Dan Roam schools me on creative process. His new book, BLAH BLAH BLAH, offers awesome tips on how to utilize visual and verbal concepts to refine ideas to their most pure state.

Dan Roam uses an animalistic metaphor to explain how your brain processes information, and reveals how to help facilitate communication between our verbal and visual minds. That and more in his new book, BLAH BLAH BLAH.

Dan Roam used the rules of verbal grammar to build a Visual Grammar Graph that bridges the gap between verbal and visual concepts. Vivid Grammar is featured in his new book, BLAH BLAH BLAH.

Dan Roam explains why we talk too much, and how we can use our predilection for vision to become better problem solvers. “Vivid Thinking” is one of the many gems in his new book, BLAH BLAH BLAH. 

Recently I had a chance to sit down with Olivia Mitchell, the sole blogger for Speaking About Presenting, and one half of the presentation coaching team at Effective Speaking, based in Wellington, New Zealand.

I know you struggled as a presenter for a long time. Can you talk a little bit about what that journey has been like to transform yourself?

Olivia: My presenting journey started at least 25 years ago. I was just totally shy, not wanting to even speak up in a meeting. Speaking in front of a group? Forget about it. I just didn’t want to do that stuff. But, I also realized that if I wanted to get ahead in my career—at that point I was a lawyer for a government department—I needed to get better at speaking—just speaking up, not necessarily speaking in front of a group. So, I joined Toastmasters. I had some pretty frightening experiences at first. I would get really freaked out. My legs would feel like noodles, my heart felt like it was going to explode. I would just get through it, sit down again, and wait until the shaking subsided. It was not a pleasant experience. But, Toastmasters was a really supportive environment and I just kept going. Even when I had bad experiences, I would just keep coming back and gradually I built confidence in myself.

Although, now I would say I learned how to build my confidence by repeated exposure—just speaking, and speaking, and speaking. I think there are shortcuts to that. One of the things that we teach on our courses, which I talk about in my blog, is using the principles of cognitive behavioral therapy to help people with the fear of public speaking.

How do you implement cognitive behavioral therapy into your speaker coaching?

Olivia: By looking at the self-talk you have about speaking. Before I would get up to speak, I’d think ‘I must not look nervous. I want everyone to really think of me as confident and credible.’ But of course, then I’d be holding onto my notes and my hand would be shaking, and the notes would shake. I’d have a little drama in my head. Luckily I would keep it inside my head. That little drama in my head: Oh my God! They can see I’m nervous. This is just awful. I just want to get through this presentation.

Those thoughts create a vicious cycle that just makes you more and more nervous. What I’ve learned since then—and I wish I knew 20 years ago—is how to monitor my self talk, to be aware of where I’m putting irrational pressure on myself. This can still happen to me now, with a high-stakes presentation, or something I’ve been working on for a really long time and I want to nail. I’d be saying to myself, ‘I’ve really got to get this one right. This is critical if I don’t get this right. It’s going to be a disaster.’

Do you think that negative self talk makes the audience seem more threatening?

Olivia: Yes, by raising the stakes so high, and putting so much pressure on yourself. From a sporting terminology here, I don’t know if you have this here, but in New Zealand we would call that ‘choking.’ You’re putting so much pressure on yourself, you can’t perform. If I realize that I’m getting into that mode, I’ll say, ‘Okay, this is not so useful. What am I really trying to achieve here? What is critical and what is not? I want to do my best, I still have a goal of how I want to perform, but I’m not going to beat myself up if I make some mistakes.’

I think your approach is different than most of the other consultants and coaches out there. How is your methodology different?

Olivia: One of the differences is that I recognize that nervousness is a factor, anxiety is a factor, but I think too many coaches pay lip service to that. They’ll say things to people, which are counter-productive. For instance, it might be, “You’ve got to do it this way, you’ve got to do it that way. If you have a mannerism which makes you look less credible, that’s awful. We’ve got to fix that.” They talk in absolute language and very nit-picky language. They are right in terms of what they want to achieve, but I think their approach is not so useful in helping the client develop a way of managing their anxiety. I try to help them manage their anxiety. If I help them manage their anxiety, a lot of the other stuff will become right as a result.

How do you see the components of a great presentation coming together?

Olivia: The major components I would say are content, delivery, and the visuals. By visuals, I’m talking particularly about slides. I see content as the major leg of the stool. The others are important, and of course either of them can sabotage the content. For instance, if somebody is really monotone in their delivery, or they’ve got a lot of um-ing, or if the slides are really full of bullet points and they’re sending everybody to sleep, and you’re just reading from the slides, it’s not going to work. I see the content as being like the base building block, and the other two can either sabotage it or enhance it. That’s the way I see it coming together.

You work with your husband. How do you make that work?

Olivia: It’s not difficult for us. We have different styles in terms of presenting. The major thing that we do on a weekly basis is run training courses. We’re running one and two day training courses. We’ve never worked out who does how many minutes of what, but it’s roughly equal. We have different styles. He’s the more natural extrovert—the funny guy, the spontaneous one. He’s likely to wing it; sometimes he gets himself into trouble. I’m the more measured one; I like to be quite succinct. I like to keep things on time.

