Entries by bkunz

Resonate

April 27, 2018 /0 Comments/in , , , , /by

Resonate explores deep into the art of presenting and analyzing what makes a presentation persuasive and memorable. The knowledge of Resonate will raise your game in the art of creating a compelling and convincing presentation. In this book, Nancy Duarte drives the reader through the use of story principle to hold the audience’s attention. She successfully makes a case for:

1- Placing your audience at the center of the story.

2- Seeing yourself as a mentor instead of a hero.

3- Building a workable call-to-action.

4- How famous communicators structure their ideas and most moving speeches.

Nancy advocates a new attitude towards presenting. She believes you need to see your audience as the HERO. Your presentation should not center around your brilliance or the brilliance of your company, but rather you should cast your audience as the hero while you, the presenter, step into the role of a mentor. You should invite the audience to come on a journey with you, from an ordinary world to your special world. Nancy says, casting yourself as a mentor gives you both wisdom and humility.  Audience insight and resonance can only occur when a presenter takes a stance of humility. However, there is a gap between the audience’s ordinary world and your specialized world; it is your role to make the gap clear and invite the audience to take the leap across the gap. Before your audience can be willing to go on a journey with you, you must deliver a concise formulation of what everyone agrees is true. Accurately capturing the current reality and sentiments of the audience’s world demonstrates that you have insight and experience about their situation and that you understand their perspective, context and values.

Nancy also sees the use of contrast as being a primary way of engaging and holding an audience’s attention. If you attempt to play down the contrast so as not to stand out or attract resistance or objections from your audience, your presentation will be bland and boring. The author suggests that for every idea or point in your presentation, you should also think of a contrasting idea. You may not use them all in your presentation, but even thinking about them will be useful. Nancy also suggests that you perform an audit of your content to ensure there is an appropriate balance between analytical and emotional content. She reminds us that whenever we recommend change, either behavioral or organizational change, even if it is a positive change, your audience is likely to resist because change involves loss.

During your presentation, be ready for nitpicking of any errors in your language, cynical body language and outright hostile questions or statements from your audience. Prepare yourself by thinking through your audience’s position. Research has shown that acknowledging and countering opposing viewpoints is more persuasive than only presenting your view.

Of course, always create a memorable moment in your presentation. Nancy refers to this moment as the S.T.A.R. moment, Something They will Always Remember. Traditional public speaking advice has advocated that this moment should be at the start of your talk. However, Nancy suggests that the attention-grabbing and memorable moment can be at any time in your presentation. Your attention-grabbing-opening or moment must align and magnify your big idea and should be worthwhile and appropriate, not kitschy or cliché.

In conclusion, a presentation has the power to change the world. Changing your stance from that of a hero to one of the wise storyteller will connect the audience to your idea and an audience connected to your idea will bring wanted change.

The author helps the reader to present stories that transform them into visuals. This book is highly recommended for any level of presentation geeks, from the beginners to the experts. Every point in the book is supported by detailed analysis of many presentations and speeches, which admittedly, is one of my favorite parts of the book.

As a professional, presentation designs and delivery are one of the most exciting parts of my job. It is a chance to not only express artistically, but also to connect with others. Nancy Duarte’s work is amazing, as seen in her other books, Slideology and Illuminate. If you yearn to be a phenomenal communicator, start with Resonate and let your audience to be the hero.

THE BIG THREE – KEY POINTS

Key Point #1: Cast your audience as the hero and yourself, the presenter, as the mentor.

Key Point #2: Incorporate stories into your presentation  Having the right balance of logic and emotion is essential to bring your audience into your specialized world.

Key Point #3: A presentation has the power to change the world.

One last point

“The audience does not need to tune themselves to you; you need to tune your message to them. Skilled presenting requires you to understand their hearts and minds and create a message to resonate with what’s already there.”

        ― Nancy Duarte

The 3rd Alternative

April 6, 2018 /0 Comments/in , , , /by

Stephen Covey is the co-founder and Vice-chairman of Franklin Covey, a global professional service firm. He is a great author and a recipient of many awards, including eight honorary doctorate degrees and the National Entrepreneur of the Year Lifetime Achievement Award for Entrepreneurial Leadership.

