C OMMUNICATION M ANAGEMENT

(1)

M ^ANAGEMENT H A RVA R D

LETTER

C OMMUNICATION A N E W S L E T T E R F R O M H A R VA R D B U S I N E S S S C H O O L P U B L I S H I N G R E P R I N T C O L L E C T I O N

The Manager’s Guide to

Effective

Presentations

1 Introduction

3 Five Winning Ways to Begin a Presentation 9 Presentations and the Ancient Greeks

15 Handling Q & A: The Five Kinds of Listening

19 The Twentieth Century’s Greatest Speech—What Made It So Powerful?

23 How to Use Good Graphics to Win Your Arguments 29 Presence: How to Get It, How to Use It

35 Coping with Stagefright

41 Getting the Most from Presentation Software 45 The Ten Commandments of Presentations 49 Better Brainstorming

53 Broadway Meets Wall Street: Theatre Training for Better Business Presentations

59 Public Speaking According to the Experts Product # 7541

(2)

here’s a classic study from a few years back that asked executives what they feared most. First on the list was public speaking—before death (No. 7) and nuclear war (No. 8). Why is this personal form of communication at once so necessary and so terrifying for so many? The quick answer is precisely because it is so personal. We reveal something of ourselves when we make a presentation, and it is that fear of exposure that lies behind the prominent place of public speaking on the list. And yet it is of course necessary, because in order to move people to undertake actions great and small, leaders must reveal something of themselves, something of what they have at stake.

This collection of articles from the pages of HMCL offers time-tested tips from the experts on how to minimize your discomfort and maximize your impact when giving a presentation. You’ll be able to put these insights and practical suggestions to work immediately. Whether it is getting the most from presentation software, or beginning a presentation with sizzle, or using theatrical techniques to bring energy to your talks, you’ll find a host of useful ideas in these pages.

Good luck with your next presentation.

Nick Morgan Editor

Harvard Management Communication Letter

Introduction

The Art of Making Presentations

T

1

(3)

Five Winning Ways to Begin a Presentation

M ANAGEMENT H A RVA R D

LETTER

C OMMUNICATION A N E W S L E T T E R F R O M H A R VA R D B U S I N E S S S C H O O L P U B L I S H I N G

A R T I C L E R E P R I N T N O . C 9 8 1 2 A

3

(4)

can reliably begin a presentation with a joke that works is very small—and most of them host their own talk shows.

Why do so many speakers still attempt the near impossible? Why do they put themselves under such unnecessary pressure? The first couple of minutes in a presentation are nearly always the worst—why tempt the fates with an approach virtually guaranteed to fail?

Try this at home. Watch Jay Leno give his opening monologue on a typical night. Count the number of jokes.

Count the number that fall flat—even with the wildly pumped-up studio audience. Then ask yourself how many times you laughed. The ratio will be something like 20–10–2. The last number may be slightly higher if it’s Friday night, and you’re glad you’ve made it through another week.

The point is that good jokes are hard to find, harder still to deliver, and quick to expire. Don’t do it. Don’t tell opening jokes. Just say no to “one-liner” humor at the beginning of a presentation.

There is a better way. There is even some emerging research from the fields of neuroscience and cognition indicat- ing that the better way may be grounded in our brain structure.

Let’s begin by rephrasing the question that gets speakers into trouble in the first place. Too many speakers ask themselves, “How can I get this dull talk started with something that will show my audience I’m really a fun person?”

Instead, the question you should ask yourself is, “How can I best draw this particular audience into the subject I’m there to talk about?”

And the answer to that question is, tell a story. Well-told stories engage us from the start because they have narrative drive—we want to find out what happens. Even if we’ve heard the story before, the recognition itself can bring pleasure, especially if there’s a new twist to the tale. And if the story has a point, we can apply it to our current situations even if we’ve been told the story many times before.

But the need for stories may be even more basic than this. In his book The Literary Mind, Mark Turner, a member of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, N.J., argues that our minds work fundamentally by taking both old and new stories and projecting them on our current situations to enable us to make sense of them. Turner’s work links with others in the field of cognition to illuminate the ways in which we learn new material.

Specifically, he says, the narrative form that best fits this activity is the parable.

Take, for example, the story of the ox and the donkey. Once upon a time there was a wealthy farmer who could understand the language of animals. His ox would work all day, and come home each night, exhausted and grumpy, to the stall he shared with the donkey. The ox noted that the donkey was always well rested and fed, because the farmer never seemed to work him very hard.

Unlike the ox.

One day, the ox could stand it no longer.

“How is it that I work my hooves to the hocks every day and you just get to lie there doing nothing? It’s not fair!”

And the donkey replied, “Try this.

Tomorrow, when you’re taken out to the field, pretend to be sick. Lie down and refuse to get up, even if they beat you. Try this for a day or two, and you won’t have to work hard again.”

Unfortunately for the two animals, the farmer chanced to be listening to this conversation. Thus, when the ox seemed to get sick

the very next day, the farmer told his workers, “Go get that lazy donkey and make him do the ox’s work!”

A parable like this can be used in a

number of ways in a business context.

For example, you could use it when recognizing an unsung division. Just pick your “donkey” group with care, or leave it unspecified.

According to Turner, many of our sig- nificant mental activities follow from what we do with parables like these.

First, we’re always looking to predict the consequences of our actions and the actions and events around us. Good stories like this parable help us do that because we can take the results of the story and imagine how they would work out—in parallel situations—for ourselves.

We also evaluate events and their consequences—would we like what hap- pened to the donkey to happen to us?

Further, we plan and explain our own actions and those of others using the mental schema provided by countless stories like this one. To put it another way, we’re constantly playing out scripts in our minds that feature the same kinds of actors, actions, and attitudes that stories give us.

Five Winning Ways to Begin a Presentation

Want to catch and hold your audience’s attention?

New research shows how.

“…good jokes

are hard to find,

harder still to

deliver, and

quick to expire.”

(5)

H A R VA R D M A N A G E M E N T C O M M U N I C AT I O N L E T T E R D E C E M B E R 1 9 9 8

How does this mental map apply to the beginnings of presentations? If this is the way the mind works, speakers can best warm audiences to their messages by casting them in story form.

Here are five ways to take advantage of the inner workings of your audience’s mind. These are sure bets, when done correctly, for engaging your audience from the start and ensuring that it will stay with you to the end.

