Geronimo Leadership Coaching

Welcome

I am Marion Chapsal and I am passionate about Women in Leadership.

The purpose of this blog is to share this passion with you in a unique way, informative and entertaining.

My Focus? Leadership Coaching and  Communication Skills for Women.

Here's what you will find:

• A series on 12 Powerful Women Leaders

• A tool for Developing a Global Leadership Mindset

• A series on 6 presentation trends for The Next 10 Years

• A series on  Presentation Recipes

• Video Tips with Flip

• Mind Maps,   Cartoons,  TED Videos

• Inspiring Role Models Stories for Girls and Women

• A Powerful, Fun and Creative Online Coaching Tool

Please make your self at home, muse in the different categories thanks to the tag cloud and share your questions, opinions and ideas in the comments here or on Twitter or LinkedIn

"My purpose is to coach women, using my generosity, creativity and passion, to find their voice, communicate with confidence and enthusiasm, and develop fully as 21rst century women leaders."

3 Presentation Tips From The Comics

Are you stuck preparing for Your Next Presentation, putting together a short intro about yourself?

Follow these 3 powerful tips, your presentation will be fantastic!

• Start "as if" you were telling a story. Find the thread, the situation, the main characters and begin telling your story aloud. If you can, record yourself via your computer or your phone. A great way to do that is to tell what you are going to talk about to a trusted friend, someone who would listen to you actively and reformulate what you really want to say.

Recently, I've been lucky enough to be interviewed by 2 trusted professionals, Susan Mazza and Lolly Daskal, for their Radio Show, You Matter.Initially, I thought I would mostly talk about my business. I eventually found myself telling the story of my life and the reasons why I was into a mission of empowering women to speak and to become leaders of their own life.We started talking without a clear set of questions. However, very soon, the underlying structure, pattern, emerged, and the story shaped into flesh and soul.I clearly expressed three major events in my life, which shaped my professional life, and highlighted three women mentors.Suzan and Lolly are talented coaches, interviewers," midwives of true selves". Merci.You can listen to this story here.

• Call your Superhero! Be the hero of your own life! Use your whole self (mind, body and heart) to express what you want to say. Deliver with passion. Believe in what you are going to talk about.Be 100% certain about your intention: why you want to speak, why does it matter? Identify with your purpose, your values and stretch yourself!

How do you do that? Recall your own success stories, these fabulous moments in your life where you experienced "flow", where you felt aligned with your values, purpose, skills and actions. Reconnect with the feelings and emotions associated with these experiences of success.If you had to name a character, a "hero", fictional, historical or ordinary, who would it be? Make it personal, make it fun, make it yours. How did you feel like, in that situation of excellence, of flow? The only limit is your imagination!

My own favorite superhero is Mrs Incredible, Helen, the elastic girl, with her incredible family!

Why? She seems to integrates brilliantly work and family, is (very) powerful and has a strong sense of humor. She's flexible, warm-hearted and leads a very simple life, most of the time...

Don't get me wrong, I don't take myself for a Superhero! I can only too easily identify plenty of other role models (Garfield, Coyotte, Lucy in Peanuts, Droopy or the ugly little duck...)

But this little figurine keeps me focus, it stands on my laptop, sometimes in my pocket and gives me strangely confidence, when I need to stretch like an elastic out of my comfort zone, especially!

• Follow the magical "Rule of Three". The best stories always follow the Rule of Three.There were the three musketeers, the three little pigs, Goldilock and the three bears...

Think of the generic three-panel daily comic strip.

In the fairy tales,Jack and the Beanstalk

Jack and the Beanstalk

has Jack climb the beanstalk three times.

The wicked stepmother visits Snow White in the forest three times before she finally causes her to fall dead.

Rumpelstiltskin spins three times for the heroine and lets her guess his name three times and days.

Wicked Stepmother

 

Rumpelstiltskin

Rumpelstiltskin is a character in a fairy tale of the same name that originated in Germany . The tale was collected by the Brothers Grimm, who first published it in the 1812 edition of Children's and Household Tales...

Regarding the rule of three in presentations, much has been said already, so I recommend you read some excellent articles and tips from Max Atkinson and Nick Morgan.

