Enthusiastically Self-Employed: business tips, marketing tips, and LinkedIn tips for coaches, consultants, speakers, authors, solopreneurs & small business owners
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Enthusiastically Self-Employed: business tips, marketing tips, and LinkedIn tips for coaches, consultants, speakers, authors, solopreneurs & small business owners
Getting Your Point Across with Shep Sheperdigian Ep 149
Listen to this playback of my live chat with Shep Sheperdigian on "Getting Your Point Across"
00:00 Introduction and Welcome
00:18 How to Handle Technical Issues
01:02 Introducing Today's Topic: Getting Your Point Across
01:37 Shep's Background and Expertise
03:14 Tips for Effective Virtual Presentations
06:02 Engaging Your Audience
11:56 Using Themes and Storytelling
13:21 Overcoming Public Speaking Anxiety
14:57 Using Humor and Self-Deprecation
16:21 Practical Tips for Presentations
20:49 Using Teleprompters Effectively
25:27 Connecting with Shep on LinkedIn
27:37 Conclusion and Final Thoughts
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My name is Brenda Meller. I'm a LinkedIn coach, consultant, speaker, and author. My company is Meller Marketing and I help business professionals get a bigger slice of the LinkedIn pie.
Visit mellermarketing.com
Let's connect on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/brendameller
(click MORE to invite me to connect and mention you listened to my podcast)
Hey everyone, it's Brenda Muller. Welcome to my LinkedIn live show. I call this enthusiastically self-employed and I bring on amazing people like Shep, who's gonna be talking with us here today, to share some great insights with you. Hey Shep, how are you doing today?
Speaker 2:I'm fabulous Brenda. How are you?
Speaker 1:I am doing great and I was keeping my fingers crossed as we were getting started, because I actually had Shep on my show about a month or so back and we were having some technical issues. I should say not we, I was having some technical issues as I was hosting him and the good thing, as Shep, if you're an experienced speaker, host, emcee, you're going to encounter technical issues at some point. You just roll with it, you figure out what happened, you embrace the awkwardness of it and you do the best you can with the situation. But in our particular case, your interview was really great. It was great advice that you were offering to individuals, but my part was a little bit of a lag and a delay.
Speaker 1:Afterwards we had a debrief and I said, hey, why don't I have you come back on my show again and we'll try this all over again and we've got a new topic and today we're going to be talking about getting your point across. As we are getting our conversation today, my friends, I want to invite you to come into comments and let us know if the live stream is picking up, if you're able to see us and hear us clearly, and that will make me feel really good, because I was keeping my fingers crossed at the beginning, that the live stream was working and that lets us know that it is picking up. We're live streaming right now on LinkedIn as well as on YouTube, and, as I'm waiting for some of their comments to come in, shep, I know a bit about you and your business. We had done some work together later in the year last year but for those people who are familiar with you, why don't you tell us a bit about yourself and what you do?
Speaker 2:I'm an urban entomologist and of course everybody knows an urban entomologist. Entomology, the study of insects, and urban entomology is the study of insects as they relate to humans, where we live and work. So I work for Rose Pest Solutions, where we develop and run the programs that protect health and property from pests and vermin generally bugs, but rats, mice, roaches, bedbugs, birds, all kinds of things. My role is technical support, and so I find myself having to stay connected with all manners of resources to help keep Rose at the forefront of the technical world in pest management. Of course that means I do a lot of training and a lot of presenting, and that's what puts me on the camera.
Speaker 1:Good and you're definitely comfortable on camera. We talked a little bit about some tips about being in video last time and today we're going to be talking about our topic you can see right above us here which is getting your point across. So we're going to jump right into the conversation and again, I'll encourage our audience. If you're watching, feel free to drop a comment below. Let us know that you're watching, even if it's just to say hello from Metro Detroit or hello from my living room if you're watching from home right now. But do let us know that you're watching. And as we're doing that, let's just jump right in here. Shep, and we've got folks that are going to be watching this live and in playback looking to learn from you. We're here today talking about getting your point across, so what advice do you have for us?
