Guy Kawasaki’s new book “Reality Check” has many brilliant, thought provoking, and important ideas to share. One of those ideas is from Garr Reynolds and it is called the Zen of Presentations. Presentation Zen “is about restraint, simplicity, and a natural approach to presentations that is appropriate for an age in which design thinking, story-telling, and right brain thinking are crucial complements to analysis, logic, and argument.
Reynolds goes on to identify PowerPoint as a crutch rather than a tool for presentations. My feeling is that powerpoint hinders the speakers ability to connect with the audience if used incorrectly; unfortunately the majority use it incorrectly.
The following from Marty Neumeier sums up my feelings quite well:
“PowerPoint has become a full-blown epidemic. Tragically, the victims are company values such as collaboration, innovation, passion, vision, and clarity. If you want smart buy-in, give PowerPoint a rest. Substitute more engaging techniques such as stories, demonstrations, drawings, prototypes, and brainstorming exercises. If a business is a decision factory, then the presentations that inform those decisions determine their quality: garbage in, garbage out.”
What makes a good presentation stick? According to the Health brothers, Chip and Dan, in their book “Made to Stick” sticky aka memorable messages share 6 common attributes:
Brian Solis Principle of “Future Works” and Social Media expert
Anthropology is the study of humanity. Within this discipline lurks the often maligned and always second guessed social anthropologist. Social anthropologist examine cultures, dissect cultures within cultures, and attempt to posit and theorize answers to why a society or people live within a structure of their making.
“Social media is about sociology and the understanding that with the new social tools available to us, we can more effectively observe the cultures of online communities and listen to and respond directly to people within the communities.”
Strategy to Engage
1. Stop pushing your sales pitch, thoughts, or agenda at people
2. Start listening to the conversation within a Social Media community
3. Contribute and talk to people within the Social Media community you wish to engage
4. Assess what the conversation involves, how to contribute, and what to listen to within the community
5. Give your value, contribute this value to the conversation
6. Monitor the conversation and watch for acceptance and response to your value give
7. Respect, honesty, and support will lead to trust within the community for you and your contributions
8. Become a Sociologist. Understand the group aka community. According to Solis “everything they (community) do is reflective of those they want to engage and embrace”
What is the #1 fear Americans try to avoid everyday? It is not flying, not going to the dentist, not heights, nor is it reaching 30 without a wedding ring. The #1 fear for Americans is public speaking. We hate to stand up and voice our opinions in front of people. This is odd considering the “loud Americans” tag we carry throughout Europe when people think of our countrymen.
The following information will provide a strategy for overcoming the fear of public speaking and it will illustrate the benefits of creating a workshop.
Workshops: A Strategy for Beginning Public Speakers
A great strategy to overcoming your fearof public speaking is to create your own workshop. A workshop allows the creator a far easier path as a beginning foray into public speaking:
Benefits of Workshops for Creating Confidence in Your Public Speaking
1. Participation: The majority of a workshop is speaker-audience participation. This allows the audience to interact and create content for the speaker. In turn this takes some of the pressure off the speaker
2. Memorization: Unlike keynote speeches or seminars which require large blocks of information memorization, workshops only really require that an introduction and setup be memorized
3. Notes: It is perfectly acceptable for the workshop facilitator to browse and refer to their notes while presenting their material.
Workshops are a creation of your own which become a tool for both you and your audience. The original idea is to create a tool which will deliver your “value” give. The Randy Pausch “head fake learning” value is that you learn about yourself, your ability to overcome obstacles, and your willingness to put yourself “out there.”
Benefits of Creating Your Workshop
1.Research makes you smarter. When you create a workshop you usually perform research
2.Writing your workshop becomes content for your blog or newsletter
“My gift to you” was one of the famous, yet subtle, lines uttered by Al Pacino aka Tony Montana in 1983’s blockbuster hit “Scarface.” It’s a story about a small time refugee who makes it big as an “entrepreneur.” Tony was a relentless worker, a non-stop marketing genius-how can you not love that globe, and he understood brand recognition.
