how to present december 2011

www.michellebowden.com.au How to Present Magazine December 2011 1

OCTOBER 2011

PLUS: Parents Corner Success Stories

www.michellebowden.com.au

IN THIS ISSUEDr Helena Popovic shares her tips for professional presentingFix your nerves!Manage ObjectionsStructure your messageInfluenceHow to Build rapportWords you shouldn’t use...PowerPoint Tips

http://www.michellebowden.com.au



Michelle’sUpdateWelcome to the December issue of How to Present! This issue is packed with articles that will assist you to present with greater confidence and influence.

Can you believe it’s nearly Christmas? I LOVE Christmas - I love all the celebrating, laughter and smiles that are associated with children at Christmas time. Of course, we know that it’s not always completely stress-free or devoid of arguments and disagreements either! So be sure to read the articles on how to build rapport throughout the magazine this month and remember you can get anything you want if you get really good at pacing before you lead!

Do check out the esteemed Dr Helena Popovic’s tips for presenting in business. I’ve had the pleasure of speaking on the same conference stage with Dr. Helena many times. I love her and have made her one of my mentors/role models in life - she’s awesome!

Anthony Bonnici has provided some humorous and thought- provoking commentary on how to ‘Use the force!’ when you next present or communicate with others in business!

PLUS I’ve shared my 3 presentation mistakes to avoid, tips for how to structure a presentation, managing nerves, the role of the how to manage objections in a business communication as well as a copy of my nine year old daughter Maddie’s winning speech at Parliament House recently for those of you who want to help your children craft a speech for school public speaking competitions And we also have the usual inspiring success stories from which you may even draw some personal strength!

So grab yourself a ’cuppa’, put your feet up and have a read! And most importantly, make sure you put the invaluable advice into immediate action so you see some fast results.

A very Merry Christmas to you and yours. Stay safe over the holidays won’t you? Happy Presenting!

Who is Michelle Bowden?

Michelle is an expert in influential

presentation skills in business. She

has run her 2-day Influential Presentation Skills program over

570 times with many thousands of

people and she’s been nominated

for Educator of the Year 3 years

running. Michelle is one of only 25

Australian females who is a

Certified Speaking Professional -

the highest designation for

speakers in the world. For a list of

Michelle’s clients please go to:

www.michellebowden.com.au

DIARYDATE

INFLUENTIAL PRESENTATION SKILLS(2-day Public Program)

Join Michelle at her next public program IN SYDNEY:

• February 21-22• March 21-22• May 22-23

To register or chat about your specific needs please email:[email protected]



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The model that I suggest you might like to use when structuring your presentations was developed by Bernice McCarthy. McCarthy drew on the various theories of adult learning proposed by psychologists and theorists such as Jung, Paiget, Vygotsky, Dewey, Lewin and Kolb. McCarthy was passionate about both the diversity of learning styles and the various needs of the different learners in one classroom.

In other words, she felt strongly that not all learners should be presented to in the same way. She created an instructional system that addresses the intrinsic needs of all audience types. Bernice McCarthy called her model the 4Mat System.

4Mat recognises that individuals need to have four key questions answered. In some cases the questions are explicit and known by the audience. They are ‘virtual’ in nature and sometimes not yet conscious for either the presenter or the audience member.

In some cases, by virtue of their personality and preferred learning style, audience members have a preference for one of these four questions over the others.

In order to be convinced by your argument, they will need to have their primary question answered.

This is not to say that they will not be interested in other questions too. In order to capture the hearts and minds of all audience members, you will need to be sure that your presentation answers all four questions in a given order.

There are four key questions to address in the audience-focused model.

The four questions are:

1. Why? The audience member has a need to clarify the context and rationale.

2. What? The audience member has a need to identify the detail of what is to be learnt.

3. How? The audience member has a need to explore how to use and apply what is learnt.

4. What if?/ What else? The audience member needs to outline the alternatives for the new information, to modify, adapt and create new contexts.

Try this next time you have to structure an argument, write a proposal, coach a colleague, request something of your child or partner or friend, craft an email, answer a question, teach something to someone. The sky’s the limit!

