Negotiation is a Team Sport

Negotiations are born out of objections. Our experiences show that objections often lead the way to greater opportunities and stronger relationships. This doesn't make objections any easier to hear. As negotiators, we envision an opportunity and are financially and emotionally invested in an outcome. The greatest risk is reacting in a way that hurts the relationship, either through inflexibility or easy concessions.

Negotiators need allies.

To develop a strategy you need to work with managers and colleagues. Run the objection by somebody who understands the business and is in a position to help you. Together, you will define walk-away positions, map outcomes, find unexpected options and test the quality of your ideas.
Negotiation partners allow us a more global vision of the business. A partner may ask:

• "How can we justify this?"
• "How will it affect our other clients?"
• "Do you see a longer term benefit?"
• "Are we missing potential savings?"

You can also role play your negotiation with a partner. It's a real (pardon the cliché) win-win.

One Infinite Legacy, or one more fanboy tribute

When Apple Co-Founder and CEO, Steve Jobs retired six weeks ago, I feared that one day soon, reality would puncture the "reality distortion field" that seemed to surround this remarkable man. Yesterday, it did.

When I was a child, I would spend hours mesmerized by MacDraw and MacPaint, Adobe Photoshop, Specular Infini-D and KPT Bryce. Before I knew what design was, or what art could mean to my life; I figured there was a Mac involved somewhere.

When I learned about the long-departed co-founder, who had put a pirate flag on his building, who loved Dylan and The Beatles – who had a sense of humor and real anger – I was fascinated. When I started to operate as a young artist in the world of business training – I paid attention and took notes. Here's a worldly, highly intelligent, tasteful college dropout, whose mission is to change the world through passion, belief, vision… and yes, (once more) passion. Passion is everything.

This ability to focus concurrently on the big picture and on the details, is what sets great leaders apart.

In 1997, he managed to turn himself and the company he co-founded around. Maturity made him a better leader and his sense of design and human interaction made a better Apple. I watched his first keynote as iCEO, and watched every subsequent presentation. I learned important, life-changing lessons with every viewing.

The most important lesson, shone a light on my own treasures. My father, David Charner is an amazing presenter, trainer and leader. This statement will ring true to the thousands who have taken his courses. He and Steve Jobs were born the same year. Their presentation styles have some differences, but a lot in common. In their capable hands, information turns into dreams, possibilites and action. They are presenters who share a piece of themselves and project their passions on their audiences. I witnessed the same passion in my mother, Barbara Martinez's AIDS prevention workshops.

I was in the audience when Steve Jobs introduced the iPhone at MacWorld. If a presentation can give you six months of extreme anticipation, and make $599 seem affordable; it's a great presentation.

I always looked forward to the new effects he'd use, to see what would eventually creep in to my new version of Keynote.

Pixar is amazing too!

One Infinite Legacy

Einstein and Presenting - From Communispond's ECHO Newsletter

A wonderful, concise article from our friends at Communispond.

As most of us are probably aware, Albert Einstein once taught us that time is relative...even if we don't know exactly what that means. However, keeping his now infamous teachings in mind can help you deliver more effective presentations. Most important, remember that pauses feel longer to you than to your audience.

Many presenters speak too quickly, because they are afraid that long pauses will make them appear unconfident or halting. However, pauses almost inevitably seem longer to you than to your audience.

When you finish a key point, hold the pause for one "beat" longer than you think you should. This step will give you time to start your next thought without a non-word, find a set of eyes to look at, and slow down.

As most of us are probably aware, Albert Einstein once taught us that time is relative...even if we don't know exactly what that means. However, keeping his now infamous teachings in mind can help you deliver more effective presentations. Most important, remember that pauses feel longer to you than to your audience.
Many presenters speak too quickly, because they are afraid that long pauses will make them appear unconfident or halting. However, pauses almost inevitably seem longer to you than to your audience.
When you finish a key point, hold the pause for one "beat" longer than you think you should. This step will give you time to start your next thought without a non-word, find a set of eyes to look at, and slow down.

Original article posted here: Einstein and Presenting

Make it your own – Find parallels in the fields you love

Training has afforded me the chance to meet many remarkable people. Businesses around the world employ people whose experiences outside the office include great athletic achievements, challenging artistic projects, ambitious scientific pursuits, advanced hobbies and complex domestic negotiations. Presentations benefit from a presenter's passions, both to solve problems and connect with audiences.

Outside of ERC and the classroom, my friends know me as a person who has a passion for visual communication. I have a degree in Illustration and continue to study it as a professional discipline. I love to learn about design, art, storytelling and film. My home is filled with books about drawing, screenwriting, filmmaking, photography, art and design of all kinds. I would seek these materials out whether I was a presentation skills trainer or not.

