Kristin, Author at Deft Communications

Common Courtesy

July 30, 2015 by Kristin Leave a Comment

I have always described myself as upbeat and chipper. I have rarely met a stranger, and will talk to anyone. I talk to animals, to myself, and sometimes even to the walls. I am outgoing.

So, the other day when I was at Panera for lunch, I didn’t hesitate to chat with the guy behind the counter, making and bagging the food. As he bagged the food and called the customers’ names in front of me, the interaction, or complete lack thereof, saddened me. Every customer just grimly took their food, ignoring the gentleman behind the counter and no one even uttered “Thank you.”

He prepared my food next and we made eye contact. Without hesitation I said “Hello!” and asked how his day was. He smiled and we started chatting. He handed me my food and told me, “Thank you, you made my whole day.”

I teared up a little as I walked out the door. Someone who works with people all day, and this tiny minute of conversation – just a little common courtesy – made his day.

This led me to wonder, how many people do we just pass by, do we not engage with, do we never say “Thank you” to? A little common courtesy can make all the difference to someone.

Presentation Tip #3: Managing Your Nerves

July 21, 2015 by Kristin Leave a Comment

Deft Communications specializes in helping our clients prepare for all manner of presentations, whether it’s going on camera as a spokesperson, delivering a keynote speech to a large auditorium, or simply conducting a small team meeting. This blog series will periodically provide best practices for any type of presentation you do.

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Jerry Seinfeld has a joke that says speaking in front of a crowd is considered the #1 fear of the average person. #2 is death. That means to the average person that if you have to be at a funeral, you’d rather be in the casket than giving the eulogy.

We believe that because we know how to speak, we can easily speak in public. This is a fallacy. We were taught how to speak just as we were taught to do anything else. It stands to reason that we should be taught how to speak in public as well. Because speaking in public can seem daunting, and with that comes nerves, here are some tips to managing that nervousness.

The first (and best) way to calm your nerves is as easy as it is annoying. Prepare, prepare, prepare.

The most common cause of nerves is a lack of preparation. Many feel that because they’re likely being asked to speak on something with which they’re very familiar, they can “wing it.” No matter how well you know the information, it’s imperative to make notes or an outline of the material you want to cover. Why? Because no matter how familiar you are with the material, being in front of an audience adds a layer of tension that can cause you to lose your train of thought or make the material magically disappear from your head. Having notes will help keep you on topic, allow you to pick back up where you left off (if it happens), ensure you don’t forget an important point, and quell your jangly nerves.

Second, recognize what you do when you’re nervous, and then mitigate it.

Do you flip your hair, tap the podium, sway back and forth or all three? Your audience will focus on your distracting nervous behavior, not you, and certainly not your message. By managing your nervous habits – in the cases mentioned above, think about wearing your hair up, putting paper on the podium to absorb the noise of tapping, or planting your feet in a wide stance) your audience can focus on you, and you can focus on your message. Then everyone gets the most out of your presentation.

Finally, understand that nerves are natural, and although it may seem counterintuitive, beneficial. Being nervous is a sign that you care and that you want to do a good job. Never try to rid of yourself of nerves fully (and especially never use chemicals to eradicate them). Instead, channel that energy in a productive direction and use them to visualize yourself doing a good job. The times I am most nervous are when I am most passionate, and when I want my presentation to be perfect.

Speaking in public doesn’t come naturally to most, and the above tips are just a start. If you would still prefer to be in the coffin instead of giving the eulogy, we can help.

Professional Communication Class

May 26, 2015 by Kristin 1 Comment

Last Wednesday Jon and I were invited to be guest lecturers at Colorado State University’s Professional Communication class. We were asked to speak about what we thought was important to know about the professional world, what we wished we knew, any mistakes we made and anything that surprised us about the professional world.

Kristin presenting to the Professional Communication class at Colorado State University.

Before we delved into our biographical histories (which are quite varied and filled with interesting and weird digressions), we first looked at the syllabus sent to us by the instructor, who was an old friend of ours from graduate school, and we noted that the day’s lecture topic was professional presentations. Having an entire blog series about the topic (the next one goes up this week!), we thought it prudent to share our insights to the class about professional presentations.

We considered going up there and winging it – I mean, we’re professionals, we’re busy enough as it is, and these are college kids, how would they even know the difference? – but we quickly came to our senses and put together a PowerPoint and an outline of talking points. This became a lesson unto itself.

