Who wants to be a better presenter?

If you want to learn how to deliver more engaging, powerful presentations then we have some exciting news for you.  We have just released our first eBook titled Eliminate Death by PowerPoint and even better it is absolutely free.

In the work we do with leaders around storytelling they often ask for tips and techniques to be better presenters.  This combined with our professional goal to eliminate death by PowerPoint was the catalyst in writing this book.

Survey after survey shows that people fear public speaking over death.  More people would prefer to be the person in the coffin than the person delivering the eulogy.  That is very sad …because with preparation and practice everyone can get better at presenting …and the better you get at it the less you will fear it.

In the book we have pulled together over 20 years presentation experience.  Now there are countless books out there on presenting and this is not a summary of that information.  This book is about what we believe works and what we have seen work.   The focus of the book is on the content, helping you determine what you say and how you present it.

But don’t take our word for it, this is what  others had to say about  our e book:

“To get to the top you need to be noticed.  Every time you present you have an opportunity to impress people or bore them to death.  This is the best book I have read on the do’s and don’ts about PowerPoint.  It explains that what you don’t do is just as important as what you do do.”

John Stewart, Chairman, Legal and General, London & Director, Telstra Corporation, Melbourne

 

“Reading ‘Eliminate Death by PowerPoint’ spoke volumes to me, as a professional event director I have seen time and time again the exhausted and emotionless expressions on conference delegates at the end of a long day of presentations especially those who have been inflicted with PowerPoint torture.  This book points out some fundamental but often forgotten truths that all presenters need to know and confront before planning any presentation.  A poignant and great resource for anyone who wants to be heard and most importantly remembered!.”

Taren Hocking, Director Champion Events

To get you free copy right now, simply supply your name and email on our website home page and you will be sent a link immediately.

Also, we would love to know what you thought about it, so once you have had a read come back and leave us a comment.  We would really appreciate it.

Regards

Gabrielle and Yamini

Frank Lowy please ring me! Business Storytelling and Australia’s bid for the World Cup

Every four years  like a lot of people, I am gripped by soccer fever, thanks to the World Cup and  turn into a complete soccer tragic!  Given our time zone differences, here in Australia this involves setting our alarm for the earliest hours of the morning to watch the games ‘live’.  But it is absolutely worth it!

Like most people in Australia I am deeply disappointed that Australia won’t be hosting the 2022 World cup.  Life is a tough teacher.  You have the experience first and then you hopefully learn from it.  So what did we learn?  I am of course going to be looking at this through the lens of storytelling.   Caveat: We all know the whole bidding process is complex involves many strategies, and many players, political wrangling etc. So this is in no way a solution but something to consider as part our learning.

Using the storytelling lens and comparing Australia’s bid with Qatar’s three things to consider:

  1. The emotion each pitch was tapping into
  2. The audience
  3. The audience’s objections

Every time  I heard Frank Lowy pitching to host the World Cup he talked about Australia being a ‘safe pair of hands’.   The Australian bid tapped into a negative emotion, fear.  It looks like the FIFA committee (the audience) was not looking for a ‘safe pair of hands’.  Their decision to go with South Africa for the previous World Cup indicates this.  Another plank in our bid was ‘Make a country’s dreams come true’  which could apply to every country bidding for the World Cup.  On the other hand ABC news reporter Emma Alberici said Qatar presented a bid full of emotion, imploring the executive committee to make history by sending the World Cup to the Middle East for the first time.  Compare ‘Safe pair of hands’ with ‘The opportunity to make history’. 

 But what about the audience?   Any narrative we engage with has to be right for the audience.

On their web site FIFA states ‘For the Game. For the World’.  It is interesting to note the Qatar bid tag line states  ’For football, for the Middle East, for the world’.  Perfect alignment.  Qatar was telling the committee you have the option to unite the Middle East and the world through football …compare that with making a single country’s dreams come true.

In their bios on the FIFA website one of the questions for the Executive Committee is ‘What does football mean to you?   It is interesting to note the range of answers from  ‘Unity and friendship’, ‘Responsibility, service and joy’, ‘Team spirit and social responisbility’, ‘Unity and teamwork’.  Again the Qatar bid taps into this.

How do you in storytelling overcome the audience’s objections? One of the key hurdles for Australia was the time difference.  The Australian bid website states ’A time zone for more than 60% of the world’s population. Australia will work closely with FIFA to ensure that the match schedule is designed to maximise total television audience numbers around the world’.

 All necessary statement of fact but compare how objections can be handled in a compelling and emotionally engaging way.  In one of Qatar’s bid presentations a child is heard saying ‘So say the Israeli teams and the Arab teams go to the world cup and they play against each other.  Israelis would come to cheer their team and the Arabs would also come, then they would get to know each other’.  An adult voice then adds ‘Indeed what we saw in South Africa was harmony between all people there’. 

