Tag: motivation

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Communication Skills

The P’s and Q’s of Public Speaking

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Avoid the pain
Which would you prefer – root canal dental surgery without an anaesthetic or a bit of public speaking? According to the people who research these things, most of us would prefer the former.
Public speaking is still one of our greatest fears and it turns grown men and women into nervous wrecks. The mere thought of it turns our tongue to cotton wool, causes our internal plumbing to act up and our kneecaps to start knocking lumps out of each other.
The problem is that Public Speaking catches up with many of us at some time both in our business and personal life. You’re asked to do a short talk at Fred’s “leaving do”. The
organisers of your business club want fifteen minutes on why you make “kafuffle” valves. A potential client wants a presentation on why they should give you the contract.
Of course there’s always the confident people who think “I’m real good at this, lead me to the podium.” The only thing is that some of these people could bore your socks off and do more for insomniacs than the strongest sleeping pills.
Maybe you’ll be lucky enough to be sent on a Public Speaking course by your enlightened employer. But more likely, when asked to make a presentation you’ll get hold of a book on
speaking, start writing the speech and lose sleep until the event.
Well, there’s no need for all of this because help is at hand. All you need to remember are your P’s and Q’s. Let’s start with the P’s
Preparation –
When you sit down to write what you’re going to say, bear in mind who you’ll be speaking to. Will they understand what you’re talking about; will they understand the technical stuff and the jargon? If in doubt remember the old saying “Keep It Simple Stupid”. To quote Aristotle – “Think as the wise men do, but speak as the common man”.
Make sure that what you say has a beginning, a middle and an end. Think of some anecdotes that help reinforce your story.
People think visually so paint verbal pictures for your audience. And always remember, people want to know what’s in it for them – so make sure you tell them!
Place –
Have a look at the venue before the event if you can. It’s not always possible, however, even if you get there half an hour before, you can check out where you’ll be speaking.
Stand at the point where you will deliver from, imagine where the audience will be and check that they can see and hear you. You may even wish to place a glass of water where
you’ll be able to find it.
Personal Preparation –
Before any speaking event, think about what you are going to wear; when in doubt dress up rather than down. You can always take things off for a more casual look. Men could remove their jacket and their tie. Women could remove items of jewellery.
Part of your personal preparation should include some mouth and breathing exercises. Practise saying some tongue twisters to give your speaking muscles a good work out. Take
a deep breath and expand your diaphragm. Then breathe out, counting at the same time, try and get up to fifty and not pass out.
As part of your personal preparation, write your own introduction. Write out exactly what you want someone to say about you, large font, double-spaced and ask the person
introducing you to read it. Believe me they won’t object and will probably be pleased and impressed.
Poise and Posture –
Whenever you’re called to speak, stand up or walk to the front quickly and purposefully. Pull yourself up to your full height, stand tall and look like you own the place. Before you start to speak, pause, look round your audience and smile. You may even have to wait until the applause dies down. Remember, you want the audience to like you, so look likeable. Practise this in front of a mirror or your family; I’ve heard that children make pretty good critics.
Pretend –
I’m suggesting you pretend you’re not nervous because no doubt you will be. Nervousness is vital for speaking in public, it boosts your adrenaline, which makes your mind sharper and gives you energy. It also has the slight side effect of making you lighter through loss of body waste