1.Tell a parable. In order to tell an engaging parable, you need to know two things. First, what is the underlying emotion you are trying to evoke in your audience? Second, what is the key deci-

sion point or dilemma you want your audience to consider? You can then choose a parable that will relate well to both topic and audience.

To pick a simple example, let’s say you are running a start-up company, and some of the workers are losing hope because it’s year two and there’s no sign of profitability on the horizon. You want to rally the troops. You need to persuade them to hang in there for the long haul, and to endure the trying conditions of 140-hour workweeks and lousy pizza for another year at least.

The underlying emotion, then, is frustration, and the decision point is whether to give up the pursuit or not.

An appropriate parable, then, is one like the tortoise and the hare from Aesop’s Fables.

If the only parable you can come up with seems too trite to engage your audience, dress it up by customizing it for your particular group. So it becomes the AARP tortoise and the HMO hare, for example. You can liven it up further with some key details that relate to the current situation that will amuse and interest your listeners. The point is that the audience will enjoy the old tale re-told with fresh details.

In addition to Aesop’s Fables, folk tales from a variety of traditions are good

6

Five Winning Ways, continued

Art Buchwald Speaks to Law Graduates—on May 7, 1977, Buchwald delivered the commencement day address at Catholic University’s Columbus School of Law, in Washington, D.C. After a few words of thanks, Buchwald began his speech as follows:

“I am no stranger to the bar. I first became interested in the law when I was working in Paris for the Herald Tribune, and I covered a trial which had to do with a couple caught in a very compromising situation in a Volkswagen. Now, everyone in France was interested in the case because it had to do with such a small car. The defense lawyer argued that it was impossible to do what the couple had been accused of doing in a Volkswagen. The judge said he didn’t know if this was true or not, so he appointed a commission to study it. It took them six months to render their verdict, and they said, ‘It was possible but very difficult.’”

Salman Rushdie Addresses Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism—on December 11, 1991, author Rushdie came out of hiding long enough to address the assembled dignitaries at a dinner honoring the two-hun- dredth anniversary of the First Amendment. Note how Rushdie uses his parable as a way to create sympathy for his plight, threatened as he was by the Ayatollah Khomeini’s death sentence for blasphemy.

“A hot-air balloon drifts slowly over a bottomless chasm, carrying several passengers. A leak develops; the balloon starts losing height. The pit, a dark yawn, comes closer.

Good grief! The wounded balloon can bear just one passen- ger to safety; the many must be sacrificed to save the one!

But who should live, who should die? And who could make such a choice?

“In point of fact, debating societies everywhere regularly make such choices without qualms, for of course what I’ve described is the given situation of that evergreen favorite, the balloon debate, in which, as the speakers argue over the relative merits and demerits of the well-known figures they have placed in disaster’s mouth, the assembled company blithely accepts the faintly unpleasant idea that a human being’s right to life is increased or diminished by his or her virtues or vices—that we may be born equal but thereafter our lives weigh differently in the scales.

“It’s only make-believe, after all. And while it may not be very nice, it does reflect how people actually think.

“I have now spent over a thousand days in just such a balloon; but, alas, this isn’t a game.”

Memorable Beginnings: How a few great

speakers started their presentations.

(6)

H A R VA R D M A N A G E M E N T C O M M U N I C AT I O N L E T T E R D E C E M B E R 1 9 9 8 7 sources of parables. Religious tradi-

tions, depending on the audience, can be another good source. And there are a host of modern parables in collections specifically selected by subject matter and type of audience.

2.Tell a personal anecdote about how you got engaged in the particular topic. It can even be funny. The more prestigious the speaker is for particular audiences, the more charming they will find this opening gambit. A CEO can tell his employees about how he was playing video games with his kids one night when the phone rang. He picked up the phone, and it was Jane, the senior vice president, on the line. “Why Five Winning Ways, continued

are you calling me on a Friday night?”

the CEO asked. “I’m in the middle of a video game.” “Well,” responded the SVP, “Then I’ve got good news and bad news. The good news is that the new product launch is wildly successful.

The bad news is that you just lost your video game.”

That was a joke. If you didn’t laugh, we’ve proven our point about how difficult humor is to do well. If you did laugh, your day just got a little better.

Personal anecdotes work well provided the detail is relevant and the point of the story doesn’t get lost in the trivia. It takes tact to include enough personal detail to bring the story to life but not

enough to kill your audience. Since people are rarely as interested in the minutiae of your own life as you are, err on the side of caution.

3.Ask a question that either surfaces the underlying emotion you wish to evoke or begins the overall story that you wish to tell. The classic example of this is the campaign question presidential candidate Ronald Reagan asked his audiences again and again when he was running against President Carter: “Are you better off than you were four years ago?” That question accomplished both tasks; it brought up the frustration vot- ers were feeling after several years of

“stagflation,” and it allowed Reagan to

Winston Churchill Speaks to Parliament—on May 13, 1940, Winston Churchill addressed Parliament as the new prime minister, responsible for a country that was late in readying itself to defend against the Nazi menace. Note how he puts his listeners right in the middle of the situation; his eloquence grows ultimately out of the simple, straightfor- ward narrative with which he begins:

“On Friday evening last I received from His Majesty the mission to form a new administration.

“It was the evident will of Parliament and the nation that this should be conceived on the broadest possible basis and that it should include all parties.

“I have already completed the most important part of this task. A war cabinet has been formed of five members, repre- senting, with the Labour, Opposition, and Liberals, the unity of the nation.

“It was necessary that this should be done in one single day on account of the extreme urgency and rigor of events.

“…I now invite the House by a resolution to record its approval of the steps taken and declare its confidence in the new government.

“…I say to the House as I said to ministers who have joined

this government, I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears, and sweat. We have before us an ordeal of the most grievous kind. We have before us many, many months of struggle and suffering.

“You ask, what is our policy? I say it is to wage war by land, sea, and air. War with all our might and with all the strength God has given us, and to wage war against a mon- strous tyranny never surpassed in the dark and lamentable catalogue of human crime. That is our policy.

“You ask, what is our aim? I can answer in one word. It is victory. Victory at all costs—victory in spite of all terrors—victory, however long and hard the road may be, for without victory there is no survival.

“Let that be realized. No survival for the British Empire, no survival for all that the British Empire has stood for, no survival for the urge, the impulse of the ages, that mankind shall move forward toward his goal.

