Next time you have to present, consider whether you can use something surprising to keep your audience tuned in!

In my experience, if you want to engage your audience, it is critical to begin any presentation with the Three C’s: connection, credibility, and common cause.  Here are a few thoughts on each, along with examples from our attorney.

Connection

With most audiences, I recommend starting with a personal connection.  What do you have in common with the group?  How are you similar in thinking, background, approach, etc?  Our Saturday presenter started his talk by letting us know that he had been a teacher (with Teach for America) and that he is married to a teacher.  You could see the smiles spread around the room of educators instantly!

Credibility

Next comes what you know and how you know it.  What gives you the credibility to talk to the audience about this topic?  Our attorney let us know that he want to law school at Notre Dame and that he had been specializing on the day’s topic for more than 10 years.

Common Cause

This last item sounds a bit like “connection” but it means something different.   Connection helps your audience to relax.  They feel safe because they feel like you have said that you are like them, not better than them.  Common cause is about the bigger purpose that unites you and the audience.  Our attorney told us that he does what he does because he wants to improve the quality of education in America.  So did we!  Why else would we be at an 8-hour workshop on a Saturday?

For more ideas telling stories that help you connect with and engage your audience, check out Annette Simmon’s book, The Story Factor.

For some specific techniques to use at the start of your talk, check out this great blog post from presentation advisor, Jon Thomas:  5 Ways to Start Your Presentation Off Strong.

Conduct Conversations – Not Training

While the manager sessions were called “training” and were accompanied by workbooks and slides, the experience was much more of a facilitated dialogue than a one-way download of information.  

Course evaluation feedback indicated that managers were pleasantly surprised at the level of open, honest conversation that took place in the sessions. I believe this point is essential for future programs of this nature.

Lesson Learned: When is comes to gaining support for a change, conversation matters more than content.

Make Space for Emotions

While it was important for managers to learn the content of the course, in every case it became apparent that the managers themselves needed an opportunity to vent, express their concerns, and name the emotions that they and their people were experiencing.  

We started the sessions by introducing the change cycle and the emotions that typically accompany a change (shock & denial, anger, uncertainty & anxiety, understanding, and ultimately acceptance).  We drew the performance dip that typically happens when people move into anger, uncertainty and anxiety and discussed the fact that the dip is not avoidable.  Rather than pretending there are not emotional reactions to change, we encouraged managers to accept and acknowledge emotions.  

I knew this model would be helpful to managers in communicating with their employees.  What surprised me was how helpful it ended up being for them.  In every single session, managers would speak up and say, “Okay, I realize I am in the dip, but here is my concern . . .”  By having the model posted, we gave managers permission and space to name and work through their own emotions.   

Lessons Learned:
1.    Allow and encourage emotions to enter the conversation early on.
2.    Along with content and key messages, provide models or frameworks to help managers understand the emotions they and others are experiencing as a result of the change.  

Don’t Overcome Resistance – Explore It

The final point I want to address here deals with resistance. Overcoming resistance is the most searched term in the field of change management. All too often change leaders looks to “nip resistance in the bud.”  What I have learned over the years is that the best way to deal with resistance is to get it out in the open and to talk about the reasons for resistance.  

In these workshops, my colleagues and I stopped delivering content about 30 minutes into the session and asked what questions people had.  Usually we got one or two mild questions.  We then asked people to share what rumors and concerns they were hearing.  Managers started to open up and discuss the harder aspects of the change.  Finally we asked managers to “channel their inner skeptics” and ask everything they knew their most skeptical employees would ask.  In some cases the managers would say, “Really . . .are you sure?”  Often one would test the waters and when we listened, acknowledged and openly discussed the concern the floodgates would open and the questions would flow.  

This point is counter-intuitive but essential. When communicating a change, our natural tendency to shut down and overcome resistance forces concerns underground.  Once suppressed, resistance grows stronger and becomes harder to resolve.  It is important for change leaders and communicators to welcome, acknowledge and explore resistance in order for it to dissipate.

Lessons Learned:
1.    Make it okay for managers to ask skeptical, cynical questions.  
2.    Dialogue (don’t debate) about the change.

1. When senior leaders invited and answered questions
2. When leaders who were involved in the process talked about their personal experience with the details, especially tough decisions they made along the way
3. When leaders acknowledged that the transition would be difficult for employees and simultaneously emphasized that it was the right thing to do in the long run

What struck me about each class was the fact that it was leader involvement throughout the workshop that was particularly powerful.  The cases where a leader kicked off a session with a few words and then left were not nearly as effective as the times where a) the division head participated in the whole sessions or b) the division head kicked off the session and one or more of his/her direct reports who worked on the details of the transition stayed and participated in the session.

Where we saw buy-in really start to happen is through dialogue in the classroom. In many cases, I as the facilitator would explain how the overall process of mapping jobs worked.  When managers had questions, the most powerful and effective answers came from people in the room who had been involved in the mapping for the departments represented in that room.  

I don’t think this implies that a senior leader kickoff isn’t important.  Rather, this experience showed that a 5-10 minute kickoff isn’t enough to get manager buy-in and support.

