Learn How To Communicate with Your Team

Growing up I was fascinated with the amount of information on a baseball card.  There was a great picture on one side, and I could "know" a lot about the player after just investing a few seconds reading.

Wouldn't it be great if everyone we met had a personal baseball card?  We could keep it handy and whenever we were about attend a meeting with that person, we could give it a quick read.  We would then know how to communicate with that individual and thus avoid months of trial and error mistakes.

I ran across this template in BusinessWeek a long time ago.  I used it with a team the other day and it really worked.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/35010098/Blank-Working-With-Me

For example, one category is called "Communicating With Me."  Everyone took a moment to fill this out and then we talked about it.  We found that the members of the team only wanted emails on things that were quick, logical, and less then a half-page.  Anything that was longer wasn't going to be read.

However, when it came to anything else, including anything that had an emotional element, they wanted a phone call.   They felt this was the best way to connect, and understand the situation.  This was surprising as the team was in sales and their time was limited.

Understanding how people think and want their information is key to communicating with them.

Forget Brainstorming

The Newsweek cover story for July 19th, 2010 is worth a read.  It's entitled "Creativity Crisis."

The real value in the story comes on page 50 under the title "Forget Brainstorming".  Most people don't like brainstorming sessions because of the lack of action and followup on "their" ideas.  It's hard to get everyone involved and excited, and the sheer volume of ideas can be daunting.

The suggestion from the article is to have the individual, "Do something only you would come up with - that none of your friends or family would think of."  What is interesting is that as soon as I read this suggestion, I had one I thought was better.  Rather than having people start on an individual level I have always found it better to split people into groups and provide the groups with a problem, and a timeframe to think about the problem and come up with potential solutions.  The problem provides the focus and the timeframe provides the action orientation.

The "I hear your idea and want to piggyback/hitchhike/improve on it" mentality is timeless.  You just have to prime the pump and let people start talking.

In future meetings when suggestions or ideas are needed, present the problem, split the team into small groups and provide a timeframe.  Great things will ensue.

Remember most people think they always have great ideas, it's just no one will listen to them.

Sunk Costs: Business vs. Personal

Recently I bought a course called "The Art of Critical Decision Making" from The Teaching Company.


Definition

Sunk Cost Effect: The tendency to escalate commitment to a failing course of action if one has invested a great deal of time, money, and other resources that are not recoverable.

I have seen this happen several times in business.  We start out all fired up.  We have an idea, a budget, and some skilled people to help deliver the vision.  About mid-way through the project it starts to fall apart as resources, people, and competing ideas turn heads.

What should happen is a meeting where the original group meets to see if the idea, budget, and skilled folks still think the idea has merit and is a priority.  What often happens is the Senior Leader draws a line in the sand and says we must now dive in and "rescue" the project.  The project is given to the "fixer" who has the reputation for getting things delivered.  They do what they feel needs to be done.  Of course, this is often at odds with the original idea.  This causes dissent and the original team distances itself from the idea.

We now have an idea delivered that no one claims, and no one wants to look after for the next 18 months to ensure it's woven into the fabric of the company.

Solution

One idea, one team start to finish.  Once the company commits, the project team regularly communicates an update on the project in order to keep the leadership team updated and energized by the progress.

If events happen that cause a shift of priorities then the project lead is the one that makes the decision to hit the kill switch rather then limping along for the next couple of years.

Sunk Costs in Personal Life

What works in business doesn't always work in real life.  We have tremendous sunk costs in our families and friends.  It is rarely a good idea to abandon people.

"Goodness is the only investment that never fails" - Henry David Thoreau

What Kind of Senior Leader Will You Be?

The Situation

It's Friday afternoon and an email hits your inbox.  It's from the senior leader of your group which means you have to at least skim it.  The leader is asking for their "inner circle's" ideas on how to communicate with leaders of other lines of business on a monthly basis.

You know how this works...if you have a reasonable idea the leader is going to ask you to develop it and roll out the new communication on a short timeframe.  Armed with this knowledge you ignore the email.

Several hours later another email appears from the senior leader addressed only to you.  The leader butters you up with some praise and asks for your ideas.  You take 3 minutes and toss something back across the fence that seems doable.

Guess what?  The senior leader responds in about two minutes, assigns you the task, and asks that I have it ready to roll out by Tuesday. Remember it is Friday afternoon.

The Question

Why do leaders do stuff like this?

1. They know you have great ideas and can execute on them.  They show confidence and trust in you by asking for your opinion.  They feel that you can be trusted to handle time sensitive projects.
2. They are "too busy", and when they see a decent idea they flip it back to the person so they can get it done.  This isn't bad once in awhile as we all have great ideas.  However, the leader will get a reputation for doing this an pretty soon, and very few people are going to want to be on their team.

The Rest of The Story

Rather then stew about this, I opened up a computer program and hammered out a nice visual newsletter that did not require opening (i.e. PDF) and that could be read in less than five minutes.  You see I knew the secret with most communication today is to make it short and punchy.  If you get people interested they will read your missive every time.

You Can't Make This Up!

So the senior leaders provides super positive feedback and tells me what great work this is.  He then flips the newsletter idea to someone else with a few comments.

• Let's make this several pages
• Let's make this a PDF
• Let's include a calendar of future activities
• Let's include a whole page of contact information for the 15-20 people on the team

The length alone guarantees that this will not be read.

The Lesson

If you are a senior leader and see this need, add this for discussion at your next strategy meeting.  The group can then hash out if this need is real, and what the best format is to reach out and communicate to other lines of business.  Then a group of folks can be assigned to help with the final format.  This involves the entire team, brings the team closer together as they work on a team need, and can be a success that everyone can celebrate.

Make it Simple

I was recently in Austin, TX to help do a presentation on the book "Switch".  The book details how to go about making changes when you deal with your rational and your emotion sides.