“I take up my task in buoyancy and hope. I feel sure that our cause will not be suffered to fail among men.

“I feel entitled at this juncture, at this time, to claim the aid of all and to say, ‘Come then, let us go forward together with our united strength.’”

(7)

H A R VA R D M A N A G E M E N T C O M M U N I C AT I O N L E T T E R N O V E M B E R 1 9 9 9

begin the story he wished to tell, about the bright future he was going to bring America if elected.

4.Tell a bit of a story from a classic movie or a popular TV show. Film is the medium that affects the widest possible audience in our culture today. TV runs a close second. Both are filled with parables that relate to current situations. So why not borrow their power and appeal? You need to tell enough of the story so that anyone who hasn’t seen the movie or the show can figure out what you’re talking about, but not so much that you give away an ending, or lose your listeners in the trivia. Once again, the point is that your short story has to relate organically to the subject of your talk.

5.Play a scenario game that contains the elements of your broader story.

This one is for experienced presenters only, but it can be the most energizing for the listeners because it gets them to do something active. A game is a form of participatory parable with fixed rules governing the beginning, middle, and

end. So, for example, if you’re giving a talk about the ubiquity of the Internet, set up several computers in the room and offer a prize to the first person or team that can find a particular bit of information using the Internet.

Each of these opening gambits uses elements of storytelling and parable that respect the way your audience’s minds work and uses that knowledge to engage the audience in compelling and entertaining ways.

Further Reading:

Aesop’s Fables, illustrated by Charles Santore (1997,Random House,$20.00, Tel.800-726-0600 or 212-572-6117) Bright Air,Brilliant Fire:On the Matter of the Mind by Gerald M.Edelman (1993,Basic Books,304 pp.,$18.00,

Tel.800-242-7737 or 212-207-7000) Descartes’Error:Emotion,Reason,and the Human Brain

by Antonio Damasio (1995,Avon Books,

$13.50,Tel.800-223-0690)

How to Write and Give a Good Speech:A Practical Guide for Executives,PR People,Managers,Fund-Raisers,Politicians, Educators,and Anyone Who Has to Make Every Word Count

by Joan Detz (1992,St.Martin’s Press,204 pp.,$9.95, Tel.800-288-2131 or 212-674-5151) Lend Me Your Ears:Great Speeches in History edited by William Safire (1997,W.W.Norton,

1056 pp.,$39.95,Tel.800-233-4830) The Literary Mind by Mark Turner (1996,Oxford University Press,208 pp.,$13.95,Tel.800-451-7556 or 212-726-6000)

The Presentations Kit:10 Steps for Selling Your Ideas by Claudyne Wilder (1994,John Wiley & Sons,288 pp.,

$17.95,Tel.800-225-5945 or 212-850-6000) Searching for Memory:The Brain,the Mind,and the Past by Daniel L.Schacter (1997,HarperCollins,398 pp.,$14.00,

Tel.800-242-7737 or 212-207-7000)

Web sites:

Two practitioner Web sites are:

www.joandetz.com and www.speechwriting.com.

Both will help you write those speeches for which you want an expert touch.

Another Web resource is www.executive-speaker.com.

This site is both a clearinghouse and a library containing more than 5,700 executive speeches, indexed and cross-referenced by keyword and subject.

In addition,the site has links to speech writers and to newsletters specializing in speechmaking.

8

Five Winning Ways, continued

(8)

Presentations and the Ancient Greeks

M ANAGEMENT H A RVA R D

LETTER

C OMMUNICATION A N E W S L E T T E R F R O M H A R VA R D B U S I N E S S S C H O O L P U B L I S H I N G

A R T I C L E R E P R I N T N O . C 9 9 0 1 C

9

(9)

How many of you think that the United States of America is the most litigious society in the world, ever, bar none?

Most of you. Thank you. You can put your hands down now.

The shocking truth is that most of you are wrong. There was one society on the face of the earth that was more litigious than America is today: the ancient Greeks. They invented litigation.

Why?

The Greeks believed, as do many of us moderns, that “man’s capacity for justice makes democracy possible, but man’s inclination to injustice makes democracy necessary.” The Athenians began the democratic experiment and quickly realized that in the absence of a king, a legal system was needed to restrain their fellow citizens. They further believed that it was important for litigation-minded citizens to argue their own cases in the courts.

Then,the Greeks invented lawyers

It wasn’t until later on that they invented the next great idea: lawyers. Litigation is even more fun if someone else has to do the hard work of arguing your case.Thus, out of the concept of a democratic legal system was born the art of public speaking. And the Greeks quickly developed theories and meth- ods for speaking well in public.

Indeed, the Greek outline for a persuasive speech, though little understood or used today, has never been significantly improved upon. It is the chief insight the Greeks have to offer that can still

significantly strengthen your presentations today, 2,500 years later.

We apparently have the Greek writer Corax to thank for the first formulation of the persuasive speech outline, in his Techne, of 500 B C, essentially an instruction manual for speaking in court. The work is lost, but tradition has it that Corax, and the Greeks who followed him, offered a five-part structure for public speaking: introduction, narrative, argument, refutation, conclusion.

Begin with an introduction

First, they said, you need to introduce your topic. The Greeks believed that the purpose of an introduction was to prepare your audience to hear your speech favorably. They were most emphatically not believers in the oft- taught idea that you start by telling your audience what you are going to say, then say it, and then tell them what you said. The Greeks believed, as countless audiences have since found, that such an approach is boring. It’s the approach still taught in the U. S. Army as stan- dard issue, so you know it must be as exciting as camouflage pants. Audi- ences quickly figure out what you’re up to, and they listen to one of the three parts of the presentation. You’re left talking to glazed eyes during the other two parts.

How do you prepare your audience?

The Greeks offered a number of strategies.

Who? Talk about the audience. You can never go wrong complimenting the audience. Like the residents of Lake Wobegon, most of us firmly believe that we are above-average, and

we rarely mind having our superiority confirmed.

Who? Talk about the previous speaker. If your talk is one of a series, refer to a previous one that made a deep impression on the audience. “Jane moved us all with her eloquent appeal to the core values of this company.

Now, I’d like to talk to you about a subject I feel as strongly about as Jane feels about company values:

cost accounting.”

