Lee Jackson - Online and Offline Motivational Speaker and Presentation Coach in organisations, businesses and education.

Lee Jackson is an Award-Winning Motivational Speaker and Presentation Coach working in organisations businesses and education to help people Get Good® - his style is engaging, authentic and jargon free.

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EMAIL: lee@leejackson.org
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You are here: Home / Archives for Lee

New: Free Get Good At Presenting Online – Top Tips Sheet inc. Zoom meeting bingo sheet!

28/05/2020 By Lee

Free Get Good At Presenting (Online and Offline) PDF Top Tips Sheet, including the famous Zoom meeting bingo sheet…

(just click the links below and save)

Online Get Good At Presenting Top Tips Sheet Lee Jackson

Offline Get Good At Presenting Top Tips Sheet Lee Jackson

 

 

Filed Under: business, leadership, powerpoint, presentationskills, slides, speaking

Technology for online presentations is not the most important thing

19/05/2020 By Lee

My video studio 200k Lee Jackson

It's been quite a journey for speakers, trainers and coaches this last few weeks. I've noticed that now the dust has settled a little, people are starting to obsess a little about their technology and seem to be making their online sessions very complicated.

I've changed, tweaked and developed my offline presentation and workshop 'Get Good At Work' into a great online session now for staff working from home too and one of the ways I have done it is to keep things simple.

Yes, I have some equipment and technology, but people pay me to present, educate, inspire, motivate and inform not to show off the latest tech or do a TV show!

So get a setup that works for you, get some lighting, a good mic and great eye contact (look at the lens).

But do not forget the great content and essential audience engagement in the rush to get speaking online!

You can book me to help your teams stay motivated at home or in the office during this new season by calling me on 01132170081 (UK) or email me here.

All info and to see me in action here: https://liinks.co/leejackson

#getgood #work #motivation

Filed Under: business, education, leadership, motivation, presentationskills, slides, speaking

The 3R’s – my first ever writings – another free weekly resource for the Covid-19 crisis

12/05/2020 By Lee

To help in this crisis I decided to give some of my resources away to help my clients and contacts. In the last few weeks, I’ve given away hundreds of books, resources and video courses.

Week 8 – Well, I partied remotely for my 50th on Friday night and even DJ-ed live for my friends on Zoom! As I turned 50, I started reflecting and thought about everything that I have written and spoken about over the years and then I came across the first ever chapter in my first ever book that I wrote back in 2001. And even now I was struck that it is the foundation of so much, to be honest, I guess it is the closest that I have got to a “life message” and in fact when I became a professional speaker it was the first ever paid talk that I delivered in my local high school here in Leeds.

The subject of prioritising relationships is very apt right now and many business people have been speaking to me about re-assessing priorities in the light of our current crisis, one told me that he is moving back home now many thousands of miles away.

Here is this weeks resource, for free, for you, enjoy and share, and as usual, there is no sign-up, no email collection, no trap doors.

It’s a little rough around the edges, but my style is still there and the message is strong and challenging. So, here is a slightly edited version for you…

The 3R’s – Lee Jackson (2001)*

After I had spent three years as the only school’s worker in Leeds, the organisation I worked for eventually had enough money to employ a second worker. This was very exciting for me, as I felt like the Lone Ranger some days! When the applications came in, we sifted through them in the normal way, except for one application. It was not on the typed form like all the others; it was a colourful, creative CV with photos and info crammed into its photocopied pages. As I glanced through it, there was a phrase that stuck out and persuaded me that we had found our next worker. It said: ‘All youth work is based on the 3R’s . . . Relationships, Relationships, Relationships.’ What a statement!

I later found out that it had been written in the middle of the night in a haze of caffeine, but aren’t a lot of good things? (Whether or not it’s an original thought is difficult to tell, of course; and yes, it does lean towards the cheesy, but still…) The 3R’s are not only applicable to youth work but to the whole of our lives. Think about it – what is more important than relationships? Our relationships with our partner, children, family and friends are the most important things in our lives. A speaker spoke at a youth workers conference I was invited to. I can’t remember much of what he said, except for one of his phrases: ‘The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing!’

The main thing for us is relationships.