Andrew Logan, in 6 minutes tells us how using the rule of three can improve your speeches by:

1. Writing triads of words, phrases, and sentences
2. Applying three-part speech outlines.
3. Adding an unexpected twist to the third element   (from BoomBoomBoom to BoomBoomBANG!)
   

        

“We find something complete and satisfying in a group of three, like a three-legged stool that can stand firmly on uneven ground”  Nick Morgan

"One of the attractions of the three-part lists is that they create an impression of completeness. Lists with only two items in them sound inadequate, while lists of four items or more are more difficult for an audience to take in." Max Atkinson.

Take Action, now!

Use the power of Comics and Storytelling

• What is Your Story?

• Who is Your Superhero?

• How could You use The Rule of Three?

Believe in Yourself and Speak Up!

If "Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony."  as Mahatma Gandhi said, then when I express myself via comics, stories and fairy tales, I feel happy and in harmony!

Next post will be how to use comics "figurines" to improve confidence, develop focus and achieve your goals.

Smoothest Transition from Mulcahy to Burns: Sisterhood at The Workplace?

A Fairy Tale Story in The Corporate World

Once upon a time, there was a poor little girl, named Ursula. She was raised by her single mother in a New York City housing project. Because she received the lessons of love from her mother, the gift of maths and has never been afraid to speak her mind, she worked her way courageously to the top, overcoming gender, social class, color barriers.

• This little girl has grown into a 51 year old powerful woman : Ursula Burns. She took over the helm of Xerox in june 2009, replacing retired CEO Anne M. Mulcahy and becoming the first African-American woman to be chief executive of a Fortune 500 company.

•   Now she has become a role model for future generations!

“When I was that little girl growing up, my story seemed unimaginable,” she said. “I had class against me, gender against me and race against me.”

During the same time, I can't help noticing that Disney introduced First Black Princess, Tiana, in "The Princess and the Frog". Read the Washington Post Article here.

All the ingredients of a fairy tale are there, in Ursula Burns's story

The initial situation the dark forest of the poorest areas of New York

The obstacles: gender, class, color

The quest : "To Be Good, to Give and To Be Successful"

The values of a pure heart: Hard work, Generosity and Humility

The Fairy God Mother: Ursula Burns' Mother

Ursula Burns’ mother died 25 years ago. "But she  is perched on my shoulder whispering encouragement and keeping me honest, keeping me humble."

She would say "You have to give more than you take away from the world. You have to learn and you have to be curious.You have to perform at your best. You have to worry about the things you can control. Don’t become a victim.”

The Education of the Hero : Ursula Burns earned a bachelor’s degree from Polytechnic Institute of New York and a master of science degree in mechanical engineering from Columbia University.

The First Trials : she almost left the company and disagreed many times

The Magical Potion: she Speaks her Mind, from her True Voice

The Wiser Women, the mentors among which the charismatic Anne Mulcahy

The Happy Ending : First African American Woman CEO , same year as Barak Obama is elected first African American president

Her message is simply beautiful:

“Believe That There Are No Limitations, No Barriers to Your Success – You Will Be Empowered and You Will Achieve.”

"Where You Are is not Who Your Are"

I have been reading articles about this awesome woman, watching videos, hearing her speeches and "I fell under her spell".

What first started with another article about women speakers, illustrating one of the 12 dimensions of the SPM profile, became an adventure into a "wondercorporateland".

I also relate to her mother/ daughter relationship. My mother died 23 years ago, and her message to us, her 3 daughters, was to find our own voice and express it no matter what. The voice that she couldn't find herself, and died from that.

I am also grateful for all the wonderful wise women I've found on my way who played key roles in my life, helping me find my own voice and share what I had to say.

So I decided to write a three part post.

• First: the Fairy Tale and the Heroine's Journey

• Second: The 6 lessons of Leadership

• Third:  Finding Your Voice: Ursula Burns's Speaking Style

Your turn...Take a moment to reflect:

What does this story inspire you?

How could you be transforming your life, right now, if you really believed in yourself, believe that there are no limitations.

What would you achieve?

Giving a Great Presentation Is Like Cooking a Great Meal.

