Who are you? What’s your personality type? Are you Amiable, Analytical, a Driver or Expressive?

To conclude my blog, I wanted to share a video of Peter actually giving a presentation so that you could see the master himself. Instead, I stumbled across a Personality Quiz that Peter developed. If you’re wondering how this all relates to Peter Urs Bender’s insight on being an effective leader and communicator, take this 5 minute quiz. You’ll be intrigued with what you learn about yourself.

When Peter said that you must be able to relate to your audience, I think he meant that you must be able to connect to them. How best to do this depends on your personality type and those that you are trying to connect to.  Whether you are presenting to a group of people or are meeting one on one with someone, understanding their personality as well as you own will allow you to relate better to them and affect positively you’re performance and future relationship with them.

Quiz at http://www.peterursbender.com/quiz/                 

My personality type is ‘Amiable’. I’m not surprised but I never thought that understanding the personality types of others was so important.  What even surprised me more was what I need to do to better connect with people.  The article says that I need to step out of my comfort zone and become closer to the personality type that I want to connect to. Why, because “The further away you are from someone on the personality grid the more difficult it is to relate to them.” (“Understanding/Working with Others,” n.d.)

Now it all makes sense … I wish everyone the best in their pursuit of wisdom and happiness. Never give up hope on what you want to accomplish. Good Luck everyone! 

References:

About Peter Urs Bender. (n.d.). Tips for Understanding and Working with others. Retrieved from http://www.peterursbender.com/quiz/tips.html

Picture source: http://shellhouse.org/mvc/personality%20quiz-5886.html

      Peter Urs Bender died in 2005 after he lost his battle with cancer. During his lifetime, he became one of North America’s top speakers and wrote five famous books. (Guffey, Rhodes, Rogin, n.d.)These included Secrets of Power Presentations, Leadership from Within, Secrets of Power Marketing, Secrets of Face-to-Face Communication and Gutfeeling. 

      So what is Peter’s legacy? ““… to everything there is a system. If you learn the system, even a mediocre person can be successful.”” (Guffey, Rhodes, Rogin, n.d., p. 485) His work continues to leave a positive footprint on those who have listened to him speak and on those who have used his system to deliver their own presentations. Peter’s message: plan what you want to say carefully, say it in a way that relates to the audience, and practise it over and over again until you are confident on how to deliver it.  (Guffey, Rhodes, Rogin, n.d.)

Peter has inspired me because I too have a learning disability like many people in the world, and I do need to overcome my fear of public speaking as well. I know it isn’t easy, but this great man took opportunities in his life to learn more about himself and how he could improve his communication skills, even though it was difficult for him because of his dyslexia.  If Peter had not taken the Dale Carnegie course, joined a speakers’ club, or became a university professor, he probably wouldn’t have become the man he was. (Guffey, Rhodes, Rogin, n.d.)   It is amazing and uplifting for me to hear about someone like this who triumphed as a leader and a teacher. I know it is difficult, but if we take Peter’s advice and put a system in place, we too can take better control of our lives, and achieve great success.   Come on, isn’t it worth a try? What do you have to lose? I’m going to try it. What’s stopping you?

Picture Source: http://www.screwlife.com/2011/05/09/the-difference-between-a-successful-person-the-others/

References:

Guffey, M., Rhodes, K., Rogin, P. (2011). Business Communication: Process and Product. (Canadian 6th ed.)  Toronto, ON: Nelson. Chapter 14.

Moore, S. (n.d.). Peter Urs Bender: Biography of a self-taught leader. Retrieved from http://www.peterursbender.com/fullbio.html

            Did I ever mention I have a learning disability?  But why would anyone say something that personal?  In my opinion, and to others that may share the same thought, I think the world is oblivious to things that have been going around them for many years, especially when it comes to people with disabilities. To anyone who has a phobia, be it spiders, clowns, tight spaces, or socializing, you are not alone.  For those who fear public speaking, imagine for a moment that you also have a learning disability. Imagine then how debilitating you might feel when asked to make a presentation. It would be very difficult for such a person to even attempt to break their fear, as they would convince themselves that there is no point to doing something that they will likely fail at, be laughed at or ridiculed for.

