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Visual aids can help or hurt a presentation. Whether you are using PowerPoint, Keynote, Prezi, slides, video, a software interface, or other visual support, you need to make sure that the visuals won’t distract from the presentation. Many speakers have chosen abandon visual aids altogether and even proclaim that they are above using such tools. However, well-utilized visuals will significantly improve a presentation. This training will teach the best visual aid practices and offer the opportunity to practice techniques with individualized coaching feedback. Listeners will appreciate how the skillful use of visual aids truly enhances your presentations.
Speakers must prepare to answer real questions about their topic. Sometimes, listeners ask friendly, genuine questions, but often, you might be tasked with answering aggressive or set-up questions. In either case, the ability to handle even the most challenging question in a clear, comfortable, and competent manner is an important skill. Whether you have been called to answer questions at a congressional committee, in a sales meeting, or during a team presentation, this module will teach you how to hear and understand questions in order to respond with practical answers.
Have you ever wondered how some people always have the right thing to say at the right time? There is an art to handling yourself well in just about any setting—from dealing with an angry customer to holding a political debate or managing a contentious investor meeting.
Imagine yourself in front of the executive committee, the board of directors, the press, or a client, and someone requests that you speak on an unfamiliar topic. Perhaps you are asked a tough question that you hadn’t anticipated. What do you say? Thinking on your feet is a module that teaches you how to process and organize your thoughts quickly in a way that will help you communicate clearly and with confidence
What two words would you like people to say about you after you have left a meeting or a conversation? The answer defines your communication style. Style coaching is one of our most popular leadership and management offerings. It allows senior executives, managers, and emerging leaders to achieve their personal vision of how they wish to present themselves. Our coaches work with clients on their core communication skills, beginning with their two style words. The result is authentic, comfortable, and effective leadership or management capabilities.
Most crucial business communication occurs between leaders, managers, board members, and shareholders. Because Boards advise and direct management teams on key decisions, it is critical that leaders and managers clearly communicate the vision, metrics, and progress of the organization. Having worked with thousands of managers and board members, we have developed valuable insight into how relationships, presentations, handling questions, and more can affect your communication success. Whether you’re new to senior management or an old pro, this module will allow you to hone your Board and shareholder presentations and share your thoughts in a clear, concise manner. Our guidance will help you strengthen your relationships and effectiveness with your Board and shareholders.
Since the 1990s, coaching and mentoring have become widely used to develop employees in the business world and are important skills for anyone in a managerial or leadership role. Learn how to communicate in both coaching and mentoring styles while learning the differences between the two. Among other things, learn Socratic questioning, goal setting, skills in accountability, and ways to inspire that lead to complete development.
At times, speaking with coworkers, your staff, your boss, and, yes, your customers can be difficult. They may come to you with stories about their problems or your mistakes. They might even mistreat you. We need to remember that there are always two sides to every story. Learn how to diffuse difficult situations and become the difficult person’s advocate rather than the enemy.
When relationships are strong, you can communicate anything. When they are not strong, even the simplest feedback becomes difficult. This module provides an understanding of why and how strong relationships are created using our original research, which has unveiled the two most essential characteristics for building a solid working relationship. This module utilizes practice to strengthen the techniques and skills that foster trusting relationships.
Listening is not just about hearing—it involves the understanding and evaluation of what is heard. Whether you’re in a face-to-face meeting or talking on the phone, leaders and managers must exhibit comfort and proficiency in six specific areas of listening, or messages can be misunderstood. These qualities and techniques are the focus of this module. In addition, this module covers the top ten barriers to listening and how to overcome them. This is one of our most popular topics.
Have you ever felt that your listeners were confused? Have listeners ever asked you to get to the point? Truly connecting with your listeners is fundamental to all communication and critical for a successful presentation. This module teaches you how to make your point and engage all of your listeners. It does not provide a one-size-fits-all methodology but instead covers a whole range of skills from which you may choose the best approach for specific groups.
Business speaking requires a mixture of information and persuasion. Both are critical, and you use both in different situations and for various reasons. The distinction between these two types of speaking is that informative speaking lists data and impartially clarifies and enlightens with no particular goal other than making information clear. Persuasive speaking urges a partisan decision, favors a position, and tries to garner acceptance for that position. In many presentations, the speaker will use both information and persuasion in order to convince the listeners.
This training will help you understand the difference between informative and persuasive presentation. It teaches how to implement these concepts in your content and delivery and the three ways of persuasion that are used in virtually all presentations we see today. You’ll learn how to choose the proper mode of persuasion and how to match your message to your listeners.
Do your listeners ask you to repeat keywords? The ability to speak clearly is an important skill, no matter who you are. There are several ways to lose your listeners, but poor articulation, mumbling, and lack of volume are the most preventable. Don’t force listeners to work harder to understand the words coming out of your mouth! This module on communication excellence will teach key sounds and practice techniques to ensure that you are speaking clearly.
