For decades, we have believed that people have “learning styles.” For instance, a “visual learner” might prefer pictures, an auditory learner might learn best from hearing something, etc.  Now research tells us something that many educators have known for a long time: Learning styles are a myth. This pervasive concept doesn’t just live in the classroom, though. It’s also infected the corporate conference room where presenters often use a learning styles approach to figure out what to put on presentation slides. And the method has often led them astray – allowing them to use way too much text and then sprinkle a generic image on a slide or two occasionally.

Are there really people who want to “read” slides?
I have always been skeptical of applying learning styles to slide design.  How would slapping the “shaking hands” clip art on a slide make the bullets list next to it riveting?  Is it really just a matter of sprinkling a stop sign here, a globe there, and then the magic begins? I guess what really bothered me is that using the “learning styles” technique actually made slides worse. The truth is, there is no learning style that prefers boring.

But if research suggests that learning styles don’t really exist – what do we put on slides?
The problem is that presenters need help figuring out what the heck to put on their slides! And there isn’t a lot of guidance out there. But through my work with hundreds of presenters and my study of slide principles I've developed some guidelines for use by people whose main job is not creating presentations.   

But first, we have to tell the truth: Up to now, your slides have been your speaker notes
You don’t want to admit, do you? But if you really analyze what’s on your slides you’re going see that you put stuff there not for the audience but for you to remember what to say. You might have rationalized it as “good for reading-based learning styles” but like Walter White in Breaking Bad, it was all for you.   But it’s okay! It’s okay to use slides a bit to help you, but there are better ways to help you remember what to say – why not just print up notes if you need them?
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Here’s how to make great slides
First, like Fight Club, whose first rule is, well, you know; in Slide Club, first rule is we don’t think about slides. That’s Zen, right? Well here’s what Garr Reynolds of Presentation Zen says…
“I love technology, and I think slideware can be very effective in many situations. But for planning, I say "go analog" — paper and pen, white boards, a note pad in your pocket as you take a walk down the beach with your dog...whatever works for you. Peter Drucker said it best: "The computer is a moron." You and your ideas (and your audience) are all that matter. So try getting away from the computer in the early stages, the time when your creativity is needed most. For me at least, clarity of thinking and a generation of ideas come when my computer and I are far apart.”

Okay, so imagine you have brainstormed a list of points you want to make – whether in Microsoft Word on back of your beer coaster.  (As long as it isn’t in PowerPoint yet.) For each point you need to make in your presentation, you need to ask yourself certain questions.  For the sake of example, imagine that one point you want to make is “Our competitors spend more on marketing than we do.”  Here’s what you nee to ask:

What does my audience need to see before they believe that “Our competitors spend more on marketing than we do.

”Does your audience need to see data?  Do they need to see a comparison of what they spend to what we spend – as raw numbers, as percentages, over time, etc. Try to focus on 1 or 2 key data points that they can remember easily -rather than an array of numbers.   

Does your audience need to see images? Would a bunch of competitors’ logos help show how many spend more than we do? How about photos or screen shots of their marketing campaigns? Pictures of press articles? If you do use images – make sure the images are large and clear and not weighed down with text.

Does your audience need an analogy? Sometimes an analogy can be a very compelling way of making a point. Imagine that you wanted to make the point that investing less in marketing is hurting your brand. Is your brand the “Clark Kent” that could be made into Superman with more investment? Or is there an underfunded sports team the audience is familiar with? Maybe there is a past investment in your company that paid off and you could use that as an analogy?

Does your audience need quotes? Maybe you have a quote from someone at a competitor talking about their big ROI on marketing spends. Quotes on a slide can have a big impact – especially if they are large and easy to read.

And last – does your audience really need text on a slide? What words do they HAVE to read? Probably very few so put as little text on a slide as possible.
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But do pay attention to text on the most important part of the slide: the title Slide titles are usually pretty bad because they don’t give enough info, but instead contain one generic word like “overview” “metrics,” etc. But the slide title is critical to audience engagement with the slide – and can make a difference with how well they remember the content.  Consider using a question – audiences love to see their own questions in print and it shows them you are thinking about them. Or try a statement that begins with “How,” or “Why.” (How Company X secured funding for marketing) (Why we need to increase marketing spend.) Whatever you do, think engage with your titles, and not just label.
    So instead of learning styles: use this as your guide: Every human being likes information that is easy to understand, easy to relate to, and easy to remember.