What? Talk about the event. Drawing the participants’ attention to something that is special or unique about the event heightens their interest and gives them a happy sense that the occasion is an important one. They’ll listen more closely as a result.

When? Talk about a moment in history. If you can put the time and date of the presentation into an historical context, the audience will derive a greater sense of purpose and gravity than it otherwise would. “Just over sev- enty years ago, the first bubblegum found its way into the mouths of eager Americans. Today, as I contemplate that proud legacy, I thank God I’m a dentist.”

Where? Talk about the place. The hall, or the town, or the state, or even the country where the presentation takes place is grist for the introductory mill. “This little town, a town that 200 hundred years ago witnessed the first American stirrings toward freedom and the establishment of a new, democratic country, is today the proud site of the new Greater Lexington Patriot Shop- ping Mall.”

Why? Talk about the point of the speech. It is your privilege as the speaker to frame the topic, to create the context for the conversation. Use this to subtly steer the audience away from topics you don’t want to discuss, or to refocus the audience on topics you are comfortable with. “We’re here today to talk about our company’s profit profile over the last couple of quarters.

Presentations and the Ancient Greeks:

How Their Insights Can Improve Your Speaking Today

(10)

H A R VA R D M A N A G E M E N T C O M M U N I C AT I O N L E T T E R J A N U A R Y 1 9 9 9

Frankly, it’s not very good. But what really lies at the heart of the profit issue is customer satisfaction, and I’d like to spend a little time addressing that.”

Then hit ‘em with the narrative

The essence of the narrative is a story.

Here you must get to the heart of the matter, whether it involves something you want your listeners to do, something you wish to persuade them of, or something you want to tell them about.

Here’s where you tell the shocking facts of your neighbor’s dastardly attempt to put you in the wrong by actually placing “a window, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, right in the path of my son’s baseball.” If you don’t find yourself phrasing what you have to say in terms of a story, you need to rethink the material.

Put the essence of your communication into a story of your devising, one that relates the facts in the way you wish your audience to understand them.

Next,the argument

Here’s where you present the proofs, or supporting logic for your point. This section is probably the most important part of the speech for bringing your audience around to your point of view.

Remember that audiences can recall very little of what they hear, so keep your factual evidence to the necessary minimum, and your main arguments to three or four at most. More than that will actually weaken your case, because your audience will become exasperated with you, and begin to believe that you are trying to bolster a weak argument with every point you can think of.

It is helpful to provide transitional comments throughout this section in order to help guide your audience through your arguments. “There are three reasons for the great increase in

the consumption of junk food today.…The first is the time poverty we are all experiencing as we rush from work to errand and back to work.…The second is the breakup of the family with the increase in divorce.…And the final reason is the enormous popularity of The Simpsons. Yes, ladies and gen- tlemen, I believe we owe our recent success here at Junk Food Heaven to Homer Simpson, that proud consumer of everything trashy.”

Don’t forget the refutation

In the fourth section of the Greek speech model, you anticipate the objec- tions to your argument. This section is particularly important when the subject is controversial. You must give a real hearing to opposing points of view, even if you subsequently demolish them with brilliant rhetoric. Failure to do so will cause your audience to com- plain that you never even considered the opposition. The more explosive the topic, the more impor-tant it is to state your opponents’ points of view and to do so early in the refutation.

You can handle the section in three ways. You can answer anticipated rebuttals to your own arguments. You can take the opportunity to rehearse and reject opponents’ arguments.

Again, this tactic is essential for highly controversial topics. Or you can mix the two approaches.

Finally,the finale

The conclusion should focus not on summing up your arguments or your speech, but rather on an appeal to the listeners for their understanding, their action, their approval—whatever it is you want them to do or think as a result of hearing your talk. The Greeks were very clear that a summary was not wanted here. Don’t fall into the trap of telling your audience what you said. Your audi-

ence won’t listen and will leave bored and vaguely irritated with you. Since audiences tend to remember the last thing they’ve heard, summing up is a sure-fire way to kill any enthusiasm your presentation may have generated.

Remember Corax?

Armed with the Greek model, you are ready to take on any presentation—or even lawsuit—that the modern age can throw your way. Corax apparently took his own advice, and ended up in court.

A teacher of rhetoric, he guaranteed results if his pupils used his Techne and took his course to the end. One of his students, Tisias,

was unhappy with the results and refused to pay. Corax took him to court.

Corax’s argument was inge- nious. If he won, naturally Tisias should pay. But if he lost, Tisias should still pay,

because if he could beat the master, he must have been taught well.

On the other hand, Tisias argued that he should not have to pay in either case, for the reverse of Corax’s reasons.

The court, furious at the machinations of these two wily rhetoricians, threw the case out, with the legendary judg- ment: “bad crow, bad eggs.” Corax is the Greek word for “crow,” and the bad egg was, of course, Tisias.

Thus, in his own experience, Corax laid an egg. But his enduring legacy is far more useful, and presenters can still use the outline developed by him and the Greek tradition to create compelling presentations today.

12

Ancient Greeks, continued

The essence

of the

narrative is

a story. Here,

you must get

to the heart

of the matter.

(11)

The Ancient Greeks Define Good Rhetoric

The ancient Greeks were masters not only of presentation rhetoric but also of language. Their insights into how language can be used and abused are still relevant today. They identified many rhetorical devices that we still employ in our speeches—and some that we don’t use as often as we could. Following is a sample.

Parallelism Parallel construction is especially useful in presentations because the repetition of language structure helps audiences hear and remember what we have to say. Consider Churchill’s speech on Dunkirk to the House of Com- mons, June 4, 1940: “We shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end. We shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our is- land, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender.”

Triads The Greeks noticed early on that people are attracted to lists of three items. Call it the “Fairy Tale Rule of Threes” or simply a triad, a group of three seems to our minds complete and satisfying. No one is quite sure why.

The end of Martin Luther King’s famous “I have a dream” speech (August 23, 1963) illustrates the point: “When we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, ‘Free at last! Free at last!

Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!’”

Antithesis Antithesis is unfortunately underused today. Yet it is a particularly elegant form of expression, and one which people remember vividly. Con- sider the ending of President Kennedy’s Inaugural address, January 20, 1961 (the entire speech is laced with antithesis, but the ending has particular po- tency because it talks directly to the audience): “And so, my fellow Ameri- cans, ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.”

