Fear Factor Time Management

I read time management books the way some others read diet books.  Reading them makes me feel like I am actually doing something about time management, even if all I’m doing is reading a book.

            I have learned some good strategies, which I’ve written about in my other blog at www.nsdc.org.  Recently, however, I’ve been trying out a new strategy, which seems to be working.  Since most who read this blog are probably feeling a bit like me—too much to do, too little time—I thought I’d share my new strategy here.

            I got this idea by reading Jim Collin’s ideas about leadership.  According to Collins, the most outstanding leaders all have one thing in common:  they do the hardest to do jobs first each day.

            That has not been my approach, I have to say, at all.  I dilly dally.  I check out my fantasy hockey team. I re-organize my iTunes playlist. I fritter away time.  Then I often tackle the most enjoyable tasks, first.  Consequently, the more complex and difficult tasks start to pile up and I find myself buried under a pile of tough stuff to do.  Of course, the fact that I’m not tackling these thorny problems eats away at my emotional well-being, and I always feel a little drained knowing that I am a little bit (or a lot) behind. Sometimes I feel worn out even before I start.

            So I have found a way to fix this problem, which I call Fear Factor Time Management. What I do now is list the challenges I face that are causing me the most stress.  That is, what are the challenges that I can do something about that are waking me up at night or are the first things that pop into my mind when I wake up.  These are the tasks, that if I complete them, will bring me a little peace of mind.

I list all these tasks, and then prioritize them according to how much better I’ll feel when they are done. Usually the least enjoyable tasks, when done, bring the most peace.

Let me give you an example from last week. At the top of my list were three (of 12) tasks:  creating a job description (which was long over due), reworking a scheduling conflict, and writing a project officer about getting some new equipment for a research project.  I have no real idea why I wasn’t tackling these tasks, but when I made my Fear-Factor Action List, they ended up on top.  Then I listed when I expected to tackle each fear task.  Those three I knocked off right away, and truly, I felt a real surge of energy knowing that I had dealt with them.  I’ve been sticking with this plan each day, and it is working wonders.

One caution:  I’m not suggesting that our time should be totally driven by fear.  We need to be intentional about long-range planning, building in time for joyful, life-giving creative activities, which can be accomplished by applying the strategies I’ve already written about at the NSDC blog.  But I’ve found that applying the Fear-Factor approach can be very helpful.  In fact, now that I’ve written this blog and posted it, I’m feeling a little better about my time management skills as I’ve knocked off another task on my list.

Finding Thinking Devices

I recently received an email asking a great question:  "Where can I find good Thinking Devices for my math class?"  Thinking Devices, in case you don't know, are provocative objects we share with students to create lively conversations in the classroom. In fact you can download a mini-manual for Thinking Devices at this link and read about and download other mini-coaching manuals at the Big Four Ning. 

Coincidently, the day I received that email, I was talking about the very same topic with Laura Parn, an instructional coach in Lincoln, NE.  Laura was looking for a video to use as a Thinking Device for her elementary students to talk about measurement.  What Laura did helped me understand how I could find good Thinking Devices. 

Laura told me she sat at her computer and took a few minutes to think about things students needed to measure and convert to other forms of measurement.  She said she wanted something that would be very familiar to her students, and she came up with something simple: pennies. So, she just googled pennies and video and a bunch of options came up.  In less than a minute she found a great thinking device for a lesson on measurement, you can view it here.

I decided to try out her strategy on a higher-level topic, and I chose statistics.  Again, in less than a minute, I found a famous, but great Thinking Device for my topic.  You've probably seen it before, but watch it again as a way to introduce statistics in a high school alebra class.  You can view it here.

So here's my advice. If you're looking for video Thinking Devices, all you have to do is go on You Tube, search for your topic, poke around a bit, and you should be able to find appropriate Thinking Devices.  And if you find any great ones, we'd love to see you post them on the Big Four Ning.  

By the way, a simple way to download video from You Tube, if you haven't tried it out, is Kick You Tube.

Video and coaching

This year the coaches I work with in Kansas and Oregon are experimenting with video to support a variety of approaches to coaching.  In most cases, the coaches use Flip Cameras, iphone3Gs, or other micro cameras. These cameras are used to (a) record teachers as they try out new practices so that the video can be used for coaching conversations, (b) record model lessons that can be downloaded right onto a teacher's computer so they can review them when they wish, (c) record coaches, who then watch their coaching practices to see how they can improve.  