materials. The trick is to keep your nerves to yourself. On no account tell your audience your nervous, you’ll only scare the living daylights out of them if they think you’re going to faint. Some of the tricks for dealing with nerves are:
Get lots of oxygen into your system, run on the spot and wave your arms about like a lunatic. It burns off the stress chemicals. Speak to members of your audience as they come in or at some time before you stand up. That tricks your brain into thinking you’re talking to some friends. Have a glass of water handy for that dry mouth. Stick cotton wool on your kneecaps so people won’t hear them knocking.
One word of warning – do not drink alcohol. It might give you Dutch courage but your audience will end up thinking you’re speaking Dutch.
The Presentation –
This is it, the big moment when you tell your audience what a clever person you are and have them leap to their feet in thunderous applause. Okay, let’s step back a bit – if you want their applause then you’re going to have to work for it. Right from the start your delivery needs to grab their attention.
Don’t start by saying – “Good morning, my name is Fred Bloggs and I’m from Bloggs and Company.” Even if your name is Bloggs, it’s a dead boring way to start a presentation. Far better to start with some interesting facts or an anecdote that is relevant to your presentation.
Look at the audience as individuals; I appreciate that this can be difficult when some of them are downright ugly. However it grabs their attention if they think you’re talking to them individually.
Talk louder than you would normally do, it keeps the people in the front row awake and makes sure those at the back get the message. Funnily enough, it’s also good for your nerves.
PowerPoint –
And for those of you who haven’t heard of it, it’s a software programme that’s used to design stunning graphics and text for projection onto a screen. As a professional speaker, I’m not that struck on PowerPoint. I feel that too many speakers rely on it and it takes over the presentation. After all, you’re the important factor here. If an audience is going to accept what you say then they need to see the whites of your eyes. There needs to be a big focus on you,
not on the technology.
Use PowerPoint if you want but keep it to a minimum and make sure you’re not just the person pushing the buttons.
Why not get a bit clever at using the faithful old Flip Chart, lots of professionals do.
Passion –
This is what stops the audience in their tracks. This is what makes them want to employ you; to accept what you’re proposing and make them want you to marry their son or daughter. Couple this with some energy, enthusiasm and emotion and you have the makings of a great public speaker.
Just think of our old friend Adolph Hitler, boy could he move an audience to action. It’s just too bad he was selling something that wasn’t to everyone’s liking.
Give your presentation a bit of oomph and don’t start telling me – “I’m not that kind of person.”
There’s no need to go over the top but you’re doing a presentation to move people to action, not having a cosy little chat in your front room.
That’s the P’s finished with so let’s look at the Q’s.
Questions –
Decide when you’re going to take them and tell people at the start. In a short speech it’s best to take questions at the end. If you take them as you go then you may get waylaid
and your timing will get knocked out.
Never – never – never finish with questions; far better to ask for questions five or ten minutes before the end. Deal with the questions and then summarise for a strong finish.
Too many presentations finish on questions and the whole thing goes a bit flat.
When you’re asked a question, repeat it to the whole audience and thank the questioner. It keeps everyone involved, it gives you time to think and it makes you look so clever and in control.
Quit –
Quit when you’re ahead. Stick to the agreed time; if you’re asked to speak for twenty minutes, speak for nineteen and the audience will love you for it. Remember, quality is not quantity.
One of the most famous speeches ever – “The Gettysburg Address”, by President Lincoln, was just over two minutes long.
Right, that’s my cue to quit when I’m ahead. Public Speaking will never be easy for most of us but we can all do it a whole lot better.

