TURNING YOUR MISTAKES INTO DRAMA...AND SORTING THEM

As humans, we're all used to making mistakes. And sometimes individuals and teams make the same mistakes over and over. This happens all too often in the field of communications. And it's the repetition of these mistakes that is something which can be overcome....providing you recognise the mistake in the first place. This applies whether it's saying something stupid or unrealistic in conversations with prospects, customers or staff. Or whether its saying something badly thought out in off-the-cuff answers in front of a large audience or a bank of TV cameras at a press conference. As an international speaker in the communications field, part of my job is to identify the mistakes that organisations continually make - and show them how they can fix things. I now have a new, dramatic way of doing this. It involves working on stage with my colleague in the Professional Speaking Association, Nicci Roscoe, who helps people create a fabulous impact in their business and their life.   In the vital liaison with clients which takes place before our performances, we seek to identify key communication sins that organisations repeatedly commit. One of them can be not living up to what they say - and then digging themselves into a bigger hole when held to account. So in a keynote with our professional speaking colleagues in London, Nicci and I sought to demonstrate how this can happen in a worst-case scenario. We chose to do this on an issue close to many people's hearts.....eating more chocolate than they're prepared to admit. But the sin of saying one thing and doing another could apply to issues even more serious than this.

HOW TWO SPEAKERS CAN SAY MORE THAN ONE One of the things which has drawn us towards the idea of having two speakers on the platform together is that you can effectively give more value to the audience. It's not just a matter of having two perspectives instead of one - or stories from two careers instead of one. The really big advantage is that there's an extra dimension for the audience - as the speakers can make comments to each other as well as talking directly to those listening....and by doing so say and demonstrate more. This is one of the reasons why double acts have been popular in comedy duos in particular - as there's interplay directly between the two individuals as well as with the audience. So while Nicci and I, as professional speakers rather than comedians, are seeking to impart serious messages about boosting communications, confidence and impact - there is also more scope for more variety, humour and drama as things unfold. And when it comes to demonstrating good and bad practice on stage, having two of us can make things better for the audience in one other respect. Typically we like to get audience members out on stage to show how they normally conduct challenging communication exercises - such as that difficult career interview or that tough conversation with a customer. We can then show how things can be made a whole lot better by overhauling the content, structure and delivery style. But with two of us on stage we can demonstrate good and bad communications practice in front of the audience ourselves. Then - when the timeslot allows - we can invite audience participation. This means that those courageous souls from the audience - sometimes known loosely as "volunteers" - are less likely to plunge into the pitfalls because we've already demonstrated how to spot them and how to avoid them. There's more on our double act at:  http://www.michaeldoddcommunications.com/Making_Your_Team_Look,_Sound_and_Feel_Great.php And at: www.nicciroscoe.com/ultimate-keynote/ WHO ARE YOUR FAVOURITE DUOS? Meanwhile we've been making a study of some of the famous double acts to see how the participants manage to create that extra dimension. From Laurel and Hardy to Morcambe and Wise, and from Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis to French and Saunders, it's fascinating to observe how the duos create an extra layers of meaning for the audience.  Double Act Greats: Eric Morcambe and Ernie Wise We're interested to hear your favorites - particularly if you can send the Youtube link of the best example of their work. We can then look over how they do what they do. When selecting my favourite, I have to admit to a bit of Antipodean bias by going for the New Zealand twosome known as "The Flight of the Conchords" who I first saw on a boat on The Thames. Flight of the Conchords Bret McKenzie and Jermaine Clement get many of their laughs by their understated Kiwi-style putdowns when they're talking with each other. I particularly like this example (up until the song which is not as good as the preceding dialogue) where Bret is gently ridiculed by Jermaine because of his relationship with an imaginary woman and their imaginary children.  Flight of the Conchords - Issues (Think About It) Nicci and I look forward to laughing at, and hopefully learning from, your double act nominations. The best will be shared in a future exciting e-newsletter - which should keep us all laughing. PROGRAMMES TO TRANSFORM COMMUNICATIONS SKILLS There are various ways to take the communications skills of you and your team to a higher level. Where possible, doing a programme of sessions is a great way to improve over a range of areas - and to ensure that there's enough time and practice to fully embed the learning. Increasingly I'm doing some of these sessions over Skype - to supplement the giant leaps forward that participants make at conferences and master classes. It is always best to have the initial learning face-to-face where possible. There's no substitute to totally getting to know people by being in the same place with them - and this is particularly important when working on aspects of communication such as body language and eye contact.    But as a way of ensuring that the learning sticks and is built upon, I'm finding that Skype follow-ups have a lot to offer. In a Skype and telephone follow-up session I conducted on behalf of Pulford Global between the UK and Africa on Monday, a delightful testimonial was sent through afterwards by budding media star, Josefa. The session had been part of a series on media interview skills, which included a conference session I ran at the Dead Sea in Jordan last month. Then in her message after the Skype follow-up session, Josefa generously concluded with the words: "Had I been confronted with some of your mock interview questions before this training, I'd have gone crazy." So for some, communications training face-to-face and through cyberspace can clearly help you stay sane. There's more on the communications-boosting programmes at:  www.michaeldoddcommunications.com/transform_communication_skills.php Keep smiling - and keep sane,    Michael