My friends and colleague are using video in other innovative ways.  Jean Clark in Maryland has coached teachers to record themselves teaching and then to edit the video using iMovie to create clips showing a good teaching practice and a teaching practice that could improve. The teachers then share the clips in PLCs and everyone constructively discusses what they see. Jean has found that teachers find it to be extremely powerful to edit their own video--the multiple reviews of the video, she says, are highly informative.

Lynn Fuller, an instructional technology coach, uses the iSight video camera on her Powerbook to record herself during facilitation sessions.  She just opens up her laptop, turns on the camera, and records away. Lynn says she finds reviewing the recording to be extremely educational, and she now records herself all of the time.

Watching yourself is a revelation, and it is not for the faint of heart.  Having watched myself way too much recently, during my workshops, I now know I need to diet and maybe tuck my shirt in a little better.   But watching yourself, aside for challenging your vanity, reveals information that you have no idea about until you see it. I now know that I could do a better job of providing advance organizers during, and I'm going to be working on that starting tomorrow. In fact I'm going to ask someone to tape me tomorrow, so I can see how I do. 

Next year's instructional coaching conference

Our plans for next year's coaching conference are already shaping up, and I'm excited to share some of the news.  Michael Fullan, my long-time mentor, has agreed to present on the topic of "What Coaches Need to Know About Change."  Steven Barkley, who was a real hit even though he could barely talk, has agreed to return, and, we hope he'll be in good health.  We also hope that Nancy Love will present on Data Coaching.  Right now we're gathering data on other presenters. I was so pleased with everyone who came to Lawrence this year, and I hope we can do as well next year.  So, I have two questions: (1) who would you like to see at next year's coaching conference, and (2) where would you like it to be.  We want to finalize our location very soon, but we would like to explore all options before we make that decision.  If you've got any ideas, please let me know. jimknight@mac.com.  Thanks, Jim

How do I improve as a presenter?

A good friend of mine, whom I consider a great presenter, recently emailed me the above question.  Reading her email, I was struck by the fact that perhaps the question itself is what separates the good from the great; great presenters never stop trying to find new ways to improve.

Indeed, I saw this up close and personal a few years back after Tom Guskey presented at our national CRL conference.  Tom gave an outstanding presentation; he was entertaining, highly engaging, moving, and he based his presentation on solid research. Tom had an important message to communicate, and he did it in a way that kept our attention from start to finish. When his time was up, he received an enthusiastic standing ovation.

I had the pleasure of driving Tom back to the airport after his talk, and I asked him how he became such a great presenter. I’ll never forget his response.  He said, “I’ve read every book on presenting I can find.  I’ve done everything possible that I can to learn and improve.”

From that day on, inspired by our conversation, I’ve also made it my goal to read as much as I can about presenting.  In this post, I’ll comment on a few of the best books I’ve read, and include some of the most useful ideas I’ve discovered over the years, either conducting research on Partnership Learning, my next book, or reflecting on my own presentations.  If you haven't done it already, you can download a copy of the Partnership Learning fieldbook free, here.

1. Be Passionate: Carmine Gallo, who interviewed many of the world’s greatest presenters, describes passion as one of the most important secrets of great presenters. Of course this makes sense. If you don’t believe in what you’re sharing, you can bet your audience won’t. 

So how do you make sure you’re passionate about your topic? In my case, when I talk about instruction or coaching, I remind myself of why I think the topic is so important. Improving instruction is a powerful way to do good in the world. Coaches have an impact not just on teachers but on every student those teachers ever teach.  Coaches help us to communicate better with each other, help bring diverse groups together.  I believe these ideas deeply, and on those days when I think present well I think it is at least because my passionate commitment to those topics comes through.

In any presenter there must be some powerful reason for talking. Dig deep, remind yourself of the reason, and then make sure your audience sees your passion for your subject.

2. Be Prepared: Bert Decker, Nancy Duarte, Garr Reynolds, and Cliff Atkinson have all written great explanations about how to plan and organize presentations. I recommend any of their works on this topic.  Let me note a few ideas they all suggest.  (a) Use pen, paper, and post-its to map out your presentations ahead of time. Nancy Duarte suggests using sharpie markers to write on post-its because it forces us to write only a few words for each thought. (b) Bert Decker has this great idea of identifying trigger words, simple words that capture an entire concept, story, anecdote or idea. The goal of preparing is to get all of your good ideas, learning structures, stories and anecdotes out, and then organizing your information into a tightly put together presentation.

