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EXECUTIVE PRESENCE

PROGRAM: LATHAM & WATKINS
90-MIN WEBINAR_FIRST-YEAR ASSOCIATE PROGRAM

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PROPOSAL

RUN OF SHOW

The run of show below outlines the customized program GK Training can deliver for Latham &Watkins. It offers helpful tips and deep dives into the subject matter for each component of the session. Along with the same highly actionable curriculum GK is known for, this program will calibrate its tone for a more junior audience: not skimping on the subject matter expertise, but also addressing how these skills fit in to the first months and years of a career.

Executive Presence Run of Show

90 MINUTE WORKSHOP

WELCOME

WHY: Learners need a clear moment of embarkment, and a roadmap to know where they’re going and why.

ACTIVITY: The session begins with a moment of surprise and story-telling to engage. We set expectations and cover the agenda so participants feel comfortably in the hands of a trustworthy narrator and challenged by the session’s ambition. We emphasize how the day will equip the learners with new skills that are highly relevant at this beginning stage of their career, and explicitly give them permission to get feedback and support from those around them as they navigate their new legal home at Latham & Watkins.

VIRTUOUS CYCLE OF GOOD COMMUNICATION

WHY: Both what you say and how you say it are important, and they’re connected — in ways that are obvious…and not so obvious.

HOW: We consider the relationship between Content and Delivery. While communication training typically examines (and even debates) the ratio of which matters more, we focus on how to unlock a virtuous cycle in which better delivery actually unlocks better content.

ACTIVITY: The instructor illustrates how the Virtuous (and also Vicious) Cycle evolves, using a high-stakes speaking scenario as the example.

CONTEXT:

See how our training helped Kenji use the Virtuous cycle to Eliminate “ums” and “urs” 

LEARN MORE:

Watch a quick primer on the definition of the Vicious and Virtuous Cycles of Communication. 

BREAKOUT 1
SELF-LED (Baseline)

WHY: Participants need to know where they’re starting from.

HOW: Learners establish a baseline by presenting to their colleagues in breakout groups of six or less.

ACTIVITY: Each participant has opportunity to deliver the pre-work; each participant gets equal time. (Note: for the first breakout there is no peer feedback.)

CONTEXT:

LEARN MORE:

Read this GK Blog post “To Breakout or Not to Breakout”

THREE SURPRISES

WHY: Surprises engage listeners’ minds; spoken communication has three fundamental ones.

HOW: Participants learn GK’s 3 suprises about good communication: 1. it comes from using more of yourself, not less; 2. it comes from being focused on the other person; 3. you do not need to feel confident to project confidence.

ACTIVITY: Participants consider the bandwidth with which kids communicate; they complete a thought experiment about 4 one-to-one communication scenarios and embed the key realization with a mneumonic exercise; and they lay the groundwork for liberating themselves from the “confidence trap,” via volunteer or call-and-response (if live), or chat feed (if remote).

CONTEXT:

Learn more about the confidence trap and the twin hazards of thought suppression and distinction in our 10-year anniversary message.

LEARN MORE:

Curious about why surprises are so useful? Watch this excerpt from our online training program.

THINKING, FEELING, AND DOING

WHY: Not all activities are created equal. Speakers often obsess over negative thoughts and insecure feelings, at the expense of actionable “Doings.”

HOW: Participants consider the three activities Thinking, Feeling, and Doing, and the merits of each for improving one’s spoken communication.
ACTIVITY: With an instant show-of-hands activity (if live) or rapid poll (if remote), participants vote on which activity they have most control over. Spolier: most participants get the right answer; all participants learn.

CONTEXT:

Bikers who are told “Don’t hit that rock” are actually more likely to hit the rock. We learned that from a colleague at Columbia Business School, Adam Galinsky.   

LEARN MORE:

If you have a moment, watch his TED talk on how to speak up when you feel like you can’t!

WARM-UP

WHY: Communication is a physical art; preparing and priming your physical and vocal communication instrument is as essential to a speaker as a shoot-around is to a basketball player or an arpeggio is to a musician.

HOW: Participants learn: why warming up is an essential daily preparation; an intutive, easy-to-memorize physical warm up; and tongue twisters that improve enunciation.

