Results Blog

Finding Your Passion

Thursday, May 10th, 2012 by admin | Leave a Comment
Filed under: General | Tags: bliss, career, career and life goals, career coach, connection to your values, determine your career and life goals, find your bliss, find your passion, finding your passion, follow your passion, happy, important to you, level of satisfaction, love what you do, love your work, make yourself happy, most important values, opportunities, Passion, satisfaction, satisfaction level, sense of purpose, Strengths, strengths and weaknesses, threats, values, Weaknesses, what’s important to you, your bliss, your passion

key to passion A really good friend of mine is always saying “when you love what you do, you never have to work a day in your life”. It’s a mantra and quote that has stuck with me for many years now and words of wisdom I live by and have imparted to my kids and clients alike. The way I see it is you have at least two choices. You find your bliss or passion in a career or hobby and you go for it or you find a way to be passionate about your current career.

Here are some strategies to help you find your passion:

1. Satisfaction Check – Look at each area of your life and determine your level of satisfaction with each area. You should consider your career, finances, health and wellness, relationship with your significant other, family and friends, personal growth and development, physical surroundings, fun and recreation and anything else that is important to you. I like to rate each area on a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being the highest level of satisfaction (your bliss) and 1 being a low or no level of satisfaction. Then I suggest taking a good hard look at each area to analyze the gap. Determine what would have to happen or change for the gap to be reduced or eliminated. For example: If you rated your career a 7 out of 10. What would make your satisfaction level with your career a 10? Perhaps more clients, less travel time to work, a better relationship with your boss, etc. Once you’ve identified all the items that could make a difference in your level of satisfaction you need to commit to action. Taking even one action will move you one step closer to a higher level of satisfaction in that area of your life.

2. Values Check – Know what’s important to you. Being really clear about your values and what’s most important to you helps you make better decisions more often. Make a list of what’s most important to you in your life right now. Then rank everything on the list from highest priority to lowest priority. Take a really close look at your top 5 values. These are your most important values. How closely aligned are these top 5 values to how you spend your time day to day? What have you been neglecting that’s really important to you? Many successful people put as much time and thought into what they do in their time away from the office as they do in the office. Can you make connections between what you do for a living and what’s important to you? For example: perhaps you have an expensive hobby you are passionate about i.e. race car driving or flying planes. You are in a high paying career that you perhaps don’t love but it provides you with the time and money to race cars or fly planes. Find ways to love your work or at least be grateful for your career as it is providing you with the means to follow your passion of racing cars or flying planes-there is a connection to your values, there is a sense of purpose.

3. Competencies Check – Before leaving my corporate career of 26 years to start my own business, I did some planning and strategizing to determine the type of business I wanted to be in. In the business world it is common to conduct a SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats). Applying this same management tool can be very effective when applied personally. Start with an assessment of your personal strengths and weaknesses. What are you really good at? What aren’t you so good at? Engage others to provide you with feedback in these areas as well. You may be surprised by hidden talents you have taken for granted or haven’t been using. Consider opportunities available to you today to utilize and optimize your strengths. For example: There are careers and businesses in existence today that weren’t around 26 years ago when I first started my professional career. The world is constantly changing and evolving and so are the opportunities. Look for the opportunities or create some new ones. As for threats, it’s important to recognize that they do exist and to plan to minimize or mitigate any risks.

4. Mindset Check – Lastly, it’s important to recognize that no one or one thing can make you happy. Only you can make yourself happy!

Based on my experience as a career coach I have found that many people find it easier to be accountable to someone else than it is to be accountable to oneself. A coach can support you by working with you to help you find your passion, determine your career and life goals and then hold you accountable every step of the way.

Awaken The Star Within You

Tuesday, Mar 20th, 2012 by admin | Leave a Comment
Filed under: Executive Coaching, General | Tags: A star at work, awaken the star within you, awaken your star power, be a leader, be a team player, become a good networker, build competence, build competence and credibility, build followership, build perspective, business, career, career path, effective at persuasion, followership, gain more perspective, gaining a broader perspective, good follower, good networker, high performers, Impact and influence, impact and influence skills, important vs unimportant, influencing others, influencing others in the workplace, lead yourself, leader, leader amongst your peers, organizational savvy, personal effectiveness, perspective, persuasion, self-management, set yourself apart, stars are made, strong team player, succeed in the workplace, take initiative, taking control, team player, urgent vs not urgent, work cooperatively

Years ago I read a great book called “How to be a Star at Work” by Robert E. Kelley. This book became and continues to be one of the “100 Best Business Books of All Time” and the “#1 Career Book” ranked by The New York Daily News. The author makes the argument that “stars are made, not born”. This is terrific news for anyone who is looking for ways to become a star at work.

