Are your presentations like Wasa crackers?

Don’t get me wrong – these crackers serve a purpose – They provide a fine surface to get cheese from your plate to your mouth. 

But they’re a bit dry and utilitarian.

Their best quality is flat, much like a lot of presentations.

If the only thing your presentations are doing is moving words from your mouth to someone else’s ears, you’re leaving a lot of potential on the table (no pun intended).

These are 6 things that add flavor and context to your presentations:

S- Stories

H- Humor

A- Ask questions

P- Pictures & Props

E- Emotion

S- Suspense

These 6 components are what S.H.A.P.E.S. your communication.

They’re the difference between a cracker (or presentation) that resembles cardboard and a toasted slice of French bread with brie. 

One’s easy to grab but the other provides a more exciting experience. 

Here are 3 tips to create a more memorable experience for your audience:

 
1. Start with a story instead of thank you’s

The moment before you start talking is the moment you have the most audience attention. Don’t squander the suspense with logistics and thank yous. Tell a story to hook them right away.

2. Involve your audience in the experience

You may be the one at the front of the room but that doesn’t mean you have to do all the work. Create an interactive experience by asking questions and giving the audience a problem to solve. It’s a wonderful way to introduce your topic and take them along on your journey.

3. Don’t use your slides as a teleprompter 

Your visuals should work in conjunction with your verbal presentation. You don’t need to repeat all the same information. If your slides are crowded, edit, and speak to your main points instead.

Want help transforming your communication and meetings into a more colorful experience?

Reach out and let’s set up a time to talk!

Hi, I’m Madeline.

I help individuals and organizations reduce conflict, increase creative output and bring more energy to their teams.

I've been called a lifesaver and a secret weapon because I can take all the ideas in your head and put them together in a way that’s quicker, clearer, and more fun.

I was recently talking with a client and she told me how she approached presentations before we worked together.

It went something like this:

1. Sit down at the computer

2. Open PowerPoint (Google Slides, Keynote, choose your own adventure)

3. Spend a bunch of time looking for images, fiddling with typefaces, trying out images and colors

4. Get frustrated with the jumble of words and imagery on the page but so little progress after hours have gone by

5. Call it quits

6. Repeat next day

This is the way so many people approach presentations.

The reason it’s killing so much time and energy is you’re going about it backwards.

The quickest way to engage your audience is to first get clear on what you want to accomplish.

You need to be clear before you can make it clear to your audience.

It’s like doing a puzzle.

The quickest way to bring the picture into place is to start with the border.

Once you have the foundation, then and only then, start sorting the pieces inside.

Otherwise, you waste time on the details (like sorting through 1000 tiny pieces) and lose sight of the goal.

Want more help with presentations?

Learn 4 lessons I learned doing jigsaw puzzles.

Discover the most common presentation mistakes and what do about them here.

For the second winter in a row, covid has struck our house, and for the second time, we pulled out jigsaw puzzles to keep us busy.

Not just because they were a favorite pastime when I was a kid, or because they can entertain an 8-year-old and covid plagued parents at the same time.
But because puzzles can also solve costly presentation pitfalls plaguing zoom weary, pandemic weary teams.

Presentations can be tricky, even more so online: 

You don’t always hit it out of the park on the first try: 

• You might have too many pieces that don’t connect.

• You might be missing pieces.

• You might have the right pieces but lack a road map. 

Look no further than our pandemic puzzle craze to create engaging presentations that bring your audience along:

These are 4 lessons I learned from doing jigsaw puzzles with my kid:

It’s all in the framing 

In the early days of lockdown and remote first grade, I borrowed a puzzle from neighbors and attempted to engage my 6-year-old.

I loved puzzles as a child but this was the wrong puzzle.

We went from an 80 piece solar system puzzle to a 1000 piece book cover montage.

To make things worse, we set up our puzzle Command station on our dining table on top of a brightly printed Marimekko tablecloth.

It was pattern on top of pattern, color on top of color, and a big jumbled mess of puzzle pandemonium.  

Much like presentations chock full of charts, graphs, and teeny tiny text no one reads, the details were overwhelming. 