STRUCTURING YOUR BY MICHELLE BOWDEN




ANGELA BUTLERANZIIF SENIOR ASSOCIATE - BT

Passionate about proactive claims management and the customer experience, Angela joined BTFG as the Quality Assurance and Training Manager in March 2011. Prior to this she was a Senior Claims Consultant at RGA (Reinsurance Group of America) for four and a half years and before that, spent three years in the position of Life Risk Claims Manager at Zurich Financial Services. Building her career in various roles from Claims Administration to Senior Claims Assessing positions, !Angela is an ANZIIF Senior Associate and is considered a subject matter expert having over !15 years experience in the Claims field working with Retail, Group and Consumer Credit products.

What kind of presenting do you do at work?

I present to financial advisers as well as internal and external stakeholders, peers and colleagues at industry functions/seminars.

What prompted you to attend Michelle's Influential Presentation Skills program? !My employer required me to present professionally with a level of confidence and influence that only Michelle’s Influential Presentation Skills program catered for.

How did Michelle's program change your attitude to presenting in business?!I realised that quality presenting is indeed an art form, and is not limited to multiple PowerPoint slides. !A skilled and animated presenter is worth their weight in gold. The ability to hold an audience’s attention for the duration of a presentation and still get the required message across is no easy feat.

In general, what positive outcomes have you achieved from improving your presentation skills? !Since undertaking Michelle’s Influential Presentation Skills program, I’ve changed employment and moved into a role which requires me to present to Financial Planners, Executive Management teams and other stakeholders as part of my day to day role. This role also involves training and development. The skills learnt through Michelle’s program have increased my confidence and enabled me to construct presentations and deliver material in a way in which the audience will be most receptive.!

!

SUCCESS STORIES!




In September 2011, I spoke at MiniLuca. MiniLuca is held Bi-Annually and attracts a plethora of Life Insurance professionals ranging from Actuaries, to Underwriters and Claims specialists. After my 45 minute presentation was complete, I received an array of positive feedback from colleagues and peers. Most complimentary was one industry peer (unknown to me at that time) who asked me if I had undertaken Michelle’s Influential Presentation Skills program. He commended me on how !engaging a speaker I had been and how entertaining the presentation had been, and seemed quite certain I’d been trained by Michelle!!I have learnt that having great content alone is not enough to convince and engage an audience of the merits in your message. Michelle’s program teaches ways to maintain audience engagement, encourage positive audience interaction/participation and have fun doing it!

Overall, the format and structure is probably the strongest improvement I’ve seen along with my overall confidence in speaking.

What were your top three take-aways from Michelle's program?

a)!Reducing unnecessary clutter in presentations is paramount – don’t baffle your audience with detailed PowerPoint slides – communicate with them on the content, give them a visual that reflects the message conveyed

b)!How to manage detractors” in an audience

SUCCESS STORIES! (CONT.)

Rapport, rapport, rapport! Before you can influence others you must build rapport with them. My advice is to:

Understand the person’s personality filters – the way they experience, respond to and manage their environment.

Make a plan – what do you want to achieve?

Use pacing and leading – pacing involves being like your audience in your dress, body language, eye contact, vocal variety, style, language, interests and attitudes. Some people call this matching or mirroring. Leading is taking the

audience where you want them to go. Your audience won’t follow you or give you permission to lead them unless they feel an affiliation with you. You really can’t ask for anything until you have first built rapport.

Show them what’s in it for them to change – we know this as the WIIFM or ‘what’s in it for me’.

Cialdini’s influence patterns help you identify the other strategies to use – for more information I recommend you read Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert Cialdini.

INFLUENCE?




YOU PRESENT EVERYDAY!BY MICHELLE BOWDEN

www.michellebowden.com.au How to Present Magazine October 2011 6

Every day in every way you are talking to people and trying to persuade them to see something your way, and then motivate them to take action and do it. If you are at work, perhaps you’re asking a staff member to handle a project in a certain way that’s different from how they have been doing it, or you’re asking a colleague to join you in an effort to promote a new direction, or you’re trying to motivate the team to get on board with a new sales initiative. If it’s family stuff you might talk about plans for the evening, or having one of the kids take out the trash or clean their room. You might be negotiating with your spouse about some expenditure or weekend plan.

