Attention Grabbing Presentation Skills – Get Noticed and Promoted – “Little Did I Know That the Gremlins Were Going to Participate”

Dave Hill - Presentation Skills Article

Imagine you are in New York City awaiting a subway train that will bring you to a venue where you will deliver your first formal presentation in front of a crowd. You are standing on the platform nervously holding your notes and you are focused on memorizing the bullet-point content. You have numbered the note cards because a friend told you that nervous speakers sometimes drop them and are so panicky that they cannot work out what order they should be in when they pick them up. You have recently joined a public speaking club to try and become an exceptional speaker. Your job is in the financial insurance industry, and strong presentation skills are the recipe for success.

As you stand on the platform a few feet from the edge, a subway train screeches to a halt. Commuters pour off the train like highly focused soldier ants. There is jostling and hostility as frantic people squeeze their way on and off the train. It was then that the unthinkable happened. As you were glancing at the note cards awaiting the last of the crowd to exit the train, someone grabs a few of your cards and disappears into the mass. As you stand there with confusion and panic on your face you wonder, “What has just happened here”? You step onto the train to get to your destination, and dread sets in. You now have incomplete notes to guide you through your presentation.

The person on the train was my youngest brother Brian, it turned out that this was just to be a minor hiccup in his public speaking endeavors, he progressed quickly, got noticed and promoted, and now lives the “high life” working for a major insurance carrier. He concluded that the person who “stole” some of his note cards at the subway station in New York that day may have thought that he was handing out flyers or coupons! His outgoing personable demeanor and proficiency in presentation skills gets him invited to speak at his company’s conferences throughout North America. He has even been part of a group that has had the privilege of teaching presentation skills at the United Nations (UN).

In the 13 years I have been immersed in public speaking, I have learned that one of the most important criteria for presenters is to be prepared and to have the confidence to deal with the unexpected, i.e., things not going quite as planned. It’s critical to understand what can go wrong and also to be able to deal with the unusual “snags” that you couldn’t possibly conceive (think subway train incident!). Preparation and confidence are the two main components that can help keep the Gremlins at bay. The more you present, the quicker you will learn what can go wrong and how to prevent it or deal with it.

What are some of the stumbling blocks that I have experienced or witnessed?
1. Recently I was presenting a 1 hour seminar to about 100 people at a technical conference. My presentation was being delivered in a university auditorium. I had a lavaliere lapel type microphone which worked exceptionally well. During my presentation I had a question and answer session and some other audience interaction exercises. Unfortunately there was not a handheld microphone and a helper available to go to the person asking the question and make sure the question being asked was being heard by all. I had to make sure I repeated the question back to the audience to make sure they understood the dialogue. See my previous article on success strategies for using microphones at https://davehillspeaks.wordpress.com/2009/09/01/exceptional-presenters-get-noticed-and-promoted-%e2%80%9cbefriending-the-microphone%e2%80%9d/
2. Recently I was told to use a new net meeting software program a few days before I was scheduled to deliver a technical training session. I played with it to try and work out any potential kinks ahead of time. I worked with an administrative assistant to make sure it worked smoothly from computer to computer. A set of instructions including a web link to log into the online presentation, were e-mailed to the trainees. Gremlins visited right from the start, some people had not opened the e-mail and were looking at a “blue screen” (they had logged into the “old” net meeting site). In addition, some people who did manage to log in were unable to get the new software to work and could not view the slides.
3. Some time ago I attended a net meeting to listen to a technical training session. For some reason the presenter had given control of the PowerPoint presentation to someone on a different computer. That “helper” was supposed to move the slides as the presenter went from point-to-point. Unfortunately the helper moving the slides was not fully fluent in the presentation and most of the slides did not relate to what the presenter was saying. In addition, the slides would occasionally flick backwards and forwards as the helper tried frantically to find the correct one. See my previous article on net meeting success strategies at: https://davehillspeaks.wordpress.com/2010/05/20/attention-grabbing-presentation-skills-%e2%80%93-%e2%80%9cnet-meeting-presentations-%e2%80%93-what-happens-when-your-cranky-baby-argues-with-a-top-executive-on-a-conference-call%e2%80%9d/
4. At a recent 1 day workshop on “Attention Grabbing Presentation Skills for Technical people – Get noticed and promoted” I arrived 1 hour early to set up and make sure the audio visual equipment was working etc. I immediately found that the audio system that was supposed to be supplied was not there. Luckily I carry all sorts of backup equipment to deal with these types of issues. My small laptop size speakers were not perfect but they were adequate so the audience could hear the content of some video segments I use to illuminate some of my points. See my previous article on audio-visual success strategies at: https://davehillspeaks.wordpress.com/2010/01/13/attention-grabbing-presentation-skills-–-get-noticed-and-promoted-–-preparing-for-audio-visual-disasters-–-“the-bulb-on-the-projector-popped-and-the-teachers-freaked/

General success strategies for dealing with “Gremlins”
1. Think of all that could go wrong, ask other presenters what they have experienced, and develop some form of backup plan. The sooner you learn about “snags” the better prepared you will be and the lower your anxiety level will be. Back-up plan, back-up plan, and back-up plan, prepare, prepare and prepare!
2. Develop an equipment checklist that also includes success strategies to counteract any potential issues. Keep adding to it when challenges come about. Learn from your mistakes, other people’s misfortunes, and do not repeat them. For example, my checklist now includes “make sure there will be a handheld microphone and a helper for the question and answer session and other audience interaction segments”. Another benefit of this is if the lavaliere microphone fails, I now have a handheld microphone as a backup.
3. Get to your venue as early as possible, set up the equipment, and test everything. If using new technology give yourself plenty of time to learn the vulnerabilities (months before important events if possible). How many times have you seen a presenter come into a conference room 10 minutes before an important presentation and get frustrated, hot, sweaty, and “leaking” anxiety because the laptop wouldn’t “connect” with the projector?

Final note: The importance of gaining an understanding of “Gremlins” should never be underestimated. Anxiety (fear of failing in front of our peers etc.) is one of the main hurdles for many speakers. Understanding that Murphy’s Law prevails (“If something can go wrong… it will”!) and being prepared with a plan, and the confidence to deal with it, are what you are aiming for. Exceptional presentation skills will get you noticed and promoted, it’s worth the effort.

I would appreciate any feedback or personal stories on preparing for “Gremlins” when delivering presentations. Please use the comments section below, or send me an e-mail at dave@davehillspeaks.com. Let’s help each other succeed.
Thanks,
Dave Hill

Dave’s Public Speaking Website (Bio, Keynotes, Workshops, etc.)
http://www.davehillspeaks.com

Copyright © 2010 Dave Hill Speaks LLC all rights reserved.