Imagine being in the room with a group of sales folks who all have the book on the table in front of them.  Their manager handed it out at the start of their offsite, and stated that my colleague and I would go over it.

Lessons in dealing with the management "Book of the Month"

1. Realize that almost no one will actually read the book.  They will stuff it in their luggage and place it on the shelf behind their desks when they get back to work.
2. Create a one-page summary of the book that details the important points and talks to HOW to do what the book proposes.
3. When speaking about the main points of the book ditch the jargon from the book and use very simple language.
4. Most Important - Have each person select one thing they want to take from the book and use daily.  Have their manager collect this data, and provide you with a copy.  Then make a plan with the manager to check back with each person after two weeks, 30,60 and 90 days to see how things are going.  This is called "going public" and provides the manager the opportunity to encourage, motivate and praise the employee as they accomplish their goal.

Key Learnings from my Austin experience

1. How do you help each participant understand that you are talking specifically to them?  This is a question for the ages.  What I recognized, yet again, is that each person doesn't think they need what most books provide.  We use movie clips, stories, a ton of interaction along with a lot of "How do I do this" information.  The challenge is that most people think that everyone in the room needs the information but them.  I am still trying to find out how to connect with each individual and help them see that they can use the information in their lives.
2. You can never be simple enough.  The Switch books does a very good job of keeping the jargon to a minimum, but I realized that even this minimum was too much.  Shaping the path, scripting the critical moves, and tweaking the environment seem clear, however I watched people disengage as we walked through these items.  Plain words and clear examples rule the day.
3. Without follow up the class fails.  We had a sales conference earlier in the year with a great speaker.  He had five points that could help change our lives.  We asked the room what those five points were.  Four and a half months after the conference, the room could only come up with the first point.  When we asked how many people had changed something in their lives due to the information from the speaker, and the vote was ZERO.  No one had changed a thing.

I am not depressed by the above experience.  I think that it is going to be a real accomplishment when I crack the code and help everyone in my classes, hear, feel and use the information that is provided.

The 50 Worst Inventions - Tons of Great Material

Time released  "The Fifty Worst Inventions", and it is a tremendous list.  The second worst invention New Coke is the focus today.

When I mention New Coke what memories pop into your head?

• New taste that was preferable to Pepsi.
• Big marketing campaign
• People were stockpiling the "old" Coke.
• After a short time New Coke was thrown out and old Coke returned.

The Background

• In the early 80's Coke sales were flat, and Pepsi was gaining.
• The "Pepsi Challenge" showed most cola drinkers preferred Pepsi's taste
• Coke's market share had gone from 60% down to 24% in 1983
• The company reformulated the taste of Coke - Corn Syrup was added and Artificial sweeteners were taken out.  The resulting taste was preferred over both "old" Coke and Pepsi.
• Leadership rolled out the new flavor on April 23, 1985
• Leadership reintroduced the old flavor on July 11, 1985
• ""There is a twist to this story which will please every humanist and will probably keep Harvard professors puzzled for years," said Keough at a press conference. "The simple fact is that all the time and money and skill poured into consumer research on the new Coca-Cola could not measure or reveal the deep and abiding emotional attachment to original Coca-Cola felt by so many people."

How Do I Use This?

• Use this when you need to teach a leadership lesson.  I could see you starting with this story if you are trying to teach the importance of listening, humility, and/or change.
• As soon as you say "New Coke" your audience will really perk up and their memories of this event will flood their mind.  It will be important to acknowledge this and give them a bit of time to "see" these memories before you try and teach something.
• When you move into the leadership or management lessons make sure that you really understand the details of the story.  You could get sidetracked quickly by the feelings of the event.  I have included some reference material at the end of the post.
• Don't linger long on the story - take about 90 seconds to tell the story, 30 seconds for people to relive the moment and then start teaching about how leadership handled the furor.

Reference Material

• Quick Version of the Situation: New Coke
• Expanded Research with Numerous Reference Resources: "Wapedia"

Source: Mikkelson, Barabra. "snopes.com: New Coke Origin." snopes.com: Urban Legends Reference Pages. Version 0. Snopes, n.d. Web. 2 June 2010. .

Wisdom

Even seemingly negative articles can be instructive - As soon as I saw New Coke on the list I knew I have a great story.

Linking the Familiar to the Unfamiliar

That's Interesting
I ran across a great story in the June 7th Issue of Forbes Magazine. It is entitled, "The Science of Super Thin, Ultra Warm" 

This is a great story that you could use to link something an audience knows to something that they don't know, or would be amazed to see.

Telling stories like the above help you grab your audience.  Once you have their attention, you can inform, persuade, or motivate.

I learned a secret tip from John Maxwell a long time ago.  Read widely, clip daily, and you will never be at a loss for stories.

The Importance of Thinking in Solitude

Solitude and Leadership

This article was sent to me this afternoon by a great friend.  I read it slowly and soon recognized it was one of the top 10 articles of the year.

Enjoy

On the Importance of Reading

If you haven't heard of Charlie Munger then you have missed out.  Charlie is straight man to Warren Buffett.  


Charlie once said, "In my whole life, I have known no wise people (over a broad subject matter area) who didn't read all the time - none, zero. You'd be amazed at how much Warren reads - and at how much I read. My children laugh at me. They think I'm a book with a couple of legs sticking out."




Charlie Munger Biography


I try and read a wide variety of material.  I read to learn, be exposed to new ideas, and to see what others are thinking about.  This benefits me and it benefits my clients.  Too often we get stuck doing the same thing over and over, never really thinking of new ways to do things, or new ideas that can replace current thought.  Reading can give you the edge.

Sourdough Starter "makes" a Great Story

The Story

I ran across a great story in the Wall Street Journal on Monday.  It is entitled, "Was That Blob in Your Kitchen Born in the Gold Rush?"