T h i n k o f p re s e n t i n g a s a n y f o r m o f communication one to one; one to few; and one to many, where your objective is to change the person’s thinking or behaviour. So plan to hone your presentation skills on a daily basis as part of your everyday communication routine – so that when the time comes for you to make a presentation, you are ready to speak up and influence people.

Good presenters get good by having lots of practice. If you start looking at every communication scenario as a presentation opportunity, you will get good too!

There are some general tips you can implement as part of your presentation skills development.

For example, make sure your opening gets their attention and communicates what the benefit is for them to do as you ask. Make sure the close summarises the conversation and calls your audience to action – even in a conversation with your child.

For example, instead of saying, “did you hear me?” you could say, “Jack, will you please remember to take out the bins whether I remind you or not?”

There are many opportunities every day to present your ideas. Promise yourself that you will use every occasion as an opportunity to hone your presentation skills?

If you’ve completed my 2-day program, or read Don’t Picture me Naked you will recognise the 13-step model that Steve has included in his mind map here. If the old fashioned ‘post-it’ notes method doesn’t work try brainstorming or Storyboarding this way... Good luck!


In order to engage your audience, the best way to begin is to use what I refer to as ‘inclusive statements’.

Inclusive statements are those that audience members will understand and relate to. There are two types of inclusive statements:

1. Universals2. Truisms.

Universals are statements that everyone will understand and relate to. For example:

1. ‘Many people would like to be more successful.’

Truisms are statements that are true just for this particular audience, at this time, in this particular forum. For example:

1. ‘Many of you are good at setting and achieving your goals.’

Make sure you get right into your audience’s shoes and come up with the best, most insightful opening statements that you can, so that you maximise your rapport with the audience.

When you are writing your universals and truisms, it’s a good idea to ask yourself: ‘What does my audience know to be true?’ Once you have a few answers, make sure that they all link to your subject and flow naturally and seamlessly from one statement to the next.

HOW TO BUILD RAPPORTBY MICHELLE BOWDEN

TESTIMONIALI was somewhat sceptical when I was told Michelle Bowden was going to speak on presentation skills at a seminar I attended. I have been a public speaker and trainer for more than 15 years and thought that there wasn’t much, if anything, that anyone could teach me about how to present effectively and make a living from speaking. !Well, I discovered that I was wrong. In around two hours I picked up more hints and tips from Michelle than I had in the last two years.! What’s more; Michelle’s practical, down-to-earth style and disarming honesty demonstrated that not only did Michelle know what she was talking about, she also lived it.! If there is something about speaking in public and making a living from it, that Michelle Bowden doesn’t know, then you simply don’t need to know it.! If you are thinking about improving your public speaking competence then I highly recommend Michelle Bowden.

Geoff Peate. Proprietor, WOW! Your Customers, Perth, WA




The 3 Presentation Mistakes to avoid are:

1. Too much information on the slides.2. Reading from slides to compensate for a

lack of preparation.3. Dimming the lights to focus your audience

on the slides.

1. Too much information on the slides

Many presenters cram their PowerPoint slides with too much information, thinking that they must include all points. Some presenters I have seen even use slides to record their entire script, albeit in ‘dot point’ form. In a one hour presentation, that adds up to a lot of slides. I have even seen the ‘Contents’ or ‘Agenda’ spread over two slides and the presenter take nearly 5 minutes to go through what the audience can ‘look forward to’ in the remaining 40 minutes! It’s called ‘death by PowerPoint’.

Remember if the audience is sitting in their chairs squinting at the screen having to make an effort to read the content of your slides, then they are not listening to you. What’s the point?

‘Busy’ slides duplicate what the speaker is saying, rather than add strength to the message. Using slides to record your presentation, will make it difficult for you to ‘unpack’ your message in a creative way for your audience.

2. Reading from slides

Perhaps worried about remembering what to say, and/or not devoting sufficient time to rehearsal, many presenters prepare for their presentation by ‘typing up’ a number of PowerPoint slides and then ‘speaking to them’. I

often say to my executive clients: ‘and while you’re speaking to your slides, what is the audience going to do?’

This is boring for the audience and makes it very difficult to develop sufficient credibility and interest in your message. The results of one Australian survey showed that more audience members ranked ‘presenter reading from slides’ as annoying than any other complaint about presenter behaviour.

