Going Off Script: The Art and Craft of Startling Presentation-Performance – Part I

In a Plenary, the Stress Doc analyzes going from presentation to unanticipated improvisation with startling effect.  Grasp and wield “off script” concepts, tools, and techniques for more “surprising” and engaging communication and powerfully inspiring presentations – whether in a conference hall, boardroom, and classroom, as well as in a team meeting, on the work floor, or during a family meeting in the living room.

Going Off Script:  The Art and Craft of Startling Presentation-Performance by Analyzing an Improvised “Power Struggle” Exercise – Part I

Last week, reviewing a Power Point Slide with a group of Agency Executives, Community Advocates, Allied and Mental Health Professionals, Educators, etc., a voice from my subconscious cried, “Just do it!”  (And I’m more a New Balance, cross-trainer kind of guy.)  This subterranean echo occurred during my “Practice Safe Stress” Plenary Speaker presentation at the Virginia/Statewide Refugee Mental Health Summit.  At the time, I was highlighting key items from the “Heart of Letting Go,” such as “Necessary/Universal Life Stage Loss” (death, breakup, downsizing, illness, mind-body mobility, moving away, etc.) and “Existential Loss” (when your sense of identity and meaning in/of the world is disrupted or turned upside down; of course, there may be overlap among loss categories).  Waxing poetic with “Power Struggles” (issues of loss of control and/or pride, status/turf wars, anger, letting go, etc.), nonetheless, my ambient radar was operational.  Picking up on body language, eye focus, and quiet in the room, I sensed the audience was captivated by the “loss and power” subject.  And suddenly a Nike moment:  “I’m going off script.  Let’s try an exercise.”

The Power of Surprise

The atmosphere definitely shifts; there’s a restlessness, an uncertainty:  “Where is this guy taking us?”  I quickly have the group break into forty pairs:  “Find an eyeball partner.”  And for this mini role-play, the quintessential power struggle:  one person declares, “You can’t make me!”  The other counters with, “Oh yes I can!”  And both are thinking about someone “who is or has been a pain in your butt!”  (Hopefully, someone other than their exercise counterpart. ;-)  After a brief, back and forth verbal volley, each participant is instructed to “Say what you’d really like to say” to the antagonist inside your head.  I won’t go into all the details; suffice to say, the room exploded with a mix of genuine-playful aggression, focused interaction, exaggerated body language and gesturing, (I don’t recall if anyone, in this audience leapt from their chair), verbal buzzing, as well as an uproar of laughter.  The room was alive with engagement electricity!

And, apparently, this motivational juice had staying power.  As Dr. Eva Stitt, Summit Coordinator, noted in her post-conference testimonial:  Thank you so much for inspiring our participants with your wit and humor as well as helping set the tone for the rest of the day.

Drive Time Reflection and…Aha!

The drive home from Richmond, VA, enabled the reliving of the sudden shift from poignant presentation to playfully out-rage-ous group exercise/interpersonal confrontation.  While this “power struggle” exercise usually charges an audience, there was something about its surprise introduction and energy-focus transition that amplified “the sound and the fury”…and the FUN!  It was as if we were all on a vital edge.

And then, thirty-six hours later, the real epiphany hit…waking me in the middle of the night:  the “off script” maneuvering was not really unprecedented; for me, a strategy of surprise is hardly random.  While this time spontaneous, mentally scanning the years, Stress Doc ™ “mirth and madness” programs have always featured “surprising” if not purposefully jolting elements, invariably spicing “motivation and method.”

Six Stage-Three Variable Analysis of “Surprising” Dynamic

Let’s examine this surprise dynamic:  as a speaker or workshop leader there are numerous ways to be “surprisingly provocative” and “provocatively surprising,” that is, from the French, provocare, to awaken the mind and arouse curiosity.  Roget’s Thesaurus lists three main verb synonyms for “surprise”:  astonish, take by surprise, and attack, as in surprise attack.  Disrupting expectations and mindsets is a good base for productively shaking-up a learning setting and heightening audience attention.  Not surprisingly, defying expectations while dramatically intensifying (“on the edge of their seat”) anticipation impacts individual curiosity and concentration as well as group energy, engagement, and process.

To illustrate this “unpredictable” or “bolt from the blue” force-field, consider this breakdown of the ”Presentation to Improvisation Transition,” that is, from highlighting a PPt Slide to suddenly enacting the “You Can’t Make Me” Power Struggle Exercise.  More specifically, this analysis will examine “Six Presentation-Performance Transition Stages.”  These are:

1.  Speaker as Expert, Audience as Listeners

2.  Speaker as Observer, Audience as Learners

3.  Speaker as Disrupter, Audience as Uncertain Partners

4.  Speaker as Director, Audience as Actors

5.  Speaker as Facilitator/Debriefer, Audience as More Cohesive Collective

6.  Speaker as Role Model, Audience as Future Adaptors.

And each of the “Six Stages” will be illuminated by examining three variables:  “Atmosphere & Energy,” “Role/Status Positioning,” and “Get FIT – FUN-Interactive-Thought-provoking – Group Process.”