Nothing is more important, and nothing comes close to matching it. The whole of this book is based on this simple piece of common sense. Putting relationships first in our lives means that everything else falls into its rightful place. Let’s face it – all men think they have healthy relationships, but how many of us really do?

Even some of the new men’s resources out there talk about being a man (Grrrr, like Tony the Tiger), but sometimes they forget that while we need manly stuff, we also need to be challenged about our relationships. I think there is a healthy balance to be found – we need typical manly-type activities combined with a challenge about our view of others.

Honesty
To move towards deeper relationships with people, we need to develop a greater sense of honesty and realness. I used to work at the Crown Court in Leeds (I thought I’d start as a criminal and work my way up!). As an admin officer, I shuffled paper from one side of my desk to the other and then went home. In the mornings there used to be a ritual that drove me mad: it was the ‘say hello to everyone’ game. Everyone used to say, ‘Hello, good morning, how are you?’ but no one ever replied honestly or ever listened for a reply! ‘Yeah, fine thanks’, ‘Not bad’ or ‘Fair to middling’ were the only responses. Some people even answered the question when you hadn’t asked them! I loved giving people more information than they wanted: ‘Well, I feel a bit tired, actually, and I’m concerned about my relationship with my wife, and my dog has fleas.’ You have never seen people run so fast. We need to get real with each other and stop covering over the cracks with our English barriers. I must admit, though, there is a fine line between being honest and becoming a constant whiner. We will have to find the balance somewhere.

Football was invented because men have got nothing to say to their mates.
Ben Elton

For men, the depth issue is easy to push further – try steering conversations away from football, cars and ‘what I would do if I won the lottery’, and see what happens. Beyond the banter and football talk there is often a man who is lonely and craves true friendship. I know that from my own life. I still have feelings of loneliness and these feelings are shared by some of my (honest) friends. Is the Internet so popular with men because you only share the bits you want to share in selective Facebook-type relationships?

Are all relationships “purpose-driven”?
I have no doubt as to the validity of such relationships, but we have to balance things up. Can we deliberately spend time with people for no reason other than to spend time with them? As someone who enjoys networking, it is difficult not to talk about work all the time, but when I don’t, it often feels great just to connect with someone. A while back my friend Simon said to me, ‘Let’s get together, Lee; I feel as if we’re drifting apart.’ We had both been busy and he was right – we needed time together, not just for the sake of our work but just for our own sakes.

An influential leader once ‘announced’ to me that he had chosen me as his friend – we had a couple of meals together and now he only talks to me when he needs something! Mmmm. Since I have prioritised the importance of relationships with others, I have spent time writing more emails and my phone bill has gone up. So it is not without its costs, but the results are worth it. I used to coach and play basketball in school and I spent considerable time with one group of sixth formers who formed a team, playing basketball with them, organising trips, breaking up fights at their parties and just hanging out with them over the summer holidays. Now they have left school, they still keep in touch and invite me to the occasional party, which is great. All the time I spent getting them back together and checking if they were all right has paid off with, I hope, friendships for many years to come. I have a special friendship with some of them and they are not embarrassed to be seen with ‘that bloke who did my assemblies’.

Our fragrance?.
But what happens if people don’t like you? I used to be in a basketball team where most of the members seemed to hate me. I left in the end because of it. I had helped them, been a faithful member of the team but, for whatever reason, they just hated me. They loved it when I missed a shot or got fouled – it was weird. I went back after I had left to play against them and they still heckled me and were delighted when we lost the match. Some people you will never connect with. I can get on with most people, but these guys simply hated me. It was odd. There is even a bit in the Bible that I found out about where it says that to some people we are a sweet smell and to some people, we are like the stench of a rotting corpse! Maybe I was the smell of death to these blokes! This idea has stayed with me as a reminder of what a responsibility we have to try to maintain good relationships with people, but sometimes you just have to shake the dust from your feet and move on. However, I do believe this is a last and not a first response, as some people seem to think. I have been a ‘sweet smell’ to some people though, you will be glad to know. I used to buy a sandwich on the way to work every Friday, and one day the shop owner said she was selling up the business and moving to France. We had always had a laugh together and I was sad to see her go. On the last day I gave her a hug and wished her well and, to my amazement, she said that there was ‘something different’ about me and she had always enjoyed serving me. Obviously, the way I ordered sandwiches was somehow different to other people’s sandwich orders! The sweet smell again? Who knows?!