My Gift to You
My gift to you is a link to sign up for Jeffrey Gitomer’s newsletter “Sales Caffeine” Link
*Have you ever had your home invaded or robbed? My parents house was robbed in Chicago. *Have you ever been mugged with your valuables stolen from you on a lonely street? I was robbed at gunpoint in downtown Washington D.C.
Well that is EXACTLY WHAT HAS HAPPENED RIGHT HERE ON deansguide with the splogger site calledcountrychasehomes.com. The operator of this site known alias, Annay, HAS STOLEN NEARLY 50 OF MY ARTICLES and placed them on this site as if they were his own writing content. He or she has the site set up with categories to look like a real blog. Every single word on this site was written by me–and I am F#$&ING PISSED!
Countrychasehomes is a typical advertising play. Ripping my content off to build a site, slamming Google Adsense ads all over it, NOT allowing comments typical of this kind of rip off strategy, and utilizing my content in order to generate link spam.
Please Take Action Against This Site: A Plea To My Readers
Please follow this link to this splog site and do the following:
Many people in a variety of business niches are constantly searching for answers to obstacles that plague their professional development, business success, and overall happiness and well being. Susan Hanshaw’s upcoming workshop “Changing Careers: Laying Your Foundation” provides 6 Steps with a goal and a proven formula for achieving each goal.
Q: “What Do You Get In This Workshop? Why Should I Attend?”
A: “Together we will walk through 6 steps each with a goal and a proven formula for achieving each goal:
Step 1
Goal: Stop feeling stuck in a career that no longer fits
How: Become aware of your choices
Step 2
Goal: Give yourself permission to experience your ideal work life
How: Identify the beliefs that are holding you back and learn how to let go of them
Step 3
Goal: Stop second guessing your desire for change
How: Recognize how your values have changed
Step 4
Goal: Believe in your ability to successfully create a career change
How: Learn the 7 Steps to successfully create change
Step 5
Goal: Discover your passions and purpose
How: Learn how and where to look for clues
Step 6
Goal: Believe you can turn your passions into a financially rewarding career
How: Identify the various ways you can generate income from your passions
The blog supportingInner Architect personal development firm and author Susan Hanshaw has moved from it’s original wordpress subdomain, innerarchitect.wordpress.com, to it’s new platform innerarchitect.com/blog. The combining of website and blog will bring all the Inner Architect writing, products, and services under one roof.
The focus will remain to provide continuous valuable resources:
Being in between jobs doesn’t have to be experienced like the kiss of death. I know that it is natural to feel very vulnerable, yet that is what being in transition is all about. It’s the very point that you are temporarily unattached to a job that provides you with a rare freedom to ask yourself what you really want from your next adventure.
Key Questions to Ask Yourself In Between Jobs
1. How Soon Do I Really Have to Land a Job?
2. Can I afford some time to step backand evaluate what I really want from my career?
Now is the time I may have the freedom and time to prepare for it
Note: Sure, it’s no fun watching your life savings take a downward climb, but is your time here really about the money?
3. Am I at a point in my life where I can afford to spend some time being selective about my next step or preparing for a new path?
Think of your career choices now as investments in your quality of life.
4. Would the jobs I am now searching for be my top choices if I were just starting out?
You spend a majority of your waking hours at your job. Consider it like you would a romantic relationship. Are you willing to settle for second best just to be committed?
5. Is it possible to support myself financially doing what I love?
Make a list of all the different ways you can generate income by doing what you love. Your financial support does not have to come from one income stream. Maybe one single role can’t generate enough money, but adding other roles that express your passions might make the necessary difference.
6. Are credentials getting in my way of going for jobs I really want?
Ask yourself if you are truly lacking what is necessary, or if credentials are a convenient excuse to protect you from risk or rejection. Research the kinds of credentials that others doing similar work have. If you don’t have what it takes, identify sources that can provide the appropriate credentials. Don’t make assumptions without checking the facts about the true requirements to do the work.
FoxBusinesspublished this deansguide article July 23, 2008
Who is Susan Hanshaw? She is anauthor and Founder of Inner Architect and Inner Architect Media the publishing arm to her personal development firm.
Who is Dean Guadagni? I am her business director, editor, and agent. Throughout the time I have partnered with Susan, she has written some impacting (The power of making a strong, immediate impression) articles that have been the platform for her workshops.