Rhetorical Question Rhetorical questions draw listeners in to your topic, because they call for answers, even if they are not uttered out loud. Consider the per- oration of Patrick Henry’s famous speech of March 23, 1775, a speech that lit- erally ignited a revolution as the Virginia delegates assembled that day voted after hearing it to join the patriot cause: “It is in vain, sir, to extenuate the matter. Gentlemen may cry, ‘Peace! Peace!’—but there is no peace. The war is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery?

Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty, or give me death!”

H A R VA R D M A N A G E M E N T C O M M U N I C AT I O N L E T T E R J A N U A R Y 1 9 9 9 13

Further Reading:

Classical Communication for the Contemporary Communicator by Halford R.Ryan (1992,MayfieId

Publishing,244 pp.,$35.95,Tel.800-433-1279) Lend Me Your Ears:Great Speeches in History edited by William Safire (1997,W.W.Norton,

1,056 pp.,$39.95,Tel.800-233-4830)

Classical Rhetoric for the Modern Student by Edward P.J.Corbett and Robert J.Connors

(1998,Oxford University Press,578 pp.,

$35.00,Tel.800-451-7556) All the Presidents’Words:The Bully Pulpit and the Creation of the Virtual Presidency by Carol Gelderman (1997,Walker & Co.,224 pp.,

$23.00,Tel.212-727-8300) Ancient Greeks, continued

(12)

Handling Q&A:

The Five Kinds of Listening

M ANAGEMENT H A RVA R D

LETTER

C OMMUNICATION A N E W S L E T T E R F R O M H A R VA R D B U S I N E S S S C H O O L P U B L I S H I N G

15

(13)

ening part of the presentation is the unscripted part: the question and answer session at the end. While some thrive on the improvisatory challenge, others fear the nightmare possibilities.

What if someone asks you a question you can’t answer? What if someone turns hostile? What if someone wipes out the memory of all your hard work by monopolizing the Q&A with a long disquisition on some other topic?

We’ll give you specific suggestions for each of those situations, but first let’s consider the reason you gave the speech in the first place. Most likely, you were asked to speak to a particular audience. You wrestled with the topic, did your homework, calmed your nerves as best you could, and set off to find the podium. So far, it’s all been about you. But as soon as you arrive in the room to face the crowd, something changes. The speech is no longer about you. It’s about them. Once the speech starts, you need your listeners more than they need you. Without them, it’s just a rehearsal.

Fast forward to the end of the talk.

It’s time for Q&A. Now, you’ll find out how well you did. Did you in fact communicate?

The only way to know is to listen. Han- dling Q&A successfully depends on good listening. Good listening is a skill that can be developed, and one that is poorly understood by most speakers.

There are five levels of listening: feedback, paraphrasing, clarification, empathy, and active listening. Most of us are adept only at the first level.

Developing your skills at the other levels will greatly increase the comfort and ease with which you handle question-and-answer time.

Giving feedback

Feedback is fundamentally a reaction.

The other person says something, and you say something back, giving your attitude toward or evaluation of what was said.

You’re a senior manager, and you are responsible for developing a new software product that is late to market and way over budget. You’ve been asked to rally the troops and give them some hope, a way forward, assurance that the proverbial light at the end of the beta- version tunnel isn’t the Microsoft train.

You finish your talk with some stirring words about pioneers and landing on the moon that you hope didn’t sound too goofy under the circumstances, and it’s time for Q&A. The first question comes from a quiet looking guy in the back.

“Forgive my skepticism, but why should we believe you when we’ve been hearing similar stuff from senior management for months now, when what we really need is more help, more support, and a whole heck of a lot less red tape?”

It’s the question you most feared. You begin to think that you made no progress whatever with these people.

All your work was for nothing. You take a deep breath, and respond.

“Like I said, we’re committed to getting you more people. We’re frankly struggling to hire as many people as we need. We can use your help—tell your friends. As for the rest of it, we just don’t have more money to throw at the project now. And we’d like to think we’ve gotten as much of the bureaucracy out of the way as we can. After all, we set you up in a separate building to get away from the stuff that goes on around here. Next question?”

It’s a response. On the surface, it’s an unexceptionable one. After all, it responds to each of the points raised by the questioner. And yet, it will do little to deal with the attitude the questioner has, and he’s probably not alone. Could you have done more?

Paraphrasing the question

At the second level of listening, you paraphrase the question, mirroring questioner’s points. Let’s look at how that works in the example.

“So what you’re saying is you think that I’m just giving the party line, when what you really need is more help and less bureaucracy, is that right?”

See what happens? The questioner’s likely response is “yes.” From the start, you have him agreeing with you. You can then go on to give your feedback, as above, but at least you have created a more receptive listener, because you’ve got him nodding at your paraphrase of his question. But there are even better ways to respond.

Clarifying the issues

The third level of listening involves working a little harder with the questioner’s words to identify his real con- cerns. Let’s see how that would work here.

“So what I hear you saying is that you’ve got two main problems you want help on: not enough people, and too much bureaucracy. The first is probably the most important. Is that right?”

Once again, you’ve established a level of agreement with the questioner. By clarifying, however, you’ve gone one step further. You’ve shown the audience that you can think on your feet and that you’re trying to sort out the vital issues as you go. You keep better control of the Q&A session in this way. More- over, if you get agreement, you’ve actually helped the audience do its thinking. It’s hard to remember information presented orally. Audiences

Handling Q&A:

The Five Kinds of Listening

(14)

H A R VA R D M A N A G E M E N T C O M M U N I C AT I O N L E T T E R F E B R U A R Y 1 9 9 9

appreciate it when longer points are accurately summarized.

Empathetic listening

The fourth level, listening with empathy, means showing that you understand the feelings of the questioner. The empathetic listener finds similar emotions within his or her own experience and shares them with the questioner.

Let’s see how that would work in this example.

“You know, I’ve been there, too. Don’t forget I worked in a start-up in ’92, one that was strapped for people and drowning in red tape too. I know what you’re going through.”

Empathy has the inestimable advantage over the first three levels of listening in that it shows the other person that you understand his situation. Even if you can’t offer much help, at least you’ve aligned yourself with the questioner.

That in itself can go a long way to defusing hostile questions and reassur- ing nervous audience members.

The danger with empathy is that your own expression of solidarity can over- whelm the questioner’s words. He may end up feeling upstaged. Take care that your empathetic response doesn’t last longer than the question that triggered it, or your answer may sound insincere.

