Why I am here? I want to be an excellent trainer. When I do training, people are engaged, take my message, and I become more confident and influential. After one day training, Jeff asked us to write our purpose to attend the training again and advised "it's ok to revise". I thought it over and decided my purpose remained the same. When Jeff asked someone to read out loud one's purpose, I did it. I received a big round of applause and he said the most amazing thing: "you know what, you will realize it!"
What impressed me most is you must have an emotional and selfish reason in order to devote yourself in something. With this purpose in mind, I found the two-day's workshop was so enjoyable and fruitful.
The most useful tips are the 5 ways to engage your audience.
1. Have a chat with friends. It helps you relax. You are going to talk to the audience like you are just talking to one friend. After I heard several Bobo's speeches, I feel like he is my friend as he talked to me like a friend in his speech. I used to think he is such a big potato and shinning on the stage, now I can comment on his friend circle post like a friend because he talked to me like a friend. That's magical in listening speech and Toastmasters.
2. Tell lots of true stories. This is the most difficult part that needs a lot of efforts to prepare. Why tell a story? To emphasize your point and build trust! Trust is due to oxytocin generated in brain when people hear stories. Prepare 30~90 seconds true stories from your own life or others or combo of challenges, success or failure that could inspire your audience. Why only true stories? Because otherwise you can't remember!
How to tell a story is the key. I notice my mother-in-law sometimes tell a story that reach a weird conclusion that she doesn't expect. This makes me very hard to understand her points and also results herself in a bad communicator.
Here is how. Decide on the point you want to make first, then choose a feeling you want audience to feel (SCARF) and then choose a story from your collection.
This is my first time to hear about David Rock's SCARF model. SCARF is the feeling your story is intended to bring to the audience. These five feeling domains activate either the 'primary reward' or 'primary threat' circuitry (and associated networks) of the brain and in turn drive human behavior. They are Status, Certainty, Autonomy, Relatedness and Fairness.
1) Status is about relative importance to others, is the position in life, or how good you are without showing off.
2) Certainty concerns being able to predict the future.
3) Autonomy provides a sense of control over events or make the decision by themselves.
4) Relatedness is the feeling of being part of a group, is a sense of safety with others - of friend rather than foe/enemy.
5) Fairness is a perception of fair exchanges between people.
It's marvelous that a perceived threat to one's status activates similar brain networks to a threat to one's life. In the same way, a perceived increase in fairness activates the same reward circuitry as receiving a monetary reward.
I need to start to collect and write down my own 100 stories. I remember Forrest Sam said: "losing a great story just because you didn't write it down might be the biggest tragedy for speakers." I saw him shown up in this story telling session. See, he is still learning!
3. Show vulnerability and humility
You are the same as the people sitting in the room.
4. Ask questions and listen. Ask simple questions. You don't have to respond to every answer, and sometimes when you start to think about how to respond, you are not performing active listening. You could just say OK, very good, thank you, next? What do you think? Really?
5. Force audience participation. This could help get minds on-line, especially when people get distracted. You could repeat the question if didn't get answers. And the repeated question most likely will get a consensus answer which is one way to force audience participation. I actually use it in my last week regular meeting, where I host a special sharing session from our distinguished toastmaster, I requested audience to play a game to say out loud our club slogan, I say "DOW magic" you say "your magic". When the full room audience saying "your magic", that's full engagement!
These 5 rules are really useful to engage your audience but that's not enough. There are more skills offered in the training. I recall the world champion Darren Lacroix said: "Skill sets without mindset make your audience upset." What make champion a champion is content, and all your contents should work for your purpose. The presentation Pyramid is a useful tool to prepare structured content.
1. Do it on purpose.
Define your purpose of presentation first. Use this useful statement structure to create your purpose of presentation. The purpose of my presentation is to (what?) the (who?) so that they (do what? / what happens to them?). For example, the purpose of a presentation to new toastmaster guests is to influence and inspire the guests / potential members so that they will join Toastmasters and improve themselves for a better life.
2. With the purpose in mind, prepare 3 key points, then 3 supporting points under each key points.
It's not a must to have 3 points, but the idea is to be crystal clear of your structure. These supporting points offer prove, evidence and examples for each key point. Don't forget your purpose.
3. Create presentation material using 5 PowerPoint rules.
1) Font Size / Type, no less than 30 points. In general, San Serif type like Gill Sans, Arial, Tahoma, and Verdana is easier to read on screen, while Serif type like Times, Cambria is better for printing on paper. Sans serif fonts are fonts that look more like “stick letters.” Plain and simple. Serif fonts are the ones with little tails or “curly-ques” attached to each letter.
2) Image quality / Screen Size: use good quality image with large size and fill the whole screen.
3) Templates: try not to use as they are distractive and leave less space for your content.
4) Special Effects. This could distract your audience too. There could be potential technical issues to prevent these effects functioning on other computer device.
5) One point one slide. No limit on the number for your slides.
Wow, I feel I don't need to worry about my ppt skill anymore, haha, as no fancy look is needed.
During the whole training, there were many tricks lively demonstrated. As a trainer, or facilitator, here is some useful tricks you can use to control and deliver your workshop:
1. I learned two golden rules for a workshop in the first time.
1) If tired, get up and walk around. (We are not school children anymore.)
2) Immediately ask a question. (If you have a question other people might have the same.)
2. Take control of the room, some people will be very slow, make sure you observe and acknowledge what have you noticed.
3. (Rule 927, too many) Ask trainees to talk to each other, group discussion, wrap up or summary by asking questions and let the audience answer, this will make better memory as it's the audience own answer.
4. The public speaking secret is to speak fast, slow, loud and soft, at least once in a while. This is a simple why to describe vocal variety.
5. Don't forget to arrive one hour earlier to an important workshop and ensure everything is OK even after well preparation with the facility manager. Because sometimes people say "mei wen ti" that might not be true and you don't want to hear "bu hao yi si" after unexpected issues happened. That doesn't help. Sorry doesn't mean anything if that create a mess in your workshop. You are responsible for your own workshop.
6. Use some funny video to set casual atmosphere or to call for an order from disorder, like after a lunch.
Here are two examples you can use:
1. https://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XNjE3MjE5MTcy.html?spm=a2h0k.11417342.soresults.dtitle
2. https://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XNjE3MjE5MTcy.html?spm=a2h0k.11417342.soresults.dtitle
The whole workshop was well organized to help you start your own one with three steps: Design workshop, create presentation material and deliver workshop.
Another gift is from a special guest Bobo. You know what, Jeff had inspired him when he was nobody. Because his practice, perseverance and determine, he won 3 championship in district international speech contest. In his keynote speech, he shared three points:
1. Do what you love and love what you do
2. Stick what you love persistently.
3. Excel what you do.
When you start thinking "you are great", that will simply stop you progress further.
The training is great. Now what's next for me?
There are four stages of competence: unconscious incompetence -> conscious incompetence-> conscious competence -> unconscious competence.
Where I am is not important, but where I aim is clear - I aim for unconscious competence in training and workshop.
Jeff is my favorite boss's name. Jeff Tan is my favorite trainer now. Like I said right after the training: "A lot of ahha moments that open my mind." All these engaging audience skills, the clear structured contents and simple but eye catching ppt rules, and control the workshop tips are so practical that I can apply right away in my next workshop. I will start to apply as many as I can in my first Pathways workshop tomorrow in my home club. Thank you Jeff!
