Storytelling

One of the most important ways to get your message across in a way that it sticks with the audience is to narrate a story around it. It not just keeps the audience hooked for the whole period of the presentation by keeping boredom at bay, but also helps in striking an emotional connection, which is a primary ingredient for convincing your audience about the idea at hand.

Here are some handy tips on how to be an effective storyteller.

First, identify the message you want to deliver. It’s really important to be clear on the message the story wishes to convey and ensure that the details in your narration are relevant to the core idea. Unfocussed storytelling may lead to branching away into unnecessary details or a tendency for the speaker to win the audience by bringing humor that may not solve any suitable purpose.

It is important to embed your own experiences, expose your vulnerability and tell the audience about how tough it probably was initially for you to embrace the message that you wish to convey, but your experiences taught you how making the effort to adapt towards the change was something that paid off or will pay off and you feel convinced about it.

Confidence and a healthy sense of self worth are essential, but try not to venture into making yourself the star of your own story. Instead, try to make your audience the hero to boost their confidence and motivate them to be accepting of the new idea. Make the story about the people you know and the experiences you gathered over time rather than boasting about your financial position and how your decisions and ideas helped you get there.

 People love rooting for the underdog who eventually emerges victorious. Make your story about your struggles and about the obstacles that pulled you down. Follow that up with telling them how hanging in there during times of distress finally paid off. It will help your team in relating their inhibitions about accepting the message at hand with your story and make them more receptive to the solutions you offer.

Keeping your stories short and simple, and practicing the art of storytelling over time will help you be a better orator and manager.

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References: How to Tell a Great Story

Image Source: www.thegraphicrecorder.com

Delivering Criticism

Empathy has been recognized as one of the most essential qualities of a good leader. Making a genuine effort to recognize reasons why someone could not meet the expected standards at his job instead of attacking his intent in a fit of rage is one way in which it can be practiced and built over time. As a manager is required to review his team members’ work on a regular basis, it is important to start practicing empathy by changing the way we deliver criticism. The following ideas may provide some guidelines in our journey of self help to empathy.

Do not compare an employee to another as it doesn’t help in recognizing the cause of underperformance but acts like a vague standard that could be seemingly impossible to achieve. It breeds negative work relations among employees and may seem like a instinctive display of favoritism on part of the manager.

Recognize and remind your employees about the times when they performed well. It helps them build confidence that they can achieve what the organization or the team expects of them.

Be careful of the words you choose. Giving the other person importance by offering a say in the improvement process is important. Examples of phrases that can be used are, “You may want to consider changing your approach here”, “Good effort; but I see some areas that have room for improvement” and “I noticed a few focus points slipped. Could we work on identifying the reasons for it?”

Choose a right time and place for it so that the conversation is private and does not get cut short.

Be aware of the environment in which they work or live and identify factors beyond their control. This can happen only by maintaining regular communication on both fronts viz. professional as well as personal.

Do not address their intent as it attacks their character and not their performance, leading to the person being reviewed to turn extremely defensive. Remember that the aim is building and not demolition.

Encourage your team-mates to plan their work by letting them set realistic and approachable targets, and then reviewing the results to budget for future performance taking a learning curve factor. Making the employee a part of the solution finding process does not alienate him but makes him feel secure and cared for. 

Conclude by affirming your faith that the other person will consider your feedback in constructive light and end on a positive note.

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References:

http://www.businessinsider.in/How-To-Tell-An-Employee-Theyre-Failing-Without-Making-Them-Cry/articleshow/39443930.cms

http://www.wikihow.com/Criticize-Constructively

http://www.businessweek.com/stories/2008-03-18/how-to-give-and-receive-criticismbusinessweek-business-news-stock-market-and-financial-advice

http://www.bankersonline.com/operations/bg_criticism.html

http://headhearthand.org/blog/2013/02/06/10-characteristics-of-constructive-criticism/

http://zenhabits.net/how-to-give-kind-criticism-and-avoid-being-critical/

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Image Source: dianegottsman.com

Exercising Creativity with Doodles

We’ve all viewed doodling as an act of disrespect to the teacher in a classroom and the Board in a Boardroom meeting. We have also had our stint with doodling if the pen and pad ever bestow on us the pleasure of their presence while we’re on a telephone call. However, a not very recent research provides reason for us to embrace doodling as a tool for creativity and link it not just to memories from mild rebellion in school.

Sunni Brown, the author of Brainstorming: A Playbook for Rule-breakers, Innovators and Changemakers, spoke in her TED talk at Long Beach California about how the general perception of doodling is "to dawdle, to dilly dally, to monkey around, to make meaningless marks, to do something of little value, substance or import or to do nothing." She further states that our culture is so intensely focused on verbal information, that we’re almost blinded to the value of doodling.

Brown states that out of the five ways to absorb information for learning viz. visual, auditory, reading, writing and kinesthetic, at least two should be used together for better retention and recall, or an emotional experience should be linked to any one of the methods. And, doodling causes the learner to engage in all of these learning techniques, with the possibility of an emotional experience.

The Webster’s Dictionary beautifully summarizes Brown’s idea in its definition for the word as “making spontaneous marks to help yourself think”.

A “scientific research” or simply put, a study that appeared in Applied Cognitive Psychology in 2009 suggests that doodling acts as a preemptive measure to stop from losing focus. Thus, people who doodle retain more of what is being discussed than others, who remain more susceptible to distractions. The study was conducted by psychologist Jackie Andrade of the University of Plymouth in England who observed that people who doodled had 29% more retention than those who did not. Andrade concluded that contrary to popular belief, doodling helps quieten the inner dialogue and keeps people from daydreaming. It is said to be helpful in problem-solving too.

In related business news, Nike CEO Mark Parker carries a notebook to every meeting like most of us organized managers. However, his notebook is full of doodles. Parker says that doodling helps him clarify the brainstorming process. The Wall Street Journal backs the claim too and states how a blank page serves as an extended playfield for the brain, allowing people to revise and improve on creative thoughts and ideas.

Doodling is also said to help in expressing emotions that are hard to put into words. Don’t forget to visit the Google homepage on your birthday next time, and you’ll know what I mean. I’m sure you have a fair idea from viewing the search engine giant’s creative doodles all year round. Well, they don’t call Google “smart” for nothing!

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References:

http://www.thestylus.net/news/view.php/415899/Doodling-dilemma-distracting-or-helpful-

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2013-04-23/features/sc-fam-0423-doodle-20130423_1_doodling-jackie-andrade-new-book

http://www.everydaysociologyblog.com/2009/04/common-sense-and-doodling.html

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/02/090226210039.htm

http://content.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1882127,00.html

http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80beats/2009/02/27/bad-news-for-teachers-research-says-doodling-boosts-concentration/#.U9vL3-OSznQ

http://www.education.com/magazine/article/power-of-doodling/

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/arts-and-health/201401/doodling-your-way-more-mindful-life

http://www.businessinsider.in/Nike-CEO-Mark-Parkers-Success-Secret-Doodling/articleshow/39435340.cms

https://www.ted.com/talks/sunni_brown

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