitated by the use of short words, delivered at speed. This can add to the effect of the message. In written text it is not possible to rely on the readers to do this.
Visit my website Learning from experience for resources for people who help people learn.
Russ asked: Is a speech a verbal essay?
I mean, does it have all the structure of an essay and you just say it with craft or is the actual structure different? Does a speech have to be simpler, use more examples and repeat the same point in different ways or is there some other ingredient?
I guess what I am ultimately saying, if I make an essay and present it with skill is it the same as making a speech and presenting it with skill?
No Russ they are not the same.
People cannot go back to ensure that they got the message.
People read at their own speed, whereas they have to listen at a speed that you dictate. Thirdly, the sound of words makes a difference.
The first difference is that people cannot go back and reread to ensure that they got the message.
This is the reason speechwriters tell them what you are going to tell them, tell them and then tell them what you told them.
In a written outline, you may use bullet points then headlines to summarize then expand. e.g.: 1. People can't go back, 2. People read at their own speed, 3. The sound of words makes a difference.
Then use a bold type at the start of the paragraph where you introduce the concept.
You need to do the same thing in a speech, but you don't have the advantage of bold type or bullets.
You create these with words.
In a speech you include the following text much of which would be redundant in a written essay:
I am going to look at the differences between speech and essay writing on three planes; 1. People can't go back, 2. People read at their own speed, 3. The sound of words makes a difference. Firstly, let us look at this issue of people not being able to go back and reread when the delivery is oral:
Following names or titles is one place where a written account may use a chart or a side bar or a headlined section of the text to identify the characters in the story.
In the spoken version it is necessary to re-anchor the characters, for example: - James - the policeman -
Then summarize - probably not necessary or need not be as detailed in a written essay:
So you see: if a person's mind wanders while reading, and they really want to read the information they can go back. This is not practical in a spoken version, so information may need to be repeated to place it in context.
The second difference is that people read at their own speed, whereas they have to listen at a speed that you dictate. Good speech writing requires attention to this.
Some people will scan or speed read a text, but they are obliged to listen to the full version from your mouth. If I have ten minutes to review a topic before going to a meeting, then I can scan the introductory paragraphs, and maybe the first par under each headline of a well written well laid out article. To listen to a recording of a speech I will not be able to get the message in any less time than the speaker took to deliver it. Well, fast forwarding, cuing and reviewing may help, but it's more disruptive than helpful.
The intended length of the text may also influence the way that you write it.
If this is, as I suspect, a college assignment - then you have been asked to submit 2500 words or whatever. I will rewrite it, then submit it as an article for a magazine that also gives me an assigned number of words.
For a speech, your writing has to be such that you can still deliver the key points of your message even if the previous speaker has very rudely taken a large part of your assigned time. This happens regularly at conferences where industry experts and professional speakers are on the same program. Savvy program organizers know to put the pro on last in a block (say between morning tea and lunch, there may be three speakers - the experts come on first, the good speakers last.). Incidentally most of the experts write essays and read them. The pro speakers write speeches and adapt them to suit what has been said before and other changing circumstances.
On the other hand as a professional speaker, I have been asked to fill two consecutive slots, because someone has failed to appear. With a well written speech this is not a problem. Items can be added or subtracted to suit. This type of framework is unnecessary in an essay.
> Thirdly, the sound of words makes a difference.
There is a term Onomatopoeia - which refers to words which sound like what they mean. Buzz and hiss are examples. In spoken delivery speeding up a passage may be facilitated by the use of short words, delivered at speed. This can add to the effect of the message. In written text it is not possible to rely on the readers to do this.
Visit my website Learning from experience for resources for people who help people learn.
Don't Overqualify Your Message
To paraphrase Samuel Johnston, "when you are particularly proud of a page that you have written, reread it and cross out all but the essential paragraph."
In a presentation, as in a conversation, some people never seem to get to the point. They adopt a legalistic tone, that points out all of the exceptions before stating the rule.
I have a friend who is an inspector in the mining industry. He is a technical person who has a responsibility to investigate breaches of legislation. He was explaining something to another friend, and mid way through the explanation, friend number 2 observed: "Do you realise how many relative clauses you have used so far?"
He could not make a statement without qualifying it with "unless", "notwithstanding", "except" and a number of other explanatory conjunctions.
Often, we spend so much time explaining the context in which something happened, that the main point gets lost.
I am not saying ignore the context, just don't let the point you are making get lost in a contextual maze.