The message I have to my readers is don’t be critical when listening to someone else give a presentation. Think about how others are trying to do their best.  Don’t try to put them down, and give them respect by listening and learning. Remember, life is short and it takes practice for everyone to master something.  After all, look at Peter Bender who had dyslexia. He mastered the art of presentations and became a guru in this field.

             Have you been at a presentation or lecture where people are talking, acting up and are being disrespectful? What message would you give to them, and to others who have a hard time learning and doing things in life?

Picture source: http://www.inc.com/how-to-deliver-a-speech-that-gets-a-standing-ovation.html

           So, did everyone like my story from last week?  I know everyone wants to be brave, but as soon as our fight/flight reaction kicks in, we need to get a hold of ourselves in order to neither run away, or fight (please don’t).  In order to do that, we could use stress reducing tactics such as counting to ten or more, or meditation.  Whatever helps you the most matters, as your success in life depends on you how you handle roadblocks.

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            Want to know the truth about something?  In Peter’s book, Secret of Power Presentations, he says that even highly successful people still hide their nervousness with false confidence when presented with a fearful situation (and it might be their phobia).  Whether you’re experienced or not, anyone that needs help with presentations and stress management, Peter is there for you. Peter believes that you should say something positive about yourself before you speak.  “This will be my best presentation yet.  I know more than anyone else in the group.  They need my input and everyone will benefit from what I have to say.” (Guffey, Rhodes, Rogin, n.d., p. 519)  In doing this, people will be able to convince their subconscious from taking over their thoughts with negative images or words/sounds of fear.  Afterwards, there should be nothing, at least, in your way to giving a great performance during your presentation.  (Guffey, Rhodes, Rogin, n.d.)

            I was wondering since we are on the subject of positive thinking, and stress management; What is your best strategy against anxiety and fear?  Maybe you can relate your answer to my posts on glossophobia, and other fears…………….

Picture source: http://www.personal-development-is-fun.com/positive-thoughts.html

Reference:

Guffey, M, Rhodes, K., Rogin, P. (2011). Business Communication: Process and Product. (Canadian 6th ed.)  Toronto, ON: Nelson. Chapter 14

           As I was thinking about my next blog, I read about how audiences and fans of Peter Bender always gave him great responses to his work, whether it was an interview, presentation, workshop, or one of his books.  They couldn’t get enough of Peter. They were so motivated by his words that they wanted him to keep on talking.  Peter gained his popularity because he believed in his values, followed a system, and carefully customized his message to the audience. I’d like to share with you one of my experiences.

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I’m about to give a presentation.  I walk up to the front of the room where my laptop is connected to the projector that will display my PowerPoint.  Everyone is talking.  They are loud, and very talkative.  Immediately, I am nervous; will they even be interested in my presentation? Will they be bored?  Will they try to distract me?  Can I really do this?   Then all of a sudden, I get their attention; the presentation is about to begin. My body starts to become tense and sweaty, and my brain begins to process a million thoughts a second. I know that I have to break through the conversation barrier (be the first person to start a chat with someone or begin the presentation).  Pressure is building; my throat gets stiffer.  Can I do this? Then, I focus; I know my material; I know what to say - I can remember how to react to people in my presentation; I know what to do.  Suddenly, I tune out from my “distractions”, and I begin to speak.  I am still a little bit anxious, but I clear my throat and speak more clearly. I move through my presentation; my words easily coming out of my mouth. I even add appropriate moments of humour, and use my visual aids at the right time.  The audience gives me their undivided attention, but not without moments of someone talking or taking a phone call. They are interested in what I am saying.  Then before I knew it, I was almost done; I just had to say,” Thank you for attending my presentation…..”  Everyone applauded.  My presentation was not top of the class; it could have been better, but no one showed any sign of discontentment. After that, I was able to watch everyone else’s presentations and compare mine to theirs.  I thought I did a really good job.

This is a reflection of me a couple of years ago when giving a presentation in Biology class during high school.  I may have stretched the truth a bit; other presentations appeared more entertaining than mine. I was too focused on content and a serious delivery – after all, the topic was bacteria and viruses; but I survived because somebody once told me to picture the audience in their underwear.  