Energized Employees Power Profits – Embracing a Culture of Learning from Mistakes – “Engineering Projects – When Things Go Horribly Wrong”

Dave Hill - Empowering Employees and Leaders

Back in July 2000, my wife and I decided to build a large wooden fort in our back garden for our young kids. The cost of a fort “kit” was well over $1300, which was well beyond our means. As a frugal Irishman I would never be able to convince myself to spend that kind of money anyway. The next best thing was to do some reverse engineering and build it ourselves. It would be a great weekend project. On the way home from work each day, I would pass a store that sold garden forts, and they had a beautiful fully assembled one in the front parking lot as a display. Every day for about a month I would stop for about 10 minutes, pretending to check it out, and then covertly take out my tape measure and measure up a few parts and enter them with diagrams into a small note book. The reverse- engineered plagiarized design started to come together slowly but surely, and soon we were ready to buy the materials.

We arrived at the local hardware store in our old Ford Escort station wagon to choose the best pieces of wood from the lumber section and bring them home. By the time the wood was loaded in the car, it was weighed down to a level where the exhaust pipe was nearly scraping the ground. There were big sheets of plywood and a plastic slide tied with rope to the roof, and the 4 x 4 pieces of wood were stacked thickly in the body of the station wagon. We drove home carefully, making sure we did not lose any of our precious cargo. When we arrived home, our young kids were elated with the thought of having a wooden play fort. This was going to be a great weekend….or was it?

That weekend there were noises of bits of wood being cut, nails being hammered, and the grunts and groans of hundreds of screws being inserted into the structure. Bit by bit it started to take shape. At some stage during the assembly, I discovered that I had miscounted the amount of 4 x 4’s I needed for the frame. Since I was in the middle of assembling, I asked my wife to go back to the hardware store and get a 10 ft. length.

The total cost of this play fort was going to come in under $300, and we were having a fine time “barn-raising” as a family, putting it together. It is always a good day when you can apply your engineering skills to some home projects and get to stand back and admire the workmanship and revel in the cost savings.

Then came the bad news; my wife arrived home with the piece of wood inside the car and I could see that she was somewhat upset. She looked at me and said, “I have good news and bad news”. “What’s the good news?” I asked”. “I found a really great piece of 4 x4”. “What’s the bad news then?” She smiled sheepishly and said, “I managed to fit a 10 ft. piece of wood into an 8 ft. long car.” She then showed me that she had pushed the piece of wood all the way into the car so she could get the hatch door closed. Unfortunately, the last push had also caused the piece of wood to hit the front windshield causing it to pop out and break. The cost of the fort was due to be about $300, the cost of the additional piece of wood was $25, and the cost of a new windshield was about $200. The new cost of the fort was now $525!

The fort was finally finished on the Sunday evening. My wife put the finishing touches to it by painting vines on the sides using the light of a lamp she had brought from the living room. Immediately there were shrieks of joy from our kids as they climbed, chased each other, and slid down the slide. The negativity of the broken windshield became a nuisance of the past, and I put the memory in my story file to use at a later date.

As an engineer of nearly 30 years, I have made my fair share of mistakes while doing projects. I have been lucky that I have nearly always been surrounded by positive, uplifting people and have grown to learn that mistakes are normal and part of gaining experience, but most importantly, they are things you get over and sometimes you even get to laugh at them. I have been at meetings where we were wrapping up projects and celebrating our success with a special lunch. Sometimes the meetings would include a segment to encourage people to talk about what went wrong. People would talk about improvement opportunities for the next project. Occasionally, there would be a competition and gag prizes for the person who confessed to causing the biggest mishap. Not only did this help diminish the embarrassment of making mistakes using lighthearted humor, it also provided a forum where people could learn from each other’s mistakes.

A positive forum for learning from mistakes is highly beneficial to any organization. The benefits can include:
1. Creating a culture where people openly admit mistakes and are not afraid to let others know (rather than keeping quiet and hoping that the mistake does not get noticed or lead to adverse conditions such as an accident)
2. Giving us the opportunity to do things differently and benefit from the results- Albert Einstein once said, “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”
3. Building morale and improving teamwork and camaraderie by diminishing the negativity associated with errors
4. Inspiring people to set far reaching goals and push the limits of technology without the hindrance of career limiting reprimands

I would appreciate any feedback or personal stories on creating a workplace culture that embraces learning from mistakes. Please use the comments section below, or send me an e-mail at dave@davehillspeaks.com. Let’s help each other succeed.
Thanks,
Dave Hill

Dave’s Public Speaking Website (Bio, Keynotes, Workshops, etc.)
http://www.davehillspeaks.com

Copyright © 2010 Dave Hill Speaks LLC all rights reserved.

Energized Employees Power Profits – Humor In the Workplace – “Turning Challenges Into Chuckles – How I Attacked the British Navy”

Dave Hill - Finding humor after encountering challenging circumstances

The world had gone mad (again) in 1982. The British and the Argentineans were at war over what seemed like a desolate island with apathetic sheep that did not care which country’s flag flew over the sheep-dip. At that time, I was working on cargo ships as an engineering officer and an offer had been extended to me to participate in the Falklands war. They wanted me to work on a cargo supply ship that would bring supplies to the British Navy in the war zone. They were offering over 1 ½ times my normal pay (danger money). Over a cold beer I considered the logic. I would go to no-man’s land, I would be working on a ship that did not have any means of defending itself, and I would be working in the heat of the engine room that would be a tracking point for the Argentinean Exocet heat seeking missiles. Even fully armed navy ships such as the HMS Sheffield had met with disaster at the hand of the Exocets, and many people perished. I finished my beer and decided that the sheep would have to fend for themselves.

Little did I know that my involvement in the Falklands war would take an unimaginable twist of fate. Some people joked that it was an Irish-English thing that made me “take on” the British navy, others may say that the guilt and safety concerns for the innocent sheep got to me.

The story unfolded at Portsmouth harbor in the South of England, where the cargo ship I was working on was anchored. It was a lazy Sunday afternoon in July at the end of the Falklands war. I had been on the night shift in the engine-room and had some free time at hand. I was given permission to take the cargo ships little sailing dingy (called the Jolly Boat) out for a sail in the harbor. The chief officer Brian kindly used the ship’s crane to lower the Jolly Boat into the water for me. I assembled the rigging, and in no time, I was sailing off into the distance with fresh air in my lungs, leaving the scenic English countryside behind. After an hour of sailing, I was at the mouth of the large harbor and the wind started to die. I was becalmed without even a set of oars to help me. I sat in the dingy and started to take a nap in anticipation that it could take some time for the wind to pick up again. I needed to doze off to prepare my brain for the night shift. I was young and fearless without a care in the world and soon I drifted off to sleep.

