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Professional Speaker Mistakes…Don’t let this Happen to YOU!

So I spend approximately 44 weeks each year on the road. You might say I’m Ryan Bingham, the character George Clooney portrayed in the movie “Up in the Air”. Needless to say I’m on a lot of airplanes, in a lot of rental cars and I’ve slept in more beds then I want to count. In short, I’m a quintessential “Road Warrior”.

I share this only to bring context to one of the most painful lessons I’ve learned in a very long time. Here’s what happened:

I fly to Minneapolis late in the day this past Sunday. I was delivering a 4 hour training called “First Step to BOLD” at 9 a.m. on Monday morning in a hotel ballroom there. I had 228 people already signed up to attend the morning. I was excited that this would be an awesome day. The material I was to present had been rewritten since the last time I delivered it. In fact it had a major re-write. I spent many hours ahead of Monday rehearsing, memorizing, tweaking and working to understand the content I was to deliver. I spent 3 hours on Saturday updating the PowerPoint to be used so the slides flowed with my presentation. By Sunday morning I was set. I shut down my laptop, packed my bags and headed to the airport. It’s a short flight from my home in Madison, WI to Minneapolis. In fact 45 minutes of flying time and I’m there. I arrived at 5 p.m. got my suitcase from baggage claim in record time and was in the rental car and on my way to my hotel in under an hour. This was awesome.

Got to the hotel, checked in and decided to check e-mail before taking a break from what turned out to be a busy weekend. I then spent 2 hours channel surfing before going to bed at 9 p.m. I had planned to get to bed early so I could get up and run through the entire 4 hour training early on Monday morning to have it really fresh for my delivery.

Woke up the next day at 4:15 a.m. Put a pot of coffee on (Homewood Suites are awesome for they have a fully stocked kitchen). I then turned to the table and hit the power button on my 8 month old laptop computer. The blue light of the power button light up, the fan started to whirr and with my first cup of coffee in hand I was ready to run the program to warm up for the day. This time instead of the welcome screen on my laptop I seemed to only have 1 small blinking white light in the top right hand corner of the screen. “Hmmm….that’s fascinating” I thought. I hit the power button 1 more time to shut the computer down and hit it again to start the boot process. Blue light on, fan whirring……..same white blinking light. Uh oh…..it was at that moment a HUGE sinking feeling came over me. What if my laptop has failed? That’s exactly what had happened. It was determined my motherboard had failed. I had no way of getting my PowerPoint off of that hard drive! Ughhhhhhh…

I started to think. How could I have this ready by 9 a.m.? I have 225 people coming to see the program. I can’t do it without the PowerPoint. I hopped on my IPad and started searching for electronics stores in the area. Made some phone calls. Most didn’t open until 8 a.m. That wasn’t enough time. I called a Walmart…they opened at 6 a.m. Perfect. I showered, dressed, packed my suitcase and headed to Walmart. I ran into the store, found the electronics department, found a salesperson and made a purchase of a new laptop in record time…under 4 minutes!

Fortunately, my company keeps a copy of the presentation in the “cloud”—meaning with a high speed internet connection I can download what I need, embed the videos we use and have the presentation ready to roll. I was able to do all of this before 7:30 a.m. on Monday.

Never will I put myself through that again. Make a back up. Make a back up. Make a back up.

Out with 2010 in with 2011….

As we wait with anticipation to ring in the new year I’ve been thinking about the changes in my life for 2011. 

2010 has been one of the most exciting years of my life.  I stepped into a newe role as a BOLD Coach for the MAPS Institute.  I then traveled, on a weekly basis, from Boston to Las Vegas and many point in between to train real estate agents in the BOLD program.  Along the way I made some great friends, learned about how real estate markets vary from region to region and racked up a lot of frequent flier miles, airline membership status’, and hotel honor points.

This new gig was truly more about managing my energy as it was about training real estate agents.  I learned that routine was the key to getting the most rest in between training and travel days and that routine made the entire gig much more enjoyable. 