Carry on loving?.
I am a big comedy fan and I love some of the old Ealing comedies and the early Carry On films. But amazingly, many of those comedians were paranoid, mean, self-destructive and lonely people. How people who are so gifted manage to destroy the people around them I will never understand. In all the biographies and documentaries of comedians, there are only one or two who are always talked of very highly. Hattie Jacques (the ward matron in the Carry On films) is one of these people. She was a true friend to the greatest collection of outcasts in film history – the Carry On cast. I may not be seen as a ‘success’ in many people’s eyes. But I genuinely hope people will talk about me as a person who cared about relationships and not just a man who achieved a lot at the expense of others.

Once you get a taste of genuine relationships, there is no going back. Anonymous meetings and shallow friendships stick out like a sore thumb when you have seen and experienced glimpses of the real thing.

A few challenges…
Arrange a meeting with someone you work with, for no reason other than to talk to them.
Try to answer more honestly when someone you know asks you how you are.
When you ask people how they are, wait to hear an answer.
Get a cheap call package and make that call you keep putting off.
When you are ‘filling up’ your diary, remember the 3R’s.
Talk to your friends about your weaknesses as well, so they know you are not superhuman and you want a real relationship with them.

Character is much easier kept than recovered.
Thomas Paine

(*Please note that the book was originally written for men, hence the anecdotes being for men!)

I give away a free resource every week on email – sign up on my website now.

#getgood #leadershipdevelopment #peopledevelopment

Filed Under: business, education, leadership, leejackson, motivation

Get Good At Work Video – Success is not a solo sport, we all need more – a little lesson from history…

05/05/2020 By Lee

Filed Under: business, education, leadership, leejackson, motivation, __EVERGREEN

Zoom in and Zoom out! Beating Zoom meeting gloom!

27/04/2020 By Lee

Zoom in and Zoom out! Beating ‘Zoom gloom’!

Since the Covid-19 lockdown and the changes in how we work have kicked in: two things have happened. One, more of us have been working from home – often wearing shorts and pyjamas to work meetings! And two, we’ve all been having more video calls.

But I don’t know if it’s just me but I can get a bit tired of them. Now, don’t get me wrong l like connecting with real people but also I’m realising that video calls are making me feel tired too. So I thought I’d investigate.

Are we all Zoom’ed out? Does looking at others on a screen make us tired?

It wasn’t just me thankfully!
According to Gianpiero Petriglieri (Associate Professor of learning and development in the workplace) even though we are meeting face to face online, video meetings are way more draining. Because we aren’t able to relax as much and we are always trying to read the little clues that people project, the micro-signals of their tone of voice, body language and even their tiny facial expressions. Phew, no wonder I get “brain fog” after long Zoom meetings because I’m working harder trying to “read people”, something that I took for granted in face-to-face meetings. He goes on in the BBC article: “…paying more attention to these consumes a lot of energy. “Our minds are together when our bodies feel we’re not. That dissonance, which causes people to have conflicting feelings, is exhausting. You cannot relax into the conversation naturally,”

Awkward.
There has also been a lot of talk above the awkwardness of online meetings. I was speaking on the phone to a friend the other day and we were talking over each other getting animated and excited and it was fine and seemed very natural. But over video you can’t talk over each other and worse than that there is often a short delay too, where the call drops or there is an awkward silence that makes us repeat ourselves. We had a call with friends last week where we had to abandon it as the connection was just not working and we spent 20 minutes saying “what”, “sorry”, ”can you say that again?” – it was the equivalent of speaking to a friend while sat on the hard shoulder of the M1 – we were talking but couldn’t hear a thing. It felt ‘odd’. No wonder we find them more tiring than face to face meetings.