Transition Shift:  Going from Presentation to Improvisation

Highlighting key items from the “Heart of Letting Go” Power Point Slide, especially the power struggle item, I sensed the audience was captivated.  Trusting that inner voice and gut…I shook up the speaker-audience energy, roles and relationships, along with the group process.  Here is the Six Stage-Three Variable Analysis of the Evolving – “Before-During-After” – Presentation-Performance Dynamics:

1.  Speaker as Expert, Audience as Listeners

a.  Atmosphere & Energy:  quiet attentiveness; audience had been previously engaged in opening group exercise; we are presently

b.  Role/Status Positioning:  during this stage of the program, I am the Expert, the audience are Learners; may be perceived as a Leader-Follower or Superior-Subordinate relationship

c.  Get FIT – FUN-Interactive-Thought-provoking – Group Process:  I am the Initiator, projecting ideas and energy to the Audience, who (at least theoretically) are Receivers; while people seem engaged, this can be one-way, Active-Passive information exchange

2.  Speaker as Observer, Audience as Learners

a.  Atmosphere & Energy:  audience’s rapt silence begins to speak volumes; we are at a “turning point”; when people are on the edge of their seat, it’s easier to move them in a new direction.

b.  Role/Status Positioning:  scanning the room, aware of the undivided attention; I’m more keenly absorbing audience signs – alert body language, eye focus, and quiet in the room.

c.  Get FIT Group Process:  now an internal voice gives me a sign; I need to stop talking, to shift away from Lecture-Educator to the role of Interactive Facilitator; I quickly announce, “I’m going off script.”

3.  Speaker as Disrupter, Audience as Uncertain Partners

a.  Atmosphere & Energy:  catching folks off-guard, the announcement stirs up the room, breaking the one-way, Expert-Listener flow; amidst the group murmuring, the unspoken question:  “what’s happening now?” or “where is he taking us?”; I move to a more central place in the conference room, outside the conventional podium “lecture space”; the pending Passive/Receptive to Active/Interactive shift is already impacting the audience’s sense of anticipation and control.

b.  Role/Status Positioning:  unease is also generated because the audience is in limbo, not sure what roles and rules, instructions and expected behaviors will follow; some may feel disoriented.

c.  Get FIT Group Process:  during this undefined transition, it’s not just physical position that undergoes change, but speaker role as well, from Educator to Leader; in addition, suddenly stopping the lecture may not only be confusing, some will feel frustrated by the rupture or lack of closure; in the room, there’s often an increased sense of vulnerability that, paradoxically, heightens both unease as well as excitement; the question of group trust in the leader will be put to the test.

4.  Speaker as Director, Audience as Actors

a.  Atmosphere & Energy:  once announcing the looming power struggle exercise, the buzz gets even louder; and when I say, “find an eyeball partner,” and explain the intra- and interpersonal parameters (“thinking of someone who’s a pain in your butt,” and then instruct the pairs to aggressively or passive-aggressively declare (or whine/tease), “You can’t make me!” (Person A) or “Oh yes I can!” (Person B)...well, the room is getting ready to “act out”; now, decibel levels are skyrocketing with buzzing and laughter (nervous and otherwise), especially when after a brief standard volley, folks are encouraged to “say what you’d really like to say”; also, recalling that “pain in the butt” and the related painful or conflicted interaction just may ratchet up a role-player’s performance angst:  do I want to release all this pent up emotion?; how much of me should I reveal?; in this public setting, can I manage venting or will I lose control?

b.  Role/Status Positioning:  clearly there’s been a profound shift:  instead of all eyes on me, they are focused on their counterpart; each audience member has been turned into a symbolic adversary; and the individual’s mental space has been purposely segmented into past (pain) and present (role-play partner).

c.  Get FIT Group Process:  and once the starting gun sounds, very quickly “the room is alive with the sound of manic!”  However, there is no panic.  Structured surprise (as in an unexpected group exercise) increases uncertainty.  However, the same medium, through clear guidelines and rules, (e.g., “no getting out of your chair”) as well as brief, supervised timelines, also provides for improvisational relief and release.  Each player has the opportunity to step outside of conventional roles and relationships, take on a provocative personae, and express frustration and assert control in a purposefully-playfully absurd manner.  And within each role-play dyad, the risky yet safe interaction along with the informal, post-power struggle discussion, frequently leads to some intimate sharing and trust-building.

5.  Speaker as Facilitator/Debriefer, Audience as More Cohesive Collective

a.  Atmosphere & Energy:  now, through the exercise, all in the room have shared a common experience; the aftermath of playful-aggressive energy, venting and laughter is palpable; in fact, some don’t want the exercise to end, battling through the call for closure.

b.  Role/Status Positioning:  refocusing the group by acknowledging the heightened energy in the room, returning to Lecture as Debrief-mode, I now underscore key learning points:  1) a person can quickly get into a “power struggle” framework, yet not have an ego so wrapped up in winning, 2) though a game, the back and forth verbal volleying often feels somewhat real:  we don’t like people telling us what to do; in addition, many carry around past hurts or frustration with others, 3) it feels good to let out these feelings in a safe setting and in an aggressive yet playful and measured manner, 4) such an exchange can facilitate some post-power struggle “feedback” intimacy, and 5) finally, the response to the exercise was pretty universal despite our many shades of diversity.