I also experienced the gamut of customer service–from airlines to hotel staff to restaurant staff to rental car and taxi/limo services.   Along the way I dropped 36 pounds of weight.  Then had the chance, or necessity, to buy a number of new suits that fit my new waistline.  I now have a great relationship with the staff of Joseph A. Bank since I seem to be in their store on a weekly basis in 2010.  Great group of people by the way!  I finished 1 full year of fitness training with my awesome coach, Liz Whalen at Pinnacle Health and Fitness in Madison.  I got coached on my thinking about money by the awesome Dr. Fred Grosse (1 of my “bucket list” items that had been out there for 7 years). 

Moving forward my plan is to continue the physical, emotional and mental fitness I started in 2010.  My first quarter of 2011 will be spent traveling to Portland, Maine and Bedford, New Hampshire to deliver BOLD to another awesome group of real estate agents.  In between I’ll be off for a week for a cruise with my investor partners from KW in Madison, in Anaheim for a week for the KW Family Reunion and we’ll wrap the first quarter with a 5 day ski trip to Park City, Utah with Lynn and Bill Holley.  For those who have taken BOLD you’ll notice that my vacations were the 2nd thing placed on my calendar for 2011 just behind the events I wanted to participate in.

Along the way my intention is to add more to this blog.  My experiences in travel, training and all around life may be of interest to someone.  I thought this could be the year to test that theory.

Happy New Year!

Consistency

I write this while sitting near the courtyard pool at a Homewood Suites near the airport in Phoenix, AZ.

What hit me today was the value of continuity and consistency as a company delivers the experience of that company to its customers.  I’ve gotten really clear, the HUGE value of this.  Let me explain:

I fly out of Madison, WI almost every Monday morning.  Madison is a regional airport so I’m typically on a “regional” jet.  This is a 50 or so passenger jet with 1 seat on the left side and 2 on the right.  I’m 6’0” tall and can’t stand up fully when boarding.  They are efficient, lower cost to the airlines to operate yet not the most comfortable for longer trips.  Because I’m a frequent flyer I typically get to choose a more “premium” seat.  My seat on this jet is 1A.  It’s the very first (obviously) with no other seats across the aisle as that’s where the galley is for beverages, etc…it’s also a bulkhead.  What that means is there is a small partition right in front of the seat between seat 1A and the entry door to the aircraft. 

Why I mention it’s a bulkhead is because there is not seat in front in which to place my carry-on under.  There’s also no overhead storage on the right side of this jet.  Remember it’s a small 50 seat aircraft. 

Normally this isn’t a problem as there is a small closet right behind the cockpit and on most flights on this jet, the flight attendant offers to place my bag in that closet.  In fact many even offer to hang the jacket of my suit on a hanger in that closet.  What great service!

Not so today.  I was the 1^st to board (Über  priority status) and when I got to the end of the jetway the door to the storage closet was closed.  I said “Good morning” to the flight attendant (it was 6 a.m.) and then asked if I could store my backpack in the closet—I was seated in 1A.

To which the flight attendant replied “No, you’ll need to take it to an overhead bin further back in the plane.”

“Really?” I asked.  “I’ve been able to store my bag there in the past.”

“No sir, you’ll have to store it further back” he restated.

I sat there thinking to myself “why do 95% of my flights on this plane allow me to store in that closet and this 1 won’t?”

Then it hit me—lack of consistency.  My expectation, because so many other flight attendants had offered this was to allow me to store my bag in the closet.  In fact even offer to hang my jacket there as well.  Not today.  Man was I disappointed.

Was that a rational disappointment?

Only in the sense that my previous experience had set that expectation. 

It happened again when I checked into my hotel.  The hotel I stay in every week is part of a chain.  I have been a guest of this chain over 50 nights this year alone.  Due to that my status at this hotel is usually met, once in my hotel room, with 2 bottles of water and a package of fancy cookies.

I arrived at my hotel, checked in, dropped my bags in my room and walked down the block to get lunch.  I typically grab Chinese take-out and bring it back to my room so I can get caught up on e-mails while eating lunch. 

Knowing there are 2 bottles of water in my room I didn’t order anything to drink with my lunch.

I get my lunch and head back to the hotel.  I get up to my room, unpack the food and then look around for my 2 bottles of water.  They are not there.

Consistency!

I head out of the room, hop on the elevator to the front desk.  I request my water.  Jessica, at the front desk apologizes and hands me 2 bottles of water.  Again, consistency.