Presentations are funny to me.  They make me feel like the worst teacher, researcher, or leader in the world; then I come out feeling great.  And every year, I get better and better.

I’d like to hear about your stories.  Can anyone relate to how I was feeling when giving my presentation?

References:

Guffey, M, Rhodes, K., Rogin, P. (2011). Business Communication: Process and Product. (Canadian 6th ed.)  Toronto, ON: Nelson. Chapter 14

Picture source: http://www.prlog.org/11135765-watch-ufc-124-online-free-ufc-124-live-stream-in-hd-for-free-this-saturday.html

       George Torok, a colleague of Peter, coauthored The Secrets of Power Marketing? with him. During an interview with George, he shared their system to creating a presentation about their book.

·  Analyze the purpose (i.e. what was the purpose of the presentation) – 50% of their time

·  Anticipate the audience (i.e. what did the audience need to know, how would they feel about the content and would they understand it) – 30% of their time

·  Adapt the message (i.e. create a message that the audience could relate to by making the message clear and simple to understand, don’t speak down to them, don’t be arrogant in your knowledge and don’t use technical language) – 20% of their time

What does this all mean?  To summarize Torok, this means that to create an effective presentation, you must know why you are giving a presentation and who your audience is. Once you have determined these two key components, then writing should come easy because you now have a road map on what you need to say and how you need to say it.  (Guffey, Rhodes, Rogin, n.d.)   

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At first, I didn’t agree with this message.  Why would I spend most of my time thinking about the purpose and anticipating the audience’s reaction? Isn’t it more important to figure out what you want to say? I usually jump right into writing a presentation without much thought to the audience and maybe not enough thought to the purpose. This is because I just want to get it finished. However, after thinking about this for a while, it started to make more sense.  Having a well-developed purpose and knowing who your audience is should make it easier to write. Why? As a simple example, if you’re creating a presentation to college students versus business professionals, you really have to know what the purpose of the presentation is. Is it to inform or is it to teach or is it something else? You also have to know your audience because they have different needs and different views on the subject and will have different questions and may even apply the information differently. Once you know this, it will be easier to write the presentation because your purpose will be clear and you will know what your audience needs to hear.

So the next time that you need to prepare a presentation, are you going to approach it differently? Try George’s advice and let me know how it goes for you.

      Check out this new video!  It is about John Douglas Jefferys, a well-known presentator, who demonstrates and talks about some things you can do to improve your presentation skills.  He uses humour to catch the audiences' attention, and the video displays synchronized words about presentation topics on screen to help viewers of the video follow along.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=whTwjG4ZIJg&feature=related


Reference:

Guffey, M, Rhodes, K., Rogin, P. (2011). Business Communication: Process and Product. (Canadian 6th ed.)  Toronto, ON: Nelson. Chapter14

Reflecting back about a week ago, I blogged about glossophobia, a medical condition where people are afraid of public speaking. I also mentioned that almost three out of four people have a fear of public speaking and that this fear can be even greater than the fear of death?

 While there were no completed surveys, after some thought myself, my top 3 greatest fears are heights, snakes and insects. While public speaking didn’t make my top 3, it did rank #4.

Picture source: http://samingersoll.com/category/success-skills/stage-fright/

The following links show that public speaking is ranked within the top 2 greatest fears and this fear is greater than the fear of death.

1)      Public Speaking ranked #1 and Death #7:   http://www.speaking-tips.com/Articles/Overcome-Your-Fear-of-Presenting.aspx

2)      Public Speaking ranked #2 and Death #6:   http://www.selfhelpcollective.com/top-10-fears.html

3)      Public Speaking ranked #1 and Death #7 :  http://discoveryourdestiny.blogspot.com/2004/08/top-10-fears.html
  

So tell me; was anyone surprised by the results?  Would you have guessed that your top fear may have been public speaking?  Even if that was not your fear, were you surprised by the surveys in general?  Do you think they are biased, or true because of human nature?
             

