Training & Coaching News from Smart Coaching Training

27/11/2017 By Isla Baliszewska

Being a Positive Disruptor for TEDxBristol 2017

TEDxBristol is the biggest TEDx event in Europe and is all about spreading new ideas, making an impact and building free knowledge to share to a wide community. This year TEDxBristol took place in November, with the powerful theme of Dare to Disrupt! focusing on “Bristol’s positive disruptors, whose ideas and actions are ripping up the rule book and having a global impact.”

The picture here was taken in the Community Partners hub by Alyssa Haggarty, Trainee Solicitor at Burges Salmon, who were headline sponsors at the 2 day event. Burges Salmon VIP guests throughout the 2 days were asking everyone they came across why they dared to disrupt. Tess Coughlan-Allen from MindDoodle & Flexidb and one of the amazing TEDxBristol 2017’s Community Partners said ‘thinking is non-linear’. SCT’s very own Halina Jaroszewska who was part of TEDxBristol 2017’s organising team with responsibility for Community Partnerships said she dares to disrupt because ‘I can and do … it’s such fun’.

TEdxBristol 2017 was a great success, a sell out and trending on Twitter. The much appreciated sponsorship from the Community Partners enabled community groups, young people and the much older people to attend who might not have been able to do so. A result in line with TEDxBristol’s core values.

Post event, TEDxBristol held a Wrap Up Dinner for its partners and Disruptors. Read more about that event in Richard Hill’s article.

13/11/2017 By Isla Baliszewska

Six preparations for Successful Presenting

“Imagine everyone in the audience with just underwear on,” we are told – but don’t imagine that will bring you all the confidence you need for a winning performance! Instead, just be sure you have ticked the list of the Top 6 Preparations for Successful Public Speaking below.

Just like a film set you can apply some of the stage setting, preparation and rehearsal to your ultimate role in the movie. Think of all the roles that go into making a film, now think of your role as the Lead Star. It takes a team and a methodical set up behind the scenes to make the magic happen. From the director and stage manager to the wardrobe mistress and speech coach, and of course practice practice practice.

Rehearsals

Prep 1 – Physiology: Speech coaches have specific exercises you can perform and practice with, warming up before you start. Sentences such as “Top of the tongue, teeth and lips to ensure you deliver with your vowels well rounded and consonants crisp and clear.” To release stress jump up and down sway your arms from side to side, and let go of any tension and trapped emotion.
Prep 2 – Emotional connection: Studies show that in presentations how we deliver in terms of voice and posture make up 93% of the impact of a speech. Only 7% is the actual words. Practice out loud as often as possible, if you can record yourself on a smart phone you will be able to direct yourself and write an ’emotions script’ to go with the words. This way you can pinpoint where you can evoke reaction and connection with the audience, enhancing through facial expressions or pauses for contemplation.
Prep 3 – Notes: Ideally you should not be using any notes. If you must, then use maybe ten keywords on one or more postcards. And make sure all the pages are numbered in case you drop them! If you have written a script then, with repetition, you may find that the words will be committed to memory which will allow you to focus on delivery. In any case, the more you use a script the less likely you will be able to tailor your presentation to the reactions of your audience. Whether you use a tablet or paper make sure it all looks professional and larger than normal print so you are not peering at it!

Stage Management/Costume

Prep 4 – Impression: Plan your outfit ahead of time; every detail is important here, from the undergarments to the clothes on top; think about who your audience is, if you need to present authority then dress for the part. You have to feel confident before you start speaking, one of the easiest ways is through your clothes. When actors are reading for a part they often start with clothing as the character develops through the way the clothes make them feel; dressed up to the nines you may see physiological changes, straightening of the back, head held high: if you have a comfy sweater on you may relax and slick the shoulders. I often find that drawing on a persona helps with delivery, think about who you admire and model your actions on how they would present.
Prep 5 – Environment: Where possible visit the venue where you will be speaking. An NLP exercise is to physically draw a timeline and walk through the paces of getting up from your chair walking to the front and turning to the audience. Or if that is not possible visualise yourself making these steps. Breathing exercises also help, so you don’t forget to take a breath.