So my point in this?  The customer experience is predicated on the first experience they have with you or if they are a repeat customer, the consistency in which you deliver the experience the next time and the next time and the next time.  Whenever that repeat experience isn’t consistently met, the customer experience is lessened—potentially to the point of losing that customer.

If you are going to offer something in the customer relationship—be consistent.  Any variation, whether it comes from you or someone on your team, diminishes the experience and could ultimately cost you that customer.

How to manage this?  Create systems.  Train the systems.  Follow the systems no matter what.  If someone on the team refuses to follow the system 100%–retrain or remove them from your company.  It’s about providing the highest level experience no matter what your business.  Don’t allow this not to happen.

Effective Presenting: 7 Steps to Ensure a Great Audience Experience.

 

How many times have you found yourself, much like me, attending a conference, presentation, seminar and the presenter and/or the facility is ill prepared to make the most of the time?

This may sound curt on my part, yet I find it interesting how many “professionals” don’t truly understand the importance and significance of making sure the attendee has a great experience. In my world I believe we need to put ourselves, as the presenter, into the shoes of the participant. What do I mean by that? They are giving up their time to be a part of whatever this program is. Time is the 1 thing in life you can never get back. Why don’t we hold it as such a valuable commodity?

Here’s an example.

This morning I attending a training workshop put on by a fledgling group in my town. Their mission statement intrigued me and I found my schedule was open for the 8:30-11:00 a.m. timeslot their marketing told me this presentation would take.

I arrived at 8:25 found a seat at 1 of the round tables set up for the program. At 8:30 the minute came and went, then 8:34, then 8:35 finally at 8:40 the “host” of the event went to the microphone and proceeded to BLAST us out of the room with the volume being WAY TOO LOUD! She introduced the sponsors for the event and we all applauded to thank them for their contribution. Then she introduced the major sponsor and proceeded to read his entire life resume from college until now. He then got up, again on the BOOM microphone and welcomed us. He then introduced the presenter for the day.

She grabbed the microphone and started to walk out into the audience and realized the cord only reached 5 feet in front of the podium, which incidentally happened to be right under 1 of the ceiling speakers. This, if you don’t know, causes the sound system to feedback with that ear piercing squeal that most presenter seem to never understand. Let me tell you—you are typically “recycling” your sound. What I mean by this is you are either standing under a speaker or in line with you whereby the speaker is projecting the sound and the microphone is grabbing it again—thus the squeal. STEP AWAY FROM THAT SPOT! It’s not about moving the mic away from your mouth. It’s about stopping the recycling of sound through the system. WHEW……breathe, breathe, breathe..

Now, before you think I’m being a total jerk about this, think about what I’m saying. You invest your time and quite often your money to attend these types of presentations. Doesn’t the presenter and/or those who are producing the event owe it to you to make sure things work right? How would you feel if you invested $60 to see your favorite music star and they take to the stage late and then proceed to have so much sound system feedback you can’t hear or understand a word they are singing? Would you walk away being OK or would you find a way to complain to someone about it? Why isn’t this the same thing?

So here’s my idea and thus this post. Effective Presenting: 7 Steps to Ensure a Great Audience Experience.

1. Timing: As the presenter, arrive early. I recommend at least 1 hour before the scheduled start time.
2. Set Up: Make sure the room is set up to your expectations for your program. If not, get it reset. You are in charge not the facility you are holding the meeting in. If you need it changed, get it changed.
3. Sound Check: Grab the microphone and do a sound check. If it’s a corded mic, check the distance you can move with the chord and all areas to find those “feedback spots” and make mental note not to stand there.
4. Sound Check II: If you are using a cordless mic or lavaliere do the same thing. If you plan to walk throughout the room do this as a sound check. Remember the musician example above, they set up and do a sound check hours before the audience arrives. You should to!
5. Respect Time: Start on time and end on time. In my example above, we started 10 minutes late and the program ran 10 minutes late. This is inexcusable if you want to be known as a professional! Remember time is not replaceable. Don’t waste it for your attendees and don’t assume they are all OK if you run over because you started late.
6. Technology- Just as important as a sound check is a technology check. What I mean is if you fall into the myriad of presenters who rely on PowerPoint presentations, make sure the presentation works with the projector at the facility. In addition, if you’ll be using music and/or video as part of your presentation, sound check each of these as well.
7. Know your Audience- if you are presenting a topic you’re not the “expert” in, don’t fake it. Don’t go online and grab information without knowing who to attribute it to nor who they really are. We can all do that. Be honest, do your research, dig deeper. Understand you will almost always have that audience member who’ll want to know who that person is you’re quoting if they aren’t an easily recognizable source.

