I have gone back to playing the keyboard since this past summer. I have been privileged to play during Sunday services for myChurch here in Ottawa. Being a part of a great team of musicians and singers is really a wonderful opportunity for me to express my gifts and talents while serving God in a creative way. 

The last quarter of the year is usually the busiest time for me with regards to my speaking schedule. I usually call it my personal conference season – from the annual PASS Summit conference in Seattle, Live360 events in Orlando to the small user group meetings and SharePoint Saturday events happening within the last quarter of almost every year. Those who know me understand the amount of time, effort and resources that I put into preparing and delivering my presentations. And, I love going thru all of the work required to deliver a great presentation.

As a jazz musician myself, I find parallels in how artists think about their craft – how they prepare and deliver their art to the audience. Presentation expert Garr Reynolds (Twitter | blog), a jazz drummer  himself, wrote about how jazz relates to communication and presentations. I thought I’d share some of the things that I do both as a keyboard player and a technical presenter to deliver great technical presentations. If you are a technical professional – systems engineer, developer, database administrator, network engineer, etc. – looking to explore the world of presenting and speaking at events, read on.

1. Really know your content. No, seriously, you have got to know your content really well. As a keyboard player, as soon as I get the list of songs from my musical director, I listen to it repeatedly – in the car, on my MP3 player, my phone, my laptop, etc. I remember having to use cassette tapes almost 20 years ago and repeatedly play and rewind songs until I can barely hear them. I listen repeatedly until it becomes LSS. Likewise, as a presenter, you should know your content really well that you can talk about it for hours non-stop. Since SQL Server high availability and disaster recovery is what I specialize on, I can talk about it for hours during whiteboard sessions, consulting engagements and, yes, even presentations.
2. List and gather your props. Props are objects used on stage by actors during a performance. As a keyboard player, I have my trusty old Korg X50 music synthesizer that I use for basic playing. Earlier this year, I got introduced to the world of software synthesizers (synths) and started using Mainstage for the Mac. That means that I now have to carry both my MacBook and my Korg X50 during practices and performance. These in addition to the audio cables, audio digital interface, power adapters, etc. that go with playing keyboard using software synths. As a technical presenter, list down all of the things that you need during your presentation – be it the clicker for your presentation, a laptop running Microsoft PowerPoint or Apple Keynote, the demo workstation to show how things work, a USB thumb drive that contains a backup copy of your slides, etc. But here’s a secret that both great musicians and presenters know by heart. Legendary American jazz saxophonist and composer John Coltrane once said, “You can play a shoestring if you’re sincere.” It’s not about the tools that you use but rather how you use the tools that you have to deliver the message in a very sincere way.
3. Organize your content. So, you’ve done your research, collected as much resources as you can, gathered all of the facts, included references, etc. You’ve got everything that you need to write an entire book. Unfortunately, you’re not writing a book (or in our context, producing an album.) You can only put so much content in your music and your presentation with the given amount of time you need to deliver it. When I search for information about a song that I need to play, I try to answer these basic questions:
   • FOUNDATION: “What really needs to be there?” Any piece of music will have melody which is identified by the chords and scales. This is a must and should not be  compromised. Similarly, a technical content needs to have the foundational information. Without the foundational information, the audience will get lost along the way. If advanced concepts need to be covered, don’t assume that everyone in the audience would know it but rather build it in implicitly without them knowing it. It’s like having kids do complex calculus by starting off with basic math.
   • THEME: “What message am I trying to convey?” Did you think that music is just an arrangement of notes organized to make you feel something when you hear it? Music is an expression of one’s self. That’s why there are lyrics that pertain to love, amusement, anger, etc. and they resonate within you when you hear them. That’s why there are theme songs for movies and advertisements. A technical presentation is no different. And that starts with the abstract. The abstract gives the audience a roadmap of what to expect in your content. This is also the reason why we have to really think about writing the abstract because it sets the audience up for the right expectations.
   • STORY: “How does my story look like?” The best music that you will hear are the ones that have stories embedded within them. One example that I could think of is that of Bob Carlisle’s Butterfly Kisses.  Take a moment to listen to that song. It touches our heart because it resonates within us. Similarly, a technical presentation needs to have some story wrapped within it so that the attendees can connect with the presenter on a personal level. This is a very tough item to consider and, honestly, I still struggle with this even after more than 15 years of presenting.  I think because technical professionals are so wrapped within the confines of their work environment that it’s hard to find the emotional connection with servers and databases (although I know a few folks who fell in love with their database server that they wouldn’t want to replace them.)  But let me assure you that there is always a story that you can find and relate to your topic if you search hard enough, even if it isn’t our own story. One of the best story that I tell in my disaster recovery presentations was that of having to personally endure the effects of the second largest volcanic eruption in the 20th century.
   • TRIM: “What can I exclude?” Great musicians know which notes NOT to play. Great leaders know which tasks NOT to do. “Are you saying that I just wasted all of that time and effort researching content that I am supposed to throw away?” Well, I didn’t say anything about throwing away content. All I said was EXCLUDE. It’s interesting to listen to music that consists of only 4 notes instead of 10. But those 4 notes are properly selected to sometimes produce sound that is way better than having 10 notes. In the same way, pick a handful of ideas from the content that you’ve already researched that your audience would consider the most important ones. Focus is key here. You would be surprised at how much your audience will appreciate the level of focus that you put into your content once your presentation is over. Oh, and about that content that you’ve researched? That will come in handy during the Q & A portion. It may end up being a topic for a blog post. In fact, you’re reading one right now.
   • GRAVY: “What can I include that may not be as important but would spice up the content even more?” I keep this to a minimum as much as I can. In fact, I only consider this once I have addressed the first four. You can call this your Easter egg or embellishment. When playing a piece of music, I usually try to squeeze in an unusual chord or tone that would make the sound even better with anyone barely even noticing it unless it was recorded and intentionally analyzed. I do it mostly for fun and experimentation without leading the listeners away from enjoying the music. I do the same thing with my technical presentations – be it a picture in the slide deck or a text in my sample code that I’m demonstrating. People who are aware may be able to pick it up but don’t sweat it if nobody doesn’t. This is for me because I want to make delivering presentations fun.