There are three subjects that passionate me : Women, Cartoons and ...Cooking!

• You already had a taste about my first passion with  a series on Women Speakers (the second is coming out soon!)

• I love comics, cartoons characters and animated movies (here more on Pixar, Disney, The Incredibles, the use of figurines in learning and coaching, Ratatouille, and many more to come!)

• Now I am starting another series on Presentations Recipes From The Around The World  (first with Roman Cooking, Presentation a la Cicero!)
  

Thanks to Lisa Braithwaite 's initiative to create a Ning group: Speak Schmeak, on Making Presentations Fun, we had a virtual brainstorming discussion about Food and Presentation, triggered by my Story of M&Ms...

Here's what Steve Cherches shared:

"I once opened a presentation skills class by saying (with spatula in hand) "They say that giving a great presentation is like cooking a great meal." Then I asked them as a group to come up with 20 ways that presenting is like cooking a great meal. This lead to a 45 minute discussion touching on most of the things we were going to cover throughout the two day class. It opened up one of the best discussions I've ever had in a class.

Maybe you could have participants put together their own cooking show to develop their presentation skills. They can even have a Top Chef competition. Sounds like a fun way to get people going."

I love this idea! Organizing a Top Chef competition to teach people presentation skills!

What do you think about that?

...I already have some ideas about where it would take place, in my home town Lyon, The Capital of Gastronomy.

As you may have guessed, the idea would be to promote Women Chefs, as well as men, since women are missing leadership positions not only as CEO's, but as Restaurant Chefs and conductors.

Next two posts :

1. Cooking Recipe: Presentation "à la Ciceron"
2. Women Chefs: Cherchez La Femme!

What a Professor, Chef Gusto and Ratatouille Can Teach Us About Presentation...

Yesterday, I had the greatest pleasure to receive in my REAL mailbox a package from The Royal Mail.

The package contained two brand new books from Max Atkinson: Lend Me Your Ears, All you need to know about making speeches and presentations and Speech-making and Presentation MADE EASY, seven essential steps to success.

What Do Professor Max Atkinson, Chef Gusto and Ratatouille have in common?

 They have the recipe of "How to make a Presentation" and I'm going to share their secret...

It had all started with Twitter, with a simple tweet from Max "I am looking for someone to translate my books in French", followed by a short exchange of DMs (direct messages) and emails. And here it comes, in my mailbox!

I read the biggest one (Lend me Your Ears) yesterday evening and again this morning, and I am even more committed to sharing it with the French audience (I also need to find a French publisher by the way!)

There is especially one sentence, at the beginning and at the end of the book, which is for me the core message:

"Anyone can do it, once they know how".

"When it comes to mastering the power of the spoken word, the only thing that separates the hesitant majority from the gifted few is an understanding of the needs of audiences and the techniques that meet those needs. Where the gifted minority has the edge is in having had the good luck of being blessed with an intuitive grasp of how to do it. The rest of us need to work at it, but the good news is that everyone who is able to get messages across in a private conversation has the potential to do the same in public...And the great thing is that anyone can do it, once they know how."  Max Atkinson in Lend Me Your Ears.

Does it ring a bell?

Watch:

In this video clip of the excellent Pixar movie Ratatouille (one of my favorite, with the Indestructibles!),

Gusto, the French Chef, whispers into Remy's ears his secret:

"Anyone Can Cook!"

I've written the dialogue as if it was taking place in your company's team:

Imagine the CEO of your company, Mr or Mrs Jones, pointing at one your newly hired team member, let's say Miss Bridget :

- Mrs Jones: "Now, who's THAT?"

- You: "Oh...Her? It's nobody."

- Mrs Jones: "Not nobody: she's part of the team"

- You: "She's  (fill in the blank with: lacks experience, not confident,, intern, introvert, shy person, hard-working but dull,not a speaker, not an expert, confused, not clear, not articulate, lacks charisma, etc....). She doesn't do presentations."

- Mrs Jones : "But...She could?"

- You: "Hum...No."

- Mrs Jones :"How do you know? What do I always say? Anyone can present!"

- You: "Well....Yeah, anyone CAN, that doesn't mean anyone SHOULD!"