Zone out.
I remember thinking as a kid how amazing video calling would be, and now it is here in full force, it is not quite all it is cracked up to be! I was on Zoom for five hours the other day and my brain was tired. But why was it, it is only a video call. I then realised that in real-world work meetings we aren’t always 100% there, let’s admit it! We all zone out a bit, i.e. when someone is speaking for too long – we tend to let our minds wander, we notice the odd paintings on the wall, and if they are really boring we start to count the tiles on the ceiling or start thinking what we are going to have for lunch. Then of course we usually zoom back in, but the act of ‘zooming out’ (no pun intended) is a little break for our brain, it’s good for us. We need to remind ourselves of that.

So if you have a long video call or a few in one day, don’t forget to:

Take regular breaks.
Try and get them to keep it to an hour!
Allow ourselves to ‘Zoom out’ occasionally.
Mute your audio/video so you can stand up, stretch and walk around.
Don’t schedule back to back video calls
Also, don’t expect yourself to be more efficient in the lockdown, we are all dealing with lots of change, so schedule rest and breaks.

Video calling is now a big part of work, and it is important, but we as humans cannot be focused on someone’s face on a screen 100% of the time, we’re not robots, so be kind to yourself, take brain breaks and hopefully we’ll start to keep video meetings useful, especially if everyone decides to get to the point a little quicker! But that’s another article altogether!

Lee Jackson is an award-winning Speaker and Presentation Coach. He delivers his ‘Get Good At Work (from home)’ sessions on and offline internationally. You can find him at leejackson.biz and on twitter @leejackson

Further reading:
https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20200421-why-zoom-video-chats-are-so-exhausting
https://www.insider.com/virtual-hangouts-why-ok-to-decline-protect-mental-health-2020-4
https://cupcakesandcashmere.com/lifestyle/a-few-ideas-for-shaking-off-that-zoom-gloom
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2020/04/coronavirus-zoom-fatigue-is-taxing-the-brain-here-is-why-that-happens/
https://www.chronicle.com/article/Why-Is-Zoom-So-Exhausting-/248619

Filed Under: business, education, leadership, motivation, presentationskills, speaking

24 free episodes of the Get Good At Presenting podcast are now available everywhere…

14/04/2020 By Lee

The latest episode is number 24, enjoy all the episodes here.

In episode 24, Lee interviews Rob Geraghty a presentation coach with a telecoms background. They talk about getting the most out of the online meetings and talks we have to deliver. They talk about ‘virtual presence’, being more punchy/conversational, the advantages of having a co-host and much more.


And don’t forget Lee’s popular ‘Get Good At Presenting’ book is available right now on Audible, you can get it via a free months trial or just buy it outright. Includes some extra content and an accompanying PDF too, just click here.

Filed Under: leejackson

The Get Good At Presenting Audiobook is now available!

24/02/2020 By Lee

Audiobook announcement!

I am delighted to say that I am now available on Audible!

My popular ‘Get Good At Presenting’ book is available right now on Audible, you can get it via a free months trial or just buy it outright.

Includes some extra content and an accompanying PDF too!

Audible U.K: https://www.audible.co.uk/pd/B084KV72BF/?source_code=AUKFrDlWS02231890H6-BK-ACX0-181647&ref=acx_bty_BK_ACX0_181647_rh_uk

Audible U.S: https://www.audible.com/pd/B084L1K6M7/?source_code=AUDFPWS0223189MWT-BK-ACX0-181647&ref=acx_bty_BK_ACX0_181647_rh_us

I can make you a better speaker in the comfort of your living room, kitchen, car or on the train!

Enjoy!

Filed Under: Audiobook, business, leadership, leejackson, Podcast, Podcast/Interview, powerpoint, presentationskills, slides, speaking

Podcast interview with Speaker Andy Cope aka Dr. Happy, available now…

24/02/2020 By Lee

A new ‘Get Good At Presenting’ Podcast episode is out now with the amazing speaker Andy Cope aka “Dr Happy!” – we had some fun !

Grab it anywhere where you get your podcasts, full info here: https://leejackson.org/podcast/

Ep17 – Lee interviews Andy Cope aka “the Dr. of Happiness”! Yes, that’s his name!

Andy has spoken to thousands of people and people often mention him to me. So I had to get him on the show. We discuss happiness, wellbeing, anxiety, presentation nerves, “emotional soup!”, being funny, after-dinner speaking, using music before gigs and lots of speaking skills including the difference between small and large audiences, all to help you to be a better speaker.