Based on Kelley’s book, there are 9 breakthrough strategies you need to succeed. Here are his strategies and some of his ideas as well as my thoughts on how to awaken the star within you:

1. Take initiative. Look for opportunities to set yourself apart from others. Many employees don’t take initiative. It’s too much work, they are too busy doing their job or they have become complacent. High performers go the extra mile consistently. Initiative is what many employers and recruiters look for in new hires, yet it is so rare to find in the workplace. Take initiative by taking on additional responsibility above and beyond your current job description. Look for ways to help coworkers or the department with specific goals or projects. Don’t be afraid to take some risks by taking initiative.

2. Become a good networker. It is said that we are only 4-5 people away from anything we ever want to be, do or have. A good network can help you fill in the gaps. You don’t know everything. But if you have a good network of people to draw on, you can usually find someone in your network to help you, or at least someone who knows a person that can help you.

3. Excel at self-management. Self-management isn’t about being super organized. It’s about evaluating which activities are important vs unimportant and then balancing those against the urgent vs not urgent. It’s about taking control over your own career path by developing a plan and connecting yourself to the work you most enjoy and that benefits the company. Stars figure out how to leverage their talents and add value to their organizations. Increasing personal effectiveness and efficiency is important.

4. Build perspective. I have a metaphor I love using with my clients around gaining more perspective. I have them think about a hockey game in an arena. As the hockey player you are focused on moving the puck, passing the puck, scoring, etc. The action is quick and very narrowly focused. The game moves quickly. Removing yourself from the player position to the coach position on the sidelines, you are able to gain a broader perspective of what is going on in the game. The game slows down, the view is broader and you are able to think more strategically about what should be done. Now moving to an observer position high in the stands, the game slows down even further. You are able to gain even more perspective as you can see not only the game and the coaching but also the statistics and anything else going on in the periphery. Much greater perspective and a much bigger viewpoint. As you awaken your star power, gain perspective on not just what you do, but what is going on around you and how that impacts your job, department and the company as a whole.

5. Build followership. Followership focuses on relationships you have with leaders and people who have power and authority over you. To be a good follower, you need to know how to lead yourself. Good followers have focus, commitment and build competence and credibility as a way of influencing others in the workplace. They maintain an honest conscience and a great deal of integrity. Their own ego is managed and controlled in order to work cooperatively with leaders.

6. Be a leader. Not just with people you formally lead already. Be a leader amongst your peers and colleagues as well as others. As a leader amongst your peers, you should look to be respected for your knowledge, expertise and proven judgment. You especially want their respect in the area of people-skills. Demonstrate that you care about people and your colleagues.

7. Be a team player. As a strong team player you can contribute by making sure the team knows and understands its purpose, gets the team’s job done and by paying attention and contributing to the group dynamics in a constructive and positive way.

8. Increase your organizational savvy. According to Kelley organizational savvy is defined as: “the ability to manage competing workplace interests to promote an idea, resolve conflicts, and most important to achieve a goal.” The organization can be a political minefield so it’s important to be savvy. Find an organizational mentor who can help you maneuver through the organization. Build and nurture solid relationships and increase your personal credibility.

9. Become effective at persuasion. Impact and influence skills are key to getting to desired outcomes. It’s important to understand your audience and tailor your communication to them. Remember resistance is a sign that you haven’t built enough rapport.