Unless you learn how to!

I believe, like professor Max Atkinson and like Chef Gusto, that anyone can learn to make delicious and yummy presentations!

If you feel like my Bridget in the story, you need to find yourself a mentor, like Remy found Gusto in Ratatouille, someone who believes it IS possible.

Someone who believes in YOU.

Someone who will teach you how to and then coach you, empower you, giving you the way to find your own voice, to grow your confidence.

I shared with you "Le  Secret des Chefs", next I'm going to give you the recipe!

Little Chief, Geronimarion.

The Girl Effect

Have you heard of The Girl Effect?

It's a movement on the rise.It's no big deal...Just the future of humanity.

Why Girls?

"Adolescent girls are uniquely capable of raising the standard of living in the developing world. Girls are the most likely agents of change, but they are often invisible to their societies and to our media."

"When everyone-girls, parents, teachers, executives, artists, hairdressers, forest rangers, rock stars, presidents, investors, advertisers, skateboarders, truckers, cowboys, organizations, chefs, teenagers - knows about The Girl Effect, then real change can happen.The site is just the beginning.The end is nothing less than ending poverty."

What can we do?

First, simply watch this 2 minutes presentation, a few animated words dancing at the rythm of our thoughts. Learn how:

• Short
• Simple
• Entertaining
• Visual

Presentations can be highly effective and powerful

Then share, speak about it and contribute to the ripple effect.

Want the facts on the Power of Girls?

Go to The Girl Effect site and download the girl effect fact sheet. Very valuable information to discover and share with the world.

Why do I post such a video on a presentation skills blog?

Remember Seth Godin's eBook big buzz earlier this year? What matters for me most in 2010:

  Generosity   Women

Speaking (((((RIPPLE))))) eDO  

  Geronimo Leadership Coaching

 I  use my Generosity, Creativity and Passion to Boost Your   Next Online Presentation !

  And I really love to work with women from all generations, speaking all languages or with men who believe in women's leadership and actively support them!

The Girl Effect combines all these words, and want to be speaking about it!

Please share this post, go to the Girl Effect Site and make ripples!

4 Presentation Lessons From Dynamite Scott Berkun

 

The only thing I knew from Scott Berkun until now, from France, was the huge success of his latest book with the provocative and teasing tittle "Confessions of a Public Speaker".

I read somewhere on Twitter that this guy reminded someone of Tom Cruise 's character in Magnolia.Not a big fan of Tom Cruise, let alone of The Preacher ' style, so I didn't investigate further.

This guy looked a little like dynamite for me, red and dangerous!

By mistake, I picked up one extract in Spanish, but actually, since I don't understand Spanish, it's less insulting to watch!(sorry the Spanish speakers, the content might be very rude). Just check the first minute and the body language gives you enough clues to understand what's going on...

Then I read "How to be Passionate" (when you open your mouth) and stopped to watch Scott Berkun for the first time. I made my own judgement. Make yours!

Scott Berkun 's 4 "lessons" :

1. My life is at stake.
2. I believe what I say .
3. I’ve extended my range.  
4. I have great respect for anyone who voluntarily listens to me.

Here's what I wrote on his blog:

"Now I understand why people talk so much about you and why you make such an impact.
It’s the first time I’m watching a video of you, and frankly, I expected you to come across much more excited and “like a preacher on cocaine”.
Instead, I see simplicity, honesty and humility wrapped into pure dynamite, “ignited” by 100% PRESENCE."

Triggered 3 ideas :

      1) In business presentations too,the most essential is to believe and care about what you say and why you say it.

No wonder we, as presentation coaches and trainers, find it so hard for corporate clients to express themselves with Passion. Do they believe in what they say? Do they actually feel that put their life at stake when they present? Do they respect those who listen to them?…
Our role is to remind them of the fire which is burning inside of them.Why do they CARE?
Taking them back in touch with their inner child is one way.Telling their story is another.

      2) There’s a cultural dimension when you’re speaking in public.