I would say, if you plan to read out your slides to your audience, then do everyone a favour, cancel the presentation and email the PowerPoint file for everyone to read the slides on their way to work!

3. Dimming the lights

Darkening the room further removes the focus of the audience from the speaker to the screen. This encourages the audience to bond with the screen (as at the cinema) and it breaks the bond between the speaker and the audience. Another common response to a darkened room is to ‘switch off’ and either psychologically or physically ‘sleep’ – neither good options wouldn’t you agree?

THE 3 PRESENTATION BY MICHELLE BOWDEN




For those who communicate with your local colleagues and business associates via email, Facebook, Twitter, or Skype, Martin Rogers from Humanise has a message for you: step away from your computer - and go to lunch.

And people are listening.!It has been a few months since the invitation to join some friends for a lunch went out and the response has been overwhelming.

“We expected perhaps 10 people to come along to our first lunch - we had 32, and the numbers are increasing every month”.!

One of the common messages that the Humanise team is receiving from its members is that although electronic communication has made business more efficient, it has also made it more impersonal. And rather than connecting with people, it can, in fact, isolate them.!

“Humanise is about reconnecting the human element - helping business owners to escape the chaos. By leaving their offices and coming to a Humanise lunch they don’t just take a short break, but have the opportunity to build relationships with other business owners, the first critical step often missed when growing a business” explained Martin.

Back in the good old days, friends and business associates would pick up the phone and arrange to meet for lunch or a drink after work - just to catch up. They would shake hands, talk about what’s happening in their lives or lament their golf handicap. They would introduce colleagues and mates to each other - and often, quite often, business relationships would develop and new work would flow.

Humanise likes to put it this way: “Business is about shaking hands and saying ‘hello” and most importantly is that “Friends buy from Friends and Mates look after Mates.” The people at Humanise believe “technology” should be used to enhance relationships, not replace them.

The Humanise group is completely different to any other networking groups, so as to remain personal each local group is limited to 65 members. They meet on a monthly basis for lunch and they like to focus on simple conversation that builds relationships at the emotional level of people - no ‘sale pitches’, no guest speakers, no business cards and no distracting mobile phones.!

Lunches are held at local restaurants, with all costs being covered by memberships, so there is no hand in your pocket. And Christmas time sees a special lunch held to celebrate the year’s success with your new Friends and Mates, again with no additional charge.!

Martin says they have been humbled by the overwhelming response to the Humanise concept. Enquiries from people wanting to start up local groups, has seen groups opening in NSW and Queensland and have led to plans for ‘Humanise’ to set up 100 groups across Australia. New groups launching in August are The Hills in NSW, Gold Coast & Brisbane with September seeing Parramatta and Cronulla in NSW come alive.

RECONNECTING THE HUMAN ELEMENTBY MICHELLE BOWDEN




THE IMPORTANCE OF... There are certain words that can cause your audience to disagree with you. So it’s a good idea to be careful because you want your audience to be in rapport with you for as much of your presentation as possible.

Certain words should be reduced if you want to reduce the likelihood t h a t p e o p l e w i l l d isagree with your point of view. They are: ‘ O K ’ , ‘ B a s i c a l l y ’ , ‘ O b v i o u s l y ’ , ‘ Yo u know?’, and ‘Alright?’ When you say words such as these, it’s possible that some p e o p l e i n y o u r audience will say, ‘no it isn’t!’ or ‘no I don’t!’, and it encourages them to start looking for other parts of your message that might be

inconsistent or inaccurate in some way.

What should I say instead of these words?

Consider replacing these words with a pause and a diaphragmatic breath. Eventually you will find you eliminate this habit when you speak.

PRESENTING TO BOARDS - GIVE AWAY

FREE GIFT: If you’re in business and would like a copy of Presenting to

Boards be one of the first 5 readers of How to Present Magazine to email

[email protected] with the words: Presenting to Boards

Presenting to Boards. Practical Skills for Corporate Presentations.

By Julie Garland-McLellan

Presenting to Boards offers practical examples and standard templates to use during effective presentations, and outlines techniques and the use of technology as they relate to communication. Follow-up procedures are also provided, including the preparation of resolutions and minutes.








USE THE FORCE!

