MILITARY BRIEFINGS

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MILITARY BRIEFINGS

• There are two types of speakers, those that are
  nervous and those that are liars.
• Mark Twain

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References

• Toogood, Granville The Articulate Executive
  McGraw-Hill, New York, 1996
• Hindle, Tom Making Presentations DK
  Publishers, New York, 1998
• Kirby, Tom 117 Ideas for Better Business
  Presentations booklet
• Laskowski, Lenny Dynamic Presentation Skills
  for the Business Professional
• www.si.umich.ed/pne/acadtalk.hmt
• www.college.hmco.com/communications/
• osborne
• www.la.psu/speech/100a/workbook

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The Power of Briefing

• Seizing opportunity
• Look, sound and act more like a leader
• Requires the right thinking and a correct
  attitude
• Command the room, influence the audience

Just twelve minutes in front of the right
audience can be worth more than a whole year
behind your desk.
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Types of Military Briefings

• Information
• Decision
• Mission
• Staff

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Formats

• Staff Officers Guide
• Chapter 5, Briefings
• FM 101-5 Staff Organization Operations
• - Appendix E, Military Briefings

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Characteristics of Good Briefings

• Material is relevant, interesting, well
  organized, jargon free, well known
• Voice is energetic, loud, clear, good
  pronunciation, not too fast or slow
• Body language is relaxed
• Eyes address the audience
• Clothing is appropriate
• Visual aids are clear, necessary

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Preparing Your IntroductionAn invitation to
listen

• Get your audiences attention
• Give people a reason to listen to your message
• Give people a reason to listen to you
• Consider the mood you want to set
• Consider what you do best
• Preview your message

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Preparing Your IntroductionGaining attention

• Involve your audience
• Relate a personal experience
• Ask a rhetorical question
• Create suspense

• Provide a dramatic example
• Use humor
• Open with a quotation
• Startle the audience
• Tell a story

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Building Perceptions of Integrity

• Speak from responsible knowledge
• Be honest
• Be straightforward
• Acknowledge opposing
• positions
• Demonstrate personal commitment
• Be concerned with the consequences of your words

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Perceptions of Competence(1 of 2)

• Know and understand your topic
• Refer to personal experiences with the topic
• Acquire responsible knowledge
• Cite authoritative
• sources

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Perceptions of Competence(2 of 2)

• Organize your message so it is easy to follow
• Pronounce words
• correctly
• Present your briefing
• with confidence

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Organization of the Briefing

• Introduction
• Your chance to hook the audience
• Tell the audience what you are going to say
• Body
• Tell the audience what you have to say
• Provide details and examples of the topic
• Conclusion
• Tell the audience what you said
• Summarize the main points of the body

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The Body
One theme one message
Give Examples For Each Sub-topic
Sub-topics
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2
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Nest outlines or summaries to keep audience
tracking
The Body
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The Rule of Threes

• People are naturally inclined to understand
  things in terms of three parts.

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Prepare Main Points

• Prepare a research overview
• Identify repeated information and ideas
• Limit the number of your main points
• Select points that fit your purpose
• Select points that fit your audience

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Seven Types of Briefing Structures

• Space how parts fit to form a whole
• Classification sets up categories
• Comparison highlights similarities
• Contrast highlights differences

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Seven Types of Briefing Structures

• Cause-Effect shows a relationship
• Problem-Solution persuasive
• Time events or steps in a process

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Transitions

• Telland show

Show and Tell
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Useful TransitionsExplanation

• For example
• To illustrate
• For instance
• In other words
• To simplify
• To clarify
• Case in point

Captain Murphy
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Useful TransitionsImportance

• Most importantly
• Above all
• Keep this in mind
• Remember
• Listen carefully
• Take note of
• Indeed

Dr. Alan Keyes
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Useful TransitionsNumerical order

• First
• Second
• In the first place
• To begin with
• Initially
• Subsequently
• Eventually
• Finally

Dr. Evil
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Useful TransitionsComparisons

• Alike
• Of equal importance
• Another type of
• Like
• Just as

• Compared with
• Both are
• Likewise
• In comparison
• Similarly

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Common MistakesWhen Using Transitions

• DONT use transitions at all
• Using transitions that are too short to bridge to
  the next idea
• Using the same
• transition throughout
• the briefing

Use Stickees on your notes!
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The Physical Dimension
Behind the Lectern
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Gestures

• Respond naturally to what you think, feel and see
• Create the condition for
• gesturing, not the gesture
• Make your gestures
• convincing
• Make them smooth and
• well timed

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Movement

• Why move?
• Forces people to focus and follow you
• Natural
• Relieve stress and relax
• Use three positions
• Home position
• Two relatively near
• the home position
• Three steps, moving at a
• shallow angle

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The EYES

• Know your material well
• rehearse enough so you do
• not have to depend heavily on notes
• Up, down, up!
• Establish a personal bond with listeners
• Select one person (5 to 10 seconds)
• Then shift
• Show sincerity and interest in your audience
• Monitor visual feedback
• Actively seek out valuable feedback
• Volume, bored, puzzled

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What Comes Out of Your Mouth

• Vary the pitch of your voice
• Speak loudly and clearly
• Slow down, pause
• Use conversational tone
• Listen, do you hear ahs and ums
• Focus on the bottom (deepest pitch) of your voice
  range

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EnthusiasmA combat multiplier for briefings

• Enthusiasm is contagious
• We judge others by their behavior
• If it is important enough to talk about.
• Feedback - what do you see?
• Appreciation
• Surprise
• Genuine delight
• Remember, this is person to person!

Barbara Jordon
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How to Remember the Material

• Memorizing
• Reading from
• complete text
• Using notes
• Using visual aids
• as notes

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Preparing Your ConclusionProviding closure

• Signal the speech is coming to an end
• Summarize the main points
• What mood you want to sustain
• Consider what you do best
• Give listeners something
• to remember
• Issue a call for action
• if appropriate

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Controlling Nervousness

• Know your subject cold. Be over-prepared.
• Talk to one person at a time.
• Stand up straight. Breath properly.
• Know exactly what your opening line is going to
  be.
• Say to yourself, I know what I am going to say
  and Im glad for this chance to say it.

When you are in command of your briefing, you
come across as a leader.
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Overcoming Speaking Anxiety(1 of 2)

• Know the room
• Know the audience
• Know the material
• Learn how to relax
• Visualize yourself
• speaking

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Overcoming Speaking Anxiety(2 of 2)

• Realize people want you to succeed
• Dont apologize for being nervous
• Concentrate on your message
• Turn nervousness into positive energy
• Gain experience

He who fails to prepare is preparing for failure
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Handling Questions

• Repeat so the entire audience hears
• Pause, reflect on the question before answering
• Avoid prolonged discussions with one person
• If you cant answer it, just say so
• Dont make stuff up

AFLAC!
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Practice

• The single most important factor for success
• Reflects upon you and your attitude towards the
  material and audience
• Practice all parts equally
• Rule of thumb 10 practice runs for any one
  presentation

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Dont Let Your Briefing End Up Like
This Rehearse, Rehearse and Rehearse!
Thank God it wasnt a moose!