Presence: Communication Skills Tip

Channeling your energy for successful communication means having strong concentration, presence and improvisational skills. Today I'd like to tie these subjects together through the subject of presence. This subject is broad and much spoken about in the corporate world. In fact, one of my industry peers, Belle Halpern, has written a book on the very subject (Leadership Presence). Halpern and co-auther Kathy Lubar define presence as, "The ability to command the attention of others." It takes me back to my acting days. As an actor, it takes more than being good at memorization and even character development to have presence. Being present, in the moment, is the most important aspect of performance because it means that you can improvise when things go awry. Improvisation takes strong listening skills and trusting your instincts. Imagine you are giving a presentation and you are interrupted with a question from your audience. Perhaps you weren't expecting to answer questions at that moment or perhaps you had planned to speak on the subject of the question on a later slide. Your ability to engage with your listeners and either answer the question earlier or let them know that you will address it momentarily is precisely connected to your ability to think on your feet (which is all good improvisational skills are.) Improvisation is part of your presence. It's part of your alert state. It's part of your enthusiasm and communication effectiveness. Presence is not just charisma although many of us may think this is so. Presence is also about concentration. So, you need to channel your nervousness into energy that will work in your favor. You can do this by paying attention to the unnecessary movements you make or the fillers you use in your speech. Put both of those into you the delivery of your thoughts and the gestures and vocal inflections you use. Once you practice improvisation and concentration, you can bring your presence to the next level. Check out Upright Citizens Brigade if you are interested in improvisation. To be added to Lanartco's Communication Performance Tip of the Week, please connect to this link or send your email address to info@lanartco.com.

Logey Does It: Communication Skills Tip

In acting class, we used to spend the first 30 minutes warming up. This included a series of exercises for the voice, the breath, and the body. One of the things I remember well was a relaxation exercise Eric Morris taught us: Logey. It was done lying on the floor but certainly can be done sitting in a chair. You close your eyes and allow all parts of your body to deepen into its support (the floor or the chair, for example.) The goal is to feel like a dead weight, limp like a rag doll, or generally sluggish. In acting the relaxation was a road to heightened sensitivity and emotional availability. The relaxation opened me to character work and cast interplay. It seems obvious to me that a relaxed physical state can only enhance our communication during presentations. If you notice yourself more tense than you'd like, try Eric's Logey exercise. I'm sure it will add a new dimension to your interactions. To be added to Lanartco's Communication Performance Tip of the Week, please connect to this link or send your email address to info@lanartco.com.

Communication Skills Tip: Power of the Word

Frederick Douglass, known as a civil rights leader in the 1800's, understood first hand what it meant to live with and without words. Being amongst the illiterate slaves of his time, he learned that knowing how to read would be his ticket to freedom. Although he did not escape the brutality of slavery, he did become a free man who took every opportunity in his life to use words, both written and spoken, to communicate the rights of every human being to liberation and justice. He claims that his speeches and writings lead him to "discover that the power of the word is the best means to bring about permanent positive changes, both for myself and others." After I read a brief article about Douglass in August 2009's issue of Success Magazine, I felt fortunate--lucky enough to have education and opportunity at my finger tips; grateful that I have the luxury to think about my communication and how it affects those around me. Albert Mehrabian, professor, engineer and psychologist, conducted a study in 1968 stating how valuable our non-verbal communication is in our interpersonal relationships. However, he understands that the words we choose and the way we construct our messages are an integral components of our success as communicators (Listen to Mehrabian clarify his often mis-understood 1968 study about 93% of communication being non-verbal.) Let's take time to prepare our important communiques. Let's add sign posts to our presentations to inform our listeners where we are taking them. Let's use powerful and precise words to import our knowledge and show our compassion for others and situations. We have the freedom. Let's not abuse it by undermining our communication capacities. Let's not have modern technology solely inform how we get our messages across. Slow down, consider your opinions thoughtfully and engage in the "power of the word." To be added to Lanartco's Communication Performance Tip of the Week, please connect to this link or send your email address to info@lanartco.com.

Communication Skills Tip: Getting There

My fiance and I have a funny expression: "We're getting there. We may not know where 'there' is, but we are getting there." Even well planned goals don't come with guaranteed destinations and a welcome mat at the door. Moving forward in life sometimes means dodging a bullet or a low-hanging branch. It also means facing tasks that may not be preferred. In order to understand the ebb and flow of meaning, we have to operate well even under unexpected circumstances. We have to stop pushing with our minds (although determination and persistence is of value) and look very clearly at what is in front of us. Being able to manage what is really "here" will then, indeed, get us "there." To be added to Lanartco's Communication Performance Tip of the Week, please connect to this link or send your email address to info@lanartco.com.