If you grew up in the 70’s and haven’t seen Star Wars (the REAL trilogy, not the prequel), then you weren’t really alive. The original three movies – Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back, and The Return of the Jedi – were monumentally successful movies that captured the imagination of an entire generation. So much so, that in the 2001 New Zealand census, over 50,000 people listed their religion as “Jedi”. The census people did not officially recognise the results, but had they done so, Jedi would have been the second largest religion in NZ (Christianity, no religion, and “objection to answering” were the 3 most common answers above Jedi)!

“Use the Force” is a phrase often joked about and commonly understood in our language. Obi Wan Kenobi described “The Force” in Star Wars – A New Hope (1977):

"The Force is what gives a Jedi his power. It's an energy field created by all living things. It surrounds us and penetrates us. It binds the galaxy together."

Many interpret “The Force” as self belief, confidence, the power of influence. Indeed, there are many parallels with The Force and NLP (neuro linguistic programming) that focus on our verbal & non-verbal communication strategies to influence others.

So at the risk of coming across as a complete and utter nerd, I thought it would be interesting to share some relevant quotes from the series that have both a moral & practical implication for us in the real word: Self BeliefWhen Luke Skywalker is trying to use the force

to get his space ship out of a swamp and fails, Yoda gets it out no problem. In sheer amazement Luke says: "I can’t believe it!” Yoda replies: “That is why you fail.”

Self ControlYoda to Luke Skywalker: “Beware. Anger, fear, aggression. The dark side they are. Once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny.”

Changing Beliefs/habitsAgain, Yoda to the apprentice Luke, when Luke is using excuses:

“No! No different! Only different in your mind. You must unlearn what you have learned.”

And my all time favourite…

Giving 100%Yoda to Luke when he first attempts to remove his spaceship from the swamp:

“Try not. Do or do not. There is no try.”

May the force be with you, always!

BY ANTHONY BONNICI




MANAGE NERVESBY MICHELLE BOWDENThere is no single thing or magic formula that is a panacea for a lack of confidence when presenting. There are no short cuts, however, I would say that people who are lacking in confidence should consider a change of approach. Firstly, write this slogan in big letters: IT’S NOT ABOUT ME, IT’S ALL ABOUT MY AUDIENCE! as a way of transferring the focus from you to your audience. Now try the following tips:

Analyse the audience – it’s critical to spend some time analysing both the current and desired state of your audience. One way to do this is to ask yourself: ‘What is my audience thinking about me, my message and my department or company?’, ‘What is my audience feeling about me, my message and my department or company?’ and ‘What will the atmosphere or vibe of the room be like before I present?’ This way you know what to expect when you walk in. Then, plan your desired outcome by asking yourself, ‘What do I want my audience to think about me, my message and my organisation?’, ‘What do I want the audience to feel about me, my message and my organisation?’ and ‘What do I want them to do once I have finished talking?’

Structure the message – if you have a nice, tight, well-crafted message and you have designed it with a model that allows you to remember the information without relying on notes, then of course you’ll feel more confident! I teach three models for the design and structure of a presentation: 13-steps, 4Mat and Storyboarding. These models help you know what to say and when to say it so that the audience’s needs are met and so you are more likely to change their behaviour.

Connect with the people – when it’s time to deliver your presentation it’s essential to re-read your slogan: IT’S NOT ABOUT ME, IT’S ALL ABOUT MY AUDIENCE, and to look into the whites of your audience’s eyes – really see the individuals in the audience, rather than skim their heads or pretend to look at them. Know that you have the wonderful opportunity to really connect with every audience member. This takes your focus off your nerves and places your attention on the audience – which in turn enhances your connection or rapport with them. If you are not focused on yourself, how could you be nervous?

Get feedback – in my experience, many people focus a lot on their negative points and their nervousness, rather than on their positive attributes like their voice or their personal presentation. Setting up a system in your organisation where you can give and receive feedback from others whom you respect, and who are sensitive to your needs, is a great way of finding out what you are doing well. This can boost your confidence tenfold.




MANAGE AUDIENCE OBJECTIONSBY MICHELLE BOWDEN

How often have you had to deliver a presentation where you know that your audience is objecting to parts of your message before you even begin to speak?

Have you noticed that there are often a number of people sitting in your audience feeling cranky about something? These people have some kind of objection and they aren’t going to listen to you properly until you have dealt with their problem. Can you relate to that?