As I started to read it I knew I would clip this and save it in my Evernote files.

The Key Phrases/Story Bits/Quotes

• "I'm not necessarily a good pet owner."
• Lives on the kitchen counter
• largely determined by the frequency of feedings
• traces its starter to an original batch first mixed in 1849 during the Gold Rush.
• saved by Louise Boudin from a fire during the 1906 San Francisco earthquake.
• The Fresh Loaf, a baking website...now attracts 1.25 million page views a month.

How Would You Use This Story

This would be a great hero story.  The hero starts off, overcomes challenges with the help of a mentor, conquers something and returns to share his/her knowledge with others. 

 Just take the details of the story and match it to your presentation topic.  If you mother or someone in your neighborhood had a starter there is the perfect lead in to your story and your presentation.

This is also leadership or management story as well.  Leaders have something that they value that has grown over years of constant care and growth.  They share it with others who realize its benefits.  If something terrible happens the leader can work with someone they have shared the skill with and regain lost momentum. 

Get in the habit of reading constantly from a wide variety of sources and clip something everyday!

Be Interested not Interesting

One of the toughest lessons to learn in life is about your focus when meeting new people.

We all know that everyone's favorite subject is themselves.  However, most of us will not allow someone we meet, the opportunity to show us just how unique they are.  We spend most of our time talking about ourselves in the hopes that we are interesting.  The better choice is to listen to the individual you just meet and concentrate on being interested.

This is one of my favorite stories


Admired for her beauty, Jennie Jerome (Winston Churchill's mother) glided through the loftiest social circles in Great Britain. Once, on consecutive nights, Ms. Jerome dined with England's premier politicians: Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli and his chief rival, William Gladstone. When questioned about her impressions of the two men, Ms. Jerome made the following observation:

"When I left the dining room after sitting next to Gladstone, I thought he was the cleverest man in England. But when I sat next to Disraeli I left feeling that I was the cleverest woman."


As you chat with people today, listen more than you talk and be interested

Giving Feedback On A Presentation

I received a call to swing by someone's office and provide some feedback on a presentation that "is a lot like ones that you do!"

That got me interested so I leaped up and power walked over to this individuals office.  While I walked I reminded myself of my "Rules for Giving Feedback."

1. Very few people really want feedback - Most want you to tell them they are amazing.
2. When you find someone that actually wants your feedback DO NOT overwhelm them with 83 items.
3. Think two great items and one item that will improve the presentation
4. Finally, DO NOT talk about small things like where they put their hands, pacing, saying "uh" etc.  Give the individual something BIG that can really help them.

I arrived at the office and my colleague pulled up the presentation and started walking through it.  I looked at their face and saw how excited they were, which was my first clue on how much feedback to give and how blunt to be. (A tiny bit and be kind)

The presentation was very good and was on par with the principles of Presentation Zen  by Garr Reynolds.  I started talking about how exciting it was to see a fellow convert and how sharp the pictures were.  I asked, "How many total slides do you have?"  They answered, "28 right now."  I asked, "How long is the presentation?"  They said, "40 minutes."  

28 slides in 40 minutes is a filmstrip.  If the individual giving the presentation slows down at all they are going to fall behind, realize that they are behind, rush several slides and blow the end.

My rule is 10 slides per hour.

Yup! 10 SLIDES PER HOUR

I asked who was giving the presentation and found out it was someone I knew that did a very good job.  They told great stories and held the audience's attention.  

With all this data in my head I made my move with a question.

"Joe (not real name) is a great in front of an audience, why does he feel he needs the 8-10 slides with graph's and charts on them?"

This was my tiny attempt to warn my friend about the feedback that was coming.

"Well, they are in front of a crowd that sees them as an expert so this data will confirm that."

I said, "But they are already billed as the expert, so why don't we cut this down to 10 of the best slides and go with that?"

Their response was a teaching moment for me: "They are giving the presentation today, and we don't have time to change it.  Plus they like these charts and graphs."

I blew that - I should have asked one more question before giving some feedback.

I should have said, "This is really great. I enjoying working with people who understand the importance of building presentations that educate."

Then I would leave.

Instead I continued to blow it by saying, "Why don't you take the final chart, slim it down to it's most educational elements and use it, instead of using three slides that progressively add data?"

That comment flustered the individual and caused them to get defensive and repeat back to my why they created the presentation a certain way.

The Lesson


Before giving feedback ask enough questions to understand if you are in a true feedback environment.

Creating A Story Update

The other day I posted an entry entitled Creating A Story.  I wanted to give you an update about how the individuals in the crowd that day reacted.

A couple of days after the presentation I was talking to four or five folks about the Chick-Fil-A story I told.  One individual cut me off and said, "I knew it was Chick-Fil-A as soon as you said The Dwarf House."  Another said, "The Dwarf House?" "Yeah, like on the walls of the store when you go eat."

Someone else jumped in and said, "I knew it when he said Truett."

Yet another said, "I knew it when you mentioned Hapeville, GA near the Ford plant.  Did you know Truett Cathy bought the last Taurus that the plant built?"

The final person said, "I was thinking it was Chick-Fil-A when you mentioned that the business was closed on Sunday."

It was a fun conversation because the group was playing the "In the Know" game and was excited to talk about when they understood what restaurant I was talking about.  Notice also that they thought of the name of the restaurant at different times using different clues, and that they had additional details to throw into the group conversation that I rejected when I built the story.

Making your point with stories can be a blast if you are careful and work hard.

PowerPoint Bullets Kill

The New York Times ran an article this morning about the above PowerPoint slide.  It was used in a military briefing to "help" leadership see our current strategy in Afghanistan.

The Enemy is PowerPoint

Seth Godin then wrote a nice blog post about how bullet points are used by almost everyone in the same manner: poorly.

In order to break from the pack I have worked hard to do two things.