Did I say “part 1” in the title? That’s because there really is a lot to consider whether you’re an aspiring musician or a technical presenter. We’ll continue on in the next blog post where I’ll talk about the other things that I do to deliver great presentations. You might want to hang in there a bit until the final part where I explain the process behind all of these. Stay tuned.

More Broken Glass by autowitch

Black baseball cap with a fashionable army jacket. That’s the image that people who know me recognize when they hear my name. When I started speaking at conferences and events here in North America, I became intentional about the image that I project. Let’s just say that everything started with a profile photo I gave Microsoft Singapore for use in their marketing collaterals. I couldn’t find a professional-looking profile photo when they asked for one back in 2007 for a conference I’m scheduled to speak at. So I gave them one that I have. I was wearing a baseball cap. That photo instantly became my official profile photo – from the book chapters I wrote to the case study documents from Microsoft Learning. And so I’ve decided to maintain that image and became very intentional about its consistency. I’ve also taught professionals how brand consistency helps in improving their career. A simple test that I do is perform a Google search on my name and check the results. If I get the results that I want consistently – be it the profile photos or keyword combinations – that means I have done a good job in creating the brand that I want.

I like doing experiments. I always like to try something new to test a hypothesis or just to break away from the rut. Several days ago at an event where I am supposed to speak at, I’ve decided to do a social experiment. I’ve decided to abandon the “baseball cap and the army jacket” image and just stick with my good old fashion self, the one where you can barely see hair on my head. On top of that, I’ve decided to include my new personal assistant – my eyeglasses – as part of my image. I wanted to test if I have successfully created a personal brand throughout these years. I knew the side effects of being inconsistent with my personal brand when I’ve decided to rename my LinkedIn and Twitter profiles several months ago. And so I went on with the experiment. The people who knew me well didn’t have much problems recognizing me. They were confused at first but have gotten over it. Moving on. I walked among the crowd. I heard people saying they wanted to attend my session. That’s not surprising since I knew many people wanted to learn more about the topic that I’m going to present on. What’s really surprising is what happened next. I heard people asking if they’ve already seen me. Some of the event organizers are starting to become restless because they couldn’t find me anywhere. Somebody told them that I was already at the venue. They just couldn’t find me. Or maybe they were looking for somebody else. Maybe they were looking for the guy wearing a baseball cap and the army jacket.

The experiment highlights few key points regarding branding:

1. You/We are a brand. Whether we like it or not, our personalities are our brand. Same is true with companies, products and services. Quit avoiding the fact. You might as well do something about it and…
2. Be intentional. Don’t wait for others to define your brand for you. You do not have control over that. Instead, define it for them. If you don’t define your brand, others will do it for you. I chose to be intentional about the brand that I have built over the years and I expect the results I’m getting.
3. Know thy self. It’s hard to define something if you don’t even understand what it is. Whether it’s a person or a product, we need to know what it i and hat it stands for. Knowing one’s self takes time but it is key to successfully creating a brand.
4. Be consistent. Imagine seeing a Coca-Cola logo with an orange colour. I can’t. That’s because I’m used to seeing it with the colour red. It becomes confusing when a brand is inconsistent. That’s the main point of my experiment. If we are inconsistent with our brand and our personality, others will be confused. Worst, they will eventually forget who you are.

