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Welcome back to transformative change. Today's topic is communication, and this is a topic I love. We're going to speak about it so many times, and why do I love it? Communication is where it all starts, being verbal, non-verbal communication. But with good communication you can change everything. You can make good things, bad things. We, as human beings, we love communications. That's how we get all the interpretations, that's how we get stuff done.

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I still remember doing presentations in school. I don't think I ever prepared properly for one. I was just very dramatic, very oral in my presentation. I loved taking the scene. That's how I saw it.

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I think I dreamt for many years, when I was a kid, to become an actor. Obviously, those dreams didn't pan out yet. So if someone is listening that's willing to offer me an actor role, I mean. But on the side of that, I think that's where it all started. I did a lot of commercials and I acted semi for small videos when I was a kid, and I think that's where it all came from.

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One of my big, first external presentations was 2013,. If I'm not mistaken, it was in Denmark. It was the first time somebody reached out and asked do you want to make a presentation? We have this type of day and I've been working on this project and I was allowed to talk about it. It was terrible. Of course, the slides they were terrible as well when I think about it, but I had a structure that was about it. I couldn't get through. I didn't understand anything. I was talking about fraud how to prevent it. Man, it was terrible. I'm getting cringe just thinking about it. But I didn't really give up and I think that I hit rock bottom after the presentation when somebody from the audience came up to me and confused me with the previous speaker and I felt like, oh, why? And then the second one was actually the large one. The second larger one was in Las Vegas in 2014. I was presenting at an IBM analytics conference and it wasn't me that was supposed to make the presentation. It was another person, but she asked this old lady. She asked oh, can you co-present because your project is so cool? And I was like, yeah, sure, I'm going, I can do that, I can be better than my previous one was what I was thinking in my head.

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And showing up in Las Vegas a few weeks later don't know what to expect really, and it's a big audience, probably 500 people or something For me that was big at that stage. And she does prep work and she's put all these slides in and I can see she is nervous. She is really nervous and I don't know really what to think because I'm focused on my stuff and I know what to do. So she goes up on stage, she does all the things you're not supposed to do when you're doing a presentation I know now at least and then she does the first slide and then she hands over to me to present her slides and I'm so caught by surprise and I was like wait what? And there's a room of 500 people there and I'm like, well, okay, so I go up, I'm prepared for presenting her slides. I have no idea. I start trying and then I just skip all of them and then I start talking about my slides and I think they're somewhere.

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It let go in me like I can be made a complete fool out of myself on stage. Doesn't really matter, does it? Now? He's gonna judge me, the audience. Well, they're doing a better job. They're up there doing something. No, I am.

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This is my room and even if I mess up, still gonna listen or leave the room, I don't care, because under the day it boils down to to me as a presenter, and as I did more and more presentations, I started realizing the better I am at communicating, both internally or externally, the more influence I have. My title doesn't matter. If you can control a room with people listening to you, if you can affect their actions, if you can motivate them, you got the world in your poem. If you do presentations and before stepping into that room people are doubting you, but after they're convinced, they're inspired, they aspire. You present a higher ideal, you show the way you do it through proper communication. There is nothing you can't do. That's how you drive change and on that topic, this is the podcast transformative change. And transformative change is the main achievement environment that significantly changes its characteristics or outcomes, and these type of change brings about deep and lasting transformations that fundamentally change the way things are done, the way people think or view certain situations, or the direction in which a society or organization is headed. The goal of transformative change is to improve the overall well-being of individuals, communities, or to address systematic problems or inequalities. In this podcast we will digest cross-cutting topics that are needed to drive a transformational change. No areas are off-limits and the purpose is to help you in your journey towards creating long lasting impact in the world. So, excuse me, communication.