1) Use big pictures and very few words in PowerPoint or Keynote to make my points.  I use just enough to set the stage for the information or story I will tell.  This approach comes from the book Presentation Zen by Garr Reynolds.

2) The second approach is voiced in Beyond Bullet Points by Cliff Atkinson.  He takes a storyboard approach to scripting out your presentation.  This is very interesting as it helps you tell a visual story which really connects to the audience.  Levenger makes some nice desk pads for storyboarding.

So there you go - move away from the PowerPoint, reach out and learn some new ways to present information and don't forget, "You are the show, not the slides!"

New Hires - How to Handle Those Who Play "Stump The Chump"

The Situation

Today I presented a small seminar to a class of new hire financial advisors. I arrived about 45 minutes early so I could sit in the back of the room and learn a couple of things.

• Name of as many of the participants as possible. Everyone loves the sound of their own name.
• What type of questions are being asked, and who asks the most/least.
• Who is trying to dazzle their fellow advisors with all they know.
• Who is really trying to learn.

My colleague was up in the front of the room talking about how to treat clients in the first few minutes of the advisors first meeting. She was doing a nice job until the questions started to come.

"Can I start asking for the client to roll their assets to our firm in the first appointment? I saw a financial advisor in my office do this."

"Can I start presenting options or solutions that will help the client in the first meeting? The advisors in my office do this."

These questions are quite common as new hires try to balance what the learning folks are teaching, with what they see going on in their local offices.

The Solution

• Have you ever noticed that in today's corporate environment no answer is wrong? We must always start with, "That's a great question Tom, and you are right..." We never say, "That is totally wrong"
• Have you also noticed that the questioner will keep hammering away until you say "in rare cases you can do X or Y or Z." They then say, "so we can do that...great!" This blows the point you are trying to make. The individual is like a lawyer in court asking if it is possible for the sun to rise in the West. The individual on the stand has to say, "It's possible but not probable." Then the lawyer says, "so it is possible!"

Rather then go down these "rabbit holes" with class participants here are a couple of ways to stop the bleeding when this starts.

1. Whenever someone asks a question, have them attempt to answer it with their own experience. For example one class member asked "Should we have client's come to our office or should we go to theirs?". I said, "What is your experience in your local office?" The new advisor said, "Some advisors will do it once in awhile." I asked, "Under what conditions will they do this?" The advisor said, "When the client has a large account or when we need to show that we are flexible to win the business." I asked, "How often would that be?" The advisor said, "Rarely." I asked, "What is the cost to the rest of the business when you leave the office." The advisor said "when I am out of the office I am unavailable to handle the needs of all my clients." - The new advisor asked a question and by just asking a couple of questions in return, I was able to have him answer it. This avoids other members of the class piling on with their wild stories and one-time client meetings in out-of-the way places.
2. Keep the seminar moving and very focused - These questions come up when quick thinking folks have time to mentally wander. If your seminar or learning event is fast-paced you will keep the crowd focused on the learning and not on one-off situations.
3. Anticipate the questions and answer them as part of the seminar. "I know many of you may be tempted to say "yes" to a client that want's to meet at their home. This will only happen rarely and you need to weigh the cost in time and potential business lost with the assets/referrals the client could bring in."
4. Finally - You could also tell a story at the start of the seminar that emphasizes the importance of being crisp and precise when learning and then allowing best practices to creep in with experience.

Creating a Story

The Challenge


This past week I was tasked with creating a presentation that centered on melding business principles and moral values.  To start the presentation I needed a great story. I had just eaten at Chick-fil-A, and was inspired by the small portion of the company history that was printed on the bag.

Research


I went on the internet to look for the Chick-fil-A company story and found a good bit of information but not a super story line.  I like to try and find books that the founder has authored and ran across It's Easy to Succeed Than To Fail.  I did not have enough time to buy it and ship it to my house so I kept looking.

I finally found what I was looking for on a website called Funding Universe. I grabbed some chunks of material that represented the broad storyline.

"On May 23, 1946, 25-year-old Truett Cathy and his younger brother Ben opened a restaurant called the Dwarf House at 461 South Central Avenue in Hapeville, Georgia, a small town south of Atlanta. The Cathy brothers had begun the enterprise with $4,000 they were able to raise, partly by selling Truett's car, combined with $6,600 on loan from a bank, and for their money they had a restaurant only 50 feet wide and 150 feet deep--including the kitchen. To further enhance the difficulties facing them, the recent shift from a wartime to a peacetime economy had created supply problems that affected companies much bigger than their own."

"Ben went to fight in Europe, but Truett had relatively easy duty as a clerk, and never went further from home than Fort Lewis, Washington. Truett was discharged in 1944, and once Ben came home, the two brothers began to plan their future. They decided they would start a restaurant, and after spending some time as employees of a woman who promised to set them up in business but never did, they opened the Dwarf House.

Besides problems with supply, the Cathys had to deal with bureaucracy and other foibles, and they ended their first day with sales of $58.20--a modest beginning, but a beginning still. Most of their patronage came from employees of the nearby Ford plant, as well as the emerging Atlanta airport next to Hapeville, and many of these seemed to be repeat customers. The fact of this steady repeat clientele engendered in Truett an awareness of what would become a key element of Chick-fil-A's success: as he stated it in his 1989 book It's Easier to Succeed Than to Fail, "Word of mouth in the food business is more important than any other source of advertising. It's better to maintain your present customers than to spend a lot of time and expense replacing them with new ones."