If there’s one key point to consider when it comes to branding, that’s CONSISTENCY. And it doesn’t just work for branding. It does so too with leadership. You’ll earn the trust and respect of the people you lead.

Connected by Conversation by mikecogh

With all the travel that I’ve done for the past few years, I’ve learned how to pay attention to the people around me – how they talk,  act and even how they carry themselves. I’ve watched people talk to their kids, negotiate a seat on a plane, ask for favors, etc. I’ve learned a lot about people just by observing and watching them go about their life. One thing that caught my attention during my recent trip was how people like to engage in a conversation. I was on a flight from Charlotte to New York City getting ready to tighten my seat belt as I heard the flight attendant talk to one of the passengers aboard the plane (I was just a few feet away to hear their conversation.) The passenger happens to be another flight attendant who is on his way to Europe for a vacation. What’s very interesting is that their conversation evolved from the trip itinerary to the strategic approach that the airline can undertake to improve customer service and satisfaction. In a previous blog post, I’ve highlighted how merchandise staff who didn’t even go to college talked about strategic positioning of products for increased sales. This is the kind of information that leaders value. But why isn’t this kind of information making it’s way into the boardrooms? Let me tell you why. It’s because upper management have not taken that extra step of engaging their staff in conversations. Do you remember one of those conversations you’ve had with your close friends where you kept talking yet they weren’t paying any attention? I bet you stopped talking when you noticed (or maybe tried to do something to get their attention back.)

Leadership expert Dr.  John Maxwell said this in his book The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership: “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” Engaging people in conversations means more than just extracting information from individuals. It means paying attention to what matters to them. Even the small details matter. Sometimes, even as simple as listening could mean a lot. When we know that what we say matter to the listener, we’re more inclined to be open and speak more.

Leaders and managers have resorted to memos and emails to communicate their message to the organization. Unfortunately, this approach has created barriers in communication. As leaders, it is our responsibility to take that first step. Get out of your office, walk among the crowd and engage your staff in a conversation. Who knows, your next big product or service idea might come from the janitor.

Several weeks after the project went live, I was having a conversation with the project manager about the way we manage our relationships and dialogues we have with the people that matter to us. She mentioned the fact that even after celebrating her birthday just a few days ago, most of the greetings that she received were all in digital format – text messages, emails, Facebook messages, etc. The conversation concluded with the fact that greeting cards have now joined the ranks of dinosaurs and the Dodo bird on being extinct. I have to admit that while I like sending hand-written notes and letters to people, I save the reader the agony of reading my hand writing. I still remember the gruelling writing exercises that I had to go thru in grade school just to improve my hand writing – write, scribble, erase, write, and so the cycle goes. And while most people say that practice makes perfect, I just couldn’t get my hand writing right. I can’t even read my own hand writing sometimes that I always resort to typing my notes after meetings so I could legibly read and recall the ideas I wrote.

A few weeks ago, I sent the project manager and one of the application testers books that I think would be valuable to them.  Dr. John Maxwell’s book  – Everyone Communicates Few Connect  – was the latest book that I have read from the author and decided to send a copy to the project manager. For the application tester,  sent a copy of the SharePoint 2010 branding book because I believe that the book would be very helpful in her day-to-day job. Included with the book was a hand-written note thanking them for their contribution to the success of the project and described how the book would help them improve their productivity at work. I think I’ve scribbled on a few sheets of paper before finally tucking one inside the envelope and headed over the post office. I was more concerned about the recipients having a hard time reading my handwriting than the impact that it would have in their lives.

In today’s digital age where social media has taken over our modes communication, it’s so easy to take for granted the value of  inter-personal relationship. It still amazes me how people in the workplace would send an email response to a colleague that’s a few cubicles away rather than take a few steps and have a face-to-face conversation. Oh, those lovely email threads spanning multiple responses when it could have been made even clear with a phone call. Social media and the digital age only thrives because they leverage on the most important ingredient in the marketplace : PEOPLE. We humans desire to feel special and important. We love receiving feedback for the work that we do and long to be connected with the people that matter to us. That’s why people flock to Facebook and Twitter. We want to join conversations, share our uniqueness and simply feel validated. And that’s why I feel that the pen-and-paper approach of connecting with people will never go out of style.

