GET YOUR MOJO WORKING!

Isn't MOJO is a great word!  Energy, dynamism, magic, power, finesse, excitement, charisma - all of these are part of the meaning of that word. Originally related to a Voodo or Hoodo spiritual practice, it has come to mean a kind of personal charm that is mesmerizing. Muddy Watters, the great blues man made a song about MOJO famous.

Look at the guy in this picture.  See how much energy is in his gaze?  See how expectant he is to get a response from you?  See how engaging he is?  He's got his MOJO working.

You, too, can discover your own brand of MOJO.  I say discover because we all have a seed of it and it is up to us to find it, to nurture it, to exercise it, develop it so that we can use it to help us communicate our messages to our audiences.  Each of us is unique and so is our potential MOJO  It is related to pleasure and the joys of sharing it with others.  It is the fire in our belly. It is part of our branding.  It might be a particular way we like to begin and/or end our presentations.  It might be the level and style of interaction that you plan into each presentation.  It might be the kind of humor you use or the stories you tell. 

The very next time you make a presentation, see where you can express your MOJO.  GET IT WORKING FOR YOU!

This coming weekend we will be doing a workshop that will teach you how to identify you MOJO - check it out here.

Grace


At this time of year we can get so wrapped up in our doings and goings that we lose sight of the essential.  We rush from one appointment to another, one email to another, one call to another, one gift to another, trying to fit it all in, get it all done, satisfy all of the demands.

The same thing happens when we are making presentations.  Wanting to get it right, get all of the info into it, we rush from one idea to another, making so many points, providing so much data, we drown our audiences in content, knock them over with our bulldozing energy, and then suddenly end before they know what happened to them.

Grace is a quality that is worth cultivating in both situations:
 

Grace means having a close relationship with your breath, breathing from your diaphragm rather than from your collarbone. 


Grace means crisp beginnings and endings.
 

Grace means coming from stillness, starting from silence and calmness.  


Grace means not rushing through emotional changes, rather taking the time to feel the feeling in your body and thereby allowing the audience to feel it as well.
 

Grace means listening deeply.  


Grace means noticing when you sigh, that it is the deepest part of you that sighs, a true song of the soul.
 

Grace means knowing that presenting gives you the opportunity to connect with people on a very deep level.  


Grace means the courage to step into it, rather than avoiding it by rushing.
 

Grace means feeling gratitude for the special opportunity to connect with others in this way.




I am so very grateful for your attention, your connection with me and all you have shared with me during the last year.  I am truly looking forward to our New Year together. 


New Speaking with Ease workshop on January 29th (1-6) Seattle.  For more info or to register

APPETIZER

APPETIZER!

A presentation is like an appetizer. When we are preparing to make an important presentation we often feel compelled to give the audience the whole story, put in all of the details, make it the best full meal deal for our audience and client. We give them the 7-course dinner.

When we do this we are missing the point. Our audiences for the most part, want an appetizer. In fact an appetizer is all they can digest of new information at one sitting. The rest is wasted on them. Give them a few tasty ideas to nibble on and they will come back later looking for the rest of the courses. They'll want to know more about our services or product or idea.

Pare down the size and complexity of your presentation. Simplify your task. Decide what you want them to take away from the day - what you want them to communicate to others. Find 2-3 compelling points that support that take-away. Depending on the time available, you can add 1-3 sub points for each point. Now add the spices: opening story, sensory details and the main spice - interaction for each point.

STOP! That's enough! They've had a tasty taste. If they want more they will ask you for it.

Bon appetit!

If you would like to learn and practice how to construct a tasty presentation, see New Fall Workshops schedule here.

PREPARE!

Last Thursday I took my 7 year old granddaughter, Sofia, to the Ellensburg Rodeo to see her first "slack", the qualifying rounds for the hopeful cowboys & cowgirls. We sat very close to the area where they prepare for their events - a pen that is full of men and horses. It gave us the opportunity to see just what they do to prepare for their 4-12 seconds of triumph or failure in the arena.

Some prepared by jumping up and down on the soft sand to get the energy into their joints, some talked to their horses, some put baby powder on their hands so the rope would not stick when they sweated in the heat of the adrenalin rush, some were sitting on their horses in a focused meditative pose, some loosened their wrists by swinging their ropes around in tight circles above their heads (we ducked!). All were doing some or all of these. Like actors in the Green Room backstage before a show, they were preparing for performance.

As presenters, we, too, need to make a conscious preparation for our performance. We need to do some focused stretching and breathing exercises, we need to warm up our voices, we need to remember that the focus should be on our audience - not ourselves, and we need to prepare to deliver a bright note of inspiration and engagement. And then, like those cowboys, we will go on - bringing our very best to share with our audiences.

Oh, yes - Sofia and I are ready to go for a ride ourselves!