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And then a few years ago 2015, 2016, something I'm not a professional presenter by then, of course, I've done a few conferences, like most of us at work in the industry or any industry we present, and every day you do some sort of presentation at your office. But I get this call, I get his call from this guy Guru, and, and somewhere in the back of my head, I am a bit restless. I want to do something more. I am fed up with what I'm doing at the bank. I was working and I'm walking towards a potential new engagement customer and I get this call and I know exactly where I was and he's pitching a new conference, the data innovation summit here in Stockholm. And he says do you want to present? And I say yes, I don't think, I even think about it. He's full of passion and I can see that this guy, he wants to do this and I want something new, I want something else, so I say yes.

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And then, of course, life happens, and life in this case was me being offered a job in the UK, in London, for Vodafone. So I moved there and I give Guru an. I call and I'm like, hey, buddy, I moved, not true, if I can do that. The conference like but this is perfect, we just change it. This has happened before, let's do it. And I pictured internally at my new employer like, yeah, sure you go, whatever. And this time my head is really set to. I want to do this. I'm gonna do this for real and I start doing research.

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I nerd out, like I do sometimes, and I get into the zone. I'm like how do you do a good presentation? How do you pick the topic? And I mean, some of the first thing I learned is around oh, you should speak clearly. You should pick a topic that you like. Don't use too much text in your PowerPoints, do short presentations, talk about something you know. Less is more, all of those things. So basically, I put together a couple of slides and I pick a lot of cool pictures and this is so fundamentally different and I think the feeling I got when I did that was wow, change is a magnificent.

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Second, when I'm not presenting technical slides, people understand the message much easier. You're able to influence, and we are so scared that, oh, if I don't put all the information on the slide, it doesn't happen or people don't know. But it's the opposite. I learned have less. You are the communication, not the PowerPoint in front of you or back of you. Less is more. Be careful, because people can't absorb the information well enough. Speak with passion, and when you speak with passion you can go off the rails. Have your notes. You don't need to know everything.

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And I think after this conference I can't remember if it was this or the one after Guru enhanced me either a bottle of champagne or a book, and I can't remember in what order. I would hope the book came first and then a champagne, but I think it was the other way around. So getting this book, and it was this book called Talk Like Ted by Carmine Gallo, and it's a really good book and I recommend you to read it if you want to improve your communication skills and if you don't know what Ted Talk are or you've been forever. Sorry, don't mean to be mean, but the Ted Talks are really amazing. They're like these short, informative, inspiring talks that really encapsulate a lot of good information, and I thought I'd walk through some of the main points if you don't have time to read it, because it aligns very well with my observations.

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I mean, today I've done probably five, six, not 700 presentations. I do a couple of weeks these days and I'm pretty proud to tightly, tightly myself as a professional speaker. I do get paid for it, and what it boils down to is pick topics that you're deeply passionate about, just as I said, but have something you're enthusiastic, and if you're doing a presentation at an organization or something, it's maybe hard to pick a topic that you're enthusiastic about. Pick an angle, because your enthusiasm it's infectious and it's important to find and convey these passions when you're speaking, because the more energies you bring in, the more excited people get. And I've noticed this. You can stand on a stage and if you have bad energy, people are going to nod off, but if you speak like this is the best thing in the world, it's just going to explode and you'll see it in people's eyes.

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Use visual engagement, and here I'm not talking about slides that are visual in the sense pictures, moving images, videos. Incorporate visuals to support the narrative and make the points more memorable. Don't just stand there. I mean, I think the expert level on this is not using any at all. You are the communication, but it takes time to do that.

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I did my first the other week. I was so nervous. I was speaking in front of executives at a dinner and I couldn't use slides and I was one of the first times and I was supposed to speak for 40 minutes and I had such anxiety for a while because I didn't know okay how, and I just picked a topic and a story that I knew very well and it was enthusiastic and it was easy. I loved it. I learned something, I went outside of my comfort zone and I think that's my next aspiration to be better at.

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Make sure that the audience, that you know who they are, what are their needs and interests, understand the audience perspective and tailor the message accordingly. Because if you speak tech and there's business people, or you speak business and there's tech people, you don't speak the same language. You can talk in different words. Make it easier for them to understand. They are the target. If they don't understand, if they leave and say I have no idea what that guy or girl was talking about, you lost.