Whether your message is contentious or needs care in delivery or not, it’s a good idea to work out what the objections might be when you are speaking and then plan to manage them in advance. Managing objections brings the objection out in the open, helps you solve the problem as best you can and allows you to continue to control the proceedings. In other words, it assists your audience to move on and be more open minded to your message than they might have been.

What sort of objections can I expect?

People can object to all sorts of things from your content, to something personal about you, to the logistics of the event. Let me give you some specific objections people may be th ink ing in your presentations:

• It’s too early in the morning for this.• I’m too busy for this.• It’s not a priority.• I already know this.• No budget. No resources.• This is not relevant to me.

How do I manage objections?

I recommend that you use a technique that I call POO! It stands for Pacing Out Objections. Here’s how you Pace out Objections…

1. State the objection2. Say ‘and’, ‘so’, or simply pause and say

nothing3. Then you give your solution

What’s an example of an effective POO statement?

Here is an example for you…

‘Many people feel that a call centre is not necessary for our business. So, my presentation will delve into the pros and cons of a call centre and then we can make an informed decision together.’

Use this technique and notice how much less stressful and more successful your presentations are!




Dramatically improve the way you present and influence.

Attend one of my Influential Presentation Skills programs.

It’s a life changing experience!

Risk free - 100% money-back guarantee.

Endorsed by thousands of people from over a hundred corporations around Australia.

Interactive and personalised.

Facilitated by Michelle Bowden who has over 18 years

experience running her programs and who has been nominated for Educator of the Year for the last 3 years.

Absorb yourself in a generative and experiential approach. Learn something then practice, then learn something then practice…

Group sizes are limited to only 10 people per program.

Risk free approach to a subject most people find ‘daunting’!

Plenty of time for you to get personal one-on-one time with Michelle’s during the program.

Address your specific, personal needs.

Learning with lots of laughter.

Techniques are embedded so you remember them decades later.

SYDNEY DATES:

November 22-23 (1 place left)December 13-14 (6 places left)

To chat about your specific needs or receive more information please email Michelle directly:

[email protected]

IS IT TIME YOU IMPROVED YOUR PRESENTATION SKILLS? COME JOIN ME!

TESTIMONIAL"Michelle Bowden was the guest speaker at our 2011 Weight Watchers seminar. Michelle engaged me from the moment she appeared on stage and I was so absorbed in the content and her words of wisdom that the 60 minute presentation flew by. Michelle explained her techniques in a manner that was easily understood and I'm keen to develop my skills further to utilise these techniques in my role as a Weight Watchers meeting leader. Thanks Michelle for empowering me to be the best presenter that I can be."

Tina Simmons, Weight Watchers










Have you heard of SLIDEMASTER? They specialise in creating PowerPoint design solutions for Corporate Presentations.

Slidemaster’s approach maximises the chance you’ll win your next business pitch. Their trained designers create each slide to clearly and simply express your message. Their styles are fresh and cutting edge so you will deliver a presentation that your clients have never seen before. And, they don’t use templates. This means that they will dedicate 100% of their time and design skills to convert each and every slide into a SLIDEMASTER.

They are all around the World and they work across various industries and sectors including Market Research, Finance, Real Estate, Government, Healthcare, Fashion and Media.

Your presentation is an important part of the pitch process. Your success depends on how clearly you communicate what you want to say.

They'll help you sell your message with strategically designed, highly-targeted slides like the examples I’ve pasted here for you.

If you want to work with someone to give your slides a much needed overhaul so you really stand out and people actually start listening to you when you present in business contact: PowerPoint design specialists SLIDEMASTER [email protected]

PROFESSIONAL POWERPOINT SLIDES ARE HERE!

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DR. HELENA POPOVICSPEAKER/AUTHOR

1. Be very clear about what you want to achieve through your presentation. What are your desired outcomes?

2. Know the expectations of your audience, and make sure that your outcomes match theirs. Stay with the brief.

3. Know your stuff. If you are confident, your listeners are much more likely to have confidence in you.

4. Be passionate and enthusiastic about what you are presenting. Passion and enthusiasm are contagious.

5. Go for a brisk walk, run, cycle or use the gym for about 20 minutes before your presentation – your brain works at its best

in the first hour after you engage in any sort of physical activity.