AlanFairweatherPhoto.jpgAlan Fairweather, ‘The Motivation Doctor,’ is an International Speaker, Author and Business Development Expert. To receive your free newsletter and free e-books, visit: http://www.themotivationdoctor.com

Categories
How-To Guides

Stop Sickies and Make People Happy At Work

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If you’re an employer or a manager then work place absence is costing you money, inconvenience, and upsetting your customers. And as we all know, not all days taken off work are due to genuine sickness. Many employees “take a sickie” because their morale is low and they just don’t like or can’t do their work.
The challenge for employers and managers is to make people happier at work. And if people are happy at work then they are less likely to take a day off every time they wake up with a stuffy nose. Some bosses think that paying more money, improving job security or working conditions is the answer. It isn’t and it’s also something that can be very hard to achieve.
People who employ or supervise other people need to become more tuned to their employees’ emotional needs and find out what really motivates them. This is also much easier to achieve than paying more money or improving job security, however there is no quick fix. Some years ago I inherited a tele-sales operation with low staff morale and poor sales
results. It took nearly a year to fix. The long-term benefits were of course worth it in terms of fewer days lost due to sickness and an increase in business.
To reduce the number of sickies there are three steps you need to consider. Firstly, pick the right person for the job. There’s a television advertisement running at present
for a recruitment company. It highlights the fact that many people are in the wrong job for their skills and attributes. The daft thing is that it was an employer or manager who put them in the job in the first place. We need to get better at interviewing and selecting people. Take more time over it; pay more attention to the applicant’s human side rather than their qualifications or experience. Get to know them better.
Find out what makes them happy, how well they get on with other people and how much energy and enthusiasm they have. Make sure they know what they’re getting into and be sure
the job suits them.
A manager in the telecom industry was telling me about an engineer who was taking too many sickies. He was being blamed for a poor attitude to his work. His job involved working in tunnels under the city repairing and installing equipment. Eventually it was discovered that the poor guy was claustrophobic and was trying to deal with it on his own. He still works for the same team but in a job that doesn’t involve small spaces. It’s not always easy to move people, which emphasises the importance of getting it right in the first place.
Secondly, you need to believe in your people. If you’ve interviewed well and picked the right person for the job then you need to trust them to do that job. You need to constantly demonstrate to your people that you trust and believe in them by what you say, your tone of voice and your body language.
If you believe that your people are not to be trusted, that they’re unable to make a decision without checking with you. That they’ll turn up late and go homeearly, then that’s exactly what they’ll do. If on the other hand you believe that they’ll do their job well, that they can be trusted to make decisions and they will give you a fair day’s work, then it is more likely this is what you’ll get. As with all theories there is no guarantee that it will
work every time, however the majority of employees are reasonable people and if you treat them as such then they are more likely to behave in a positive manner.
The third and probably the most important thing you can do to motivate your people is to give them feedback and coach them. This is where so many employers and managers fall down in dealing with their people; we are hopeless at giving feedback. Many managers are uncomfortable telling staff how they feel about their work performance.
Most employees want to know how they are performing in their job; they want to know if they are doing it right or how they could do it better. If you really want to motivate your people then you need to give them feedback on what they’re doing well and what needs improvement.
When you notice an employee doing something you do like, tell them about it. When you notice something you don’t like, tell them about it.
Do it as soon as possible. Acknowledging a job well done is not much good six months later. Also, if you don’t immediately call someone’s attention to something you’re not happy about, then they’ll assume its okay. Either that or they’ll think you didn’t notice or you don’t care. Do it in private. Why is it some managers still feel its okay to reprimand someone in front of their colleagues? Even the mildest rebuke can have a negative effect on morale.
When you do speak to the person use “I” messages. Say things like “I liked the way you did that” or “I’m unhappy with the way your reports are always late and I’d like your views on why this is”. Avoid “You” messages such as “You’re doing great”. That can come across as patronising or insincere. “You’re doing that all wrong” may cause conflict, lower morale and may not sort the problem.
Focus on one or two things. Don’t run off a whole list of attributes or misdemeanours. Also be specific about job behaviour, focus on what the person did or didn’t do, don’t make a personal attack. Employees will feel happier if they perceive their employer or manager as a reasonable and fair individual – someone who is quick to praise but also says when they’re not happy about something.
When we start to look at what motivates people at work, it’s important to realise that we all have different needs. It’s easy to fall into the trap of believing that all our staff are motivated by money. However, research conducted over the years into what motivates people at work suggests some other factors.
Money is important however people are more likely to be motivated firstly, by the work itself. Secondly, by being appreciated for what they do and thirdly by a feeling of being in on things.
The message is – if you want motivated staff then make their work interesting, give them feedback and give them the feeling that they’re involved in the business.
We can make the job more interesting by giving people more responsibility, assigning projects and by training and developing them. We need to regularly give people feedback on how they’re doing; focussing on what they’re doing well rather than on what is not so good. To meet their need to feel involved we should regularly communicate both formally and informally. We could also involve staff in meetings they might not normally attend.
These steps will take time and thought however they’ll make a huge difference as to how employees feel about their work. If they feel good and gain satisfaction from their work then they’re less likely to find a reason to “take a sickie”.
AlanFairweatherPhoto.jpgAlan Fairweather, ‘The Motivation Doctor,’ is an International Speaker, Author and Business Development Expert. To receive your free newsletter and free e-books, visit: http://www.themotivationdoctor.com