c.  Get FIT Group Process:  after hitting the highlights, another decision must be made…and quickly:  the “You Can’t Make Me” exercise lends itself to the presentation of a number of conceptual and applied tools and techniques for disarming “power struggles.”  My favorite, for example, asking trust-building “good questions.”  But, alas, I inform the group that we’ll have to get together another time to explore further the communication-conflict skills arena.  However, this transition is a great segue into the next interactive experience, the “Heart of Letting Go” Exercise.  And this upcoming exercise is more poignant than playful, asking people to reflect upon and share how issues of loss, change, and letting go impact their work with refugee clients.  Clearly, we continue to climb an exercise ladder that progressively increases attendee vulnerability, risk of disclosure, as well as social-collegial intimacy.

6.  Speaker as Role Model, Audience as Future Adaptors

a.  Atmosphere & Energy:  if the power struggle exercise was surprising, my closing number can only be called shocking.  The whole program, I suspect, but especially my out-rage-ous close, performing a “Shrink Rap” ™ (more in Part II), motivated a young woman to approach during a break.  She shared her way of being outrageous and startling people:  normally serious and somewhat shy, she has taken up skydiving!  Friends and colleagues are amazed.

b.  Role/Status Positioning:  I believe numbers in the room viewed me as a role model, both for my style – insightful yet playful, outrageous, high energy orchestra leader, helping others bring out their best music – and substance – conceptual and interactive tools and techniques, especially on stress resilience, burnout, and loss/letting go.  Folks seemed to need and want an infusion of ideas and inspiration from a “Motivational Psychohumorist” ™, a leader also facilitating peer-to-peer sharing and energy transfusion.  Again, as Dr. Eva Stitt, Summit Coordinator, noted in her afore-referenced post-conference testimonial:  I believe you have felt their response – how much they enjoyed it, as well as how much they need it, so they can effectively carry out their job of helping others.  The strength of our initiative depends on these people who champion our cause for refugee mental health.

c.  Get FIT Group Process:  my goal is to educate and entertain, perhaps to inspire; to provide an experience that can excite and fortify program attendees and help them share our collective energy and enlightenment with others – from clients to colleagues.  Consider these two testimonials:  one from the Refugee Summit and the other from the 2015 University of Maryland's Diabetes/Endocrinology Center's Managing Diabetes Conference:

Jul 9, 2016

HI Mark,

It was a pleasure spending time with you and I really appreciated your presentation. I will discuss your presentation with our trainers.  I will keep in touch,

Deborah  C. Moore, RN, BSN, MPH
Nurse Manager II, Senior
deborah.moore@vdh.virginia.gov

Hampton-Peninsula Health Department
3130 Victoria  Blvd., Hampton, VA, 23661
Office (757)315-3779
416 J Clyde Morris Blvd., Newport News, VA 23601
Office (757)594-7903

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

University of Maryland's Diabetes/Endocrinology Center's Managing Diabetes Conference; 100 + Allied Health Professionals; 1.5 hrs

Practice Safe Stress:  Stress and Change Resilience through Humor

Mar 12, 2015

Hi Mark-

Great presentation. It really inspired me to improve my own presentation skills and brainstorm with my coworkers how to make our diabetes education classes more fun.

Best Regards,

Alison Massye

Alison Massey MS, RD, LDN, CDE
Director of Diabetes Education, Mercy Medical Center
250 N. Calvert Street Baltimore, MD 21202
amassey@mdmercy.com
P: (410) 659-2833

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Closing Concept:  From Aha to Haha!

Finally, there is a micro-surprising dynamic within the macro-surprising transition and process.  And that dynamic mix involves humor and wit.  As Mark Twain, acclaimed author and humorist, noted:  Wit is the sudden marriage of ideas which before their union were not perceived to have any relation.  And according to William Shakespeare, the master of verbal presentation and performance:  Brevity is the soul of wit.  One of the staples for evoking laughter is surprising an audience, quickly defying their expectations, tickling them in a slightly sensitive area, i.e., before they can block the punchline, having them acknowledge, while still saving face, their own flaws and foibles.  Or poking fun at myself by using self-effacing humor, e.g., the old saw, Vanity thy name is Gorkin!  Okay, as a “healing humorist” I also may generically poke surprising fun at unnamed others.  For example, one of my brain-body stress symptoms is the “jaw-dropping” TMJ:  Too Many Jerks!  Remember, people are less defensive and more open to a serious message gift-wrapped with humor.

On a personal note, one of the best compliments as a speaker was from a Training/OD colleague who stated:  Mark, I’ve never known anyone who can take an audience from the serious to the humorous and then quickly take them back again.  So learn to ebb and flow with that surprising comic-tragic connection.  All I can say is, Amen and Women, to that!

Closing Summary

Part I of “Going Off Script” employs a six stage-three variable analysis of the evolving – “before-during-after” – dynamics of a Plenary Speaking Program.  More specifically, an outline format highlights how the Doc transitions himself and an audience, shifting from straight forward presentation to unanticipated improvisation…with startling effect.  Through the three-pronged lens of “Atmosphere & Energy,” “Role/Status Positioning,” and “Get FIT Group Process,” the essay illustrates “off script” concepts, communication tools, and interactive techniques for more “surprising” – on the edge engaging and powerful – presentations.

