Category: Presentation Skills

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What is a Persuasive Speech? Everything You Need To Know

A man delivering a persuasive speech in a board meeting

Understanding what a persuasive speech is and learning how to create powerful presentations that persuade others can seem challenging. The primary goal is to motivate your audience to take action or align with a particular perspective. A persuasive speech goes beyond mere information dissemination; it’s a dynamic engagement that aims to influence and inspire.

But with the right approach, you can create a persuasive speech that’ll leave a skeptical audience enthusiastic to get on board with your company’s project.

What is a Persuasive Presentation?

At its core, a persuasive speech serves the purpose of convincing others to adopt the speaker’s point of view, support your cause, or take specific actions. To succeed in this endeavor, it’s essential to understand how to start a persuasive speech. The opening should captivate your audience’s attention, lay the foundation for your argument, and establish credibility with evidence to support it.

Persuasive presentations rely on spoken words, visual aids, facts, logic, empathy, story-telling, and more to help the audience accept new information and encourage a call to action.

Mastering the art of persuasive speech and crafting compelling presentations is no small feat. Equip yourself with the tools and techniques needed to command attention, convey authority, and leave a lasting impact. Join our presentation skills workshop and unlock your full potential as a persuasive communicator.

How to Plan a Persuasive Speech

Not sure how to persuade an audience?

Here are 5 ways you can create an effective presentation to persuade your audience:

1. Decide on a Single Task

Before diving into the art of persuasive speaking, it’s imperative to grasp the fundamentals. A persuasive speech is centered around a single, clear, and compelling focal point. This central message is the cornerstone of your persuasive communication.

Whether you’re a seasoned presenter or new to persuasive presentations, mastering the art of persuasive speaking is a valuable skill. So, how do you make a persuasive speech effectively? It all begins with choosing a persuasive speech topic, a captivating start, and a memorable conclusion. And, of course, the strategic use of persuasive speech and visual aids can take your presentation to the next level.

Focusing on too many things can lead to your audience losing interest, becoming confused, or rejecting your persuasive message altogether. Therefore, as you embark on your persuasive journey, keep your message focused, your presentation engaging, and your purpose clear.

2. Focus on Fewer (but more relevant) Facts

Ensure the message you’re trying to get across resonates with the audience. You can do this by researching the audience comprehensively and finding out how your company’s product or service can solve their problems.

While presenting, ensure you empathize with the audience and keep their unique concerns in mind.

3. Build a Narrative Around Your Evidence

Giving a persuasive speech tugs at the heartstrings of the audience.

What do we mean?

It’s not enough to just win over the audience’s brain – you need to get their hearts in it too! Fortunately, you can connect with your audience easily by sharing a personal story related to your organization and its product or service and by speaking passionately.

Your audience is only human, and a little bit of emotion can help you connect with your audience’s emotions. What truly matters is the clarity of your message, the strength of the evidence to support your argument, and the power of your persuasive arguments. Persuasive talking involves not only the words you choose but also your tone, body language, and ability to connect with your audience on a personal level.

4. Confidence Matters

Before the big day, ensure you’ve practiced your presentation a couple of times. This includes familiarizing yourself with the speech and visual components that will aid your presentation.

Rehearsing can help you deliver a speech to the audience smoothly and confidently. This is crucial since you don’t want to end up pausing a lot or saying “um” way too many times while presenting!

But remember not to memorize the entire thing – you don’t want to sound robotic. So, ensure you familiarize yourself with the entire presentation enough to deliver it organically on the day.

5. Prepare for Common Objections

While writing your speech, ensure you consider any concerns or objections the audience might have. After all, you don’t want to end up saying “I’m not sure” or “Let me get back to you” when a prospect asks you an important question. Not knowing the answers to crucial questions can make the audience think you’re unprepared or unconfident in your product or service.