My 6 year old got frustrated and gave up. 

This is exactly what happens when you stuff your presentations full of data and details and your audience tunes out.

That’s why framing is so critical. 
Great presentations don't include every detail and story. They include carefully curated ones. 

If you’re worried your content is boring, resist the urge to add more. 
Instead, look to add less.
Find the hook that makes your content matter.
Get to work believing that your presentation is interesting and do the work to make it so. 

Paint a picture that fills in the gaps

We gave puzzles a second try In December 2020 when we spent the last 2 weeks of the year in covid quarantine.

I snagged puzzle #2 out of our building’s community room. The subject, vintage cars, held more interest with my little one. We were a captive audience and the puzzle was a novel pastime.

Puzzle #2 brought hours of entertainment, days full of deep concentration, and long chunks of family teamwork. 

As we progressed we realized the puzzle was missing eleven pieces. This made it more challenging but did not keep us from completing this small pleasure. Our brains had just enough information to fill in the gaps.

This is exactly what a story can do when you’re giving a presentation. You have a captive audience and you don’t want to squander it with unnecessary fluff.

Instead, you want to dazzle them with stories. 

Stories can fill in the gaps and connect the dots of how your topic is relevant and important to them. Research shows the human brain is 22 times more likely to remember a fact when it is wrapped in a story. 

Stories paint a picture, elicit emotion, and provide just enough information for the audience to draw their own conclusions.

Don’t forget your map

The first puzzle my family completed with all 1000 pieces was a montage of 64 lego characters.  
This puzzle came with a map - a larger blowup of the image - essential when placing 64 sets of identical Lego hands. 

While you can meander around without it, a map gets everyone situated and heading in the right direction.

It’s the same reason your presentation needs a roadmap. You can have the right pieces but if your presentation lacks structure and focus, it’s still going to be a mess. 

Your job is to fit the pieces together into one cohesive story. 

Start by articulating your objective in one sentence and use it as a guidepost for every decision, data point, and detail.

Strategy is Essential

Whether you’re doing a puzzle or delivering a presentation, you need a strategy.  

When we dumped out the new woodland puzzle yesterday, my now 8-year-old immediately started sorting border pieces, which is exactly what you want to do when you start on a presentation.

First, create the border. 

• Before you dump all your presentation pieces into a slide deck, you want to be clear on your subject and point of view. This creates the foundation that holds the rest of the presentation in.

Next, sort by color and section. 

• Once you have the foundation in place, you can start organizing the pieces into an outline.

Last, fill in the middle. 

• After you have an outline, you can start filling in the details, data, and stories that create a cohesive picture. 

For help creating your presentation strategy and crafting communication that brings your audience along, reach out here.

Hi, I’m Madeline.

I help individuals and organizations reduce conflict, increase creative output and bring more energy to their teams.

I've been called a lifesaver and a secret weapon because I can take all the ideas in your head and put them together in a way that’s quicker, clearer, and more fun.

I recently took my 7-year old ice skating.

I grew up skating, first on a pond, then on a small ice rink in Charleston, WV.

It was a regular part of my childhood, one of the favorite activities at Camp Dad, but somewhere in between age 7 and adulthood in NYC, my skills got pretty rusty. 

This was only the second time I’d been on the ice since a bad ankle sprain a few years ago.

I laced up my skates, put on my gloves and was excited to rediscover my love of ice skating (and the only winter sport I enjoy). 

Then I stepped onto the ice. 

My footing was shaky and I almost immediately lost my balance.

I clung to the wall. 

I could barely stand, yet alone glide.

I was nervous. 

I was stiff. 

I did a few laps around the rink wondering when this got so hard. 

Then I watched my son.

His strategy was to RUN forward on the ice as fast as he could until he wiped out. 

He’d topple over, dust off his snow pants, stand up and do it again. 

No hesitation, no worries about falling, no attention to what other people were doing.

I compared that to my own strategy and realized I was devoting 100% of my energy to NOT falling. 

I was working very hard at staying upright. As a result, I completely lost sight of what I wanted to happen. My goal was to glide forward on the ice, not to stand straight like a toothpick.