"Another key element of the Chick-fil-A corporate identity was forged in those early days: the policy of operating six days a week, but "never on Sunday." The Dwarf House, in fact, was open 24 hours a day, but closed from midnight on Saturday night to midnight on Sunday night; and in more than five decades, the policy has not changed. In the beginning, Cathy said in a 1997 speech to the Newcomen Society, "it wasn't that we were holy--we were just tired!" But in fact Cathy's religious beliefs as a devout Christian informed not only this aspect of his business, which is based on the fourth of the Ten Commandments from the Bible, but many others. Yet Cathy did not set out to proselytize so much as to set an example: "I never intended to make a big issue out of being closed on Sunday," he told the Newcomen Society. "In fact, it always amazes me that other people bring up the subject so often." On a professional level, he has said, the policy helps him and his employees to stay fresh in body and soul, and thus it ultimately redounds to the company's benefit."

"In 1949, Ben Cathy was killed in a plane crash along with a third brother, Horace. Now Truett had to run Dwarf House on his own, and in 1951 he opened a second restaurant in the nearby town of Forest Park. For the next nine years, Cathy prospered as he and his wife Jeannette raised their family; then in 1960, another tragedy came when fire destroyed the Forest Park restaurant. "Without adequate insurance to rebuild the restaurant," Cathy said in his 1997 speech, "I faced some tough questions. Do I take a giant step back to just one restaurant, which would mean having to lay off employees? Do I incur more debt and rebuild the restaurant as it was? Or is it time for something new? I was convinced it was time for something new."

"Chick-fil-A Inc.  -- Company History." Connecting Angel Investors and Entrepreneurs. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Apr. 2010. .

Narrow It Down


Here were the points I felt were important

• On May 23, 1946 a new restaurant called "The Dwarf House" opened in Hapeville, Georgia. It was 50X150.
• Hapeville is just North of the Atlanta-Hartsfield apart and very close to a Ford factory.
• The owners were two brothers named Truett and Ben.
• Business Principle - "Word of mouth in the food business is more important than any other source of advertising."
• First days receipts $58.20
• Moral Principle - "Being closed on Sunday helped them and their employees to stay fresh in body and soul."
• The brothers were not protected from death or fire
• Truett started franchising in 1967, and in 2009 his company, "Chick-fil-a" did over $3 Billion dollars in sales.
• 2 Brothers, 2 Values, 64 years of providing for their families and influencing their customers.

Rules for Storytelling

• Starting with the date and place allows the audience to check if they were alive, had ever been to the location and thus have some context for your story.  I had to look the town up, and call them to get the pronunciation of their town correct.  Once I did that I remember flying over the Ford Factory when I went in and out of Hartsfield.  If I remember that a couple of other people in the crowd will as well.
• Use the first names of the brothers.  Cathy is an unusual last night and might trigger "Chick-fil-A" before you build up the drama.
• Explain "The Dwarf House" as that is an interesting name, especially today.  
• I skipped the money the brothers gathered as you could lose your audience as they try and figure out if that was a lot of money, or a tiny bit of money in 1946.
• Don't mention Chicken anywhere yet
• Talk about the first business principle - that gets that crowd involved.  You could say something like, "they believed that word of mouth advertising about the cleanliness of their restaurant, the tastiness of the food, and how attentive the service was, would be the best possible advertising."  Anyone who has eaten out would agree
• $58.20 - No problem mentioning money here, we all know this isn't much for a days work, before expenses.
• Closed on Sunday - Bringing this in now creates some drama as the audience knows the brothers aren't making much and to shut down for 1/7th of the week would be a drain.
• Add in that being moral businessmen didn't get them a free pass, as Ben was killed a few years later and when Truett expanding to two restaurants, one burned down with little insurance.  
• Now the crowd feels like Truett is going to fail. No brother, no money, no second restaurant.
• Return to the business/moral principles, add hard work and "In 2009 Truett Cathy's restaurant, now called Chick-fil-A passed over $3 Billion dollars in sales." I had to find that number on their website.

The Conclusion


I used the "Narrow it Down" bullets to tell my story - I went over it about 20 times to get the story correct, the timing or pauses during the interesting parts of the story right, and to make sure I answered any questions that popped into my head as I heard the story out loud.

The story took about two minutes to tell and two hours to practice and create.  The payoff was that I had numerous people come up after the presentation with positive feedback.  Several wanted to let me know when they figured out it was Chick-fil-A.  Some wanted to let me know that they always love my stories, and some wanted to tell me how much they enjoyed the presentation.  I am looking to try and hold off the recognition for as long as possible, draw them into my presentation and have them walk away having learned something.

Presentations and the iPad

My iPad showed up on Saturday morning and I thought I would share how I am going to use it.

I would like for it to be my mobile brain while on business trips.  I will use the video's and books features while sitting in airports, hotels, and while dining alone.

When I visit with folks in an office here is what I envision.  I will use Evernote as my brain and store evaluation forms, items from my business toolkit, and articles and "fast facts" that can help individuals meet their goals.  I am putting together several quick hit presentations on Keynote in order to walk people through more difficult concepts, as most folks are visual learners.  I can follow up with an email containing the information from my iPhone.

I will also use Evernote in church to store manuals, talks and scriptures.

iPad Quick Hits

• It's heavy - My Kindle is much lighter (10 oz.)  I don't think it will be a problem but one-handed reading is a thing of the past, or at least I won't do it for long.
• The screen is glossy and gorgeous.
• iPad apps are amazing - I have Evernote, Flight Control, Keynote and iWork, iBooks, Kindle, IMDB, Bento, Netflix, Zinio, The NYTimes, USA Today and the WSJ.

The Secret Presentation Template

Today I am going to let you in on a presentation secret.  I recently had someone ask me how to prepare for a presentation and I provided the following template.

1. Start your presentation with what the audience is going to walk away with.  That means your challenge, your idea to make their lives easier, or your information. That should take one minute or less
2. Tell a story, create an analogy or use a quote to get the audience's attention
3. After the above, you should have the audience interested.  Start with the first of your three points around your topic.
4. Make point #2
5. Make point #3
6. Tie all the points together in a summary
7. Tie the summary back into the story
8. Leave the group with a final thought, or challenge.

That's it.