The 3RD Alternative shows a way to solve life’s problems. There are two sides of most conflicts; the two opposing sides see their way as the best while another side as wrong. Stephen Covey refers to this as two alternative thinking. Problems are everywhere in the society; religion against science, white against black, liberal against conservative. Each side profoundly identifies their belief with what they believe. Therefore, when the belief is attacked, it is like their self-image is being attacked. Stephen Covey argues that this is why it is so hard for people to get past the 2-alternative mindset; the problem lies in our mental paradigm. Our paradigm governs our behavior which in turn regulates the consequence of our action. “Would you be willing to look at the 3rd alternative we haven’t even thought of yet?” This is a question that is rarely asked during a conflict, yet it seems so simple.

Stephen Covey describes the process of getting to the 3rd alternative as Synergy. He quickly explains that synergy is not a compromise since in compromise everyone loses something. However, synergy deals with the transformation of conflict and not just resolving it, and it is better than just my way or your way.  It is our way.

The 3rd Alternative describes four paradigms and without them, there would be no 3rd Alternative. This paradigm includes: I see myself, I see you, I seek you out, and I synergize with you. Once these paradigms are adopted, you can quickly get a 3rd Alternative.

 

The first paradigm of synergy is I SEE MYSELF paradigm. It sees oneself as unique and capable of one’s own judgment and actions.  This paradigm asks you to think about what you see when you look at yourself. Stephen defines this paradigm as “I see myself as a creative, self-aware human being which is more than the side I favor in a conflict. I might share certain beliefs or belong to certain groups, but these do not define me. I choose my own story.”

 

The second paradigm is the I SEE YOU. This is about seeing the other person as a person not as a thing. When you look at others, what do you see? Do you see them as unique human being with diverse talents? In the I SEE YOU paradigm, you and I are uniquely powerful because your strengths complement each other. There is no combination like us anywhere else. When one embraces this paradigm, they see the other person as complex human being, their respect for that person is authentic, and they can look past the side of the conflict.

 

The third paradigm is I SEEK YOU OUT.  This paradigm is about actively seeking out different views instead of avoiding them. It is significant to see conflict as an opportunity to learn something rather than defending yourself and your side. It is important to listen to someone who does not agree with you. They key however is actually listening to them. During a conflict, we are usually thinking about our side and are not listening to the other person talk. An empathic listener seeks to understand the thought and feelings of others.

 

The fourth paradigm is I SYNERGIZE WITH YOU. This is about coming up with a solution that no one has ever thought of yet. In the synergize paradigm, we look for the 3rd alternative. But this stage is impossible without the first three stages. Once these three paradigms are met, synergy will definitely occur.

 

This book focuses on conflict resolution. By adopting the paradigms necessary for synergy and creating the 3rd alternative, a better solution to any conflict can be reached.

THE BIG THREE – KEY POINTS

Key point #1: A 3rd Alternative requires no concessions at all because it’s truly a better deal for everyone.

Key point #2: Synergy occurs when the first three paradigms are adopted.

 

Key point #3: The 3rd alternative can only be reached by opposing sides when there is synergy.

 

One last thing:

“It’s not only natural but essential for people to have different opinions. I’ve said many times over the years that if two people have the same opinion, one of them is unnecessary. A world without difference would be a world of sameness where no progress is possible.” –Stephen R. Covey

Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance

March 19, 2018 /0 Comments/in , , , , /by

This book falls into two different categories because of the content that it presents. It is a self-help book as well as a guide for those who are in the business market. This book tells different stories which assists the reader in seeing the results of grit and the power of this particular habit.

​The book discusses how the people should not depend on their intelligence as the basis for their success. It is true that a natural talent at something could take a person far in that field, but with passion and perseverance, the person can go even farther than that. Duckworth goes on to explain that without grit, even the most talented people are unable to complete their job. They need to keep going in order to be the best at what they do. She takes the examples of many different authors and uses their point of views to explain the concepts.

There are four characteristics of the Grit model, which one must possess to make it in the field that they want. 

  • Interest: This is the single most important thing which can assist one in being gritty. This is because without interest one could never be truly passionate about a subject.
  • Practice: One must practice the work that has been given to them so that they can achieve mastery of that skill.
  • Purpose: This is important because, without purpose, one can lose the sight of their goals and get lost along the way.
  • Hope: This is significant because, without hope, people find it easier to give up. Those who are hopeful, even when the times are tough can endure all the problems and make it through the storms they are facing.

