Does the quality of your presentations elicit the best?

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It’s critical for leaders (and those aspiring to be leaders) to learn the skills required to conduct high quality presentations and facilitate well-run meetings. It not only reflects on you professionally, it also builds a positive reputation for your company, department and team. Developing the right skills helps you attract clients and team members that want to work with you, receive promotions and pay increases, and build new career opportunities. One of the most important indicators of professional success (regardless of your occupation) is your ability to speak, listen and share the spotlight in a way that elicits the best from others.

Practice the right things, the right way.

Developing excellent skills takes consistent practice of the right things, the right way. For example, continuing to practice the piano playing the wrong notes, will not improve your ability to play the right notes when it counts – at a recital or in a competition. While learning presentation and facilitation styles may not seem important when you are young or in your current profession, consider taking the time now so you don’t miss golden opportunities to accelerate your leadership growth.

4 Key Behaviors that Make a Difference

Practice is required for all endeavors, and developing excellent presentation and facilitation skills is required in many jobs. When preparing for a presentation, write down an outline of the key points and practice in front of a mirror. Ask for feedback from others, before and after the program. Winging it usually means you don’t understand the importance of engaging an audience — remember you may not get a second chance to cause a favorable impression, win the contract or resolve a company issue.

Discipline is created by following a structure that works and by scheduling repetitive practice, on a consistent basis. Attending Toastmasters is one example. It provides the opportunity to learn and practice the right skills – it also teaches proper etiquette for managing the stage, room, podium, handouts, seating, mic, etc. Developing a style that works for you and engages everyone in your audience is the ultimate goal.

Coach-ability is very important. Thinking you know-it-all (so you don’t have to practice or listen to others’ suggestions) will quickly impede your progress. Welcome the feedback from others and consider it valuable. Hire a coach, attend a workshop, and ask your boss or co-worker to critique you –you’ll be surprised by the progress you make by being coachable.

Learn from your mistakes. Shake it off when you make a mistake, apologize if needed and move on. Most people won’t even know you made a mistake – however, there will be some mistakes that are not as easily overlooked (e.g., using a four-letter word, gossiping, etc.). After your presentation or meeting, take time to identify two areas of improvement with your coach. Don’t forget to solicit feedback from the organizer of the event, by asking “What worked?” and “What didn’t work or could have been better?” When conducting training programs, written evaluations can be helpful to ensure the main points and concerns were addressed. Remember, one bad review doesn’t mean you did a bad job! However, pay attention when you have had several similar comments.

Again, as a leader, it’s up to you to elicit the best from your audiences — employees, industry professionals and others. It requires disciplined practice, coach-ability and learning from your mistakes in order to conduct well-received presentations and facilitate well-run meetings.

©Jeannette Seibly, 2015

Jeannette Seibly is a business advisor who creates million-dollar results for business owners and executives of $5MM to $30MM enterprises. Along the way, she has guided the creation of three millionaires. http://SeibCo.com

Learn how-to sell yourself, your products and services, It’s Time to Brag! (http://Time2Brag.com)

Successful Leaders Share the Spotlight

Every generation of leaders likes to believe they invented the newest and most effective way to manage people, build profitable companies, and “build a better mousetrap.”  The reality? We don’t do it alone. The achievements of our businesses, inventions, and other ideas are an outcome of effectively working with and through others to achieve the intended results.

True leaders are humble and take great care of their teams. They set aside their egos, hubris, and other personality impediments to pave the pathway forward to open new doors and achieve their intended results. If they’ve made a lot of money, they share it appropriately. If they created a lot of press, they generously brag about others’ contributions. (http://TimeToBrag.com)

Why are these traits important?

  1. When you understand that your success stands on the shoulders of your mentors, Board of Directors, business advisors, bosses, and team members, you become humble knowing you didn’t go it alone. This awareness makes it easier for others to want to work with you and share their knowledge and experiences, since it’s not all about you.
  2. It’s never solely your idea or creativity that makes the system or product work. Sharing the credit works wonders for current and future undertakings. Asking the right questions, listening and building upon ideas, and making available (or creating) the required resources are key traits of leaders. They ensure others stick with you during the design, launch, and refinement processes of your projects. Also, they are less likely to bolt when things may not go well.
  3. Documentation of your process, including charts and graphs, helps others visually understand the progress. They can then see potential glitches and possible solutions, and not rely on any overly optimistic feelings of triumph you might have. Documentation also provides a foundation for you, and them, to build on for the next venture.

Remember, share the spotlight. That will help you build on previous successes and learn from past failures to create the next victory.

 

©Jeannette L. Seibly, 2013-2015

Need to transform your leadership practices? Contact me before it’s too late! http://SeibCo.com/contact

Jeannette Seibly is an award-winning and internationally recognized business advisor. For the past 23 years, she has helped thousands of people work smarter, enjoy financial freedom, and realize their dreams now.  She has an uncanny ability to help her clients identify roadblocks, and help them focus to quickly produce unprecedented results.  Each client brings their own unique challenges, and her gift is helping each one create their success in their own unique way. Along the way, with her commitment, she helped create three millionaires.

Impatience stymies the best of plans.

Many gung-ho executives and entrepreneurs have one thing in common: They can be in denial about how fast they can achieve their vision or idea. Although failure is not an option for these dynamic leaders, their impatience stymies the best of plans.  While being confident and persistent are important, so is the ability to work with and through others to make the plan a reality. Emotions, office politics, wanting to be the best at the expense of others, or being focused on a personal million-dollar payout will cloud logic, ethics, good business practices, and common sense. Impatience diminishes the effectiveness of your team! Learn how to tame your impatience and use perseverance and dedication effectively to propel your team forward.

(c)Jeannette L. Seibly, 2013

Working with Elitists

The truth is there are business professionals who falsely believe they are smarter or better than others. They fail to listen to others’ ideas and are unable to work with and through people to get the job done. Their disrespectful attitudes are bad habits, and it’s highly unlikely you can change them. To engage them, stay away from declarative statements and ask “What if …” type questions.  Remember, these folks require ideas to be their own and will rarely share any credit with you—unless, of course, there is a failure!

(c)Jeannette L. Seibly, 2013