Speaker 2:Of course, this day and age I say this day and age if you've been around since the inception of these things. It's always changing, but it seems like anymore you're going to be seen virtually. Whether it's a Zoom or Teams or some of these other WebEx, some of these other platforms, you probably are going to be in front of more people virtually than you are in person. For that reason, you'll want to make sure that you're good at getting your point across, because if you can't get your point across, you don't have a point. That's pretty harsh, isn't it? No, if you can't get your point across, what difference does it really make? You really want to be effective at this, and so let's think about the visual process. So let's think about the visual process. Let's face it, it's video and so it's visual, and so what people see has a lot to do with how much they're going to remember, how much they're going to enjoy it, the impact that it has on them. And you need to make sure that you are happy with what's out there visually for what you're putting across.
Speaker 2:And last time we talked about a number of those things like making sure that your setting is appropriate. Don't use the virtual backgrounds if you can help it and don't even blur out. Have a real background See my real background and not complicated, so it doesn't take over. And once you get that, and make sure that your lighting is correct and make sure that your face is in the camera. Many people use the iceberg method, where they're more aware of the screen than they are of the camera and only the top of their heads can be seen. Don't do that. You'll want to make sure that what you're presenting is what people are going to want to sit there and listen to for as long as they're going to be talking about it. In addition, make sure that your camera is situated in the right way and that it's not wobbling.
Speaker 1:I'm going to pull this into a tight mode, and I was testing on this in our pre-show too and I said, hey, we're going to start the interview in the wide mode and then we're going to go into the tight mode. On here, and I've even seen some scenarios like this, where I try to make sure that when we're sitting side by side Shep, it looks like we're at the same visual center, so to speak. We're at the same eye level, same distance to the camera and just like Shep's doing right now. Sometimes you need to make adjustments, and I say make those adjustments because there are people that are watching you live. There might be people that are watching you play back and sometimes you get so distracted on the why is that person so close to the camera? Why is that person looking the difference that you lose out on the message. Would you agree with that, Shep?
Speaker 2:Oh, I absolutely would. And another really important thing is be aware of your audience when you're live and on stage. And for those of you who do that, how fun is that. You know where the audience is. They're unmistakable. But, boy sitting in front of a laptop, it's really easy to stare at your screen. This is me staring at the screen. This is me staring at you, and that happens because I know that you're right in there in the camera. So spend as much time as you can looking at your audience. It makes it a whole lot easier for them to both understand and to take in what you're saying.
Speaker 1:And we're here today talking about getting your point across, and I feel like we're almost. There's two things that we're talking about to get your point across, to get people to be able to understand, and that message, that communication, to be received. You also have to be thinking about the technical elements which could be distracting us from getting our point across. Is that right?
Speaker 2:That's absolutely correct. Maybe you've seen on the news where they have people who zoom in or come in from on other platforms and they always seem to be sitting in front of a bookshelf full of books. Do you ever find yourself reading the books on the bookshelf to see what they are Noticing? It's either books that they've written or books they want you to think they've read. That's distracting. So you want to make sure that those distractions aren't really there for your audience. But what they're really going to focus on is you.
Speaker 1:Now, how does that differ? And we're talking today about getting your point across Does that differ in a live situation versus? Obviously, if you're on video, there's a square around you that's behind you, but are there things that we can do as speakers up on stage that can help us to get our point across more effectively, or rather, things to avoid so that we are being more effective as a speaker?
Speaker 2:Oh, if you're live, then it's all about what do you intend to say and how much have you been over that? You have no control. You have no direct control over what's behind you, what else is on the stage, those kinds of things, but you are able to manage what you're going to say, so it's always good to have written out, no matter how well you know the topic. If there was one thing you wanted your audience to remember, what would that be? Make sure you've got that memorized. Some people have their notes, but they're all just outlining. If that's the case, there's only two lines you should write down and memorize so you can do them verbatim. And that is the very first thing you say and the very last thing you say. Remember that usually in such events there's a time clock going on and I have a clock right over here so I know what time it is, so I don't get carried away.
Speaker 2:I was at a conference in February where there was a lady who was she was a content expert, calling it in from Texas. She went on and on. She had more to say. It was very interesting, but nobody was listening. After it got to the time where she was supposed to stop, and how embarrassing was that, as the moderator had to find a way to get the hook and move on to our next show.
