Speaker 1: Today's episode is another my favorite tip episode where I
Speaker 1: go back to interviews from the past and I dig
Speaker 1: out the thing that was my favorite tip, like the
Speaker 1: thing that I got out of the interview that really
Speaker 1: impacted or resonated with me. Today's extract is from my
Speaker 1: chat with Rachel Botsman. This is my second time having
Speaker 1: Rachel on the show. She was one of my all
Speaker 1: time favorite guests from the very first interview that we
Speaker 1: did early on in How I Work, and I was
Speaker 1: keen to check back in with her during COVID and
Speaker 1: see how the way that she approaches work has changed.
Speaker 1: So if you're not familiar with Rachel, she is a
Speaker 1: world renowned expert on technology and trust and the author
Speaker 1: of two best selling books. Her first book was called
Speaker 1: What's Mine Is Yours, which was all about collaborative consumption,
Speaker 1: and her second book, Who Can You Trust, explores how
Speaker 1: technology is transforming trust and what this means for life, work,
Speaker 1: and how we do business. Rachel is a Trust Fellow
Speaker 1: at Oxford University and has been recognized as one of
Speaker 1: the most creative people in Business by Fast Company and
Speaker 1: as one of the fifty most influential management thinkers in
Speaker 1: the world. She's also the host of the podcast Trust Issues,
Speaker 1: which if you haven't listened to it is excellent. I
Speaker 1: highly recommend it. And you also might have come across
Speaker 1: Rachel via her TED talks, which have been viewed by
Speaker 1: literally millions of people. So in this extract from my
Speaker 1: chat with Rachel, we talk about her strategies for creating
Speaker 1: really brilliant and engaging starts to virtual presentations, which she
Speaker 1: has been doing a lot of. I just loved what
Speaker 1: she had to say about this, and it really changed
Speaker 1: the way I think about the own virtual presentations and
Speaker 1: keynotes that I have been delivering. So let's head on
Speaker 1: over to Rachel. I want to maybe like go into
Speaker 1: the presenting context because I feel like there would be
Speaker 1: lots of listeners that you know, having to do presentations
Speaker 1: where you know, whether that be you know, possibly not
Speaker 1: as professional keynote speakers, but certainly presenting information or ideas
Speaker 1: or strategies to their team or their organizations. So talk
Speaker 1: me throughout you're thinking about presentations in the virtual world.
Speaker 2: Yeah, So, to be fair, it's up and down. So
Speaker 2: some I'm finally quite enjoyable. Like when there is an
Speaker 2: element of interaction, it is very hard to just deliver
Speaker 2: a keynote. Particularly in some of these platforms because of GDPR,
Speaker 2: you can't see an audience. So the first thing I'd
Speaker 2: say is not precious, but be particular about your environment.
Speaker 2: If you need to see people, you have to figure
Speaker 2: out a way to see people. Otherwise how you're going
Speaker 2: to create that energy and connection. The number of times
Speaker 2: I've gone on and asked the organizers, can I see
Speaker 2: the audience view? Because the presenter view or the speaker
Speaker 2: of you is different from what your audience sees. So
Speaker 2: even going through that exercise and going, oh, I see
Speaker 2: they see me like that big, like a stamp, and
Speaker 2: then they see the presentation really big, it really helps
Speaker 2: you get in the mindset and also saying actually, I'd
Speaker 2: rather be bigger than the presentation or whatever it is,
Speaker 2: you know what I mean. Like you're designing, right, You're
Speaker 2: giving them instructions for the very best possible setup. And
Speaker 2: then when it comes to presenting, I think there is
Speaker 2: an instinct to jump into presenting and that we sort
Speaker 2: of throw away those moments where you know, I think
Speaker 2: really good presenters they settle the audience, right.
Speaker 3: So if you watch a really good presenter.
Speaker 2: You go Oh yeah, I feel really comfortable with this person,
Speaker 2: or I'm in safe hands, or you've already got a feeling, right,
Speaker 2: like you've been transported to a different place.
Speaker 3: They pull you in to the feeling of.
Speaker 2: Where they want to take you, and you can do
Speaker 2: that in a virtual environment, right, So don't jump Hello.
Speaker 2: My name is Rochard Rachel Botsman. I'm an author and
Speaker 2: trust fellow Oxford University. Right, that's presentation mode. I'm now
Speaker 2: going to share my screen and we are going to
Speaker 2: talk about trust and I'm going to go through three
Speaker 2: points and then There'll be a Q and a Right now,
Speaker 2: I'm amping it up, but that's what we do, right,
Speaker 2: and we tend to talk really loudly and quickly for
Speaker 2: the first So settling people in like this takes time,
Speaker 2: and you can do it online and even sitting there smiling.
Speaker 3: At people and not speaking can be really powerful. Asking
Speaker 3: a few people.
Speaker 2: Where they are in the world, thinking about the feeling
Speaker 2: you want to create.
Speaker 3: So do you want a lot of energy? Do you
Speaker 3: want calmness? Do you want whatever it is?
Speaker 2: What's the feeling? So I think that's really key. And
Speaker 2: then when you're.
Speaker 3: In presenting mode.
Speaker 2: You know you don't have your body and you don't
Speaker 2: have to use your props, so how you use your
Speaker 2: voice and how you use pauses and intonation becomes even
Speaker 2: more important.