ACTIVITY: Participants complete a group warm up exercise, including customized tongue twisters. Participants receive access to GK’s warm-up video library as well as info for GK’s live weekday public warm-up.

CONTEXT:

View our online resources for video warm-ups to get you started.

LEARN MORE:

GK premieres a new five-minute warm-up every weekday morning on our YouTube channel. Take a look here.

TRANSPARENCY

WHY: Handling mishaps and challenges with transparency and lack of defensiveness demonstrates agility, command, and authenticity.

HOW: Participants learn the GK Training 3 F’s of Transparency methodology: Fake it, Feature it, and Fix it.

ACTIVITY: After learning the alliterative 3 F’s framework, participants craft a “Transparency Phrase” they can use to navigate challenges and mistakes.

CONTEXT:

Watch a 90 second explainer.

3 F's In Action

GK President, Michael Chad Hoeppner, walks you through the basics of how to use Transparency to your advantage.
Watch Here

LEARN MORE:

Want to know the philosophy behind Transparency? Watch this 2 minute explainer.

TRANSPARENCY

WHY: Handling mishaps and challenges with transparency and lack of defensiveness demonstrates agility, command, and authenticity.
HOW: Participants learn and use six essential “transparency phrases.”
ACTIVITY: Using the set of Transparency cards from GK’s Conversation(TM) Card Game, participants learn and deploy 6 different GK transparency phrases, integrate their own original one, and practice using them to navigate “mistakes”

CONTEXT:

LEARN MORE:

Download the GK transparency cards here to practice on your own. Have fun! 

TRANSPARENCY

WHY: Handling mishaps and challenges with transparency and lack of defensiveness demonstrates agility, command, and authenticity.
HOW: Participants learn Transparency via embodied cognition using a balancing exercise.
ACTIVITY: Participants deepen the learning with the use of Transparency cards from GK’s Conversation(TM) Card Game and add a kinesthetic exercise titled “A Mistake is not a Mistake,” in which participants are quite literally thrown off balance to instill a muscle memory experience that mistakes are only mistakes if a speaker treats them as such.

CONTEXT:

Check out this drill we call “A Mistake is not a Mistake.” 

LEARN MORE:

What is Embodied Cognition? Visit the link above to learn more about why it’s effective. 

VOCAL VARIETY

WHY: Vocal variety — the musicality in the human voice — indicates both meaning (please pass the red pen) and intent (please pass the red pen!!!). It need not be learned de novo, but rather constraints must be unlearned, as humans have used the musicality of sound to communicate ideas since time immemorial.

HOW: Participants learn the importance and origin of vocal variety, and understand it using the GK Training 5 P rhubric to evaluate it along the following alliterative dynamics: Pace, Pitch, Pause, Power, & Placement.

ACTIVITY: Participants map each of the P’s to the effect on an audience, as outlined in research (conducted by GK Founder Michael Hoeppner and colleagues at Columbia Business School, UCLA, Univ of Chicago, et al) on the impact of the 5 P’s on political audiences.

CONTEXT:

Click image to read an excerpt of a study from a white paper by Hoeppner, et al. 

LEARN MORE:

What can you learn about Vocal Variety by reading to kids? 

VOCAL VARIETY

WHY: Vocal variety — the musicality in the human voice — indicates both meaning (please pass the red pen) and intent (please pass the red pen!!!). It need not be learned de novo, but rather constraints must be unlearned, as humans have used the musicality of sound to communicate ideas since time immemorial.
HOW: Participants learn the importance and origin of vocal variety, and understand it using the GK Training 5 P rhubric to evaluate it along 5 alliterative dynamics (Pace, Pitch, Pause, Power, Placement).
ACTIVITY: Participants map each of the P’s to the effect on an audience, as outlined in research (conducted by GK Founder Michael Hoeppner and colleagues at Columbia Business School, UCLA, Univ of Chicago, et al) on the impact of the 5 Ps on political audiences.

CONTEXT:

Click image to read an excerpt of a study from a white paper by Hoeppner, et al. 