To say that all hell broke loose would be a big understatement. Imagine you suddenly wake up in a small boat to the thunderous sound of a ship steam horn bellowing. I jolted awake to see a huge ship towering over me and a mountainous bow wave rolling in my direction. The ship was so close that I could hear people screaming at me (bad English curse words!). There was no doubt in my mind that the ship was traveling at high speed and was frantically trying to steer around me. The black smoke from the funnel and the size of the bow wave gave a clear indication that they were running the engines at full throttle, and steering at full rudder to avoid hitting me. The ship that towered over me was no ordinary ship; it was the huge British aircraft carrier HMS Hermes. The HMS Hermes was coming back from the Falklands war and had turned sharply around a corner to enter the deep channel of the harbor, only to find me in my little dingy in the middle of the channel, with windless sails slapping as the boat rolled from side to side.

Back on the cargo ship, the chief officer had been watching the event play out. He was an avid photographer and was observing me through the telescopic lens of his camera as the HMS Hermes succeeded in evasive action. The wind picked up shortly afterwards, and I made my way back to the cargo ship, paid a high- speed timely visit to the bathroom, and reflected on my close call with death.

The chief officer Brian was in tears of laughter. He told me that this was the funniest thing he had ever seen. I joined in the laughter, took the mocking from my fellow ship mates in my stride, and this became one of many unusual stories that were to color my life while traveling to over 75 countries.

The lesson I would like to share with you from this story is simply that when bad things happen, you can most times use a positive attitude, a sense of humor, and literally celebrate it with laughter. When I was home nearly a year later, I received the attached photo and note from the Chief Officer. It hangs on my bedroom wall in a picture frame, and 28 years later it still makes me chuckle whenever I look at it.

In the following BBC news headline from July 21st, 1982, it mentions that the HMS Hermes came into Portsmouth harbor surrounded by a “small flotilla of boats”. Makes me wonder……..
http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/21/newsid_2515000/2515987.stm

I would appreciate any feedback or personal stories on finding the humor in life’s challenges. Please use the comments section below, or send me an e-mail at dave@davehillspeaks.com. Let’s help each other succeed.

Thanks,
Dave Hill

Dave’s Public Speaking Website (Bio, Keynotes, Workshops, etc.)
http://www.davehillspeaks.com

Copyright © 2010 Dave Hill Speaks LLC all rights reserved.

Attention- Grabbing Presentation Skills – “Public Speaking & Projectile Vomiting, Not the Way to Leave an Impression”

In July 1997, I started working at a chemical corporation as a risk engineer. Soon after moving from Canada to the corporate office in Texas, I realized that my job would require frequent presentations to upper management and other groups, such as property insurance carriers. I knew my subject matter inside-out, but the main hurdle for me was anxiety. The night before my presentation I would toss and turn, trying to get to sleep. My brain would stay switched on, mentally delivering my presentation. I would be annoyed and frustrated with my inability to sleep and tell my brain, “I need to sleep- shut off for goodness sake!” I would focus my brain to think of something else, but it would revert back to the presentation in no time at all. I would peer at the clock- midnight, 3 am, 5 am, and then I would get the 6 am radio alarm clock going off. I would look at myself in the mirror as I brushed my teeth and see a picture of misery. Bags under my eyes, furrowed brow, brain already in a flustered state, stomach unsettled. In the kitchen I would stare at my coffee mug, trying to work out the ingredients for instant coffee and what order to put them in. On one occasion, I was driving away from the house with anxiety pushing up into my chest when brown liquid started to flow down my windshield. I pulled over to discover I had put my travel coffee mug up on the roof while putting my laptop bag in the trunk, and had inadvertently forgotten to take it down upon entering the car.

Fast forward a few hours and I would be standing in front of upper management, and my presentation would chug along, but when questions were asked, my brain would freeze with lack of sleep and anxiety. My answers would not be suitably detailed and cohesive. Afterwards, I would scold myself, “You knew the answer to the question, why didn’t you give them the details?” I was crashing and burning, and getting noticed in a very bad way.

Soon afterwards, I lined myself up to take public speaking night classes, and then I joined a public speaking club so that I could become an expert. It did not take long to understand how to deal with public speaking anxiety, and even use it to my benefit. At some stage, I realized that I was actually having fun presenting, and found myself volunteering to present information, mentor people, and conduct training.

Considerations for anxiety reduction:
1. Know your subject
2. Know your outline
3. Prepare, prepare, prepare
4. Hydrate – drink lots of water at least 2 hours before your presentation and have some water available during your presentation in case you get “cotton-mouth”
5. Do not drink coffee, dairy products, or iced water (dairy products and iced water can diminish the capability of your vocal cords)
6. Imagine yourself being successful
7. Tell your brain, “What’s the worst thing that can happen (you will not die!)”.
8. Have a back-up plan in case any audio-visual equipment fails
9. Have backup notes in case you get a mind- blank
10. Arrive early to deal with the unexpected
11. Use a cotton undershirt to minimize sweat leak-through
12. Wear comfortable clothes and shoes
13. Walk prior to your presentation, listen to music, imagine yourself being successful
14. Prior to your presentation, take deep breaths from your diaphragm
15. I have heard some people say that pressing their knees together just prior to the presentation takes the anxiety edge off
16. Remember- some anxiety is good; it is your body’s natural response to give you energy

I would appreciate any feedback or personal stories on public speaking anxiety. Please use the comments section below, or send me an e-mail at dave@davehillspeaks.com. Let’s help each other succeed.
Thanks,
Dave Hill

Dave’s Public Speaking Website (Bio, Keynotes, Workshops, etc.)
http://www.davehillspeaks.com

Copyright © 2010 Dave Hill Speaks LLC all rights reserved.

