WHY RESPONSE MATTERS FOR PRESENTERS

Your Badge score in Response showcases how you are received by your audience. Do they like you? Do they hate you? Do they think you are boring? Perhaps they think you are incredibly interesting. Response is also indicative of whether you prepare your message to appeal to your audience's hearts and minds.

Chapter 21: Quadrant 3—Response

OVERVIEW

At a very young age, we were all taught the importance of being kind and nice to others. Our parents insisted we use words such as “thank you” and “please.” We were taught manners. We were taught humility. We were taught how to have a thankful heart and always think of others before ourselves.

But somehow, we began to lose this attitude of gratitude as we aged. There's the mortgage to pay, that deadline to meet, and that recital to attend. It's hard to feel grateful when there are so many demands on your life and your day.

The very act of presenting is no different. We expect people to show up. We expect them to listen. We expect them to appreciate us and our message. But that's not the reality. Audiences owe you nothing, and a mindset of entitlement rather than gratitude gets presenters in trouble.

The primary reason you should create and give a presentation is to provide value to your audience.

Think about it. When you are planning to give a presentation, you are generally consumed with questions such as:

How do I simplify my content and data?

How do I incorporate videos into my presentation?

How do I come across as authentic?

How do I avoid being anxious or nervous onstage?

How should I dress for my presentation?

They all contain “I” and not “they.” Your perspective needs to change.

CONCLUSION

Mastering the Sharing quadrant is no easy feat. It takes confidence, charisma, and lots of preparation. It's hard to be magnetic onstage, but it is not impossible. Anyone can do it if he or she is willing to put in the time and effort. Be intentional with every word and action.

REMEMBER

Dress according to your objective or brand.

Show up early to your presentation and have multiple backup plans.

Manage your fears and self-disclose intelligently.

Present with passion.

Embrace your power zones.

Avoid uptalk and vocal fry.

Be a wordsmith.

[1] http://www.slideshare.net/cmignault/20-sales-stats-that-will-change-how-you-sell-34969448/11-After_a_presentation63_of_attendeesremember.

[2] http://mentalfloss.com/article/59687/how-single-mom-created-plastic-food-storage-empire.

[3] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KfqkUGNVHlw.

[4] https://www.ted.com/talks/susan_cain_the_power_of_introverts?language=en.

[5] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EhqZ0RU95d4.

[6] https://hbr.org/2013/10/be-yourself-but-carefully.

[7] https://www.ted.com/talks/amy_cuddy_your_body_language_shapes_who_you_are?language=en.

[8] http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/power-posing-fake-it-until-you-make-it.

[9] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vocal_register#Vocal_fry_register.

[10] http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2014/05/employers-look-down-on-women-with-vocal-fry/371811/.

[11] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ZS8HqOGTbA.

Radju Marija Malta - Magazine - 2021.11.13

Kalpak Shah | Principal Architect at Studio Course.

After earning a bachelor degree in architecture from MMCA, Pune, India in 2010, Shah studied Masters in Advanced Architecture Design from Staedelschule Architecture class, Frankfurt, Germany in 2013. He also practised as an architect with gurus like Christopher Benninger, of CCBA, Pune and Bijoy Jain, of Studio Mumbai, India, between 2010-2015. After gathering such experience, he established the practice “Studio Course” in 2015.

Since the conception, the firm has been involved in several projects, working design to more levels of innovation and perfection. Their projects have been published in several international magazines such as “ArchDaily”, “Domus”, “Dezeen”, “Elle Decor”, “Design Boom”, etc. They have also won national awards at “FOAID” 2017, “Hafele Trends” 2018, “Elle Decor India Design” 2019 and international award at “A Design”, Milan, Italy 2018, “German Design Council”, Frankfurt, Germany 2019.

Hitting the roof

There’s a special feeling you get on a veranda that you just can’t get anywhere else.” - Haruki Murakami.

Located on the roof of a 12 storey building of a duplex apartment in Sopan Baug, Pune, India, this space was conceptualized as a ‘Veranda’ [Hindi meaning: a transitional space between public and private area or, between a house and street]. A concept, which truly conjures up an image of a welcoming social space meant for all.

Traditionally, verandas have always been an integral part of our homes. However, in recent years, to a certain degree forgotten and disappeared. A veranda was always an element central to making our houses into homes, an accidental space for long conversations, a place for one to relax and unwind.

