Engineered to Speak

"A Note From Series Editor xi About the Authors xiii Acknowledgments xv PART I: RECOGNIZE COMMUNICATION OPPORTUNITIES 1 WHY THIS BOOK? 3 1.1 Why Now? 5 1.2 Managers 6 1.3 Engineers and Technical Professionals 6 1.4 Students 7 1.5 Embracing Your Power as a Presenter 7 1.6 How to Use this Book 8 1.7 Calls to Action 9 2 DEMYSTIFYING COMMUNICATION AND ENGINEERING 11 2.1 The Place to Start 12 2.2 Rejecting Stereotypes 13 2.3 Debunking the Myths 14 2.3.1 Myth 1: Good Communicators Are Not Anxious 14 2.3.2 Myth 2: Some People Are Naturally Great Speakers 15 2.3.3 Myth 3: Winging it Works 16 2.3.4 Myth 4: Need to Be the ""Sage on Stage"" 16 2.3.5 Myth 5: Data Is Supreme 17 2.3.6 Myth 6: Time - I Must Fill It 17 2.3.7 Myth 7: Extroverts Make Better Speakers 18 2.4 Calls to Action 18 2.4.1 Communication Assessment Questions 18 2.4.2 Level of Anxiety in Public Speaking Situations 19 2.4.3 Putting Knowledge into Practice 20 3 RECOGNIZING COMMUNICATION OPPORTUNITIES 23 3.1 The Sphere of Influence Model 24 3.1.1 Internal Interactions Quadrant 25 3.1.2 Leadership Interactions Quadrant 26 3.1.3 External Interactions Quadrant 27 3.1.4 Personal Interactions Quadrant 28 3.2 Communicating to Connect 28 3.3 Listening Hang]Ups 29 3.4 Active Listening Tactics 31 3.4.1 Paraphrasing 31 3.4.2 Priming 31 3.4.3 Expressing Understanding 31 3.4.4 Use of Nonverbal Body Language 32 3.5 Putting it into Practice 32 3.6 Calls to Action 34 4 ASKING THE QUESTIONS 37 4.1 Asking the Questions 38 4.1.1 Who Am I Speaking to? 39 4.1.2 What Is the Purpose of My Presentation? 39 4.1.3 What Is the Desired Outcome? 39 4.1.4 What Information Matters Most? 40 4.1.5 Why Should they Care? 40 4.1.6 When Am I Speaking? 41 4.1.7 Where Am I Speaking? 41 4.1.8 How Should I Present? 41 4.2 Analyzing your Audience 42 4.2.1 Captive Verses Voluntary Audiences 42 4.2.2 Knowledge 43 4.2.3 Technical and Nontechnical Audiences 43 4.2.4 The Jargon Barrier 44 4.3 Competing for Attention 45 4.4 Opposing Viewpoints 46 4.5 Calls to Action 47 PART II: APPLY THE PROCESS 5 ORGANIZING AND OUTLINING YOUR PRESENTATION 51 5.1 Benefits of Organization – Decreasing Uncertainty 52 5.2 Engineering the Outline 52 5.2.1 Informational Organizational Pattern 53 5.2.2 Put it into Practice 54 5.2.3 Persuasive Organizational Patterns 56 5.2.4 Transitions 57 5.3 How to Begin your Presentation 57 5.4 How to Close your Presentation 59 5.5 Preparation Outline 60 5.6 Calls to Action 60 6 PERFECTING YOUR PITCH 63 6.1 Lead with Meaning 64 6.2 Start with an Essential Truth 64 6.3 Use Evidence to Tell your Story 65 6.3.1 Building Compelling Narratives 66 6.3.2 Applying the STAR Method 66 6.4 End with the Call to Action 68 6.5 Calls to Action 69 7 VISUALIZING YOUR MESSAGE 71 7.1 Understanding why Visuals Work 73 7.2 Designing your Slides 75 7.2.1 Storyboard Design 76 7.2.2 Keep it Simple 77 7.3 Handling Handouts 79 7.4 Physical Objects/Demonstrations 81 7.5 Real]time Writing and Drawing 82 7.5.1 The White Board 82 7.5.2 The Flip Chart 83 7.6 Calls to Action 85 8 CREATING CHARISMA 87 8.1 Dynamic Delivery 88 8.2 The Voice 88 8.2.1 Tone 89 8.2.2 Volume 90 8.2.3 Rate 91 8.2.4 Pausing 91 8.2.5 Articulation 92 8.3 Body Language 94 8.3.1 Eye Contact 94 8.3.2 Gestures 95 8.3.3 Stance 96 8.3.4 Using the Space 97 8.4 Calls to Action 98 PART III: COMMIT TO IMPROVEMENT 9 PRACTICE, FEEDBACK, AND ANXIETY REDUCTION TECHNIQUES 103 9.1 Practice Makes Better, not Perfect 104 9.2 Giving and Receiving Feedback 107 9.2.1 Requesting Real Feedback 108 9.2.2 Providing Feedback to Others 110 9.3 Managing Anxiety Through Uncertainty Reduction Tactics 112 9.3.1 Get Outside of Yourself 112 9.3.2 The Audience Is There for You 113 9.4 Fielding Questions 114 9.4.1 Addressing Opposing Viewpoints 115 9.4.2 Stumped? 115 9.5 Calls to Action 116 10 PROFESSIONALLY SPEAKING 119 10.1 Embracing your Influence 120 10.2 Taking the Lead 121 10.3 Being Part of the Strategy 122 10.4 Breaking out of Bad 123 10.5 Reading the Signs 124 10.6 Listening 126 10.7 Finishing Strong 127 APPENDICES 129 Appendix A: Self-Assessments from Chapter 1 130 Appendix B: Sphere of Influence/Active listening from Chapter 3 132 Appendix C: Asking the Questions from Chapter 4 135 Appendix D: Organizing and Outline Your Presentation from Chapter 5 136 Appendix E: Perfecting Your Pitch from Chapter 6 141 Appendix F: Visualizing Your Message from Chapter 7 144 Appendix G: Creating Charisma from Chapter 8 147 Appendix H: Practice, Feedback, and Anxiety Reduction Techniques from Chapter 9 150 Appendix I: Ten Session Communication Curriculum 153 Index 169"