While typical for many meeting venues, and perhaps most comfortable for you, the presenter, meeting planner, or hotelier, it is NOT the best seating arrangement for an audience-centered presentation.

So what’s wrong with straight rows?

1.  Focus.  The seats directly in front of the speaker are the only decent seats in the house.  Everyone else has to adjust the view to get a direct line of sight to the presenter.  And yet we give up this prime real estate to a multimedia projector table or vacant space for a center aisle.  Whenever possible, place the chairs in front of you, the speaker:

2.  Energy Drain.  Any feng-shui expert will tell you that the energy flows out of the room through a center aisle.  Wherever possible, keep the straight row center section right in front of you, with an aisle in between each outer seating section.

4.  Safety.  You may want to have some ability for people to get in and out of their seats, so you can modify the seating with some extra aisles starting a third of the way from the stage.  This way, the energy won’t flow out of the room!

5.  Blocked View.  Unless you are sitting in the front row, there will always be somebody taller or wider in the seat in front of you.  If you are lucky, you will have a semi-obstructed view of the presenter.  Worst case, you have to lean one way or the other just to get a clear view. Wherever possible, stagger the chairs so they aren’t lined up like soldiers behind each other.

6.  Pain.  Unless you are sitting right in front of the presenter, chances are you must turn your neck slightly to see the presenter.  If you are on the far reaches, then you are probably putting more weight on one butt cheek than the other and are constantly readjusting your seat!  Do this for an extended period of time, and it starts to hurt!  Wherever possible, angle the chairs toward the presenter.

7.  Disconnect. If you want to connect with the audience, the best way is to enable the audience to connect with each other.  They simply can’t connect with each other if they can’t see each other. Straight rows allow each person in the row to see only one person on either side (and the back of somebody’s head – but that doesn’t help connection!)  Wherever possible, curve the seating around the presenter, so the audience can see each other.

Finally, if you can, ask for the overhead screen to be placed on the left, looking at the front of the room (otherwise known as upstage right!).  Since we read from left to right, make it easier for the audience to “read” what you are saying by placing the screen to the left of the stage (downstage right in theater terms).  Place the screen at the same depth as you will be standing and close enough to your center position so that your audience’s eyes won’t have to travel a great distance from you to the screen.  Furthermore, should you have to point to something on the screen, you can use your right hand without turning your back to the participants!

Depending on the venue’s capability, you can transform a ho-hum, boring traditional theater-style room set into an audience-centered seating arrangement.  Being able to view the presentation in comfort, as well as to see each other enhances the dynamics of the presentation.  In the best of all possible worlds, orient the seats toward the front so they can comfortably connect with the presenter and with each other.

I intend to schedule a webinar in March, June, September, and August of this year.  As far as topics go, I could talk for days about teamwork, but we’re only looking at a 45 minute webinar!

So here are some titles/topics I was thinking about, and would like to have your opinion as to what top four webinars you would not only be interested in attending, but would actually sign up!  2012 will be complementary, as I’ll be getting the kinks out of the system.  I’ve done a few, but I wouldn’t exactly call myself an amazing webinar presenter – yet.

TeamSpeak: Words to Use or Lose to Inspire Better Teamwork

Boring to Bravo: 10 Tips to Make Your Presentations Extraordinary!

Beyond Consensus: 3 Little Known Secrets to Achieving Solid Agreements Among Your Team Mates

A Team Leader’s Toolkit for Handing Difficult People

The Do’s & Don’ts of Teamwork & Collaboration: 5 Critical Skills to Take Your Team to the Next Level

Are you a Light Bulb or a Flame Thrower?  How to Manage the Inevitable Conflicts in Teams

Team Player or Spectator?  3 Critical Insights to Building a High Performance Team

Go Beyond the Ordinary: 5 Critical Decisions Every Team Leader Must Make

Any other topics/titles you have in mind?

Thanks for voting now on your top topics and helping me crowdsource the best titles/topics for 2012!  You have until Sunday, January 15th to let me know.  Thanks a bazillion!

Joseph Sherren

‘Tis the season to make your new year’s resolutions.  If you have attended one of my sessions, you have heard me talk about how you can take control and improve your life significantly by deciding, articulating, recording and committing to your future in the form of written goals.

Research has shown that the probability of achieving your dreams of success and happiness increases significantly when you clearly visualize what you want.  Maintaining Vision Boards, scribing or even finding pictures of exactly what you want is a common habit of successful people.

Unfortunately, most people spend more time planning a two-week vacation than they do their life!  To achieve your life’s goals, follow these five elements for visualization:

Be Clear.  For visualization to work, you must have absolute clarity about what it is you desire.  There is a direct correlation between how clearly you can see your desired goal in your mind, and how probable it is that it will actually materialize.  Visualization is the fuel that mobilizes the power of the Law of Attraction (as outlined in the documentary “The Secret”).

