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Since public speaking is apparently the most common fear people name when asked, there is a good chance you have experienced it at one time or another. If you have, you know how uncomfortable and unsettling it can be. Don’t just endure it; fight back. Here are fifteen ways to fight stage fright so you can look, sound and feel more confident when you speak.

1. Self-consciousness the problem? Connect with the audience. Find common ground. Forget about being perfect; just speak your mind.
2. An easy way to change jitters to power: slowly breathe out…in…out. Do this before speaking and anytime you get nervous or jittery.
3. A practical way to reduce anxiety is to get into your meeting room early. Set everything up. Then greet and chat with each person as they arrive.
4. To manage panicky feelings, notice–and change–your thoughts. Our inner dialog often goes along these lines: “I feel nervous, I am not good at presenting, what if I mess up?” Change the thoughts to ones like this: “I am excited, I feel great, I can’t wait to get started.”
5. Notice where your thoughts impact your body: it it in your stomach? your chest? your throat? weak knees? shaky hands? Discover where the tension lives, be aware of it, and then let it go.
6. Let out some of the tension by breathing slowly and deeply. Take a walk in the fresh air. Swing your arms. Check for tension in your shoulders. Shrug and release it.
7. To build confidence over time, select one to three actions you can take. For example, breathing, using a positive affirmation, or rehearsing out loud. Focus on these concrete actions before each presentation.
8. Undermining yourself? Create a power affirmation that reminds you how calm, confident and powerful you are as a speaker. Keep repeating it.
9. Feeling scared? Remind yourself it is actually a surge of power you are experiencing. This puts you in a position of strength. Really!
10. Is the fear showing up in your delivery? In order to appear confident–even if you aren’t–stand tall with your hands open and relaxed. Breathe. Smile.
11. Mind racing? Remember your purpose. If you keep your focus on the importance of your content and its significance, you can often forget about yourself and your worries.
12. Disconnected? Appear confident by focusing on steady, direct eye contact. Make it a habit to look each person, one at a time, and don’t scan or dart. It can help to look at eyebrows instead of into people’s eyes. When you connect you feel more in control.
13. Speaking too fast? Sound confident by pausing appropriately. Do this before you begin, after you make a point, or between slides. Don’t rush.
14. Voice sounding weak? Sound confident by speaking with a clear, full voice. You will sound more confident and focusing on voice production can distract you from nervousness.
15. Out of control? If you feel jittery, take care not to dance around too much on your feet. Use your energy appropriately by moving from one part of the room to another deliberately, then plant your feet for a moment.

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Author Gail Zack Anderson, founder of Applause, Inc. is a Twin Cities-based consultant who provides coaching and workshops for effective presentations, facilitation skills for trainers and subject matter experts, and positive communication skills for everyone. She can be reached at gza@applauseinc.net.

Web site: www.applauseinc.net

Blog: www.managementhelp.org/blogs

twitter: @ApplauseInc

Sometimes Technical Writers are responsible for working for more than one manager. How do you keep them happy and how do you maintain priorities?

The first answers that come to mind are:

• Communicate and coordinate.
• Know whom you are speaking to.
• Understand the company’s priority.
• Create your project plan and to do list; know your schedule.
• Always let others know what you have on your plate to avoid any conflicts.
• Make sure both parties understand each other. If need be, be the interpreter as you are one that knows them best.
• For global organizations, make sure all parties are using similar collaboration tools to avoid missed meetings
• Set up time for yourself too.
• If need be, hire extra help.

Having to report to more than one manager can easily happen when you work in an international company and the main headquarters is overseas. Your resident and overseas managers have simultaneously given you tasks to complete. Who and what is your priority? Usually, your resident manager is your priority and thus should be the one to set your priorities. Make sure the manager is aware of all conflicts. If the global manager insists that certain work gets completed ASAP, then communicate to both managers that they should meet to determine priorities. They should make the decision not you. This way, any negative repercussions will not be due to any decision you make.

You, as a Technical Writer/Mediator, can:

• Intervene and try to see both sides of the picture.
• Try to find out the reason behind each work request.
• Ask and see what is pushing each manager to make their request a priority.
• Try to get them to compromise.

