Lothery & Associates

Sunday, March 27th, 2011

Lothery & Associates Gets Radical!

Saturday, while most people were running errands before the basketball games started, Lothery & Associates, LLC was sponsoring the Get Radical! Conference in Washington, DC.  More than 500 ambitious and upwardly mobile women attended to get pearls of wisdom from Jillian Michaels, Rhonda Britten, Niecy Nash, Ali Brown, and Doreen Rainey.  Speakers covered everything from overcoming challenges, beating procrastination, better financial planning, and of course taking care of your body and health.

 As a communication coach, I couldn’t help but watch all of the above for their information, but also their delivery and approach.  If you missed this amazing and empowering day, allow me to point out some key communication strengths they all shared.

• Use Powerful Stories: when delivering information intended to inspire a group, the use of stories and examples is always the best way to go. They grab your audience, keep them engaged, and you may even draw out some laughter or other positive feedback to let you know they’re listening and taking it all in.
• Simple PowerPoint: I talk a lot about the fact that the brain processes pictures and graphs easier and faster than text. Keep your bullets short, and use pictures as illustrations whenever possible.
• No Reading! Not one speaker looked at her PowerPoint for longer than 3 seconds at a time.  Largely, because none of them had more than five or six words on a page.  All used the PowerPoint to remind them of what was coming next, and they spoke from the heart and head. Lots of practice, and no recitation.
• Deliberate Movement: OK, not everyone got this one correct. But most did. Move if you have a reason to go from point A to point B. But not for aimless wandering.

As a sponsor, Lothery & Associates chose this event to debut our public speaking training videos.  The videos include tips like the ones listed above, plus many more, and examples of what to do and not do.  Take a look at the Prepare 2 Speak video series and see which one(s) fit your most immediate speaking need. These don’t replace in-person training, but, if you’re a beginner, think of them as the building blocks for a good foundation. If you’ve been giving presentations for a while, and feel like you’re missing the mark and don’t know why, there are some great reminders for you, as well. They’re available for download, and short enough to hold your attention, and long enough to have real substance. Just remember, you’ll probably want to watch them again over time, particularly if you have something big coming up.

 Enjoy, and may all of your communications be good ones!

 

Tags: Alli Brown, conference, DC, Doreen Rainey, Get Radical, Jillian Michaels, Karlyn Lothery, Lothery & Associates, Niecy Nash, parepare to speak, presentation, Rhonda Britten, speaking, training video, Washington

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