Lessons: Hearing from the most senior leader that he/she supports a change is necessary but not sufficient for getting a group to support a change. Two-way dialogue with leaders about the details and tough decisions is where buy-in really happens.  

So why is this a problem?  While I could just say, “This is who I am – take it or leave it” I am starting to realize that my energy might actually shut other people down.  Oddly enough, I’ve only starting to see this because lately I have been around other people who exhaust me.  There are some folks who can be so talkative, dominating, and opinionated that I almost recoil.  Without even realizing it, I back away a few inches, fold my arms and sometimes even stop talking.

I hadn’t noticed myself doing this until my good friend Mary Lynn pointed it out to me.  She went on to graciously point out that I sometimes have the same effect on others!  Only a true friend can tell us these sorts of things about ourselves and I am truly grateful to Mary Lynn for helping me see this blind spot.  Thanks to her, I now try to bring my energy to a more solid, grounded place – especially when meeting new people.  I try to make space in the conversation for others and listen more.  Yes, I have a long way to go but I am starting to improve.  Most importantly, I now see how being bubbly can energize some people and exhaust others.  Thank you ML.

Authentic Communication Training uses cutting-edge learning technologies and proven presentation strategies to easily and effectively help clients become authentic and extraordinary presenters–in small and large groups, on-stage and in front of the media.

Looking for a taste of what Howard and Michael offer?  Check out their free audio book, “Six Things You Must Know before Being on TV or Video.”  I learned a lot from it.  My favorite tip:  Don’t wait in the green room for your interview – hang on on set instead and observe others.

Keep the great tips coming guys!

Be Accessible

As a senior leader, you need to be accessible and visible to your employees. When there is a problem, don’t wait until all the details of the solution have been fleshed out before informing your workers. Instead, inform them of your progress along the way as the decisions are being made. In uncertain times, it is more important than ever to be accessible. You’re not just there to share information with the workforce, but to build trust with them along the way, and dispel rumors as they spring up.

Don’t Hide From Bad News

You have nothing to gain by withholding bad news from your employees — they know times are tough and that your business will have to adapt in order to survive. If you try to pretend that everything is perfect, your employees will lose their trust in you, and communication will become harder. Letting your employees know when changes need to be made is the best thing you can do to stop rumors. When employees trust you to tell them the bad news, they will stop believing office gossip and wait to hear the truth from you.

Personal Communication

All too often, leaders communicate bad news via e-mails and memos. All leaders are busy, but your first priority must be the productivity of your workforce. Research has shown that face-to-face or voice-to-voice conversations build up trust in a relationship and also improve the clarity of your message. You may find yourself stumped by a question that you didn’t expect, but don’t worry. Your people don’t expect you to be perfect, but they will appreciate the time you took to talk to them.

Listen

Face-to-face communication is two-way, which is a massive advantage. You will often find that your employees have great ideas that can help you, but listening doesn’t have to be about finding answers. Your employees will be motivated by the knowledge that their ideas and feelings are valued, and it can help them engage with the business and with you.

Acknowledge the Unknowns

Talk as honestly as you can about what you do know and what you don’t. Your employees will recognize that you can’t know everything, and it will help to build trust and clarity if you explain why some details are still uncertain. Don’t make promises you can’t keep — if you are unsure, talk about probabilities and possibilities instead.

Communication is the bedrock of good management practice, and the only way to get the best out of your workforce. Make sure you communicate openly, honestly, and readily.

• Working for You Isn’t Working for Me, The Ultimate Guide to Managing Your Boss by Katherine Crowley and Kathi Elster
• Tame Your Terrible Office Tyrant by Lynn Taylor

Read about both books and get some quick tips from Wallace Immen’s career column in TheGlobeandMail.com. 

Two oldies but goodies on the topic are the Managing Conflict with Your Boss from the Center for Creative Leadership and my all-time favorite, Dealing with People You Can’t Stand by Dr. Rick Brinkman and Dr. Rick Kirschner.

You might also want to check out my February post on Dealing with Big Egos in the Office.

Given this focus on savings are you wondering about your yearly management team offsite?  Should you hold it or skip it?

For help weighing the pros and cons, check out this HBR blog post from CEO coach, Melissa Raffoni:

This Year’s Management Off Site: Necessary or Negligent?

In addition to the posting, I recommend that you skim the reader comments.  Main themes seem to be that the management team needs to be more aligned that ever and that offsites can help to accomplish that.  At the same time, executives should remember to take the time to communicate why they are having the offsite and what the results/outcomes are. 

I believe that employees are craving more direction from their senior leaders.  They want to know where your company is headed, what the plans are for getting there, and how they can help.  Before you can communicate these answers to your frontline, you’ll need shared understanding, purpose, and alignment across your management team. 

If you decide to move forward with your offsite, you’ll also want to read this June 2006 HBR article from  Bob Frisch and Logan Chandler:

Off-Sites That Work

Best wishes for a productive offsite!  Remember to communicate with your entire organization afterwards.