Speaker 3: So it's like imagining that you've got your.
Speaker 2: Hands tied behind your back and that really your expression
Speaker 2: has to come from your chest, not your throat.
Speaker 3: So I think also.
Speaker 2: Being very aware a where you're speaking from still really
Speaker 2: applies in a virtual setting.
Speaker 3: I could go on, but I'll stop there because this
Speaker 3: is fantastic.
Speaker 1: I want to delve in. I'm really interested in the
Speaker 1: idea of settling people in and I want to know,
Speaker 1: you know, in that first minute or two, like, what
Speaker 1: are some of the strategies that you've been using to
Speaker 1: create certain moods and making people feel settled.
Speaker 2: It's so different so to a completely new audience, I
Speaker 2: think you have to be a bit careful about sharing
Speaker 2: a highly personal story that you think is funny. But
Speaker 2: it's kind of like you're at home anyway, right, So
Speaker 2: that was a bit intimate, so, you know.
Speaker 3: Very safe ways.
Speaker 2: I will run a pole sometimes, so I'll run a
Speaker 2: pole that is really about the way.
Speaker 3: People are feeling.
Speaker 2: So if it's something on you know, a lot of
Speaker 2: people are worried about what to say, how do you
Speaker 2: communicate as a leader or a brand, or ask a
Speaker 2: question Mike, are you most worried that something you say
Speaker 2: will be irrelevant, inauthentic or insensitive?
Speaker 3: And then they vote and.
Speaker 2: It's an amazing way to get a read on the group, right,
Speaker 2: So you can go, Wow, for a tent of you,
Speaker 2: it's about insensitivity, and then suddenly it's become about them, right.
Speaker 2: And then if it's a smaller setting, you can ask people,
Speaker 2: So you could say, anyone who wrote the insensitivity, could
Speaker 2: you just share why you pick that above the other two?
Speaker 2: And then already they're interacting with you, right, So you've
Speaker 2: got out of that one way mode. So the poll
Speaker 2: is a brilliant tool, but making it quite personal and
Speaker 2: about them, I found is a really good kickoff tool.
Speaker 3: I think it's something.
Speaker 2: The hardest one is when something dramatic or I don't
Speaker 2: even write that something big has happened in the world
Speaker 2: that day. How do you acknowledge that without them going,
Speaker 2: oh God, we're gonna have them, you know, like it's
Speaker 2: going to be another conversation. So you want to feel
Speaker 2: like you're creating space, but you have to nod to it.
Speaker 3: So I think sometimes what I do is rather than talk.
Speaker 2: About say Cummings or Floyd or I'll say, like, our
Speaker 2: acknowledge how I feel, so I acknowledge the feelings.
Speaker 3: So I think that's that's really tricky.
Speaker 2: With audiences where I know them or the host knows
Speaker 2: me really well, I might share a story that's not funny,
Speaker 2: but there is an element of vulnerability, so I might
Speaker 2: I shared a lot of stories about homeschooling, and you
Speaker 2: have to be careful with that one as well, right,
Speaker 2: because you're not trying to divide an audience. I've seen
Speaker 2: a lot of well, I'm a parent and I'm you know,
Speaker 2: it's okay you being alone, and you have to be carefully.
Speaker 2: You're not doing that with your story. What you're saying is,
Speaker 2: you know, so I tell a story of my son
Speaker 2: decided that the school should pay me to teach him,
Speaker 2: and then I said, oh, my son, that's ay, said,
Speaker 2: ask me if the school should are paying me to
Speaker 2: teach him? And then I told him that I was
Speaker 2: paying the school still, which he thought was rather strange.
Speaker 3: So he told me he'd pay me a pound a day.
Speaker 2: So that's my worth everyone, right, that's you're going to
Speaker 2: get someone who's worth a pound a day. Now, it's
Speaker 2: kind of funny, right, But what you're doing is you're
Speaker 2: creating a vulnerability signal, and that's one of the most
Speaker 2: powerful things you can do without being emotionally flooded. So
Speaker 2: I think this is really important that you are still presenting.
Speaker 2: You are still leading this audience somewhere, and they need
Speaker 2: to feel like you're in control.
Speaker 3: So I've heard a really bad day. I hate my children,
Speaker 3: you know. I we go get three is far? I'm
Speaker 3: really pleased to be with you. Yeah, I'm exaggerated, but.
Speaker 2: I am seeing all of this right, Like, So you
Speaker 2: have to be in control, but you can and you
Speaker 2: should signal vulnerability and that's a really powerful connector. So
Speaker 2: there's some pretty obvious ones, but they are incredibly effective.
Speaker 1: That is it for today's show. If you want to
Speaker 1: listen to the full episode, I link to that in
Speaker 1: the show notes, so you might want to check that out.
Speaker 1: And if you are enjoying how I work, I would
Speaker 1: be so deeply grateful if you just take five seconds
Speaker 1: out of your day to leave a review in Apple podcasts.
Speaker 1: It might be a star rating or a few words
Speaker 1: and by doing so, it helps other people find the
Speaker 1: show and it also brings a huge smile to my face.
Speaker 1: So thank you to the hundreds of people that have
Speaker 1: left reviews. It is so deeply appreciated. So that is
Speaker 1: it for today's show and I will see you next time.