Speaker 2:So you need to know when the clock is. You need to know what your last line is. You'll find a lot of presenters, especially if they're more adept at the process, at the thing they're talking about, than they are actually talking. They get to the end and they're awkwardly searching for some way to close this off and you can see it wander and go on farther and farther and then they reiterate and then they go over old, memorize your very last line and give it. If you get to the end of your presentation or your time and there's still more to say, you would be way better off saying and there's a lot more to say about that, but that's all the time we have. Thank you Been very patient.
Speaker 1:It's almost like a bookend approach when you were describing it to me. You're starting off when you think about bookends. They create structure for your book, so to speak, on the bookshelf, and you start off with memorizing that one-liner in your introduction, something to compel your audience and bring them in, and similarly you need to create that end point that almost brings it back, and I've seen really good presenters sometimes will lead with a story and then they'll end with a story. Do you have any thoughts on that type of an approach or other tips for?
Speaker 2:speakers. There is no it's spot on. There is no doubt that storytelling is what brings people in, and the better a storyteller you are, the better. That works. Just if you think, well, I'm not a very good storyteller, you could be telling stories. It works better if you've got kids to tell stories too, and you can start by reading stories. If you really want to get good at this reading stories, then tell them stories that you know and work from there. There's a lot of different ways to do it. If you are really intent on upping your presentation game, join a local theater group and take a part in a play and you'll get real familiar with what it's like to be in front of people and to manage what's coming out from the stage for them. But it's true, start with a story, end with a story and make sure that you know what you want to say all the way through. If there are important points, you got those written down so you won't miss them.
Speaker 1:That's a good point, and we're here today talking about getting your point across, and Shep is an experienced speaker. He's been on many stages and, as you can all tell I'm sure, he's both informational and educational speaking up on stage, and I've seen his video, so I can't say I've spoken. I've seen him speak in person, but I have seen him on video and that's part of the reason I brought him out. Now I'm wondering what about the approach that sometimes I see speakers doing, where they bring in a theme for their presentation. Today I'm going to be talking about LinkedIn, but I'm going to talk about the Wizard of Oz as well. We're going to take you on this journey down the yellow brick road. What do you think about creating that as a way to help to guide your audience and get your point across?
Speaker 2:That actually can be very valuable because it needs to be a common theme that everybody's familiar with. If I decided we're going to do getting your point across using a world of warcraft as our, as our theme, there's going to be some people out there really geeked about it. There's going to be a bunch of folks who are going world or what I don't know yeah, no clue. So it's a good thing to use because it's something that will tie everything together, but it's got to be a universally known that kind of thing, but I like it.
Speaker 2:You seem to have mastered that, brenda. You've made it just as easy as pie.
Speaker 1:And I do bring in pie in part of my talks and I think even when we did our, we did a team training with the team, your team at Rose Pest Solutions, and in the beginning I had everyone introduce themselves and say what was your favorite kind of pie? We all talked about that and it was actually right around Thanksgiving, so the timing was perfect for that. But certainly having a theme that you can bring your audience into the presentation, I felt for me it helped to get my point across and help to make for a more memorable training presentation. Now there may be some people who are they're just they're so nervous about getting up on stage it's their first time or they're still working through their anxiety or their nerves. Do you have any tips for us on that, on getting your point across, but also, as we're struggling through anxiety and nervous, that nervous energy that we have.
Speaker 2:No doubt about it. This is, this is public speaking, no matter where and how you're doing it, and public speaking actually ranks on those lists of the biggest fears that people have. Now I'm in urban pest management, so that gives me a whole lot On those lists of things that people are afraid of. There's number two is mice.
Speaker 2:Yeah, oh yeah, so I have had the opportunity to stand up and say the greatest fear that people have is public speaking. And number two is mice. And here I am public speaking about mice. This is terrifying, so it just loosens people right up.