While this essay examined one Interactive Exercise, Part II of “Going Off Script” will capture a number of Stress Doc exercises and other communicational tools and techniques for startling, awakening, and motivating an audience.  Encourage a large community or small group to interact with you and each other.  Playfully yet purposefully broaden a transformation-inspiration horizon by shaking up the presentation landscape and mindscape.

Mark Gorkin, MSW, LICSW, "The Stress Doc" ™, a nationally acclaimed speaker, writer, and "Psychohumorist" ™, is a founding partner and Stress Resilience and Trauma Debriefing Consultant for the Nepali Diaspora Behavioral Health & Wellness Initiative.  A former Stress and Violence Prevention Consultant for the US Postal Service, he has led numerous Pre-Deployment Stress Resilience-Humor-Team Building Retreats for the US Army.  The Doc is the author of Practice Safe Stress, The Four Faces of Anger, and Preserving Human Touch in a High Tech World.  Mark’s award-winning, USA Today Online "HotSite" – www.stressdoc.com – was called a "workplace resource" by National Public Radio (NPR).  For more info, email:  stressdoc@aol.com.

Capturing and Captivating No Matter the Setting: Mastering the Interview Process and Training the Trainer

Two pieces on how to capture and captivate, whether during an interview (an essay) or as a public speaker-trainer-educator (a program blurb-objectives on Training the Trainer and Educator: Informing and Inspiring through Passion Power & Interactive Humor).  Enjoy!

Mastering the Interview Process: Turning (and Dancing On) the Tables

After reading a colleague’s essay on how companies can better manage an interview process, my Janusian nature, quick to discern both (or multiple) sides of an issue, fairly jumped out of its skin, declaring, Au contraire!  How about the interviewee strategically, if not outrageously, stealing the evaluative show?  (FYI, Janus, is the double-profiled ancient Roman God.  The god of beginnings and endings, leavings and returns, gazes left and right simultaneously.)

Actually, I had been quietly percolating on this subject ever since an HR Professional at a Washington, DC Public Charter School recently commented on my unique approach to being interviewed.  Meeting with her, her boss, and the COO of the school, my mission was clear:  to convince the troika that the “Stress Doc” ™ was the best person to deliver a training workshop on “Managing Conflict” to school administrators, faculty, and staff.

My method, apparently, was compelling.  Actually, the HR Pro (who I’ll call Z), in a post-workshop chat, acknowledged that my unexpected methodology was outside her realm of “interview” experience, and certainly made an impression.  Let me illustrate.  Almost from the outset, not letting the encounter settle into a predictable Q & A rhythm, I suddenly turned the interview into an interactive performance-learning lab.  More specifically, I challenged them to play my “Four Faces of Anger” Game.  Basically, it was a word association to constructive or destructive, purposeful or spontaneous expressions of anger.  Instantaneously, the room became alive with energy and expectation:  I definitely had their attention and all were wondering where this quirky fellow was taking them?  This instructor-expert was challenging his “students” to think on their feet.  (I was no longer the only person in the room being evaluated.)  And no matter the responses, some encouraging if not affirming feedback was provided…The first rule of “how to make friends and influence people.”

And to prove I was not a one-hit wonder, we jumped into a second exercise.  I had the HR folks pair off:  one had just given an important presentation at a board meeting; her colleague was to give her feedback.  In the instructions, it appears that the feedback will be balanced; the reality is quite different.  Her colleague, reading from a sheet that I quickly scripted, the presenter hears, Wow, you fumbled the data.  I thought you said you prepared!  While the first exercise mostly challenged the head, this one definitely massages both head and heart!

And finally, the COO’s use of the word “compromise” as a conflict-resolution ideal became my cue for introducing the Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Styles Inventory.  The five styles are based on the “high” or “low” degree of an individual’s “Assertiveness” and “Cooperativeness:  Competition-Avoidance-Accommodation-Collaboration-(and in the middle)-Compromise.  While each style has positive and negative aspects, I differentiated my ideal – “Collaboration” (High Assertiveness and High Cooperativeness) – from middle-of-the-road “compromise.”  Compromise is quick and dirty, a convenient agreement.  Collaboration takes time and energy as you uncover hidden ideas, agendas, and emotions, allowing difference and diversity to spark short-term conflict for evolving creativity.  Another potential payoff:  an opportunity for real buy-in and to forge productive partnerships.

And, in fact, during the interview process we had generated some synergy:  not only had the individual pieces/people created a whole greater than the sum of the parts, but magically the parts had begun building a partnership.

Actually, there were two final steps – first, homework was assigned:  I would write-up a program draft with objectives based on our discussion, and the interview team would solicit staff to further shape our workshop focus.  Then I ended the meeting giving all a small sample of my pioneering efforts in the field of psychologically humorous rap music…Shrink Rap ™ Productions!