References:

Glossophobia.com. (n.d.). Do You Suffer From Glossophobia?. Retrieved from http://glossophobia.com/

Public Speaking Tips. (2004, July 12). Overcoming Your Fear of Presenting. Retrieved from http://www.speaking-tips.com/Articles/Overcome-Your-Fear-of-Presenting.aspx

SelfHelpCollective.com. (n.d.). Are These Your Top 10 Fears?. Retrieved from http://www.selfhelpcollective.com/top-10-fears//

            If Peter wanted to add extra life and clarity into your presentation, he would stress the importance of using “gestures, vocal variety, energy, and visual aids”.  (Guffey, Rhodes, Rogin, n.d., p. 513).

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            Peter has a good point.  If you are giving a presentation and speak in a monotone or robotic type voice, seem unnatural and stiff, read from a script and have no pictures or videos to help clarify your ideas, you’ll likely sound boring and your audience may fall asleep or even worse, leave. 

Gesturing means using facial or body movement to show your ideas and emotions over a subject. Vocal variety is the combination of pitch (such as looow pitch, hiiiigh pitch), tone (I’M FINE!!, This is awkward.), volume (hello; hello ), and rate of speech (This   is   the    author   of  the  book……; Thisistheauthorofthebook……;)  and is used to add energy to your words . When you use vocal variety, it shows that you are speaking from the heart.  Visual aids include posters, props or PowerPoint’s, for example, as a reference to help your audience understand what you are saying.  When these factors are used together, the audience will enjoy listening and watching to your presentation, and will likely attend another presentation of yours in the future.

Here are some great links to show you how to improve your presentation skills:

http://sixminutes.dlugan.com/toastmasters-speech-6-vocal-variety/

http://ezinearticles.com/?Giving-A-Great-Speech-7-Secrets-To-Dynamic,-Memorable-Public-Speaking&id=633728

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1H5m0S-sdQ&feature=player_embedded

Hey, if you know of any other good sites to share, please let me know.

References:

Guffey, M, Rhodes, K., Rogin, P. (2011). Business Communication: Process and Product. (Canadian 6th ed.)  Toronto, ON: Nelson. Chapter14.

write-out-loud,com. (n.d.). Quick Easy Effective Tips for Vocal Variety. Retrieved from http://www.write-out-loud.com/quickeasyeffectivetipsforvocalvariety.html

         Let’s revisit Peter again.  Peter believed that if you use a system, anything is possible. His system when communicating with audiences or people included a 5 step process.  It included planning, research, writing, updating or customizing it for the audience and most importantly, practising it over and over and over again until the delivery was just right. “Many presentations fail because people try too hard to achieve perfection in the content of their speech as opposed to spending time rehearsing the delivery of your message.”  (Guffey, Rhodes, Rogin, n.d., p. 513)

Picture source: http://www.vecteezy.com/Business/3241-Business-Presentation

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I agree with Peter that the delivery of the presentation is more important than the content.  You may know the content really well and be an expert in the subject area, but it is how you communicate it that keeps the audience interested.  If you have a monotone voice, use too many technical words that are not common to the audiences’ language and only read your PowerPoint presentation rather than speaking to them, chances are that the audience will be very bored, restless and not see you as the expert that you are.

Imagine being in a room of 40 people. Some of them are your closest friends while others are there to evaluate your performance and expertise for an upcoming conference. How would you deliver your presentation knowing who is your audience?

Reference:

Guffey, M., Rhodes, K., Rogin, P. (2011). Business Communication: Process and Product. (Canadian 6th ed.)  Toronto, ON: Nelson. Chapter 14.

Do you know that almost three out of four people have a fear of public speaking and that this fear can be even greater than the fear of death?  Glossophobia is the medical term for this condition.  Symptoms can range from intense anxiety  that comes right before you are about to speak to your audience, or when you are only thinking about doing it, to physical symptoms  that come from feeling scared (e.g. increased blood pressure that makes your heart beat really fast, nausea, stiff neck/upper back muscles are tense, sweating).  People who have an extreme fear of public speaking will even try to avoid it altogether and if possible remove themselves from the situation. ("Glossphobia," n.d.)