What’s your favorite part of your job?

Olivia: For me it is helping the people who are scared, but have got something really useful to say, who’ve got something they want to share with the world. I think you call it “putting a dent in the universe.” It’s sad. I love helping people who have been scared about putting their dent in the universe, so they can speak up and share their message with people. When we run a course, we might have six people come in on the first day—they’re like scared little rabbits, and they don’t want to speak up. Over the two days we gradually build them up. We start things really soft and easy so they get used to us and the other people in the course. Gradually they get stretched and pushed a little bit if they need it, and also they’re given the psychological tools to manage how they feel. By the end of the second day they say, “Yay, I’m looking forward to my next presentation!”

When I hear somebody say “I’m actually looking forward to my next presentation. I never imagined that I’d ever look forward to a presentation!’ I think, Yay!

Thanks to Olivia for taking time to chat with me! Hope you find her story as inspiring as I do.

Sounds crazy, but I met Victoria Labalme on Twitter and we’ve become lifelong friends. Her background in acting and improv gives her a special edge as an executive presentation coach. She coaches completely differently than anyone I’ve met. Most delivery coaches want to record you so you can “see” all the things you need to stop doing. Sometimes that negative chatter of “stop umming” and “use bigger gestures” disrupts us from being our true selves. She uses the metaphor of a Prism Effect. Victoria believes that if you bring your true self and true colors to your presentations, your message will come across more pure and clear, plus you’ll come alive!

I had the privilege of interviewing her at my office. Topics covered include remote presenting, her paradigm “The Prism Effect”, Velcro communication, Twitter-inspired friendships, and peach bellinis. (And at 6:44, there’s a little bonus where we delved a little deeper into Victoria’s personal life.) You can see why she’s my first choice to recommend to keynote in my stead.

Photographer Camille Seaman’s daughter was watching Storm Chasers on the Discovery Channel one day, when Camille stopped what she was doing to admire the storm’s light.

Her daughter noticed her and said, “Mom, you should do that!”

Three days later, she was.

Camille’s documentary-style photographs reflect some of nature’s most breathtaking phenomena. Aside from storm chasing, her work has taken her to both Polar Regions. The resulting photos can be seen in her book The Last Iceberg.

In addition to receiving many awards, Camille has shown her work at the National Academy of Sciences in Washington DC and at the 2011 TED Conference.

Recently, we were lucky enough to have her share her work with us. During her talk, you could hear the collective gasps coming from the audience, which is an especially impressive feat for 8:30 a.m. on a Monday morning. But if you take a look at the photographs, you’ll see the reason for our amazement.

Nancy sat down to talk with Camille after her presentation:

Nancy: I love how you capture the beauty and the magnitude of storms because sometimes we only see the destruction. What was your inspiration for showing this side of the storm?

Camille: I think everything has two sides. The creation aspect of these storms is really undervalued and overlooked. The reason that we have such fertile Great Plains is because we have these storms. You can’t have one without the other.

It’s the same with the Polar Regions. We have this wonderful temperate zone because we have these two Polar Regions. You take that away, and things are going to get crazy. I’m really trying to show people, to look at things from a different perspective. 

 

 

Nancy: Your photography is almost spiritual in some ways. I was curious what makes you want to capture the emotion of these huge natural phenomena?

Camille: I think probably because I allow myself to feel it before I photograph it. It’s very important for me personally that someone feel what I felt, not just see what I saw. A photograph has not achieved its point if somebody doesn’t feel something.

 

Nancy: Your work sounds very dangerous, is it?

Camille: I think it could be. I’m not a reckless person, and I think everything can be responsibly done. I try to be as safe as I can in everything that I do. I think a lot of people wouldn’t do what I want to do because they have some fear that something is going to happen. I have some hope that something is going to happen.

 

Nancy: You’re so busy, successful and adventurous. What’s it like to be a mom and be so dedicated to producing amazing work?

Camille: I think it’s really important for my daughter to know that being a mother does not negate the necessity for her to live her purpose, to follow her dreams, or to do what she feels is important. In fact, it amplifies it. Being a mother really made me want to stand up and say, “I cannot leave this planet in the shape that it is for my child.” She’s, in many ways, been the inspiration.

 

Nancy: So, you’re a TED Fellow. I’ve heard that everyone’s life changes after TED. How has your life changed?

Camille: What TED really did for me was make me feel valid and recognized in a way that nothing else has to this point. With that, I think, comes an ability to be more fearless, more able and willing to say, “I’m going to do it.”

Camille’s prints are available through galleries in major cities.

Mac Slocum interviews Nancy Duarte at Web 2.0

The kind folks at O’Reilly had me speak at Web 2.0 and then Mac Slocum asked some s-m-a-r-t questions at their booth.

Watch the video below to hear answers to these four questions:

1. Are presentations inherently broken? Are we going about it the wrong way?
2. If you ask most people if they like lectures they’ll say “No”, yet we default to that when it’s time to do a presentation, why do you think that is?
3. Do you feel that every great presentation has a meta component to it–a language that’s being spoken outside the visuals or what’s being said?
4. Do you think we’re getting better at business communication?

