Paula Pace, M.S. – Professional trainer, speaker, consultant, and author

Improve company communication with the help of a professional trainer and author. Paula Pace, distinguished speaker and author, offers hands-on training workshops.

Technology and the Challenge of Keeping Your Audience Engaged

Posted on | February 8, 2010 | No Comments

By Tim Kubiak

Tie your tie, shine your shoes, stand up straight, know your material, engage your audience, make your point, be persuasive and win the business.  Sure, the list of what you need to do in any great presentation goes on and on.  In fact, what comprised good presentations skills and a great presentation in a traditional business environment hasn’t really changed much.  To be an effective presenter you have to understand what your audience cares about, have a tailored, compelling message, speak clearly, be personable, and all the other things that you’d want if you were on the receiving end of the presentation.  No one wants a dry, high-school-teacher lecture where the presenter mindlessly delivers the same dull presentation to a new and jaded set of victims. 

What has changed is the number of presentations people are exposed to and how and where the presentations are given; so take away the auditorium, the class room setting and the conference room table.  Today, people are locked into a home office, coffee shop, or cubicle.  Not only is the boss not in the room making sure everyone is paying attention, he or she is using instant messenger to ask about something not at all related to the presentation on the screen.

It is quite likely 12 or 120 people will be listening and watching your presentation from locations across the country or across the globe and they are less and less focused on you and your message.  Instead, they are doing things like instant messaging, hitting mute before the dog barks, answering the door for the delivery guy, picking up their latte from the barista, or walking through the airport as you beg and plead for them to care even a little about what you’re saying.  This is, as they say, the miracle of technology.   Most people are multi-tasking and ignoring studies that show recall and effectiveness diminish when they try to do more than one thing at a time.

So where is all this is leading? To hold people’s attention in a virtual auditorium, a presenter today has to be much stronger than in years past.  Here are some steps to put a little muscle in your virtual presentation:

1)      Be Clear.   Who is your audience?  If you don’t know, you shouldn’t be presenting.  Once you find out, plan your talking points to their subject area and interests.  Use terms and language they understand and can relate to.  Use examples to cover points that aren’t in their area of expertise.

2)      Be Concise. If it takes you 10 minutes to cover what you need to cover, then do it in 10 minutes and not 45.

3)      Be Confident.   Simply know your stuff.  You’re the expert, so act like one. 

4)      Focus on your audience. Give your audience what they came to hear.  Use examples they can relate to. Focus on helping your audience with a particular problem or help them overcome a challenge.

5)      Keep things interactive. It is way too easy for people in cyberspace to go do something else.  Take polls, ask questions and ask for feedback.  Make the presentation a conversation using two- way dialogue.

Remember, it doesn’t matter if your presentation is in front of an audience, in an office, over the phone, or internet.  The same basic presentation skills apply.  But if you are using technology to deliver your message to remote participants, pay special attention to their needs, prepare a little extra, and use the technology to your advantage.  Stand out as a professional and not just another voice in cyberspace.

 

 

Category: leadership, presentation
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The Lake and the Lily Pads

Posted on | January 25, 2010 | No Comments

The following story speaks to the importance of being alert to changes within our organizations.  I found it awhile ago but do not have the name of the author, so my apologies for not mentioning his or her name.  If anyone knows to whom this story belongs, please let me know so I can give credit.

The Story .  . . On day one a large lake contains only a single small lily pad. Each day the number of lily pads doubles, until on the thirtieth day the lake is full of lily pads. On which day was the lake half full? The answer is the 29th day.

An astute observer would have noticed changes in the lake and could have seen a pattern. The daily doubling of lily pads should have raised some concerns. A disastrous change was coming. Consider how the lake looked on the 29th day. It was only half full. If you wanted to go swimming you could. You could go boating if you liked. There was plenty of room. Fish were plentiful and fishing was possible. The very next day disaster had struck. The lake was choked. There was no room for swimming or boating. The fish were dying. Early recognition of the doubling pattern could have enabled some action. Now it was too late. Change had struck.