I thought back to lessons with my dad and realized what I was missing. 

I bent my knees. I leaned in. 

It made me think of public speaking and what happens when you’re nervous.

• You cling to the walls

• You show up stiff

• You focus all your attention on NOT failing
  

The next time fear takes over and you find yourself bracing for the worst, lean in. 

Breathe. Relax your body.

It makes things easier, whether you’re balancing on ice, standing on stage or speaking on zoom. 

This is exactly what I help my clients do:

• Show up for your goals even when you’re nervous

• Connect with your audience even when it's scary

• Lean into the experience so you can have more fun

Reach out if you want help.

Hi, I’m Madeline.

I help quiet leaders and organizations think and speak differently so they can communicate their story, lead their teams and make change in the world.

Get in touch at madeline@madelineschwarz.com

Yesterday I joined Rachel Staigar and alternew founder Nancy Rhodes for morning meditation and journaling (if ever there was a day where I needed more calm and connection, that was it). 

Instead of introducing ourselves with what we do, we answered the question. "If you were a vegetable, what would you be?"

I loved the answers (especially brussel sprouts because you didn't know how much you'd love them until you tried them) – they got everyone laughing and loosened up the room.

But mostly I loved this activity because it added creativity and humor to something that might otherwise be mundane.

This is exactly what I do with communication – make it more fun and compelling and creative. 

It's a lot like cooking – I give you a recipe to speak clearly and concisely while also letting your personality shine through. 

Want a peek into my process? 

It also starts with vegetables (and no you don't have to eat anything you don't like). 

• First, we identify your strengths and hone in on your message.
  
  

• Then, we work on your mindset so you never look at communication the same way.
  
  

• Finally, we practice your delivery and add in the spices so you can engage any audience at any time.

Here's how a corporate client described our work together:

"Madeline unlocked so much power in me, and incredibly, she did this in the most lighthearted, subtle and even fun way....Madeline got me to the point where I no longer “need” her help to prepare a presentation. Now I just *want* her in my corner on every talk I give because I’ve seen firsthand her gift for elevating a good-enough talk into something truly powerful and engaging.."

Just like brussel sprouts, you don't know what you're missing until you try it. 

Want to learn more about working together?  Let's chat.

Hi, I’m Madeline.

I help quiet leaders and organizations communicate their story and invite audiences into their world.

I’ve taught hundreds of professionals to confidently speak in public, craft talks that resonate with your audience and lead with authority.

Get in touch at madeline@madelineschwarz.com

Last night, I was rummaging through the lego bin in search of a tiny yellow arm and I commented that it was like looking for a needle in a haystack.

My 7-year-old didn’t know what that meant.

As I explained, I thought of all the long meandering presentations I’ve sat through where it’s hard to find the point even when you’re paying attention.

There’s a lot of hay (words, charts, graphs) but it doesn't come together – it fails to thread the needle.

Good presentations don’t include all the details, they include carefully edited details. 

Good presentations don’t include every piece of data ever published, they include the most persuasive.

Good presentations don’t share every story, they curate the best stories.

I just finished coaching for Shine bootcamp where I helped 4 women transform their ideas into conference talks. 

The topics ranged from advocating for children with disabilities to diversifying engineering leadership.

4 different people, 4 different topics, 4 different talks, but for each the process was the same.

1. We got clear on what they wanted the audience to walk away with.

2. We defined their 3 most important points. 

3. We selected the most relevant details and data and crafted compelling storylines. 

The result? 

• Talks that had direction and laser focus. 

• Talks that deeply engaged their audience. 

• Talks that changed conversations.
  

Are you working on a talk? 

Are you ready to change conversations?

Get in touch.

These 3 simple skills will make you a better presenter, better teammate, better client manager, and all-around better communicator.

You might be a great designer, fantastic problem solver, or renowned subject matter expert, but in the words of Warren Buffet:

“If you can’t communicate your ideas and get them across to other people, you’re giving up your potential.”

So how do you hone these skills and what’s entailed in a good presentation?

The best presenters are not just good speakers, they’re also good listeners.

