How To Deliver Better Presentations At Work – With Michael Port

This Episode's Focus On Strengths

Michael Port joins us to help you lead through your strengths in all of the performances in your corporate life. You'll find this especially useful if you give presentations, if you're interviewing for a job, or if you're delivering a speech in front of others.

What You'll Learn

You'll see how working with a performer's mindset will boost your career. Michael shares wisdom on:

• How doing everything yourself will keep you from progressing in your career.
• Why you should never say "I'm happy to be here" or "let's get started" before you begin a talk.
• Connecting with the audience before the presentation to change the dynamic in a way that makes them want to have your back.
• Why natural talents without your investment and training...well, they're not doing you any good.
• How to be self-expressed, yet also able to flow from situation to situation with fluency. And why being a chameleon is actually being authentic.
• Learn why winging it in your next corporate presentation is a terrible idea, even if you're naturally gifted at thinking on your feet.
• How Stealing The Show is different from upstaging a teammate. Instead, Stealing The Show is making the whole show better for all of the performers involved.
• If you have jitters before speaking in front of people, he gives you some tips for focusing more on your audience rather than focusing on yourself and your anxiety. It actually takes the pressure off of you and allows you to get out of your own way.
• For job interviews, he offers you strategies for knowing what role the interviewer is trying to cast. And you'll even learn how to position yourself for a role you're less qualified in because you can contrast the "old way" of doing that role with the "new way" that puts you in a favorable light.
• Start your presentation-preparation with the audience in mind--to show them you know the world they're living in.
• How not asking for help will make you a mediocre performer.
• Secrets that usually only actors know--that they're not pretending to feel what you see on screen. They're actually feeling it. And that's what you need to do when you're presenting.
• Why "yes, and" lessons from improv will boost your career.
• And why you don't want to be the devil's advocate at work.

Resource of the Episode

You'll read Steal The Show and you'll want more of Michael. It's a bit addicting. So here are his other books:

• Book Yourself Solid
• Book Yourself Solid Illustrated (this is my favorite!)
• Beyond Booked Solid
• The Think Big Manifesto
• The Contrarian Effect: Why It Pays (Big) To Take Typical Sales Advice and Do The Opposite

Listen Links