After coming back from the PASS Community Summit in Seattle, I received a hand-written card from the project manager thanking me for the wonderful gift. She was also a big fan of Dr. John Maxwell and his books. But what really struck me was how she related the story of the application tester who received the other book. The gift came at a time when she felt really discouraged and was starting to believe that her work in the company didn’t matter. The book and the hand-written note from me made an impact in her life: it validated her value. It didn’t just make her day, it literally ignited her to become excited again with the work that she does. Most importantly, I’ve gained another level of appreciation for the hand-written letters that I send out, knowing that they do have an impact on the lives of the recipients. I’ll still make sure that they’re legible before I send them out.

Question: Have you been encouraged recently by a hand-written note? When was the last time you sent out one? You can leave a comment below.

Blake Mycoskie – CEO, Tom’s Shoes

Last week, I was privileged to be surrounded by several of the smartest and brightest minds in the global SQL Server community – Microsoft Most Valuable Professionals, certified trainers, consultants, community influencers, book authors. And when you’re with a group of highly intellectual individuals, one might think that the meaningful conversations will mostly revolve around their primary skillset, in this case, the SQL Server platform. Here are a few things that I have taken away from most of the conversations:

• Theater arts is a great opportunity to express yourself
• One can be in Canada for 20 years and still not be a Canadian citizen
• We all have issues dealing with our health insurance policies
• Growing an organization requires focusing on the important and saying “NO” to those that aren’t
• You can tell your daughter that it’s OK to be a forensics expert
• Filipinos genuinely care about others – not just in the Bay Area but everywhere they are
• New year’s resolutions can include 1024 X 768
• Smiling in a service oriented business really does generate profit
• Technology gadgets – iPad, iPhone, XBox, tablets, etc. – are therapeutic

If you look at the list above, there isn’t anything in there that’s specific to SQL Server (although we did discuss a lot about the technology.)  They are, however, stories that matter to the us. In corporate environments where “companyspeak” jargon float around quarterly meetings and PowerPoint slides, most leaders forget about one of the most important tool that they can use to connect with their staff and influence them into action: storytelling.  When we were kids, we valued the importance of “tell me a story” whether be it inside the classroom or before bedtime, something that we took for granted as we became adults.  However, stories form a connection between the communicator and the listener.  It also gives the communicator and opportunity to be authentic to the listener, showing the human side of the individual.

A compelling message is one that touches both the hearts and the minds of people. So, whether you’re delivering a message about a radical organizational change, a technical presentation or simply teaching a lesson, try storytelling. Let me know how it worked for you. Post your comments below.

 “If you can not measure it, you can not improve it.“

The problem with personal growth is that we don’t intentionally measure it.  So, we end up guessing if there was indeed some improvement or not. And if we do see some improvement, we wonder how it came about.

A few years ago, while helping my brother-in-law look for a wedding photographer, my wife and I got in touch with the pastor-friend of ours who took up photography as a hobby. He actually was our “official” photographer during our wedding  but, back then, it was just simply that – a hobby.  Now, imagine that this has been about 3 years after he shot our wedding so he had almost forgotten about what he did. He specifically asked for our wedding photos to refresh his memory about what camera and, probably, the techniques he used. He was surprised when he saw our wedding photos. In fact, he started criticizing the lighting, the composition  and anything he could possibly bash at (he didn’t physically assaulted the photos). Strikingly, it led him to say, “Did I actually take these photos?” Obviously, he saw the difference between what he did back then and what he was doing now. But definitely not before seeing our now 3-year-old wedding photos.

I was in the same boat as our pastor-friend was these past few days as I was preparing for a presentation. I do a lot of research and preparation before I deliver a presentation and, surprisingly while searching for a sample PowerPoint slide online, I stumbled upon a slide deck that got uploaded for reference. It was mine and it was about 4 years old. And, I did ask the same question, “Did I actually create and deliver this presentation?” To prove my point, I took a slide from that deck and a similar one from a more recent deck. You be the judge.

versus

It’s pretty obvious that there is indeed a big difference. But that also comes as a result of a 4-year difference. A better way to measure growth is to do a before-and-after comparison even as you take small, simple steps. Here’s how you may want to do it.