Here are some examples and solutions:

• If you have to write a lengthy document, maybe you can do it in stages.
• Try to see if you can get each one to see what you think is a priority as you know both managers and the business.
• Maybe while waiting, e.g., for some equipment or information, you can work on the other task. This is a balancing act, but you can do it if you are organized and know where your information is.
• Try to get a 3-way communication started so that all the necessary parties are there. If you have built good relationships with both parties, then you will be able to get them to come to some sort of agreement.
• Ask them why are we doing this, how did they come to a decision about the project and it’s time table.
• Give them your project plan for each of the work requests and see if you can make both parties happy by working on both projects according to your schedule. If you decide to do this, make sure they understand your schedule and that you cannot deviate from it. If you are interrupted within any phase, then they will have to suffer the consequences of having the project delayed.

Understand what each manager wants and needs. If the communication between all parties are good, then there should not be a problem in coming to a compromise.

Have you faced this problem before? If so, please leave a comment.

The Technical Writer as an Analyst is a subject matter expert when involved with analyzing any data collected. The writer/analyst is able to communicate and translate technical information from examining a series of data; whether it be about processes, issues, trends, etc.

However, before any analysis or evaluation of the data can be done, the writer has to fully understand and be knowledgeable about the data and its background. They writer needs to be familiar with the data source (where the data came from), who gathered it, how it was tracked, formed/grouped/structured, and why it was done.

If we know why and how data was gathered, then we have at least a basis and a reason behind the data being documented. If we know who gathered the data, then we know who we can interview to find out what methods were used and why those methods were chosen. If we know where the data came from, then we can associate the data with a category. If we know how it was tracked then we know how complete the data is (no data is lost). Once all of that information is gathered and verified for its accuracy, the document can be started

The introduction will contain all of the above information. Once the background of the data has written, then the following questions should be noted and answered:

• First, look at the big picture – all the data; what do you think it is saying?
• How will the relevancy of the data be displayed and how can it be described?
• How will the data be interpreted?
• Does the data fit into the original purpose for gathering the information or is it going against it?
• Was the data gathered to see an analysis (i.e., financial), a trend (i.e., consumer), an improvement (i.e., products), or to prove a point for market comparison?
• Are there pros and cons about the data set?
• What is the result of the data collected?
• Has a point been proven?
• Has there been a return on investment; does this data set justify the work?

To further describe your results, a visual of the information can be presented along with your text. Tables and visuals are great to use for explaining data sets; visuals being any charts and/or diagrams. Knowing why the data was gathered helps to identify what charts or diagrams to create.

Be creative and organize the data; group them into meaningful categories so that they can be explained and understood.

• Design a variety of charts and diagrams and select the most useful method for describing the data.
• Think of how the intended audience would like to view the data.
• Make sure that your result comes across from within the tables and visuals.
• Rely on experience and judgment for how to present the data.

Other suggestions:

• Create user stories or describe cases to depict the data results.
• Show demonstrations or a video to corroborate the data collected.

Remember:

• Know whom you are presenting this document to. Develop the documentation and present the information in a form that is appropriate for the target audience (executives, managers, or sales, etc.).

If you have had to produce analytical documents, please leave a comment.

Your audience is getting sleepy. Very sleepy. It might be your fault. Maybe you are lecturing too long, or failing to connect the material to the needs of the listener. Maybe your voice is getting monotone, or your war stories are a little long-in-the-tooth. Before you beat yourself up, consider that it might NOT be your fault. The room is too warm or the air too stale. This is their third day in the classroom, listening to content. They might be jet-lagged or slightly hungover. They might be “prisoners” — people who were told to go to training or a meeting but not why it was important to them. Whatever the case, if you see eyes rolling back or heads lolling on shoulders, take immediate action. Some ideas to try:

1. Intersperce discussion or activities with lecture. If you must lecture, break it up into short segments, and put an activity, discussion, quiz, or demonstration every 10 minutes or so.

2. Stop reading your slides. If you have heavy, dense slides, it is oh-so-easy to start reading them. Nothing really is worse. You’ve heard of death by lecture, right? Every few slides, walk away from the screen, or hit the “B” key on your keyboard to blacken your screen. Ask your audience a question–a good open-ended one. Or have them discuss with a partner what they just heard. Anything. Changing gears is essential.

