Change Your Mindset

Today’s guest, Merle Heckman, truly understands the power of storytelling – and why it is needed in all aspects of business today.

You see, Merle works with engineers, but he’s not an engineer (he’s the Manager of Organizational Development at Regal Beloit). And when engineers give presentations, they can be dense with jargon and hard to understand... not unlike when accountants give presentations.

Merle wanted to know how individuals within his organization could give better presentations, so that the people listening could better retain and use the information being presented.

So, for his doctoral degree in Educational Leadership, he performed a study and wrote a dissertation titled, "Intentional Storytelling: A Potential Tool for Retention and Application in Business."

The research was fairly simple:

• There’s a monthly divisional meeting at Regal Beloit. Every other month, Merle coached the speakers on incorporating storytelling into their presentations, and they did this for four months. So the first month was normal, second coached, third normal, fourth coached.
• After every meeting, Merle sent two surveys: one two days after, and one two weeks after. The first survey asked questions related to retention, and the second survey asked if they had applied the information, or put it into practice.

And the results are astonishing:

• When the presenters incorporated storytelling techniques, participants put the information into practice 2.5x more often than when the presenters didn’t.

• When comparing the first presentation (no storytelling) with the second presentation (with storytelling), participants retained twice as much knowledge when there were stories. When comparing the third presentation to the fourth presentation, participants retained 81% more knowledge.

“In the business context, the story teaches. We learn how to do things … The story resonates with us in such a way that it really reaches in and it really appeals to us.” Stories give presenters the opportunity to put specialized knowledge into a context that everybody can understand.

And if the term story seems daunting, Merle sometimes uses the term “homespun illustration.” The important thing is that we're not talking about making things up; We're talking about taking real-life events and real-life situations so that you can draw similarities (or create analogies) to the truth that you're trying to give, and reinforce it.

So what type of stories should a presenter tell?

1. “The best stories are the ones that come from our lives; The best stories are the ones that we have lived.” There are so many stories out of our own personal lives that can affect, inspire, educate, guide, and teach people.
2. The second best stories are the ones we have observed in other people around us. You don't have to say the person's name, but explain how they solved a problem. Those make great, relatable examples.
3. The third best stories are the ones that we read about in books, or from history, that are true to life. These are often stories about how the Lincolns and Jobs of the worlds solved problems.

Don’t make any mistake: Teaching with storytelling isn’t easy – but it is incredibly effective.

In a world with so much information, in a world where everybody has a screen captivating their attention, the story will distinguish you as being different.

So put in the work to craft a good story – and, more importantly, practice so that you can effectively deliver that story; “Greatness is not in the performance. Greatness is in the preparation.”

Resources:

• Connect with Merle on LinkedIn
• Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die by Chip Heath & Dan Heath

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I’m really excited to introduce you all to Antonio Ocampo-Guzman, an actor, director, author, and theater teacher originally from Bogotá, Colombia. He is an Associate Professor at Northeastern University, where he teaches all levels of acting, voice, and improvisation – but not just to theater students.

Antonio has developed a number of courses for non-theater students to help people develop their “soft skills,” or interpersonal communication skills – but, as listeners to this podcast know, those skills can be very hard to comprehend and practice.

“When you bring people back to playfulness in theater, they rediscover a childlike sense of innocence, playfulness, winningest, and generosity – which makes life much easier.”

Antonio designed the first one of these courses about five years ago, for the business school. Shortly thereafter, Dean Carla Brodley asked him to design a similar course for the computer science program.

After a short pilot period, it became a required class for every single undergraduate student majoring in Computer and Information Science at Northeastern.

“You’re only alive and compelling when there’s a disruption. The status quo only perpetuates injustices and inequalities… and Improv is all a disruption.”

Resources:

• Learn more about Antonio: camd.northeastern.edu/theatre/people/antonio-ocampo-guzman
• Connect with Antonio on LinkedIn
• Read: The Inner Game of Tennis by Timothy Gallwey

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Happy New Year! To celebrate the beginning of what is sure to be another interesting year, I’ve gone through every episode from 2017 and pulled out a quote that I found impactful.

Inspired by one of these quotes? You can find an image to download and share for each one by clicking this link.

Resources:

• Connect with Pete and listen to previous episodes of the podcast at improvisnojoke.com

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Tim Sinclair is the Industry Consulting Director at the accounting firm WebsterRogers, and he has worked with more than 350 companies across the U.S. and in a variety of industries. He is passionate about helping business leaders advance and grow their companies so they can, in turn, improve the lives of their employees and their local economy.