As a featured guest onMartha Stewart Living Radio Network show “Career Talk” hosted by Maggie Mistal, Susan addressed her own transition and change from a very successful corporate position as a V.P. of a Direct Marketing firm to that of entrepreneur small business owner.
The article below is a short article Susan wrote with 3 easy to remember tips that you have HEARD before. Why is it so different to what you heard in the past? Pay attention to the “green.”
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“The other day I sat in on a presentation about the basics of Feng Shui by my charismatic French friend, Sabine Lamoureux. In a very simple way, it changed the way I think about the environment that surrounds me every day. Sabine helped me to see that the energy that we allow to surround us is as influential as the vitamins that we feed our physical bodies. It fuels our moods and acts as a mirror for how we see ourselves. Without this awareness we can sabotage our greatest desires.
Tips for aligning your home with your vision:
Eliminate clutter. It keeps you bogged down with the energy of your past. To make room in your life for new opportunities, you have to make space in your physical energy field.
Get rid of what doesn’t feel good in your environment. It decreases your level ofpositive energy.
Create an environment that expresses what you want to experience. This isn’t about buying things. It is about surrounding yourself with simple things that represent what you want to achieve, create or become.
Action Planning is one of the most intricate and important parts of creating a new life or career. Without a plan to drive your efforts, your attempts to change your life are much more difficult to achieve. Make no mistake about the fact that in order to succeed in any transition you must first be responsible for laying the foundation: planning.
One of the fastest and most effective methods to begin meeting people in the niche you wish to build your new career or life is via real world networking events and meetings
Webgrrls International
A great example of outlining your training process can be found at the networking groupWebgrrls.com. Webgrrls provides meetings and events with the following benefits:
1. Networking: you meet people in your niche 2. Introductions: you give your 1 minute “elevator” pitch a mini marketing message business plan 3. Practice: you hone your public speaking skills by participating 4. Support: members support each other’s goals and help bring ideas forward 5. Synergy: many members have synergy within their action plans and training plans
5 Steps For Identifying Your Training Process
In Susan Hanshaw’s exercise you are given a practical method of evaluating your training process:
1. Get Clarity: Define details of your service or product, develop a profile of your job description, and list your job duties 2. Identify Areas for Development: review your job duties and list specific areas for development 3. Research: find training opportunities, options for training and learning, don’t limit your path to education 4. Buy In: Choose training programs that resonate with you, that excite you, and commit your efforts 100% to that program(s) 5. Complete Training and Credentials: realize your training will require concentration and sacrifice. Focus on the rewards of training rather than your sacrifices
Webgrrl Attendees With Expertise
1. Nelly Yusupova: Founder Digitalwoman.com a successful a website development and Internet consultant practice started in March, 2004. Nelly is also the CTO for Webgrrls.com and Manhattan chapter president. Contact Nelly Yusupova at nelly@cgim.com
2. Naomi Most: Naomi is the talented producer behind LittleMovingPictures.com and a well versed programmer with experience in Python, Perl, PHP, SQL, XML, C/C++. Naomi’s company is so busy and expanding that they are looking for a wide variety of professionals from copywriters to engineers. Contact Naomi at naomi@littlemovingpictures.com
3. Beth Rogozinski: Director, Marketing Communications for devicescape.com the leader in software for secure and seamless WiFi internet access. Beth has 10+ years of experience in Public Relations, media relations, media event marketing and planning. Contact Beth for all of your enterprise or individual WiFi access needs beth@devicescape.com
4. Erin Clark: Account Manager Eastridge InfoTech a technology staffing firm in San Francisco. Erin is a vibrant and well connected human capital facilitator who matches talented technologist with their desired positions. A active member of ebig.com and thinkhdi.com, Erin is a market leader and go-to source of information. Contact Erin at eclark@eastridgeinfotech.com
5. Gayle Uchida: Business Development Manager Gayle is a joy to meet and learn from in her work with Lighthouse-sf.com. Lighthouse For The Blind is a non profit organization focussed on education and awareness effecting the vision impaired community. Gayle has over 20 years experience in Silicon Valley as a business development executive and marketing professional. Contact Gayle at guchida@lighthouse-sf.org
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