4 Ways To Connect Using Communication Preferences

Tuesday, Mar 6th, 2012 by admin | Leave a Comment
Filed under: General, NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming) | Tags: auditory, auditory communicators, auditory digital, auditory digital communicators, auditory listeners, Building Relationships, Communication, communication preferences, communication style, Connect, connection, effective communication, face to face, face to face connection, kinesthetic, kinesthetic communicators, learn by listening, learn by seeing, literal listeners, matching and mirroring, rapport, understanding your audience, visual, visual communicators

We may have lost some face to face connection, but in today’s world of social media communication, we have moved to faster, more frequent communication than ever before. Now, more than ever, what you say and how you say it is critical to the person on the other end of your communication message. Effective communication is the first step in building strong personal and professional relationships.

Did you know?

• Rapport is established in the first 90 seconds or less

• 93% of what is communicated is communicated and received unconsciously

• Tailoring your communication message to your audience enhances trust and credibility

Effective communication is key to building strong lasting personal and professional relationships. Adjusting your communication style to that of your audience allows you to direct the conversation towards your desired outcomes.

There are four preferred communication styles:

1. Visual

2. Auditory

3. Kinesthetic

4. Auditory Digital

Visual communicators learn by seeing and memorize by looking at pictures. They tend to be distracted by long verbal instructions. Appearance is important to them. They are interested in how your message LOOKS. No phrase captures Visual communicators better than “a picture paints a 1000 words”. If you are communicating with Visuals you might send them pictures, videos, pictorial slides with images rather than written reports. You should also look at the words you are using and use “visual” words like: see, look, view, focus, appear or phrases like: beyond a shadow of a doubt, bird’s eye view.

Auditory communicators learn by listening and by what they hear. They will likely be literal listeners so choose your words carefully when speaking to an auditory communicator. Auditorys can be easily distracted by noise because they are listening so intently. They like music, audio books and talking on the phone. They will be interested in tele-seminars or conference call meetings. Auditory listeners will memorize by steps, procedures and sequences so structure in your communication will be important. They respond to tone of voice and words and like to be told how they are doing. They will be most interested that your message SOUNDS right. With Auditory communicators use some of the following words: hear, listen, sounds, resonate or some of the following phrases: rings a bell, manner of speaking, lend me your ear, hold your tongue.

Kinesthetic communicators learn by doing, moving, acting out, and hands on experience. They will often move and talk more slowly and breathily. Often it will take a Kinesthetic communicator more words to articulate what they are trying to say. They memorize by doing or by walking through something. Their interest is in how a message FEELS. i.e. Does it FEEL right or does it give them a good GUT FEELING. Kinesthetics will respond favorably to the following words and phrases: feel, touch, grasp, get a hold of, catch on, concrete, tap into, boils down to, hand in hand.

Auditory Digital communicators often exhibit characteristics of the other three communication preferences. They will be most interested that a message makes SENSE. They too memorize by steps, procedures and sequences. The most analytical of the four styles, Auditory Digital communicators will respond to the following words: sense, understand, think, learn, process, decide, consider, know, change, or motivate.

Whenever you communicate in face to face interactions, over the phone or by email, social media or other written content consider these simple tips:

• Look for clues to tell you whether the person you are communicating with has a preference for Visual, Auditory, Kinesthetic or Auditory Digital communication style

• Listen for keyword and keyword phrases others are using in their speech or written messages

• Experiment by matching and mirroring predicate words to determine which words your listener grasps onto

• Prepare in advance by analyzing and understanding your audience in order to tailor your message to their preferred style.

• When in doubt use all four communication styles in your verbal and written communication

Remember effective communication is key to building strong lasting personal and professional relationships.

Creating Success This Year

Tuesday, Feb 28th, 2012 by admin | Leave a Comment
Filed under: General, Goal Setting | Tags: accomplish, accomplishment, achieve more, best year of your career, best year of your life, change, change yourself, consistent success, continue, create success, Creating, creating success, different results, greater success, maintain focus, start, stop, success

key to success This is a great time to reflect on the past year as well as a time to think about what you want to create this year. What did you accomplish that you are most proud of? How were you successful? What lessons did you learn? If you were to make this year the best year of your career or your life, what would the year look like for you? Who would you have to be? What would you be doing? How would you be feeling?

Here are 4 themes to consider as you plan to create success this year.