1. Build a growth plan. This is a must. You can never measure your growth if you didn’t have anything in the first place. It’s like building a house without a blueprint. Your growth plan has to be specific because every goal is different. For example, I have a growth plan for developing my technical skills. That is relatively different from my growth plan to develop my leadership skills and my presentation skills. Software Engineer and author Sid Savara has outlined how you can come up with a personal development plan. The key word here is personal. It has to be your own and not someone else’s.
2. Create milestones on your plan. Once you have a growth plan going, you need to set up milestones on those plans. We use milestones on the road to tell us how far we’ve gone on our travel. Same thing with our growth plan. You can break down your growth plan into sections and define a milestone after completing a section. Those milestones will definitely tell you how far you’ve gone into your growth plan. Trust me when I tell you that they prove to be great motivators.
3. Do the measurement yourself. You’ve got a plan and you’ve created milestones on your plan. Now you work though it and measure your progress – even how small they seem to be. You’d see fitness professionals tell you to hop on to that weighing scale every day and record what you see.  Measurement is a great way to tell you that what you’re doing is indeed making sense because you’re getting results. I measure the amount of time it takes to deliver a presentation by rehearsing to make sure I don’t go beyond the allotted time. I measure how many leadership and business books I read to see if I’m hitting my goal. And since you defined the metrics, you know what to measure. However, be careful in choosing the right metrics. Most people just measure without understanding the right metrics. If I’m just counting the number of books I read, they’ll just be that – numbers. Aside from that metric, I measure the impact of the book in my life by applying key principles I’ve learned. And there is a separate metric for that. That’s why it is important to define the proper and relevant metric so that you don’t end up just recording numbers.
4. Let others measure. This is a scary one. Most people don’t even want others to know that they have a growth plan, let alone asking to be evaluated or criticized. That’s why you need to carefully choose the right people to enlist in your growth plan. This not only gives you the support you need to keep going but also the right perspective when measuring your growth. Being too close to your growth plan sometimes gives you too much familiarity that you tend to lose sight of other perspectives. When I started measuring how I was doing when it comes to preparing and delivering presentations, I thought I was going nowhere. I kept looking at previous presentations while working on a current one and end up getting frustrated because I don’t see any progress. That’s because I’m way too familiar with what I’m doing. Only when I started asking for feedback from others that I got the sense that I was indeed making progress. I wasn’t seeing what they saw and they did provide the right perspective. But it wasn’t easy doing it the first time.

As you’re on your way to growing on a regular basis, remember to take measurements along the way. You’ll be surprised at how far you’ve gone. I’d like to hear how you’re measuring your growth. You can leave a comment below.

Twitter Post 19-July-2009

Yesterday, I delivered my very first 24 Hours of PASS presentation via webcast.  There’s something about doing a task the first time that generates a lot of butterflies in your stomach. I guess I know how that feels as I try to do a lot of “first time” stuff.

Immediately after my presentation, I started monitoring Twitter posts to gather feedback from the attendees.   Here’s what I saw.

You need to know a few things about my presentation style to really understand why these types of feedback matter to me. First, I use graphics a lot. Simply because I’m a big believer in the concept of visual learning.  That we are hard wired to learn more effectively by visual representation of concepts instead of words. And I use this concept in my presentations. Second, I tell stories. Because we all love stories whether hearing or telling them. So whenever I deliver a presentation, I spend a LOT of time formulating a story line that highlights the concepts that I teach as well as researching pictures that will represent those concepts. Add to that the technical preparation when a demo needs to accompany a presentation – preparing my virtual machines, writing the scripts, testing my demo, etc. Which is why delivering a presentation for me is a labor of love considering the amount of time and effort that I invest in preparation.

Now, you may ask, where do I see risk taking in all of these? I’m glad you asked because it’s the reason why you’re reading this blog post.  Risk always involves deviation from expected results or outcome. If you’ve sat in one or more presentations, you know how it feels like to listen to boring speakers with PowerPoint slides that contain a ton of information. I used to be like that. I bore the attendees with my slides, literally wasting their precious time listening to me. If I did the same things I’ve done throughout the years that I’ve delivered presentations, I’d get the same results. Which is why I call it taking a risk. I was taking steps that I knew would deviate from expected results.
Back then, I wished I didn’t have to make those changes.  They were difficult to make and very time consuming. It required me to think out-of-the-box when it comes to delivering presentations that I wasn’t really comfortable with. It’s like trying to write with your left hand when you’ve been writing with your right hand your entire life.   But I made the decision and took the plunge. Was I aware of the possible results? Yes, I was. I was aware that people may or may not accept the outcome. In fact, the first time I did a presentation here in Canada where I used a lot of graphics, few attendees did not like it. And I’m pretty sure not everyone will like it because it is deviating from the expected results. But I will definitely continue to do it. Why? Because there will come a time when my presentation style will become the norm. By then, I will start to make changes to my current approach and continue taking risks.

If you’ve wondered if the risk was worth taking, I suggest you ask those who’ve attended my presentations from SQLRally 2011 in Orlando or simply catch me live in one of my upcoming presentations.

Have you taken any risks lately? If you haven’t what is keeping you from doing so? Share your story here.