6. Add visuals – if information is presented orally, people remember about 10% when tested 72 hours later. If you add a picture, the figure goes up to 65%.

7. You need to retain the attention of your audience every 10 minutes with something catchy, different or unexpected. The human brain tends to lose focus after 10 minutes unless it is given a compelling reason to stay focused.

8. Smile – frequently. Enjoy yourself!

9. Make eye contact with everyone in the room at some point, if possible.

10. Inject some humour into your presentation. Fun and laughter don’t only provide entertainment, they cause the brain to release neurotransmitters (dopamine and acetyl choline) which help consolidate learning.

11.Give the audience more than they expect.

Please contact me with your ‘presentation’ stories, questions and comments at www.michellebowden,com.au – I look forward to knowing you, helping you and sharing in your success! Happy Presenting!

TIPS FROM A PROFESSIONAL SPEAKER

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MICHELLE’S FAVOURITE BOOK IN 2011IN SEARCH OF MY FATHER

Dr Helena Popovic MBBS is a medical doctor, researcher, fitness instructor and consultant to leading businesses in Australia. As an international public speaker and passionate advocate for brain health, Helena lives and breathes her message of peak health for peak performance.

In 2010, she resigned from paid work after her mother died, moved from Brisbane to Sydney, and began full time care of her dependent, elderly father. Her first book, In Search of My Father, chronicles the first six months of their side-splitting journey together.

"In Search of My Father" is a unique book.

It’s deliberately different in style and structure from other books so the very act of reading it boosts your brain on multiple levels. It shows how we can tap into brain potential we never knew we had and prevent the decline we've mistakenly believed was inevitable with aging.

Above all, it’s an inspiring account of a daughter in search of her father: The man beyond the grief, despair, depression and dementia.

This is a book for anyone who wants to improve their brain

performance – at any age.

“I believe Western medicine is great at keeping us alive long enough to get to the real source of an illness – an interplay of familial, cultural, social, environmental,

psychological, emotional and behavioural factors.” Dr Helena Popovic

This book has changed the Bowden familyʼs life. I highly recommend you order a copy for Christmas

http://www.helenapopovic.com/book-sales/






SHANNON COOPERINNOVATION CATALYST

Shannon began his career as a chemical engineer, however, he soon discovered that his scientific mind was more suited to helping others to succeed in the business world. So he traded his lab coat for a business suit and now works as a business trainer and facilitator. He has worked with over 1000 business leaders throughout Australia, helping them to succeed by thinking differently and being more innovative. http://shannoncooper.com/

What kind of presenting do you do at work?

As a trainer, I am presenting nearly every day. I

work with business owners and leaders, facilitating workshops on leadership, particularly in the areas of creative and innovation leadership. It’s great fun, I enjoy the variety and have had the opportunity to work with some amazing people.

What prompted you to attend Michelle's Influential Presentation Skills program?

I am a perfectionist! I want to be the best. As a life long learner, I know that if you want to be the best, you need to learn from the best. After meeting Michelle at the 2010 National Speakers Association of Australia Conference, I did some research and learned that when it comes to presentation skills, Michelle is the best. The decision to attend her program was simple after that. (Even if Michelle did later convince me that it is better to aim for excellence instead of perfection!)

How did Michelle's program change your attitude to presenting in business?

The biggest mindset reminder for me was remembering that ‘it is all about them’. As someone who strives for perfection, Michelle helped me see that my pursuit for perfection is a little selfish, and is holding me back from being as influential as I could be as a presenter. Striving for excellence instead of perfection has helped me be more comfortable in “P2”. Michelle provided me with a blunt reminder that as a trainer I am always ‘there to serve.’ This jolt has reinvigorated my attitude towards my workshop design, preparation, delivery and feedback.

What positive outcomes have you achieved from improving your presentation skills?

The attitude shift I mentioned in the previous question has had a massive impact on my audiences. The feedback from my workshops has always been good- now it is great. The improvement since attending Michelle’s workshop is quite remarkable, and obvious.

SUCCESS STORIES!



http://shannoncooper.com





SUCCESS STORIES (CONT.)

I have also closed three new training contracts that I pitched for using Michelle’s thirteen step model.

