A few weeks ago, I was fortunate enough to participate in a one-day public speaking course with the amazing Dr Louise Mahler. I must admit I was feeling nervously excited about the training. As well as wanting to improve my speaking and presenting skills, I was very curious as to how Louise would offer feedback to a room full of people for a full day. (It turned out to be a beautiful Feedback Festival!)
The Feedback Fitness Framework is made up of three stages, the Warm Up, Work Out and Cool Down. I was curious, how was Louise going to ‘Warm Up’ a room full of fifty people she may or may not know? She started the Warm Up early. If you look at the ‘Find out more’ section of her website, you will see that Louise starts her Feedback Warm Up before we have even signed up!
On the event information page, it states:
‘This program is not ideal for you if you:
Are not open to change.
Don’t want to do the practice.
Are not prepared for feedback.'
Before we sign up for the course, Louise lets us know we will receive feedback. It gets us used to the idea; it reduces the risk of participants feeling ‘feedback bombed’ on the day of the training.
From what I could observe, Louise greeted each and every one of us by name as we arrived (building rapport). In the first ten minutes of the day, Louise set the scene by stating her positive intentions for us and then planted a few feedback seeds. She stated:
It is important to get feedback in-the-moment’ and ‘What we need is feedback from others in-the-moment – that’s how you will change.
Louise then pulled a masterful move, she asked us (the participants) to offer HER in-the-moment feedback. Louise shared that she was working on reducing the number of times she says ‘you know’ when presenting. She told us to yell out ‘you know’ when we heard her say it. She asked us for immediate, in-the-moment feedback. She led by example. She went first. Of course, we had much fun yelling out ‘you know’ and she thanked us for the feedback.
Louise then demonstrated how she offers ‘immediate feedback’ by inviting someone (it was me!) up on stage to demonstrate a handshake. She provided me with in-the-moment, direct and immediate feedback, ‘Look up, make eye contact, right foot, right arm…straighten your arm more…move your elbows away from your body…don’t lean forward, be more upright, unclench your other fist!’
As I tried to master the handshake with Louise:
She offered me immediate feedback so I could adjust.
She let me know I was making progress.
She offered clear and concise instructions.
She offered feedback I could action and was within my control.
She provided a chance to repeat the skills - ‘Have another go’.
For the next six and a half hours, we were offered and observed in-the-moment feedback. She offered feedback about things most people observing completely missed! (e.g. – I had no idea that I clench my fists so much, am I preparing to punch someone in the face when I meet them??)
At the conclusion of the day, Louise asked us if we had any further questions, she asked us for written feedback, and invited us to connect with her. She gifted us a copy of her book Resonate so we could further improve our skills.
I highly recommend Dr Louise Mahler’s Gravitas Masterclass.