Category: Resources
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This Year I Will . . .

Posted on | January 4, 2010 | No Comments

Some of you have already made New Year resolutions and some of you have not and never will.  Of the New Year resolutions I’ve heard so far, I’ve thought some to be old and tired, but some are fun and innovative!  So I jumped on the internet to see what I could find out about New Year Resolutions.  Again, some were old and tired, but some were good and very inviting. 

To begin, I learned that The Roman emperor Julius Caesar officially declared January 1 to be a New Year in 46 B.C.  It was a time to look back and a time to look forward and somewhere between then and now we added the New Year resolution. 

I found these resolutions: delegate more, plan weekly, put time on your calendar for you and drop what’s not working and move on. 

But the three resolutions I liked most were: 

  1. Learn Something New,
  2. Join a New Oganization or Networking Group, and
  3. Give Something Back to the Community. 

Think about it – Learn Something New. Granted, we learn new things every day, but how often do you plan to learn something new? 

This resolution opens up a whole new array of possibilities. You can chose to learn anything – big or small.  If you apply the resolution to work, you can learn how your organization’s call center operates or you can learn how to negotiate.  You can learn how to communicate better, mediate or problem solve.  You can learn how to manage your time better. 

If you chose to apply the resolution outside of work, the sky is the limit.  You can learn French.  You can learn how to ski, sky dive, play the piano or play chess.  You can learn about different regions of the United States or you can learn about a country in which you always thought it might be nice to live . . . 

In the process of learning something new, you may meet other people who will become good friends or who may become clients.  

I was drawn to the second resolution, Join a New Business or Networking Group because I have experienced the energy that comes from people with like minds coming together to learn from and to help one another. 

 The third resolution, Give Something Back to the Community can be a direct result of Joining a New Business or Networking Group.  These two resolutions work together in that once you become involved in a new group, the energy created may need an outlet – and the group will be sure to have many volunteer opportunities through which you can give back to the community.  

If I combine all three of these resolutions, I still come up with Learn Something New!  It is a compelling idea and I challenge you consider adding it to your New Year Resolutions; after all, it’s never too late for one more. 

If you would like to read the article that carried these resolutions, go to http://sbinfocanada.about.com/cs/management/a/bizresolutions.htm

Category: Paula Pace, leadership
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Five Years From Now

Posted on | December 1, 2009 | No Comments

What you know today is not what you will know five years from now.  That’s a given.  What isn’t a given is what you will know, how much you will know and the quality of what you will know.  Yet all three – what, how much and the quality – is up to you. 

It’s interesting that people plan their work (goals, objectives, quarterly reviews), and they plan their children’s work (school, basketball practice, scout meeting), but do people pay attention to planning what they will learn beyond what is routine?  How they will grow?  

Borrowing from my experiences and what I’ve learned from others, I’ve come up with seven steps that will have an impact on what I will know five years from now.  You can borrow them if you’d like.  Remember, being aware is the first step, what you do next is up to you. 

In looking back on my short and wonderful life, I wish I would have walked the Appalachian Trail when I lived out east. I wish I would have spent more time in Yellowstone when I lived out west.  I also wish I would have taken the time to learn more about the cities in which I trained when I was traveling extensively across the US and Canada. Sure, I picked up a lot of great information – history, geography and weather patterns (my piercing headache in Calgary was blamed on the chinook that passed through the day I arrived).  I learned a lot, but if I had planned ahead, I could have learned and experienced so much more. 

I know this because I trained for awhile with a guy from Pittsburgh who always seemed to make the most of a day.  For example, after ending our training day in a suburb of San Francisco, he suggested we figure out how to get into San Francisco to have dinner on the bay.  What sounded simple enough ended up being an excursion filled with trains, taxis and walking.  I was exhausted by the time we got back to the hotel at 2:00 a.m., yet I experienced and learned so much from walking the harbor, soaking in the atmosphere, the people and the weather.  This guy knew how to experience and learn far more than what a work day held for him.  