So when I prepare any presentation I follow the above.  I think of the point of my presentation, look for the story, create the three points, summarize and I am done.

It's pretty simple

Story Type #5: Boy Meets Girl

The Story


Tarzan meets Jane.  Tarzan likes Jane.  Jane is captured by "savages".  Tarzan loses Jane.  Tarzan unhappy. Tarzan rescue's Jane.

Additional Movies

• Two Weeks Notice
• The Time Traveler's Wife
• (500) Days of Summer
• Wall-E
• Music and Lyrics
• Sabrina

Note:  Please don't hammer me on my choice of movies.  These were all I could think of right now.

Boy Meets Girl

This type of story is one that many of us can relate to.  Boy meets a girl.  Boy loses girl in some fashion.  They fight, they miss each other at a promised location, the boy/girl has a terrible secret they don't want to reveal, etc.  After some time passes, the boy must overcome some challenge, or learn and demonstrate some new talent or depth of feeling in order to win the girl back.

This can a great relationship story, a great business story (mergers, add-on business), and a great love story.

How Do I Use The Above Information

I ran across this one today in a business meeting.  The companies divisional compliance officer was switched to another division.  Our division was bummed as this individual was great to work with, very responsive, and worked hard to help grow the business.  After a short period of time our senior manager was able to convince others that the compliance officer was better suited for our division and he returned to much joy and adulation (until he has to fire someone).

If your audience is part of a merger, use this type of story.  If you are working on developing better relationships, tell this type of story.  The key is the part about how it feels to lose the individual, division etc.  As your audience feels the loss, ask them what must be done to feel good again or regain that positive feeling.  Then talk about rejoining the person, place or thing and provide some steps to ensure that it lasts forever.

Story Type #4: Revenge

The Story

In 180 AD, Maximus is a Roman general loyal to the Emperor Marcus Aurelius.  As the Emperor lay dying he decides to make Maximus the temporary Emperor, so he can restore governmental power back to the people, through the Senate.  Commodus, the Emperor's power-hungy son, learns of this decision, and condemns Maximus and his family to death.  Maximus escapes and races home but is not in time to save his family.

Maximus is overcome with grief, captured by slave traders and eventually winds up in Rome as a Gladiator.  Through skill, cunning, and the use of his skills as a soldier to rally his fellow gladiator's, Maximus becomes the main event in Rome.

Gracchus, a Roman politician, states, "The beating heart of Rome is not the marble of the Senate, it's the sand of the Colosseum.  He'll bring them death and they will love him for it."

In the stories conclusion, Maximus fights Commodus in the Colosseum and wins the battle.  He restores the throne to Gracchus, of the Senate, frees the other gladiators and makes sure that Commodus's sisters son is safe.

Maximus states, "What we do in life echoes in eternity."

-Gladiator [Blu-ray]. Dir. Ridley Scott. Perf. Russell Crowe. Dreamworks, 2000. Blu-Ray.

Additional Great Revenge Movies

• The Italian Job
• Mystic River
• Star Trek II: The Wrath of Kahn
• Braveheart
• Man on Fire

Revenge

Revenge is a great story because it starts simple, get's complex, and then ends simply.  The hero starts out and is wronged somehow.  It is not a slight or a simple thing but the hero is devastated by someone.  The hero then starts out to right the wrong and punish the individual who wronged him.  Revenge stories have a strong value play.  They are about right and wrong, order in our society, and respect not only for individuals but also for the order found in society.  The main thing to understand is that our society loves to root for the underdog and DOES NOT like the villain to win.  The hero must restore things to their proper state, or a better state.

-Morgan, Nick. Working the Room: How to Move People to Action through Audience-Centered Speaking. New York: Harvard Business School Press, 2003. Print. p.67-68

How Should I Use This Information?

As you analyze your topic and the audience you will be presenting to, think about what the audience might face as they do what you ask them to do.  Someone or some business has taken the lead from them.  They are a bunch of scrappy upstarts working hard to move out of the shadow of some other giant conglomerate. They are battling for market share with one other company that is cutting their price below cost.

Frame the conflict, capture the emotion, outline the path and then, right at the end, bring in the right, honorable, and moral thing to do.  Motivate the audience to "see" the conflict and then show them how to solve it by using their skills and knowledge to rise above simple revenge.  Help them see that winning this battle can be done by using the talents and skills that make them great, as people.  Then send them out to accomplish the right.

Story Type #3: Stranger In A Strange Land

The Story


How would you like to enter a factory that has been closed for years?  The factory is shrouded in mystery due to it's eccentric owner Mr. Wonka.  For some unknown reason he starts a contest that will allow 5 children, the opportunity to tour his factory and learn all his candy making secrets.

Charlie Bucket is a poor boy who wins a golden ticket and takes the tour.  What will he learn during his tour?  Will he steal a piece of candy and sell it to Mr. Slugworth?  Will he fall victim to the temptations of all that candy?  Watch "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" and find out.

Stranger in a Strange Land

The above story is an example of the third type of story that you can tell during a presentation.  In the above story Charlie walks into a factory which is like a strange land.  Not only must he keep up with Mr. Wonka but he must also learn to adapt to this new culture and it's surroundings.  As the movie continues on Charlie watches each of the other four children fall victim to various dangers.  They don't listen, they grab what they want, they don't use manners etc.  Charlie is bewildered and confused about how he should act.  At first he leans on Grandpa Joe but soon this experience is beyond both of their comprehension.  Eventually even Charlie steals a new type of candy and the enraged Mr. Wonka prepares to throw him out of the factory.  Charlie's tearful admission of guilt is the key that opens Mr. Wonka's heart and allows Charlie and his family to own, live in, and run the factory forever.


I doubt there is anyone who has watched this movie that wasn't moved just a little bit.