One way of handling perceived exceptions to your theme is to eliminate the exceptions, one by one before you introduce your point.
An alternative is to make the point at the outset, then handle the objections. Conclude by restating your point.
In a presentation, as in a conversation, some people never seem to get to the point. They adopt a legalistic tone, that points out all of the exceptions before stating the rule.
I have a friend who is an inspector in the mining industry. He is a technical person who has a responsibility to investigate breaches of legislation. He was explaining something to another friend, and mid way through the explanation, friend number 2 observed: "Do you realise how many relative clauses you have used so far?"
He could not make a statement without qualifying it with "unless", "notwithstanding", "except" and a number of other explanatory conjunctions.
Often, we spend so much time explaining the context in which something happened, that the main point gets lost.
I am not saying ignore the context, just don't let the point you are making get lost in a contextual maze.
One way of handling perceived exceptions to your theme is to eliminate the exceptions, one by one before you introduce your point.
An alternative is to make the point at the outset, then handle the objections. Conclude by restating your point.
Can PowerPoint be as flexible as transparencies
Midway through a presentation a question comes up. If only you were still using a trusty overhead projector, you could pull up the relevant slide. Bet you can't do that with PowerPoint on a data projector?
Try this:
Start each of your presentation points at slide number 1, 11, 21, 31 etc. Put blank slides in to fill the space. A blank also comes in handy to turn the projector off when you have finished your point. Keep a list handy so that you have a prompt that (for example) 11 is Forming, 21 is Storming, 31 is Norming, 41 is Performing, 51 is Belbin's model, Perhaps 28 is the activity associated with Forming, 38 the activity associated with norming etc... Now the trick: Type the slide number and then press enter. Whoopee, the presentation is where you want it.
I find this as flexible as transparencies, in fact maybe more so.
The big advantage with respect to flexibility, I can have hundreds of slides in a presentation that may only use a dozen or so.
I always include things like Bloom's taxonomy or Kolb's learning cycle in my presentations, just in case a related issue comes up. I show them about 1 in 10 sessions.
The cost? Much less than transparencies, and because I use the slide master, slide layout and color scheme features, they are always consistent in layout with the session content.
Wear and tear - nil. Transparencies do get tired.
Save PowerPoint for when you want to communicate something more than a brochure turned on its side. It can be a lot more than bullets flying in all directions but few hitting the target.
Visit my website Learning from experience for resources for people who help people learn.
Try this:
Start each of your presentation points at slide number 1, 11, 21, 31 etc. Put blank slides in to fill the space. A blank also comes in handy to turn the projector off when you have finished your point. Keep a list handy so that you have a prompt that (for example) 11 is Forming, 21 is Storming, 31 is Norming, 41 is Performing, 51 is Belbin's model, Perhaps 28 is the activity associated with Forming, 38 the activity associated with norming etc... Now the trick: Type the slide number and then press enter. Whoopee, the presentation is where you want it.
I find this as flexible as transparencies, in fact maybe more so.
The big advantage with respect to flexibility, I can have hundreds of slides in a presentation that may only use a dozen or so.
I always include things like Bloom's taxonomy or Kolb's learning cycle in my presentations, just in case a related issue comes up. I show them about 1 in 10 sessions.
The cost? Much less than transparencies, and because I use the slide master, slide layout and color scheme features, they are always consistent in layout with the session content.
Wear and tear - nil. Transparencies do get tired.
Save PowerPoint for when you want to communicate something more than a brochure turned on its side. It can be a lot more than bullets flying in all directions but few hitting the target.
Visit my website Learning from experience for resources for people who help people learn.
12 October, 2006
The ten best presentations ever
An interesting blog has nominated the ten best presentations ever at http://www.knowhr.com/blog/2006/08/21/top-10-best-presentations-ever/
It requires a bit of patience to download or view them, but the selection is interesting.It ranges from Steve Jobs introducing the Macintosh, through MLK and I have a dream, a presentation on copyright, which says a lot about originality and plagiarism.
A great 5 - 7 minute technical speech by Malcolm Gladwell, who opens with a story then uses the scene to explain a concept.
If these are not the best 10 ever (and the blog's readers have assembled an alternate 10), then what are?
It requires a bit of patience to download or view them, but the selection is interesting.It ranges from Steve Jobs introducing the Macintosh, through MLK and I have a dream, a presentation on copyright, which says a lot about originality and plagiarism.