Break glass in case of Emergency
Prep 6 – Physiological problems: If you find your heart begins to race, your hands are sweaty or your mind goes blank, this exercise when practiced will guarantee calmness and confidence when you need it:

Close your eyes relax your tongue, breath deeply from the diaphragm and allow the emotion to pass, next think about a time where you have felt great, amazing and happy…turn up the colours, give it sound if it’s a moving picture, watch it like a film where you are in the audience. Now make an “O” sign with your thumb and forefinger, feel those good feelings inside, and harness that feeling whilst feeling the pressure of your fingertips.
This is called an NLP anchor, by repeating this process you will be able to activate good thoughts and feelings at the moment you need it.

So now you’re ready! Have fun and enjoy your presentation.

Helen Morris

28/09/2017 By Isla Baliszewska

Get out of your own way

Ever bumped into yourself and thought ‘please can you just move out of my way?” Weird as this might sound, it may hide a powerful message. I’m not the first coach to think how cool it is to help people ‘get out of their own way’, it is a concept that has been around for a while but one which, very interestingly, people too often just don’t get.

In a nutshell, we can be surprisingly unintelligent about when it is ‘us’ that is the reason things are not going the way they should be. That applies both at work and in our personal lives.

In the business arena and trending at the moment is Michael O’Leary of Ryanair, once heard to say “I’m underpaid compared to Premiership footballers” and only this week being reported as blaming the cancellation of 40/50 flights per day and the shortage of pilots to a management mess-up. A charismatic leader, synonymous with a powerful brand that he built, Mr O’Leary could be held up as an example of ego leading to blindness in decision making.

As for affecting our personal lives, Indra Nooyi’s 7^th critical lesson for running a Fortune 50 company in the 21st century is ‘Leave your crown in the garage’. As CEO of Pepsico she is worth listening to; “No matter who we are, or what we do, nobody can take our place in our families.” Her point is about remembering the other roles we have in our lives, those in addition to the one where we think we are ‘It’. In those other roles we might be server, facilitator, supporter, carer and these are equally as important as being the boss.

Being good in any role, particularly where you are in charge, entails remaining grounded when you are being successful. Being the one in control necessitates a level of emotional intelligence that lets you keep clear judgment and make decisions with the knowledge that they impact positively on those on the receiving end.

This isn’t about dumping your ego. We all need our egos, they embody our will, our drive, our passion, our individuality. It’s important to acknowledge our successes and strengths. It’s equally important to notice those moments when your back patting becomes self-aggrandisement that threatens to make you think you’re infallible.

To ensure you wear the crown at the right times we offer these tips:

Know that you don’t always have to be right – inviting the views of others contributes to better informed decisions and may show you something different and better.

Surround yourself with people that are not always just like you – opposing viewpoints and perspectives lend strength and clear judgement.

Be aware of what your impact is downstream – who is affected by what you do, say and decide, and are they being affected the right way.

Be transparent and sharing – building silos and Chinese walls invariably results in getting someone’s back up and inviting suspicion and confrontation.

Listen, pause, and think about all the options. Only then are you in the right place to make the right decision.

You don’t always have to be a hero.

Isla Baliszewska

31/08/2017 By Isla Baliszewska

Are you selling to your customers the right way?

Personally I make purchasing decisions very quickly based on very little information and an appeal to my emotions. “How will it look/feel if I buy this?” Do I treat clients the same way? If I followed “I treat my customers the way I like to be treated” then I would. And would that get those people want to be my customers? Would they be happily sold to by me?

We are all different and we make our buying decisions differently. Some people like lots of facts, they are ‘maximisers’, thoroughly researching the market to ensure they have covered absolutely all the options. Others like to take a lot of time to make purchasing decisions. Some people like to engage in a dialogue, have a conversation. Others like to be left alone to examine all the evidence, then come up with the questions, and make a considered decision.

So what do you do? And do you know why you do it?

If you already have your C-me colour profile you have the edge in understanding what your preferred way of thinking and doing is and what informs your decision making process, including what and how you buy things. You appreciate whether you tend to the rational or the emotional, the big picture or the detail. And you will know how you like people to engage with you. That is really powerful stuff when you are being sold to.