We discuss the skills you need to develop a business, how he helps the team at WebsterRogers sharpen their business development skills, and the role improvisation plays in this process.

Business Development 101

• You need to know what makes you unique and different, and why someone should do business with you – and you need to be able to succinctly articulate that to a prospect or client.
• Active listening is a critical skill; be engaged in a conversation and curious so that you can understand what another person struggles with, what their needs are, and how you can help.
• Consider the whole experience of each meeting, and make it a unique and memorable experience. Bring an item related to their business, a gift, or something else that makes it stand out.
• Change your mindset around networking. “You’re not out selling – you’re out helping.” You need to have enough confidence in your service and what you provide so that, when you network, you see a bunch of people who need help, and you know you’re able to help them.
• Your relationships will differentiate you from technology, which will be increasingly important every year. Plus, when you develop business relationships, the likelihood of losing business diminishes dramatically.
• You should also build relationships with other people in your industry! More often than not, you’re helping each other succeed more instead of competing with each other for the same money.

Resources:

• Connect with Tim on LinkedIn
• Learn more about WebsterRogers

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Jerry L. Esselstein specializes in strategic planning, implementation strategies, personnel development, and performance measurement for private company owners, executives, and other senior management groups.

Jerry has an extensive leadership background, and our conversation focuses on the critical leadership skills needed in the modern business landscape. Although we are discussing the future of the accounting profession, you don’t need to be an accountant to enjoy this episode because this information applies to many professions and businesses.

How can professionals prepare for (and adapt to) the new and changing business environment?

• Many professions, including CPAs, will have a much more limited scope. (i.e. CPAs will likely still be giving assurance based on historic performance, but who will be involved in forecasting, advising, growth?).

• Technology such as machine learning and blockchain will do a lot of grunt work faster and better than any human will ever be able to – so a professional’s ability to do that grunt work will be less important than their ability to interpret information, apply standards, and think creatively; the skills of a trusted business advisor.

• While there will always be a need for the “pure CPA,” our clients will require more than just a CPA and an attorney – they will need trusted specialists in many areas, and all of those specialists will need a holistic understanding of the client’s business.

• Coaching, mentoring, and training need to be reintegrated into the professional education system. Competency-based education may not cut it.

• “Self-interest is killing us right now, from the president all the way down to the staff at a CPA firm.” What’s in it for me? What do I get out of it? That’s cultural, and that didn’t happen overnight.

Resources:

• Connect with Jerry on LinkedIn
• Necessary Endings: The Employees, Businesses, and Relationships That All of Us Have to Give Up in Order to Move Forward by Henry Cloud

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Boyd Search is the President & CEO of the Georgia Society of CPAs. Our conversation centers around how he approached changing the organization’s corporate culture, and the impact that the George Society is making on its members, associates, and the profession.

On Boyd’s first day as CEO of the Georgia Society almost seven years ago, I was actually his first new paying member – and I am still a member because his changes haven’t ticked me off yet!

So how (and why) is Boyd transforming the culture in the Georgia Society of CPAs?

• Boyd’s first action as CEO wasn’t actually a big change or initiative – he took time to learn about the stakeholders in the association so that he could better make a plan for the future.

• “As the world has changed, and as time becomes a more precious commodity, associations have, by and large, become more staff-driven.” The association hasn’t increased their staff, but existing staff positions now have new responsibilities, which means they’ve had to hire new staff or learn new skills.

• “When you get to change in an environment where your hair isn’t on fire, it’s a lot more fun.” The change isn’t necessarily easier when it’s not an emergency, but it can be more fun.

• Changing the culture has been a gradual process, and it’s only been possible because the leadership within the organization wanted change – that buy in from the leadership is extremely significant, whenever you’re approaching a big change within an organization.

• There are a lot of things impacting the profession. We tend to undervalue or underestimate the amount of change that needs to happen, particularly from the curriculum perspective. The George Society has taken some time to have “conversations with smart people,” in which they spend time talking to their stakeholders over dinner (That’s right, more listening!). They found a theme: things are changing so often and so fast that no one is sure where the dust is going to settle, so they should continue with an incremental approach to change.

• “There’s no question that the profession is going to face significant changes… but the reality is that there’s going to be tremendous opportunity for those who are in the business of providing validation, verification, and trust.” We need to figure out how to leverage those things, both for the good of the profession and the interest of public trust.

Resources:

• Learn more about the Georgia Society: GSCPA.org
• Connect with Boyd on LinkedIn

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Ryan Parker is the President & CEO of Endicott Clay Products and the newly installed chair of the Nebraska Society of CPA’s executive board.