The fifth and final level of listening avoids this trap.

Active listening

With active listening, you identify the underlying emotions in the questioner’s words. This is potentially the most powerful listening response, because it is usually emotion behind the phrases that prompted the question in the first place.

When you respond to the real reason that the questioner spoke up, you get to the heart of the issue—even if you never provide any concrete answer. Let’s see what the active listener would say in our example.

“It sounds like you feel really alone out there, without much support. You’re

18

Handling Q & A, continued

Good listening involves seeing as well as hearing. Nonverbal communica- tions often can tip you off about the real issues involved in workplace dia- logue. Here are four quick tests of how the nonverbal “conversation” is going.

Always remember that “body language” is multi-determined; crossed arms can mean defensiveness or simply that the person is chilly. You must always know the person and the context to evaluate nonverbal communication.

Is the body language open or closed? Are the arms unfolded or crossed? Is the person with whom you’re talking turned toward you or away from you? Are the hands visible?

These are signs of degrees of openness.

Is the body language engaged or disengaged? People who are engaged

in discussions tend to find ways to move closer to one another. The oppo- site movement can mean disengage- ment.

Is the body language allied or opposed? People who are allied in opinion or loyalty tend to adopt the same body position in conversation.

Look for the person who moves at the same time you do, ending up in a similar position.

Is the body language committed or uncommitted? The sum of the other three add up to commitment. If you seen signs of openness, engagement, and allied behavior, you may be ready to close the deal. Evidence to the con- trary indicates reservations, and it may be a good idea to try to explore the areas of resistance in order to deal with them verbally.

Are you a good listener?

frustrated because you’re putting in all this hard work, and all you feel you get back from us is red tape. Is that it?”

Here, if you’ve listened accurately, you’re likely to get a truly heartfelt

“yes!” from the questioner, and often from other members of the audience.

By accurately identifying the emo- tional state of the questioner, you’ve validated the aspects of his mental state that are most important to him. You’ve not only aligned yourself with the questioner, but you’ve also allowed true healing to begin. By labeling emotions that are not usually acknowledged, you’ve brought them out into the open air and created the conditions for them to be dealt with positively. Active listening incorporates empathy, but goes beyond it. You don’t have to use such attention with every question, but it is almost always helpful.

What do you do if someone asks a question you can’t answer? Be honest in your response. Tell the questioner you don’t know the answer, but you’d be happy to find out. Or turn the ques-

tion back to the audience, asking for their input.

What do you do if someone turns hostile? Use active listening to acknowledge the anger. Find out the reasons for it. Acknowledge the valid ones and reject the ones that are not accurate.

Then, politely and firmly, move on.

How do you prevent someone from monopolizing the Q&A period? If the question looks like it will go on longer than a minute, interrupt politely with

“excuse me, but we’re almost out of time, and out of concern for other members of the audience who have questions, let me stop you there and answer as best I can.” Or, “Since we’re almost out of time, I’d be happy to take your question off-line to give it the time it needs.”

The best answers come from good listening. Successful handling of Q&A begins with a speaker who realizes that a presentation belongs to its audience.

(15)

The Twentieth Century’s Greatest Speech—What

Made It So Powerful?

M ANAGEMENT H A RVA R D

LETTER

C OMMUNICATION A N E W S L E T T E R F R O M H A R VA R D B U S I N E S S S C H O O L P U B L I S H I N G

A R T I C L E R E P R I N T N O . C 9 9 0 3 D

19

(16)

often called the greatest speech of the twentieth century on a sweltering day in August 1963, before a huge crowd spread across the Mall in Washington, D.C. What made the speech so great? A quick look at Reverend King’s tech- nique yields some insights that can improve your public presentations, too—even if your audience is less than half a million people and your venue less imposing than our nation’s capital.

1 King made it conversational. Many people have heard of the “I Have a Dream” speech. But few know that the speech (and the audience) really came alive about half way through King’s prepared text when, sensing that he was not reaching his audience as he wanted to, King actually began speaking extemporaneously. He put down the prepared speech, looked directly at the audience, and spoke from the heart.

The result was electric. Studying the film of the speech shows that the audience began to respond shortly thereafter, shouting their approval of phrase after phrase, culminating in the unfor- gettable roar that greeted King’s final lines: “Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!”

2 King made artful use of repetition.

Drawing upon his background as a Baptist preacher, King structured the ad-libbed portion of his speech by stat- ing a new thought, and then elaborating on it. Next he would repeat the original phrase, and elaborate some more. The resulting repetition helped both the speaker and the audience keep track of where he was. The open-ended nature

of this structure allowed King to work a phrase until he had exhausted it, and then move on, without confusing the audience. “I say to you today, my friends, that in spite of the difficulties and frustrations of the moment I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self- evident; that all men are created equal.’

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood. I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a desert state sweltering {in} the heat of injustice and oppres- sion, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice. I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today.” Contrast this fluidity with the more formal opening of the speech, where King uses an extended metaphor—“a promissory note”—that is more compelling on paper than in presentation mode. “When the archi- tects of our republic wrote the magnifi- cent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir.”

3 King used familiar language known to every American. As King warmed to his task, he quoted Biblical phrases and national songs well-known to his listeners. Then he elaborated

upon those references and made them relevant to his theme of working toward racial equality and harmony. By refer- ring to well-known material, he brought his audience along with him, allowing them better to grasp his theme when he connected that to the familiar lore. “This will be the day when all of God’s children will be able to sing with new meaning ‘My country ‘tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing.

Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim’s pride, from every mountain- side, let freedom ring.’And if America is to become a great nation this must become true.”

4 King let his audience know exactly where he stood. The most frequently missed opportunity in business presentations today is the presenter telling the audience how she feels about the topic.

What do you care about? Why? What is important to you about the topic?

Audiences very much want to know the answers to those questions, because they help listeners know what’s essential to take away from the talk.

King left his audience in no doubt about his feelings. Charisma comes from passion about the topic, appropri- ately expressed, and King excelled here. “This is our hope. This is the faith with which I return to the South. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.” It is said of the audience that was privileged to hear this great speech that even the FBI informants among the listeners were impressed with King’s power and sincerity.