• Change – Are you sick and tired of starting each year hoping that things will be different this year? Albert Einstein defined insanity as “doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” Are you looking for different results? Take responsibility for where you are right now in your career or in your life. Ask yourself what you need to change in order to get different results? A great place to begin is to review the lessons learned from previous years. Decide on what you need to change so that those lessons are not repeated. Recognize that you can’t change others, you can only change yourself. So focus on what you can change and understand that change begins with you.

• Stop – We can be such creatures of habit even when we know that our behaviors and actions are not helping us. Sometimes the hardest thing to do is to stop doing something even though we know our action is not generating positive results. Take a good look at your “to do” list as well as your daily calendar or planner for last year. What activities added no value to your career or to your life? Identify those activities that are pure time wasters and vow to stop doing them immediately. Learn to say “yes” to your success by saying “no” to those activities that take you away from what’s most important to you and your success. Protect your precious time for value added tasks and activities only.

• Start – Sometimes we think we have to do all or nothing. For example, many people decide to lose weight or join a gym as their new year’s resolution. They begin the year on a crash diet or begin going to the gym 3x a week only to abandon their efforts within the first 30 days or so. I’m not suggesting that it’s wrong to go on a diet or to join a gym but I am suggesting that it doesn’t have to be all or nothing. The important thing is to start something no matter how small the effort is. Start taking many small steps towards your goal. If you are trying to lose weight or work out more, start by getting off the bus or subway one station before you usually do and walk the rest of the way, or give up one “bad for you” thing out of your current diet. Most of us know what we should be doing and somehow we never get around to it. Success is doing the things you know you should do. Start small, maintain focus on your end result, and stick with it.

• Continue – Looking back at your successes and accomplishments, there were clearly some great successes. Identify the behaviors and activities that made you successful as they are probably worth repeating this year. Continue to do those tried and true activities that provided you with consistent success and be brave by taking it up a notch this year. In the words of Longfellow “success is doing what you do well and doing well whatever you do.” Push your limits by stretching yourself into even greater success. Flex your skills, strengths and talents and really step into your most powerful you.

This year has the potential to be your best year ever. Envision what that might look like for you. Decide now to create success this year. All you need to do is to change what isn’t working for you, stop wasting time, start taking action in the direction of your goal, and continue to use your trusted strengths and talents to achieve more.

Creating Synchronicity in Your Life

Thursday, Dec 22nd, 2011 by admin | Leave a Comment
Filed under: General | Tags: achieve desired outcomes, coincidence, compelling positive future, create synchronicity, creating more synchronicity, creating synchronicity, desired outcomes, empowerment, intention, maintain power and control, personal responsibility, positive outcomes, possibilities, potential opportunities, response ability, set clear intentions, Synchronicity, take control, take control of your life

I believe that everything happens to us in our lives on some level as a result of our own making. On some level, either knowingly or unknowingly, we attract our destiny to ourselves.

While I believe we can’t always control what happens to us, I believe we can control how we choose to respond or react to whatever happens to us and that makes all the difference.

When we take “response ability” for everything that happens to us, we maintain power and control and come from a place of empowerment. Accepting “response ability” is not about accepting blame or fault for what happens. It simply means that we accept what has happened and choose to respond not by blaming others or ourselves but rather by choosing to respond with the most appropriate action that will positively move us forward.

On the effect side of the equation, you have your reasons and your excuses for why your life is the way it is. I.e. I can’t make more money because my company won’t promote me. The house is a mess because my teenagers won’t listen to me. I can’t be happy because my husband is out every weekend without me. I’m not valued at work because the boss doesn’t like me. If you remain “at effect” that’s the same as giving up your power or control. This can be a very negative and disempowering way to live your life.

Do you wish to continue to argue for and support your limitations? Wouldn’t it be more empowering to take control of your life and to start creating more synchronicity in order to move towards a more compelling positive future?

Here are some tips to help you maintain a positive “response ability” and to move in a synchronistic way towards more positive outcomes.