Our conversation focuses on the process of adding value to your organization as you grow your career, what you should be thinking about if you aspire to be a leader within your organization, and the challenges of replacing a seasoned CEO.

How can you add value to an organization & grow as a leader?

• Some work is necessary, but doesn’t add value. “When you’re in a public accounting role, the trick is to really become an advisor. A consultant pays the pills, but it doesn’t generate revenue.” When you turn that corner and become an advisor, in any industry, you start to create work for your organization.

• Many people in technical professions understand their job, but they don’t necessarily have a comprehensive understanding of the business or industry: sales, marketing, human resources, regulations, and daily operations all matter. You need a complete understanding of a business if you want to be a trusted business advisor.

• “A lot of times, being a trusted business advisor really boils down to having conversations about people, pricing, or customers that nobody wants to have.” You have to be willing to ask questions that are difficult but, in the long term, matter a great deal.

• “You have to be willing to go out on a limb and embrace change and the unknown, and it doesn’t come easy. But if you’re not willing to embrace it, you’re going to fail… The easiest thing ever is just to react to a situation. The second easiest is when you just respond. The absolute hardest is to initiate it.” Once you can initiate change, for your own personal self-development or for the company, you can start to become what you want to become, as a professional.

• Find a mentor that you hold in high regard, whether they are in your organization or outside of it. Find out how they climbed the ladder, the values they embraced, what level of work they’ve taken on, and be honest with yourself: is that what you really want?

• “If you really want to become an executive or a partner within your firm, do whatever is needed when it comes to understanding all of the issues – don’t leave a stone unturned… You’ll be surprised at how many times you pick up the stone and look underneath of it and there’s an opportunity.”

• Accept failure as a learning opportunity – not as a punishment. If you want to grow, you have to constantly push yourself past your comfort zone, and sometimes you will fail in the process. That’s okay. So, what have you failed at today?

Resources:

• Connect with Ryan: LinkedIn | [email protected]

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Jay Sukow believes that the world would be a better place if everyone took just one improv class – and I agree! Jay is trying to make that world a reality as the Founder of Today Improv, where he teaches improv to actors, businesses, and everyone else all over the world.

Jay is also on faculty at M.i.’s Westside Comedy Theater and The Second City Hollywood, and co-host of the ImprovCast with Jay and Landon.

In the 80’s and 90’s, there wasn’t a lot of understanding about what improv was. However, after years of people like Jay working with the public and businesses, people are starting to accept and understand why improv is so beneficial in both business and life.

“Be the improviser that you want to play with; be the person in your business who you want to work with.”

When Jay and his ensemble go to work with a business, they don’t claim to be business experts – but they are experts in communication, working together, being part of an ensemble, focusing on the team first, and using information.

His goal is to get others to implement those skills within their business, or their lives, and make it a habit. And one of the most valuable skills and habits that you might learn in one of these Improv classes is Yes, And.

Because in your professional world and your personal world, you will have to say Yes, and you will have to say yes to things that you don’t want to do or else you will lose something – so learning how to say yes, in a constructive manner, is a very valuable skill.

Often times, we are struggling because we aren’t accepting something or making excuses. When we use Yes, And, we aren’t trying to find a quick way out of a problem or an acceptable way to make an excuse. We are saying before I shoot this idea down, how could it work?

“You have to accept failure. Your failure is going to help us succeed in the long run, but we’re so focused on immediate results that we don’t allow ourselves that space.”

Resources:

• Learn more about Today Improv
• Listen: ImprovCast with Jay and Landon

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Colin Blalock, a shareholder with Jones and Kolb, is a CPA with a very unique set of skills: Colin has developed a talent for understanding the nonverbal messages that people are saying. That's right – He has developed the ability to read body language, and he has delivered a number of conference presentations on this topic.

The importance of reading body language is underscored when you understand how people are interpreting your message: 7 percent is what you say, 38 percent is how you say it (the tone of your voice), and 55 percent is silent body language.

But a lot of us don't take the time to think about our own body language, and that limits how effectively we can communicate with others – or understand what they’re really communicating to us.

Colin’s Challenge & Body Language Cheat Sheet

For the next 30 days, when you get up in the morning, read this cheat sheet – the 13 keys of body language – and try to identify these things during your day. What you see, and learn, will absolutely blow you away.

