On the evening of Thursday 17th May, Ann Hermann-Nedhi came along to our Club venue at the Clerkenwell Workshops to explain how you could build your presentation skills by better understanding the 'Hermann Whole Brain Model.'
Ann Herrmann-Nedhi is the current CEO of Herrmann International and an expert in the field of Whole Brain Thinking. Herrmann International was founded by Ann?s father, Ned Herrmann, the scientist and author of 'The Whole Brain Business Book', who developed the eponymous brain model. Thursday?s event was hosted by Miradorus who were supplied by PCG.
The Fist Metaphor
The workshop kicked off with Ann asking every audience member to find a buddy, and to compare foot sizes. 'Bigfoot' had to make a fist, 'Littlefoot' had to attempt to break that fist.
Some used physical force, some tickled, some bargained and some bribed!
This fist-metaphor exposed the different problem-solving methods that a small sample of 40 people called upon when faced with exactly the same problem. How is this experiment relevant to presentations? When delivering a presentation, you need to be mindful that your audience will be comprised of people who think in different ways.
The Hermann 'Whole Brain Thinking' model helps you understand different types of 'thinkers'. By better understanding the thinking-trends of others, you can more effectively gear your presentations to appeal to a diverse audience.
The Whole Brain Model
According to the Whole Brain method, the brain can be separated into two halves. The left half is analytical, the right half is creative. These two halves can be split once more. The quadrants on the left side are 'analytical' and 'organisational.' The two creative quadrants on the right side are primed for 'strategising' and 'personalising'.
The 'analytical' quadrant is statistical and logical. It thinks objectively and critically. It is money-minded and understands how things and systems work. The 'organisational' quadrant takes preventative actions. It realises risks and established procedures. It writes lists and creates itineraries.
The 'strategising' quadrant is a risk taker. It is impulsive. It always has an idea and doesn?t care about failure. The ?personalising? quarter is chatty, expressive and empathetic. It focuses on people, it tells anecdotes.
Another important thing to note is that you cannot pigeon-hole people into quadrants. It is unlikely that a person?s thinking is 100% dictated by one-quadrant. People are usually led by a mixture of two, three, or all four quadrants.
How To Satisfy a Whole Brained Audience
Ann explained to everyone that the world is 'whole brained'. In other words, if you were able to take a global average of 'brain types', there would be no dominant quadrant. Therefore, it is extremely likely that your audience will be 'whole brained'. In order to satisfy this audience, your presentation will need something for everyone.
To achieve the perfect 'holistic' presentation, you need to stand-by these watchwords: Structure, A Big Idea, Clarity and Empathy.
Structure is self-explanatory. Ann explained that presentations rely on narratives. A good presentation will be clear, linear and purposeful. Each slide will logically follow from the last. There will be no clunky transitions or awkward logic. A sound structure will satisfy the organisational left-brainers.
A Big Idea is a great device to include in a presentation for several reasons. For one, it provides an attention-grabbing precis of your presentation?s main aims. Furthermore, if you pitch an idea before you delve into the details, this will please the right-brained 'strategisers' in the audience. They don?t like getting bogged-down in facts, they would rather work with ideas and concepts.
Clarity is very important. Before you prepare your presentation, ensure that you thoroughly understand your subject matter, as this will aid the clarity of your delivery. Clarity is most important for communicating statistics and 'facts'. If the facts of your presentations aren?t presented in a clear and easily comprehensible manner, the 'analytical' members of your audience will be riled.
Speaking directly to your audience and using anecdotes to illustrate a examples are ways in which you can use empathy in presentations. The 'personalisers' in your audience will appreciate this. Personalisers are more likely to understand and remember the main-points of your presentation if you embellish them with anecdotes.
Presentation Tips
As well as the four golden words, Ann also provided the audience with a treasure trove of hints and tips.
She recommended that 'most people' aren?t very good at writing presentations at the eleventh hour. Even if you think you?re good at it, you will probably fare better if you give yourself more time. Ann explained that the brain?s ability to process information and learn is compromised when operating in this last-ditch manner.
Ann explained that you should use 'visualisation' if you have a presentation on the horizon. If you visualise yourself doing something well, this imagined-consequence is more likely to occur. As you have mentally rehearsed the situation, your brain believes that it has done it before. Therefore you brain does its best to replicate the situation, rather than having to create afresh.
In this age of smart-phones, tablets and laptops, Ann explained that you shouldn?t worry if your audience appear to be multi-tasking when they?re listening to you. The brains of your audience members are able to take small dips into the online world and still grasp what you?re communicating.
If you need to communicate facts and figures to a right-brained crowd, this may alienate your listeners. If you ask questions of the crowd, use humour or make the audience carry out physical actions, you can pull them back in.
Thank You
A massive thank you to Ann of Hermann International, to Sue and Jenny from Miradorus and to PCG. Thank you for reading, also! I hope this blog has given you new weapons for your presentation armoury.?
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