Youku video: Pathways workshop on 20181017DMTC_iphone
Link: http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMzg3ODQyMjQ4MA==.html?spm=a2h3j.8428770.3416059.1
With the information our group created on Aug 4-5 TTT workshop, I did my first workshop in Aug 15, titled "Pathways introduction - Realize Your Potential", just one week after the training. There were 10 members and two guests attended. Among them, 3 members successfully registered, and two registered later after the workshop (one is the guest who join TMC later).
It was my first try. I dressed formal and went the meeting room earlier with 25 copies handouts. When colleagues coming in after lunch, colleagues had some chats. I was a bit nervous and forgot to present like chatting with e a friend. I finished my slide material in 1 hour with a few interrupts on some IT issues like passwords, or someone couldn’t mark finish in the first project or I couldn’t find the page I wanted to show. The fact is no matter how well I’ve prepared, there might be something unplanned. I should let it go and carry on. I was appreciated by my fellow members with my preparation and extra work on those Pathways materials.
For the next workshop, I used my training plan to write down my purpose statement, and 3 key points, each with 3 supporting points.
This is the famous presentation pyramid. This exercise helps me rearrange the training material and make it more logical.
Things change dramatically after I joined Oct. 13 workshop led by Jeff (http://www.lxweimin.com/p/f64801a18edb). I changed my slides totally. I only use five slides, and two of them are pictures, one is title.
I delivered the training on Oct. 17 in one of our regular meeting and recorded. I instantly felt I didn't deliver my best. I watched the video and combined the feedback I received. Here are some improvements for next time.
1. Make my personal story short and purposeful. I thought such stories could be inspiring, however it turned out to be too long, irrelevant and wasting time. I should rehearsal it and make it more concise and have clear turning point. The key message is what and how I changed after joining toastmasters club.
2. I should read the quote to draw the audience attention. I showed in the slide "Realize your potential, and settle for nothing less. It is your road and yours alone. Others can work it with you, but nobody can walk it for you." So, are you ready to register it now? I realize that even I don't read, the audience will read. Actually two members was able to repeat the quote later.
3. Make Q&A part short and well prepared. I thought I should be able to answer most questions. However the difficulty is how to organize the answer like a table topic instantly. One trick I learn is: to ensure a good Q&A session, I can gather some questions in advance and get prepared. This is why you can see some workshops have survey ahead. It’s imperative to remember the purpose of Q&A, otherwise it’s easy to get lost. My purpose is to solve any hesitation, doubt, and concern about Pathways before we get to start and inspire them to register immediately. All other questions could be left to the later part during the demo.
4. Take good care of each audience. I said a bad thing "this is for member only". I actually should say: “we have a mix of audience. For guests, you are warmly welcomed, but I apologize that you can’t access the system yet before you join toastmasters. First I will demo how to log in and choose a path. For those of you who already done that, you could browse others or do whatever you want. Next we will have more demo on what we can do in Base Camp after we choose a path.”
5. Stick to the planned demo in demo session while letting other fellow members to help individual's issue.
6. Call for action and end high. Please choose the path that can help those competencies you need most, continue to finish the project, your magic will come! Pathways is a great opportunity for our club too. As you can see in five months we have two Level-One awards, I am pretty sure with our current momentum, we gonna achieve a record high 10 scores in Dow Magic history and everyone will be rewarded! Go for it, fighting, add oil! In the end, mention the session is not the end of Pathways sharing. Feel free to contact me later if you have more questions. Learn from other fellow members. Have fun in your Pathways journey.
7. Stop use the repeated words like "really, and, so". Pay attention to gender confusion.
8. Write down my script. This is hard though and I seldom write down word by word of my presentation, especially when delivered in Chinese, I almost never write down my Chinese script for a presentation. That was boring. Sometimes I did for English script when it was an important presentation. I realize this is critical when I read sticky step 19 in Jeff’s book. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I have a dream" didn't came in one sitting. Get the first draft out as quickly as possible, and edit, edit, edit with smile and deep breathe to ensure EVERY WORD and EVERY SENTENCE in the draft supports my presentation pyramid. I have written down two articles about Pathways after my first workshop, which help me transfer thought to words. Although I have gone through the workshop in my mind, and I often got some new ideas, the problem is I couldn’t remember everything in mind especially under pressure. Write down the script and bring to the workshop can definitely help.
A few handy tips:
Chat with friends in the beginning and feel at ease.
Deliver the presentation like a conversation with friends.
Believe in the importance of what you are saying and be very confident.
Calm down, and more active listening, be able to summary in one sentence of the question and answer, more open body gestures, stable stance.
Always remember tricks to grab audience’s attention while not focusing on individuals.
Remember to use CTRL with + OR – to adjust the screen size.
