| Presenting Magically - how to give great presentations |
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I have had many wonderful teachers. I have seen the Dalai Lama, Tony Robbins (one of the world’s best known coaches) and Jim Rohn (Tony’s mentor); I have studied with Peggy Dylan (spiritual transformation) and David Hamilton (Science of Spirituality); I have met swamis and shamans. They all shared their knowledge. Some demonstrated the art of communication. The best teachers showed me the art of communion – communication at a higher level; communication not just from mind to mind but from heart to heart and soul to soul. I’d like to share what I’ve learned from my teachers and from my experiences over the last 12 years talking to a variety of audiences – from Women’s Institute to psychiatrists, from Yogis to IT employees - about health, kinesiology and energy medicine. I hope that by the end of the talk you’ll know more about :
PREPARING YOURSELF – dealing with anxiety Mark Twain - “I am an old man and have known a great many troubles, but most of them never happened.” (Crowea Australian Bush Essence) “Don't worry about what people think of you, because they seldom do.” Nerves provide me with energy. They work for me. It's when I don't have them, when I feel at ease, that I get worried. ~Mike Nichols Everyone gets at least a little nervous before making a presentation. Some people say that the physiology of anxiety is the same as the physiology of excitement; how we feel depends on the interpretation we give to those sensations. Perhaps we could choose to feel excited rather than nervous. It’s also good to remember that studies show that your nervousness goes largely unnoticed by the audience. But first, why do we get nervous? We can get a bit tied up with worrying if we will do well; how we will appear; whether people will like us; will we be “successful”. In other words the focus is on “me”. And that’s what I used to do. I got really worked up about one of my first presentations to a group of 45 student nurses at a college in Glasgow. I tried kinesiology balances, visualisation, meditation and relaxation techniques, but my heart rate was still over 100 when the morning of the presentation arrived. In desperation I went into my treatment room and muscle tested (see Therapies – kinesiology) for an appropriate flower essence – and BINGO – Kangaroo Paw – one of the Australian Bush Essences came up. Kangaroo Paw is for people who are “green”, “naive” and “focused on themselves”. The outcome of taking Kangaroo Paw is enjoyment of people and being relaxed. The fact is that worrying about what your audience will think of you is egocentric. Think instead about how you can meet the needs of your audience – whether they are nurses, Women’s Institute, or therapists. How can you best serve them? What can you share with them which will be the greatest benefit to them? Take the focus off yourself and take your focus “out there” to the audience. In doing so you will be well on your way to feeling calmer, and well on your way to delivering a great presentation. FOR ME THIS HAS BEEN THE SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT LESSON ABOUT PRESENTATION - focus on the people you’re talking to and on how you can meet their needs. Another reason people get anxious is that they are running anxiety-producing sabotage programmes. For example the subconscious programme “I need to be perfect” or “My best isn’t good enough”. Or “I am not good enough”. With these programmes on board no matter how good a job you do, you will always think you should have done better. And this creates huge amounts of stress – especially in the situation where you may perceive yourself as being “judged” by an audience. As a Kinesiology practitioner I see these programmes all the time in clients. The answer of course is to get rid of them by seeing your favourite PKP Kinesiology practitioner who can deal quickly and permanently with these sabotage programmes. (For practitioners see www.kinesiologyfederation.org ) And if we do feel nervous there are many things we can do to become more relaxed. 1 - Kinesiology - Kinesiologists can use balancing techniques and stress release techniques, and can show you easy techniques for staying energetically and emotionally balanced. Thought Field Therapy and Emotional Freedom Technique are other useful tools to create a calm and centred “you” 2 - Relaxation - Progressive head to toe relaxation is a simple and powerful technique. Tense then relax the scalp and progress through the face, head, neck and body all the way down to the toes. 3 - Breathing - We can also make sure we breathe from our diaphragm rather than our upper chest. When people get anxious they breathe from the upper chest – and when people breathe from their upper chest they get anxious. It’s a self-reinforcing, circular process. Concentrate on diaphragmatic breathing so that as you breathe in the abdomen gets pushed out; as you breathe out the abdomen comes in. This is the way babies breathe – before they’ve learned how to be nervous. You can enhance this effect by practising diaphragmatic breathing and counting (inhale then exhale-1- inhale then exhale – 2, up to 10 and then start again from 1). If you practise this often then you’ll find diaphragmatic breathing is a great way to remain calm in stressful situations. 