Attention Grabbing Presentation Skills – Distracting Gestures – “Getting Undressed In Front Of the Audience”

Dave Hill - Presentation Skills Article

It was May 2005 in the conference room of a major corporation. I was listening to an acquaintance giving a presentation. She was well dressed and had a charming demeanor. I had heard her speak before, and was impressed with the thought provoking subject matter and humor that she would typically deliver. Within a few minutes of her presentation, I noticed that she had put her hands in her dress pockets and as she continued her presentation. I noticed her hands appeared to be fidgeting in there. Her facial expression gave a clear indication that she was troubled by something. I became distracted and curious. Was she scratching? Did she have a rash? My concentration on her presentation continued to diminish as I envisioned what was happening. My imagination started to kick in and I considered the possibility that she had acquired some Texas fire ants prior to the meeting. I also considered that maybe she had somehow come into contact with some poison oak, or even that she needed a bathroom in a hurry.

As someone who has a passion for training technical people to deliver exceptional presentations, I tend to look out for any distracting mannerisms that diminish the quality of a presentation or give an indication of nervousness. I knew the woman very well, and after her presentation I discreetly asked her what was going on. Her answer completely took me by surprise. She laughed and said, “Women sometimes wear pantyhose that do not fit very well, and as I was delivering my presentation, I could feel them sliding down and down and down.” She then added, “They slid down to the point that my brain was telling me that a major wardrobe malfunction was about to happen, and I could not focus on my presentation.”

What are some common visual distractions to avoid while presenting?
1. People leaning on the lectern or a table.
2. Speakers holding their hands in front of their crotch, behind their backs, or putting them into their pockets.
3. Most novice speakers have difficulty determining what to do with their hands, it takes them time to learn instinctively to keep the hands by the sides and raise them only to provide natural gestures that will illuminate the point.
4. Holding a pen or other object that does not provide value to the presentation.
5. People holding notes that they do not use and do not need.
6. Playing with your hair (as a bald man, I have not done that in years!).
7. Some women lean backwards and pivot a shoe on the heel with the toe pointed in the air. Sometimes the point of the shoe even oscillates backwards and forwards keeping some imaginary “beat”.
8. Nervous speakers sometimes hold their hands at chest height like a kangaroo or Tyrannosaurus Rex
9. When speakers are trying to improve hand gestures, sometimes they become too “mechanical” at first, but get smoother as experience builds. Aim for natural gestures.
10. Have you ever noticed a presenter unconsciously fiddling with their cufflinks or rings? Prince Charles is the notable expert on that!
11. Nervous presenters sometimes pace backwards and forwards without any purposeful reason. The movement does not compliment the content of the presentation.
12. Next to pantyhose mishaps, the only other very unusual gesture I have come across is someone who had a “monkey arm”; it swung backwards and forwards as if a chimpanzee was speaking passionately about bananas.

How can you improve your gestures and eliminate distracting ones?
1. Video yourself when you present and analyze yourself or get a competent speaker to coach you.
2. When you are scheduled to deliver a presentation, ask people to give you feedback and suggestions for improvement.
3. Some public speaking training clubs have a “Posture Monitor”. This is someone who looks out for distracting gestures and they have a small bell (or other device) to audibly let you know that you have some distracting mannerism going on. An enhancement of this is the bell combined with the Posture Monitor stating what body part they have noticed is distracting (e.g. “Ding” – hands…).

Final Note:
Learning about public speaking gestures is a very important step, but the most important thing is to practice, practice, practice, and get feedback from people who have expertise. Remember, most people do not even know that they have gestures that need improvement. The goal is to eliminate distracting gestures and to build ones that will enhance your presentation and illuminate your points and stories.

I would appreciate any feedback or personal stories on gestures during presentations. Please use the comments section below, or send me an e-mail at dave@davehillspeaks.com. Let’s help each other succeed.
Thanks,
Dave Hill

Dave’s Public Speaking Website (Bio, Keynotes, Workshops, etc.)
http://www.davehillspeaks.com

Copyright © 2010 Dave Hill Speaks LLC all rights reserved.

Attention- Grabbing Presentation Skills – PowerPoint Slide Success Strategies – “Attack of the Killer Deer”

Dave Hill - Presentation Skills Article

It was just another day out at the zoo in Austin, Texas. I left my kids seated on a bench to rest as I walked a short distance away to look at some animals in an enclosure. I must have been distracted and out of earshot for a while, because when I turned around, a “horror scene” was unfolding. My kids were cowering as a “ferocious” young deer came along to check if they had any food. I am not sure if the deer got out of its enclosure or if it was allowed to wander, but it certainly made for a captivating black and white photo. If you look carefully, you can feel the emotions coming out of the picture. The deer, with its head slightly bowed in a submissive posture is slowly inching towards my kids. My son is cowering behind his sister with his eyes focused. He appears to be nudging or pushing her towards the deer with the voice in his head saying, “Take her, take her now, she will taste good!”

This article discusses success strategies for visual slides such as this.

20 considerations to maximize the effectiveness of a PowerPoint slide through design:
1. The slide wording should clearly identify the point you are trying to make.
2. The wording should be in a “headline format” to grab the audience attention and make them curious (it doesn’t need to be a complete sentence).
3. Make the text short, taking up no more than two lines. Use a heading font size that is clear to see (~ 40 point).
4. The headline will be more effective if it includes a conclusion to frame the problem and a possible solution in the audience’s mind.
5. The text does not contain acronyms that may cause audience members to lose track while they are mentally trying to work out the meaning.
6. The slide design should tend to promote conversation. Wouldn’t the slide above make you somewhat intrigued and feel a need to get more details?
7. The graphic needs to relate to the text, and should be easy to correlate to the words (the one above could be more effective with higher definition).
8. People should be able to relate to the picture.
9. Refrain from:
• Slides that are full of words (and presenters that read word for word directly from the screen and even use the laser pointer to “bounce” from word to word).
• Too many points (one point at a time is ideal in many cases).
• Bullet points that are too wordy.
10. Know your material, practice, practice, practice (practicing in your head is not effective, practice out loud).
11. The background colors and font colors should be easy to see (this slide would work more effectively in a dark room – always consider the room lighting when developing slides). As a presenter, you want the focus to be on you rather than your slides. It can be beneficial to have a white background and dark font to allow the slide to be visible and maximize the level of room illumination.
12. The background is not too busy (the background is there to compliment your slide and to help illuminate the content rather than be the center of attention).
13. The font types are not too busy (use clear font types such as Arial and Times New Roman).
14. Use wording or sentence emphasis coloring sparingly. The coloring can be used to focus attention to a word or to highlight structure such as headline, points, and sub-points. The coloring could be further emphasized by putting the word in italics.
15. Use animation sparingly, the most effective use is to have your point and sub-points appear one at a time (on click) to keep the audience focused, to prevent them from reading ahead and tuning-out your voice.
16. Refrain from using the automatic timer in animation, as it can easily disrupt your flow if delays are encountered such as someone asking a question.
17. Overuse of visual and audio animation can be annoying and erode the image of professionalism.
18. Check your spelling and grammar.
19. Get peer review to make sure your presentation is on target for the specific audience. Let your presentation sit for a while, and then come back to it to see if you still think the scope and content is on target.
20. Use a consistent background as much as possible. Reasons to use a different background might be:
a. To highlight a major section change in your presentation
b. To make a specific slide more visible (i.e. to make a photo or other visual stand out)