I agree with Olivia Mitchell's comment that there’s a cultural dimension when you’re speaking in public. We each need to find what is the most comfortable with our personality and our culture and pay attention to the audience’s culture. But point 4 (respecting anyone who’s listening to me) should take care of that! More on cultural dimensions with my blog series on 12 Women Speakers, 12 Communication Styles , based on the SPM approach.

      3) There are other kinds of energy.

Scott Berkun talks about volume, about gestures, postures, facial expressions.Smiling and making eye contact are also potential “dynamites”.Using my background and training as a theater actress, I’ve discovered other sources of energy. It comes from within, from your desire to share. It can be turned off or full watts, just like a light bulb.You hardly need to speak very loud or gesticulate when you find it. Actually you could very much stay still and silent and be intensely present.

Tap into your desire to share and contact this energy.

What does it look like? How does it feel? How does it sound like? How could you make it grow in intensity? How could you translate it so that people around you get it and act on it directly?

I started writing this post last Friday. Meanwhile I gave two days of training in Stress Management that ended just yesterday evening.

Stress is like the fire burning inside of us which ignites the energy and the passion Scott Berkun is talking about. Too little and you're invisible or boring, too much and you're burning yourself and others!

I spent two days helping managers to "play with this fire" and learn how to handle it with great respect and courage in order to share it with honesty, simplicity and effectiveness.

Having read Scott Berkun's 4 presentation lessons helped me give this talk.I made sure that each of the participants recognized the powerful energy there was inside of them and learned how to channel it and spread it,respecting their personal rythms and differences, according to the cultural environment they were into.

I hope it will help you, too!

What sort of reactions does it trigger, for you?

How do you connect with this fire? Does it look, feel, sound like dynamite or like camp fire?

What kind of fire are you willing to share today?

About "fire", read a warming and delightful post and short video from Terrence Gargiulo in Story Matters Stories & Fire.

Fun is Incredibly Powerful in Presentation

I thought this post would be the easiest to write, in the series of Six Trends in 2010 Presentations.

Incredibly hard! I've been struggling with it for one week. Okay, there was Christmas in between, and a house still full of teenagers, their friends and a husband in holidays, all hungry all the time and wanting to be entertained...Still...I thought I'd have fun writing this last post of the year and "end in beauty" 2009.

 What is Fun? Is putting a silly hat and making jokes fun? Mmmm, NO!

(By the way,the title of this picture is fun "overexcited nerd")

What is NOT Fun? Serious-Hard-Tedious-Soporific-Moralistic-Preaching-Self-centered-Righteous-Perfection-BORING!

Why is Fun so hard? It's because it's often unpredictible. If I tell you I'm going to write a post about fun , I find myself seriously paralyzed by the injunction I need to find funny stuff to say...

Why is it so powerful in presentation? It makes us human and alive! And we're craving for humanity in our virtual world...

                      

What is Fun? Fun is the "E" in TED. Fun is Entertaining.Fun is humour. Fun is play. Fun is light. Fun is creative. Fun is joy. Fun is freedom. Fun is free!

Here are The TED Commendments - Rules that every speaker needs to know, thanks to Tim Longhurst.

1. Thou Shalt Not Simply Trot Out thy Usual Shtick
2. Thou Shalt Dream a Great Dream, or Show Forth a Wondrous New Thing, Or Share Something Thou Hast Never Shared Before
3. Thou Shalt Reveal thy Curiosity and Thy Passion
4. Thou Shalt Tell a Story
5. Thou Shalt Freely Comment on the Utterances of Other Speakers for the Sake of Blessed Connection and Exquisite Controversy
6. Thou Shalt Not Flaunt thine Ego. Be Thou Vulnerable. Speak of thy Failure as well as thy Success.
7. Thou Shalt Not Sell from the Stage: Neither thy Company, thy Goods, thy Writings, nor thy Desparate need for Funding; Lest Thou be Cast Aside into Outer Darkness.
8. Thou Shalt Remember all the while: Laughter is Good.
9. Thou Shalt Not Read thy Speech.
10. Thou Shalt Not Steal the Time of Them that Follow Thee

What is NOT fun? You would think statistics, graphs, data, figures are not fun.Or announcing the decline of Occident.Think again!Have you ever heard and watched Hans Roesling talk about statistics and the rise of Asia?