4 - You can add positive visualisation to your breathing relaxation technique – seeing yourself delivering a wonderful presentation and receiving a standing ovation and seeing lots of happy smiling faces. For best results really get into the joyful emotional experience. Feel that joy in your body as if you really are experiencing it. Really feeling the emotion makes a huge difference to the results of visualisation. 5 – Circle of Excellence. You can try the “circle of excellence”. Visualise a circle of coloured light on the floor. Fill it with memories of times you have felt really good about yourself – passing exams, succeeding in a particularly difficult task at work, winning a race, or receiving praise for a job well done. Or fill the circle with uplifting moments –seeing a beautiful sunset, hearing a favourite uplifting song. Again connect with and feel those powerful feelings. Fill the circle with those wonderful feelings. And then step into that circle. 6 - Have FUN And if you would like to positively enjoy your talks why not keep affirming –“Presenting is FUN!” It can really change your perception to a positive view of the opportunity to talk to people about Kinesiology. You actually create new neurological networks with repeated affirmations. A few things to remember: Make sure you have water to drink. Eat lightly if at all before your talk; avoid heavy sweet foods and cakes so you avoid blood sugar swings; and avoid coffee and other stimulants –you’ll be stimulated enough when giving a talk. When it comes to the talk your aim should be to do a good job –for your level of experience. If it’s your first presentation you can even say so – get the sympathy vote. And then emphasise how passionate you are about sharing your knowledge. And remember – Presenting really can be FUN – once you focus on your audience and not on yourself.
PREPARING YOUR PRESENTATION Mark Twain also said “It usually takes me more than 3 weeks to prepare a good impromptu speech.” The great comedian/magician Tommy Cooper was meticulous in his research and preparation. He became so associated with laughter that he only needed to walk on the stage and the audience would start to laugh. So, how do we prepare a presentation 1 - Firstly, know your audience. You will want to make very different presentations to a group of nurses, to a WI group or to a group of therapists. We come back to the point - How can we best help this particular group of people? What will they be interested in? Nutrition/stress management/ relationships? Or more esoteric ideas? Six or seven years ago I addressed the Society for Psychical Research on the subject of – Infinite Consciousness and Kinesiology. I don’t think it would have gone down too well with a group of GPs. 2 - Secondly, decide what is your desired outcome – for them and for you. Is your audience more likely to be interested in nutrition and food sensitivity, or in geopathic stress; in stress management or in how we can sabotage our relationships. If you want to attract new clients then make sure you have business cards and trifolds available – and that everyone knows how they can contact you and what the benefits are likely to be. 3 - Then choose what you will talk about. You could spend a whole hour teaching one particular technique – or spend an hour giving an overview of kinesiology techniques. 4 - Then gather information. There are many resources available - your own personal experiences and ideas, friends, colleagues, teachers, books and articles, youtube, google,etc. In preparing this presentation about presentation I also looked at the books Presenting Magically and the Sunday Times Successful Presentation Skills 5 - Then decide how you will present your material. And there are many different approaches. You can spend most of the time talking, or you can spend most of the time interacting with the audience. You can use Powerpoint, OHP props, charts. There is no “right” way – although there are many ways we can optimise our presentation. How can you include visual, auditory and kinaesthetic approaches (VAK) in your presentation to meet the needs of different learning styles? 6 - Once you have decided what you will talk about and how you will present it write it out and then 7 - REHEARSE, REHEARSE, REHEARSE. Rehearse out loud. Rehearse with your friends, your partner. Talk to the trees in the park. The better you are prepared the more confident you will feel. 8 – Forget about it. Offer the talk and the outcome to your Unconscious mind, Higher Self, Guardian Angel, Higher Consciousness, Spirit, the Divine and then TRUST – that exactly the right things will happen. And they do. **** One cardinal rule; 5 cardinal sins. (It’s easier to sin!!!) The one cardinal rule - KISS – Keep It Short and Simple –no one ever complained that a presentation was too short. 5 cardinal sins 1 - No clear point. WHAT IS THE POINT YOU WANT TO MAKE?
