Tag: speaking

On hold

Fabrizio1 Comment

When we hear, read, or consume content, all we get is often about us.

Our fears, expectations, experience, knowledge. What we think about the author, about the medium, about the source. The day we are having, the day we are not having. Likes and dislikes. How confident we are today, what we have been told yesterday, where we are going tomorrow.

In order for us to learn, we need to be able to put all that on hold. To make it about the one delivering the message. To suspend our reaction and just be hearing, reading, consuming content in the moment.

If we do not that, everything will just be a confirmation of what we already know.

Templates

Fabrizio1 Comment

I used to start working on presentations by opening PowerPoint (or Google Slide). Now I start on a piece of paper, perhaps with the aid of some post-its.

The reason is simple. When I started planning my presentation on a set of slides, or on a template, I always ended up twisting the message to make it fit. Of course, I could always change the slide or the template, but the reality is that by approaching presentations this way I would always always tend to have the visual dictate what I would say.

If you start on a piece of paper, instead, you have the freedom to choose the topics you want to cover, the points you want to make, the pace you want to sustain. You can jot down ideas, scratch them, link them, expand on them, and already come up with a pretty solid backbone for what your telling is going to feel like.

From there on, it is all details. And that is when templates, slides, pictures, styles, animations should come into the scene.

The outcome of your presentation will depend a lot on your audience, your message, and the change you seek to make. None of that is accounted for in any PowerPoint template.

What question

Fabrizio4 Comments

What are the next steps? Do I get to be involved?

These are two questions, or is it actually one? We could ask what is our real intention.

If we are genuinely curious about the next steps, then we should just stop at the first question.
If we want to know if we need to allocate time because of our involvement, then we should just go with the second one.
If we want to be involved, then we should just say it and avoid the question.

Can I ask if you have made the decision already?

This is one question, but it turns out we are asking two. Out of excessive politeness, most definitely.

If we want to know if the person is free to answer, then we should just stop at the first question.
If we want to know whether a decision has been made, then we should just go with the second one.
If we want to know the decision that was made, then we should just go ahead and ask directly.

Communication is complex, so much so that it often fails. Why add complexity?

Ask yourself what you want to know, then make the question that can get you the answer.

Leave behind

FabrizioLeave a comment

A truth of life is that, at any point in time, we leave behind a wealth of opportunities, almost infinite chances.

And a second truth of life is that we often care much more about what we are leaving behind rather than what we have with us.

I guess the point is, why are you doing what you are doing?

If it is an intentional and purposeful choice, cherish it and dedicate all yourself to it. With no regrets for what could have been, if only.

If it is not an intentional and purposeful choice, you still have a wealth of opportunities and almost infinite chances to pick from.

The time you are not answering this question is the time you will feel incomplete.

The best list

FabrizioLeave a comment

The best thing to get something done on a lazy day is to make a list.

And the best list you can do is planned, intentional, and purposeful.

Planned, because you have to prepare it in advance. To give it time to rest, to ensure you are putting some thoughts into it, to have it ready when the day kicks off.

Intentional, because you are the one in charge. Don’t make other people’s priorities get onto the list, unless you find a way to make them yours as well.

Purposeful, because the items on the list need to fit your purpose for the day. Even better if, when completed, they drop you a little bit closer to a bigger purpose.

Might work as well for not-so-lazy days after all.