A great 5 - 7 minute technical speech by Malcolm Gladwell, who opens with a story then uses the scene to explain a concept.
If these are not the best 10 ever (and the blog's readers have assembled an alternate 10), then what are?
Do words count?
The guided missile explanation at http://www.micom.net/oops/USAF%20Training.wav
raises the issue that words make up only 7% of a message.
Dr Arnold Mehrabian researched the effect of incongruous messages coming from the words used, the vocal tonality and the visual images and published the findings in his book Silent Messages.
The research has been misquoted widely, but does have an underlying truth.
The misquoting is usually around applying the numbers in a setting different from the one where they originated - a different context.
I have frequently posted to newsgroups and mailing lists on this topic. Here are some of the postings:
Kyle is doing a presentation on "congruity" in presentations.
Kyle:
You may be able to include these demonstrations:
Start like the teacher that went into a rowdy class, thumped the table, and said in a stern voice: "I want pandemonium, and I want it now!"
Instead of pandemonium she got silence. Why? Where there is incongruity: Actions speak louder than words.
Have the participants adopt a physical posture of despair - shoulders drooping, head sagging, face down. Ask them to read a poster which says:
I feel great, I'm alive, there's so much to do now is the time to do it!
Their posture will change - try it.
You might also like to display a series of slides while reading a totally different text. Say instructions for making a martini while displaying illustrations from a children's book story of the three little pigs. Have one person read the story, from a position where they can't see the slides.
Have another change the slides - a new slide every thirty seconds - or some other mechanical structure so that the slide shower is not influenced by the story teller.
Discuss with the audience why they reacted the way they did. Discuss with the story teller how it felt to be laughed at while reading a serious text.
These examples should give you a good start.
There are numbers around that say when a counselor is presented with conflicting information from words, tone or visual - only in 7% of the cases will they accept the words, in 38% they will go with the tone and other vocals, while in 55% they go with the visuals. Transferring that across - as many do - to say that only 8% of the meaning comes from words is a long stretch, so I would avoid it. The activities should allow the audience to make up the own mind.
===================
This may have some relevance for showing a slide that is not consistent with the spoken words. This was covered in research by Dr Albert Mehrabian at the UCLA and published in a book called Silent Messages. When faced with conflicting messages, 55% will react to the visual message (Posture, facial expressions, eye contact etc) 38% will respond to the messages contained in the tonality (accent, pace, pitch, volume - vocal variety issues) and 7% will respond to their interpretation of the words.
A summary by the author is available at http://www.kaaj.com/psych/smorder.html
===================
To demonstrate that a word in itself may not have a given meaning, ask participants to say:
I didn't say I was born in Sydney
with the emphasis on a different word each time.
Where the emphasis is placed changes the meaning.
Also you might like to ask them to give the meaning of the word SET.
It has dozens of different meanings - from a way of dividing a tennis match to harden to collection to place to unwilling to change.
so what?
For the various exercises above:
Pandemonium now - the actual words are totally overshadowed by the tone;
Posture - we can affect the way we feel by resetting the way we sit or stand;
Three little pigs slide show - when given two options, look or listen - it is very hard to do either; Translate this into the effect of someone in a nun's habit extolling the value of greed, or someone in a torn t-shirt and dirty jeans promoting hygiene;
Word emphasis (see Sydney above) the way the words are said makes a difference - maybe not always as dramatic as this, but a difference, still.
Set - the importance of context to give meaning.
=========
Put another way:
In the thread on Table topics a comment was made in passing that words only account for about 7% of the content of communication.
That's great news. If I ever have a chance to go to China or Russia I won't need to learn the language. All I will have to do is listen for the intonation (38%) and watch the body language (55%)
Beware of this statistic.
It is derived from research by Dr Arnold Mehrabian at UCLA in the 1967 and 1968, published in psychology journals and later in his book Silent Messages (1971).
The real message from his work is that when there is contradiction between the literal meaning of words and the tone of voice or the body language - body language is most credible, tone of voice second and the literal meaning of the words third.
If I tell you that I am very interested in listening to what you have to say, but keep looking at my watch and yawning - 55% would be more influenced by my actions than my words. Still 7% would believe the words and rationalize that I must have had a late night last night. Who is to say who is right?
If a teacher walks into a noisy classroom and screams: "I want pandemonium and I want it now" will she get it? No way. She'll get silence. the tone and the actions overcome the words, except for class clown little Jimmy in the back row who will want to argue that she said what she said.