As a result, you need to research the topic of your presentation thoroughly and prepare for common and uncommon questions or objections your stakeholders might pose. This will help you deliver an incredibly convincing and solid presentation.

So, whether you’re tasked with delivering persuasive speeches in the corporate world or any other context, understanding what persuasive speaking is and how to do a persuasive speech can be a valuable skill. It’s about conveying your ideas with conviction, influencing opinions, and ultimately inspiring action. With the right approach and strategies, you can create a type of persuasive speech that resonates with your audience, leaving them enthusiastic and eager to support your cause or project.

Are you still wondering: “What is a persuasive speech?”. Join our Executive Presentation Skills Training Workshop for a 1-day experiential session led by expert facilitators!

How To Nail Your Next Sales Presentation

So, you’ve spent tons of hours making cold calls, followed up on referrals and inquiries, and now you’ve got a few sales pitch appointments scheduled. The way you act and deliver your sales presentation will play a significant role in the outcome of the sale – AKA it’ll determine whether or not you close that sale.

But giving sales presentations can be a daunting experience, especially if you’re not a fan of public speaking, which accounts for around 25.3% of people in the United States.

Fortunately, regardless of your public speaking fears, you can nail your next sales pitch by preparing properly and using the right tools.

Here are five ways to ensure your sales presentation goes smoothly:

Do Your Research

Begin your research by identifying your target audience or prospect and what problems or challenges they’re currently facing. Without comprehensive and accurate research, your sales pitch won’t have the desired impact or resonate with the prospect either.

Here are some points you should look into while researching for your presentation:

The role of the person in the company
The person’s technical background and expertise
Basic background information on the organization
Background information on the company’s leadership structure
Basic financial information about the company
And more

Prioritize Personalization

Once you’ve done the proper research, you’ll need to create a custom sales pitch that meets your target audience’s needs and pain points.

Although it’s important to mention the features and benefits of your product or service, only focusing on these points might not resonate with the audience.

As a result, it’s a good idea to listen to your prospect and learn what their challenges are. This way, you can pitch a product or service that solves their problem. And remember to provide persuasive examples that resonate with your organization.

Support With Visuals Over Text

While writing your speech, ensure you incorporate visuals to support what you’re saying. An easy way to do this is by creating a slideshow with simple graphics to contribute to the presentation.

Make sure the graphics aren’t too distracting since you don’t want people to lose focus on what you’re saying. This is crucial since Greg Stephens found that an audience that listens to a presenter speak is more strongly affected than an audience who reads a presenter’s slides.

Leverage The Power of Storytelling

It’s a good idea to include some sort of story in your presentation to strengthen or shed light on the point you’re trying to get across.

A well-told story that aligns with your presentation can help you connect with your audience and help the audience remember your presentation.

And who doesn’t love a good story?

Practice Don’t Memorize

When it comes to public speeches and presentations, it’s not uncommon to spend hours memorizing words and sentences in the exact order and repeating lines over and over again until you can recite the whole thing in order.

Unfortunately, memorizing speeches and presentations can cause unnecessary stress for yourself on the big day and it can diminish the message you’re trying to get across.

If you’re only focused on reciting your speech verbatim, you’ll struggle to deliver the speech passionately, confidently, and organically.

So, ensure you familiarize yourself with your sales pitch presentation, but don’t worry too much about memorizing the entire thing!

If you want to learn more about creating and delivering the best sales presentation, visit the Corporate Class website today.

We offer a Course and Lunch and Learn on presentation skills. In this 1-day experiential presentation skills training workshop, you’ll receive training from expert facilitators who will equip you with the skills, tools, and practice you need to hone your business communication skills.

Participants will learn how to persuade an audience, convey leadership and authority, and deliver a professional sales presentation.

Best Presentation Ever Sales Presentations

3 Helpful Tips to Help You Prepare for a Presentation

3 tips to help you prepare for a presentation

Not sure how to prepare for a presentation?