Be Proactive.  When you first set a goal, your initial image may be ambiguous.  The more often you review, think about, and discuss it with others, the clearer the goal becomes. When it is clear in your psyche is when it will happen – like magic.

Constantly spend time imagining you have already achieved a specific goal.  Hold a clear picture of already achieving your dream, or doing what you want to be doing.  The longer you are able to hold the image in your mind, the deeper it will be embedded into your subconscious.  Psychiatrists have an expression, “You will be dragged kicking and screaming in the direction of your subconscious”.

Be Passionate.  One common element of all the successful people I have studied is that at one point in their life they became angry, frustrated or passionate.  When your emotion is intense enough, your goal and visual image becomes even clearer.

Be Committed.  Everyone has a dream, but very few are willing to pay the price to accomplish it. The result is that few will actually realize their dreams.  The uncommitted are the people who go around saying “I don’t believe in that stuff”. Unfortunately, they infect others with that same defeatist mindset.

Over the years, I have known many people who started with nothing or had higher expectations for themselves than seemed possible. I then discovered that those who visualized, wrote it down, made a plan, shared that plan with others, and worked toward the goal with determination – succeeded.

Maintain a Gratitude Journal.  Write down just one thing every day for which you are grateful.  Evidence suggests you should do this just as you are waking up as this is when your brain is more susceptible to new thinking. It will also set your mood on “Positive” for the day.

Finally, visualize your goals in the positive, rather than what you do not want.  For example, if you have a goal to lose weight, phrase it, “My goal is to be 135 pounds.”  Do not phrase your goal as “I want to lose 20 pounds”. Your mind will not process the “negative” and your subconscious will drag you into remaining overweight!

Be aware that these five elements can help you or hurt you. Like most things in nature, the power of visualization is neutral. It is neither good nor bad.  The process will take you in either direction.  Your sub-conscious thoughts can either create success or produce failure. Visualization brings whatever you vividly and intensely imagine, whether good or bad, positive or negative.

An ordinary person with a passionate plan has greater chance for success than a highly educated person without one!

What are your plans for this new year?

This year, we are introducing:

• A new and exciting hybrid between speaking and facilitating that I have termed a “MainStage Conversationalist”
• Two new Executive Forums – one in Phoenix and the other in Prince Edward Island
• A new quarterly webinar series
• More YouTube “how to” videos

As well as our current mix of facilitation, training and speaking services around the whole notion of teamwork and collaboration.  So stay tuned for more details!

And, just in case you’re curious, here is the process we use to set our annual goals:

First, brainstorm a wish list.  Jot down potential goals for the next year.  Remember not to criticize yourself for what you did or did not do in 2011

Then block out two separate days.

On the first day, review the numbers.  Take a look at what you have done in the past year.  If you don’t have hard facts – go get them and crunch the data on a spreadsheet.  Ask yourself:

• Who are my customers?
• What are my products or services?
• How do I add value (to the top and bottom line)
• What are my core processes?
• How am I performing my core processes – those things I must do exceedingly well to survive?

Then list and recognize your accomplishments.  Don’t forget to give yourself a pat on the back!

Take a look at last years’ goals, and analyze why you met or fell short of last year’s goals – Be brutally honest with yourself and look at your performance and results.

For the rest of the day, share this information with your “kitchen cabinet” – those colleagues, friends and business contacts whom you respect and value their opinions.  Ask for and listen to their feedback as allies, not as adversaries.  Then take some time to think about this first day.

No more than a week later, go hibernate someplace where you won’t be interrupted and revisit your “wish” goals.  Keep only those that are going to significantly propel you forward.  Don’t be intimidated by those “BHAGs” (big hairy audacious goals) – they often inspire us to great things!

Create your goals in concrete sentences: “I will earn $**** this year.  I will expand my market by 20%.”  Write each goal at the top of a piece of paper, then answer “why?” you want to achieve each goal.

For each goal, ask “What are the roadblocks to achieving this goal?” and then identify strategies (the how) you are going to achieve it.

From these strategies, create an action plan – specific items to write on your “to do” list, calendar or planner.  Then go ahead and write each activity in your planner.  This part can be tedious and time consuming, but well worth it.  Each day, when you open up your planner, it will be your decision whether you really want to do that small activity that will help you achieve your goals.

I was recently reminded of the power of the Mastermind with Randy Gage’s Prosperity TV posting.  He spent a few days at the Ritz Carlton in Key Biscayne, FL with a handful of peers to work “on” vs. “in” the business.  He talks about a “kitchen cabinet” – a circle of influence of those people you know and trust to bounce ideas off and give each other feedback.  In his video blog posting, he states three conditions for success for a more formal mastermind:

1)  Sacred.  People agree to the times you meet.

2) Confidentiality. Whatever is said in the group, stays in the group.