Key Structures and Strategies for Capturing the Interview Process

1.  Quickly take charge of the interview process

2.  Initially, don’t be afraid to puzzle your audience, or to be a bit edgy or quirky

3.  Actively engage interviewers in some structured (even if spontaneous) learning exercise

4.  Turn the interview process into your planned and improvisational stage

5.  Make sure the “audience” is part of the show

6. While an educational and entertaining experience, give the interviewers a chance to “show off’ their knowledge and expertise; as Ernest Becker, acclaimed American philosopher, observed, The most important human urge is the desire to feel important!

7. Make it easy for the interviewer or interview team to imagine you as a dynamic performer-contributor in whatever your future role-assignment with the company or organization: Stand Out, Don’t Just Be Outstanding!

8.  Assign post-meeting tasks that encourage follow-up

9.  Between the interview and your “start date,” share and discuss new or evolving information and ideas

10.  And finish with a memorable close, one that has both pith and punch, that is, the Stress Doc’s “New KISS” – Keep It Short & Smart!

Oh yes, a little “lagniappe”:  The process generates real synergy – the individuals begin working as a motivated and coordinated team!

Some tips to help you Practice Safe Stress before, during, and after an interview.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Training the Trainer and Educator: Informing and Inspiring through Passion Power and Interactive Humor

In a TNT – Time-Numbers-Technology – Driven and Distracted World, getting and holding people’s attention is critical.  Capturing your audience is necessary, but still not sufficient.  As noted by a Diversity Consultant and Program Coordinator for Human Resources of Palm Beach County, FL, the local SHRM affiliate:  (The Stress Doc ™) has a way of captivating the audience and makes them want to hear more…a must hear!

When information inspires and inspiring methods inform, then the Director of Diabetes Education, Mercy Medical Center/Baltimore, acclaims:  Great presentation. It really inspired me to improve my own presentation skills and brainstorm with my coworkers how to make our diabetes education classes more fun.

Have no fear…Mark Gorkin, LICSW, the Stress Doc, acclaimed speaker, author, educator, therapist, Stress Resilience Consultant, and “Psychohumorist” ™ is here to share his experience and expertise.  Help your folks “Get FIT” – through FUN-Interactive-Thought-provoking – speaking, training, and workshop methods and programs.  Enable your organization or company trainers and educators to be informative and inspiring…and to share the wealth of stimulating and strategic ideas and exercises with potential learners.  Actually, the Doc’s “how to” blend of mind-jolting concepts and dynamically engaging small-large group exercises is for anyone that wants to be a more compelling leader-communicator.  Or for a leader that wants to build more productive, better communicating and coordinating teams.

Whether in a one-hour keynote or a two-day (or more) intensive, let the Doc boost your team or your company to the creative learning-performing edge!

Objectives:  Dynamic Dozen

[This menu can be adapted to your specific time logistics and learning needs]

1.  The Five “A”s of Arousing Communication: Attention-Anticipation-Animation-Activation-Actualization

2.  Opening Techniques for Quickly Capturing an Audience’s Attention…and Wondering, “What’s Next?”

3.  Harnessing the Power of “Self” and Dealing with Group Process to Hold, Captivate, and to Build Trust

4.  Imparting Concepts (& Power Points) with the Stress Doc’s “New KISS”:  Keep It Short & Smart!

5.  Turning Key Concepts into Playful and Powerful Group Exercises for Applied-Integrated Learning

6.  Discover the “Stress Doc’s 5 ‘P’s of Passion Power”:   Generating a More Compelling Presence & Creative Essence – being Purposeful-Provocative-Passionate-Playful-Philosophical

7.  Using Healing & Harmonizing (esp. Self-Effacing) Humor without being a Stand-up Comic

8.  Helping the Audience Generate Its Own Playful and Powerful Sharing Experiences:  The Art of Storytelling and Group Drawing; Transforming Angst and Aggression into Artful Absurdity

9.  Fielding Difficult Audience Questions; Dealing with Challenging Audience Members

10. Defining the Role of the Individual and the Group to Maximize Brainstorming

11. Group Reflection on Learning Achieved and Gaps, and Techniques/Tools for “Saving the Retreat”

12. Designing an “M & M” – Memorable and Motivating – Close…and Have Them Wanting More!

Seek the higher power of Stress Doc humor:  May the Farce Be with You!

Don’t miss your appointment with the Stress Doc.

Mark Gorkin, MSW, LICSW, "The Stress Doc" ™, a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, is a national keynote and webinar speaker and "Motivational Humorist & Team Communication Catalyst" known for his interactive, inspiring and FUN programs for both government agencies and major corporations.  The Doc is a training and Stress Resilience Consultant for The Hays Companies, an international corporate insurance and wellness brokerage group.  He has also led “Resilience, Team Building and Humor” programs for various branches of the Armed Services.  Mark, a former Stress and Violence Prevention Consultant for the US Postal Service, is the author of Resiliency Rap, Practice Safe Stress, and of The Four Faces of Anger.  See his award-winning, USA Today Online "HotSite" – www.stressdoc.com – called a "workplace resource" by National Public Radio (NPR).  For more info on the Doc's "Practice Safe Stress" programs or to receive his free e-newsletter, email stressdoc@aol.com or call 301-875-2567.