3. Walk closer to the audience. Get out from behind the lectern and get closer to people. Make plenty of eye contact. Talk to them directly. If you know them, call them by name. Always check the size and shape of the room and be sure you can move around. If you are stuck in the front of a long, narrow room, you can get disconnected from your audience too easily.

4. Turn a lecture into a discussion. Using a series of well-planned questions, or a brief activity, or a problem to be solved. Or a story you can tell. Or a war story they can tell you. These methods are far more memorable because they engage the audience in a way that simply listening does not.

5. Call a break. If eyes are closed, learning is stopped. If practical, call for a break on the spot. Suggest people take a quick walk outside, if practical. Or walk up and down a stairwell. If you can’t call a break at that moment, you might just ask them to stand and stretch. Or walk around the room a minute, then come back to their chairs. Be sure to do it with them; you also need an energy break.

6. Ask people to write something down. It’s easy to carry blank 3×5 cards with you, so you can do this spontaneously. And it can be serious or fun: ask them to write down a question they have about the content, or what they would rather be doing right now. Depending on the group, you could read a few of these out loud. Or not!

7. Put them in teams. Break them up for small discussions, problem-solving or brainstorming. But get them away from their physical comfort zone (and their table buddies) by randomly breaking into groups. Just count off to the number of groups you want them in. Or ask them to find someone they don’t know. (I always ask people in multiple-day classes to sit with someone else on the second day. They usually do.)

8. Move them to flip charts. Having them brainstorm and record ideas on flip charts is good because they are standing instead of sitting and thinking instead of listening. They often come up with wonderful ideas when they work together in teams.

9. Use a little healthy competition. Assign points, turn content into a game, or pit one group against another to come up with questions, answers, or whatever. Even if it is a trivia contest for five minutes, we often love to compete. If nothing else, it makes a great change of pace. If you can tie the activity back to content so much the better.

10. Have an paper airplane-flying event. I personally dislike seeing koosh balls fly around the room, (it scares me) but if you ask people to make a paper airplane and fly it, no one will get hurt. Keep it quick and get them back into their seats. Energy restored.

There are ten ideas; did they spark any others for you? Whether it’s your fault, or whether it isn’t, when you are leading a meeting or training session, don’t let your audience fall asleep. Act early and often to keep them energized and awake!

 

Writing and communicating the purpose of a governance document takes a lot of work. It involves writing about how an organization is set up, it’s history, who it reports to (if any), it’s rules, priorities, supporters, members, groups, responsibilities, compliance issues, policies, procedures, and efficiency. Governance documents ensure that procedures are maintained.

To build a governance document, the content writer has to really understand the structure of the organization, learn about its history (the background) and ask a myriad of questions. As always to get the answers, experts have to be sought out. Once the right resources have been found, the following information has can be gathered.

The Organization

• History behind the organization
• Goals – note the purpose of the organization, why it was established
• Accomplishments – what the organization has accomplished for members, the community and/or others
• Function of the organization – is it a non-profit, manufacturing, IT, financial, medical, etc.

Governing board

• Structure – how is the board organized, what is its function
• Members – who they are, their functions, how elected and for how long
• Bylaws – what are the regulations, guidelines for the organization and its members
• Financial background and statements – who are the resources (organizational names), who is in charge, whom do they report to, how often are reports created (include whom to send to, contents)
• Types of reports created – list generated reports, what they are, when, how often, who creates them, where does data come from
• Who reviews the organization – is there a governing body above that oversees it?
• Meetings – when, who attends, how often, who does the recording

Policies and Procedures

• Code of ethics – who, what, how were they developed; what it entails
• Conflict of interest – what to do, whom to report to; what it entails
• HR – policies and procedures for hiring employees – note positions and functions

Responsibilities

• Director – principal administrator and manager in charge of the organization; ensures compliance regulations are met
• Assistant Director – assists the Director in all functions
• Financial administrator – manages all fiscal business
• Fund raiser – assembles groups for creating fund raising activities
• Trip planner – generates ideas and arranges, organizes off-site outings
• Activities leader – generates group activities, ensures popularity
• Meeting leader – creates and manages agenda
• Secretary – maintains and schedules organization of meetings
• List all accountable members and their functions from cooks to packers to any administrator that is involved in maintaining the function of the organization.
• Also note whom each of the team leaders report to

The governance document

• is important because it’s a statement that shows the value and solid structure of the organization and the quality of service it provides, such as a community center providing activities, benefits, and support for all its members
• sets a standard for the organization and aids in maintaining those standards
• contains an established set of rules that have to be followed

The items listed above were some ideas of what should be in the governance document. Without this document, an organization might fail or lessen its goals.