Accept your current situation. Accepting your current situation doesn’t mean you have to agree with it or live with it. It simply means you acknowledge where you are presently. Think of it as a starting point. When you accept where you are without blame or excuse, it necessitates taking action.
Look for opportunities. It has been said “when one door closes another one opens”. Doors are being opened for us all the time. We need to be observant and open-minded to notice the potential opportunities that are there for us.
Treat events and disappointments as life lessons. There is no failure only feedback. Every experience we have in some way moves us forward. Either through learning what not to do or by supporting us in getting closer to our desired outcomes. Learn from your experiences. Ask yourself the following question: What do I need to learn from this event?
Be curious about who you cross paths with. I’m always curious about who I meet and cross paths with. What do I need to learn from them? What am I here to teach them? How can they help me? How can I help them?
Accept personal responsibility for change. Your desire and willingness to change is up to you just as my desire and willingness to change is up to me. If you wish to change your current situation you have to be willing to first change yourself. There’s no magic solution. You are in charge of your results.
Set clear intentions. Be clear about your expectations and outcomes. Then let go of the “how” and prepare yourself to be amazed at what unfolds for you. So often, we want to map out all the steps and get stuck when we come across an obstacle in our path. Keep the focus on your goals and intentions.
Create synchronicity. Creating synchronicity is an inside job. Recognize that you have the power to create synchronicity in your life. It starts with your thoughts, your feelings and ultimately, your actions. Success equals right thinking plus right action.

Synchronicity is the coming together of two or more events at just the right time and place. Some people might call this coincidence. When you set your intention for a positive outcome and stay open to opportunities, you are opening yourself up to tremendous possibilities. You have all the resources you need to succeed and the power to achieve your desired outcomes.

10 Ways to Increase Your Intuition for Greater Success

Thursday, Dec 15th, 2011 by admin | 1 Comment
Filed under: General | Tags: 10 ways to increase your intuition, act on your hunches, better understand other people, develop and hone your intuition, develop your intuition, enhance business and personal relationships, follow your hunches, gut feeling, hone your intuition, hone your intuitive ability, increase your confidence, increase your intuition, Intuition, intuition skills, intuitive ability, intuitive skills, make better decisions, practice using your intuition, sixth sense, tap into your dreams and desires, tapping into our intuition, using your intuition

Whether you are coaching an employee or making a business decision you are probably tapping into your intuition. Intuition is sometimes referred to as “gut feeling”, “sixth sense” or “knowing”. Regardless of what you call it, we all use our intuition everyday in multiple ways. Often we don’t recognize it as intuition as the information may come to us symbolically or in fragmented bits of information.

thought So why would anyone wish to increase their intuitive ability? Practicing and harnessing your intuition skills will allow you to make better decisions and choices, enhance your business and personal relationships, increase your confidence to follow your hunches, better understand other people and allow you to tap into your inner most dreams and desires.

Here are 10 ways you can begin to practice using your intuition to hone your intuitive ability.

Look at newspaper photos. Read a newspaper by first looking at the photo only without reading the corresponding headline or story. Make up a story about the photo you are looking at. Then read the story to see how accurate your impression was. The more you practice this the easier it will be to look at a photo and be able to accurately tell the story.
Guess who is calling. Whenever the phone rings try and guess who the caller is before you pick the phone up. You will be amazed by how often you will get it right. Track the success of your guesses and notice how quickly you make progress.
Think about someone you know. As you think of someone you know, see them clearly in your mind. Notice how long it takes for the person you are thinking about to call you. Document your results.
Ask a question. Using a regular coin assign “yes” or “no” to heads or tails. Then ask yes/no questions and flip the coin to get answers. Notice and journal how you feel as you receive answers to your questions.
Pay attention to your surroundings. As you go about your regular day notice numbers, billboard messages, signs and anything else in your environment that may be considered a message for you. Nothing is random. Everything is meaningful to you. Often that very issue that you are wrestling with in your thoughts is displayed as a sign right in front of you; all you need to do is pay attention.
Shuffle a deck of cards. Shuffle a regular deck of cards. Then predict whether the card you are about to turn over is red or black. Then turn over the card. Track the percentage of correct predictions and notice how much better you get over time. Once you’ve got that down, practice predicting whether the card you are about to flip over is hearts, diamonds, spades or clubs. Keep track of your progress.
Predict a song. While listening to the radio, try and predict what song will come up within the next hour. Then listen for the song to be played. Keep listening for your song to play and hear how often your prediction is correct.
Randomly eavesdrop on conversations. Pay attention to snippets of information from a conversation you might overhear in a public place. Often these random pieces of information can be strung together to make meaning for you about a personal or business situation you might currently be dealing with. Listen for answers to questions you have.
Randomly flip to a page in a book. Pick a book from your bookcase and begin flipping through it, stopping on a random page. Begin reading anywhere on the page and you will be amazed at how relevant what you are reading relates to whatever is going on in your life at the moment. Practice this regularly to gain valuable insights.
Act on your hunches. The best way to practice intuition is to act on your hunches. Often we get a gut feeling about a situation and then ignore it, only to later wish we had paid attention to it. Use your hunch just like you would another piece of valuable information.