We talk. They listen. Simple, right?
We communicate because we have something to say to an audience.  Whether we’re sharing  next quarter’s sales goals, asking for a raise, writing a proposal for project funding, or publishing an op-ed on voting rights.  Whatever the communication is, the roles are the same:  We talk and they listen.  We write; they read.  At the end we might ask for their questions or feedback. But while we hold the floor – or the pen – it feels as if it’s a monologue – our monologue.  But it’s not.

Your audience is always talking back to you. You just can’t hear it.
That’s right. The audience is responding to you throughout your talk, or email, or presentation. But it’s in their head – so for you, it’s on “mute.” Want to try it out?  Next time you are listening to a presentation, reading a letter to the editor, or watching the news, notice what is going on in your head. It’s not quiet in there, is it? You are constantly responding to the speaker or writer: you’re agreeing, disagreeing, asking questions - but no one would know it, because you have your “serious listening face,” on. (Unless you’re in the car, screaming back at the news like me!)
 
​How can you incorporate the audience into your communication?
The simplest, most effective way to put the audience in your talk or writing is to incorporate their likely questions.  It’s easy to do and it works with many types of communications. Here’s the steps:

1. Put yourself into your reader’s head and imagine their questions about your content.  What questions would they ask? What questions would they want to ask but be embarrassed to say out loud? What concerns would they have? Write them all down. Read more here and here. . 
2. Categorize those questions according to what part of your topic they relate to.  
3.  Number the questions in each category according to their importance to the audience. In other words, what is the audience’s most important question in each area?  
4. Now integrate those audience questions right into your text, your slides, your script. Here’s some suggestions:

•   Use questions as slide titles for a presentation.
• Consider an agenda that is all questions – they work beautifully to engage audiences.  
• Use questions as headings for an email or proposal.
• Script them right into your talk. Read about how to use rhetorical questions in Andrew Dugan’s great newsletter for speakers, “Six Minutes.”

 
Why do questions work so well?
When you give voice to a question that is in your listener’s head, you show that you hear them, that you’ve thought about them, and that you take their needs seriously. You’re turning that monologue into a dialogue that includes, engages, and recognizes your audience.  And they will hear you – even if you can’t hear them.
 
P.S. I've been talking about using questions rhetorically - you raise the audience's question yourself and then answer it. But what if you actually want to get answers from the audience? Here's an article about doing just that. 
 
 

I was recently coaching a software engineer on an upcoming presentation. She wanted to respond gracefully if an audience member asked about a topic she didn’t feel qualified to address. “I just don’t know enough about the project to talk about it.”

Curious, I asked her how much she did know about the topic. “Only about 80%,” she said. As soon as she heard herself say it aloud, she smiled at me.  Because what that statement really meant was, “I know a lot about that topic.” But like many women I work with, she didn’t feel “qualified” to discuss it unless she knew 110% of the topic, and also maybe had a Ph.D. in it too. Women need to feel like a walking Wikipedia to open their mouths. Men will be an expert after glancing at a pamphlet in the subject.

This hesitance to speak is a rational response to a world that does ignore or under value women’s opinions and criticize them more harshly than men’s.  (The research is here and here. )  And of course, we now have a vocabulary to describe the ways women’s voices are silenced: you know “mansplaining,” but now there’s also “manterrupting,” and “bropropriating,” in which a man takes credit for a woman’s idea. The problem is real, and women aren’t crazy to zip their lips.  

​But until women rule the universe, or at least are half of all CEOs and Senators, we have to figure out a strategy. And we must stop internalizing social messages about our value and our expertise. So how do we do that?  Two great books on this topic are Playing Big by Tara Mohr and Secret Thoughts of Successful Women by Valerie Young. And here’s some tips to get you started today.

1. Start with noticing what you tell yourself when you decide not to share an opinion, a perspective. Become an observer (without judging) of your own thought patterns, especially when you are at meetings or in other situations where you are hesitant to speak. Normally these nasty little messages (“I better not talk about this issue - I don’t want to look foolish.”) get transmitted at lightening speed so you barely notice them. But if you’re watching for them, you’ll hear them. Try to keep track of them for a few days. You will learn a LOT! 

2. Next, start noticing the kind of contributions other people make, especially men. At meetings, take out your invisible magnifying glass to find out if their contributions are always brilliant, or just opinions dressed up to sound authoritative. What you are going to notice are a lot of people saying exactly what you were thinking because, in all likelihood, your perspective and observations are just as valuable as theirs, and often more. 