You might think you need only to prepare persuasive speaking points in order to sell your work (and you do) but in order to capture attention and gain the trust of your audience, you also need to listen.

Too often we forget that listening is 50% of communication.

Whether you’re presenting research, creative concepts, or new company policies, listening allows you to tap into the hearts and minds of your clients, your teammates and stakeholders.

I’ve put together a 3-part framework to help you stay on track:

1. Be clear

When I work with clients, the first thing we do is define your objective.

Before you open Powerpoint (or Keynote or google slides), get clear on your message.

Spend a couple minutes thinking through the purpose of your presentation and what you want the audience to walk away.

Write down the 3 most important points you’d like to communicate.

You might have 30 things you want to talk about but they're not all equally important and limiting it to 3 provides focus and direction.

2. Be compelling

Once you’re clear on the purpose of your presentation, your job is to create an experience that builds interest and intrigue. There are many great techniques to engage your audience, including pictures, questions, humor, and stories.

Stories grab attention, elicit emotion and make your topic memorable. They are the felafel amidst the grilled chicken and pasta so if you want your audience to pay attention, spend time on your stories.

3. Be curious

Once you’ve designed your presentation, the next step is to stay curious when delivering your presentation. This is often the most challenging part, especially when things don't go as planned.

I’ve worked with creative teams for nearly twenty years and noticed two typical responses when people are met with critical feedback or concerns.

• Option 1: Get defensive

• Option 2: Shut down and don't respond at all

These are natural human responses to stress but neither gets you closer to your goal.

Curiosity, on the other hand, helps you move out of flight or fright and stay calm amidst tough questions and concerns.

When you feel the urge to defend your work or tune out, ask yourself these questions:

• Why might the other person feel that way?

• What additional information do they need to feel comfortable?

Curious listening helps you discover the additional information you need to present in order for the audience to feel comfortable. If you're not listening, you might miss the most important details.

Want tips to tap into your natural curiosity? Check out Curiosity Kills the Cat. Or Does it.

Hi, I’m Madeline.

I help quiet leaders and organizations communicate their story and invite audiences into their world.

Together we transform how you communicate, at work, at home, in life.

Get in touch at madeline@madelineschwarz.com.

Raise your hand if you’re tired of cooking the same old recipes. Or tired of cooking at all.

I recently saw my friend’s picture of homemade falafel on Instagram. The comments said she was crushing the pandemic cooking game.

Month six of the pandemic, I did not feel like we were crushing pandemic cooking. Sure, I was grateful to have food in the fridge and be able to cook at all, but the menu in our house was starting to feel seasonally predictable. 

Enter falafel.

New flavors, new textures, new colors on the plate. 

This one recipe brought new energy to our kitchen and new excitement to our dinner table ( bonus: our 6-year-old ate it).

It took me back to a training I did for a team of data scientists. They wanted to know how to stand out in a lineup of back to back conference speakers. 

My answer was storytelling. 

We did an exercise I call the storytelling grab bag, one of my favorite activities to get people thinking creatively about how to illustrate their point.

They loved it. They laughed. They loosened up. 

But they weren’t sure it was relevant for an academic setting.

And that’s where they’re wrong.

If you want to stand out in a lineup of speakers, if you want to be the shiny fish in a sea of academics, if you want to be the most compelling presenter at your company, stories are key. 

Stories are the falafel amidst the pasta and grilled chicken.

They bring color and context to your work, they bring relevance to your research and they bring life to your ideas.

If you want to improve your storytelling, stand out in meetings, and wow your clients, join me tomorrow October 7th. 

I'm doing a training for the Creatives Roundtable and I'll be sharing tools to be clear, concise and compelling.

Tickets are here but hurry, sales end tonight.

Hi, I’m Madeline.

I help quiet leaders and organizations communicate their story and invite audiences into their world so they can lead their teams, lead their organizations and make change in the world.

Together we’ll transform how you communicate, at work, at home, in life.

Get in touch.

Last night I was reading bedtime stories to my 6-year-old, or rather he was reading to me, and I learned 3 things you can apply in your adult life to improve communication and show up like an expert. 