Intuition is a skill like any other. You can develop your intuition by applying it consciously and through regular practice. The more you practice your intuitive ability the more confident you will become in using your intuition. For many of us, tapping into our intuition is an unconscious process that bypasses our logical analytical mind. As we become more consciously aware of our intuitive ability we can begin to integrate information we receive in our surroundings from all our senses: sight, sound, touch, taste, smell as well as from our intuition. As you become more comfortable using and tapping into your intuition, notice how much more easily it is to make personal and professional decisions, know what you really want and confidently move forward towards achieving your goals and dreams.

Life Lessons Learned From My Favorite Holiday Movies

Thursday, Dec 8th, 2011 by admin | Leave a Comment
Filed under: General, Personal | Tags: A Christmas Carol, Holiday Movies, It’s a Wonderful Life, Life Lessons, Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer, White Christmas

One of my favorite ways to spend time during the holidays is to kick back with family and watch a good holiday movie. When I reflect back on some of my favorite movies I can appreciate some valuable life lessons and how wonderfully illustrated they are in these classic films.

• It’s a Wonderful Life (1946). This movie is about an angel who helps a desperate man see how valuable his life is by showing him what life would be like had he never been born. The holiday season doesn’t go by without watching this classic movie at least once. It’s a great reminder to appreciate and be grateful for all that you have and all that you are. Don’t take anything for granted. Consider maintaining a daily gratitude journal where you record everything you are grateful for on a daily basis.

• Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer (1964). This was a TV movie about a misfit reindeer looking to be accepted. I grew up watching this wonderful animated film about Rudolph; a reindeer who felt like an outcast and yet his oddity was truly a gift. It reminds me of just how different we all are as individuals. It’s our individuality that makes us both unique and special at the same time. Honor your uniqueness and your special talents and treat them as the gifts they are. Acknowledge others as well for their unique and special talents.

• A Christmas Carol (1938). This classic follows Ebeneezer Scrooge, a cruel man who is visited one Christmas Eve by 3 ghosts guiding him through his past, present and future. It’s been remade several times over the years and the story still warms my heart. It’s about self reflection, recognizing that you have choices and that it’s never too late to change your ways. No matter who you are, what you’ve done, you can change.

• White Christmas (1954). Who doesn’t love Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye. This movie is about expressing generosity, lending a helping hand and appreciating old friends. It’s a terrific reminder to reflect on the spirit of the holiday season, remembering what the holiday season is really about. For me that means staying in the present moment and taking time to appreciate those around me and to share valuable time with friends and family.

In summary, as you navigate through the holiday season this year remember some of life’s simple lessons:

1. Be grateful and don’t take anything for granted

2. Honor your unique skills and talents

3. Choose to change the things you don’t like about yourself

4. Remember the spirit of Christmas – be generous , lend a hand and appreciate your friends and family

From my home to yours, Happy Holidays everyone!

Powerful Presentations: 4 Easy Steps to Making Interesting Presentations

Thursday, Dec 1st, 2011 by admin | Leave a Comment
Filed under: General | Tags: Captivate an audience, Grab attention, Great presenters, Impactful presenter, Interesting presentations, Learner, Learning and teaching systems, Learning styles, Making better presentations, Making interesting presentations, Powerful presentations, Presentation, Presentations, Speakers

Why is it that some speakers captivate an audience from the very start of their presentation while other speakers don’t?

Great presenters have structure to their presentations and a consistent format they use to ensure fabulous presentations every time they speak to a group. Great presenters understand that individuals within the audience have different learning styles and they know how to grab the attention of each.