This type of story works with audiences who are selling a new product, entering a new country, buying a division of another company etc.  The traits that are necessary to do well in these situations are "intelligence, quickness on your feet, the ability to improvise, coolness and poise and learning."
- Morgan, Nick. Working the Room: How to Move People to Action through Audience-Centered Speaking. New York: Harvard Business School Press, 2003. Print. p. 66


How Should You Use This Information?

• Tell this story when your audience has the potential to be confused, or scared to try something new.  
• Make sure that you include details of what the character's in the story did to acclimate themselves in this new land.  Don't skimp here as confusion can quickly lead to attention drift.
• Make sure your story has a positive conclusion as you will want your audience to feel motivated to try what you are advocating.

Story Type #2: Rags to Riches

The Story

In 1945 Sam got discharged from the Army and was looking for two things.  A place to live and an opportunity to be in retail.  When he asked his wife Helen about moving to a big city she said, "Sam, we've been married two years and we've moved sixteen times.  Now, I'll go with you any place you want so long as you don't ask me to live in a big city.  Ten thousand people is enough for me."

So Sam started looking for "five and dimes" retail stores in cities under 10,000 people.  He finally settled on a Ben Franklin Variety store in Newport, Arkansas, population 7,000.  He paid $25,000 to buy a store with the highest retail rent in the country (5% of sales) and sales that were half of a similar store across the street.

From humble beginnings Sam Walton turned a $25000 investment into a fortune that placed his wife and four children on the Forbes 400 Richest American's, with net worth of $18 billion each.
-Walton, Sam. Sam Walton Made In America. New York: Doubleday, 1992. Print.  p.21
- Forbes. "The Forbes 400: America's richest 400 just get richer - MSN Money." Personal Finance and Investing - MSN Money. Forbes, n.d. Web. 25 Mar. 2010. .


Other Rags to Riches Stories

• Microsoft
• Starbucks
• United Postal Service
• Standard Oil
• Coca Cola
• Bert's Bees

The Rags to Riches story starts with someone who doesn't have much.  Through luck and hard work they end of wealthy.  They key to this type of story is that the hero has an Everyman quality.  In the above story you will see all these elements.  If you have read anything about Sam Walton you will see that he was the typical Everyman driving around in an old pickup truck.

The only danger in using this type of story is that it usually ends.  People die, businesses mature, tastes change.  Be careful using this type of story as after the goal is reached you will need to present another goal to help the audience refocus.

-Morgan, Nick. Working the Room: How to Move People to Action through Audience-Centered Speaking. New York: Harvard Business School Press, 2003. Print.  p. 66

How Do I Use The Above Information

• If you are working with an audience that has to reach a goal this is a great story type. 
• Use the sources from yesterday's post to find a story that will resonate with your audience.
• Provide only details that move the story forward. Show the hero at the start, what they did to start their journey, the work they put in to moving forward, and how they finally reached their goal.  Insert best practices along the way.
• Remember that the hero in your story should end the story with the same thoughts and values as at the start of the story.  No one wants to associate with someone who isn't a little like themselves.

Story Type #1: The Quest

The Story


During the summer of 1954 a food service equipment salesmen by the name of Ray A. Kroc stopped by the popular hamburger stand of the McDonalds brothers.  Ray held the national rights to Multimixer shake machines, and was intrigued that this small business had ordered so many machines.  The usual drugstore would order one, and a large restaurant might have two.  The McDonald brothers had ordered 10.  One-third of their food orders included shakes, and someone estimated that 20,000 shakes a month were being sold at their stand.  Ray Kroc was curious, how two brothers selling hamburgers, could be so busy. 

-Love, John F.. McDonald's: Behind The Arches. Rev Sub ed. United States and Canada: Bantam, 1995. Print. p. 28

Whenever I start a presentation I love to start with a story that draws the audience into my presentation.  It gives a clean break from the last presentation, focuses the audience and makes them curious.  The above story is an example of a style of story that I feel is the most common: The Quest.

The Quest starts out with a hero working to achieve some sort of goal.  In order to reach the goal the hero has to overcome obstacles, face hardship, deal with a wide range of emotions, and master the belief that they can achieve their goal. At some point in the story the hero will generally run into someone who can provide that little bit of advice that bridges some confusion, and sets the hero on the correct path once again.  This style of story is easy to follow as it is logical and moves straight ahead.

-Morgan, Nick. Working the Room: How to Move People to Action through Audience-Centered Speaking. New York: Harvard Business School Press, 2003. Print.  p. 64

I would use the McDonald's story to kick off a presentation on...

• Starting A Small Business
• The Importance of Curiosity 
• Understanding Your Customers
• Looking For The Next Big Thing
• Getting into the field to support your client-facing salespeople.

The problem that most people have is they don't know where to find good stories.  I look for good stories everywhere and am grateful to John C. Maxwell for speaking to the importance of clipping stories and information everyday.

• The International Directory of Company Histories - Found at the reference desk of your major local library.  This is THE BEST place to find all sorts of neat stories of how companies got started.  The downside is that you actually have to go the the library, pull the volume off the shelf, make a copy, then scan it into something like Evernote back in your office.
• Investors Business Daily ($365/year)- Everyday they run a biographical story on someone.  The paper can be downloaded in PDF format so you can save them over time.
• Newspapers - I read a couple a day and it is very easy to "clip" interesting stories that you read.  Focus on the small nugget that is familiar enough to most average audience members so you can pull them in.  The Wall Street Journal does a book review everyday, the New York Times has great obits, USA Today does a nice job of the giving you just the meat of any story.
• Magazines - Almost any magazine will have something you can clip from their pages.  

Read, Clip and File - This will set you up for success at the start of any presentation.

How Do I Use The Above Information?