Thanks for indulging me in this. I worked hard to stay in curiosity and out of judgment in this experience yet I found myself really wanting to stand up and just handle what wasn’t working.

 

Make 2010 Your Best Year EVER!

2010-02-26 13.00 Make 2010 Your YEAR

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SpiritClips Films – The Little Frog

SpiritClips Films – The Little Frog.

Your Spiritual Bank Account

This is AWESOME….something we should all remember.

A 92-year-old, petite, well-poised and proud  man, who is fully dressed each morning by  eight o’clock, with his hair fashionably combed and shaved perfectly, even though he is legally blind, moved to a nursing home today.
 

His wife of 70 years recently passed away, making the move necessary. After many hours of waiting patiently in the lobby of the nursing home, he smiled sweetly when told his room was ready.

As he maneuvered his walker to the elevator, I provided a visual description of his tiny room, including the eyelet sheets that had been hung on his window.

“I love it,” he stated with the enthusiasm of an eight-year-old having just been presented with a new puppy.

“Mr. Jones, you haven’t seen the room; just wait.”

“That doesn’t have anything to do with it,” he replied…

“Happiness is something you decide on ahead of time. Whether I like my room or not doesn’t depend on how the furniture is arranged…it’s how I arrange my mind. I already decided to love it ‘It’s a decision I make every morning when I wake up. I have a choice; I can spend the day in bed recounting the difficulty I have with the parts of my body that no longer work, or get out of bed and be thankful for the ones that do” he stated. 

Each day is a gift, and as long as my eyes open, I’ll focus on the new day and all the
happy memories I’ve stored away. Just for this time in my life.

Growing old is like a bank account. You withdraw from what you’ve put in.

So, my advice to you would be to deposit a lot of happiness in the bank account of memories!

Thank you for your part in filling my Memory bank. I am still depositing. Remember the five simple rules to be happy:

1. Free your heart from hatred.
2. Free your mind from worries.
3. Live simply
4. Give more.
5. Expect less.

Have a nice day, unless you already have other plans.

If you like this story you may like our FREE journaling software.  Check it out at http://www.clue2coaching.com.  There you’ll find a FREE 52 week self guided journaling program that may bring breakthroughs in your life!

Read a Great Book-Move Forward in Life!

By Darren Kittleson
November 28th, 2009 The Shark and the Goldfish-Positive Ways to Thrive During Waves of Change
By:  Jon Gordon

Barnes and Noble and see what new Business/Life books were hot. 

It’s interesting how sometimes fate steps up for us when we least expect it.  What I mean by this is a few weeks ago I had about 30 minutes free during my day.  I was out and about in Madison and decided to run into

In my usual fashion, I walk in and head to the “Business/Management” section of the store.  They always have at least 1 section dedicated to the hottest new books in that topic.  This book jumped out at my for 2 reasons:  1)  The subtitle certainly describes most of our lives this past 18 months and 2)  the number of pages in the book- 77.

It’s a business parable and tells a great story.  It’s a fast read but not one to be overlooked for it’s message.  Definitely worth spending 45 minutes with between now and the end of 2009. 

In addition it’s full of great 1 line “wisdom” quotes.  These alone could make a great set of affirmations for each of us on a daily basis. 

Oh yeah, back to the fate thing….after grabbing this book I turned to the shelf behind me and grabbed 3 more books.  Mostly based on their titles…”The Energy Bus“, “Training Camp” and “Have a Little Faith“.   It wasn’t until I was home that I realized the first 2 books-”The Energy Bus” and “Training Camp” were written by Shark author Jon Gordon.  Guess it was time for me to discover this create writer.

Click any of the links to go to my amazon store and buy these books at great discounts.