Based on the work of David Kolb and Bernice McCarthy, the 4-Mat System is one of the most widely used learning and teaching systems today. The 4-Mat system is an easy and practical way to prepare presentations. Based on this system, there are 4 basic learning styles: “why”, “what”, “how” and “what if”.

Why learners need to have their why questions answered before they will be interested in hearing about the “what”, “how” or “what if”. They need reasons and relevance. As a presenter, you need to answer the question: “Why” is this topic important to the audience. They learn best by listening and sharing. The more reasons you can offer to answer the question “why” or “why not”, the more likely you will capture the interest of the “why” learner/participant who will represent the largest portion of your audience at about 35%. I once observed a presenter who went right into the “what” of his presentation skipping the “why” only to have “why” questions popping up throughout his presentation, slowing down the flow and confusing the heck out of the audience.

What learners are more patient than why learners so they will patiently wait to have why questions addressed. They will be interested in “what” the topic is all about. They will want to know the specifics about the topic. They will want to know as much information as you can provide on the topic to deepen their understanding. So it is important you fill up their “what” before you move to addressing the how. These learners learn by thinking through ideas. About 22% of your audience will be “what” learners.

How learners will patiently wait for the why and what information to be provided. They are interested in “how” it works. They want to know about how to apply the information. They will be interested in trying it out, experimenting or practicing and learn best by testing theories in ways that make sense. About 18% of your audience will be “how” learners.

What if learners, the most patient of learners, will sit through the why, what and the how and they will be most interested in the application of the material. What would happen if? What if I did this? They will look for the hidden possibilities. They will patiently sit through the presentation and then have a list of questions to ask during the question and answer period. They learn best through trial and error. They will represent about 25% of the audience.

Here are the 4 easy steps to ensure consistently interesting presentations:

1.   Start your presentation with a thorough list of reasons why your topic is of importance. Use wording like: “Here is why you want to know about this topic.” Share with your audience all the benefits of knowing about the topic to gain their interest and keep them interested in learning more.
2.   Then tell the audience what your topic is all about. Here is where you get to share everything you know about the topic. Use wording like: “Here’s what the topic is all about” or “Here’s what you need to know about this topic”.
3.   Then tell the audience how to. This might include describing steps of a process, providing a demonstration, doing a group activity or exercise so that they get to experience the presentation content. “Here’s how to do x”.
4.   Lastly, you should include a question and answer period at the end of your presentation so that what if questions can be fully answered.

Be the speaker that captivates his/her audience from now on.

Perception Is Projection

Thursday, Nov 24th, 2011 by admin | Leave a Comment
Filed under: General | Tags: attitudes, beliefs, focus, past experience, perception, perception is projection, projection, values

Why is it that two people watching the same accident have two totally different accounts of what just occurred? They both saw the same accident-yet, they processed two very different versions.

According to Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi in the book Flow: The Psychology Of Optimal Experience, we take in 2 million pieces of information per second, yet we can only process 134 bits per second. How then do we determine which 134 bits of information to focus on? We choose those 134 bits of information based on our values, beliefs, attitudes, past experiences, memories and how we process information.

To illustrate this point, let’s have some fun.
•   Look around the room you are currently in and notice all the items in the room that are colored white (for some of you this might be easy, for others you may have to really look carefully for “white” items).
•   Now, close your eyes and try to remember all the items in the room that were the color “black”. Notice how challenging this task is given that I directed you to look for the colour “white”.
•   Now, open your eyes and look around the room and notice just how many “black” colored items you missed when asked to recall them. There are just as many “black” items now that you are noticing them as there was when you were only searching “white” items. The only thing that changed was the focus you were giving to the two different colours.

This is just one example of how differently two people might see their respective worlds.

How do you see the world?
•   Are you a glass half full person or are you a glass half empty person?
•   What is the first thing you see, hear or feel in any situation?
•   Are you looking for and noticing the positive side of things or do you gravitate towards the negatives, the risks and what is wrong with the situation.

Both scenarios are present – the positive and the negative-you, the observer, gets to choose how to interpret the situation.

Oh sure, you have your reasons for seeing things a certain way. We all have baggage we carry around with us that affects how we view the world. To quote Dr. Phil, “how is that working for you?” If it’s working and you are truly happy in every area of your life, great. However, if there is any area of your life that isn’t working, look at how you might change your perception of the situation so that you are experiencing the most positive 134 bits out of the 2 million bits of information available.

