This Slideshare presentation is a partial preview of the full business document. To view and download the full document, please go here: http://flevy.com/browse/business-document/active-listening-meetings-and-presentations-969 A paper describing the key ingredients of Listening, Meeting and Presentations including Active Listening, Meetings and Workshops (what makes them unsuccessful, making them productive, posting the agenda, managing meetings, animals in meetings), Presentation Skills (First Impressions, Preparation, Research, Test for Relevance, Create Flow and Impact, Practice and Improve).

1. Active Listening,
Meetings & Presentations ©
Ron Leeman
“Your Chauffeur”
on the Highway of Change

2. Active Listening
Consider this:
We only
retain 25% of
what we hear.
Why?
This document is a partial preview. Full document download can be found on Flevy:
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3. Active Listening
Inquire with questions
• Pick the correct mix of questions
– Open
– Designed to ‘open’ up the person
speaking
– Closed
– Designed to provide facts and steer the
direction of the conversation
– Leading
– Can be effective in eliciting a response
that you want
– Vague/theoretical
– These tend to be impractical for gathering
facts but can help keep momentum in the
conversation if you need more time to
establish facts
This document is a partial preview. Full document download can be found on Flevy:
http://flevy.com/browse/document/active-listening-meetings-and-presentations-969

4. Active Listening
Test understanding
• A reflective summary is an
effective way of ensuring you
have got the intended message
– Gathers the points together that
were brought up by the speaker
– Selects the relevant data – often
this allows the speaker to be
more clear where they have
possibly strayed from their main
point
– Plays this back concisely to the
speaker
This document is a partial preview. Full document download can be found on Flevy:
http://flevy.com/browse/document/active-listening-meetings-and-presentations-969

5. Active Listening
Neutralise your feelings
• Make sure you communicate that
you are not judging
• Show that you have time for the
speaker
• Show the speaker their views are
worth expressing
• Show empathy and that together
we can work out the situation
This document is a partial preview. Full document download can be found on Flevy:
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6. • Prepare fully (consider why meetings fail)
• Provide an agenda (appropriate for and
submitted prior to the meeting)
• Set out the objectives for the meeting
• Create the right environment
• Stick to your agenda
• Check on progress of resulting up actions
• Further meetings ?
Meetings – Making them Productive
This document is a partial preview. Full document download can be found on Flevy:
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7. • Bulldog – aggressive, looking to win, ready to fight.
• Horse – keen and Enthusiastic, can show off
• Fox – crafty and undermining, difficult to direct
• Monkey – expert on everything, likes the sound of their
own voice
• Hedgehog – prickly, professional cynic resistant to change
• Gazelle – timid and afraid of the spot light
• Frog – hops on and off topics but is rarely relevant
• Hippo – has no interest in the session and lets you know it
• Giraffe – easily distracted aloof to the subject
Meetings – Animals in Meetings
This document is a partial preview. Full document download can be found on Flevy:
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8. • To build confidence when sharing ideas with others
– Make positive first impressions
– Use techniques to promote ideas
– Structure a formal presentation
– Present information persuasively
– Identifying methods for successful presentations
Presentation Skills
This document is a partial preview. Full document download can be found on Flevy:
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9. • Assessing the audience
– How many people will be attending?
– What are the age ranges?
– Male female ratio?
– What are they expecting?
– What do they want to know?
– What is their knowledge level in the subject matter?
– Are there any decision makers?
– What is their involvement with the subject matter?
– Why are ‘you’ presenting to them?
– What topics are off limits, if any?
• Answers to these questions are critical to success
Presentation Skills – Research
This document is a partial preview. Full document download can be found on Flevy:
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10. Presentation Skills – Test for Relevance
I should include
I must include
I could include
Be on target with the content
Will the content help achieve your
objective or cause obstacles
I can’t include
This document is a partial preview. Full document download can be found on Flevy:
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11. • Gaining attention
– Using a hook provides a link to your audience that should
keep them along for the duration of the presentation.
• In trying to find a hook ask the following questions of yourself
– What is unusual about the subject matter
– Why is it important
– Why should people be excited by it
– What makes it interesting
– What makes it valuable to my audience
– Does the hook support your objective
Presentation Skills – Create Flow & Impact
This document is a partial preview. Full document download can be found on Flevy:
http://flevy.com/browse/document/active-listening-meetings-and-presentations-969

12. • Over time presenting becomes easier - but to help think of these, do’s
– Welcome your audience
– Be pleased to see them
– Get their attention (possibly use your hook)
– Introduce
– Why you should present
– What you want (the objective(s))
– How long they need to be there (the duration)
– What they will hear
– How they can participate
– What material they will receive
– Speak to the back of the room (from the front of your mouth)
– Be clear and positive
Presentation Skills – Practice & Improve
This document is a partial preview. Full document download can be found on Flevy:
http://flevy.com/browse/document/active-listening-meetings-and-presentations-969

13. 1
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