Interesting stuff - but beware of the false conclusion that words are only 7% - tone plus action plus words make up the total conversation and we need to work on them all.
==========
Visit my website Learning from experience for resources for people who help people learn.
raises the issue that words make up only 7% of a message.
Dr Arnold Mehrabian researched the effect of incongruous messages coming from the words used, the vocal tonality and the visual images and published the findings in his book Silent Messages.
The research has been misquoted widely, but does have an underlying truth.
The misquoting is usually around applying the numbers in a setting different from the one where they originated - a different context.
I have frequently posted to newsgroups and mailing lists on this topic. Here are some of the postings:
Kyle is doing a presentation on "congruity" in presentations.
Kyle:
You may be able to include these demonstrations:
Start like the teacher that went into a rowdy class, thumped the table, and said in a stern voice: "I want pandemonium, and I want it now!"
Instead of pandemonium she got silence. Why? Where there is incongruity: Actions speak louder than words.
Have the participants adopt a physical posture of despair - shoulders drooping, head sagging, face down. Ask them to read a poster which says:
I feel great, I'm alive, there's so much to do now is the time to do it!
Their posture will change - try it.
You might also like to display a series of slides while reading a totally different text. Say instructions for making a martini while displaying illustrations from a children's book story of the three little pigs. Have one person read the story, from a position where they can't see the slides.
Have another change the slides - a new slide every thirty seconds - or some other mechanical structure so that the slide shower is not influenced by the story teller.
Discuss with the audience why they reacted the way they did. Discuss with the story teller how it felt to be laughed at while reading a serious text.
These examples should give you a good start.
There are numbers around that say when a counselor is presented with conflicting information from words, tone or visual - only in 7% of the cases will they accept the words, in 38% they will go with the tone and other vocals, while in 55% they go with the visuals. Transferring that across - as many do - to say that only 8% of the meaning comes from words is a long stretch, so I would avoid it. The activities should allow the audience to make up the own mind.
===================
This may have some relevance for showing a slide that is not consistent with the spoken words. This was covered in research by Dr Albert Mehrabian at the UCLA and published in a book called Silent Messages. When faced with conflicting messages, 55% will react to the visual message (Posture, facial expressions, eye contact etc) 38% will respond to the messages contained in the tonality (accent, pace, pitch, volume - vocal variety issues) and 7% will respond to their interpretation of the words.
A summary by the author is available at http://www.kaaj.com/psych/smorder.html
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To demonstrate that a word in itself may not have a given meaning, ask participants to say:
I didn't say I was born in Sydney
with the emphasis on a different word each time.
Where the emphasis is placed changes the meaning.
Also you might like to ask them to give the meaning of the word SET.
It has dozens of different meanings - from a way of dividing a tennis match to harden to collection to place to unwilling to change.
so what?
For the various exercises above:
Pandemonium now - the actual words are totally overshadowed by the tone;
Posture - we can affect the way we feel by resetting the way we sit or stand;
Three little pigs slide show - when given two options, look or listen - it is very hard to do either; Translate this into the effect of someone in a nun's habit extolling the value of greed, or someone in a torn t-shirt and dirty jeans promoting hygiene;
Word emphasis (see Sydney above) the way the words are said makes a difference - maybe not always as dramatic as this, but a difference, still.
Set - the importance of context to give meaning.
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Put another way:
In the thread on Table topics a comment was made in passing that words only account for about 7% of the content of communication.
That's great news. If I ever have a chance to go to China or Russia I won't need to learn the language. All I will have to do is listen for the intonation (38%) and watch the body language (55%)
Beware of this statistic.
It is derived from research by Dr Arnold Mehrabian at UCLA in the 1967 and 1968, published in psychology journals and later in his book Silent Messages (1971).
The real message from his work is that when there is contradiction between the literal meaning of words and the tone of voice or the body language - body language is most credible, tone of voice second and the literal meaning of the words third.
If I tell you that I am very interested in listening to what you have to say, but keep looking at my watch and yawning - 55% would be more influenced by my actions than my words. Still 7% would believe the words and rationalize that I must have had a late night last night. Who is to say who is right?
If a teacher walks into a noisy classroom and screams: "I want pandemonium and I want it now" will she get it? No way. She'll get silence. the tone and the actions overcome the words, except for class clown little Jimmy in the back row who will want to argue that she said what she said.
