Advice, tips and inspiration to help you perform at your best
The energy you feel in a workshop stems from the efforts of the facilitator. In a previous post, I explain how to manage this. However, the facilitator also has the power to destroy the workshop’s energy. Often without realising it. Please avoid these mistakes.
Supporting others in this difficult time is essential. So, when your friends or co-workers ask for your help, how do you react? Most people just dive into offering solutions. Instead, learn to hold back, listen and figure out what kind of help they really need. Spend time immersing yourself in their problem.
Broadly, there are then 5 potential approaches you could take.
To survive this crisis we need to find answers quickly. We can no longer say ‘we can’t because…’ we need to say ‘we can if…’ . This simple shift in emphasis is having a transformative effect on overcoming the challenges posed by Covid-19. We’re forced to think of workarounds. We’re forced to break conventions.
One of the most insightful books I’ve read on presentations was Nancy Duarte’s Resonate, where she recommended we always look to create S.T.A.R moments in presentations - ie Something, They’ll Always Remember. It’s a great piece of advice. Throughout our business careers we sit through and deliver many presentations, but how many are truly memorable? Here’s a few suggestions on how to ensure your presentation stands the test of time.
New ideas emerge by making random connections. You observe something over here, you observe something completely unrelated over there. You then bring the two together to produce something new and different. It’s this unique combination that forms the basis of something fresh. It’s why it’s called lateral thinking.
3 is the Magic Number. Yes it is. Del a Soul knew it. Everyone knows it. In numerology, religion, sport, literature and indeed all walks of life, the number 3 has mythical status. Wikipedia explains this in great detail.
So how can we use the power of 3 to our advantage in the world of business?
Here’s (of course) 3 suggestions.
One of my favourite Einstein quotes is
‘If I only had 60 minutes to save the world, I would spend 55 minutes thinking about the problem and 5 mins thinking about solutions’
We rarely do this. Often, we’re guilty of seeing a problem and immediately jumping to solutions.. Hans Rosling in his book ‘Factfulness’ calls this ‘The Urgency Instinct’. It’s our need to act quickly in the face of an imminent danger. As a consequence we often make bad decisions or follow the wrong course of action. In his experience, decisions are rarely ‘now or never’ and rarely ‘either / or’.
In a previous post, I outlined how to facilitate idea generation session. However, what about strategy workshops?
Just to clarify what strategy workshops are all about:
Essentially the focus will be on planning and decision making. For example an annual brand plan or 3 year business strategy. It will usually involve team alignment. For example around an organisation’s vision, values or brand positioning.
In the marketing world, there are 2 types of workshop we’re asked to facilitate - the creative and the strategic. Creative workshops are all about idea generation - new products, services, names, communications. Strategic sessions are about planning and making decisions. Sometimes you can combine a bit of both, eg creating brand positioning, but they do tend to focus on one or the other.
Cognitive bias is the enemy of critical thinking. It restricts our ability to think rationally and make balanced judgements. Unfortunately, we’re all biased. Our points of view are shaped by our upbringing, our experiences, our ethnicity, where we live, what we choose to read, the people we hang out with, the organisation we work for. Wikipedia lists over 180 cognitive biases we all suffer from. Here’s a few of the most common ones.
Fresh insight is the foundation of any successful organisation. However, if you’re a fledging or small business how do you get real consumer understanding when you don’t have deep pockets or dedicated experts? Well, all you need is curiosity, a nose for commercial opportunity and a good dose of empathy. Here’s how.
In a previous post I discussed different ways to read more critically. Part of this is becoming a great notetaker. Note taking whilst listening or reading has enormous benefits. The act of writing stuff down makes it much easier to retain information. There’s much greater engagement with the content or subject matter. It encourages you to reflect as you read. It helps make the subject matter your own. It keeps you focused.
When researching a topic, one of the challenges we face is information overload. Often, we’re so overwhelmed with the volume of reports / links / websites that we don’t know where to begin and can quickly get lost. We dive into each source and can get frustrated by the lack of relevance or lack of progress.
Whilst I was training to become an Executive Coach, one of my big ‘a-ha’ moments was to discover that asking ‘why’ when trying to get deeper into a discussion was completely the wrong thing to do. It was a real revelation to me. I always ask ‘why?’ whenever I’m trying to find out more. Whilst my intention is positive, I learnt that simply asking why can have a negative effect.
People need stimulus to generate ideas. Simply thinking of ideas spontaneously can only get you so far. In workshops we need inputs and techniques to force us to make lateral connections. There are many to choose from, but if you’re not sure where to begin, here’s three tried and trusted exercises I always turn to.
So, you’ve written a fabulous speech, with a powerful start and a strong ending. Your slides look great and you’ve practiced endlessly. Now, it’s the day of the big presentation and there’s a lot at stake. No matter how experienced you are, you'll go through a range of emotions. You could be nervous, anxious or super-excited. Adrenalin and cortisol will kick in. Your heartbeat will go up and your palms will get sweaty. So how you do prepare on the day of the presentation? How do you make sure you’re ready to give it your best shot?
We’ve all wasted hours sitting through mediocre Powerpoint presentations. Everyone complains about them. You all know the expression – Death by Powerpoint.
I’m not a designer, but I spend a lot of time writing Powerpoint slides. And, if I’m being honest with myself, some of my presentations could have been a lot better. So, I set myself the goal of raising my game. To make my presentations easier to present from and easier for the audience to listen to. I never want to be accused of delivering dull presentations.
