The Q&A or fireside chat has become a popular format at events like conferences and employee town-halls, replacing more-formal presentations and panels. The one-on-one format can create a more conversational, interesting, and intimate experience, and has the added benefit that the CEO or luminary being interviewed theoretically doesn’t have to prepare as much. READ MORE
I really like how Keivyn Reyes’s image reminds us that beyond expectation setting and facilitating remembering, structure provides a natural flow for communicators. Specifically, structure gives you a place to start and a place to end while also providing easy transitions. Here is a reminder of how this powerful structure works.
Recently while culling through new research findings, I came across five studies that have direct relevance to communicating in terms of either anxiety reduction or helping with memory – yours and your audience’s.
Mindful walking. Research conducted at USC found that students who took time to focus on what was going on around them while walking were significantly less stressed than those who were not mindful in their moving from place to place. Simply noting the scenery around you, the smells in the air, or the feeling of your feet on the ground can help to reduce your anxiety. So, the next time you have a high stakes meeting or presentation, allow yourself time to walk around the building.
Near misses help. When it comes to remembering something, research from Baycrest’s Rotman Research Institute found that mistakes that are close to what was intended are better at helping you remember than not making errors at all. Too often when preparing a presentation or content to deliver during a meeting we don’t start practicing out loud until we feel that we have it down well. This is why many people try to memorize their content prior to speaking. This new research suggests practicing before you have everything all set will actually help you remember it better. So, take your outline and start practicing your talking points aloud, rather than trying to get it all right in your head first.
Ask and ye shall help others remember. Researchers at the University of British Columbia found further support for “retrieval-enhanced learning,” which refers to how recalling something you recently heard reinforces it in memory. This research looked at how quizzing on newly learned information aids learners in recalling the information much later. Thus, if you wish to help your audience remember your pearls of wisdom, you may want to include some questions in your content that get them thinking about what you previously said.
Have meaningful conversations. Researchers at the University of Zurich found that having meaningful conversations – those in which deep, important information is exchanged – leads the communicators to be happier and more fulfilled, regardless of if they are introverts or extroverts. Yet, many people retreat and ruminate before or after stressful situations. So the next time you find yourself feeling nervous or bad about a presentation, spend time talking to others about meaningful ideas.
Wake up happy. Research out of Penn State found that if you wake up stressed about your day (“stress anticipation”), you are more likely to perform poorly due to a reduction in working memory – the part of memory associated with immediate perception and processing. So, if you wake up stressed, acknowledge it and actively work to reduce your anxiety. You can try exercise, deep breathing, writing out what makes you feel nervous. You can reset this morning predisposition through awareness and action.
In this episode we show you the science of communication. Have you ever been afraid to speak or present? Are you worried about not having the skills or tools to communicate your ideas to the world? We dig into the science and the
strategies of mastering skills like speaking and presenting, crushing the anxiety that often accompanies thee high stakes moments, and share evidence based strategies for becoming a master communicator.
Matt Abrahams is a Professor of Strategic Communication for Stanford University's Graduate School of Business. He is the co-founder of Bold Echo Communication Solutions and author of the book Speaking Up Without Freaking Out. Matt's videos and training techniques have been viewed tens of millions of times in TEDx, Inc. and much more!Mentioned:
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You’ve been there: describing your big idea or delivering a spontaneous toast and you can’t find the right words. The ones you do manage to access seem to tumble out too fast and all wrong. If you’ve spent years working in a lab or with a small cohort, stepping into an industry job that requires communicating with colleagues, supervisors and supervisees can present its own challenges. How do you command respect and get your point across while keeping your cool? 
Matt Abrahams, ’91, knows firsthand that getting flustered only makes it worse. When Abrahams was a high school freshman, his English teacher suggested he participate in a speech and debate tournament. He prepared a talk about one of his hobbies, karate. “First thing, I decide to do a kick — ten seconds into a ten-minute speech, I rip my pants from zipper to belt buckle.” The next nine minutes and fifty seconds, he says, were a crash course in how anxiety affects communication.
Abrahams, a GSB lecturer and the author of Speaking Up Without Freaking Out, has dedicated his career to helping people overcome their anxiety and sharpen their communication skills. He shares some of his favorite strategies for speaking with confidence and calm, whether you’re giving a presentation at work, asking your boss for a raise or trying keeping your head in a thorny family discussion — no karate moves required.
Instead, he says, think about who they are and what they need. Abrahams calls this “reconnaissance and reflection.” If you’re giving a public talk on green energy, for example, how many people in your audience know about the most recent decisions of the public utility commission? How many know what the public utility commission is? If you’re asking for a raise, is your boss aware of the extra hours you’ve been putting in? In any communication, you want to meet people where they are.
So, if you feel your heart racing or hear yourself talking too fast, Abrahams says, address the symptoms. “Taking deep yoga-like breaths helps reduce many of the symptoms [of anxiety],” as does “holding something cold in the palm of your hand. It reduces your core body temperature, so you perspire less and blush less.” And the good news? People often conflate confidence with competence, so if you can fake the first, you can convince them you’ve got the second — no matter how you really feel.