Considerations to maximize the effectiveness of a PowerPoint slide through delivery:
1. Use the “B” button on the keyboard to blank out the screen to help focus the attention on you when you are telling a story (and if the slide visual does not compliment your story or relate to the train of thought). Another reason to blank out the slide would be if you are going to take some other action such as walk into the audience for discussion purposes, or move to a flipchart to clarify some details, etc.
2. Determine where you are going to stand and present from (left side from the audience view is preferable).
3. Determine what physical actions and movement will be required relative to the room configuration (is the flip chart in a suitable location so you are not walking through the projector light?).
4. Do not stand in front of the projector light.
5. Set the slides up so you can activate everything using a click of a remote. It can be distracting if you have to keep fiddling with a keyboard to get slides to advance or videos to play. It can also be unnecessarily distracting to have to give instructions to an assistant at the keyboard.
6. Face the audiences when you are talking, make eye contact, and engage them.
7. Don’t stay trapped by a laptop and keyboard.
8. Change presentation modes to keep the audience attention (slides, flip-chart, questions, video, stories, humor, physical props, etc.).

Final notes
1. Develop a presentation outline/table of contents (early on in the presentation) so that the audience understands how the information you are giving is pieced together.
2. Keep a camera with you when you may have opportunities to take photos that might be useful in the future. Keep focused on the kind of things you present on, and build a file of photos for use in your slides.
3. Gather your personal stories and develop a story file so that you can illuminate your slides by incorporating relatable personal information.
4. Beware of copyright restrictions when using images from sources such as “Google Images”. In Google Images you can do an advanced search and filter to identify ones with no copyright restrictions or minor requirements.
5. A cheap source for royalty free photos is www.istockphoto.com. These lower definition quality photos are very adequate for PowerPoint purposes and cost under $2 in most cases.
6. See my previous article on success strategies for linking videos in a previous article at this link.

I would appreciate any feedback or personal stories on taking PowerPoint presentations to the next level. Please use the comments section below, or send me an e-mail at dave@davehillspeaks.com. Let’s help each other succeed.
Thanks,
Dave Hill

Dave’s Public Speaking Website (Bio, Keynotes, Workshops, etc.)
http://www.davehillspeaks.com

Copyright © 2010 Dave Hill Speaks LLC all rights reserved.

Attention- Grabbing Presentation Skills – Get Noticed and Promoted –“As You Slide Down the Banisters Of Life, Make Sure The Splinters Are Facing the Right Way!”

Dave Hill - Presentation Skills: Get Noticed and Promoted

My first introduction to public speaking was when I went to a speech competition back in Ireland that my dad was competing in. It was May, 1980, and this was not to be a good evening at all. We arrived at the hotel in Dublin where the competition was being held, and it was in a very rough area of the city. In the hotel, there were signs everywhere that said, “Ladies, watch your handbags”- a sure sign that there were pickpockets prowling in the area. The evening was memorable for three things: the beer was bad, my dad did not place in the competition, and my coat was stolen and my wallet and car keys were in the pocket.

I will sum up my first public speaking experience with the saying, “As you slide down the banisters of life, sometimes the splinters are facing the wrong way!”

Fast forward another 18 years, and this time I am doing public speaking night classes at a local community college. My engineering job requires me to regularly present information to upper management. I am not comfortable; in fact, I am terrified. I am so stressed that I do not get to sleep well the night before I present, and I am presenting poorly. I am so worn out with lack of sleep that I cannot answer questions even though I have the detailed knowledge in my head.

During the presentation skills night classes, I learned a lot about public speaking. At the end of the class I was knowledgeable on the subject but it was not an end point. I needed a forum to put my knowledge into practice, and hone my skills. As someone who has been training technical people on presentation skills, I encourage trainees to take the initiative to join a public speaking club as I did over 12 years ago, and strive for excellence. When you “slide down the banisters of life”, you can sometimes choose which way the splinters are facing! Public speaking excellence is a choice, and in many cases, a means to get noticed in a very positive way.

This article focuses on cost effective ways to grow your presentation skills knowledge and confidence level to where it becomes a habit. Toastmasters International is a worldwide public speaking organization with thousands of public speaking clubs that are run by its members. The cost is about $60 for the first 6 months and about $40 every 6 months after that. Most clubs have weekly meetings which last an hour. Is a $60 investment to develop yourself into a great speaker, reduce your anxiety when presenting, and set yourself up for potential promotional prospects worth it for you?

What are 13 key benefits?
1. It is cheap, structured, and it works
2. You can turn up as frequent as your schedule permits (I do a lot of out of town travel, so I attend whenever I can)
3. Different clubs have different meeting times ranging from early morning, lunchtime, evening, etc.
4. The meetings are designed to give people as much opportunity to speak as possible
5. You get assigned a mentor
6. Attendees at meetings are assigned duties ahead of time (duty holders describe their duties at a meeting, this is used as another opportunity to help people get comfortable speaking in front of others)
7. Prepared speeches or presentations are generally 5 to 7 minutes in length (there are typically two or three speakers who present speeches that they have developed and practiced)
8. Your prepared speech can be a workplace speech or presentation that you want to get feedback on
9. Every prepared speaker gets a formal evaluation where you will be coached on what you do well and one or two things to focus on for improvement
10. There is a table topics part of the meeting to help speakers speak “off the cuff” for a few minutes
11. There is an “Ah Counter” to indicate when distracting filler words are being used such as ah, um, so, etc.
12. There is a “Posture Monitor” who indicates when nervous gestures are being used
13. Additional benefits from joining a Toastmasters club is that the club structure is designed to build leadership skills and listening skills