Please leave a comment if you previously created governance documents.

I met my little grandson when he was only two days old. Of course he was absolutely gorgeous and I was instantly smitten. But what struck me most as I held him was his face, specifically how expressive it was. In the course of a few minutes he went from peaceful contentment to wide eyed wonder to extreme distress and back again several times. His face must have been reflecting every little feeling he was experiencing, and it was all there to see.

Over time we learn how to control our facial expressions better, and we tend to modulate what we show. However, when we are under stress, our emotions can “leak,” showing the world we are uncomfortable.

For instance, in public speaking, we might grimace as we mispronounce a word. Or look startled when we are taken aback by a tough question. Our faces can reflect our discomfort or anxiety.

On the other hand, some people habitually paste a smile on their face to mask anxiety. They might laugh or giggle when they make a mistake, or when the anxiety becomes too much. The audience may think they are silly, or insincere.

To avoid both extremes some people adopt a very controlled facial expression. They can look vacant, unnatural. At an extreme, they can become so controlled they lose their natural expressiveness.

Listeners pay attention to our faces to see if what we say is congruent with how we say it, and anytime they perceive a mismatch it casts doubt on our veracity. Yet, it is impossible to mask every expression. So what at is a stressed out speaker to do?

1. Avoid constant smiling. If this is your habit, try to turn it into a more neutral, pleasant look but avoid a constant or tight smile.

2. Avoid stiffness or tension. Look for tension in your forehead, your mouth, or between your eyes. This may be a habit you are not even aware of.

3. Soften your eyes. If your eyes look too intent, you may have the look of a deer caught in the headlights. Or you may look harsh or angry when you are not.

4. Match your face to your content. A smile is always appropriate when the news is good, or when you are meeting and greeting a new audience or welcoming team members. A more somber expression is key when the news is serious, or bad. A neutral face is best on those occasions.

5. Practice smiling in the mirror. I believe you can get more comfortable with a smile by practicing it. Make sure the smile extends to your eyes as well as your mouth. In fact, smiling with your eyes is often just the right move to make.

6. Exaggerate slightly in front of a very large audience. Subtle expressions might get lost in front of a large group. You can go with a bigger smile, an exaggerated frown in these cases.

7. Get feedback. Speak in front of a mirror, ask someone you trust to be honest with you, or video record yourself in action and see what your face is really saying. You might think you are smiling broadly and find out your smile is weak or even missing. You might find out you look too intense. Once you know for sure, you will be able to make corrections as needed.

Your face is really important to your listeners and your ability to build trust and rapport. Take steps now to be sure it is adding to the effectiveness of your talk.

In continuing with the subject of using the mapping technique (where bubbles/boxes/shapes are used) to organize and visualize your ideas, the following are some more ways that mapping helps; especially with documentation.

• Aids in organizing documents – Use mapping to group or categorize various documents or their parts to remain organized.
• Aids in creating technical documents – Use mapping as a road map showing you where one detail or feature leads to another, and therefore helps to make the writing of the document easier and more concise. It is similar to a workflow diagram which can visually display the functionality of an application
• Aids in structuring documents – Use mapping to shape extensive documents, e.g., for a regulatory compliance document, it can help you arrange different sections of the material according to required specifications. You can associate (/connect/branch) to its different elements and stay focused and on path.
• Aids in creating test plans – Use mapping to plan, prepare, organize, and manage test scenarios.
• Aids in creating presentations – Use mapping to focus on the main theme and to organize the session, i.e., type of training session or lecture given to a specific type of audience and through which vehicle and the different kinds of material that need to be created to conduct the training.
• Aids in monitoring customer feedback – Use mapping to pinpoint where problems exist within documents or applications so that you can see what is good or needs rebuilding.
• Aids in recreating documents from pre-existing ones –Use existing mappings to create new documents, e.g., if you have a functional document and you previously created a mapping for it, you can reuse the mapping to help develop a new user or training manual by rearranging the bubbles/shapes to see what new chapters are needed and to eliminate what is not needed.
• Aids in documenting a taxonomy or hierarchy of events or occurrences – Use mapping to assist in visualizing what activities are happening and where. You can keep branching off more events as more ideas or facts need to be added.
• Aids in showing related groups – By mapping, you can display the relationship(s) from one grouping to another. When used in smaller groups, you can easily see which items are more important and/or related and which items present a detailed breakdown of facts