 Giving a speech after the wining host was announced, Qatar 2022 Bid Committee Chairman Sheikh Mohammad bin Hamad Al Thani said “On behalf of millions of people living in the Middle East, thank you,” he went on saying “Thank you for believing in us, thank you for having such bold vision. Thank you also for acknowledging this is the right time for the Middle East. We have a date with history which is summer 2022. We will not let you down. We will make you proud.” 

He was letting the panel know this was about  football, but it was also about the Middle East and the world. The legacy they would leave the world with this decision.

Congratulations  Qatar on the historic win.  Frank Lowy please ring us and let’s start working on Australia’s bid for 2030.  The time is now …

Struggling with launching into your stories? Easy story segues for business storytelling

We are often asked ‘How do I launch into a story in the middle of a meeting or in a presentation?’.  In this video Yamini provides some practical advice on smoothly launching into your story and what segues to avoid…like the plague.

Business Storytelling – The Myth of the Natural Born Storyteller

In the work we do with business leaders on organsiational storytelling, we are often asked about ‘natural’ storytellers.  Granted some people are better at it than others, just like some people are better at tennis or singing than others……but everyone can get better at it with preparation and practice.

In this our first video blog, Yamini Naidu explodes the myth of the natural born storyteller. ..and shares their success secrets with you.

Empathy and humour anyone? Business Storytelling lessons from Junior Master Chef

Did you see the first episode of Junior Master Chef on Sunday?  All eyes were on Anna Gare – the new judge.  When Anna was introduced to her audience she said ‘I started cooking when I was your age and I could barely see over the counter’. Her audience laughed and immediately connected with her (I know I did). 

Anna opened with something personal that demonstrated empathy for her audience.  Empathy, humour, connection all in less than 30 seconds.  Do you think you could achieve all three in the first 30 seconds of your opening when you make your next presentation ..and why would you bother?

Annette Simmons story expert says one of the first stories you need to use are ‘Who am I’ stories i.e. ‘What personal qualities make you a trustworthy person’.. in this context?’

Its wisdom rests on that old adage ‘people need to trust you before they trust your message’.  Anna’s use of self disclosure shows that it doesn’t have to be a long story that trawls all the milestones in her life (which can be boring and certainly wouldn’t have held her audience’s attention or worked on prime time TV).  It can be one sentence that shows us who you are, and tells the audience what they need to know about you…that is relevant to them. 

Giant mental post it note here – this is not what I think my audience needs to know about me – which could be everything I did from year dot. Too many presenters make this mistake and do a condensed version of their CV.  Instead think about it from your audience’s perspective.  Determine what your audience needs to know about you to trust you and your messages in their particular context, and work on getting that down to a line or two.

Remember the first 30 – 60 seconds are critical and this is where your audience will be making its mind up about you.  So never ever waste that on house keeping (YIKES) that can come later. Instead work on the right opening sentence that demonstrates WHO you are ..and gets their attention straight up with empathy and humour…just like Anna did.  Go chef (sorry I couldn’t resist!).

An interview with Cindy Batchelor…

Cindy Batchelor is a Managing Director at the National Australia Bank, she shares her personal insights about presenting and the role of storytelling within presentations with Gabrielle Dolan

Gabrielle Dolan: Cindy you have a reputation for being a good presenter, do you have any tips?

Cindy Batchelor: I think the key is to think about what your key messages are and then think about how you are going to make them stick.  As leaders, when we communicate and present we have to be fully aware that people only have the capacity to take in so much…you can’t have ten key messages and expect people to remember them all

GD: And how do you see the role of storytelling when presenting?

CB:  I always think about how I am going to make my messages interesting, and then I think about how storytelling will help me achieve that.  Story is such a powerful tool because it helps people remember your message and often retell it.

When I think back to some of the training I have done and presentations I have sat through, it is the stories that I always remember.

GD: How many stories would you advise people to use?

CB: I don’t use a story for everything.  You don’t need a story for everything, but when presenting I now think a lot about what I want people to remember or take away from my presentation…..I use a story for those messages.

GD: You signed off on the investment to train the top 100 global leaders at nabCapital, what was your thought process?

CB: We give accountability and responsibility to our leaders and when we do that we need to build their skills, confidence and capability.  Our leaders were highly technical, highly effective and highly skilled but there was a gap in the way they engaged with employees.  We knew there was a gap so we had the responsibility to fix it, especially after we had asked them to be responsible and accountable for employee engagement.

In regards to the cost of leadership development, it is pretty simple; people just need to understand that this is an investment not a cost.

GD: Who do you think could benefit from storytelling training?

CB: I truly believe any person in any position can benefit from using storytelling.

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Contact Us

One Thousand and One
HUB Melbourne
3/673 Bourke Street
Melbourne VIC 3000.

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Or call us
Gabrielle 0405 144 092
Yamini 0409 856 987

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