Categories
Communication Skills People & Relationships

Forget The “Sandwich” Technique

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Do you remember being told to use the “sandwich” technique when you needed to reprimand someone? Let me give you an example:
“Fred, I’m really pleased with how you’ve been progressing since you joined us and you’re doing a great job. However you’re not getting your reports in on time and we’re missing
deadlines. I’d like you to tighten up a bit on this. Anyway,thanks for all you’ve done so far and keep up the good work.”
Have you ever said something along these lines when managing your team? You probably needed Fred to sort out his reporting but you didn’t want to upset or demoralize him.
The only problem is that Fred may not get the message and the importance of it may be seriously diluted.
He may hear it as, “Fred, you’re doing a brilliant job, you just need to sort out the reporting bit but it’s not really that important.”
What happens then is, Fred continues to fail with his reports.
The “sandwich” technique doesn’t work, it lets you off the hook and it’s mealy mouthed. Be direct when managing your people and they’ll respect you more for it. You are also much more likely to get a change in behavior.
If you’re unhappy with some aspect of an employee’s performance then you need to tell them so. The skill is in doing it in a way that’s effective and doesn’t lower the morale of the individual.
Firstly, it’s not acceptable to speak to your people just when you’re unhappy about something. Tell them the good news as well. As Kenneth Blanchard and Spencer Johnson say in their book The One Minute Manager – “Catch people doing something right” and tell them about it.
Some managers and employers still have this strange notion that if people are doing things right then that’s what they’re paid for and they don’t need to be complimented.
Ask almost any employee in Industries throughout the world and they’ll tell you that they don’t feel appreciated by their manager.
When you notice someone doing something you do like, tell them about it. When you notice them doing something you don’t like, tell them about it. Whether it’s good news or bad, the same rules apply.
Do it as soon as possible. Acknowledgment of a job well done is not much good six months later. Also, if you don’t immediately call someone’s attention to something you are not happy about, then they’ll assume it’s okay. Either that or they’ll think you didn’t notice or you don’t care.
Do it in private. Why is it that some managers still feel it’s okay to reprimand someone in front of their colleagues? Even the mildest rebuke can have a negative effect on morale.
When you speak to the person use “I” messages. Say things like “I liked the way you did that” or “I think there is another way to do that.” Avoid “You” messages such as “You’re doing great.” That can come across as patronizing or insincere. “You’re doing that all wrong” may cause conflict, lower morale and may not sort the problem.
When your giving feedback, focus on one or two things. You’ll only confuse the person if you run off a whole list of attributes or misdemeanors. Be specific about job behavior, focus on what the person did or didn’t do, don’t make a personal attack.
Allow time for the message to sink in and allow the person to respond. You can then seek agreement as to what will happen in the future. If the person does not agree to take
corrective action then you need to move to another level. When they do agree to take corrective action then make sure that you monitor it and give encouraging feedback.
Being direct with your people is better for you, better for them and better for you business, so save your “sandwiches” for lunchtime.

AlanFairweatherPhoto.jpgAlan Fairweather, ‘The Motivation Doctor,’ is an International Speaker, Author and Business Development Expert. To receive your free newsletter and free e-books, visit: http://www.themotivationdoctor.com

Categories
How-To Guides People & Relationships

The 3 Secrets of Team Motivation

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Do you want a highly motivated team who don’t take time off work, don’t keep looking for other jobs and make a positive contribution to your business?
If the answer is “yes,” then there are three steps you need to take with each member of your team.
Step 1 – Spend some quality time
I didn’t say “quantity time” I said “quality time.” One or two minutes of quality time on a regular basis are far more productive than a one hour review every year. You need to get to know each member of your team better and they need to get to know you.
This will help you build a positive relationship with each team member. You’ll gain a much better understanding of them and how they’re handling the job.
It will also give the impression that you care about the individual and show that you’re there to help with problems both personal and business. Spending quality time will encourage opinions and ideas to flow from them and allows you to explain the company’s mission. It gives them a feeling of being in on things which is a huge motivator.
It will also help you build an “early warning system” of any problems both business and personal. Finally, it builds team spirit and morale.
Step 2 – Give feedback and coach
You need to regularly tell each member of your team when they’re doing well and when not so well. I read some recent research that suggested 65% of employees in the US received no recognition at work in the past year. My experience tells me that it’s much the same throughout the world and much worse in some countries. Some managers still believe – “why should I praise people when they’re only doing what they’re paid to do.”
If you want a happy and motivated team then you need to tell them when they’re doing well.
It’s also important to tell people when they’re not performing well. There are too many managers who either ignore poor behaviour or come down on the person like a ton of bricks.
There are particular ways to give feedback and coach and they’re described in detail in the book – How to get More Sales by Motivating Your Team.
Step 3 – Be a believer
We’re now getting into the area of “Empowerment” which was first introduced in the 1980’s and became a bit of a management buzzword. However, I believe that it’s one of the most promising but least understood concepts in team motivation today.
I’m a fairly down to earth practical sort of person (probably comes from my engineering background). I’m not big into motivation theories unless I can see the benefits for me – I see a great deal of benefit for managers and team leaders in Empowerment.
Empowerment is about utilising the knowledge, skill,experience and motivation power that’s already within your people.
The majority of people in teams and organisations throughout the world are severely underutilised. Your team have probably more to offer in terms of skill, knowledge and experience.
Put this to the test right away – implement these steps, motivate your team and achieve your business goals.

AlanFairweatherPhoto.jpgAlan Fairweather, ‘The Motivation Doctor,’ is an International Speaker, Author and Business Development Expert. To receive your free newsletter and free e-books, visit: http://www.themotivationdoctor.com