Just as not every individual contributor will be a fantastic manager, not every leader will be a fantastic teacher. Fortunately, these are skills that can be developed and there are rules of thumb that can be applied to ensure that content experts can jump into the role of inspiring and engaging a new generation of folks in their area of expertise.
Here are a few of the common mistakes we see leaders fall into when creating learning experiences.
Read MorePresenting can be intimidating, even if you’ve done it many times before. Based on what we know about how to be a compelling presenter, here are a few suggestions for how to prepare to take the stage (or screen) for the first time.
Read MoreA key point relevant to stories and presentations is that stories must follow story structure while a presentation doesn’t have to. In fact, presentations often have a very different narrative structure. That being said, because human beings respond so well to stories, it can be helpful to embed short stories that follow this structure into a broader presentation narrative.
Read MoreThe best workshops put the learning into the hands of the participants at every stage of the learning process, but sometimes the timeline—both for development of the workshop or the runtime of the experience itself—can result in more of a hybrid experience that contains both presentation-style and interactive moments. When we work with clients transforming their presentations into workshops, this is how we typically break it down.
Read MoreWe help leaders engage and inspire others. A lot of the time, that ends up meaning that we help leaders be better storytellers and presenters, but once in a while, we have a client that’s truly interested in taking engagement to the next level, and they’re looking for help transforming what was going to be be a presentation into an interactive, engaging, and compelling workshop.
Read MoreAs Story and Presentation Coaches, we partner with organizations planning conferences. Conferences have always been a way for people to gather outside of their day-to-day routine, share insights, learn, and grow. In a time when fewer of us are gathering in person, it’s even more important than ever to ensure those conferences are thoughtful and productive experiences for attendees.
Read MoreWhen we teach influential storytelling, we share four ways to level up the influence power of your story. One of these is what we call Invite Curiosity. The concept behind this strategy is that by activating an intellectual or cerebral experience for the audience—getting them to think for themselves—helps them to be engaged in your story AND causes them to have a mental stake in its outcome.
Read MoreAt a recent coaching session, Kara was asked, “Do you have any tips for non-native English speakers at an English speaking company? I’m worried about how I come across.” There are so many considerations when it comes to working, presenting and speaking in front of audiences that are linguistically or culturally different from you.
Read MoreMaking people feel seen, heard, and understood is an important leadership skill. Here we offer tips from our executive coaching training that we think are particularly powerful ways to do just that: restate what you hear, ask powerful, future-oriented questions, trust your conversation partner has it in them to find the answers, and be mindful of your purpose.
Read MoreMaking people feel seen, heard, and understood is one of the most fundamental and important skills of a coach. In our work over the past decade, we’ve come to believe that it’s also one of the most important, yet underdeveloped, skills of a leader.
Read MoreA presentation is not a story, they are not interchangeable, but you can certainly use lessons from storytelling to make sure that your presentation has an organized narrative and leaves them with the takeaway(s) you want them to hold onto.
Read MoreAs a manager, you can create a predictable and safe environment for those conversations at your regular manager/employee check-ins. Many of us have had these meetings on our calendar but there’s a big difference between a well organized, predictable, thoughtful check-in and the rushed, distracted, “default” check-in. Scheduling the check-in and inviting your employee to meet with you is not enough.
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Being influential is a challenge for many leaders, but particularly when in a team, organization or even just leading a meeting where you’re not the most experienced or lack formal power.
If you’re worried about your ability to influence within a group, there’s a lot you can do to understand the power dynamics and increase the likelihood you’ll feel and show up as powerful and influential.
Read MoreWhen organizing a working group meeting, you may decide that part of the reason for gathering is to collect input and expertise from your members. Remember that giving your participants something to DO is a powerful way to engage them and give them purpose, so don’t hold back. Then, focus on giving your conversation structure so that you can manage the loud voices and democratize the input.
Read MoreIn her book Executive Presence, Sylvia Ann Hewlett describes executive presence as resting on three pillars: gravitas, communication and appearance. As a storytelling and presentation skills coach, I work with clients on all three of these pillars. Here’s my tip: If you’re aiming to develop your executive presence, consider developing your storytelling skills as one way to do so. Here are a few reasons why becoming an intentional storyteller can help build your executive presence.
Stephanie Judd authored this article as a Forbes Council contribution.
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Because working groups are often established to work through aspirational and shifting goals, and because participants are usually loosely organized, it’s critical that participants understand why they’re meeting, what they are expected to contribute, and what they can expect in return. Although you may already have a cursory idea of agenda topics for meetings, getting clear on your “why” will take your meeting from the typical boring event to a powerful gathering with better outcomes.
Read MoreWorking groups are a particularly challenging group to organize and facilitate. Members typically participate in a working group as volunteers, or as an “add on” to their day-to-day jobs. They’re usually made up of members who are more experienced and senior than the person charged with spearheading the group, and the lack of power structure makes accountability to the group a bit thin.
Read MoreLike many event-based learning, there’s always a risk that the skills, knowledge, energy and momentum developed in our workshops may get lost in the mess of daily worklife. We have pre- and post-event activities built into the Influential Storytelling program to help people integrate storytelling directly into their workflow, but there’s always more you can do to make storytelling part of your organizational culture.
Read MoreA key hurdle for leaders stepping into their own leadership is their personal belief that they’re not ready. This article explores Impostor Syndrome, who it affects, and how to combat it effectively: check in with yourself, reframe your thinking, seek outside perspectives, and take a small step.
Read MoreEvery month we host an Ask Me Anything forum where people bring their burning questions about meeting design or facilitation. More often than not, the questions we get can be summed up as, “Why is the meeting so boring? I feel like I’m pulling teeth trying to get people to engage. It just feels like a waste of time.” If you’re in a position where it feels like everything is bad about one of your critical business meetings, start by tackling the agenda.
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