Speaker 1:Yeah that's good. There's a public speaking group called Toastmasters and one of the clubs here in Metro Detroit. I don't know if they still do, but for the longest time they were meeting at a funeral home, like in the upstairs area of a funeral home, and I think that was part of their opener to welcome new members, saying many people would rather be downstairs than upstairs. The fear of public speaking ranks after death. It's such a it can be such a nerve wracking thing, but it did in the same way that you use levity and laughter, fear of death, fear of spiders or fear of rats and mice, right, and then public speaking all those things are common fears, but it does create some, get some laughter, going in with the audience right and loosens them up. Oh, it's true.
Speaker 2:Humor can be a wonderful tool for that. In fact, it's a very good tool If you're going to do humor. This is comedy and it's not pretty. Comedy can be, can be brutal. This is comedy and it's not pretty. Comedy can be can be brutal. Just don't take yourself too seriously. Learn the magic of self-deprecation, which is making fun of yourself, which is what you do when you, when a joke doesn't go, when you're doing video, virtual presentations, you have no clue whether or not the audience is enjoying this or not, and as they're usually sitting alone usually they're often sitting alone in their, in their office or their kitchen or wherever it is watching this they don't have the rest. They don't know how the rest of the audience is taking it. A lot of times, a joke well told starts the audience going, they feed on each other and now everything's funny and everything works. So comedy has its own issues, but you should always be willing to not take yourself too seriously and work in a little humor if you can.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I like that approach and it does help to ease your audience up a little bit on everything.
Speaker 2:On the topic of I am petrified to talk to people. Oh, I can talk to. I can talk to people. I've talked to two people, but, boy, that third person comes a small portion of it to a trusted friend. Let me read this to you and then you do it when you get up there. A lot of times we cling to our script as a life preserver. You will see speakers do this, don't do that, don't read it, don't even if you're reading it, don't look like you're reading it or don't sound like you're reading it. That's why they have a teleprompter and you can see that and there's all kinds of fun with politicians on teleprompters. You got to be able to use that to help you talk to people the way you always talk to people. Use that to help you talk to people the way you always talk to people. That's why you got to know your topic in and out.
Speaker 1:I'm curious for you, shep do you use notes or an outline? Do you let your slide deck guide you? What's your approach when you do?
Speaker 2:your. Oh, there's another thing. Yeah, I use notes. I usually make an outline. I know what I want to talk about and I have it in outline form. I will write out what could be a script and then I talk from the outline. Only thing I memorize are my first and my last lines, so I can get in and get out cleanly. If I'm using PowerPoint, I'll tell you PowerPoint has been done to death. If I'm using PowerPoint, I'll tell you PowerPoint has been done to death. This is death by PowerPoint, where you see a speaker and they put up a bulleted list, no-transcript and I have pictures of this really happening guy puts up, he puts up his title and he turns his back to the audience. Incidentally, when I turn my back, you see what happens to my voice he turns his back to the audience and he reads the slide.
Speaker 1:Oh, no yeah.
Speaker 2:This is. That's a no. Don't do that. You can use the slides to enhance what you're saying, and that's what it should be. No more than six words ever. A really good book to read on this is by Gar Reynolds and it's called Presentation Zen, and it's all about the way to make a presentation so that you're not feeding your audience death by PowerPoint. So you look like you know what you're talking about even if, of course, you know what you're talking about so you can present that and so people can understand it and they don't have to spend half their time reading what's on the screen, the other half time listening to you trying to figure out if it's exactly the same thing or almost the same thing.
Speaker 1:That's a really good point and I love when venues, if you're using slides, they'll have a speaker screen in front of you so that you don't have to do the awkward look over your shoulder. But sometimes you're in a situation where you're not and do you think it's OK, Shep, to look over your shoulder, make sure you know what's there and then to proceed? Or should you never look over your shoulder? Make sure you know what's there and then to proceed? Or should you never look over your shoulder? What do you think?
Speaker 2:Oh, no, you can look over your shoulder. In fact, what's a good thing to do is to don't stand stiffly in front of a podium or a dais and not move. It's good to be able to move, at least somewhat. Some people, they pace like tigers. Maybe you've seen that you stay paced like tigers. Maybe you've seen that the problem with pacing is the stages just aren't big enough to really go anywhere. You end up going back and forth. People will begin to follow that instead of what you're saying. So it's good to move, but not too much. And yeah, if you have to move around, look at different sections of the audience. If you've got a live audience, you want to be able to interact with all of them and not just one.