Although it’s essential to create a fantastic and captivating presentation, it’s equally important to practice that presentation and ensure it runs smoothly.

Being well-prepared on the day can exude confidence, professionalism, and passion to the audience.

Here are three tips to guide you during your presentation preparation:

Outline Your Presentation

Here’s how to plan a presentation:

Creating an outline for your presentation ensures you focus on the main points you’re trying to convey.

Your outline should follow this structure:

Begin with your conclusion in mind
Think of 3 words that could create impact below your title as in Di Veni DI Vidi Di Vici
Answer the why of your presentation immediately ,followed by the what when where who and how
Evidences that support the answers to the above
Call to action

While creating an outline, ensure you include information that the audience wants to know – not what you can tell them. Additionally, remember how and when the audience will react to specific sections of your presentation, as you’ll need to respond to those moments.

Practice Your Presentation Ahead of Time

It’s crucial to practice your presentation ahead of time. This can help you feel more confident on the big day.

Not sure how to practice for a presentation?

If you can, try to practice your presentation in front of family members or work colleagues. This way, you can present to a real audience, and they can give you constructive feedback. You can also videotape yourself but do not practice in front of a mirror! While rehearsing your presentation, ensure you practice making eye contact and smiling. These factors can help you connect with your audience and showcase your passion for the topic. Smiling can also help you feel less anxious and more comfortable while delivering the presentation.

Another great idea is rehearsing the presentation in the actual room where you’ll present. This will help you familiarize yourself with the surroundings and how to use the space. Ensure you rehearse with the relevant technology and setup in place, as you don’t want to run into technical difficulties or any unexpected mishaps on the day.

On the day of the presentation, ensure that the room is well lit. This way, the audience can see the slides and your face.

Read and Revise Your Presentation

While preparing for a presentation, ensure you have an open mind about irrelevant or unimpactful points that should probably be removed. Picture yourself as the audience and consider how specific topics would impact the audience. And remember to make any changes to make your presentation flow better and easier to understand.

Additionally, you need to consider your audience’s persona – are they knowledgeable professionals, newcomers to the industry, or experts? The persona of your audience will guide how you address them and the jargon you use. For example, if you’re speaking to people new to your industry or topic, you’ll need to explain basic terms and deliver the presentation in a simple and accessible way. On the other hand, you won’t need to explain industry terms to experts as you’d expect them to already have comprehensive knowledge in the field.

If you want to learn more about how to prepare for a presentation and improve your speaking skills, visit the Corporate Class website today.

We offer a one full day course, a Lunch and Learn or private coaching. In the 1-day experiential presentation skills training workshop, you’ll receive training from expert facilitators who will equip you with the skills, tools, and practice you need to hone your business communication skills. During the Lunch and Learn for groups, you will learn everything you need to know about structure and delivery. In private coaching we will focus on your delivery style, your message, your body language and use our Figaro Social Intelligence platform to analyze your delivery.

Participants will walk away with a newfound ability to deliver engaging presentations, convey leadership and authority, increase their influence and persuasion, and speak with maximum impact.

How To Plan A Presentation How To Practice For A Presentation How To Prepare For Presentation Preparing For A Presentation Presentation Preparation

5 Virtual Meetings Best Practices for Zoom and Other Social Platforms

Amid a global pandemic, we are striving to get results without being able to meet face-to-face. We need to lead our teams, but we need to do it screen-to-screen. There are several platforms available, all which do a great job at enabling the screen-to-screen experience. Granted, but why is it so much more difficult than running a face-to-face meeting?

At the best of times, most of us are anxious speakers.

Our shyness, nerves and anxiety revolve around what to say and how to say it. Those feelings do not just go away when we meet with others virtually. Our discomfort grows when we add to that the ‘newness’ of these virtual platforms, the limitations of internet bandwidth and the discomfort with always being on screen.

A few months ago, we were used to letting our mind wander while watching TV. Now, it’s watching us! A further complication is interpreting facial expressions when participating in a screen-to-screen meeting.