Part III: Stand Out…Don’t Just Be Outstanding (Section A); Be Out-Rage-Ous…Not Just “Out of the Box”: (Section B)

Section A:  Stand Out…Don’t Just Be Outstanding

 

As the first two essays of this four-part series – “Less Is More…More or Less and Play to Strengths” and “The New KISS:  Keep It Simple and Smart” – illustrated, leaders, really all communicators, more than ever need to consciously craft clear and concise yet also compelling messages.  (Clearly, the Stress Doc is still learning to “heal thyself.”)  The never ending digital/media bombardment, a) not only strains attention spans, and b) fosters ever-lurking “d and p” – distraction and procrastination, but c) can foster social isolation d) rigid fixation, and e) drain energy for even looking at another message, let alone thoughtfully ingesting and responding.  (And being so digitally sedentary and sedated is not good for the brain, back, or belly.)  Is today’s new mind-body mantra, Time to detox from your digital inbox?

 

In fact, with this ever-present “brain-body strain” and constant cacophony of data, dalliance, and diatribe, as one author succinctly asked:  Are You Being Heard or Are You Just Making Noise?

 

Designing the Pass in the Impasse

 

In a TNT – Time-Numbers-Technology – driven and distracted world, being “clear and concise” are increasingly necessary conditions for a message to be noticed.  However, these two message components may not be sufficient for your missive to be recognized and received, let alone engaged and embraced.  In a media jungle one must have distinctive verbals, visuals, and nonverbals (including body language, volume range, expressions, gestures, tone, pacing, etc.).  Even being loud or commanding may fall short.  One must project a message that radiates compelling contrast.  And my “Contrasting Message Mantra”:

Ø  Stand Out…Don’t Just Be Outstanding

Ø  Be Out-“Rage”-Ous…Not Just “Out of the Box”!

 

So let’s examine both components for fighting “digital distraction” and “in-box burnout”:

1. Stand Out…Don’t Just Be Outstanding.  Outstanding or exceptional knowledge and experience in a complex skill- and practice-based endeavor or field typically requires ten years and thousands of hours of trial and error learning and practice.  An extended apprenticeship is necessary for consistently performing consciously and skillfully and for improvising as needed.  High performance relies on both overt and implicit or “muscle memory.”

 

With this rite of passage, an insightful communicational leader develops well-honed “Substance and Style, Structure and Strategy” concepts and skills, tools, and techniques.  Such a conceptual-performance matrix is foundational for launching a truly meaningful and compelling – or “outstanding” – message and media platform.  And, once into a mutual engagement process…an authority’s savvy, integrity, and wisdom (or lack thereof) will often be affirmed (or exposed).

 

Finally, three key components of savvy, integrity, and wisdom:  a) a well spring of conscious and unconscious knowledge and memory along with comfort with uncertainty or complexity; at the same time, a drive to learn continuously, b) an ability to engage in both decisive action and judicious restraint, and c) a capacity for discerning the need for intimate involvement and emotional detachment; a recognition of the yin-yang nature of pain, partnership, and progress, i.e., to achieve “growing pains and evolving paths” wisdom.

The Challenge of Getting Started

However, there’s that start-up/engagement problem.  Let me provide an analogy.  Most of us know the time-honored adage:  “Don’t judge a book by its cover.”  Alas, these days that text/book may never be sighted, picked up, or downloaded, let alone evaluated, without an eye-catching and mind-grabbing verbal-visual or audio-video “brainbow”-colored jacket.  (Brainbow comes from 2013 Surfaces and Essences by Douglas Hofstadter and Emanuel Sander, a ground-breaking work on the power and omnipresence of analogical thinking.  A brainbow is an analogy that vividly connects diverse or distant minds).  When folks are in scan (or emotional stress) mode, they may not have the focus and persistence nor take the time to begin distinguishing foundational or underlying excellence from a seemingly hot, smoke and mirrors façade…unless you fight smoke by providing some brain fire.

 

The Triple “A” of Audience Engagement:  Attention-Anticipation-Action

Three steps for powerful engagement:
1) In multi-sensory fashion, your first task is to grab an actual or potential audience’s attention.

2) You want them on the edge of their seat in anticipation of your next communication or action.  (And being seen as edgy or quirky or deemed a “firecracker” – as personally dubbed by a Ft. Hood Senior Sergeant – is often a differentiating plus.)  So in addition to being eye-catching or “brilliant,” increasingly you must bring and trigger energy, illumination, and “heat.”  One must risk being provocative, even at times generate mind-challenging friction and conflict.  (Of course, a danger as a communicator is that your heat mostly morphs into message smog and “hot air”; e.g., while some may find her “hot,” I’m most aware of Fox News pundit Ann Coulter’s “light-weight” yet deceptively oppressive and often toxic “air quality” index.)

 

3) Finally, to solidify your connection with an audience, and to stimulate their sense of commitment and involvement, provide an opportunity for group’s to take meaningful problem-solving action.  I always introduce or illustrate a concept or skill with a “hands on” small group activity: buying-in to a new vision or viewpoints, skills and strategies, or tools and techniques requires applied knowledge.