Further Reading

Lend Me Your Ears:Great Speeches in History edited by William Safire (1997,W.W.Norton & Company,

1056 pp.,$39.95,Tel.800-233-4830)

The Twentieth Century’s Greatest Speech—What

Made It So Powerful?

How Martin Luther King, Jr. won over the audience

with his “I Have a Dream” oration

(17)

How to Use Good Graphics to Win Your Arguments

BY BOB BUDAY AND CATHERINE FLYNN

M ANAGEMENT H A RVA R D

LETTER

C OMMUNICATION A N E W S L E T T E R F R O M H A R VA R D B U S I N E S S S C H O O L P U B L I S H I N G

A R T I C L E R E P R I N T N O . C 9 9 0 4 B

23

(18)

had a hunch that cholera was spread by contaminated water. During an epidemic in London, Snow conducted painstaking research on the cholera victims. Convinced his hypothesis was correct, Snow plotted the number of deaths by location on a map, which showed the heaviest concentration of deaths around the Broad Street water pump (see below). He presented his map to the local authorities, who removed the pump handle. While the cholera outbreak was already in decline, Snow helped prevent future

deaths by discovering how the disease spread and making his case through effective graphics.

Skip forward 132 years, to January 1986, when engineers at defense con- tractor Morton-Thiokol had a hunch that the space shuttle Challenger should not be launched because the cold weather might cause failure of the O-rings that helped seal joints on the rocket motors. To argue their point, they faxed 13 charts to NASA. How- ever, according to informational graphics expert and Yale professor Edward R.

Tufte, not one made a clear enough connection between cold temperatures and O-ring failures. The NASA decision makers were not convinced. The space shuttle was launched, and the O-rings failed, resulting in the Chal- lenger’s explosion and the deaths of seven astronauts. Contrast that failure to act with the hue and cry that followed physicist Richard Feynman’s simple demonstration of O-ring failure.

During the inquiry by the presidential commission, Feynman electrified the country by tightening a clamp onto an O-ring and submerging it in a glass of ice water. When the clamp was removed, the O-ring showed a lack of resilience—the rubber did not spring back into shape. The picture of the O-ring in the glass was splashed across the media for weeks, and became the image that represented NASA’s incom- petence and bureaucratic bloat—and ultimate responsibility for the tragic death of the astronauts.

However, while Feynman’s experiment effectively demonstrated O-ring failure, it was as deeply flawed as the charts faxed to NASA. It lacked a control in which a second O-ring was clamped in a glass of warm water. “When reason- ing about causality,” Tufte writes in his latest book, Visual Explanations:

Images and Quantities, Evidence and Narrative, “variations in the cause must be explicitly and measurably linked to variations in the effect.”

Effective charts and pictures can be powerful tools for making effective arguments in any profession—as long as data is presented with both force and integrity.

“There are displays that reveal the truth and those that do not,” writes Tufte in Visual Explanations. “And, if the matter is an important one, then getting the displays of evidence right or wrong can possibly have momentous consequences.”

Tufte offers good advice for anyone planning to use charts, graphs, and

How to Use Good Graphics to Win Your Arguments

Good graphics demonstrate—they don’t distort—

the facts. Some advice from Edward Tufte, the guru of visual information.

Edward R.Tufte,The Visual Display of Quantitative Information(Cheshire,Connecticut:Graphics Press,1983)

British physician John Snow’s charting of an 1854 cholera epidemic.

(19)

H A R VA R D M A N A G E M E N T C O M M U N I C AT I O N L E T T E R A P R I L 1 9 9 9

other visual information to enhance a presentation, spruce up a memo, dress up an article for publication, or bolster some other type of business communi- cations. His books offer a wealth of ideas and incisive looks at graphics—

good and bad, ancient and modern.

These include Charles Minard’s chill- ing map showing the decimation of

Napoleon’s army as it marched across Russia (see above). The map, which Tufte believes may be the best statisti- cal graphic ever drawn, shows a line that narrows in proportion to the thin- ning of the troops. It also plots the bone-numbing temperatures of the march day by day, showing the weather’s toll on Napoleon’s men.

Yet many graphics fail to have such impact. While today’s personal computer software packages, with their do- it-yourself graphics and programs to manipulate images, have put graphics capabilities into many people’s hands, these capabilities are often misused.

The ability to distort data and pictures via computer has created “new oppor- tunities for mischief,” explains Tufte.

“Arbitrary, transient, one-sided, frac- tured, undocumented materials have become the great predicament of image making and processing,” he writes.

Another of Tufte’s pet peeves, the over-

head projector, is a staple in business presentations. He eschews the machine because it forces viewers to refer to the information presented in a previous slide. When people rely upon “the dreaded overhead projector” or long- winded discussions, their audience is usually unable to retain much of the information, Tufte writes. Paper handouts are better.

Tufte offers this advice for creating graphics that help people understand:

Make sure your research is sound and your premise is well developed. Great graphic design cannot, and should not, be used

to dress up incomplete ideas or faulty research.

Enhance your data with graphics—not your graphics with data. Charts, tables, and other graphics should encourage people to look at the numbers and the story behind the numbers, rather than to notice the cleverness of the graphics.

Show as many numbers as possible. This helps people see the whole story in one stunning glance, as John Snow’s cholera chart did. Effective graphics should answer the questions: How many? How often? Where? How much? At what rate?

Don’t lie with proportions. Don’t exaggerate information with graphics that misrep- resent its impact. For example, to show that something has doubled, don’t use a bar graph or icon that triples in actual size. While it might add drama to your presentation, it’s inherently dishonest.

26

How to Use Good Graphics, continued

Charles Minard’s map shows the shrinking size of Napoleon’s army en route to Moscow—and its disastrous return.

Edward R.Tufte,The Visual Display of Quantitative Information(Cheshire,Connecticut:Graphics Press,1983)

(20)

H A R VA R D M A N A G E M E N T C O M M U N I C AT I O N L E T T E R A P R I L 1 9 9 9 27

How to Use Good Graphics, continued

Tips for presenting information during a meeting:

Analyze the details of your presentation and rehearse before the meeting.

Show up early to greet your audience and to troubleshoot any technical problems with overhead projectors or other presentation devices.

At the beginning,tell the audience the problem the information is about,its importance,and its solution.

To explain complex ideas or data,use the “PGP”method:

Particular/General/Particular. For example,introduce your charts by explaining one part in detail,linking it to a general discussion of what the data means. Then return to the detail.