Micro-facial expressions are essential to our understanding of one another.

On screen, facial expressions all but disappear, are distorted or frozen for a moment due to internet connectivity. Eye contact, so critical in face-to-face communication is difficult to achieve on screen. It is hard to know where to look.

As a default, we tend to look at ourselves (yikes).

Some of us are exhausted with screen-to-screen meetings. It seems that all our social interaction is on screen. Our job, family, club, church, and even our doctor all occurs at home, on screen.

What has not changed for leaders, is the need to plan, manage and facilitate our team meetings.

Importantly, we need to engage our meeting participants. That said, many of us were not always successful engaging our teams when we met face-to-face. Screen-to-screen meetings just exacerbates the problem.

Here are 5 important virtual meetings best practices for zoom and other social platforms:

Clothing

Dressing appropriately, contributes to your presence, where dressing inappropriately takes away from it.

The rule is to dress for your audience. If your office dress code is business casual, then dress that way for your virtual meetings.

Here are some additional guidelines to keep in mind when on camera:

Avoid bright coloured clothing and accessories; they tend to reflect light and are too vivid on camera. Instead, wear a blue, gray, pink, or beige shirt/blouse
Avoid black suits/jackets which tend to diminish your appearance because they absorb too much light. Instead, wear a medium colored suit, best bets are blue/dark blue, gray, and brown
Avoid fabrics with complicated patterns such as checks, tight/close stripes, herringbones, tweeds, and loud plaids. Fabrics of this design tend to strobe and or flutter on camera which can be distracting
Wear clothes made of natural fabrics that tend to breathe easily under the warm studio lights. This allows you to remain feeling cool and comfortable
Avoid shiny jewelry that may sparkle, or any jewelry that rattles and may cause a distracting noise
Style your hair off your face to avoid shadows. A clearer view of your face allows the audience to see your expressions and connect with you more when you speak

Lighting

Merriam Webster dictionary defines “in the best light” as – “in a way that makes someone, or something appear in the best way.” This is especially true when you participate in a screen-to-screen meeting. Many people do not consider proper lighting at all, and it shows. Regrettably, it reflects on their ‘presence’ as well.

The good news is you don’t have to invest $100’s in Hollywood lighting to show up “in the best light.” Ambient light can do the trick. Face a window if you have one in your workspace. If that does not produce the desired effect, consider augmenting your space with additional lighting.

Sound

It always makes great sense to procure a USB microphone or a USB computer headset with microphone for your virtual meetings to eliminate echo and reduce sound distortion.

Background

If you are going to use your natural environment for background, ensure it is neat and any distracting objects are removed. Some web-based meeting platforms like ZOOM provide virtual backgrounds that you can substitute for your natural background. If you choose a virtual background, you should consider using a green screen. It provides stability to the background and eliminates jumpy images.

Your best angle and maintaining eye contact

You want to look your best when you are on camera. The first step is to locate your web cam and raise your laptop so that your web cam is at your eye level or slightly above. A virtual meeting needs human connection, and if your video is not relatable, it will be a distraction. Angles that are too low or too high will be distracting. Humanize your meeting by literally leveling with and looking in the eye of the people you’re talking to. You may have to raise your laptop using boxes or their equivalent. One more thing: IF you are using two screens, make sure you move the platform screen below your camera otherwise it will look like you are looking at something else in the room.

Finally, establish your on-camera position. The safest composition for all devices is upper chest level. Mimic how close you will get in an actual in-person meeting. When you are meeting someone in person, face to face, you don’t get too close or too far away – you just keep enough distance that you can hear each other. Frame your position using the ‘Rule of Thirds’, a mechanism that photographers use to frame their shots.