The story about hope has been explained through the words of Pete Carroll, and how hope is real. Those who give up on hope, simply give up on life and that is not the mindset of those who are full of grit. Being gritty is not in the control of ordinary people, and that is why one must understand the emotional aspects of this phenomenon as well. She explains that grit is physical as well as mental, which is why the people must learn to focus on both the aspects. She does a great job by explaining through the example of SAT exams and those who have been successful in these tests. Through her formula, these test results, as well as those of other official tests, could be predicted easily. Those who put through effort into the preparation would merely achieve better results, even if the time they spent on the work has been shorter.

Lastly, the book talks about how people who are grittier have the passion for mastering the skills that they are working on. These people practice again and again, and that is their decision to do so. Many people, when reaching a goal would sit back and relax, which could assist them in developing the habit of relaxing. While on the other hand, those people who have grit practice their aims again and again even after they have achieved it. This is because they enjoy doing that work and get satisfied with what they are doing. That is why they become so successful and the masters of what they are doing.

THE BIG THREE – KEY POINTS​

Key point #1: Grit is not just about the act of perseverance. It takes a lot more than that to become successful in life.

Key point #2: Passion is one of the leading points, those who have it, will persist longer than others. It is the internal motivator of all.​

Key point #3: Without purpose, passion would not take one anywhere! It is the external motivator and urges the person to complete their goals.

One Last Thing

“Our potential is one thing. What we do with it is quite another.”
― Angela Duckworth

No Limits

March 16, 2018 /0 Comments/in , , /by

John Maxwell, a prolific writer, speaker and leadership coach, helps us to explore areas where we have limited ourselves. In his book, No Limit, he says that we often limit ourselves in various areas of life causing us not to live up to our fullest potential. Breaking down capacity into three parts, awareness, ability and choice, he stated his capacity challenge. He says if you grow in your awareness, develop your abilities and make the right choice, you can reach and grow your capacity. What if our limit is not really our limit? Each chapter of this book opens us up to traits and skills we can increase to blow the cap off our capacity.  Some are things we already possess such as energy, creativity and leadership. Other things we have to choose such as attitude, character and intentionality.

He also draws the reader’s attention to talent and the ability to use your gift the best way you can. Rather than wasting time on your weak areas, it is advisable to focus on your natural strengths and develop them for your benefit and that of others. The author recommends forgetting the “anything is possible” myth. He said what stops people from reaching their capacity often isn’t lack of desire. It’s usually lack of awareness. Sad is the day for any man when he is absolutely satisfied with the life he is living, thoughts he is thinking, deeds he is doing. Dysfunctional people want others to function on their level, and average people want others to be average while high achievers want others to achieve. No one has ever stayed the same while at the same time rising to a higher level. Willingness to change is a price we need to pay to grow. You have to make yourself better so that you can have more to give. This requires an abundance mindset. The question is how can we make things better if we are already successful? Being successful sometimes comes with a temptation to be lulled into false security to believe that we have arrived. The greatest detriment is relying on past success continually. The world will try to talk you out of hard work. Sometimes we have a conviction that we can’t get ahead, we feel down and we watch our lives go down the hill.  The good news is this; your production capacity is within your control. Repeated choices to take responsibility give you mental and emotional momentum which only makes you feel stronger and better about yourself. Resilient people don’t focus on negative experiences, they focus on what they can feel from experience. The truth is if you cannot manage yourself, you cannot manage your life. You cannot maximize your capacity if you do not increase your discipline. The author concludes with words of affirmation:

“I believe in you and I believe in your ability to reach your capacity.”

This book contains everything you need to become aware of what is limiting you, the ability you need to develop the capacities in you and how to make choices that will help to maximize your capacity.

THE BIG THREE – KEY POINTS

Key point #1: Awareness + Ability + Choice = Capacity

Key point #2: Focus on your natural strength and not on your weakness

Key point #3: Your Production capacity is within your control

One Last Thing

“Life is like a ten-speed bike. Most of us have gears we never use.”
― John C. Maxwell