2 - No audience benefit. WHAT IS THE BENEFIT TO THEM?
3 - No clear flow. MAKE IT MAKE SENSE – EACH POINT FOLLOWS FROM AN EARLIER POINT
4 - Too detailed. TALK AT AN APPROPRIATE LEVEL FOR YOUR AUDIENCE. I was a nurse for many years and as a charge nurse would enjoy sharing what I knew with the student nurses. The only problem was that I was so busy talking and giving them chapter and verse about renal physiology and disease processes that I failed to notice their eyes glazing over (EGO!) Some presenters mistakenly think that for the audience to understand anything, they have to be told everything. That’s like being asked the time and responding with complete instructions for building a clock. Separate the wheat from the chaff.
5 - Too long (not KISS). Give the audience only what they need to know. KEEP GOOD TIME. Nobody ever complained that a presentation was too short. In my enthusiasm I used to go over the allotted time quite often. This is disrespectful of other people’s needs – whether that is a bus to catch or children to get home to, or the need for a cigarette. And the world is divided into the time conscious and the time unaware. So for the last 10 minutes of your presentation half your audience might simply be clock watching, anxious that you will not go over your time. For the benefit of time people – tell them when you’ll finish and tell them again when it gets near to the end of your talk and your/their time.
PRESENTATION - TRUTH AND LIES; TIPS AND TECHNIQUES I don’t think there are “rules” about presenting successfully – so much depends on an individual’s personality, magnetism and enthusiasm for their subject, as well as how often they have actually had the opportunity to give presentations. But there are definitely some ways that we can improve our delivery. But first - There are a few misperceptions about communication which need to be addressed. 7+38+55 There is a commonly held belief that 93% of communication is non-verbal. This is an erroneous interpretation of work done in the late 60s and early 70s by Meribhian whose work showed that 93% of the communication of FEELING is non-verbal. This makes complete sense of course since, if you say to someone “Of course I love you”, the body language and tone of voice imparts the feeling or truth of the words. But if you ask someone for directions the words they say are by far the most important part of the communication, and it doesn’t much matter about their tone of voice or their posture. From the presenter’s point of view your tone and body language will impart substantial information about how YOU feel about what you are saying. It is very important that you should appear enthusiastic about your message. And your body language should be congruent with your verbal message. A second generally accepted idea is that the human brain cannot think in negatives. The example I have commonly heard wheeled out is “Don’t think of pink elephants”. Because you have to think of pink elephants to understand the statement some people mistakenly draw the conclusion that we simply cannot think in negatives. I find it amusing that this idea is usually expressed in a negative statement (cannot!?)! If it were indeed true then pedestrians in America would be annihilated as they crossed the road - because they failed to understand the DONT WALK sign – wouldn’t they? Having said this, I would suggest that in general it is a good idea to be upbeat and talk about positive benefits of kinesiology rather than the avoidance of negative consequences. eg rather than saying “if you don’t get kinesiology treatments you might die younger and be miserable all your life” you can say “Kinesiology treatment can help you live happier and healthier lives and fulfil your potential”!!!! So how can we improve our presentations? The space you occupy. Is it clear of clutter? Do you have the last speaker’s notes still written on the flip chart? Start with a clear space and, if necessary, clear it before you start your talk. Own the space that you are occupying; make it your own. You will need to decide if you want to use a lectern (not usually a good idea as it separates you from your audience), cue cards, a script, powerpoint, OHP etc Dress appropriately. You might get away with dressing outrageously –or super casually –with a group of kinesiologists, but if you are talking to a group of doctors or bankers they might not be so impressed. Always think about meeting their needs. And they need to know they can trust you. Dressing appropriately can make you seem closer to being “one of them”; it creates rapport. Establish rapport. It’s a great help if you can find points of connection between yourself and your audience. It’s just like having a conversation with a new friend – you can mention your kids or family (it magically transforms you into a human being rather than “the presenter)”,; or talk about topics