Barry Kuntz
Senior Associate, Corporate Class Inc.

coronavirus covid-19 presentation skills virtual communication virtual meetings

1. Speak with Conviction

To speak from a point of belief and conviction, it must be clear in your mind, as to the reason why you are speaking to this audience. You can ask yourself: a) why are you speaking to this audience of senior executives? and b) why should they listen to you? Once this is clear in your mind, it will trigger your mindset and support you to speak from a point of belief and conviction.

2. Get to the Point in One Sentence

Build a relationship with your audience instantly by starting with a strong introduction. Frame your introduction as a headline: Ex: “I believe THAT new finance will be the major driver of global economic growth. So much so, we at Company XYZ have invested $9B in R&D towards that.” Tell us in one sentence (7 words or less) what you want to talk about. Get to the point immediately, audiences will wander away if you don’t. Most speakers start from creating a context for their content in order to help the audience understand how they came to their conclusion. The problem is that the audience doesn’t know what the speaker is trying to prove or defend. So, they get lost, confused, and sleepy, and we hope they wake up for the big reveal and the call to action. People’s attention span is about 3-5 seconds. If the speaker is interesting, people will go in, out, in, out…if the speaker is not engaging from the start, people go in, out and stay out. The word THAT is useful in ensuring that the sentence is an active idea rather than a passive statement of fact.

The one idea I have is THAT…
The message I want to share is THAT…
My argument is THAT…

a) What do you want your audience to feel and think at the conclusion of your talk? b) What do you want your audience to do at the conclusion of your talk? It is not easy to ask. Although, whatever your ask is, it stands to reason that your chances of success skyrocket when you actually ask for what you want.

3. Identify Your Main Points

Answer the WHY Example: a) Every social advance has resulted from technological progress b) Industry 4.0 means huge opportunities and challenges for the financial sector Show the HOW Example: a) The global financial information platform will be based on cloud services and Big Data, and everyone will be more and more able to access the platform via apps on their mobile phones, anytime, anywhere. Prove your conclusion up front, it engages the audience.

4. Prove Your Point

Identify the evidence that support your main points: Use only details that support your conclusion. If you need to discuss a list, call out all items first before discussing each.

5. State Your Call to Action

What do you want your audience to do at the conclusion of your talk? Again, your request has to be concrete. “By leveraging our strengths, we will contribute to social development and help create a better future.” This is not concrete enough… This conclusion will invite smiles and nods and allow the audience to leave without demonstrating their commitment to your message/ideas. This message will soon be forgotten. Presentation Tips Recap:

What is your goal in delivering these opening remarks?
How do you want to set the tone for the day?
What is the main topic you want to discuss?
What idea/s do you need to convince them of?
What arguments will you use to convince them?
Come full circle in the end … “So now you can see/understand why I said at the beginning THAT…”
What do you want them to do now?

I trust answering all of these presentation tips will move you closer to the end goal of delivering a polished speech with poise and command. If you’d like to work with a public speaking coach in Toronto or virtually online, get in touch with us. We can help take your presentation skills to the next level!

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Six Steps To Achieving Essential Board Presence

Most senior executives know that an invitation to speak to the board of directors is a rite of passage. It signals the board’s desire to hear details and question people directly and acknowledges the presenter’s authority. For first-timers, it can indicate a change in status. In many organizations, however, both people new to the experience and seasoned executives are often ill-equipped to meet board directors’ expectations. Board presence is the ability to fulfill those expectations … Continue Reading

board presense

Presenting to Senior Leaders with the Minto Pyramid Principle

So you’re tasked with presenting to senior management or C-Suite leaders, which typically prompts excitement. This scenario often triggers anxiety, but fear not, as the Minto Pyramid Principle comes to the rescue. Whether it was extended to an executive or a new professional, anxiety is common. Witness the pyramid principle in action and improve your communication skills by confidently presenting to C-Suite leaders using the Minto Pyramid Principle.

What is the Minto Pyramid Principle?