If you would like to see a few warm-up exercises, click here

If you would like a list of our new Fall Workshops and programs, click here

PLAY!

Look how engaged each of these

children are!

Play involves the whole being - body and mind - together expressing the inner spirit.

Remember when you were a kid?

When we are at play we are intensely focused, full of self expression, energy, humor, passion, daring, and wit. This is just the kind of excitement that makes a speech a great speech and a speaker a great speaker.

The key to bringing play into your presentations is to understand your audience and then brainstorm how you can get that particular audience to play with you. Their participation will increase their understanding of your core message and increase the likelihood that they will your message to others. It will empower them!

What do you think their learning style is? Left-brainers will need a sturdy structure and clear facts to back up your theories, but they also enjoy language humor and like to show off their own knowledge with quizzes and challenges. Right-brainers tend to prefer stories, role-plays, pictures, and participatory exercises. Don't assume that they will be content sitting there, just listening to your ideas and opinions. Get them involved, be playful - give them things to do, and support their participation.

It may at first seem like more work but you will soon see that play will lighten your load, energize your audience and help them learn your core message in a much deeper and enjoyable way.

And if you'd like to try this out, to practice this yourself - join us at our new workshop sessions coming up on August 13th-15th - Look for info at pivotalpresentations.com

STICKINESS!

Imagine delivering a message that is this sticky!

When your audience leaves your presentation, will they have become so attached to your message that they can hardly wait to pass it on to their colleagues?

The recipe for stickiness includes sensory details such as visuals, visual descriptions, feelings, action, gestures, props, interaction, stories, roleplays, activities, surprises . . . and I'll bet you can come up with quite a few of these yourself.

If you add these to a clear presentation structure to illustrate and illuminate your main points, your audiences will be charmed, intrigued, drawn in, entertained, as well as being informed, inspired and compelled to take action.

The stickiness will help them understand and remember your core message and important ideas.

And if you'd like to try this yourself - join us at our new workshop described here.

ALIVE!

Once again on the Greenlake trail. . . . This time we spotted a group of bluegrass musicians playing a luscious waltz on the green lawn by the blue water on one of the first lovely hot Seattle spring days in May.

Their ONE-two-three, lilting tune woke up something deep inside me. Joy!

Surely this is one of those opportunities to respond to the moment. I reached for my walking partner and we waltzed around and around on the walking path, ONE-two-three, ONE-two-three, swirling and twirling to the music and the birds and the water, and the sun and the day and the moment.

There is nothing so precious as the spirit responding in the moment. When you are making a presentation, and those unexpected moments arise – strong feelings, memories, insights, new ideas – rise to the occasion, ONE-two-three, let yourself be carried away!

For if you miss this moment, rushing through it in haste or fear, you will deprive your audience of a transformative experience.

But If you can allow yourself to linger and feel the opportunity in that moment your audience will be carried along with you, and their energetic response will magnify the delight, the revelation, the insight, the inspiration, and they’ll take that spark with them out into the world.

ONE-two-three . . . .

Want to learn how to do this for your next presentation? A couple of hours of 1-1 coaching will have you on your way - connie@pivotalpresentations.com or 206-283-7111

STILLNESS

I was having lunch with Ilmar Reepalu, the Mayor of Malmo, Sweden who is a very interesting man. He was part of a delegation of Swedish mayors touring environmental projects and organizations in Seattle through the World Affairs Council – a national organization that has a great chapter in Seattle. I served as a guide during the two days they were here.

At a meeting that morning Mayor Reepalu had asked several great questions in a slightly surprising manner. I was particularly interested in his style – he managed to garner great answers. He would raise his hand and then when he was called on, he paused at least 5 seconds before he calmly asked his question. 

I noticed that by coming from stillness, he created an expectant vacuum in the room. Everyone was so much more interested in his question than if he had blurted it out right away. In response to his questions, the answers were more thoughtful, it seemed to me.
 

At lunch I told him about my interest in his approach. He said he purposefully waited before speaking – that coming from stillness and speaking in a very calm, still manner drew more attention to his questions. 

In addition he remarked he noticed that sometimes women express a kind of nervousness in gestures and posture when they are speaking that cuts into their power, diffusing their energy and weakening their message. Too many gestures, head constantly moving, eyes darting, pacing with no purpose – these all are like visual static to the audience.
 

Stillness. This is a good lesson for us all. Especially at the beginning of a presentation. Do not hurry. Go to the podium. Put your notes, your water, your props in order. Center yourself. Take a good deep breath. Think about your first line. Look out at the audience. Wait till they are settled and you have their attention. Find one person to begin with. Take another breath. 
  
Come from stillness. Try it!

PS: Check out this amazing presentation - brilliant, passionate speaker Shai Agassi- and see how much more effective you think he could be if he had come from stillness, if he had only moved with purpose to support his points - rather than coming from nervous agitation. What do you think? Post your comments, please!