It’s never too late to consider the impact I have on what I will know later, and the same is true for you.  In taking inventory of my life, I first gave myself kudos for what I’ve done, what I’ve learned.  Then I did some thinking about what direction I’d like my learning to take.  If you chose to do the same, here are some steps to consider: 

  1. Take an inventory of your life.  Enjoy the process.  Forgive yourself.  Congratulate yourself.
  2. Make a list of all the things you’ve been meaning to do.  A bike ride across the state is a learning experience, so is studying French.
  3. Consider the list for a week.
  4. Circle the top three or top five things.
  5. Chose one item from your list. This is important; just choose one!  And make sure it is do-able – after all, if you live in the northern part of the country, it’s just plain torture to ride a bike across the state during January or February).
  6. Focus on it.  If it requires planning, enjoy the process.
  7. Begin.  Notice I’m not saying “do it”; I’m saying “begin”.  Just begin.  Pick up the book and read a page.  Go outside and walk around the block.  Go on line and look up the course offerings for Learning to Speak French.  Check out the websites for MBA programs.  Just begin. . . 

I have done this.  It works.  Here is an easy example of what I’ve done to be more involved in what I will know in five years. 

 I used to read quite a lot, but had gotten out of the habit, so after some consideration I circled READ as my first choice to influence what I will know in five years.  Then I went to the Library.  I walked around and around the stacks – I didn’t know where to start.  I ended up choosing two books – a novel for fun and a book on leadership.  I brought the books home and decided, since I’m a morning person, to read the leadership book in the morning and the novel at night.  Mornings were no problem – I fell into my old habit immediately and now look forward to starting my day by reading for a half hour.  Evenings were more of a problem.  I actually circled the book – I knew it would be good, I knew I would enjoy it, but I just couldn’t pick it up!  Finally, on the third evening I picked it up, sat down and read two pages.  I didn’t like it and I put it down.  Next evening I did the same thing.  I made myself read long enough to allow the book to pull me in.  That’s it!  I’m back.  I’m reading again.  So, the process works.  Try it. 

I wonder what I’ll do next. . .

Category: Paula Pace, leadership
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Optimism

Posted on | November 9, 2009 | 1 Comment

 I’m reading two different books; one is about being a better leader and the other is about being who you are.  Both claim to have the secret to a happy and rewarding life and I am enjoying the read.  Both books are extremely optimistic and it’s worth taking a look at the direction each is taking toward eternal happiness.  

The first book, which is about being a better leader, is packed with inspirational encouragement and I think the author would have made a great high school basketball coach.  The second book, about being who you are, asks the reader not to be taken in by the basketball coach approach, but rather encourages the reader to look inward for what inspires and then create your world. 

Taken together, I think the books describe motivation. 

I was inspired by the optimism in both books, so I went out on the internet to read about optimism.  In doing so, found a few quotes I thought I would share with you: 

This one, by Robert Brault, made me think: 

          “The average pencil is seven inches long, with just a half-inch eraser – in case you thought optimism was dead.” 

This one, by Muhammed Ali, made me laugh:  

          “If they can make penicillin out of moldy bread, they can sure make something out of you.” 

Others I enjoyed:

          “I’ve got my faults, but living in the past isn’t one of them.  There’s no future in it.”  (Sparky Anderson)

          “An optimist is the human personification of spring”  (Susan J. Bissonette)

          “If you realized how powerful your thoughts are, you would never think a negative thought.”   (Peace Pilgrim)                                                          

          “Don’t wait.  The time will never be just right”.  (Napoleon Hill)          

 And this one is my favorite:

          “If you are going to walk on thin ice, you might as well dance.”  (Anonymous)

Category: Paula Pace, leadership
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