The speaker, who worked for a printing company, wanted to demonstrate why humidity is so much worse in hotter weather than in colder weather.
He placed two glasses on a table, one a tall drinking glass, the other a shorter juice glass. He put a sign in front of each indicating the temperature they represented: the tall glass represented 90 degrees, the shorter one was 65 degrees. He poured water into the shorter glass, filling it to the top.
“This is 100% humidity in 65 degree weather,” he explained. Then he poured the contents of that glass into the taller one, bringing it to about two thirds full. “But notice that the same amount of moisture is not 100% humidity at 90 degrees. Hotter temperatures hold more moisture, therefore making the relative humidity much greater.”
A conservationist held up an apple. “Consider that this apple represents our earth.” With a knife, she sliced it into quarters. She set aside three pieces, saying, “Three quarters of it represent the oceans.” Holding up one quarter, she said, “This represents our land area.” She sliced that in half and discarding one piece, said, “That portion represents the land area that is inhospitable to people: polar areas, deserts, swamps, high or rocky mountains. The piece that’s left, which is 1/8 our original apple, is for the land areas where people live.”
She sliced that piece into four sections. Setting three of those aside, she said “These pieces represent the areas too rocky, wet, cold, steep, or soil-poor to produce food. They also include the cities, suburbs, highways, shopping centers, schools, parks, factories, parking lots, and other places where people live but where they can’t grow food.”
The remaining piece was 1/32 of the apple. She peeled the skin off that tiny slice. “This tiny bit of peel represents the very thin surface of the earth’s crust, less than five feet deep, which is all we have to grow the food to feed the world.”
An architectural engineer started a presentation on the importance of good engineering in architecture design with this little gem: “I’m a new grandfather. Recently I was holding our new grandson in my arms and I marveled at what an architectural and engineering marvel he was. Suddenly, there was a problem. I realized there had been a major plumbing malfunction.”
Standing out is a function of your presence. The best definition I ever found for that word came from a book about the ancient and universal wisdoms of our world’s indigenous peoples. Ancient tribal beliefs recognized three universal powers essential to a “leader”: The Power of Communication
The Power of Position
The Power of Presence
In this context, “presence” is defined as:
choosing to be present and visible
showing up energetically
bringing all four intelligences forward: mental, spiritual, physical, and emotional
I can’t do anything about your mental intelligence, and your spiritual intelligence is your own personal journey. But your physical and emotional intelligence are definitely improvable. And improving them will help you stand out among the crowd, making it more likely you’ll get that job, earn that promotion, grow your business-that you’ll be more successful in both your professional and personal life.
Let’s start with some definitions. Physical presence is everything about your appearance: your posture, facial expressions, hairstyle and grooming, clothing choices, gestures, physique, and vocal qualities.
Emotional presence is how you handle yourself and others. It includes everything from your social graces, presentation power, and people skills and to your teamwork, dining manners, and tech etiquette.
These are the kinds of things I cover in my monthly newsletter Stand Out Strategies (sign up for the newsletter on this web site). In this inaugural article, I’ve chosen something from the definition of presence above: “showing up energetically.” Energy, or enthusiasm, is a powerful attribute of presence. We generally don’t look to shy, reserved, “wallflower” types for leadership and guidance. People’s enthusiasm about their company, their products, their service, and themselves is contagious. Their presence is powerful, motivating, inspiring.
It’s worthwhile to note that credibility—or believability—includes three elements: Competence—your knowledge, experience, expertise Trustworthiness—your honesty and reliability Dynamism—your enthusiasm and passion.
Keep in mind that you may possess the knowledge and be scrupulously honest, but if you don’t possess that third element, dynamism, people may not perceive you as credible.
So showing enthusiasm is crucial. It reflects on your credibility and impacts your presence. There are countless ways to convey energy—how you speak, how you move, how you carry yourself. Those are some of the topics I’ll cover in SOS. For now, just recognize its importance. Monitor yourself in all your interactions to see if you project “good energy.”
No matter how important the content of your presentation is, it’s meaningless if your delivery is not engaging and compelling. Research has confirmed that 93 percent of your communication impact comes from how you look and sound, which is what your delivery is all about. I have captured the seven key delivery skills a speaker should master with the acronym S.P.E.A.K.E.R.
Smile
Posture
Eye Communication
Appearance
Kinesics
Expressive Vocals
Resting Places for Your Hands
This article is about the A for “Appearance.”
When you’re in front of a room, does your appearance command attention, give you credibility, imbue you with power? Or is it weak, sloppy, uncertain? How you appear to your audience has an impact on your believability and how receptive they’ll be to your message. And while most of the other points in my SPEAKER acronym also deal with some aspect of appearance, I created this category to deal with two very specific subsets of your appearance: attire and distracting mannerisms. The focus of this article is on Attire.
Looking good. In today’s business casual world, the traditional business suit is far less common than it used to be. But just because business casual has become the predominant dress code, it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t strive to look your best.
When you’re standing in front of a group, with several sets of eyes focused on you, it’s not the time to wear the pants that are a little snug, the panty hose with a run in it, or the shoes that are scuffed. At the very least, your garments should be clean, pressed and well-fitting. Don’t choose an outfit based on what looks good, but rather on what makes you look good.
Fabric choices. To stay cool, literally, don’t wear heavy material and make sure you wear a fabric that breathes. Polyesters and other man-made fabrics don’t breathe and will make you sweat all the more. Stick with natural fabrics: cotton, wool, silk.
Appropriateness. Consider what’s appropriate for the audience and the occasion. What’s fitting to a board of directors is not the same as what’s suitable to a group of construction workers in jeans and flannel shirts. Remember that a jacket is the great equalizer: take it off if you feel over-dressed; throw one on if you need to upgrade your look.
Remember this great business casual guideline: the more skin that’s exposed, the more casual the look. Therefore, a sleeveless top is more casual than short sleeves, and short sleeves are more casual than long sleeves. A short skirt is more casual than a long one. Sandals are more casual than shoes. Even in your casual attire wardrobe, you can still make choices that are more professional than others.
Color. While black or navy is often considered a “power color,” the fact is many of us don’t look good in those colors. If you choose a color that’s complimentary to your skin tone, hair and eye color (either warm tones or cool tones), you’ll find that you’ll look better. Poor color choices can either wash you out or literally clash with your coloring, which will not enhance your appearance in front of a group.
Keep in mind that whenever you wear two contrasting colors, such as dark pants with a light shirt, you are essentially cutting yourself in half. This creates the illusion of a shorter, wider figure. If you want to cut a taller, more slender figure, then choose the monochrome look, a top that matches the pants or skirt in color.
If your clothing choices make you look good, then you’ll feel good. And if you feel good, you’ll perform well. And audiences will love you.
“The workshop instruction was excellent! Tools we received can be used immediately. I also thought the peer reviews were a key element…. Barbara was informative, energetic, and well-versed on the subject. One of the best outside vendors I’ve seen at our company.”
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