Give the audience handouts of the charts in your presentation.

Make sure your name is on them in case anyone has questions.

Finish early.Your audience will be delighted.

(lighten the grids if they must be shown), exaggerated special effects, and ornamenta- tion that distracts people from the data. For example, the graphic to the left attempts to use three-dimensionality to add perspective to the data structure. The result is confusing and comical. “This may well be the worst graphic ever to find its way into print,”

writes Tufte. Computers offer many temptations for chartjunk, Tufte continues, generating graphics that

“evoke the response, ‘Gee, isn’t it wonderful that a computer can be programmed to draw like that?’”

Make your distinctions as subtle as possible. Use the thinnest lines and the slightest variations in color in presentations. Thick lines and garish colors are too distracting.

Use perspective in imaginative ways.

A photo of Roy Lichtenstein’s Mural with Blue Brushstoke could not begin to show its grand proportions—68’x32’.

But the photographer positioned the artist on a ladder in the lower right- hand corner, which helps the viewer grasp the size of the actual mural.

Sign your name. “Public, named author- ship indicates responsibility, both to the immediate audience and for the long- term record,” Tufte says.

Tufte devotes a chapter in Visual Expla- nations to the art of magic, which he describes as “disinformation

design” that employs grand gestures and sleight-of-hand to mystify the audience. He cites a few notorious examples of graphics sleights-of-hand, including cigarette advertising bill- boards that obscure the Surgeon Gen- eral’s warning by printing it in a much lighter typeface than the bold border that surrounds it.

Good information design does the reverse, he points out. Unlike a magi- cian who tries to trick the audience with quick movements that they won’t notice, managers who present information to colleagues must help them understand and retain the information.

Whether it enhances oral presentations or written ones, good graphic design encourages people to want to know more about your subject. The best graphics gracefully display a well- developed idea and well-researched numbers or facts. They are intriguing and provoke curiosity. Most important, they help make readers care about the point you are trying to make.

—BOB BUDAY AND CATHERINE FLYNN

Further Reading

Envisioning Information by Edward Tufte (1990,Graphics Press,126 pp.,$48.00,

Tel.800-822-2454 or 203-272-9187) The Visual Display of Quantitative Information by Edward Tufte (1983,Graphics Press,197 pp.,$40.00,

Tel.800-822-2454 or 203-272-9187) Visual Explanations:Images and Quantities,

Evidence and Narrative by Edward Tufte (1997,Graphics Press,156 pp.,$45.00,

Tel.800-822-2454 or 203-272-9187)

The worst graphic ever printed? This chart struggles to depict something about the differing ages of college enrollees.

Make things easy for readers and viewers.

Don’t force them to refer to a previous chart. Instead, reprint it, perhaps in a smaller size. In his books, Tufte keeps charts and pictures on the same two- page spread as the text that discusses them. Readers never have to flip back a page to refer to the graphics.

Avoid “chartjunk.” This is Tufte’s term for such bad graphics practices as using dizzying patterns to distinguish bars in a graph, overly conspicuous grids

(21)

Presence:How to Get It, How to Use It

M ANAGEMENT H A RVA R D

LETTER

C OMMUNICATION A N E W S L E T T E R F R O M H A R VA R D B U S I N E S S S C H O O L P U B L I S H I N G

29

(22)

command attention and respect? When they speak, we listen. Their opinions seem to carry more weight. They inspire trust in those around them.

These people have “presence”—and the Ariel Group believes that we’re all capable of developing it.

Based in Cambridge, Mass., the Ariel Group is a consulting company of pro- fessional actors and singers that works with executives worldwide to help them become more powerful commu- nicators and leaders. According to Belle Linda Halpern and Kathy Lubar, founders of the Ariel Group, presence can be learned. The key is finding and enhancing your own, authentic style of communication—rather than trying to be someone you’re not. The company’s approach involves using theater- based exercises. But wait, you say. Isn’t acting about pretending to be someone else? A paradox? Writer Martha Craumer recently interviewed Lubar and Halpern to get their “take” on presence, acting, and communicating with integrity.

What is presence? How do you define that certain,intangible something that some

people seem to have?

LUBAR: Presence comes from knowing who you are—and being comfortable with that. Everyone has a unique presence, a natural communication style.

We work with people to find out what that is, and to expand on it. For one person, presence might come in the form of stillness, which becomes a strength that works well for them.

Someone else might be high-energy, dynamic, and movement-driven. The key is being real, being authentic.

HALPERN: People with presence know how to connect with others, no matter how large the audience is—whether it’s one person or a thousand. And they have a sense of congruence about them—their voice, body, emotions, words, and energy all work together.

Why is presence useful in the business world?

LUBAR: Presence helps you build trust and credibility quickly. It helps you truly connect with people. It communi- cates integrity. All of these things help you to develop strong, long-term relationships with clients and colleagues—

relationships that are critical to business success. For anyone who interacts with clients or is responsible for developing business, anyone who wants to inspire, lead, or motivate others, anyone who has to manage a tough situation or communicate difficult truths, presence can have a major impact.

HALPERN: We work with a number of consulting firms. The younger consul- tants often have to develop relationships with CEOs who are 25 years their senior. The way to do this is not by coming across as “I’m an expert and I know more than you.” They have to find out what they can offer to the world beside their smarts. So we work with them to understand what they stand for and what experiences have shaped their values. Then they have the presence to hold their own with senior executives.

But knowing who you are and what you stand for helps to give you presence and credibility in any situation.

Interesting approach.You start with the core person and build on that,as opposed to working on external gestures and so forth,

like many traditional speech coaches.

LUBAR: That’s something we feel very strongly about. Instead of trying to get people to be something they’re not, we help them to become more comfortable with who they really are. When people are in touch with their feelings and express themselves honestly, their messages come across more powerfully.

We’re always looking for the key that will unlock a person’s potential as a powerful communicator. And we look to the theater for ways to tap into that potential.

Why the theater?

HALPERN: Adult learning is a challenge because the more you know, and the more analytical you become, the more likely you are to judge. By taking people out of the business world and exposing them to theater exercises, we give the beginner’s mind a chance to emerge, and people become sponges.

They’re willing to take chances and make mistakes—and that allows for

Presence: How to Get It, How to Use It

The Ariel Group uses acting exercises to make us all into star performers.

Belle Linda Halpern

Kathy Lubar