3.Okay, you’re done noticing; now try a small step. Decide that you are going to speak up once or twice this week in a meeting. One thing that may help you is to prepare some “framers,” introductory phrases that can give you a structure that feels comfortable. Some examples are: “I believe we should consider...” “Why don’t we…”  “There are three reasons we need to…,” “From my perspective… .”  What you want to avoid however, is the “apology intro: “This may be a dumb idea…”  “You all may have thought of this already, but …” or even, “I’m sorry, but I think we should…”

​And finally, here’s something to remember when you get down about the challenges of speaking up. In a recent article in the New York Times about the way men with no experience are dominating the cryptocurrency field, early crypto investor Arianna Simpson “said the surge of interest in virtual currencies from male novices should remind women that it did not take expertise or a Ph.D. to thrive in the system. Women always question if they are qualified,” she said, “but look at all these clowns around us.” Remember those “clowns”  the next time you think knowing 80% is not enough. It is.

Would you like to get more help as you become a more comfortable, confident, and compelling speaker? Sign up on my mailing list below and I’ll send you some every few weeks. ​

​Cathy McNally is founder and CEO of Women Speak Up! which provides speaker training and coaching for women who want to change the world. She is the host of the Take the Mic podcast, coming in April, 2018.

Public speaking is not really about hand gestures, posture, or eye contact. Sure, you’ve got to deal with those eventually, but what you MUST deal with first is the belly. Why? Because the belly is where we find our fear, our fire and our calm. First, the fear, the primary obstacle to speaking for many of us. The belly is a great hiding spot – or control room- for fear.  It’s deep and dark and hidden from view.  And unless you are a seasoned public speaker, you’re likely dealing with a lot of fear.

Fear is primal – prehistoric. It’s considered human’s first emotion, and It’s often beyond – or beneath – our conscious control. It’s also not rational much of the time. The Liz Gilbert, author of Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear says “Basically, your fear is like a mall cop who thinks he’s a Navy SEAL: He hasn’t slept in days, he’s all hopped up on Red Bull, and he’s liable to shoot at his own shadow in an absurd effort to keep everyone “safe.” And sometimes that cop keeps us from doing what we want – like stepping up to the podium, speaking at the rally, or even sharing our voice in a meeting.

So what can we do about fear of public speaking?
First we have to get used to feeling a little afraid every day, because we will. Next we have to listen to our fear to figure out what it’s really telling us. So get a pen and paper and think about your fear of public speaking. What EXACTLY are you afraid of? What would happen if your worst fears were to come true? Would people laugh at you? Leave your talk? Stand up and say, “that’s baloney!”  (I’ve heard those fears – and many more.) No matter how wacky or even scary it seems, get it down in technicolor detail.  
Now that you have named and described your fear, give yourself a pat on the back cause it’s not easy. Now ask yourself gently, “How realistic is my fear?” Many of things we fear are extremely unlikely, but still they help us identify feelings or memories holding us back. That’s why we have to flesh them out so carefully.  But sometimes our fears are realistic, and they can tell us what we need to work on.  I’m going to give you an example from my own experience.

Look to your belly to learn why you speak
There’s another reason to look to your belly - it’s where you find your fire - the fire that fuels your desire to speak. Maybe it’s an injustice that’s got you angry, a desire to change something, or a passion for the planet that makes you feel you must speak, even if you’re nervous about it.
For some of you, that fire may be a blazing bonfire that can be seen for miles; for others it may be tiny, sputtering little thing, more sparks than flame. It’s there, but it needs nurturing. That’s okay, you can nurture it. Be glad of your blaze whatever it is because many people don’t have a passion – or can’t find it.
 
Okay, one more thing about the belly
So the belly is your source of fear, and fire, but did you know it’s a built-in ever-ready relaxation machine? That’s because of its role in breathing. Your belly is an easy to see reminder that deep breaths help you get comfortable at any and every moment. And the power of breathing deeply is a secret weapon for great speakers – and nervous speakers.  If you’ve ever taken yoga, meditation, or voice lessons, you know that deep “belly breaths” relax you, ground you, and focus you in the moment. Try it: place your hands on your belly and breathe so that your belly swells as the air fills your lungs. It’s not that the air actually goes into your belly, but deep breaths make your diaphragm push down on your belly.

“Belly breathing” is an instant way to relax yourself before and during speaking. And it works to help deepen your voice and slow your talking speed, two things which can help you sound more powerful and authoritative. The next time you have a challenging speaking situation, try breathing your way through it. Many speakers I work with say it makes a huge difference to their comfort level.  

I’d love to hear how you use your belly to help you be a braver speaker! Leave your feedback in comments section.
 