Soular and Lunar Power

 

This engaging “Triple ‘A’” will help you reach your “stand out” goal:  achieving genuine and meaningful connection and contrast!   You must be the solar (and “soular”) power among the competing planetary platforms and programs.  And even if smaller, you can still be unpredictably lunar by possessing dimensional variability or bring a touch of divine lunacy; loom in the shadows, disappear and return, have ebb and flow (obvious and subtle) influence on the currents and characters of change; cast an indelible, luminous image on the waters, place events in a bewitching light or mysterious perspective, etc.  All of the above help you both exert a gravitational-motivational pull while out-shining other “stars” in that swirling and swarming social media galaxy.  Such an uncommon performance would truly be “outstanding.”

 

 

Mark Gorkin, MSW, LICSW, "The Stress Doc" ™, a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, is a national keynote and webinar speaker and "Motivational Humorist & Team Communication Catalyst" known for his interactive, inspiring and FUN programs for both government agencies and major corporations.  A training and Critical Incident/Grief Intervention Consultant for the National EAP/Wellness Company, Business Health Services in Baltimore, MD, the Doc also leads “Stress, Team Building and Humor” programs for various branches of the Armed Services.  Mark, a former Stress and Violence Prevention Consultant for the US Postal Service, is the author of Resiliency Rap, Practice Safe Stress, and of The Four Faces of Anger.  See his award-winning, USA Today Online "HotSite" – www.stressdoc.com – called a "workplace resource" by National Public Radio (NPR).  For more info on the Doc's "Practice Safe Stress" programs or to receive his free e-newsletter, email stressdoc@aol.com or call 301-875-2567.

Less Is More and Play to Strengths: Inspiring Communication and Leadership Performance in a “TNT/3-D” Digital Age:

Reviewing my recent essay on “Compelling Communication and Leadership Performance,” I belatedly realized needing to better walk my talk and herd my words, especially in light of the essay’s theme.  So here’s a streamlined version that hopefully convinces that on many occasions “less is more.”

 

In this TNT – Time-Numbers-Technology – World and 3-D – Driven-Distracted-Disruptive – Digital Age – capturing people’s attention amidst all the competing sources of data and diatribe, entertainment and excess is no small feat.  And then holding that ephemeral and excitable attention span borders on the extra-ordinary:  consider this feedback from an hour-long, “Stress Resilience & Passion Power” keynote with a mix of Human Resource Managers and Professionals:  Mark’s presentation was both “insightful and engaging”…. “very exciting and informative”…“very interactive and useful.”   He has a way of captivating the audience and makes them want to hear more… Mark Gorkin is a must hear!

So what is the magic elixir when it comes to capturing people’s attention, by being captivating not just commanding?  And believe me; it’s not just in my DNA, though some hypomanic tendencies probably play a role.  Presentational understanding and skills have evolved in trial and error (if not occasional terror) fashion over decades.  Here are four applied concepts you might want to add to your mindset and skillset:

A.  Less Is More…More or Less; and Play to Strengths
B.  Try to Keep It Simple and Smart
C.  Stand Out…Don’t Just Be Outstanding; Be Out-Rage-ous Not Just “Out of the Box”
D.  Design an IC² Platform for Creative Play, Performance, and Partnering

A.  Less Is More…More or Less; and Play to Strengths

So let me walk the talk and provide brief aphorisms and bullet points as well as stories to highlight “Less Is More”:

1.  The Range, Reins, and Rewards of “Less Is More”

a.  Have an Initial Tight Program Outline and Be Ready to Let Go and Go with the Flow.

(1) You can’t do it all; choose the best, toss the rest; and often it’s a learning curve
(2) Streamline on the fly; improvise based on audience response and time constraints
(3) Recognize limits and imperfect resolution

b.  Make the Audience Part of the Show.  Learn to transition from a solo performer to a leader that transforms an audience into quartets and ultimately an orchestra.  Generate meaningful educational and entertaining structures and activities.  Your goal: to help individuals and teams bring out their best music while boosting mind and mood, motivation and morale.

c.  “Less Is More” Payoff.  Sometimes it pays to give folks just a brief taste of an intriguing leadership concept such as my “mind-mood” integrative creative communication model “Passion Power.”  After briefly outlining the model for Human Resource leaders, we then moved into a social risk-taking exercise.  We spent a considerable amount of time on the exercise, which was a big hit.  Yet, when the Program Chair invited me to return in two months to speak on at the chapter’s annual conference, her requested topic, naturally, was “Passion Power.”  Seems like providing less had them wanting more!

d.  Less Is More…More or Less.  Of course, when it comes to quantity and quality, sometimes less is less and more is more.  However, I recall reading of a succinct apology to a contemporary by one of those noted 18^th c. English scribes due to his verbiage in a correspondence:  I’m sorry; I didn’t have time to write a brief letter.

Remember, you can’t do it all, that is, another “more or less” slogan; and perfection is an ideal if not an illusion.  Establishing boundaries sets limits; it also provides borders, challenges, and demarcations to be purposefully surveyed, surmounted, or surpassed.  With prescience and pith, acclaimed translator, James Falen, captures the power of constraint:

There are magic links and chains
Forged to loose our rigid brains,
Structures, structures, though they bind,
Strangely liberate the mind.