How do I find the most suitable club?
1. Go to http://reports.toastmasters.org/findaclub/ to locate a club in your area (you can even search by zip code, day of the week, time of day). Note: some clubs are listed in the “Club Status” as “closed” which means that the membership is confined to a specific company or organization (most are identified as “open to all”)
2. It is critical to visit several clubs to determine which one will provide most value to you
3. Search for clubs that have been in existence for several years and preferably have a membership base of over 25 members, and have over 15 people turning up at meetings
4. Ask them how many Distinguished Club Program (DCP) points they received out of 10 in the previous year. DCP is a formal measurement of criteria that can indicate how strong a club is and how successfully its officers are managing it. A total of 7 points or higher can help identify stronger clubs
5. Choose a club that best fits your needs as a speaker, and your character. Some clubs are somewhat formal, others are more relaxed and incorporate a lot of fun
6. When you are close to making a final decision, visit the club numerous times to make sure it will meet your needs and that your time is going to be invested in the best possible way
7. Ask the club officers who would be an exceptional mentor (get the best, this is a huge benefit to have someone knowledgeable keep you focused, give you feedback, and help you set and achieve goals)

What do I need to do to accelerate my progress at a Toastmaster club?
1. Turn up at meetings
2. Decide how often you want to speak…prepare, prepare, prepare…and speak often (I chose to speak monthly at first)
3. Set goals with your mentor and complete them on time
4. Listen to evaluators, learn who the exceptional ones are, and do not be afraid of asking for the best evaluator when its your turn to deliver a prepared speech
5. Go to Toastmasters educational sessions outside the club (local conferences etc.)
6. Enter competitions where you can push your capabilities and get comfortable speaking in front of larger audiences and people you do not know
7. Use the club to find your speaking niche; it’s a safe place to push the boundaries and learn from your mistakes

Why have I continued to maintain membership in Toastmasters for 12 years?
1. I have fun at the meetings. My dad had the same experience, he stayed in Toastmasters into retirement; it became one of his hobbies
2. Mentoring people gives me great satisfaction; watching people change from stressed speakers to exceptional confident speakers is an invigorating experience.
3. I use my speaking time to get feedback on the effectiveness of my content, speeches and humor that I will use in presentation skills training and keynote speeches.
4. Videotaping my speeches helps me produce training materials and also allows me to critique myself later on.

I would appreciate any feedback or personal stories on taking presentation skills training to the next level. Please use the comments section below, or send me an e-mail at dave@davehillspeaks.com. Let’s help each other succeed.
Thanks,
Dave Hill

Dave’s Public Speaking Website (Bio, Keynotes, Workshops, etc.)
http://www.davehillspeaks.com

Copyright © 2010 Dave Hill Speaks LLC all rights reserved.

Attention Grabbing Presentation Skills – Room Layout and Wardrobe Malfunctions – “Please Check Your Fly!”

Dave Hill Speaking at the 2004 World Championship of Public Speaking

In August, 2004, when I was competing at the World Championship of Public Speaking finals, I was on the stage the night before the competition, and stood in awe as I started to comprehend what it was going to be like to speak to an audience of over 2000 people. The seating area seemed to go on forever into the background. The stage was the widest I had ever seen. I spent about 10 minutes on the stage thinking about the potential challenges this speaking area would present. Some of my considerations were:
1. Every seat in the room has a “customer”, I need to make sure I give due attention to all areas of the huge room while delivering my speech.
2. The speaker entry area and the spot where the Master of Ceremonies (MC) was located were at opposite ends of a very wide stage. I would need to make sure I did not move too fast across the stage to shake his hand, as I could potentially find myself out of breath or breathing heavily at the start of my speech.
3. I would be using a lapel- type microphone, but they would also have an emergency hand held microphone lying on the ground at the edge of the stage at the center (for the possibility of lapel mike malfunction). I made sure that I knew exactly where it was.
4. I evaluated the lectern adjacent to where the master of ceremonies would be located. I would not be using it for my speech, but I would be using it for the interview portion at the end of the event. Here were some of my considerations concerning the lectern:
• How high is the lectern? I am a short person and some lecterns are high enough to hide me if I stand behind them (Do I want to have a box ready to stand on? Do I want to make fun of the situation – “Can you see me now, Can you see me now!”).
• How many microphones are on the lectern? How can I adjust the height of them so they are not blocking my face, and will pick up my voice more effectively (nothing more embarrassing than snapping a microphone in half that is not intended to be adjusted!).
5. While walking around the stage, I checked for anything that might be a tripping hazard; slight changes in elevation of the floor sections of the stage, loose duct tape, carpet nails poking up, electrical wires, etc.
6. While delivering my speech silently in my head, I practiced my purposeful movement. I had to get a good understanding how my speech would be coordinated with the wide and deep stage. The stage set-up would allow me to not only do side-to-side movement and front-to-back movement, but it would also allow diagonal movement.

This bit of preparation helped me reach my potential at this important event by minimizing the unexpected, reducing anxiety, and allowing me to focus on my speech delivery. The only thing to take me by surprise on the day of the competition was someone who was standing at the entry point of the stage, he stopped me a moment before I was due to step on the stage and said in a very business-like voice saying, “Please check that your fly is closed.” This person had been assigned by the organizers to make sure the speakers would not have any “wardrobe malfunctions” – that, folks, is attention to detail!! To put that in perspective, I really would not have wanted an open fly to allow the audience to see that I was wearing my “Lucky Leprechaun” boxer shorts under my very formal attire! I should also add that they were projecting my image up onto huge screens. Thank you wardrobe malfunction prevention person, your attention to detail is greatly appreciated.

CLICK HERE if you would like to see a three minute excerpt of my speech.

This article highlights the importance of understanding the configuration of the room you are speaking in, and the preparation that you can do (and the changes you can potentially make to suit your purposes). Whether you are speaking in an auditorium, conference room, or training in a classroom- style room, there are many things you can do to help maximize your success. When I coach speakers, I encourage them to take control of the room when possible. Simple considerations can have a huge positive impact on your presentation.

One of the most challenging speaking venues for me has been a gymnasium with over 1000 people attending. People were seated 360 degrees around me. I knew this ahead of time; I received permission to move the lectern to a better position (while still allowing it to be functional for my introducer). I was able to create a large speaking area that would allow me to move about energetically while making sure I was making eye contact with people in every quadrant. If I had arrived at this event without this knowledge, it could have resulted in a level of unnecessary stress as this is probably the most difficult audience seating configuration I have ever had to speak to.

