Doug Stevenson

Attended the monthly meeting at NSA New England Chapter today. Doug Stevenson was our guest speaker. Doug presented the basic of the Story Theatre method and coached two lucky members from the audience.

When Doug got on the platform, my first thoughts were "Huh? I came to see this slightly built, guy with out-of-control grey hair? Where is the high-energy Doug that I have heard about?" The Doug on the stage looked like a tired banking clerk from the 1820's. I was waiting for him to pull out a ledger and start calling out the account balances for the townspeople.

Well, the first observation that totally blew my mind was Doug's incredible facial expressions, especially in reaction to events. I could almost hear his mind working as he acted out a call to his travel agent.

Then, as the stories and session progressed, Doug amazed me with his natural vocal variety. Totally congruent with his body gestures and facial expressions.

Within 30 minutes, I would not have left that room even if nature called. Doug Stevenson is an amazing story teller. If you ever get the chance to see Doug live, then be there.

Not only is Doug a fantastic story teller, he is also an honest and open person. He shared with us how he came to find his calling in life and now he is making a difference by teaching people how to tell their stories. We each need to find our callings in life and share it with the world.

Here is what I learned from this session: Doug Stevenson is amazing - get to see him and register for his retreat if you get a chance.

P.S. Doug did not use PowerPoint - he did however offer this insight that struck home with me "PowerPoint makes your presentation Predictable". One of my challenges is now to find a way to create flexible PowerPoint presentations.

NSA New England, Which style works for you?

I attended an informative, actionable and fun meeting at NSA New England chapter yesterday. Six professional speakers shared their insights and experiences with members. If I read 100 books on Professional and Public Speaking, I would not have received this volume of timely and valuable information.

My head is swimming with all of the ideas and information I received. Professional speakers implement different speaking models and each model has benefits and drawbacks. The perfect fit is one with benefits that suits your unique needs as a speaker.

This is the same with PowerPoint presentations. You need to find the presentation style that works for you, if you want to deliver memorable presentations. Do you prefer a fast-paced slideshow style? Or do you prefer to spend 2 to 4 minutes on a slide while you tell a story about your point and then engage the audience with personal examples?

I strongly believe in very few slides, with notes that display in the Presenter View of PowerPoint and coach clients to use this approach as well. Few slides with personal examples put you as the speaker in the desirable position of speaking directly to the audience with heartfelt conviction. Your audience senses that you are totally sincere in this situation and you prove that you are presenting for the benefit of the audience.

Try various PowerPoint Presentation styles and see which pace and style works best for you. Stay within the guidelines documented in "Dodging the bullet points", such as minimal text and generous use of high-quality photographs. You audience benefits as you discover your best presentation style.

Where is a cop when you need one?

How often have you seen a situation and wondered "Where is a cop when you need one?"

Thank goodness, today, none were close to me as I travelled rather quickly (This is a South African understatement, for those who have heard me speak), to the NSA-New England Chapter meeting.

I left home late for the 1 hour 30 minute drive due to excessive websurfing about Personal coaches (which is a new tangent that I am currently interested in) and well, lets just say I made up some time on the road.

I was glad no cops saw me. On the positive side, I can report that our new Honda Odyssey has plenty of power to travel at a rapid rate of speed - along with the commensurate gas consumption (another South African understatement).

The meeting was awesome today. I have joined the Emerging Speakers Program at the NSA New England chapter. What I learned in the first hour while speaking with a professional speaker more than paid for my annual investment.

You will soon see video and audio on my website as a result of what I learned this morning. One hour this morning took at least six months off my learning curve. If you live in New England and want to improve your speaking then join this fantastic program.

And then at lunch I received an answer to a question that I could not find an answer to on the Internet. I spent hours trying to research a business question this week and came up empty handed. In one sentence I got an answer to my question. Wow! How can I put a value on such an answer? Again, you should see the results of this answer in a new section called "Special Reports", which will deliver fantastic value for money.

When last did someone give you an answer to a question that you have been struggling with? And when last did you reciprocate the generosity to the Universe by taking the time to help someone with an answer?

Then, as if I had not already got enough value from the day, Michael Benidt and Sheryl Kay trained us on searching the Internet. Yes, that right, even though I have been using the Internet since the days of text-only bulletin boards, and have an MBA in e-Business, I learned, and learned, and learned today about Internet searching. Attend a session with Micheal and Sheryl when you get the opportunity.

On a purely self-satisfying note, Michael and Sheryl warmed my heart by implementing the Pow'Rful philosophy described in Dodging the Bullet Points. They masterfully manipulated a moderate amount of slides, supplemented with stories and explanations. I could not have done better myself.

Now - I need to make the time to implement everything I learned today. How will I get around to finishing these tasks? Oh wait, did I hear someone say "Accountability Partners"? They hold your Feet-to-the-fire...