Stop the Music!

Recently, I went on a fast. You are familiar with the term, “fast,” right? No? Well, you’re not alone. Both Merriam-Webster online and dictionary.reference.com failed to list my intended meaning when I searched for “fast.” A search for “fasting” did yield the proper results:

fast [fast, fahst]

–verb (used without object)

1. to abstain from all food.

2. to eat only sparingly or of certain kinds of food, esp. as a religious observance.

–verb (used with object)

3. to cause to abstain entirely from or limit food; put on a fast: to fast a patient for a day before surgery.

–noun

4. an abstinence from food, or a limiting of one’s food, esp. when voluntary and as a religious observance; fasting.

5. a day or period of fasting. 

Origin: bef. 1000; ME fasten, OE fæstan; c. G fasten, Goth fastan, ON fasta

My fast was not from food. It was a fast from being late for meetings–especially those I host. I resolved to be like Ken. Ken, one my co-workers, is legendary for being prepared for meetings. He books conference rooms 15 minutes in advance. He arrives early to make sure the equipment is working. The conference phone line is always open several minutes prior to the advertised start time. Ken is an excellent role model for how we should use the communication technology at our disposal.

I tried it. I booked the rooms early. I arrived about 10 minutes before the advertised start times. I dialed into the conferencing number 5 minutes early and proceeded to set up the computers and projectors for showing video. It was great–except for the music! At first, I didn’t mind the music that plays when I’m the only one in the conference call. After 5 or 10 times I was ready to quit. Now I understand why I was always late: I subconsciously tried to avoid the music!

To my great relief, I recently discovered that hidden among the various secret button combinations is the * key. According to the Conferencing user’s guide the call leader can stop the music by pressing *. Ahhhhhhhh! That’s better!

The conferencing site also had these tips:

• #83 allows the leader to end the call to prevents others from hanging on after you hang up.
• You can update caller-announcement settings by calling in and pressing “4″ to access your personal settings. Because so many people dial in late, I turn off the audio announcement so that late callers only are announced as beeps. It makes for less of an interruption.
• #81 allows the leader to mute all participants. Got somebody on the call who won’t yield to your requests to mute? #81 forces them to mute. When you do so, you can instruct any participant who would like to speak or ask a question to press #5 to mute or unmute an individual line.

The numbers and key combinations on the conferencing system you use may be different. It’s worth a few minutes of your time to check out the user’s guide! Serious! Read the manual!

Use conference calls wisely for Speaking Up!

Impromptu Speaking

We’ve been discussing one of the challenging areas of communication in the workplace – and everywhere else for that matter: First impressions. Now I’d like to shift to another equally-challenging topic: Impromptu presentations, or speaking “off the cuff,” with little or no preparation.

The reality is that we do impromptu presentations all the time. Tony Jeary wrote a wonderful book, the title of which says it all: Life is a Series of Presentations. When we interact with the Baristas at Starbucks, it’s an impromptu presentation. When we speak to the co-worker in the next cube about our plans for the weekend, it’s an impromptu presentation. When we stop and ask for directions, it’s an impromptu presentation. Far and away the vast majority of our presentations are impromptu!

(My friend, Scott Baker, the fellow who turned me on to Jeary’s book, asks interview candidates the question, “When was your last presentation?” He’s dying to have someone answer, “I’m making one right now!”)

If we are always doing impromptu presentations, and if most of us are pretty good at these daily unrehearsed interactions, why is it that we sometimes freak out about speaking on short notice? While we don’t think twice about having an impromptu conversation about last night’s ball game, we can experience considerable nervousness about taking that call from our child’s teacher, returning the defective product to the store, or responding to an unexpected question at a meeting. I believe our nervousness has its roots in the following:

• We perceive that the stakes are higher in some situations. Will we be able to influence others? Will we get the job? Can we get our money back? Will we look good to the boss or our peers?
• Sheer numbers. While comfortable in small groups, the thought of speaking up in a group of even moderate size can overwhelm us. The boss turns to us and says, “Since Sheila is out today, please give us an update on the status of your team.” All eyes turn to us. All of a sudden, the room seems very, very quiet. Yikes.
• Lack of preparation. The truth is that it’s difficult to feel comfortable at something we’re not ready for. For impromptu presentations we won’t be able to rehearse, but we can adopt formulas and strategies that will help us in our moment of need. We’ll discuss those strategies in upcoming posts to this blog.

Impromptu presentations (a.k.a. speaking off the cuff) are a key part of our overall communication arsenal. We’ll be talking more about why they are important, look at some examples, and the things we can do to prepare.