Success Strategies – Managing Your Speaking Arena with Preparation
1. Do you have a good understanding of the room dimensions, seating configuration, location of the lectern, location of the projector and screen, what obstacles will be in the way, etc.? Can you visit the event area ahead of time or get them to send you a drawing, sketch or photo? Hotels and conference rooms usually have this information available online or if you ask them for it.
2. Do you have any control over the room or the layout? If so, work it to your advantage. I prefer not to use a lectern, and like to move it away to the side so it is usable by the person introducing me, but is not an obstruction to my movement during my presentation (I like to move about!). What type of presentation or training are you giving, what is the expected size of the audience, and what type of seating configuration will maximize the success of the event? Many times I see speakers stepping backwards and forwards around lecterns that they are not using, and it is an obstruction that they could easily have asked to be moved.
3. Will there be a microphone available (lapel or hand-held)? If not, will your voice be able to project clearly to the back of the room when it is full of people?
4. What distractive noise (air conditioning fans etc.) could there be in the room or in an adjacent room? I have once given a speech when the adjacent conference room had a Mexican musical hoe-down going on. Luckily, I have a strong voice and had a microphone that was suitably adjusted by the assigned AV person to allow my message to be audible.
5. Where are you going to put your supply of rehydration water (for longer speeches, presentations, or training sessions)? Put it in a place where you are not going to turn your back to the audience, or have to reach down to the ground. In addition, keep it away from laptops and projectors etc.; nervous hands can fumble and set you up for failure.
6. When you are being introduced, where will you stand and how will you make your way to the speaking area? I prefer to stand at the back of the room when I am being introduced, and then walk to the front through a clear path down the center of the audience or to the side. If you have to fight your way through obstructions or ask people to pull in their chairs, this can be distracting and diminish your image as a professional.
7. If you are using a projector some considerations might be:
• Is it a ceiling type or one that sits on a table in front of the screen?
• If you are bringing your own projector, do you know if you need to bring extension cords/power bar, or if they will be supplied?
• How will you manage the tripping hazards of wires from the projector/speakers/extension cord? Can someone put a mat or duct-tape on the wires to reduce the hazard? Imagine the disaster of tripping over projector wires and pulling the projector to the ground with the “pop” of the bulb!
• Where will you stand and move to? You do not want to be walking in front of the projector image or standing with the projector image on your face. Ceiling- type projectors with an elevated screen may allow you to use the speaking area extensively where the table projector may limit your movement to a corner. If there is a table projector obstructing movement, I typically choose to stand on the left (as viewed by the audience).
• Will you use a remote to move from slide-to-slide? Will you use your own or will you use one that is supplied? Will someone show you how to use it ahead of time? Are the batteries good? Do you know the procedure to connect/configure your remote to someone else’s laptop?
• Will you need someone to sit at the laptop to move from slide to slide? Is that person familiar with PowerPoint etc. and can they understand your signals to move to the next slide or back? If you are advancing the slides directly from the laptop yourself, can you do it easily without getting in the way of the screen or projector light?

Final Note: Remember – preparation sets you up for success and also can help reduce anxiety.

Dave Hill - Article On Presentation Skills

I would appreciate any comments, tips, or personal stories on room layout and other considerations. Please use the comments section below, or send me an e-mail at dave@davehillspeaks.com. Let’s help each other succeed.
Thanks,
Dave Hill

Dave’s Public Speaking Website (Bio, Keynotes, Workshops, etc.)
http://www.davehillspeaks.com

Copyright © 2010 Dave Hill Speaks LLC all rights reserved.

Attention Grabbing Presentation Skills – Get Noticed and Promoted – Using Notes and Cards Effectively – “He Stood In Front Of 300 Peers and Prepared To Die”

Dave Hill - Presentation Skills Article

Imagine you are delivering a technical presentation to over 300 peers at a conference. Your boss was the one who convinced you to develop and deliver the presentation. You are not accustomed to public speaking, and it scares you to death. As you stand at the lectern holding onto it for dear life, nervousness prevents you from making eye contact with anyone in the audience. You deliver your presentation while simultaneously staring intensely at your PowerPoint slides. Your back is facing the audience most of the time. In your hand are your notes which could have helped guide your thoughts, but they are shaking to the extent that you cannot read the 12 point font size. The visibly shaking notes give the audience a clear indication of your nervousness, and they become more focused on your slow death rather than the content of your speech. You stumble through your presentation in a monotonous voice, forgetting most of the important points. It’s a disaster- it has been one of the most humiliating times of your life.

I would love to be able to tell you that this is a hypothetical story; however, it isn’t. The presentation was being delivered by an acquaintance, a highly skilled engineer who knew his subject inside out but wasn’t able to maintain his composure, keep his thoughts, and most importantly, he was not able to read his notes effectively. I never saw him present again.

This article focuses on some success strategies for using notes. The goal should be to minimize the use of notes, as they can distract and diminish the level of eye contact and engagement with the audience. When you are using notes at a lectern, you are anchoring yourself and preventing the use of purposeful movement that could enhance your presentation. It can be very distracting when a speaker engages the audience with a story, and then has to walk back to the lectern solely for the purpose of reading notes. Reading word for word from notes, or reading information directly from your PowerPoint slides with your back turned to the audience are extremely detrimental to the effectiveness of your presentation.

Some reasons for using notes can be:
□ Not enough time to prepare and memorize the information
□ The information is highly technical and difficult to remember
□ You have quotes or numbers that you want to deliver accurately
□ Your presentation is lengthy or does not have a strong “flow” to it, and it is difficult to remember
□ You have trouble remembering information under stressful conditions

Using sheets of paper for notes:
□ Use stiff paper – it is easier to handle and shaky hands will be less obvious. Number the sheets in case you drop them and need to assemble them in a hurry.
□ Use large font size so that your eyes can pick up the gist of a sentence with just a quick glance. If possible, just include key bullet points that will guide you through your presentation.
□ If using a lectern or other similar object to rest your notes, discreetly slide a sheet to the side after each page is finished.
□ To keep the notes less obvious, do not staple them together or print double-sided (so that you do not have to visibly manipulate them).
□ Your introduction should also be on stiff paper in a large font size, as the person introducing you may be nervous or have difficulty reading the sentences.

Using note cards:
□ Occasionally I carry a note-card in my pocket which contains a few bullet points to help me get back on track should lose my way in a presentation.
□ Note cards should also be on stiff paper with a font size that is easy to read.
□ Keep the information on the cards to brief sentences or bullet points.
□ I recently heard someone talk about using card paper that is color coordinated with the clothes they are wearing so that the notes are not as visible or intrusive.
□ Cards should be numbered and can easily be slid from top to bottom when each one is finished.

Using handouts for notes:
□ Some presenters and trainers use handouts with “fill in the blanks”. Key words are left out of a sentence, and there is a space for audience members to fill them in when prompted by the presenter. These handouts serve two purposes; they help a presenter stay on track (the handout is used as a step-by-step guide) and it is also beneficial because the audience will have better information retention by filling in the missing information.

