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Michelle Singeltary blew the socks off her audience of 350+ women who attended this year’s Money Conference for Women, hosted by the YWCA of the Hartford Region in Connecticut as part of their financial literacy for women initiative.

She lived up to her impressive speaker introduction, which amongst all of the awards and accomplishments, described her as “the sassy and no nonsense woman.” Michelle Singeltary is a columnist for the Washington Post (her column the Color of Money) and is the author of Spend Well, Live Rich: how to get what you want with the money you have.

I listened to Michelle from two vantage points:

1. From the perspective of a woman who wants to and needs to get smarter about money. To read more about what I learned from Michelle about money – keeping it and making it work harder for you – click through to my summary.
2. From the perspective of an executive presentation coach who works with professionals to present themselves and their ideas to others more powerfully.

What can we learn from Michelle as a speaker / presenter?

What did she model for us that can help you to become a more powerful, confident and effective communicator in front of large groups?

Here’s what I took away:

• She spoke from the heart and brought all of her to the stage. We enjoyed Michelle as a personal finance guru; Michelle as a mother of 3; Michelle as a wife;  Michelle as a frugal, “cheap skate” who hangs on to money because “every penny has a purpose”‘ ; Michelle the faithful, church-devoted and tithing member; Michelle the woman.
• She expertly choreographed the energy build in the room, starting with a casual friendly beginning and leaving us with high energy determination.
• Her message was simple and her information was well organized. Specifically she introduced the Five S.T.E.P.S. to financial freedom and lasting wealth. Click through to read a summary of her talk.
• She was controversial and challenged our thinking with phrases like “credit is evil,” “stop swiping your life away,” and “you never save money when you spend it,” and “the sense of entitlement leads to financial ruin.” She warned our young people that they are “texting and talking way your wealth.” She motivated us with the idea that “priorities lead to prosperity” and that we must learn to discern between “needs and wants.”
• She shared personal stories throughout her presentation, including difficult stories from her family upbringing, to inspiring stories of her grandmother, to humorous moments with her children. This made us feel like she was one of us, not above the challenge and strife of life. Excellent rapport and connection with her audience.
• She included family photos in her presentation, including her wedding photo, her baby picture and teen daughter’s photo. This generated the “oooh” response from the audience and increased her likability.
• She was bold, not hesitate, to “sell” her books from the podium, including her newest one “21 day financial fast” and challenged us to take it. She did this right up front in the presentation.
• She gained our permission upfront to step on our toes and to talk straight and tough with us.
• She entertained us with streaming video, including short clips of video parodies, ridiculous but real advertising commercials to make her point.
• She allowed time for Q&A and handled it brilliantly. At one point, she had a young college graduate up in the front of the room and demonstrated how she could pay off her $60,000 in college loan debt in 2-3 years. Accountability was high in the room!

How could Michelle improve her speaking/presenting effectiveness?

I loved listening to and watching the powerful and sassy financial guru, Michelle Singletary. I have only two pieces of critique and constructive feedback for Michelle Singletary on her presentation skills:

1. Reduce the number of PowerPoint slides by 75% and clean them up. No slide, no matter how fancy or informative, can stand up to your magnificence. (you don’t even need them, really!)
2. Move away from the podium. Walk the stage. Let us enjoy your commanding presence more. It would be a real present!

With her powerful content and masterful delivery style, Michelle Singletary doesn’t need podiums or PowerPoint. She is powerful enough!

For more tips on how you can improve your presentation skill and confidence, check out our free presentation resources.

Presentation coaching investment pays off for this subject matter expert

Insurance and financial services professional, Scott Kallenbach is a graduate of the LIMRA executive development 2-day workshop Powerful, Persuasive Presentations taught by me, Kathy McAfee, executive presentation coach.

Scott also enlisted me for private session of presentation delivery coaching to give him the extra edge.

After a 4-hour focused coaching session, Scott perfected his presentation opening and closing, developed effective use of compelling props, theme, and techniques to maximize his audience engagement. Scott even used a red ladies handbag to visually drive home the message about the “power of the purse” and female spending power.

Scott called me from the airport on his way home to report the great news. Here’s what he said:

“Kathy, I just wanted to let you know that, pardon my French, but I kicked absolute [butt] today.  It was awesome.  Not only was the audience looking forward to what I had to say, they paid attention. In fact,  I used one of your suggestions to emphasize a point and told the audience to, “write this down, this is important,” and the next thing I knew, people were grabbing their pens and anxiously awaiting to hear what I was about to say.  Midway through my performance I was thinking about how much I was enjoying the experience.

When I was done, I was mobbed like a Rock Star.  Not only were people telling me what a great job I had done, but they wanted me to continue to share my thoughts. It was beyond my expectations. Thank you so much.  This was the most powerful presentation I have yet to deliver, and it strengthened the relationship with the client that extended the invitation.”

- Scott Kallenbach, Associate Director, Strategic Research, LIMRA International

The Value of 1:1 Executive Presentation Coaching & Training

When I asked Scott what he thought about the private 1:1 presentation coaching session with me, this is what he told me:

“Although you were pricey, I must admit that it was money well spent - I truly could not have done as great a job as I did without you.  Your creativity and inspiration were critical to my success.”

Scott’s comments reminded me of the old L’Oreal commercials “It’s expensive and I’m worth it!” This may be one of the best compliments that I received all year! Thanks Scott!

How Can You Benefit from Presentation Coaching/Training?

Check out our Presentation Training Workshops & Coaching Services

I happily subscribe to Seth Godin’s blog and found this short article to be interesting idea for small group presentations – you know the type where the formal PowerPoint stand-up style presentation is overkill?

The modern talking pad

by Seth Godin BLOG “marketing, tribes and respect”

“I think this is a big idea, but your mileage may vary. I’ve been having great success with a hybrid of the yellow legal pad and a printed presentation from Keynote (or Powerpoint). I use it during small meetings where more interactivity is useful, and where the group is too small for a laptop to be the best way to present slides (I think running a presentation says, “I talk, you listen…”)

Here’s how it works:

1. Create a presentation. A good one, not one filled with bullet points. Instead, graphs, images, a few words to anchor a discussion. A page might be nothing but a blank 3 x 3 grid.
2. On every page, remove some of the information.
3. Print the presentation out (horizontal, not portrait).
4. Bring it to Staples and have them spiral bind it with covers. (Not that cheap plastic comb, though.)
5. Get a good pen. Now, when you make your presentation, sit next to the person you’re meeting with and go through the booklet page by page, writing directly on each page. As you work your way through the ideas in the booklet, the two of you can talk about what’s in front of you and mark it up. It’s not a brochure, it’s the outcome of a working session. Leave it behind when you go. “

- end of Seth Godin’s blog article  -

Interesting idea, isn’t it? I can see its applications in a sales presentation and possibly other settings where the audience is small and you want to create a more intimate and interactive environment.

For more refreshing and innovative ideas from Seth Godin, you can subscribe to his blog “Marketing, Tribes and Respect”