Here are 5 steps to help you more positively focus your attention:
1.   Ask yourself… What perspective you are currently holding as you evaluate a particular situation.
2.   Ask yourself… What other perspectives are possible that you may not have considered to this point.
3.   Ask yourself… Which perspective would offer you the best and highest positive potential for an optimal outcome.
4.   Holding the best and highest positive potential perspective… What are some actions you could take.
5.   Go ahead and take positive action!

Your world is a mirror that reflects back to you what you are seeing, hearing, feeling and sensing. Your perception truly is a projection of what is going on in your inner world. Here’s the good news-you get to choose how you interpret any situation. So choose wisely.

Overcoming Mountains To Reach Your Goal

Tuesday, Jul 5th, 2011 by admin | Leave a Comment
Filed under: Goal Setting | Tags: achieving your goal, celebrate milestones, focus on the goal, Goal, goals, Inca Trail, Machu Picchu, reaching goals, sense of accomplishment, sense of purpose, vision

Ever wonder why goals seem so impossible to reach at times?

Last month I travelled to Peru to hike the Inca Trail and visit Machu Picchu. It has been a personal goal of mine for some time to visit the ruins, hike the trail and to fully experience the country and its people.

To hike the Inca Trail you have to be in good physical shape. Our trek was 42km over 4 days, which seems easy enough. However, climbing over 3 mountain passes at high altitudes reaching over 4200 meters above sea level at 60 degree inclines is no small feat, especially for an overweight middle aged woman. But, I was determined to do the trail and to overcome any mountains in my way.

Here’s what I learned about reaching goals while hiking the Inca Trail:

1. Have a clear vision. My goal was to hike the Inca Trail and reach Machu Picchu while fully enjoying the process of getting there. Often we are not clear with our goals. This causes us to meander without a clear sense of purpose. The more clarity we have on the goal the easier it is to stay focused on what’s most important.

2. Maintain focus on the goal. As I hiked those 4 days I kept telling myself that the view from the Sun Gate overlooking Machu Picchu would be worth it. I kept telling myself that completing the trail would be a great sense of accomplishment and pride. These constant reminders really kept me grounded and on task.

3. Keep moving forward. Day two of the hike was the hardest part of the trek; 12km on a steep angle up towards appropriately named “Dead Woman’s Pass”, the highest point on the trail. One minute of hiking, two minutes of resting all the way up the slopes until I finally reached the peak. Admittedly, I was slower than most hikers but, the important thing was to keep moving forward in the direction of my goal. Eventually I would get there on my own time. What’s important is that you continue to take steps forward no matter how big or small.

4. See obstacles as opportunities. There could have been many obstacles real and imagined along the trail if that was what I had chosen to focus on. There were steep slopes; difficult rocks to climb, breathing issues and blisters on my feet. I chose however to focus on the opportunities. My very slow but steady pace meant that I met lots of wonderful and interesting people from around the globe also hiking who stopped to chat with me and encouraged me to keep going.

5. Enjoy the views along the journey. My son raced forward and took a nap along the trail at one point. I on the other hand, got to see many varieties of birds, interesting plants and flowers and magnificent vistas as I slowly progressed forward.

6. Celebrate milestones often. When I finally reached “Dead Woman’s Pass”, the rest of my hiking group was already there to greet me and cheer. Each member of our hiking group remained at the top cheering as the rest of the members also reached the peak. It was only the halfway mark of day 2 but a great milestone to celebrate. Once all of us had reached the top, we took photos to enjoy the moment and capture it forever.

7. Stop to revel in achieving your goal. When I finally got to Sun Gate and saw Machu Picchu in its full glory I instantly felt emotion bubbling up inside me. The trek gave me a peek into the history and culture of the people and the country, experiencing the same trek as the great Incas. It also gave me a great sense of accomplishment for being there in that moment to enjoy what I was seeing and experiencing and a feeling of “I did it”. Many of us get to our goal and don’t stop to revel in accomplishing it, but rather go onto the next goal or the next challenge. It’s important to take a moment, be in the joy of achieving the goal and celebrate it fully.

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