2.  “Less Is More” Means Being Pithy and Provocative, Palatable and Powerful

After you’ve selected the key program topic areas, the next challenge is to deliver the content in a manner that promotes the aforementioned FIT-ness:  the experience is FUN-Interactive-Thought-provoking:

a. Introduce an Absorbing and Thought-Provoking Subject for Your Audience.  A catchy and pithy introductory title helps, for example, “The Four Stages of Burnout” or “Combat Strategies at the Burnout Battlefront.”  In a “TNT – Time-Numbers-Technology – world, a world that’s definitely “3-D” – Driven-Distracted-Disruptive – most people can personally relate!

b) Break It Down and Make It Digestible.  Break down your concept into key or critical, readily identifiable pieces or examples; deliver the data or ideas with a substance and style that’s easy to take in – clear and concise, motivating and memorable – bullet-like components; two or three “smoke signals” from the first stage should suffice.  For example:

(1) Mental, Physical, and Emotional Exhaustion – e.g., you may be holding it together at work, but as soon as you get home, do you head for the fridge, get out the Haagen-Dazs and Ben & Jerry’s, turn on the tube, hit the sofa, and you’re comatose for the rest of the evening…or wish you could be?

c.. Present Info and Ideas in a “Scannable” Format.  When dealing with data overload, people want to take away important points without having to further strain their brain; make the message light and enlightening:  People are less defensive and more open to a serious message when gift-wrapped with humor!  Provide a supplemental handout for later in-depth exploration.

3. “Less Is More” Means Emphasizing “How To” Strengths for Participants and Presenter.  Consider these three realms for displaying action steps and strengths:

a. Accentuate Action Over Analysis.  Follow the old 80:20 axiom:  when dealing with a problem spend 20% of the time on problem description and diagnostics, 80% of time and energy in providing problem-solving tools and techniques.  I don’t need tech support to educate me in detail about my hardware glitch; just get me up and running!

b. Facilitate the Sharing of Strengths.  Once you establish your credibility as a concerned and knowledgeable leader, you really can loosen the reins and create forums/exercises that allow others to share and shine.  If you need help in generating real and relevant exercises, I provide skills and tools coaching in this arena.

c. Recognize the Value of Multiplicity and Variety.  Being a diversified presenter means playing such roles as an educator, an entertainer, as well as an emotional expression and empathy energizer.  Beware confining yourself to just one presentational slot, e.g., lecturer.  How about “Leading and Learning with “E”s:  Educate and Energize, Entertain and Evangelize…and, whenever possible, applying all concepts in group Exercise; actually, more on the value of acronyms and rhyme shortly.)  The challenge is not being one-dimensional.  Variety is the “spice” and “rule” of life, learning, and leading.  (I am not going to touch the fourth “l”…loving!)

d.  Mostly Play to Your Strength.  Still, when time is limited and the task is bounded, lead with your strengths.  If strongest as an “Educator,” let this be your trump suit or default position.  However, even if only for a short trial, inject one or two of the other “E”-roles in your presentation.  Be unpredictable; defy expectations.  Why?

(1) you capture people’s attention and generate on the edge anticipation,
(2) pleasurable surprise releases pain-reducing and joy-enhancing brain chemicals like endorphins and dopamine; and while there are differences in temperament, brains hunger for if not crave the new and optimal variety
(3) the continuous practice and expansion of range and repertoire builds your risk-taking and performance muscles; also, you achieve finer and finer definition especially as you evaluate and integrate audience feedback, that hard-earned source of adaptive wisdom, and finally,
(4) as a risk-taking and variety generating role model, you are also illuminating an evolutionary, multifaceted mind-mood-muscle skill path for your audience.  As Dr. Jonas Salk, the renowned founder of the polio vaccine, observed:  Evolution is about getting up one more time than you fall down; being courageous one more time than being fearful; trusting just one more time than being anxious!   Amen and women to that!

Closing

We have outlined three key components of “Less Is More…More or Less” and “Play to Strengths.  These performance- and leadership-enhancing dynamics include:

1.  The Range, Reins, and Rewards of “Less Is More”
2.  “Less Is More” Means Being Pithy and Provocative, Palatable and Powerful
3. “Less Is More” Means Emphasizing “How To” Strengths for Participants and Presenter

And there’s a sure way of knowing you are hitting that “sweet spot”:  When you give folks “less” they let you know that they want more!


Mark Gorkin, MSW, LICSW, "The Stress Doc" ™, a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, is a national keynote and webinar speaker and "Motivational Humorist & Team Communication Catalyst" known for his interactive, inspiring and FUN programs for both government agencies and major corporations.  A training and Critical Incident/Grief Intervention Consultant for the National EAP/Wellness Company, Business Health Services in Baltimore, MD, the Doc also leads “Stress, Team Building and Humor” programs for various branches of the Armed Services.  Mark, a former Stress and Violence Prevention Consultant for the US Postal Service, is the author of Resiliency Rap, Practice Safe Stress, and of The Four Faces of Anger.  See his award-winning, USA Today Online "HotSite" – www.stressdoc.com – called a "workplace resource" by National Public Radio (NPR).  For more info on the Doc's "Practice Safe Stress" programs or to receive his free e-newsletter, email stressdoc@aol.com or call 301-875-2567.