that they are likely to be interested in – desire for better health, greater happiness, relationships etc. I often gave talks to nurses which gave me an immediate connection – as I was a nurse for 25 years. I would ask which hospital/areas they worked in and be able to show some real understanding of the problems they faced in their day to day job. **** People like people who are like them – but we are all different. One of the main differences is how we relate to the world through our senses. People may be more kinaesthetic (K), more auditory,(A) or more visual(V). As a presenter you will have your sensory preference – K, A or V. But if you only use one sort of sensory input then you’ll lose more than half your audience. Using KAV interactions For kinaesthetics – get them doing things and feeling things. They’ll love playing with muscle testing. Use feeling words eg Does that feel OK? Can you grasp this idea? For auditory people – they’ll enjoy listening, and you can also ask questions for them to answer. Use auditory words –does that sound right? Do you hear what I’m saying. For visual people –have visual aids –draw on the flip cart or board, or have handouts. Phrases like “Can you see how this would be useful to you”, “Watch what happens” Some people are very logical and left brained – sometimes referred to as audio-digital or A-D. For them it needs to make sense or be scientific or logical. So you can ask “Does that make sense” “Is this logical?” It’s a good idea to cover the three sensory modes (KAV) early on so that people will not switch off. You could start your talk with asking people if they feel comfortable - are they enjoying themselves? (K) Tell them that you will be talking about kinesiology and they’ll be hearing some case studies.(A) Then keep the visuals happy by writing or drawing something or showing the handouts or describing how they’ll clearly see the point of kinesiology.(V) People remember 20% of what they hear, 30% of what they see, 50% of what they both hear and see, and 70% of what they do. For best results it’s best to tell the audience what they need to know, show them illustrations to support your talk, and create opportunities for interaction. Again, it comes back to the main point – meet the needs of your audience. **** First impressions really do count so be clear how you want to start your presentation. The long-standing, tried and tested format is “Tell them what you’ll tell them; tell them; tell them what you told them” So you need an introduction. Because you have done your preparation you should be able to tell your audience what the point of your talk is, and what is the benefit to them. Then deliver the body of your presentation. Then wrap up with a reprise of the main points. NLP suggests the 4MAT structure for presentations – 4MAT
By answering these questions – whether the subject is kinesiology or selling time share holidays you will meet the needs of most if not all of your audience. Eye contact and smiles – we all know how important eye contact and smiles are. Who was your favourite teacher at school? Was s/he enthusiastic and smiley. When making eye contact make eye contact with people in the audience who look interested. That way you will inspire them more and also get positive feedback for yourself. Look towards the back rows then the people in front of them will feel included in your eye contact as well. We all know that a smile increases your own energy and the energy of those who see you smiling. What do you do when things don’t go well? I’d like to emphasise that in 12 years of talking to people about kinesiology and healing I have had receptive and even enthusiastic audiences 99% of the time. And I’ve had a lot of FUN doing it. But I have had one or two “learning experiences”. On that rare occasion when things don’t go well - just do the best you can and try to understand why things went wrong. For example, I gave a talk on EFT to a sceptical and somewhat hostile group of psychiatrists in India. I knew that they were scientifically minded and would want scientific “proof” and I had assembled an array of facts and figures for them. However they remained unconvinced and the demonstrations I did were less than spectacular. So I watched my presentation crumble before me into a sea of sceptical and (if the truth be told) closed-minded psychiatrists. I thought about it afterwards and realised that they would have been more impressed with a power point presentation –Indians like technology. But I had also omitted one very important “connector”. EFT was developed from Thought Field Therapy which was formulated by Dr. Roger Callahan a clinical psychologist who had taught at the University of Michigan and Syracuse University. For this audience that information would have substantially shifted my credibility, and the acceptability of EFT because it was developed by one of their own.