One of the best things you can do when you approach a presentation – any presentation – is to prepare for it. Treat every opportunity no matter the audience, how big, how small, above you in the corporate hierarchy or below, with the same careful consideration, and you’ll generally acquit yourself well. We need to practice what we preach, and that’s why we treated this audience of college kids with the same level of importance as we would a potential client.

Did we reach them? Who knows. College kids are notoriously hard to read in a classroom setting, but the important thing is that the trick to giving good professional presentations is the same trick to succeeding at pretty much everything else.

Work hard, prepare as much as possible, and give your best effort no matter the circumstances. Show up for your audience. Show up for your clients. Show up for yourself.

Interested in having us speak to your college class? Get in touch with us through the Contact Form on our website. We’re happy to talk about anything communications related you’d like. Just click that link.

Productive VS Busy

May 8, 2015 by Kristin Leave a Comment

I have a coffee mug that reads, “Are you productive or just being busy?” I’ve adopted this as my work philosophy, and it should be the mantra of all self-employed people.

When you work for yourself – especially at the beginning – it can be tough to gauge how successful a day, a week, or even a couple week stretch is. You’re basically accountable only to yourself, and since your days aren’t spent grinding out a clock that forces you to be there no matter how productive you are, the question of productive vs busy becomes that much more vital.

Since I’ve had a long head start on Jon, who is new to working for himself, it’s funny to listen to him try and figure out how productive a day he has had. The other day he recounted how he had taken two meetings with prospective clients, advanced a proposal on another, set up a meeting to gain resolution on a different outstanding proposal, set up the billing for Google apps, posted a blog entry, edited a podcast episode, and set up the PIN for the company debit card. This was in addition to emptying the dishwasher at home, feeding our daughter twice, and paying the health care premium.

It was only after listing off that day’s accomplishments that he realized just how much he’d achieved. I asked him, “If you’d gotten that much done in your old corporate gig, would that have been a productive day?” He said, “If I had gotten that much done in corporate, that would have been like a ticker tape parade day.”

That’s why I like having my mug with the reminder on it. It can be easy to get bogged down in the rote tasks that seem to hijack our day right from the get go. Whenever it feels like this might be happening, I look down at my coffee mug and try to re-focus. Having worked a handful of corporate jobs myself, I remember when my days seemed to be very busy, but not terribly productive. I expended a ton of effort, but what did I have to show for it?

When you’re on your own, it’s all the more important to make sure you’ve got something to show for your time spent. This mindset also informs our approach with every one of our clients. We don’t want to be the consultant you spend a lot of time with in meetings, which, if you’re billing by the hour, can be very lucrative for a consultant. We want to be the ones enhancing your bottom line, not detracting from it. We want to deliver products to you, not eat up your time.

In short, we want to be productive for you, not just busy.

Presentation Tip #1: Be aware of your time limit

April 21, 2015 by Kristin Leave a Comment

As a public speaking instructor for college students, one of the most frequent complaints I receive – at least once a semester – regarded the seemingly draconian penalties I handed out for exceeding the time limit on any given speech assignment. The common argument was that a time limit was arbitrary, and that a speech should be allowed to go as long as the topic warranted, and then judged on the merit of its content.

What I end up explaining time and again is that adhering to the time limit is a key indicator of the merit of a speech’s content. When schooling functions at its highest level, it serves as preparation for real world conditions. And in the real world, we deal with seemingly arbitrary limitations all the time. Learning to navigate those limitations effectively is what breeds nimble, successful professionals.

In terms of public speaking opportunities, only in the very rarest of circumstances will you be given a blank slate on what to speak, and for how long. Virtually no one is given that kind of free reign. You will almost certainly be given time constraints, and while staying within them can be challenging, I think time limits are better viewed as a gift.

A time limit is an opportunity to hone and tailor your presentation to its most optimal. Do you have five minutes to present? You’d better make those five minutes count. That means distilling your material to its most impactful elements and focusing on that which you want your audience to think, do or feel. Understanding your presentation from the point of view of your audience might also help you understand it better as the presenter.

On a more practical note, adhering to the allotted time also demonstrates respect for your fellow presenters. If you’re participating on a panel during a day featuring multiple presentations, when you don’t adhere to the time limit, you’ve just taken time from someone else. Let’s say there’s three panelists, each given 20 minutes. If you go 25, you’ve forced your fellow presenters to shave five minutes from one (or from a combination of both) of their presentations. That can be viewed as careless at best, and disrespectful at worst.

Know your time limit ahead of time, tailor your presentation to fit the allotted time and focus on the key takeaway for your audience. Then deliver your material confidently. You’ll portray yourself as knowledgeable, poised, and respectful of your audience.