1. Every time he came to a word he wasn't sure about, he got really, really quiet, so quiet that I could barely hear him.

He was hedging his bets, not wanting to speak up because he was afraid of making a mistake. It got me thinking about all the places adults do this:

• You trail off mid-sentence when you're unsure about your argument

• You talk really quietly because you don’t want to make a mistake

• You don’t talk at all because you fear being judged 

Is this you?

So much of your ability to persuade other people comes from your confidence. 

And confidence starts with believing you have something valuable to share and that you have the right to be speaking in the first place.

2. Even when my kiddo could sound out a word, he didn’t necessarily know what it meant.

This also happens in conversation.

My husband and I might try explaining a complex topic and think our 6-year old is following along, but if we stop and ask if he knows what a particular word means, he often shakes his head NO. 

The same thing happens when speaking in front of an audience, or at a business meeting. 

How many times have you sat through a professional presentation littered with industry jargon and acronyms you had to look up? 

You could be the premier subject matter expert, but if you don’t speak in terms your audience understands, they might have no idea what you’re talking about and miss your point entirely. 

Assume you know more than your audience and define concepts, terms and acronyms.

Explain things like you’re talking to my 6-year old. 

If you’re worried that you’ll look stupid, it’s quite the opposite. Instead, you’ll be admired for your ability to translate your work to a general audience and make it accessible and relevant.

3. The last thing I noticed is how my kiddo likes to look through all the pictures before he reads the book.

He likes to preview the material and get a sense of what’s coming. 

This is exactly what happens in a good presentation.

Hook your audience at the beginning and then let them know what’s coming.

This lets your audience know they’re in the right place, that it will be a good use of their time, and that your information will be relevant to them. 

Which of these tips can you use right away? Drop me a note and let me know.

If you have kids at home, turn bedtime stories into practice time. 

I love helping clients improve their confidence and build their presence with tools and strategies that make communication more fun.

Here’s what my client Mimi Bishop said:

“Madeline asks the good hard questions that create a presentation that draws people in and engages them so they walk away having learned something from someone they will not forget. With Madeline’s expert help, the quality of my presentation is night and day.”

Do you want to be more clear and concise at work? 

Do you want to improve communication on your team? 

Do you want to turn your idea into a talk?

I can help you speak clearly and concisely in any situation.

Let’s chat.

Hi, I’m Madeline.

I help quiet leaders and organizations communicate their story and invite audiences into their world.

Together we’ll transform how you communicate, at work, at home, in life.

Get in touch at madeline@madelineschwarz.com.

I recently read an HBR article discussing why curiosity is vital to an organization’s performance.

It’s vital for decision making, communication and building better relationships at work.

When you’re stuck, curiosity can get you unstuck.

If your project leads are micromanaging, get curious.

If your teammates object to all your ideas, get curious instead of defensive.

Ask yourself what led them to this belief and what made them think this is the best option?

If you’re having difficulty responding with curiosity, picture what you’d do when a baby is crying.

Do you judge them for crying or do you get curious about what’s causing the crying?

What would happen if you applied this same technique at work.

Curiosity is crucial for effective problem-solving. It can help teams:

• innovate and come up with more creative solutions.

• pivot in times of uncertainty.

• show up to difficult conversations with an open mind.

• build trust with colleagues.

• create space for collaboration.

And who doesn’t want more creativity, more possibilities and more collaborative communication?

So how do you move into the space of curiosity if your default is skepticism?

Let your face lead the way.

When you unfurrow your brow, open your eyes and listen with all your senses, you tap into your creativity and see other possibilities that previously weren’t available.

Below are a few guidelines to help:

1. Listen more than you talk

2. Ask more questions

3. Be humble 

4. Approach things with a beginner’s mind

5. Adopt a learning mindset

6. Get curious about where you agree as opposed to defensive about where you disagree

Are you ready to change how you communicate at work and bring out your curiosity? Let's chat.

Hi, I’m Madeline.

I help quiet leaders and organizations communicate their story and invite audiences into their world.

Together we’ll transform how you communicate, at work, at home, in life.