3) Size.  4-5 or 8 or max of 11, depending on how much “flavor” you want to have in the group!

I am not only a member of a Mastermind group (actually, we call ourselves the “MagicMind” because our group is where magic happens!), but I also facilitate executive mastermind sessions.   There are a few key ingredients you need to have to make sure the magic comes together:

1) Have the right chemistry.  The success of any mastermind group depends on the combined character of the group.  They can be from the same profession – although having people from various professions or industries gives the group more “outside” than “insider” thinking.  If from various professions, the people may be similarly structured,  facing similar business issues, share spheres of influence, have a common clientele and/or have similar ambitions.  Carefully select whom you invite.  They don’t even have to know each other initially, however the dynamics will need to shift into a trusting relationship.  BTW, They should NOT be competitors – it makes the dynamic go wonky!

2)  Agree on the objective.  A mastermind group inherently shares information, best practices and serves as business advisors and sounding boards in a non-competitive environment.  That’s pretty standard.  Then there are mastermind groups that hold each other accountable.  Entirely new objective – and I’ve seen some masterminds who embrace the notion of accountability and others who reject it.  It’s simply a choice.

3)  Make it intimate.  No, I am not talking about romantic.  Intimate.  So you can focus on the people, tailor the topics, and go deep into the solutions.  Randy’s group went to the Ritz-Carlton; you can have a mastermind in your living room.  It’s a conversation, not a presentation, so you want to limit the number of people you invite.  I agree with Randy on this.  Depending on your group, you may have only 4 or 5 – or as many as 12 or 13.  Anytime you go over a baker’s dozen, you’ll break into smaller groups to have more meaningful discussions – and the more time-consuming each session will be!

4)  Appoint a Facilitator.  Whether you identify one person from the group or you bring in an outside facilitator, somebody needs to set the agenda and keep them focused and on track.  Otherwise, it just turns into a bitch session – and we don’t want that!

How do you tap in to the potential synergy of a group?   Each member commits to maximizing each other’s success…through the power of the Mastermind!

Bill Clinton: Before & After

George W. Bush: Before & After

In this day and age, I cannot fathom why anyone would want to be President of the United States.  For a paltry $400k a year, you become the leader of the free world!  Sure, you’ll make big bucks after your presidency with your best-selling memoir and speech tour at $100k a pop.  But at what cost?  These days, you have to have a squeeky clean reputation, with every word and faux pas viewed and reviewed, with each position documented ad nauseam.  And look at the premature gray hair!  It’s impossible to live up to modern-day citizen expectations.  You’d have to be a saint.

And don’t you dare “flip flop” – change your position about a specific issue along the road to the White House.  I think it’s nuts to assume we should have the same outlook and opinions on things when we are 30 years old as when we are 50 years old.  Stuff happens.  The economy tanks.  Banks get a bailout (gee, I wish someone would bail me out too!).  The public has even MORE access to real-time information.

In my experience as a professional facilitator and consultant, wise leaders are willing to change their minds – based on new information, a change in the landscape, context or assumptions.  I am not talking about a willy-nilly change of opinion, but well-thought out reasons why accompanied with an explanation that appeals to the logic and the emotion of that decision.

Perhaps saints are omniscient, but leaders of the free world, of companies, and small, discreet teams are not.  They are human. They make the best decisions based on the information available at the time.  Don’t feel like you have to stick with a decision when you know the circumstances have changed. The key is to share what those circumstances are.

,

• I need to get my team/direct reports on board.  They are crucial to our success.
• This is a really important meeting that is highly visible throughout the company, to my boss , and to my employees.
• I have waaaayyy too much to do and not enough time.
• I have my folks flying in from all parts of the country/world and we have a finite time to make some agreements about our path forward.
• I recognize the need to have an unbiased, objective person lead our meeting.  This way, I can participate fully without having to worry about process issues (has everyone had a chance to weigh in?, are all the issues out on the table?, what is the strength of the commitments at the end of the day?) and my people won’t feel manipulated.  I can feel confident that people aren’t doing the “dashboard dog” where they are just nodding their heads in agreement with me.  We have a real discussion/debate and come to the best solutions possible.
• Although I hate to admit it, I am at a loss about how to get where I need to go.

Upon reflection, I thought I would share a few of my “insights” while serving as NSA President for the past year.