Speaker 1:Yeah, like not just cater to the middle crowd, but you've got the left side, the right side, sometimes the overhead crowd.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, we have the balcony.
Speaker 1:We have the balcony right? Yeah, absolutely. So what I want to do is I want to change gears a bit here and I'm going to invite our audience into the conversation, and I'm starting to see some comments that are coming in from the audience. So I want to invite you and if you do have any questions or comments for Shep today, or if you want to join our conversation we're here talking about getting your point across as a speaker Feel free to jump into the conversation here. And I see Christopher Johnson from Calm Clear Media is watching us on YouTube. And I see Christopher Johnson from Calm Clear Media is watching us on YouTube. Hey, christopher, thanks so much for watching. And Christopher says teleprompters should be practiced to be used correctly. Thoughts there, shep, I see you laughing with that. So do you have any anecdotes you'd like to share with us about using?
Speaker 2:teleprompters. Oh, that is absolutely true, and it follows, actually the first and great commandment of presentation, which is never do anything for the first time in front of a live audience. Practice these things, and if you've never worked with a teleprompter, use it first. Be able to go through and do it, for that is absolutely right on. Excellent, excellent point.
Speaker 1:Do you use teleprompters, Shep, or have you ever been forced To me? You strike me as the type of person who speaks without a teleprompter. You're just very natural in what you speak. But have you ever been told to use a teleprompter, or maybe as an MC? Here's the script we need you to read, or what's your thoughts on that?
Speaker 2:I have and I've never used one of those cool see-through heads up display teleprompters like you see now everybody has these days. But I have used the teleprompters that were that was a TV screen or a laptop, and back in the 90s, when we were just experimenting with what we could do, now with the new technology, I printed out, printed out, I, I entered all the script I wanted in 28 point, 48 point, yeah. And then with my hand on my my hand on a mouse off screen, I'm scrolling it down and the the screen I'm reading from is just below the camera that's shooting and you can read a script. Chris, was it chris's point?
Speaker 2:Yeah, you need to have read that material offline before you read it on a teleprompter, because sometimes you read stuff and you get all wrapped around the axle and you don't want to do that. So you want to have read it through at least one or two times. Here's something else, if you've got something to say that's hard to say, which I didn't think about until just now, but let's say it's long and it's a tongue twister, technical terms, or something maybe, or something that you're not familiar with right, absolutely.
Speaker 2:So you've got something that's easy to get tied up on. Then teach your mouth to say it through motor memory, just by saying it over and over again. It through motor memory, just by saying it over and over again the delicate decision to decide on descriptions. That could get you the delicate decision to decide on descriptions. So write it down and read it over the delicate decision to decide on descriptions. And do it till it drives somebody crazy, until somebody slams the door because they don't want to hear you. Do it until it drives somebody crazy, until somebody slams the door because they don't want to hear you, or cut that out. Then you'll be surprised how easily you can say delicate decisions to describe discussion no.
Speaker 1:Is that something you've practiced before? It seems to me that you have some motor memory with that phrase.
Speaker 2:I just made that up, but this is why I screwed it up on the last one. But if you keep doing it, you will get used to it and it'll keep you from stumbling.
Speaker 1:Yeah, good to know. Okay, so I tried putting in the comments Presentations Zen by Gar Reynolds and, for whatever reason, linkedin's not delivering the comments over to StreamYard or StreamYard's not picking up the comments that are coming over to LinkedIn. So I'm checking our comments in the background here. But Christopher on YouTube was so kind Thank you, christopher to find the name of that book. Again, it's called Presentations on Simple Ideas on Presentation, design and Delivery, so Gar Reynolds, g-a-r Reynolds, so we'll make sure to check that out. And then Susie. I want to thank Susie for watching us as well, and we're talking about computer mice today, but we're also talking about mice, the type of vermin that we don't want sometimes in here as well. And there's actually a little mouse emoji that Susie found. Shep, I'm curious are you an emoji guy when it comes to texting and messaging? And, if so, do you use a little mouse emoji sometimes?