Enjoy!

Sunni Brown lives up to the promise of her name. She lights up a room. She’s one of the author’s of Gamestorming, a fantastic book that has catalogued visual brainstorm processes that can be used in various situations yielding distinctly different results.

Sunni also has her own consultancy and is starting a Doodle Revolution. She has a well-deserved spot on the 2011 TED stage this year too.

She came to my shop a few months ago to talk to my team about her Doodle Revolution and her new Gamestorming book.

Q&A with Sunni Brown

What’s your favorite Gamestorming idea in the book?

I’ve seen so many sessions where Gamestorming and participatory design have transformative effects on a group that it’s difficult to pinpoint one foundational idea to call my favorite. That said, I like to be decisive so I’ll choose. One concept around Gamestorming that I find is pivotal for playing is the ability to improvise. Improvisation is one of the core skills for group play and problem-solving and it should never be underestimated. If we’re uncomfortable taking risks, looking silly or being wrong, going into unknown territory and proposing wild solutions to problems, then we might as well go home. Innovation and breakthroughs happen when people stop taking themselves so seriously and start being of service to the group and the challenges it faces.

If your question was really about whether or not I have a favorite game in the book, I’d have to say that Make a World, The Anti-Problem, and The Blind Side are at the top of my list.

You are a busy lady, how did you muster the creative energy to write a book?

I mustered the energy because I had kick-butt co-authors. Having Dave Gray and James Macanufo on board was a recipe for awesome. We each brought a different but relevant skill set to a book like this and none of us were territorial or egomaniacal or any of those other negative ways of being that can plague a good idea. We all have a deep appreciation for participatory design and we genuinely wanted to offer the world a playbook to learn the fundamentals of visual thinking, to learn how important play is in the workplace (and in life!) and to get really good at leading meetings. I’ll be the solo author on my next book so maybe you can ask me that question again next year, when I want to freak out and shave all my hair off.

As a facilitator, what’s the greatest transformation or “aha moment” that a client has had while working with you?

I’m glad you asked! I recently co-facilitated a three-day session and one of the most powerful moments was when the group visibly “grokked” the market realities of their industry. Leadership had been cascading messages from the top – that the company needed to be agile and adapt to new technologies, that its market share wasn’t going to stop decreasing unless they seriously redirected the ship, that they needed to be relational with customers rather than transactional – but the group had been in a sort of collective denial. When we ran them through a series of Gamestorms we could literally see the layers of doubt and fog start to peel off. And only after that could they then start to deal with what had to be done. But I should note: while I’d love to say that the methods in our book were the only key, this success had much to do with this team’s commitment to knowledge and to the process. They were amazing and supportive of each other and that makes a huge difference.

What you think is a tantalizing blog title, is in reality the titles of two of Nick Morgan’s books. His first book Give Your Speech, Change the World was introduced to me by Mitch Joel.

Photo courtsey of www.ducttapemarketing.com

This last year he wrote Trust Me—Four Steps to Authenticity and Charisma. One particular passage he wrote has changed my delivery style immensely. I mentally walk through this process now before I walk on any stage:

Most of the non-verbal mistakes that speakers make stem from not being open to others. So the goal is to be open without thinking too hard about body language at all.

To accomplish this, you simply think about someone with whom you would be delighted to be open. You think about your spouse, your child, or a friend. You imagine that you’re about to see that person after a long absence and you’re delighted to be together. In other words, you role-play in your mind a communication between you and your favorite person.

Nor form a memory of what that feels like physically, not about what you say. Notice everything you can about your behaviors. What are your facial gestures? What are you doing with your hands? How is your torso positioned? How close are you? Catalogue and remember the behavior, and then use that behavikor when you’re in a crucial meeting.

[audio:http://blog.duarte.com/audio/NickMorgan_interview.mp3]

Listen to the podcast where he answers these questions:

1. You defined authenticity as “the frank expression of emotion of some kind, whether positive or negative. It has to do with transparency of motive and intention or when people show us their hearts.“ I agree with that but get pushback from analytical types who say people don’t need heart, they need information. What do you say to that?
2. You state that there are two conversations going on when communicating and we need to become skilled at both verbal and non-verbal because non-verbal trumps verbal. Does everyone have a gap between what they’re saying verbally and their body language?
3. You say that “leaders who rely on ad-libbing and improvisation risk looking unprepared and stilted”. And that leaders need to practice to look spontaneous. To me, when people over-prepare the opposite happens, they seem stiff and rehearsed. How do you propose presenters find balance?
4. I was happy to see Maslow touched on in both your books. I loved the section on being connected and agree that people listen to ideas that fulfill a deep need. Is there a process for helping find that “great need” for even what some would say is a boring type of presentation like a staff meeting update?

Subscribe to Nick’s blog and Twitter @nfrodom1 (I know, weird twitter name, so I had to ask. Apparently when AOL was out of normal e-mail addresses, he used that handle. Same happened with Twitter so he used his AOL name. He’s a huge Lord of the Rings fan. So it’s his first initial, then Frodo, then last initial, and a number one. I guess someone else already had it without the one.)