The Pyramid Principle is a powerful presentation management system. It was actually “invented” by Harvard Business School professor and McKinsey consultant Barbara Minto. The core concept is to start with the ending. The conclusion comes first! Supporting data follows and is logically organized in a specific and easy-to-follow manner. This principle helps ensure clarity and coherence in written and spoken communication, making complex ideas easier to understand and remember.

The Minto Pyramid Rule of Three

At Corporate Class, we actively encourage adopting the Minto Pyramid Principle for three reasons:

Presenters are forced to construct materials in a logical manner
Audiences grasp the main content immediately
Back-up data is more understandable when applied to already stated key points

This serves as a compelling example of a communication principle frequently utilized in organizing presentations with a pyramid structure. This rule, at its core, blends clarity and rhythm to enhance audience retention during presentations.

Many stories, slogans and movie titles are structured in threes; consider for example, The Three Musketeers, Faster, Higher, Stronger – the Olympic motto or the movie, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.

Why the Minto Pyramid Principle?

For many people, using the presentation pyramid principle is contrary to what seems natural. They want to build up to their big idea and sometimes resist this technique. We remind people that a business presentation is not a movie script or a Broadway show. The audience is not looking for a surprise ending. Busy executives appreciate cutting to the chase with your introduction. McKinsey & Company, the global management and consulting company for many of the world’s most influential businesses, strongly advocates “start with the answer first.”

One reason why the Pyramid Principle is so effective is that it starts with the most important point first. This grabs the audience’s attention and makes sure they understand the main idea right away. Then, it supports that main point with smaller, related points, building a strong foundation for your argument.

Another benefit of the Pyramid Principle is that it follows a logical order. Organizing your ideas with the main takeaway as supporting evidence makes it easy for your audience to follow along and remember important information. This structure also makes it easier for you to get your point across and avoid going off on tangents.

Practice your Presentation

There is no substitute for rehearsal. Even the most carefully written presentations lose their impact when speakers stumble. This makes it harder to hold your audience’s attention. Even if the presenter gets back on track, it’s often too late. But it doesn’t mean you need to memorize everything. Notes are fine. What matters is using them as cues, and that takes practice. This also helps calm nerves. As speakers get more familiar with their material, their delivery improves, and they feel more confident. This process fits into the framework of effective communication, especially when using the Barbara Minto Pyramid Principle. It gives insight into how to structure and summarize key information effectively.

Learn more about our Presentation Skills Training

presentation skills pyramid principle senior leaders

Presenting to the Board of Directors: Present to a Board with Confidence and Conviction

To the uninitiated, the concept of presenting to the board of directors may be interpreted as a form of advanced executive presentation skills training. Yes, that is a component but interfacing with the board, notably for first-timers, demands familiarity with its intricacies:

Understanding of expectations
Engaging and interacting with the appropriate tone and respect
Roles of Board Members and the Chair and Stakeholders
Dealing with short attention spans – and the right way to respond
Contingency planning when presentations are cut short
Preparing for vigorous Q&A

A Presentation to the Board of Directors Is a Very Big Deal!

Board members’ expectations run high. They are not passive listeners but active participants, eager for clear, concise information they can discuss among themselves – immediately. They ask questions and expect prompt answers.

We developed Board Presence Workshops to train executives for these highly demanding and often intense board presentations. The origin had its beginnings in feedback senior leaders received from Board members frustrated by disappointing, ill-prepared presenters. Especially when this is a new experience or executives are new to the company, they may not understand and be familiar with the high-performance demands required in meetings with their Board.

C-Suite leaders from various organizations realized they needed to equip themselves and their people with the skills to meet and interact with Board members. They approached us to develop training and identified two very specific but differing groups:

C-Level leaders
Senior executives and managers

C-Level Leaders

These experienced professionals realize a first invitation from the Board could signal the possibility of more frequent attendance, demanding a clear understanding and firm grounding of expectations, including a detailed presentation agenda. They comprehend their role as guests, not members, at an exclusive club.
Some admit a sense of presentation anxiety they have not experienced in years. These leaders understand that although stress diminishes with practice, being called to meet with the Board requires meticulous preparation.