In what specific ways have your presentation skills improved since completing Michelle's training?!

Remembering that I am an engineer, I am all about models and formulas! So I think Michelle’s thirteen-step model rocks. It has transformed the way I think about my groups, prepare for and manage each of my workshops, and as I have revealed, the improvement has been remarkable. I am also more conscious of managing my energy, my words, body movements and how I use my voice during my presentations.

Really though, that is only the start. I have also used Michelle’s model in my written communication, writing blog posts and for some video clips. Oh, and I now go through more post-it notes than ever before.

What were your top three take aways from Michelle's program?

1. It’s all about them- I am there to serve my audience

2. Prepare and rehearse- every time

3. Extend myself- ‘cause I love my guts!




PARENTS CORNERMaddie’s Year 4 Speech

Not long ago in Cairns (pause)a beautiful whale beached itself!

and sadly (pause)the whale died.!

When the scientists conducted an autopsy!to find out what made it die! (pause)!

they found 6 square metres!that’s 6 square metres,!

of plastic bags!inside the whales digestive system.!

The poor thing had beached itself!because it was slowly choking on all that man

made plastic.The exact plastic bags we get!

from Coles, Woolies or the Mall.!

SAY! NO! TO! PLASTIC! BAGS.

Whales are not the only animals dying from plastic bags. Birds become entangled.

Nearly 200 species of sea life including seals,!sea turtles!and dolphins die!

because they mistake the bags for food.

Bangladesh has banned plastic bags.China has banned free ones.

Ireland taxes plastic bags and has reduced their use by 90%.

Rawanda has banned them.Some states in America have banned them.

Australia should ban them too!


If we all said no to plastic bags that would equal:!

6 bags a week24 bags a month

288 bags each yearand 22,176 in a lifetime. (pause)

If only one in five people in Australia did this we would save (pause)

Eighty eight billion (pause)!seven hundred and four million!plastic bags

(pause)

Please please please (pause)


My daughter Maddie (aged 9) recently won the final of the public schools public speaking competition held at our Sydney Parliament House. Mike Baird (our local member) has made this particular contest a regular event on Sydney’s Northern Beaches where we live. It was a fantastic experience for her.

I thought you might like to see what she wrote and note that she inserted the pauses where she knew she either needed to catch her breath, or where she needed to stop and pause for impact. Pause is powerful. It’s good to use it.

Maddie researched this speech herself and then she rehearsed and rehearsed (without me hassling her) until she could present it without palm cards. I’m not a fan of palm cards - after all, which adult do you know who uses palm cards in business presentations?

If you read through the content you’ll see an icebreaker, some great facts, some stacking of statistics and a strong ‘call to action’ throughout. Plus, she delivered it with emotion, varied vocal pace, clear, crisp articulation, some rehearsed gestures and excellent eye contact with her audience. These are all elements of a great speech. Awesome job Maddie!




THEATREAnnie is a Broadway musical based

on the Little Orphan Annie comic strip. A young orphan girls

adventures in finding a family that will take her. Shows in Sydney,

Melbourne and Brisbane in 2012. Book now!

CD OF THE MONTHThinking of improving your

presentation skills but don’t want to go on a training program? You need to grab a copy of How to

Present - Tips from the Master. Tips from 13 of Australia’s top public

speakers. Go to my website

FRAGRANCEThese True Colours candles are natural and based around the garden. Specially packaged in

simple zinc containers. The fragrances are inspired by the great outdoors: country walks, fresh cut

flowers and mown grass.

BEAUTYScientifically formulated to allow your makeup to “automatically”

glide over the skin, Auto Pilot helps to prime and soothe the complexion

for that flawless finish and helps makeup last even longer.

MICHELLELOVES...

Here are some of my favourite things for you

BOOK OF THE MONTH

OK, I know it’s MY book! If you are serious about really improving your business

presentation skills then you need this book. Go to my

website

HEALTH & FITNESSUnveil soft, radiant skin with this

heavenly body scrub that exfoliates the skin and leaves it smooth and

softly nourished. www.morcosmetics.com

MOTIVATIONFirework by Katy Perry. Listen to

the lyrics and show the world what you’re worth!

COFFEE TO GO...In Australia more than 500 million disposable cups are thrown away

each year. Maxwell & Williams have a solution...







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