Using a flipchart for notes:
□ Another covert method of using notes is when you are going to incorporate the use of a flipchart. The pre-determined information that you are going to write on the flip-chart as part of your presentation can be written in light pencil ahead of time. These hidden cues can help you keep your information on track.

Summary
□ Aim to have no notes or cards. This will allow you to maximize your engagement with the audience.
□ If you must use notes, keep the amount of material you read to a minimum.
□ Keep as much eye contact with the audience as possible.
□ Use stiff paper with large font size.
□ Manipulate the notes as discreetly as possible, side-to-side on a lectern, and top to bottom when using small note cards in your hand.
□ Notes can be used clandestinely on a flip chart or in a handout with a “fill in the blank” format.

Final Note
Several years ago, my brother was getting the New York City underground train to another part of the city where he was going to deliver an important speech. As he waited for his train, he took the time to read his speech outline that was written on note cards. He had the note cards to help him memorize his material. The train appeared from the tunnel. It stopped, and a crowd of people started getting off. Suddenly, someone hurrying and exiting the train pushed past him while grabbing one of his note cards. The stranger disappeared into the distant mass of people. My brother got on the train with his mouth wide open in astonishment, and one note card missing. While analyzing what had just happened, he came to the conclusion that the person who had grabbed the note card without stopping had thought that my brother was handing out discount coupons!

I would appreciate any feedback or personal stories on using notes when delivering presentations. Please use the comments section below, or send me an e-mail at dave@davehillspeaks.com. Let’s help each other succeed.
Thanks,
Dave Hill

Dave’s Public Speaking Website (Bio, Keynotes, Workshops, etc.)
http://www.davehillspeaks.com

Copyright © 2009 Dave Hill Speaks LLC all rights reserved.

The Empowered Workplace – “What Do You Do When Workplace Violence Rears its Ugly Head?”

Dave Hill - Workplace Violence Article

This is our dog Megan. She has anger management issues. Our family life is kept hectic- transporting kids to activities such as soccer games and practices, music lessons, etc. There are days when we rush home to grab some high speed food and then dash out the door again. Our dog, Megan, follows us around the house putting on her “pretty face”- puppy eyes, ears pricking up, and a goofy smile just to entice us to love her so much that we will take her for a long walk. As we rush out the door, we say goodbye to her, and you can see the bitter disappointment in her face. We return a few hours later to find the contents of a waste paper basket strewn all over the floor. She looks at us sheepishly with guilt written all over her face. She does not make eye contact when we reprimand her and call her a “Garbage Dog”. I often wonder what goes on in her mind once we leave the house. Does she get animated and verbally angry? “I hate this family, I sit here all day waiting for them to come home and take me for a walk and they just come home to taunt me. Why do they bother to come home if they don’t want to go for a walk? I bet they are out there walking some other dog. I hate them, I hate them so much. I am so angry; I am going to show them who is the boss in this house. I am going to throw the garbage. Dirty tissues, candy wrappers and other nasty stuff – that will teach them a lesson. Oh no, what have I done, they will never forgive me…”
The dog throwing the garbage is a frequent demonstration of aggression. I would like to be able to say that all acts of aggression that have crossed my path are laughable and tolerable; however, that is not the case. I have been on the receiving end of workplace verbal aggression that humiliated me and sucked the energy out of me, but most importantly, I have witnessed the end of someone’s career when physical violence came into the scene.

Dave Hill - Article on Workplace Violence

It was Christmas day, December 25th, 1981, and I was on a cargo ship in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Christmas, the season of good will, was about to unravel at the seams and result in an engineer officer getting sacked. There were personality conflicts between some of the senior officers and the junior officers, and “pushing buttons” to get a reaction was the game at hand. An engineer cadet mischievously took a bite out of the 2nd Mate’s (deck officer) sandwich without asking as he was out of the room. He got rebuked and jostled by the 3rd engineer officer, which caused the 6th engineer officer to react violently and beat up the 3rd engineer. With emotions in the room flaring, the scene progressed when the 2nd deck officer came back into the room to find a fight scene just finishing, and a part of his sandwich missing. With anger, he shouted at the 6th engineer, “If you hit me that will be the end of your career.” That’s when the 6th engineer officer hit him in the face, and the 2nd mate fell down, concussed. Merry Christmas, all. The 6th engineer was sacked when the ship got into port a few weeks later. It most likely ended his career.

To this day, I still wonder how a good engineer could end up getting sacked over a sandwich. How did the personality conflicts deteriorate and get so out of hand? How and why did physical violence invade the workplace?

What Can We Learn From This?
As an engineer of nearly 30 years, I have grown to learn that conflict is a natural part of working with people. I have also grown to learn the importance of dealing with conflict, rather than living with it. Differences of opinion, different motivations, emotional conflicts, misunderstandings, ignorance, manipulation, and prejudice are just a few of the aspects that can “light the fuse” of a conflict. If not managed appropriately, conflict can potentially escalate to violence. What are some of the devastating effects that can result from conflict in the workplace?
• Loss of respect and trust
• Employees setting each up for failure
• A culture of doing the minimum
• Increased turnover of valued employees
• Loss of profits
• Energy levels and creativity are sucked out of the workplace
• Deadlines get missed
• Teams that are not cohesive become inefficient

Ten Ways Exceptional Workplaces Handle Worker Conflict and Violence
1. Train people at all levels of the organization in conflict management, negotiation skills, and listening skills
2. Deal with conflict right away, rather than having it fester in the background
3. Have zero tolerance for violence
4. Hire people with exceptional communication skills and impeccable ethics
5. Do thorough background checks when hiring
6. Address unresolved conflicts efficiently and effectively through workplace resources and have a policy and a process that is flexible enough to cover different scenarios
7. Develop a culture of respect and trust, and have a workplace that embraces diversity
8. Energize and empower employees.
9. Create a workplace with an aura of balanced fun-energy. Levity can help derail conflict in the heat of the moment.
10. Evoke an open-door culture where employees will speak up when they identify that conflict is not getting resolved, or if they have a concern that it may escalate to violence

Further information on this subject can be found at www.fbi.gov/publications/violence.pdf

If you have any advice, thoughts, or comments on conflict and violence in the workplace, please feel free respond to this blog or send me an e-mail at dave@davehillspeaks.com

Dave’s Public Speaking Website (Bio, Keynotes, Workshops, etc.) www.davehillspeaks.com

Copyright © 2009 Dave Hill Speaks LLC all rights reserved