Volume 1, Issue 1, March 2007
Welcome to the first issue of the Turpin Communication Newsletter.
If you're on our mailing list, it's probably because you've participated in one of our workshops in the past few years. If not, you might be the manager of someone who has participated, a training professional, or someone who has signed up to receive the newsletter through our website. Regardless of how you know us or how well you know us, I hope you find the information in this and future issues useful and interesting.
When I think about how I'd like the newsletter-writing process to work, I imagine it being an exchange between you and me. I imagine questions coming in from readers, questions about presentation issues you're facing, about things we didn't work on during your training session, or about new challenges you're facing. Writing the newsletter, then, would be a snap. You send questions. I answer them as best I can. If you think this sounds like I'm looking for the easy way to find something to write about every quarter, you bet I am. Click here to send me a question.
Since I don't have any questions to use for this issue, I'll ask two of my own. Let's begin with, "Is there really anything new to say about presenting?" I think that's a good place to start since that question lurks in the back of everyone's mind at the beginning of a workshop. Second, "What's new at Turpin Communication?"
Is there really anything new to say about presenting? The short answer is yes. There are new ways to think and talk about presenting. Right now, I'd like to focus on the notion of delivery.
When we step back and think about the types of presentations we help people with, it seems that using the term "delivery" to describe a presenter's physical and vocal skills is inappropriate, maybe even outdated. After all, speeches are "delivered." Presentations are not. Presentations are interactive and spontaneous. They're more like conversation. Thinking of them as something that can be delivered, like a package or an email, flattens them out and disregards the rich dialogue that takes place between presenters and listeners.
In our attempt to adjust to this distinction, we've started using terms like "initiation" and "engagement" instead of delivery. For example, we remind people that it's the presenter's job to initiate a process with listeners, a process that can not and should not be 100% predictable. When we work on eye contact or pausing, we talk about how these two skills are used to engage listeners. And, once they're engaged, presenters are in a much better position to succeed.
What's interesting is that this subtle shift in how we talk about presentations has brought success -- and relief -- to a lot of our workshop participants. They've found that by focusing on the skills that help them connect with their listeners, they can forget about many of the rules associated with perfect "delivery" and focus on the job at hand.
Reinforce Skills Learned in the Workshop & Take Presenters to the Next Level
There are a lot of new things at Turpin. We have a new trainer (click here to read about Karen Ross), new materials and new preparation tools. I'll talk about them in future issues of the newsletter. Right now I'll talk about our new follow-up service.
Last year we greatly increased the value of our standard 2-day, 2-instructor workshops for 8 participants. In addition to the follow-up letters we've always written, clients now receive a full day of follow-up training as part of their initial workshop fee. We've found that this is an excellent way to ensure that participants receive refresher training.
How it works
For most clients, follow-up training is used for dress rehearsal. The session is scheduled before upcoming presentations, and participants come in ready to practice. Sometimes we work with the original group of 8 for a day. Sometimes we break the day up and work with 8 people for an hour each.
Follow-up training is also good for team presentations since most teams need to work on not only what each person plans to say but also how they'll work with each other in front of their audiences.
If you qualify and would like to set up a follow-up session, please contact me.
Sincerely,
Dale Ludwig, President
Turpin Communication