Use the methodology of mapping as if it’s a game. Through mapping, you see all the players in a group, as well as how you progress from one area (/feature/process) to another. Unlike a process flow, mapping will not show what if scenarios, but it will show how one process leads to another. In summarizing, mapping is not as detailed as a process flow, but you can make it more detailed if you wish to. It is up to you. What I like about mapping is that you can move the bubbles/boxes/shapes as needed so that you can see different views of said items. You can sort and resort as needed depending on the situation.

If you have used this mapping technique, or something similar, please comment as to its benefits and how you have used it.

Many of our presentations deliver “just the facts.” Budgets, updates, status reports; these are generally full of facts and details. Less frequently, we are called on as leaders to deliver a motivational message. Initiating a new project, pulling together to improve our deliverables, asking people to volunteer or donate money, or even hosting a retirement party; these speeches or presentations by their very nature need to appeal to the emotions of the listeners. Here are some keys to success when you are tasked with giving a motivational talk:

1. Tap into your passion. It is always good to believe what you are saying, but in a motivational talk it is essential. Why is this important? How has it impacted you personally, or your team or your family? What emotions do you have that you could use to fuel your delivery? If you don’t feel much you may not be able to project enough commitment.
2. Focus on what the audience stands to gain from listening and/or taking action. It is easy to get wrapped up in what this means to you, but it is also essential to remember—and stress—what it means to the listener. Put yourself in their shoes while you are creating and while you are delivering your talk. Isn’t it really about them anyway?
3. Have a powerful opening and closing, including a call to action. You must capture their attention at the beginning if you want them to pay attention and be moved. Tell a story, ask a question, or show a very short video clip. Make listeners feel something at the beginning and end. And don’t be afraid to call them to action; what is it you want them to do? Donate money? Work harder? Run a 10K for charity? Don’t hesitate to spell it out.
4. Take advantage of storytelling and human interest aspects. We love stories, especially when the hero faces a big challenge and eventually wins the day. Make sure your story uses names, places and dialog to paint a compelling picture. Build some drama, then bam! A strong close.
5. Use quotes, video clips, music and photos to create atmosphere and emotional pull. Facts and figures are fine, but add in some color and emotion. What have others said? Show, don’t just tell what happened. Capture real faces and people’s actual words. Add some humor if you can.
6. Don’t read your slides; instead, engage the audience in a conversation. Ask them a few well-chosen questions to foster engagement. Break away from slides to add your reactions. Or consider skipping the slides altogether, and tell the story in your own words.
7. Include rational arguments and pertinent facts to balance emotional appeal. Emotions are going to be powerful in a motivational talk, but you still need logic. Don’t go crazy with facts, but choose the ones that make the most impact. Cite reputable sources for your facts. Put just a few facts on your slides. Or consider using an attractive infographic just this once.
8. Script and rehearse thoroughly. Don’t trust this one to luck! Get a small audience to rehearse with you and go over it enough times, start to finish, that you feel it is fluent (but not memorized.) If it is going to be recorded, then rehearse some more so that you feel it is truly polished and you are confident that you can speak from start to finish without a break.
9. Time it carefully so it doesn’t become a ramble. TED Talks are about 18 minutes long, or shorter, so they are generally highly polished gems. Use a timer in each of your rehearsals so you know you are keeping to your time frame. Longer isn’t better in a motivational talk.
10. Get an unbiased second opinion of your logic and persuasion. Remember that small group that was there to help you rehearse? Choose people that will challenge you. Where is your logic weak? Which stories miss the mark? Where are the big moments you want to stress, maybe slow down? Is your opening as tight and impactful as possible? Does your closing hit the mark? And how are you at answering key questions? All these should be part of your rehearsal. Don’t take this feedback personally; just keep polishing that motivational talk until it shines.
Motivational talks may be more demanding, and may take more time, but a great leader learns how to deliver them well.