Your customers will often pay attention to how you sound as much as what you are saying. A positive interaction can depend on your tone and inflection, speed, and projection.
Plus, words matter! Your choice of words, such as “customers,” “clients,” “guests,” or “patrons,” will shape their perception, and perception shapes service communication. Don’t let your choice of words become a distraction during a customer interaction. This teaches participants the various sounds of service and how to master their sounds to best communicate with customers.
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There Are Only Three Ways for a CEO to Persuade Someone (Part 3)
This blog post, based on our extensive research, explains that there are only three ways to persuade someone of something. If you missed Part 1 or Part 2, be sure to catch up first before you read this post. This post, Part 3, explains the third and final persuasion tool when you need to convince someone to do, think, say, or approve.
Before we dive in, it should be noted that most people naturally lean towards a specific mode of persuasion. You might prefer Ethos, (I’ve worked/researched/ completed/) or Pathos (Can you imagine/ what if we could/ here is an example of). This self- analysis is an effective way to determine if you steer towards a particular style of communication.
Now, we will finally uncover the third and final mode of persuasion. The method of persuasion highlighted in this post is usually either met with a response of “Yes, of course, this approach is pivotal” or “Nope, this does not persuade me, and now I dislike you a little.”
Tool #3- How to Persuade Someone: Logos
Logos is Logic. Think of professions where logos is expected; perhaps an accountant, engineer, or surgeon. We assume these types of professionals use sound logic to make their most important decisions. It might raise alarm bells if your heart surgeon strolls in the morning of surgery and says, “You know, I was going to perform your quadruple bypass today, and I did tell you that if you didn’t get this surgery you would have only three weeks to live, but I’m feeling like between the full moon, the fight I had with my assistant last night and the fact that I’m just a little grouchy today, that maybe we should reschedule this surgery for next month?” This surgeon needs more logos and less…crazy?
Logic carries weight. Proof is a substantial factor when making a decision, which is why we love “Before and After” pictures of living rooms, overweight people, haircuts, makeovers, anti-aging creams, cloudy windows, celebrity airbrushing, and dirty carpets. Applying no-nonsense logic seems like an excellent way to persuade someone of something because you can show cold, hard facts and evidence. We know A + B + C. When using logic to convince someone, you are giving the expected progression of events.
For many people in the biotech world, logic is their default way to convince and persuade during presentations. At times, using logic to explain and persuade can be a very effective way to show your credibility, organizational skills, and high-level perspective. You can use logic to:
These logical persuasion techniques are solid, and they work. Unfortunately, if you only use logic in an investor pitch, you will have made a grave error. Yes, investors want to know they are making a sound decision financially, but they also care about the passion in your pitch. Why does your product matter to humanity? How will it change lives? Why is this an exciting time to invest in your company? People are creatures of emotion, and if you only use logic in a presentation or pitch, you will not make the impact required to get what you need. Think of this quote from Edward de Bono, “Logic will never change emotion or perception.”
Find ways to make a logical presentation but also have a sense of emotional drive behind it. When we hear the word logic, we tend to equate it with a serious undertone, but they do not have to go hand in hand. One of my favorite logical quotes has a humorous spirit:
“Before you criticize someone, walk a mile in their shoes. That way, you’ll be a mile from them, and you’ll have their shoes.” Jack Handey
Which Mode of Persuasion is Most Effective: Ethos, Pathos, or Logos?
The answer you’ve been waiting for: the number one way to persuade someone…
If you’ve read all three of the blogs in this series, you are probably curious as to which approach works best, particularly in an investor pitch.
The answer is…all of them.
The best presentations have all three appeals in them, Ethos, Pathos, and Logos. Ethos provides credibility, Pathos provides emotion, and logic provides logic.The best presentations utilize all three modes of persuasion. Examine your companies’ previous pitches or presentations and determine where you might have overlooked applying one or all three methods of persuasion.
To build your rhetoric arsenal, explain Aristotle’s words to your team before your next investor pitch:
“The first kind depends on the personal character of the speaker; the second on putting the audience into a certain frame of mind; the third on the proof, or apparent proof, provided by the words of the speech itself.”
Easy enough! All three modes of persuasion are equally important. It will take practice to understand how to implement all three methods into one presentation. All of the Executive Communication Coaches here at The Speech Improvement Company are happy to jump on a call to talk you through it. Every presentation holds the opportunity to hone your modes of persuasion, and it gets easier once you reap the success that comes from a well-organized and persuasive pitch.
This is the last of a three-part series.
Click here to read Part 1 and Part 2 of this series on the tools of persuasion.
Author
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Laura Mathis
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