Gerry Sandusky's Blog, page 2

The Leadership Playbook for the New Normal

The 3-part, on-line seminar to help thrive in the new normal and beyond begins Tuesday, May 12th at noon ET.

To learn more about the program or to sign up, click here.

Program Outline:

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Free Webinar to Help You Thrive in Remote Work

Free Webinar:

Leading in the 2-Dimensional World—How to Maximize Remote Work

Free Webinar, Thursday, April 30th at 1:30 PM

Leading in a 2-Dimensional World—How to Maximize Remote Work

Click here to join us for the Free Webinar

I hope you can join us.

Here’s to finding a way to thrive despite all of the current challenges.

My best,

G.

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Where to Look in a Video Meeting

The massive shift to remote work has driven millions of people into one of their most dreaded situations: appearing on camera. Fortunately, it’s not as intimidating as you might think. In this video, I’ll share some simple tips I’ve learned in more than three decades of working in television when it comes to working on camera. Job one: know where to look and when to look there.

If you are speaking, look at the camera
If someone else is speaking, look at the computer, tablet, or phone screen

It really is that simple. The second key is to make your movements smooth and fluid. The camera magnifies your movements. Quick, jerky movements create a perception of uncertainty and they can undermine other people’s trust in you.

You don’t have to stare at the camera lens. It’s okay to look away and gather your thoughts. When you do look away, do it smoothly and come back to the camera smoothly.

The more you do video meetings, the more comfortable you will be come and the more poised you will look it you just follow these simple tips.

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Managing Communication During Isolation

Email me your number one professional communication challenge during isolation: gerry@sanduskygroup.com.

Pretty good chance you didn’t think Spring would look like this. None of us did. But here we are.

The immediate future looks wildly uncertain. And while I firmly believe we will get through this, I also believe we will step into a very different future than any of us anticipated at the start of the year. If we take a creative approach we can create success out of uncertainty.

While we have this unusual, global pause, why not use the time to create a better future together?

Again, I want to know the most pressing professional communication challenge you face right now during isolation and remote work.

Send me an email, gerry@sanduskygroup.com.

Over the next couple of weeks, I will be developing some programs and coaching options to help you not only survive, but thrive in these unusual times.

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Two Technology Tools to Avoid in Your Presentations

You put a lot of work into your presentations. And technology should help to make your life and your presentations easier to prepare, to practice, and to perform. Should.

But sometimes it doesn’t.

And it really isn’t technology’s fault. It’s our fault.

We all make the mistake of thinking all technology will make everything easier. Sometimes it just doesn’t work that way. There are a couple of technology tools you should avoid using when it comes to your presentations.

In this video, I’ll share with you the two tools to steer clear of so you stay on the productive side of technology and the effective side of communication. Enjoy.

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How to Make Time Disappear in Your Next Presentation

Your time becomes more valuable the busier you get. And there’s a pretty good chance you are busier now than you were three, five, or ten years ago. We all are. That includes nearly every person in the audience of your next presentation.

Your audience doesn’t have any more time to waste than you do. And you are competing for your audience’s attention, a nearly constant fight against time and the myriad of things they can do with their limited time.

The key is to make time disappear in your presentation. It’s also one of the ways to assess the success of your presentation. In this video, I’ll show you how to make time go away so your audience doesn’t.

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How to Standardize without Sanitizing your Powerpoint

There’s a fine line—and sometimes no line at all—between Powerpoint that follow a standardized approach and Powerpoint that have no connection to each other in an organization.

Too much standardization gets boring. No connection gets confusing.

In the video above, I’ll help you and your organization find the sweet spot between lockstep rigid following of rules and presentations that are all over the map.

It all comes down to following a few principles instead of following an endless list of rules.

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Tough Conversations are Presentations too

Tough conversations challenge everyone.

It’s human nature to want to avoid confrontation and difficult situations. But as managers, in order to really get the most out of your people, sometimes you have to have the courage to have the tough conversations.

The topics can include underperforming employee, attendance issues, ethical issues, inconsistency, lack of dependability, lack of trust, and a long list that fall squarely in the tough conversation category.

You don’t have to like having these conversations to be effective. As a matter of fact, if you did like having these you would be more than a little unusual.

Structuring these one-one-one conversations using many of the same principles as in larger presentations can make these not only more manageable but also far more effective—for everyone involved.

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How to Better Relate to Your Audience

Relating to your audience is one of the most important things a presenter must do. Yes, your content is vital. Yes, your presentation style matter. Yes, your multi-media plays an important role. But before any of that can have a real impact, your audience has to connect with you.

Influence starts with an emotional connection, a feeling of he or she gets me or gets where I am coming from. To do that, you have to make the effort to understand where your audience is coming from. Sometimes the answers and insights will surprise you, but they will always guide you.

You don’t have to agree with your audience’s perspective but you do have to understand it.

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Yes, You Really Do Have Time to Practice

In the old town section of Barcelona, I was on a tour with my wife when I came across this opera singer who wanted to practice in front of a live audience. So she went to the busiest part of town and started practicing, started singing.

You can even hear me talking to my wife at the front of the video. She was afraid I was going to fall to far behind our tour (which is why I didn’t shoot a longer video).

We make the mistake of thinking we need ideal conditions to practice. We don’t. We just need to practice. Do it anywhere. Do it as often as possible. The more you practice in impossible conditions, the more you will make the impossible look easy in front of your audience in your next presentation.

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