A second form of preparation, however, is to review books and notes about how to be an effective presenter. Taking an hour or so to skim through high-lighted sections of Carmine Gallo or Bert Decker’s books, prior to presenting, will remind you of the many communication strategies you want to use while presenting.

3. Make Sure You Are Presenting, Not the PowerPoint.  Duarte and Reynolds give great advice on how to create great slides that compliment your presentation. Cliff Atkinson clarifies that when our slides have too many words, the audience has to choose between reading the slides or listening to us.  Since you’re presenting, you likely want folks to listen to you, so you should put as few words on the slides as possible.

You should give the design of your slides a great deal of attention. I believe that in the next two or three years poor quality slides will be seen as a real presentation weakness. Audiences will no longer tolerate slides that are ugly or that have too many words or distracting images. Both Reynolds and Duarte have great books on this topic. You can follow Duarte’s blog here.  You can follow Reynolds' blog here.  Both authors are also on Twitter at Reynolds and Duarte.

Also, good presenters should use slides only as an aid, and focus on connecting with the audience.  Forget the notion that you have to talk about each slide and cover every planned idea. If you start to rush through your ideas, you’ll lose your audience. A better idea is to take the time you need to cover key information, and if you have to cut info, do it for the sake of keeping people engaged.

4. Use Simple Language.  I don’t mean you should speak simplistically. What I mean is you should find the simplest way to say exactly what you mean.  As Einstein famously said, “make things as simple as possible, but no simpler.”  I've read two books about simplicity and both are worth reading. Bill Jensen’s Simplicity is one of my favorite books with many applications far beyond communication.  John Maeda, the former MIT professor who is now the new director of the Rhode Island School of Design, has also written a great book, The Laws of Simplicity, and he also has a blog I visit frequently.

Part of looking for simple language is finding the precise, correct phrasing, or wording that is memorable.  Steve Jobs is a master at this: when introducing the iphone at the MacWorld conference in 2007, he said, “today, Apple reinvents the phone,” and the iphone “puts the internet in your pocket.” Short, punchy phrases that capture the essence of your message are memorable and engaging. Good presenters are on the look out for just the right turn of phrase.

6. Recognize the Power of Non-verbals.  Be sure to turn toward your audience and make eye contact. Bert Decker suggests making no more than 5 seconds of eye contact, but being sure to sustain eye contact.  Everyone suggests stepping out from behind the podium or desk, making sure nothing stands between you and your audience. Everyone also suggests paying attention to your clothing—dressing down suggests either your don’t care enough to look your best, or you’re so confident that you can’t bother to dress up for the session—and neither message is one you want to send to your audience. You can link to Bert's blog here.

7. Speed Up/Cut back.  As Anita Archer has said, presenters are most effective if they maintain a “perky pace.”  If you’re speaking too slowly, you’ll lose your audience, so it is important to monitor the energy of your presentation style. To do that, you need to record your presentations and take a hard listen to your pace.

Also, even the most engaging presenters will struggle to maintain an audience’s attention if they don’t provide some process time for their audience. Build in activities that will keep your audience engaged. I find more than ten minutes of talk without some process time is too much.

7. Get Feedback. This is the hardest and yet probably most important method of improving.  Bert Decker talks about the power of watching yourself on video tape, and I can testify that video feedback is very useful.  But every presentation, whether or not you’re taping it, is a chance for feedback.

Every time you speak you should read your audience.  Are they engaged? Are people resting their heads on their hands?  Are people taking multiple bathroom breaks? Are people drinking a lot of water or pop? Are there side conversations?

Facing the brutal facts during a presentation can be tough on self-esteem and some situations are beyond our control, but the best way to improve is simply to monitor what works and what doesn’t work.

These are only a few ideas, and, probably not the most important, but I did want to point out the several excellent books I mention here. If you’re looking for one book on how to present, you can’t go wrong with Bert Decker (and you can follow him on twitter ).  If you’d like a book about creating slides (an essential skill), both Nancy Duarte and Garr Reynold’s books, mentioned above, are outstanding.