Standing in your customer’s shoes

Anyone in business is looking for customers. If you could assess potential customers using indicators that demonstrate their buying preferences, that would be amazing. You would be better equipped to know how to approach them, what to say, when to say it and how to deliver your message, whether written or spoken, social media or email. So brilliant if you can ask your clients to do a C-me, however that might be a bit tricky!

But…if you know your own preferences when it comes to communicating with potential customers, imagine how useful that would be. Maybe you aren’t comfortable with reaching for the phone and having that difficult negotiation. Maybe you find you can’t stop talking when you get in front of someone. A C-me profile will give you that knowledge and enable you to see how your clients are communicating with you and help you look for clues as to best ways of reaching out to them. And depending on how they communicate with you, you will know how much you may need to adapt your natural preferences to negotiate that sale. That could be the difference between failure and success.

You can only treat your customers the way they like to be treated when you know how they like to be treated. And you can only make that effective in sales terms if you know how you are communicating with them.

Find out more about how C-me Colour Profiling can help with your sales and enhance your relationships with your customers, both those you already have, and those you are approaching.

David Rigby 2017

20/06/2017 By Isla Baliszewska

Presenting and Asking with Impact

You have 4 seconds to make an impression. (The average attention span in 2000 was 12 seconds, in 2015 it was 8.25 seconds!)

Phew, is that a challenge or what! The takeaway is that if you want to make the right impression, you need to be prepared. And making the right impression is something you will be wanting to do at different times of your life, be that in an interview, with your customers, with your colleagues, in a business pitch, making a presentation, on a date – goodness knows!

Delivering a good presentation doesn’t mean standing in front of an audience – you are presenting yourself all the time. Whether that’s in the queue at the supermarket, at a party, or at work. But before you freak out and think you can’t step out of the house without a 3 piece suit on or full battle make-up, take a step back and think about what you already have that makes you interesting and someone to listen to and engage with. We don’t have time here to work through that with you, so spend some time on picking 3 things that work for you.

Now for a few tips to help you master the art of your presenting…

1. Make very sure you are very clear about what you want as a result from your presentation or your ASK. If you don’t have a proper objective, you’re likely to go off piste, flounder and lose your focus.

2. Practice – practice – practice. Unless you are one of those lucky people who is great at impactful improvising, prepare your presentation in advance, rehearse it until you feel fluent and comfortable, and practice it out loud! If possible, get feedback from someone that you trust before you launch yourself on your audience.

3. A top tip from the master of Apple – Make it all about your audience, whether it is an audience of one or millions. Know who you are going to be addressing, think about them as you would your ideal customer, how can you give them some benefit and what hassles can you relieve them of.

4. “The success of your presentation will be judged not by the knowledge you send but by what the listener receives.” (Thank you Lily Walters). Back to the preparation and practice piece. With an added peppering of good clear language so there is no confusion or possibility to misunderstand your intentions and your message. Be sure the message you are giving out is the message they are receiving.

And finally, some ideas that might help you….

* For an impactful opening – A discussion of traditional and modern roles within a relationship recently revealed “Oh, we have always had a great arrangement; I make all the small decisions and my husband makes all the big ones.” Shock horror around the table until the speaker continued “And all our decisions are small ones” (accompanied with a wry smile).

* For a good compelling finish – “We are sure you can now see how much your contribution will improve the lives of ….. Before you go, tell us how you would like to make your donation…”

* And some humour, the right sort at the right time, relevant and properly delivered – “ At the very start, let me say that we both have something in common. You don’t know what I’m going to say… and neither do I.” (Thanks to Robert Orben from his Speaker’s Handbook of Humour).

We have so many tips and techniques and good ideas to help you with that special presenting moment, so don’t hold back – contact us to open the box of goodies!

Isla Baliszewska

Being a Positive Disruptor for TEDxBristol 2017

Six preparations for Successful Presenting

Get out of your own way

Are you selling to your customers the right way?

Presenting and Asking with Impact

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