Get in touch at madeline@madelineschwarz.com.

I’ve loved swimming since I was a child. 

There’s something meditative about being in the water and zoning out as your body cuts through the water.

I’ve always had a preference for pools, finding comfort in being able to see my hands, touch the bottom, and count laps as I go back and forth.

Enter Summer 2020, many months since I’ve been in a pool in Brooklyn, and I’ll take any body of water I can find. Creeks, waterfalls, lakes, puddles.

For the first time in 43 years, I swam across a lake (two in fact). 

Crossing a lake is thrilling and terrifying. 

There’s a lot of build-up:

• wondering how long it will take

• worrying about the invisible (or imagined) dangers

• wondering if you have enough energy to swim back

• hesitating because it’s cold

Eventually, you just have to jump in.

Put one hand in front of the other and start.

Swim into the fear.

It’s a lot like speaking.

• You build it up in your mind. 

• You imagine the dangers and worst-case scenarios.

• Your nerves takes over and your brain tries to tries to talk you out of it.

You’ve got two choices when that happens.

You can stay paralyzed in fear or you can trust yourself and go forward.

The next time you’re standing at the edge of the lake hesitating, be it an actual lake or the lake of fear standing between you and a presentation, use these techniques to stay present in your body and move through your fear. 

1. Slow down your breathing

Rub your hands together and slowly inhale and exhale. Tapping into another sense, in this case touch and experience what your hands feel like, slows down the sympathetic nervous system and allows you to access a different part of the brain.

2. Ground Yourself

Put your feet on the floor and feel the ground beneath you. Stand if you can. If you can prop up your computer and create a standing desk, I recommend it.

There’s a reason they stand in your power. It’s easier to command presence, project your voice and confidently inhabit your body when you stand.

3. Practice

We all start somewhere. Don’t be afraid of a little dirt and mud. Dust it off and keep going. Sometimes the process is messy.

4. Do it Scared

Fear is a natural human emotion. It’s okay to feel scared and take action anyway. 

I used to be terrified of public speaking and getting comfortable speaking in front of groups is one of my proudest achievements. Being on the other side of that fear is one of the most liberating experiences of my adult life. 

If you’re wondering what awaits you on the other side of the lake, swim into the fear. 

I’m here to help.

Hi, I’m Madeline. I help quiet leaders and organizations communicate their story and invite audiences into their world.

I’ve trained hundreds of professionals to confidently articulate their ideas and transform how they communicate at work, at home and in life.

I’ve worked with companies such as Mastercard, The Jewish Museum, Mt. Sinai and Ellevate Network.

Get started with my free resource Get Clear on Your Message.

"I don’t want to be boring."

This is one of the main things my clients tell me when they come to me.

They don't want their content to be boring.

They don’t want to waste people's time.

They don't want their audience to tune out.

And they’re right to be worried – no one wants to sit through a boring presentation.

But here’s the problem with spending your time worrying that your content is boring:

• You rush through your presentation because you want to get it over with

• You don’t prepare because you don't think it will help

• You focus on your notes instead of the people in front of you

As a result, you don’t connect with your audience and your presentation is boring.

So if you want to give a presentation that’s engaging, where everyone is paying attention and people leave ready to take action, check in on your mindset and follow these tips.

1. Stop thinking your presentation is boring

Instead, focus on the thought that you have value to share and get to work making it interesting.

2. Build in audience interaction

Whether you’re presenting at a conference or delivering a webinar, your job is to create an experience. Share stories, ask questions, show pictures, include an activity.

There are so many ways to pique curiosity – just remember to keep your audience in mind and talk directly to them.

Need ideas? Read 3 Secret Weapons to Engage Your Audience.

3. Get clear on your message

Your audience won’t remember everything so you want to be really clear about what you want them to walk away.

You should be able to articulate your objective in 1 sentence. If it’s not clear to you, it not clear to anyone else.

Want a template? Grab this easy 5-minute planning tool to Get Clear on Your Message.

Hi, I’m Madeline.

I help quiet leaders and organizations communicate their story and invite audiences into their world.

Together we’ll transform how you communicate, at work, at home, in life.