Speaker 2:I'm what I am a. I'm a facultative emoji guy, which means I don't have to use them. There's some I absolutely refuse to use, but it's a great way to add to your text. One of the problems with text, as with email, is it cuts out all the nonverbal communication that goes along with saying something, and people have a real tendency to misread your texts as well as your emails. Using emojis is fun.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I think, as generationally younger generation would prefer to use text and one word responses and use emojis to interpret, then we would prefer using the English language. So that's clearly articulated, exactly the information. And getting back to our topic here of getting your point across, it creates clarity when you're using words and not emojis for those things. So an important element for sure. So, shep, as we start to wind down and wrap up our conversation here today, I want to pull up your LinkedIn profile up on screen and ask are you open to connecting with individuals on LinkedIn that are maybe hearing you on the live stream today on LinkedIn or YouTube, or maybe watching rather listening on the podcast at a later date? Was you open to connecting with them and, if so, do you have any instructions for people to connect with you?
Speaker 2:Oh, absolutely. If there's anything I can ever do to help with urban pests or with presentations, or if there's anything else I can do to be helpful, feel free to reach out, and LinkedIn is a good way to get ahold of me. I try to stay as up on LinkedIn as I can. Brenda has been helping me with that. You can also email me. I'm shep at rosepestcom, that's easy and I'll get back to you, always happy to help.
Speaker 1:And I'm gonna put that email address up on screen for those of you as well who might be maybe not heavy LinkedIn users, or maybe you're watching this on YouTube or listening on the podcast later and again, that email address to get ahold of Shep is S-H-E-P. Shep at rosepestcom and you can tell he's got a really great looking LinkedIn profile, my friend. So when you go there you've got some great branding for Rose Pest Solutions and you can see he's got the word speaker in his headline, which is really great. For those of us who are speakers. It's a nice, easy technique of helping to remind people. You do speak at conferences and events and I imagine most of the conferences and events that you're speaking at are within your industry, within Pest Solutions, but you're speaking, I'm guessing, nationally if not internationally. Is that fair to say?
Speaker 2:That's fair to say, and I do. I get around across the nation. I've been out of the country before, but I do get opportunities from coast to coast. So there's a lot for me to do out there.
Speaker 1:You are a multi-talented individual, my friend. Not only are you very educated about the pest solutions industry and all the work that you're doing there, but also as a speaker, and I just want to thank you so much. You came on with me a month or so back. We talked about some speaking tips then and I said let's come back again. You chose a slightly different topic, getting your point across. You're obviously very well versed in the fact that you like sharing your knowledge and information with others. That leadership style is just really something I admire. Shep, I just want to say thank you so much for coming on and for enjoying and spending the time with our audience here today. We really do enjoy you, Thank you.
Speaker 2:Brenda, it was my pleasure.
Speaker 1:All right. Thank you again for watching. Anyone who watching us live or in playback, do remind. I would like to remind you that if you haven't left a comment yet, please do leave a comment that lets us know that you were watching this. And then, one other thing you can do as soon as you're done watching the video here today on LinkedIn. As soon as the video is done playing, at the end you'll see a little share icon at the bottom. Go ahead and click to share that video out with your network.
Speaker 1:Maybe tell some tips that you learned by watching the video, or tag someone in who might be interested in watching this. That'd be a really helpful tip, by the way, if you would be so kind as to tag Shep and myself in there. Remember, use the little at sign and type in our names. Then we'll get notified that you talked about us and we will be certain to comment back. And thank you for that Really great tip. If you're struggling with content and if you haven't posted in the past week, the past month or even in the past year, it's an easy thing to do just to incorporate the activities, the videos that you're watching, and to share that along With that said. Shep. Thank you so much. What's the next? Do you have any big events coming up right now? Any industry events coming up?
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, oh, there's lots coming up. What are we? What am I doing? See, now I'm out of context.
Speaker 1:So you're in presentation mode right with me right now. There are no other events.
Speaker 2:That's what I'm doing. Actually, all the events take place from fall till spring OK, when there's no bugs. When there's bugs, all the companies are busy working and that's what we're doing.
Speaker 1:But that's true. That's true. We're very grateful for you and for spending the time with us here today, Chop. So thank you so much. All right guys.
