What is Fusion?
What is Fusion?
Part One of Five
This series is directed to program participants and management teams who “know all about Fusion.” One of the biggest barriers to learning, and to absorbing everything Fusion has to offer, is “presumptive knowing” or the consideration that “we know all about that already.” We’ve noticed, owing to our longevity in the industry, a fair number of people arrive in Florida with the consideration they already “got that Fusion thing knocked” and their experience in Weston will be a three day walk through of concepts they’ve already mastered. With due respect, you may be right. But, then again…
So, this five part series will serve as our opportunity to grab your attention and put a few new ideas into your space…with topspin.
It starts with public speaking.
Most people – untrained amateur communicators – get in their own way when it comes to meetings, speeches, presentations and phone calls. They make the cardinal mistake of beginning from their own viewpoint. They believe “they know the truth” and all they have to do is tell it to their listener and everything will come out right.
Of course, that’s usually the beginning of a difficult lesson… Perhaps you’ve noticed that corporations often encounter the same challenge – talking to themselves about themselves – while their clients look elsewhere.
So our work has traditionally begun by helping people and corporations improve their communication skills – to the point where they start to get the results they want from all their constituents.
The first lesson: “It’s not about you! It’s about them!” This covers the journey through audience analysis, composition and editing so that the presentation you give today will have no extraneous detail, and will probably differ from what you say tomorrow to a different audience with their set of expectations and circumstances.
The second lesson: Narrow the focus to the real purpose of business communication – to achieve a practical business result… an action taken by the listener! Most people start out thinking that their objective is to “tell the story,” or “have their say” or “tell it just like I planned it.” But hey, this is business! So you have to think beyond merely making your pitch, to how that ball will land and what you want the other guy to do with it.
Those two big ideas are central to teaching individuals, teams and companies to view their communication in a more effective, objective and professional way. As the ideas take root, our clients begin to open up and ask the personal, thorny, scary, inside-the-vest questions like: “Hey, what do I do with my hands? How do I make sure they hear me in back? How do I nail this PowerPoint? (Do you think 125 screens are enough??) I’m nervous about being in front of my peers!” or just, “I’m nervous…”
There’s not a group in the world without those issues. But they usually don’t come up until the individuals feel safe enough with the consultant (and each other) to actually put them on the table. So we start with the practical team issues, like, “How does this team identify or rate a “Win?” – a successful presentation? What constitutes a successful outcome?” As people loosen up, we get down to the basics: how to build a presentation to get a result, how to structure it for optimum recall and repeatability, how to deliver it with style and assurance, and make it look like your own. Much of our work involves helping each individual find their own unique, tailored, personal signature. They look and sound professional, and feel effective, while also being one of a kind.
A deeper aspect of the Fusion approach is the reach for significance in the work. Does it serve a higher purpose? Does it set a higher standard? Can I serve not only my own needs but those of my client and my industry?
We know you’re not just trying to make a bunch of good looking empty suits. You need excellence as a starting point. But each teammate has to connect as an intelligent part of a larger “corporate communication team.”
We’re laying that foundation – for today’s success – and for what comes after.
We can see where the road leads – effective, polished communication teams achieving results through coordinated campaigns – with literature, presentations, speeches, phone desks and the web all orbiting around a beautifully structured series of stories.
It all begins with public speaking.
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