But, the ‘Veranda on the Roof’ is no accidental space. On the contrary, it is an intentional space designed to keep in mind the family occupants and their clear understanding of a special place they wanted to add to their home. This is a thoughtful space created from their lifestyle, which revolves around books, food and plants. Hence, this ‘Veranda on the Roof’ houses a library and a pantry, which extend into a terrace, or in other words, parts of terrace which are covered to accommodate a reading nook and a pantry.

The design intends a play on the senses as one approaches the place through a wooden staircase from the living room below. The existing walls of the staircase were broken down, and the roof was created to open up the space and get a better connection. This enabled us to make the Veranda into an extension to the main house below while allowing the two levels to engage in a dialogue.

Bold earthy undertones of the cement textured wells and Teak wood furniture are used to set the tone of this space. The roof library overlooks the terrace garden through a wooden glass-panelled facade, which gives a notion of an enclosure that can open up completely, blurring the boundaries of the inside from the outside.

This uniformity of space is also accentuated by the use of natural materials like cement plaster, teak wood, granite stone, and brass metal that span inside the outside. The hand movement imprints on the cement plaster constantly give a sense of tactility of the process that has undergone to make its architecture.

The low-on-clutter, minimal furniture allows for easy movement. The library unit is designed to be understated in its form to reduce its visual impact consciously. For example, a metal staircase hung from stainless steel wires on one end and anchored to a wooden beam on the other leads to a storeroom above. Here, the treads are designed in a way so as to align with the shelves of the library unit perfectly. Similarly, a lot of elements such as the door handle, door stopper, tower bolts, drawer handles are custom designed to follow this language with the notion to fade away.

The fully equipped pantry on the terrace continues to have the same language for exploring the novel idea of cooking outdoors. Walking on the gravel produces a sound that triggers the memory of being in the outdoors. The gravel floor is used in parts across the terrace to heighten this tangibility. A reading nook, which sits along the waterfall and a lotus pond within it, is a tranquil setting to indulge in a piece of literature with the garden partly screening it.

The Veranda on the roof can not only overlook the exotic view of a racecourse but also be able to create a world within its own, where one can immerse and indulge in the pleasures of one’s seeking. Veranda on the Roof turns as a refuge, where the shifting contexts have created new meanings.

[V].

Diamond Markers Clock, designed by George Nelson, 1948 - 1960 - Vitra

With his collection of Wall Clocks [1948 - 1960], George Nelson conceived a wide array of timepieces, many of which have since become icons of 1950s design.

Available from Vitra at Vivendo, Mdina Road, Qormi, QRM9011, Malta

Follow on Instagram @vivendoprojects 

Chap, designed by Konstantin Grcic, 2021 - Vitra

Chap [2021] is adaptable and versatile. The quality of its design lies in its generic appearance and universal applications, which are also the reasons why it cannot be limited to a specific function.

Available from Vitra at Vivendo, Mdina Road, Qormi, Malta.

Follow on Instagram @vivendoprojects

There’s more to Milla Montis

What happens when a world-renowned architect firm wins a competition to design a hotel?

Back in 2019, Peter Pichler Architecture won an invited competition to design a new hotel in Northern Italy. And the result?...

… Just one year later, the incredible Hotel Milla Montis was complete, but first things first. The stunning hotel is located in Maranza, in the Italian region of South Tyrol. Plenty of meadows and fields surround the well-shaped mountain of the small Alpine village just above Puster Valley, a tourist destination well known for its marvellous hiking routes.

Maranza has a significant agricultural background and the project location is augmented by its unique scenery and impressive panoramic views of the Dolomites Mountains. The structure is fragmented into four shifted volumes which break down the scale of the entire system while at the same time respects the scale of the surrounding buildings.

The composition was inspired by the region’s vernacular architecture and the classic wooden barn, reinventing a contemporary reinterpretation of this typology. Interestingly, the curved shape of the exoskeleton facade is inspired by the pitchfork used by local farmers.

The interiors are simple and functional, forming a timeless Alpine style, with rooms enjoying the incredible views of the Dolomites - the restaurant on the entrance level, which is located at the top, the 14 hotel rooms and 16 suites [all with their private loggia or terrace] and the wellness area on the lowest level.

Milla Montis invites guests to focus on the essentials and to perceive the surroundings with all their senses: the mountain panorama, which seems ever changing throughout the day; the culinary temptations that the host and his team prepare in the open show kitchen; the scent of meadow herbs in the hay sauna or the weightless feeling in the infinity pool, culminate in an unforgettable stay. We promise you won’t want to leave.

[V].