What I have learned though, is how these passions inform my presentations. I have a library of skills, stories and trends from fields that fascinate me, and ultimately improve my presentations.

In our training programs, athletes and musicians learn and improve, when they find their way through timing, rhythm and muscle memory.

Actors and singers, have an incredible font of knowledge when it comes to stage presence and vocal energy.

Scientists and sports fans are accustomed to explaining complex data to other people.

Parents and teachers share lessons and visualize goals in the midst of chaos.

Do you possess parallel skills and experiences that you use to improve your presentations?

The Future of Presenting 2: Remote Control

In our Presentation Skills programs, people often ask about remote controls. Their questions usually cover familiar territory:

• How should I hold a remote?
• Should we keep the remote in our pocket?
• How do you feel about laser pointers?

How should I hold a remote?

Try to find a device that fits comfortably in your hand, and allows you to move to the next visual with little thought or effort. We recommend that you stand to the right of the screen, and point with your left. When we present, the remote is most comfortable in our right hand, though it may also work in your left.

Should we keep the remote in our pocket?

Keeping the remote in our pockets tends to distract a little bit. It can get stuck and distract both the audience and the presenter.

How do you feel about laser pointers?

We don't like them. The benefits of laser pointers can be achieved in smarter ways, and the drawbacks are difficult to justify.

Laser pointers amplify shaky hands and reveal a lack of planning. It's better and more interesting to plan and design the sections of a presentation you wish to deliver, in the order you wish to deliver them.

In thinking about the possibilities for remotes in the future, I have tried to make my questions respect current presentation principles, while looking at developments down the road:

• Do I favor size or ubiquity?
• How do I feel about touch technology?
• Is there a hands-free option that will be effective?

With our current technological options, I find myself making the kinds of compromise decisions that many presenters make.

The standard choice is a small, light remote that feels good in the palm of your hand and has a USB connector. Physical, raised buttons lead forward, back and offer the option for a blank screen.

We have also experimented with other approaches. When Bluetooth technology started to become available, Salling Software developed an elegant solution called Salling Clicker (Mac) (Windows) – It was a revelation! Your mobile phone could double as a presentation remote, so you were always ready to do a stand-up presentation, remote-in-hand. Still, as a solution it was a little distracting. I personally had a Nokia 6131 (like Jack Bauer's phone in early seasons of 24, even put in the ringtone). It was a clamshell phone, so when it was open, the screen would stay on and consume the battery; and when it was closed, the connection would be lost. I'm sure it has improved since, as have many phones.

These days, smart and touch phone interfaces have several presentation remote options. RIM's Blackberry, Google's Android and Apple's iOS devices offer apps to control Microsoft Powerpoint and Apple Keynote. These solutions have great potential. There are glances at programs and solutions that deliver the ultimate digital, collaborative whiteboard in the palm of your hand. Presently, these devices are a little large and delicate for the remote function. More problematically, you need to look at them to change visuals. The other problem is that since the screen is on, it distracts presenters and their audiences. These devices become more useful if you have a stool or small table to support them.

Bluetooth keyboards and mice are reliable computer interfaces, but share the drawbacks of requiring a surface, and in the keyboard's case, needing to be seen to get the right button.

Asking an employee or a colleague to change your visuals… Wait, people are still doing that? Next!

I set a few ground rules for my speculation on future technologies:

• Sound cues would likely limit the presenter's speaking options and be excessively error-prone
• The solution should be invisible to the audience

The first time I saw Microsoft's Kinect for XBox 360, I thought of presentations. What if future, more portable versions of this device were able to capture a subtle, uncommon hand gesture to move forward or back in a presentation. It would not impede expression, but would free your hands. Great care and cultural sensitivity would have to be a feature, as well as an integral part of selecting the gesture to not risk offending your audiences.

A large "Minority Report" style, multi-touch screen like John King uses on CNN is feasible. The presenter could interact with the screen like a whiteboard, and you could change slides by touching the screen. The problem with a large multi-touch screen, would be the presenter talking to the screen – All the time.

A watch-like bluetooth device seems like it would be simple and elegant. Push the face to go forward, twist counter-clockwise to go back and tap a side button for blank screen.

A wireless device that looks like a wah-wah pedal (used by guitarists) would be nice, but limited.

The solution should help the presenter focus on the audience and vice-versa, it should also keep your presentation versatile and your hands free.

Just a little speculation. What would your ideal presentation remote look like?

This article is the second of a series. The purpose of The Future of Presenting is simple. We will use observation, study and writing to address the exciting new features and nascent problems of new communication technologies. This series looks to integrate well-established principles of communication with the potential advances in new technology. Read article 1, Powerpoint at 25 (almost) here.