Senior Executives and Managers

This group was seen by numerous organizations as being more vulnerable to stress when invited to this high visibility environment, underestimating the need for specific preparations, and failing to understand their role at Board meetings. In addition to high-stress levels in this situation, three specific behaviours—complacency, smugness and wordiness (usually among so-called technical experts)—were identified as possible pitfalls. The organization’s workshop objectives ranged from easing stress for those with anxiety to checking over-confident conduct with comprehensive training that enabled participants to simulate the Board experience.

How to Deliver an Executive Presentation to a Board of Directors

Thorough preparation: is the key to a successful presentation
Audience understanding: research priorities and backgrounds
Clear outline: organize ideas, cover key points
Visually informative content: engages audiences, and adds professionalism
Focused outcome: helps board grasp long-term impact, backed by data
Address potential challenges: demonstrate critical thinking and risk management
Ample time for questions: encourages engagement, addresses uncertainties
Strong conclusion: summary, appreciation, compelling call to action

Guidelines for Effective Presentation Delivery

Pre-read and rehearse: Boosts confidence, improves speaking flow
Practice methods: Use friends, recording, or other techniques
Send materials in advance: Allows board members to review and prepare questions
Arrive early: Set up, familiarize yourself with the room
Fix technical issues: Ensure a smooth presentation experience

A unique, hands-on opportunity for participants

CCI Senior Consultant Jim Olson’s expertise was instrumental in enabling us to replicate the sense of Board meetings and fine-tune content for these BP Workshops. With his extensive experience as a Board member, currently serving on the Board of Maple Leaf Foods, and as a member of NACD (National Association of Corporate Directors), Jim continues to both facilitate Board Presence Workshops and drive curriculum updates. As a Board Leadership Fellow, Jim is recognized for his expertise and commitment to excellence in the boardroom, notably, the importance of continued education to enhance boardroom skills.

Behind the closed doors of the boardroom

Although CCI works with organizations to customize and address specific requirements attuned to its senior executives, every session goes behind the boardroom doors to examine Board Presence — the precise requirements imperative to excel in this high-stakes environment.

The content for Board Presence Workshops is designed to prepare potential presenters at higher organizational levels including:

C-Level leaders
Direct reports to CEO and C-Level
Senior executives with regular Board interaction
Management who interact informally with the Board and its members
Department heads accountable to the Board – investor relations, public relations, IT – who may not report directly to its members

Read more about co-facilitators Jim Olson and Diane Craig

Join our course about Board Presence to improve your skills when presenting to a board of directors.

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Connect, network, manage difficult conversations and make great presentations

People don’t intuitively master the ability to connect, to network, to manage difficult or awkward conversations, and to make great presentations. All are learned skills.

At Corporate Class, we train business professionals to develop and refine their communications skills. The ability to forge alliances, to bring people on board, to enlist others in the shared vision that moves things forward are fundamental to successful communications.

Three Communication Skills Courses taking place in our Toronto Boardroom

Course 1: How to Command and Work a Room
Developing the skills to face a room of people you barely know or have never met, with self-assurance, seemingly effortless conversation and to make meaningful connections is the focus of this Course. The centerpiece of our training is developing the presence, self-assurance, and confidence to make the most of business networking events. The expression work-a-room is something of misnomer because it really refers to friendly interaction with fellow-attendees at an event.

What’s required to step up, and step out at networking events?
Even seasoned professionals often feel intimidated when facing a room of new people. Our training recognizes the significance of overcoming this social anxiety and empowers participants with new methods of communicating.