I believe that I am one of the 75% of people who are afraid of public speaking.  ("Glossphobia," n.d.)  You see, this blog is my research assignment for my college course at Sheridan College HMC Campus in Mississauga, Ontario.   The assignment was to either do blogging or to give a presentation. The PowerPoint presentation had to be videotaped and sent to YouTube to be evaluated by my classmates and the professor.  Well, you can see what I chose. Even though I’m scared of presentations, I don’t mind them. What I don’t like is to be filmed because I get nervous when I see myself in videos or hear my own voice over a recoding. My fear is that I won’t sound good or look good like other presenters do.  So, blogging it is, but at least I can get to try something that I never have before.

Now time for some fun!   I’d like to conduct a quick survey, and would appreciate your input. I will   reveal the results in a future blog. Here’s my question: What are your top three greatest fears?  Please post your answers in the comment section below.

In case you haven't seen the video in my first posting, take a look!


References:

Glossophobia.com. (n.d.). Do You Suffer From Glossophobia?. Retrieved from http://glossophobia.com/

Picture Source: www.ClipartOt.com/1048749

Hello everyone!  My name is Michael Fantin. I would like to tell you about a famous presenter I learned about, and provide some interesting facts about public speaking / presentations.  It has been said that the most important skill in business is communication.  So let me take you on an interesting tour of this topic, while we reflect on Peter, “Canada’s Presentation Guru” (Guffey, Rhodes, Rogin, n.d., p. 485)  Just to keep everyone up-to-date, I will be posting every few days. Enjoy!

         “My past was perfect to get me where I am today.”  “The main thing I learned was that to everything there is a system.  If you learn the system, even a mediocre person can be successful.”(Guffey, Rhodes, Rogin, n.d., p. 485) These are some of the great words of Peter Urs Bender, who was a best-selling Canadian author and international lecturer and speaker.  He believed that no matter what your past was, no matter what hardships you had, you could overcome them to achieve great success. 

Born in Basel, Switzerland on September 9^th, 1944, Peter had a difficult time in school. He often felt frustrated and believed that he was a total failure. Peter immigrated to Canada when he was 23. As an adult, when his son was diagnosed with dyslexia, he realized that he also had the same learning disability; a disability that makes reading and writing difficult.

While working at a high tech company, Peter was asked by his employer to take a Dale Carnegie course. The course helped him realize the importance of communication, presentation and overall leadership skills. Peter was so inspired that he decided to help people around the world to become better speakers. After the course, he continued to further develop his skills and, through perseverance, began teaching at Ryerson University where he made his lectures fun and easy to understand.

In 1987, Peter started a public speaking business and in 1990, he self-published his first of five books called Secrets to Power Presentations. Peter, also known as "Canada's Presentation Guru", ("Peter Urs Bender: A Canadian Self-Taught Leader", 2011, p. 485), informed, entertained, and motivated audiences all over the world.   His success came from knowing his audience, being down-to-earth, keeping his message simple and speaking the language of his audience.

Unfortunately, Peter Urs Bender died on March 7^th, 2005 after a courageous struggle with Cancer, but his legacy still lives on.

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            This article inspired me because it shows that you can achieve great things in life as long as you work hard and, follow a system. 

             Personally, I am always nervous when I have to make a presentation.  I become so overwhelmed that I start to feel warm, dizzy, sweaty, and fidgety. I even start to doubt myself. Am I going to say my material right? Is the audience going to like what I have to say? Will they be bored? Will they be hostile? Maybe I haven't prepared well enough. But, I manage through my anxiety by rehearsing my lines before I give my presentation, and I pretend the presentation is not a big deal. By doing this, I put my mind at ease, and I am better able to focus on getting through the presentation.  With a clear mind, I am also able to calm myself down and use critical thinking to adjust my presentation as I go.  This might be the system that Peter talks about.

             Whether you’re a student, employee or business owner, presentation skills are key to your success.  What challenges have you faced when giving a presentation?  

Can this be you?  You are not alone!!

Watch this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGhwrCMAFRQ                                     

References:

Guffey, M., Rhodes, K., Rogin, P. (2011). Business Communication: Process and Product. (Canadian 6th ed.)  Toronto, ON: Nelson. Chapter 14.

Moore, S. (n.d.). Peter Urs Bender: Biography of a self-taught leader. Retrieved from http://www.peterursbender.com/fullbio.html

Picture source http://www.creativekeys.net/PowerfulPresentations/article1023.html