TALKING ABOUT KINESIOLOGY AND ENERGY MEDICINE Do you like a laugh? Tomorrow go into an antique shop and say ”what’s new?” (Tommy Cooper) I sometimes start a class with a question such as How many Complementary Therapies (CT) can you name? In this way we can start from a general overview of CT and then come to Kinesiology and where it fits in. Or try contrasting allopathic with CT. How many people have tried allopathic/CT? How many have benefited allopathic/CT? How many have had unwanted side effects from allopathic/CT? I always emphasise that I am not against allopathic medicine, but rather am in favour of the best of allopathic and the best of CT. My main concern is that people should get well. Another opening strategy which allows the audience to get involved is to invite them to guess what proportion of the body is water? Many people guess 70-80%. Then ask what proportion of an atom is space. Very few get it right (99.9999%). This means that not only are we 75% water, but, since we are also composed of atoms we are 99.9999% space. An intriguing idea, which can start to lever open some of the more closed minds which may be before you. I also describe different models of health in order to open minds to different ways of looking at health; western model – fix it when it’s broken; eastern model- balancing, preventative; stress model - cumulative stressà dis-ease; Rita’s death model - from morbidity to infinite wellness; energy model – vibrational; soul model - illness comes from not following the direction our soul wants us to move in; karmic – all illness ultimately derives from karmic influence and comes to us so that we can heal past mistakes and ultimately unite with God consciousness. None of these models is the “right” one but they all offer different ways of looking at health. The great advantage when talking about Kinesiology is that it is easy to include auditory, visual as well as kinaesthetic input. We can talk about science to the logical minds. We can talk about atoms, electrons, quantum field, zero point field, vibration, string theory, consciousness and quote scientific opinion eg Candace Pert – Molecules of Emotion; DrDavid Hamilton – It’s The Thought That Counts; Richard Gerber MD – Vibrational Medicine; or Lynne Taggart (editor) -The Field. But after talking about the science we can show muscle testing and how muscle behaviour changes under physical, mental, and emotional stress. And we can have the audience experience these changes directly by having them muscle test each other. We can switch a volunteer’s muscles on and off – and get a member of the audience to check your muscle testing – to check that we are not just “pressing harder”. We can demonstrate that a “switched off” or weak muscle can switch on again by touching or massaging energy points remote from the affected muscle. Showing how a “weak” muscle energy transfers through a number of different people is – literally – a jaw-dropper. I once gave a presentation to a group of Housing Association workers. A somewhat sceptical former nursing colleague was there and when we demonstrated energy transfer I was quite amused to see her mouth wide open in disbelief. We can demonstrate the effects of switching and dehydration; people’s muscle reaction to a smiley face and a frown; the effects on an indicator muscle of flower essences or foods; and we can demonstrate how using different words can change our energy. I particularly like showing the effects of words on energy as it can help people recognise how powerful are the effects of the words they use when talking with their friends, family and especially their children. Sometimes things do not quite go to plan and a volunteer’s muscle response is different from what you might expect. Almost always this will resolve after a little inquiry and muscle testing – perhaps switching or dehydration will need rectified. But very occasionally something crops up which doesn’t lend itself to an immediate solution. In this case just acknowledge that fact and perhaps offer the volunteer some time after the talk to investigate further. It’s OK to be vulnerable, to be open, to not know all the answers. None of us know all the answers and your audience will like you more for being open and vulnerable. And if you, yourself, bring an attitude of curiosity and experimentation to your demonstration it really can be a lot of FUN.
SUMMARY – the secret I have had many wonderful teachers. They all know their subject. They are all well prepared. The ones who touch me the most are the ones who speak from the heart; they are passionate about their subject and about communicating to others. Ultimately, the finest teachers work from a place of higher awareness, a higher consciousness. They offer their teachings with love and invite a higher power to guide them. They teach without ego. Their purpose is to serve….. PKP kinesiology is about human potential. It offers us an opportunity for amazing growth. Giving presentations is also an opportunity not just to spread the word of PKP but to step out of our comfort zones and grow. As Oliver Wedell Holmes said – “Most of us go to our grave with our music still inside us” and “Even if you are on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there.” So… Be willing to get out there and make presentations. And when you do remember to…. · Meet the needs of your audience – everything you do is to serve those you are talking to. It’s all about the audience. It’s not about you. Great presenters know that. They know their material and how they want to present it and all they’re thinking about is the audience · Prepare yourself, prepare your presentation · Rehearse, rehearse, rehearse · Align yourself with your Higher Consciousness and have faith - offer your work to your Higher Self, your guardian angel, your spirit guide, your higher consciousness, Divine Mother or to God and then trust that you will be guided and that the right things will happen. Do these FOUR things and magic can happen. Have FUN |
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