We train people to develop precise techniques that seamlessly build connections and lead to establishing relationships, regardless of the event or venue. The goal is to be sufficiently experienced with these ever-present interactions to achieve a comfort level – and the ease, grace, and poise – to speak to anyone, on any occasion. In addition, this newly activated skillset provides participants with a significant competitive edge. Cost $225.00

Course 2: Conversations that matter
Business professionals understand that to positively influence an outcome, every window of opportunity counts; every conversation matters.

Often, delicate conversations that are not carefully managed, may lead to incorrect decisions and disappointing outcomes. During this Course, we review and assess active listening behaviors and examine examples of conversations that broke down and became uncontrollable. We compare these failed endeavors to how an improved outcome could have been achieved.

Participants practice a series of procedures to maintain a balanced mindset in potentially challenging situations, and discover how to analyze and transform behavior to improve chances for optimum results. Cost $225.00

Course 3: Presentation Skills: On Stage Presence
Today, the skill to present, persuade and convince – to speak with impact – upstages even the best products or ideas. This presentation skills Course trains participants to make compelling, engaging presentations.

Technique is key to overcoming speaking anxiety. When people are confident about their material, have systematically organized it, and rehearsed in a disciplined manner, they communicate ideas effectively. We introduce a model for participants to create a framework that guides them through fine-tuning and honing presentations.

This Course is designed to show participants how to demonstrate high-quality communication skills when speaking more formally – making speeches, presentations or pitches. Cost $225.00

Toronto Courses in our Boardroom

We are in the process of finalizing our Fall 2017 dates. If you would like to receive information about these Course dates, please contact us:
michelle@corporateclassinc.com
416-967-1221 Ext 107

Tech-addiction: Decrease your screen time + increase your presence

Last week we discussed power posing and its effects on one’s feelings of confidence and power. Power posing before a stressful event, such as delivering a speech or a presentation, can help to decrease nerves and increase your presence when you step into the spotlight.

That’s exactly what Executive Presence is all about – engaging in behaviors that increase your presence, both in front of others as well as behind closed doors.

Because we live in an ultra-high-tech society – one might say, a tech-addicted society – the ability to remain present, and to exude presence, is becoming more and more difficult. We are constantly glued to our mobile devices; cell phones, laptops, computers, tablets… We seem to always be half in, half out, and rarely fully present in the moment. We are always checking for that email, text message or notification. We are often unaware of what we’ve just checked out of, such as an important conversation with a colleague or boss.

Less is more

There is a time and a place for everything. This saying is highly applicable when discussing the use of technology within professional settings. Most of us require the use of technology to do our jobs, complete our tasks, and organize our lives. We have become so dependent on these devices that interrupting a conversation or a meeting to check the source of the buzz or beep has become standard. This lack of awareness, or habit of ignoring the outside world for what’s happening inside our device, is effectively robbing us of our presence.

We must not forget that business thrives on relationships. It also thrives on responding to emails in a timely fashion, and at the end of the day, the need to do so comes down to retaining relationships (with the receiver, with the company, etc.). When amongst peers, colleagues, and superiors, how can we build on existing relationships, or create new ones, if we are constantly checking for new emails?

When you spend less time on your mobile devices, you have more time to spend in face-to-face interactions. It helps you stay focused and present, and others will take notice. It will help to increase your listening skills, one of the core traits of Executive Presence.

Strategic screen time

It’s not only about spending less time looking at our screens, but ensuring that the time we do spend is strategic. Here are some tips for increasing strategic screen time:

Instead of bringing your phone with you into your next meeting, leave it in your office
Instead of putting your phone on the table at your next client lunch (which seems to have become the norm), leave it in your purse of briefcase
Give yourself a limit of two, five-minute social media checks throughout the day (if not one!)

Increasing your focus by forgoing distractions, such as checking your phone, will serve to immediately increase your presence. This can be a scary thought and overwhelming to some, so start with small goals, such as not bringing your phone to your next meeting. Remember, your emails will still be there waiting for you when you return!

P.S. check out this article for a more in-depth examination of our “tech-addiction.”

Executive Presence