Consider this your stretch assignment; in the next 30 days do a motivational talk and follow these guidelines to make the most of the opportunity.

Mapping is a technique for organizing and visualizing your ideas. It is a great way to communicate relationships within different ideas, and shows how all these ideas or thoughts are connected. Mapping is used in many areas from writing to creating flow charts to designing an application. Technical writers can use this mapping technique to help them set up their technical communication material. It can also help the writers to organize their projects quicker and easier than through other methods such as outlining.

When a mapping of a document is created, it allows the writer to see and analyze what is relevant and to pinpoint significant thoughts and information that need to be communicated. The mapping technique is similar to bullets within an outline, but more abbreviated. It helps writers filter thoughts and ideas and helps to break them down into the important information that needs to be shared. It is definitely more fun to look at as it is like a playbook for a football game – it’s a diagram, a framework of events, occurrences, etc.

To begin, draw a circle or bubble, and insert a title inside the bubble. The title should represent your main thought. Any ideas or thoughts that follow or relate to that bubble are then noted within another drawn bubble and linked via a connecting line (this is called branching). In other words, mapping will show how one bubble leads to other bubbles or how one thought leads to another thought. These bubbles will represent key factors that need to be written about. What you have just done is similar to mind-mapping which also helps to keep track of ideas.

Any mapping technique will help you to stay organized and to create better documents.

Use mappings:

• To organize documents by mapping documents to other associated documents.
• To help set up a strategy, e.g., to create categories for maintaining order and making sure that the content fits into appropriate categories.
• To see what is missing, needed, and what is good. After gathering all your information, create the mapping which will allow you to see not only a clearer picture but the whole picture (or business process) as well, e.g., of a department or application.
• To show the flow of a document. For example, it will show how one function of an application or activity can lead to another section of the application.
• To help animate or show pictorially processes that would otherwise be too difficult to describe verbally.
• To help show how activities lead to certain processes; it illustrates or describes the logical flow during a process or procedure.

When applying the mapping technique, use lines, colors, and various shapes to indicate the importance of items. Have fun with it. The benefits of mapping will be noted in the next post.

Have you ever used mapping or some organizing technique to help you in creating documents? If so please leave a comment.

James was a skilled high potential leader who spoke with great composure and strength. These skills had served him well in his previous roles, but now he was moving into “large group” presentations where he needed to provide direction rather than details, and motivate more than inform. His goal was to add more appeal, more power and more connection with his listeners.

James decided to add, little by little, the following elements to his speaking:

• More facial expression. Slow down and enjoy the moment with your audience. Relax your face. Allow a smile whenever it is appropriate. The more you engage with your audience (every 7-9 minutes or more often) the more you will relax, and that will show on your face.
• More connection. Keep sending your energy outward with your eye contact, and make a point to really “see” your audience members, one by one.
• More rehearsal. Rehearse the beginning and ending so that you have zero fillers there, and so that you don’t rush through these all-important parts of your presentation.
• More compelling visuals. Start small when moving from bullets to graphical slides by adding graphical elements, images, photos or video clips, but do begin to move in that direction. Consider experimenting with an occasional Prezi instead of PowerPoint, especially when handouts aren’t as critical, or when presenting at an outside event. At the very least these will break up the bullets and look more appealing than the typical technical presentation.
• More polish during Q&A. Start using the neutral bridges as we discussed to restate or reframe the question before answering. Use this even when you don’t plan to answer the question. State the bridge, and then tell why you are going to hold it or take it offline. When you must ask people to hold questions for the end, give them a reason such as “to honor your time” or “to keep us on schedule.”
• Better virtual presentations. Try keeping them even shorter, add some interesting graphics, use polls, engage with interesting but short stories, and put lots of energy into your voice. You might even want to stand up to speak with more energy.

What about you? Which of these could help you become even more effective in your speaking?