Key #1  - Initial Meeting

• Plan
• Flash/return flash
• Eye contact
• Smile

Key #2  - Spacing

• Personal space
• Correct distance

Key #3 - Conflicts

• Unknown male/female (standing and sitting)
• Standing vs. sitting
• Avoid deep armchairs

Key #4 - The Handshake

• Pressure/length
• Limp wrist
• Dominate (counter)
• Get together
• Submissive
• Glove
• Double touch
• Shoulder grip

Key #5 - Appearance

• Glasses
• Best face forward

Key #6 - Cooperation/Acceptance

• Head tilt
• Eye contact
• Smile
• Speaking to a group – contact

Key #7 - Power Plays

• Control time/space
• The stare – counter
• Where you sit

Key #8 - Reading Others

• Watch for leakage
• Read my lips
• Furrowed forehead
• Buy signs
• Watch the feet
• True smile
• Copying stance/gestures

Key #9 - Common Lying Gestures

• No single sign
• The nose knows
• Gravity defying gestures and happy feet

Key #10 - Watch the Hands

• Touching objects
• Palms up/down

Key #11 - What about the Eyes?

• Audio (side to side)
• Calculating (down and left)
• Emotional (down and right)
• Deception (up and right)
• Recalling (up and left)

Key #12 - Common Barriers

• Arm fold
• One arm fold
• How to break the barrier

Key #13 - Practice!

Colin’s Favorite Body Language Books:

• Telling Lies, Paul Ekman
• • Extremely hard to read, but many books use his research.
  • Unless you really like Calculus I would pass.
• The Secret Language of Success, David Lewis
• • First book I read, 31 rules provides a good foundation;

• The book cost $0.01 and shipping is $4.24.  Accountants love rules and there are 31 Rules to follow.  Note: three books below cover many of the same points.

• The Definitive Book of Body Language, Allan and Barbara Pease
• • Excellent book and discusses issues up through former President Clinton;
  • Entertaining and useful.
• What Every BODY is Saying, Joe Navarro
• • Real life experiences working with soldiers captured in the Gulf Wars and how the same techniques are applied to interactions today;
  • Works with Fortune 500 companies now;
  • Addresses benchmarking.
• Let Me See Your Body Talk, Jan Hargrave
• • Very good book for singles;
  • Explains social interactions.
• The Silent Language of Leaders, Carol Kinsey Goman
• • Excellent book if preside over meetings or need to get a consensus from a group on issues;
  • Explains why some people “lead” and no one follows.

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Dr. David Brobeck (AKA The Problem-Solving Professor) is a professional speaker and a professor of graduate education at Walsh University. His current academic focus is researching various means to enhancing teaching and learning based on neuroscience. Regardless of the endeavor, David believes learning should be fun – and I agree!

In this interview, Dr. Brobeck shares tips and techniques we can use to make learning fun in order to increase the audience member retention rate, whether we’re presenting, teaching, at work, or at home.

Dr. Brobeck starts every presentation with a slide saying, “If you're not a fun person, you may hate the session.” He then goes on to explain that, even if you’re not fun, you might want to fake it because the brain can't tell the difference – and we know people learn more and retain more when there is humor involved.

If you look at the traditional lecture style of speaking, there’s no engagement. It's just boring data. It's just not connecting with them, and it creates boredom.

This positive or negative reaction to stimuli, whether genuine or faked, is controlled by our body’s limbic system. Amy Cuddy, a professor at Harvard and TEDTalk presenter, talks about how this system releases endorphins and cortisol into our brain, and how that affects retention.

Laughter releases endorphins, and we learn more when we have endorphins being released in our brain. Conversely, cortisol is released when we need to protect ourselves. So a stressful or boring classroom can actually cause the brain to start to protect itself, and then you don't learn as much.

You also need to let the brain shift tasks occasionally, if you want it to process and retain information. Dr. Brobeck implements a simple tool called the QRST method:

• Question - The presenter / teacher / boss poses a question related to the information they are presenting.
• Reflect - The audience is asked to reflect on this question for 10-30 seconds.
• Share - They are then asked to pair up and share their thoughts on the question with another person. After 30 seconds, the presenter gets everyone’s attention and tells everyone to switch so the second person can also share their thoughts for 30 seconds.
• Team - After everyone shares their thoughts with someone else, the presenter asks people to share what their partner told them.

Another powerful and fun presentation tool is storytelling. When people hear a good story, they equate it to their own life – and they climb inside that story with the storyteller, and they start to live with that person. So we remember experiences better when we feel like we’ve had them, and some stories are so powerful that we never forget them.

Resources:

• Learn more about Dr. Brobeck: nsaohio.com/members/name/david-brobeck/
• Watch Amy Cuddy’s TEDTalk: Your body language may shape who you are

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