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Practice makes perfect. So for my first presentation, I'm not even going to tell you how many times I practiced and practiced in front of the mirror, mirror. I was talking high, I was whispering, I was repeating in my head, I was walking back and forth. I don't do it as much anymore because I know it, but the amount of practice I did and remember this might be the thousand times, especially in corporate settings, that you are saying the same message, but it's the first time that people listening in are hearing it. So you have to speak with the same enthusiasm, the same script, the same message and the same tailored message as you did the first time. You can't slack. Be authentic.

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I think a lot of people would align with me when I say the worst thing you can do in a corporate setting is lying to your teeth, say words that you don't know the meaning of or you can't live up to. Oh, we are a diverse company and then there's only white men in the top floor. Oh, but we want to promote women, and then there's no female represented in the right decision forums. Oh, we have an open door policy. And then you criticize people when they speak their mind. Authenticity, being yourself, be genuine and true. Live the words you say. If you are overly scripted or overly rehearsed, that's not it. So when I rehearse, I make some main points, storylines to keep me on track, and then I go with it. I know where I'll end up, but I know somewhere what the message will be and I know that it will land hopefully quite well with the audience.

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And make sure that you position, that you have a clear and compelling central idea or message or communication. The worst thing is somebody is doing a presentation and you have no idea what they are trying to convey. Make sure it leaves a lasting impact. And you can do that either if it's an external presentation, communication family. When you plan communication, make sure that the central idea in the communication is clear and follow the rules of three and I do this all the time. Structuring your talk around three main points or ideas can make it more memorable and easier for the audience to follow and it works. And you have to do that in the beginning and the end because that's what people remember. I always not always, but most of the time I start my presentations with I'm going to give you the insights already now so you can enjoy the rest of the presentation, and then I give away the end. This is what I want you to take with and then I repeat it in the end so they can follow.

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Make sure it's not just verbal communication, that you're reading. Your body language, the gestures, the facial expressions play significant roles in communication. Be mindful of their non-verbal cues, because people can read you. If you say I love this and then your entire body shrugs, you're not loving it. If you say something like a compliment to someone but you have a face of disgust, of course we're going to know that. Make sure you connect feedback, make improvements, ask friends and family what you think about this. Feedback is crucial for good presentations. Iterate over and over. These days I still watch my old clips to remind myself of what I did wrong and how I can do it better again. And here's a very strong tip for you Connection through vulnerability.

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Share personal stories, and vulnerability is to connect with the audience that you're speaking to on a deeper level. Vulnerability is hard. I try to practice it all the time because I want to share. I want people in this world to know I'm not perfect. Might look like it, but I guarantee you I'm not. And when you're vulnerable, people see you as a human and you connect, you build an emotional connection. The power of vulnerability is around creating empathy and fostering strong connections with the listeners and the message that you're conveying.

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And another good talk is around the timeframe. These TED talks have been structured around 18 minutes or less Because that's where people pay the most attention. After that, you forget the majority of it. 18 minutes is a perfect time If somebody asks you how long do you want to speak? 18 minutes. If you can't convey a message to people remembering 18 minutes, it's not going to work better in 40 or an hour or two hours. And then always to always the end clear, cool, to action. What is it that you want the audience to do? Take steps, reflect on the presented ideas, provide actionable takeaways for the listeners and I think those were the main highlights. And by following this and practicing you'll be better at communication.

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Being better at communication is key to drive the transformative change in this world. See it as a tool in your toolkit that you can utilize when you're out there trying to present your ideas, when you're driving something at work personally or when you're doing presentations just in general. Good communication makes all the difference in the world. So what are we going to do? Be better at communication. See every opportunity as a practice. I read some statistics that public speaking comes before fear, of depth, of people's fears, and that's why we have to overcome our fears. Do it over and over again. For me, it's just another Monday, showing up in front of a room of a couple of hundred people spreading my ideas. You can do the same. Together, we can change the world with effective communication. I believe in you. Thank you so much for listening in today. Today's topic was communication. If you have any feedback, feel free to email me at infoatarrollse. Until next time. Until next time, take care.