Please note that there is an occasional swear word on this episode, you know – ‘the S-word’, but it is not too bad I promise!

You can reach Andy Cope here… https://www.artofbrilliance.co.uk and on twitter he is… https://twitter.com/beingbrilliant

Lee’s Get Good At Presenting the audiobook is out now – grab it on Audible today:
https://www.audible.co.uk/pd/B084KV72BF/?source_code=AUKFrDlWS02231890H6-BK-ACX0-181647&ref=acx_bty_BK_ACX0_181647_rh_uk
https://twitter.com/leejackson 

Filed Under: business, fun, leadership, leejackson, Podcast/Interview, presentationskills, speaking

Podcast Episode 15 with Coach Jim Johnson and the story of the basketball viral sensation J-Mac

18/10/2019 By Lee

New podcast episode…
This time Lee interviews Coach Jim Johnson a US-based speaker who became a viral sensation after he asked his team manager, an autistic student, to sub into his basketball match. J-Mac scored 20 points in 4 minutes!

Amazing story, hear about it and how he now speaks about it in business and beyond…

“Err, so yes, I have managed to get basketball and speaking into the same podcast – I love my job :)”
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/get-good-at-presenting-podcast-with-lee-jackson/id1439480430
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/4JZAKkQCILYs9Le4g2nePb?si=k3y87XdSROWjikYJSMsEkw
Everywhere else: http://leejackson.org/podcast

Ep15 – Interview with US-based Professional Speaker + YouTube viral sensation Coach Jim Johnson – made famous when his high school basketball game went viral after he substituted into the game the team manager J-Mac. J-Mac is an autistic young man who went on to score 20 points in 4 minutes! Hear more of the story here.

Jim’s website is here: https://coachjimjohnson.com

The videos and more info is here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jason_McElwain

https://www.tiebreaker.com/jason-mcelwain-autistic-high-school-basketball/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tui8EOdv_VU

Filed Under: business, education, fun, leadership, motivation, Podcast/Interview, presentationskills, slides, speaking, teens

Learning from Brene Brown’s risk-taking in her famous TED Talk…

14/10/2019 By Lee

Related imageImage result for brene brown ted

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I was watching Brené Brown's Netflix special* last night and she told the story of her very popular TED talk...

...so firstly it was actually a TEDx talk (not the same at all no matter what people might hint at or where they stand in front of TEDx sign ?) and it was also at a place she had lectured at before and where she knew a third of the audience. She went there after doing 4 days of work in a corporate where she'd been challenging leaders to be more vulnerable. So challenged by her own research - she took a risk too and ditched her normal academic research style and she chose not to hide in her comfort zone. She decided on the flight back home from the corporate event to do something different this time, to take a risk herself and share more of herself and tell more personal stories. It was a big risk.

That video was recorded in front of just 300 people in her hometown and she hoped it would just sink without a trace... it has now been watched by almost 44 million people!!

Sometimes when we present we have to get out of our comfort zone and take some calculated risks, the main one being vulnerability.

Why do we see so many boring talks still?

Well, the more I do the Presentation Skills part of my job I'm convinced that delivering dull talks is more to do with anxiety, self-esteem, confidence and the fear of what others will say than actual stagecraft. Not taking risks on being ourselves can often hold us back.

Join me in January to help you find your voice, book now to get the early bird rate:

Businesses/Organisations: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/76235102243

Third Sector/Faith sector: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/76256891415

"I attended a fabulous workshop led by Lee. He is a very authentic speaker, warm, funny and very much himself. It was a great session which taught us to think differently about how we use our slides and the way we use story to express ideas. I highly recommend Lee to anyone who wants to improve their presenting skills."
University of Derby

 

*Brene's Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gr-WvA7uFDQ

*Netflix direct link: https://www.youtube.com/redirect?redir_token=WhZ721MinoRRnoRlm9qn4-O7wUV8MTU3MTEzMzMwMkAxNTcxMDQ2OTAy&event=video_description&v=gr-WvA7uFDQ&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.netflix.com%2Ftitle%2F81010166 

Filed Under: business, leadership, motivation, Podcast/Interview, presentationskills, speaking

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