Interesting stuff - but beware of the false conclusion that words are only 7% - tone plus action plus words make up the total conversation and we need to work on them all.
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11 October, 2006
Does spelling matter?
Did you know that according to rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer are in the rghit pclae.
The rset can be a ttoal mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.
This item circulated rather rapidly around the net in mid September 2003. I first saw it on Monday September 15, when I received two copies from unrelated sources. I sent it on, as one does with any interesting piece of information to about a dozen people whom I thought would appreciate it.
About half commented that they had already seen it. This was still a few days before it made the training lists that I subscribe to. On Sunday september 22, it appeared on the back page of the Sydney (Australia) Sunday Telegraph.
To me, the number of people who have been able to understand it, and were amused enough to pass it on rates far more highly than the title of any sandstone research establishment. As an interesting aside, I showed it to my 7 year old daughter, who is still at the conscious competent phase of reading words of that length, and to her it was gibberish.
Again only one example, but I suspect that I will cite it next time I do the only other major bit of stuff that I can't source - the Conscious competent model.
But was there any research at Cambridge University? Probably not. we all know that citing University Research is a common technique employed by scam artists, but before dismissing it out of hand, there was research carried out at another English university.
In a letter to New Scientist magazine on May 1, 1999, Graham Rawlinson of Aldershot, Hampshire, said that his dissertation, written in 1976 at Nottingham University, “showed that randomising letters in the middle of words had little or no effect on the ability of skilled readers to understand the text.
Indeed one rapid reader noticed only four or five errors in an A4 page of muddled text”.
In a contribution to the group Facilitation mailing list, Graham said: Have been on the radio today, and in the National Press. Interesting that my book on Inventing does not get the cover that my 27 year old research does!
Interesting?"
Graham's web site is www.dagr.demon.co.uk and there is a summary of his PhD thesis at The Significance of Letter Position in Word Recognition
The rset can be a ttoal mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.
This item circulated rather rapidly around the net in mid September 2003. I first saw it on Monday September 15, when I received two copies from unrelated sources. I sent it on, as one does with any interesting piece of information to about a dozen people whom I thought would appreciate it.
About half commented that they had already seen it. This was still a few days before it made the training lists that I subscribe to. On Sunday september 22, it appeared on the back page of the Sydney (Australia) Sunday Telegraph.
To me, the number of people who have been able to understand it, and were amused enough to pass it on rates far more highly than the title of any sandstone research establishment. As an interesting aside, I showed it to my 7 year old daughter, who is still at the conscious competent phase of reading words of that length, and to her it was gibberish.
Again only one example, but I suspect that I will cite it next time I do the only other major bit of stuff that I can't source - the Conscious competent model.
But was there any research at Cambridge University? Probably not. we all know that citing University Research is a common technique employed by scam artists, but before dismissing it out of hand, there was research carried out at another English university.
In a letter to New Scientist magazine on May 1, 1999, Graham Rawlinson of Aldershot, Hampshire, said that his dissertation, written in 1976 at Nottingham University, “showed that randomising letters in the middle of words had little or no effect on the ability of skilled readers to understand the text.
Indeed one rapid reader noticed only four or five errors in an A4 page of muddled text”.
In a contribution to the group Facilitation mailing list, Graham said: Have been on the radio today, and in the National Press. Interesting that my book on Inventing does not get the cover that my 27 year old research does!
Interesting?"
Graham's web site is www.dagr.demon.co.uk and there is a summary of his PhD thesis at The Significance of Letter Position in Word Recognition
The ten habits of effective presenters
I have found a blog entry that summarises the essentials of public speaking on one page.
http://blog.guykawasaki.com/2006/01/how_to_get_a_st.html
Well maybe not everything you needed to know, but if you do all these things your speaking will certainly improve.
http://blog.guykawasaki.com/2006/01/how_to_get_a_st.html
Well maybe not everything you needed to know, but if you do all these things your speaking will certainly improve.
Shortcut for turning off the PowerPoint projector
When you are presenting using PowerPoint and a projector, how do you blank the screen?
Press B and the screen goes black.
Press W and you have a white screen that will let you create shadow puppets.
You can see the other short cut keys available in PowerPoint if you press [F1] during the presentation.
Press B and the screen goes black.
Press W and you have a white screen that will let you create shadow puppets.
You can see the other short cut keys available in PowerPoint if you press [F1] during the presentation.
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