So you've got it. Anything can be fun, entertaining. Even the most boring business report.

Why is Fun so hard? Especially when we're speaking in public.

• Hey, we want to be taken seriously! We present our personal selves in front of others, publicly...at work!
• Work is supposed to be a serious place, (Working is for adults-Playing is for Children...)
• We don't want to make a fool of ourselves!
• We want to be in control and "masters" of the situation!
• We're supposed to be the Experts...
• We don't want to show the others that in fact...we don't know
• We are afraid of humiliation in front of our peers
  

Why is fun so powerful in presentations? And especially online?

"Le rire est le propre de l'homme"   Rabelais Laughter is unique to man said Rabelais(and not" laughter is the cleanser of man", like I found in Wikipedia!)...although laughter can clean the soul...

When we're funny and making people laugh, we are saying:

"Hey! I am a human being! Just like you!"

We make mistakes. We fail.We're authentic. REAL. VULNERABLE. ALIVE.
Opposed to the remote and virtual perfect image on our desktops...

Fun has become part of our life, personally, socially and professionally.

• Just read Peter Bregman 's article in The very academic Harvard Business Review "How to Make Problem Solving Fun?"

• Or Michael Deutch in the Mindjet 's blog "Become a presentation Superhero"

• And a last one, before this post gets too long, Carmine Gallo in Business Week "Your next presentation Should borrow from Broadway".

What are you waiting for?

When you prepare for Your Next presentation:

1. Make it Simple
2. Make it Short
3. Make it Personal
4. Make it Interactive
5. Make it Collaborative
6. Make it Fun!

And I'm still working hard on point 2!

Bonus! If you are a presenter and want to learn more about Making Presentation Fun, join Lisa Braithwaite's  Ning Network at  Speak Schmeak 

You will find, among many others, Olivia Mitchell, Steve Cherches, Cliff Atkinson, Rich Hopkins,Tony Ramos sharing stories on what they have done to add fun to a presentation.

You can share your own stories right now, in the comment box just for you!

Have a wonderful New Year's Eve

Have Fun!

Bring Your Personality When You Speak!

In the very near future, presentations are going to look:

• More simple
• Shorter
• More personal
• More Interactive
• Collaborative
• More Fun

Today's lesson: Bring your Personality when you speak!

It's Sunday afternoon and after a long and delicious traditional Sunday lunch, we're relaxing by the fireplace, reading and listening to Glenn Gould playing Goldberg Variations by Bach.

The snow is gently falling on the vineyards and orchards, kids are playing. It smells Christmas cookies and I am sending tweets about my life, because I care about the new connections I have made online, and I believe they care, too. I care about the precious information, links to articles they share with me. But not only.

I value the discovery of a kaleidoscope of different life styles, cultures, languages, humour, sensitivities, social backgrounds, educations, visions of the world. Different Personalities.

Next time you prepare your presentation,make it more personal, include a story involving you.

"It used to be that women thought they had to check their personalities at the door. But the more you need to hide, the less fulfilled you'll be. We need to bring more of ourselves into that door, into our workspace, so we feel more at home. " Charlene Li (Co-author of Groundswell, thought leader on emerging technologies)

Why Personality matters?

When people start talking about what happens to them, they become real. You can identify and you feel connected, closer. I am not speaking about disclosing your private life and secret garden, but moving from strictly professional to "more of YOU" into your professional life.

Here are two examples of how to bring Personality into presentations.

If I tell you "Everyday Revolutionaries-Hot Mommas", don't you want to know more about them ?

Rather than "Emerging Executive Women Leaders from Fortunes's 500"...well, I do. Sounds a little less boring...

This is a personal presentation. Watch!

Everyday Revolutionaries-Women Making a Difference

View more presentations from Hot Mommas Project.

Watch also this excellent Presentation where 40 extraordinary women tell their stories and how personality has played a role in building their own successful careers and businesses. You may also recognize Kathy Korman Frey , Chief hot Momma from Hot Mommas Project ,the World's largest library of virtual mentors & role models.

The Personality Project: Women of Personality 2

View more documents from Rohit Bhargava. Next Post What's an Interactive Presentation?