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Thinking about all the things you could say is rather different from sitting down and writing the presentation. Follow this four-step approach to writing a presentation.

Identify Your Big Idea and Three Main Points

Start with a ‘big idea’ and three main points that you want to make. An example of this would be a speech on Creative Intelligence with the main points being dynamic, diverse, and distinct. Notice the alliteration. It’s deliberate When spoken aloud, one after another, the repetition of the first letter gives a memory hook for the audience. It also gives you better recall later on.

Brainstorm Your Main Points

Now that I have decided on the important areas I am going to cover, I need to consider the sub-points I wish to make about each point. To do this, I use a sheet of blank paper and write down all the ideas that come to mind, around that topic. I then prioritize them. Below is the kind of list I would generate for each of my three Ds.

Dynamic

• Knowledge emerges socially from small teams
• Use feedback from customer, clients, and the audience for deeper insights
• Interactive communication is central

Diverse

• Tolerate mistakes
• Expect different styles of learning (oral, written, visual, kinesthetic)
• Find strengths in individuals

Distinct

• Delegate responsibilities and control
• Where is the niche, where are the opportunities?
• Organizations like people can not be good at everything

Develop Your Headings

Using these brainstormed ideas, the next step is to develop what you will say around each sub-point. The stories you develop around each point might be from your own experience, what you uncovered from research, or you a story that will help bring the point to life. Once you have expanded each point, you have the majority of your speech written. The next part of the process involves weaving your ideas together, so they make sense.

Find Your Journey

During a presentation we take the audience on a journey. By the end, they will have travelled with us. This is when we create a journey or a narrative for them to follow.

With the example we are using here, you could personalize the content and ‘attach’ it to a character, for example saying this is how Sara developed her creative intelligence. You might even be the main character with the tale of what you have learned along the way, taking care to be self-effacing enough to recognize that the journey has only just started. If you create a logical flow, if one element naturally follows another in the tale, you and your audience are much more likely to follow the thread of your presentation.

He was overly impressed with her and her accomplishments. His embrace was meant to display just that – his swell of pride for her. But during the embrace, he felt her attempt to break free as a hostage might do at the first glimpse of freedom. He wondered what he’d done wrong. Later he commented to her about the embrace – and the perception he had of her breaking free. She smiled and said, at least you were aware of it – most people aren’t. I don’t like being hugged.

How attuned are you to the #body #language #secrets that people emit every day? If you are aware of such signals, what do you observe the most and why?

The following are a few body language insights that will allow you to understand people better and become a better communicator.

Head Cocking:

The gesture becomes displayed when someone shifts their head to the right or left after its been in a straight or opposite position. It’s interesting to note when it occurs because it denotes someone going into an inward evaluation. Thus, the gesture may originate from something you said or thoughts the person is contemplating.

Eyebrows:

One eyebrow cocked – This sign usually indicates inquisitiveness as to the possible believability of what’s said or outright skepticism.

Lowered eyebrows – Guarded, deception, annoyance, are the signs that this gesture indicates.

Raised eyebrows – Taking in more of the environment – can also denote surprise or interest (note the degree that the eyes widen – that’ll give you more information as to the thought of the person displaying the gesture.)

Palm Hand Gestures:

Hand up, palm facing out -The hand up and palm facing outward signals nonverbally to the other person to halt what they’re saying or doing. As the receiver of that action, you can gauge the degree of the intent by the distance the action extends from the other person’s body. As an example, if they commit the action and their hand is close to their body, the signal is not as strong as if they had a full-body extension of their hand – that would be a stronger gesture because they’re indicating a greater distance between themselves and what you’re saying or doing.

Palm up and open – Accepting, mentally open to receiving information – can also be internal mental contemplation. It can also be a sign of consternation – this occurs if hunched shoulders accompany the gesture.

Feet:

As a body language signal, feet convey more information than most people are aware of. Thus, you should always be mindful of what someone’s feet are signaling.

Feet aligned – When your feet are in alignment with the person with whom you’re engaged (i.e. both sets of feet are pointing at each other), both of you are succinctly engaged with one another – you’re in mental alignment.

Foot pointing away – As someone points a foot away from you, they’re shifting their weight because:

• Something else has attracted their attention.
• They’ve received enough information from you for the time.
• Soon, they’re going to exit the conversation and do so in the direction their foot is pointed in.

Take note of when such gestures occur. Doing so will allow you the insight to shift and control the conversation.

Conclusion:

At the beginning of this article, I posed the question of how attuned are you to the body language secrets that people emit every day. As you see, there are many signals that you might observe. And, if you’re aware when such signals occur, you’ll have greater insight into the mindset of the people you interact with. That will allow you to better understand them and communicate more effectively. Plus, it’ll give you an insider’s roadmap into their thought process and where it’s headed. That too will allow you to help them upon their journey or exit because you choose not to accompany them. Either way, you’ll have greater control of the environments you’re in… and everything will be right with the world.

Remember, you’re always negotiating!

Listen to Greg’s podcast at https://anchor.fm/themasternegotiator

Effective negotiation is dependent on a number of key factors. One of the least discussed, yet most essential, is mutual trust and understanding. Without these, the probability of successful negotiations is significantly minimized. Too often, negotiators enter into a negotiation with an adversarial relationship, and many negotiators make very little attempt to openly and adequately communicate with their counterpart.

Over the past three plus decades, I have successfully negotiated numerous contracts and agreements in a variety of different industries. Without a doubt, negotiations go best when they begin casually, with the negotiators taking some time to get to know their counterpart. Most professional negotiators understand this reality, but sometimes a negotiator “postures” for either political or other reasons. When that happens, it often creates an aura of frustration, and negotiations often break down into personality conflicts.

The most effective negotiations always begin with negotiators communicating openly. While some negotiators like to “play hardball,” it is almost never productive. Open communication requires that negotiations follow certain steps. These include:

(1) Both sides fully explain their needs and requirements. If there are budgetary issues, these should be explained upfront, so that there are no misunderstandings.
(2) Both sides need to be honest with each other. Being honest doesn’t mean giving in to everything the other side wants, but understanding fully what is be requested, and why.
(3) If this is either a hotel or food and beverage negotiation, the facility must understand what is being asked for. Are there alternatives that will make it less expensive for the facility, thus permitting it to pass along that savings to the prospective client?
(4) In the hotel/ food and beverage scenario, if a hotel believes it cannot deliver what is being requested, at the quality level and price point requested, it should state that upfront.
(5) If either side is negotiating with more than one party simultaneously, that should be fully disclosed. The negotiator should also explain why this is being done.
(6) When one side is unreasonable, negotiations usually fail. Often, the worst case scenario is that the two sides agree, and that the deal is so one-sided that the other side is unable to deliver when and what is needed and was promised.
(7) Negotiators should only promise what they can deliver.
(8) Negotiators should have sufficient authority to make the necessary agreements and frameworks of the deal. Too many levels of negotiation is generally catastrophic to a good end result.
(9) Negotiators should be direct and to the point.
(10) Specific needs and/or requirements must be disclosed upfront.
(11) Each side should submit their requests for concessions from the other.
(12) The best result of any negotiation is when it is “win-win.”
(13) The best result of any negotiation, in the long term, results in a deal that is fair to both sides.

Most individuals are not good negotiators. Amateur negotiators often destroy doable deals! Parties to negotiations should both use professional negotiators, who understand what needs to be done to “hammer out a deal.” Please read my Associated Content articles on various aspects of negotiating.