Ask young professionals about the challenges of the workplace, and I'll bet they say email. I've worked with hundreds of millennials  as a communication trainer, and I know they find writing a headache.  It’s not that millennials can’t write; they can write academic essays and research papers very well.  But they struggle with the peculiar demands of the style I call “American Professional Email,” or APE.

Workplace communicating makes young professionals nervous
They’ve just spent 16 years seeing “adults” as teachers, bosses, coaches, and themselves as “kids.” The relationship was one of deference, and often close to parental. And then one summer day just after they graduate, when they should be sitting around playing “left4dead2” and drinking beer, they have to put on extremely expensive clothing, work all day, every day, and interact with older adults as colleagues for the first time in their lives.

Why "American Professional email" can be tricky to master
In person, communication can be awkward; but in writing, or A.P.E., its much worse. After all, most young professionals who work in finance, tax, or engineering didn’t go into those fields because they loved writing. They like spreadsheets and schematics, and they do not like using writing to handle the constant negotiations, requests, and reports that are part of the job. And sometimes emails have to be used to convey bad news, so getting the tone right can be a challenge.  One engineer fairly new to the workplace told me that “The worst thing is having to tell someone older and more experienced than you that they are wrong – in an email!” And since most interactions with colleagues, managers, and clients take place through email, their writing skills are on display all day every day.
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What happens if you fail to nail email? (Hint: they’re judging you.)
For many these millennials, mastering American Professional Email (APE) takes time and training, but as I assure them, it’s worth it. Communication skill is THE differentiator in professional life, especially when you and your peers have equal technical skills.  Poorly written emails annoy readers.  And it’s probably unfair, but ineffective emails can cause readers to make conclusions about a writer’s competence.   

Here are the three writing problems common to young professionals and how to fix them.

1. Over-politeness. There is such a thing as being too polite, unless you’re talking to your grandma. Because millennials are raised to be courteous, many of them write emails with a painfully excessive politeness which can make the writer look guilty and needy rather than confident.  Many struggle to even call colleagues by their first name. (In fact, at one employer I worked with, new hires had to be continually reminded not to add “Miss” to female colleagues' first names.) Many new hires are way too quick to apologize for any request, or show fawning gratitude for any small task done. 

The FIX for over-politeness  Okay, you’re often the lowest status person on the team.  But you’re still a professional, and you don’t need to sound like a supplicant kneeling before the king.  It’s great to be polite, but it’s important to tuck manners into the point, not keep the point waiting for all the bowing and sniveling. Learn to express your politeness in short phrases that get the job done fast. For example, “I would really appreciate it if you…” Or “If you have time, can you…?” can be fast ways of showing that you’re thoughtful and efficient.
 
2. Too many words! Like the over-politeness, wordiness can result from insecurity about how to communicate at work.  Lots of words can be like comforting blankets which make us feel safe, but often end up smothering our point.  And of course wordiness is also a direct result of having an education. School has made all of us masters at larding our point with extra words, and so much the better if they can be "SAT words." In school, the more words the better; at work messages are expected to be concise and to the point. 

THE FIX to wordiness  If your sentences tend to average 20 words or more, you are probably too wordy. Look hard at your emails before they go out: Could you cut words, say things more concisely? One tip to find the shortest way to express something? Ask yourself how you would say it in conversation.  We tend to speak in a more direct and natural way than we write. Also, ask a friend to find “deadwood” in your sentences  – others can see extra words faster than you. And of course, do the same for your friend.
 
3. Not getting to the point. This email problem is the one that’s most annoying to readers.  Readers usually have just two or three questions when they read an email – what do you want me to know? What do you want me to do? And is there a deadline? But young professionals (they are not alone in this of course! ) often bury the lead beneath lots of background  (“first this happened, then that happened.”). They make readers do the detective work to find the point.  And busy distracted readers do not want to do extra work! We can place part of the blame on school again, because academic writing often builds up to a conclusion. But in American Professional Email (APE), we always put the most important info at the top.
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The FIX for not getting to the point. First figure out what the main point of your email is BEFORE you start writing. I promise it takes about 60 seconds to do this. Then try to put that point right at the top – or close to the top - of your email. Make it extremely easy for the reader to see the message and the reader will adore you! (Professionally of course.) If you need to put in some background, see if you can put it in below the key point. You can even give it a headline like “Here’s why I ask,” or “Rationale for Request” if you like to be fancy. The military has a shorthand reminder to help people remember to get to the point pronto: BLUF (Bottom Line Up Front). Make it yours too. 
 
So millennials, (and anyone else whose emails need tweaking) you can do it. It’s not hard! And if you need coaching on any of these issues or other communication challenges, give me a holler.