1. Never check email after dinner or 7pm, whichever comes first.  Even the slightest nuance, idea, or member concern will rattle around in your head throughout the night.
2. It’s the People.  I am often asked, “What’s the best part of being president? Hands down, it’s the people I have met.  Learning from and leaning on people who have been there before you, who are going through the same trials and tribulations, and helping those who are traveling the road you just traveled.
3. Experience Matters.  I was chatting with a speaker who said his area of expertise was on leadership.  I innocently asked, “So what have you led?” and he told me it was none of my business.  I then discovered he had never managed nor led any organization!  Nothing beats experience when talking about your area of expertise.  Some call it practice what you preach.  I call it “eat your own dog food.”  If you talk about it, you should not only practice those same principles on and off the platform, but it should be so ingrained in your MO, your DNA, or tattooed on your rear end like one of my clients who manages assets.  You think I’m kidding, she actually got a tattoo on her ass…ets!  And I went and got myself a heap of experience at NSA when it comes to strategic planning, facilitating our board meetings and building a team!
4. We are living in the Era of Engagement.  People want to contribute – to provide input, to comment on what’s happening in their world.  As professional speakers, the more we can ask for the audience’s contributions and comments up front, the better we can create an event that really connects with our audiences – and that they will want to keep the conversation flowing long after the presentation through blogs, listservs and discussion groups. Social networking is all about starting and keeping communities connected and the conversation flowing.  We haven’t even begun to tap into the possibilities to connect with our clients, prospects, and with the entire world.
5. Keep It Small, Focused and F2F.  So here’s the curious thing.  When 9/11 hit in 2001 and then when the global economy crashed and burned in 2008, the prognosis for the meetings industry was well, not so great.   Theoretically, all of the meetings were going to shift to the virtual world.  But that has NOT the case.  What has happened is a global trend toward fewer meetings, smaller meetings and with the content more tightly focused.  The value on these face-to-face meetings has become much higher as people are investing their time specifically in order to meet face to face.  Meetings are also becoming smaller in number of attendees physically present, with an extended reach beyond the four walls of the meeting.  These hybrid meetings include streaming video and content discussions running at the same time as the actual event so people outside the room can participate in real time.
6. The world is indeed flat.  We are living in a global economy.  NSA-US is  the world’s largest and oldest association dedicated to the art and business of professional speaking.  It was a pleasure to travel around the nation and the world representing the NSA-US – and seeing just how much we have in common..
7. Leadership is not about immediate gratification.  Especially with a volunteer association steeped in tradition, suffice it to say that you won’t see immediate results.  It is the long term progress to our strategic plan that keeps us focused and motivated, providing even greater value to our members.

I am thrilled with the progress NSA continues to make on behalf of our members, and I will hold dear the memories, experiences, and relationships with my speaker buddies.  And, I am equally excited to get back to “work”!

I thank you for the tremendous opportunity to serve you and represent you throughout the United States as and world.  See you in Anaheim soon!

It’s true.  The words you use to describe any change you want to see on your team, in your organization or with your clients makes all the difference. Especially the words leaders use to cultivate a cultural change in behavior.  Leaders may use a “hinge”: a word or words that capture the essence of the change.  Here are some examples I have run into lately with some of my clients:

Game Changing Innovation.  What does that really mean?  It meant one thing to the Leadership Team, and yet when you talked to the frontline, they had a hard time getting their arms around the concept.

Edgy.  What does that really look like?  Edgy has two sides of the same coin: a healthy, intense trend-setting vibe – but can also be seen as touchy, irritable, or intolerant.

Lean.  What’s the goal? Cut to the bone, anorexic lean or optimum body mass?  And what’s driving the diet?  You’ll take different strategies depending on the answer….

Unfortunately, you can’t assume that everyone has a common understanding of these words – especially in the context of the organization.  Each person brings their own experiences, biases and nuances to the word – and interprets the meaning differently.  As you use these hinge words, take the time to make these crucial words come alive.  Try to:

Expound.  Explain the meaning of the words in as much detail as you can.

Examples.  Provide examples to demonstrate the meaning of the words.

Analogy.  Tie it to a completely different concept with similar characteristics.

Demonstrate.  Show them concrete ways they can contribute.

Sometimes, you have to slow down in order to speed up to make the change happen.  It is well worth the investment of time to get everyone on your team and in your organization singing off the same sheet of music.

We have become masters of teasing out the common understanding of these critical hinge words in our high stakes meeting facilitation services and our presentations as a mainstage conversationalist.  Give us a call to find out how!

A simple entry

As we went around the dinner table sharing our thanks for the year, it reminded me just how important it is to be thankful each and every day – not just on Thanksgiving.  Of course, I’ll be able to celebrate the US version of Thanksgiving in another month (pass the gravy, please!); however, I’ve started to make it a practice to start each day writing three things to be grateful for in my Gratitude Journal.

This past summer, Steve Foran gave a short presentation at the CAPS Halifax chapter meeting where he talked about the importance of giving thanks.  Yes, it is a message we have heard before: Have an Attitude of Gratitude.  Yet Steve did something different.  He handed each of us a small 3″x5″ leather, hardcover journal.  He challenged each of us to write three things we are grateful for.

I have been doing this since August, and I notice the day starts much more positive and energized.

What can you do to bring an attitude of gratitude to your team?