• Think about the one big thing that you want to happen in your presentation.  Then look through your stories to see someone who has faced that situation before, or that needed to do the exact same thing, or that had to see, feel, and overcome in the same way.
• Again, using your "big idea", sift through the story to pull out the details that make the story line up with your objective.  In the above story I wanted you to see McDonalds, then Kroc, then curiosity.  As a member of my audience you would have automatically synced with me when I mentioned McDonalds.  Many folks might not have known that Ray Kroc didn't start the company so that is a bit of a surprise.  Third, I wanted to show that Ray was constantly trying to get better at selling his project the Multimixer.  All of these things were accomplished in six sentences. 
• After you find your story practice telling it at least 10 times.  If it doesn't flow then add another detail or two.  If it starts to bog down and take five minutes, take some things out.  If you practice out loud you will be able to hear how it sounds and then understand what questions the audience might have about the story so you can fill them in.

Preparing for a Presentation

Years ago I was in Orlando, FL. speaking to a fertilizer company about their retirement benefits.  When I got to the section on asset allocation I felt I was on a roll and that everyone was really "with" me. I went through Cash with a quick example of a checking account.  Bonds were always easy because I would use the name of someone's high school to teach the principle of loaning money, receiving interest and then your principle back, after a set number of years.  I leaned down and asked a gentlemen in the front row where he went to high school.  He said, "I didn't go." Of course I missed this giant clue and asked the followup, "No problem, where did you go to elementary school?"  He said, "I didn't go to that either."  Thud.  I was mortified and said, "Sir, I am really sorry, and am not going to be able to recover from this gracefully, so let's move on to stocks."

The above experience taught me a valuable lesson on the types of things I should know about my audience before I present information to them.

What You Should Understand Before You Step In Front of A Crowd

The Presentation

• Topic - Not just the general idea but what does your client want to happen because of your presentation.
• Time limit - Important because it helps you understand how many slides you will be using and how much preparation will be necessary.
• Technology limits - Will they have the projector you need, the microphone, the slide advance etc.  Understand that YOU are the show.  Everything else can fail and as long as you are standing the show will go on.  However, if you check these things out before your presentation the odds will improve, that you won't be alone on stage, filling the spotlight.
• Additional learning materials - Do they want handouts, will they be filming, will they podcast this?  If your presentation is going to live after you give it, you will need to put more work into it as each additional audience will not have had the benefit of your presence in their office, cube or home.

The Audience

• Who will be sitting in front of you? - Job title, pay scale, company division, senior leadership, guests, company pressures, company goals etc.  Each different type of audience member needs to be address with some portion of your presentation.  It draws the whole group together and shows that you customized your presentation for the audience.
• Who speaks before and after you? - I want to know what the feeling in the room will be before me.  If I have a dry speaker up before me, then I will need more energy.  If I have a high energy speaker then I will have to bring the room down a bit to help them have the opportunity to understand my presentation.  I also want to know who is after me so that I can highlight them in a positive light, and keep the overall energy in the room flowing.

Individuals

• I like gather the above data and then put myself in the place of each different member of my potential audience.  What questions will they have?  Could they object to something you are going to say?  How will you plan now to overcome that, or provide the data they need to feel comfortable?  What is their work life like now, and how will it be different after listening to you?
• Using Humor - Most people are not naturally funny, so how can you connect with the crowd without the potential of offending anyone?  I prefer to use stories, pictures, and analogies to help the audience members catch my vision.

How To Use The Above Information

1) Presentation - This will take 10 minutes.  Spend the time asking questions of the person who asked you to give the presentation.  If they don't know something ask them to recommend someone who will have more information.

2) The Audience - This takes 10-30 minutes. Spend this time asking questions about what people do, what company goals are, and subjects or touchy things to say away from.  Nothing is worse then talking only to senior management or missing the customer service representatives that will be responsible for carrying out your plan.

3) Individuals - Most speakers skip this step as they already feel they know the individual audience internally or don't want to appear uninformed externally.  Skip this step at your own peril.  If the audience is internal, understand that Bob will raise the XYZ objection and Carol will always say she doesn't have enough time to make the change.  Overcome these in the presentation or keep the answers in your back pocket for when Bob and Carol jump in.  External audiences should be treated as a great learning experience for you.  What do they like, what do they worry about, what have they tried in the past etc.

Proper preparation increases your odds of success

Begin With The End In Mind

Jerry Seinfeld once stated, "According to most studies, people's number one fear is public speaking.  Number two is death.  Death is number two.  Does that sound right?  This means to the average person, if you go to a funeral, you're better off in the casket than doing the eulogy."

I recently attended a presentation where the speaker had checked off all the correct boxes.  They had a presentation with an agenda.  They had handouts.  They included a Q&A at the end of the presentation.  Everything looked ready to go.  Then they started speaking.  After starting with a joke that didn't work, and a complete walkthrough of EVERY bullet in the agenda, they got into the "meat" of their presentation.  Unfortunately, the audience had a small problem. We knew where the speaker was going, but had no idea why they had picked that particular path.

In any presentation you have less then five minutes to win over your audience.  I like to start with a  great story to draw them in, then I tell them what they are going to walk away with by the end of the presentation.  I even use the words, "Let me begin with the end in mind...by the time I finish today you will know X,Y and Z and be able to A."

Most audiences understand how tough it is to stand in front of them.  That empathy gets you the first five minutes.  However, if you haven't piqued their interest and shown them that they will be better off at the end of the presentation, then watch the Blackberry's and iPhones come out.

Have a point, make your point

How Do I Use This?

• Before creating anything for your presentation think of what you want the audience to walk away with.  Do you want them to do something, to understand something, to feel something or to join you moving forward?  
• Make that point as short as possible - Never give the audience a main point that is a paragraph long.  Think newspaper headlines or TV show names.
• Halfway through your presentation stop and see if the above point is still true.  Can you still "see" your main point? 
• After you have finished creating your presentation, practice it a couple of times.  Yes, I mean walk through it in your mind or out loud. As you hear the information does your main point still sound clear?