LEARN MORE:

What can you learn about Vocal Variety by reading to kids? 

KINESTHETIC LEARNING

WHY: To achieve actual behavioral change, participants need to learn not just with their brains but with their bodies. We use kinesthetic learning and embodied cognition to build new habits that stick.

HOW: Participants learn what Kinesthetic Learning and Embodied Cognition are and why they’re important for new skill development. Participants get introduced to multiple GK proprietary kinesthetic drills for changing bad habits.

ACTIVITY: Participants learn multiple drills that address derailers like: talking too fast, monotone communication, discomfort with silence, verbosity, and filler language.  Here is a sampling of drills that you can expect at your workshop.

CONTEXT:

Previous slide
Next slide

LEARN MORE:

Watch this Keynote from Michael Chad Hoeppner (Pay attention: A cork makes a cameo). 

THREE S's

WHY: There is no subtitution for content. What you say matters.
HOW: Participants learn the GK Proprietary 3 S Framework: Succinct (what’s your main idea, stated as simply as possible); Surprise (how are you upending your audience”s expectations); and Story (how are you using narrative to drive home your message).
ACTIVITY: In a rapid-fire exercise, participants apply the 3-S framework to a piece of content. The activity is rapid for good reason: we prove to participants that even a few moments of consideration using this system can improve the substance of a message.

CONTEXT:

LEARN MORE:

Watch any of these three famous TED talks and see if you can catch all three S’s at work. (Remembre, the S’s are Succinct, Surprise, and STory)

BREAKOUT 2
SELF-LED

WHY: “What we have to learn to do, we learn by doing.” — Socrates

HOW: Learners practice the program’s lessons in breakout groups.

ACTIVITY: Each participant has a second opportunity to deliver the pre-work from the session and note improvements; colleagues offer feedback and observations. Each participant gets equal time.

CONTEXT:

LEARN MORE:

Read this GK Blog post on “How to Make Sure Breakouts Don’t Break Down.” 

HOMEWORK AND
NEXT STEPS

WHY: Now matter how good a learning experience is, practice and reinforcement are needed to turn lessons into habits.
HOW: Learners find out about GK’s follow-up and reinforcement process and tools, and gain access to them.

ACTIVITY: The session wraps up with a preview of the reinforcement emails each participant will receive, an introduction to GK’s interactive practice app Question Roulette (custom version), and guidance on HW. Learners are explicitly encouraged to seek out feedback from stakeholders at Latham & Watkins moving forward.

CONTEXT:

Here’s a demo of the GK Practice App “Question Roulette”

LEARN MORE:

Wanna play with the app yourself?

OVERCOMING
OBJECTIONS

WHY: A client or customer often has one concern that matters over all others; address that concern and you can win the business
HOW: Participants learn the GK Training Overcoming Objections framework
ACTIVITY: Instructor teaches the GK Training methodology for overcoming objections in 4 stages: Acknowledge; empathize; ask permission; address. Learners: identify how to remove oppositional language like but, although, and however; practice model on frequent client-specific objections in pairs, trios, or large-group volunteers.

CONTEXT:

Here’s a video from our Online Learning Program about Overcoming Objections

LEARN MORE:

Have you tried GK Training’s interactive practice app Question Roulette? If you already have it, open up the Generic category and practice overcoming any of the following objections: Numbers 2,3,7,8 or 9! If you don’t have it, click the links below and give it a try…

OVERCOMING
OBJECTIONS

WHY: A client or customer often has one concern that matters over all others; address that concern and you can win the business
HOW: Participants learn the GK Training Overcoming Objections framework

ACTIVITY: Instructor teaches the GK Training methodology for overcoming objections in 4 stages: Acknowledge; empathize; ask permission; address. Learners: identify how to remove oppositional language like but, although, and however; practice model on frequent client-specific objections in pairs, trios, or large-group volunteers. Aikido; and access to custom QR

CONTEXT:

Here’s a video from our Online Learning Program about Overcoming Objections

LEARN MORE:

Have you tried GK Training’s interactive practice app Question Roulette? If you already have it, open up the Generic category and practice overcoming any of the following objections: Numbers 2,3,7,8 or 9! If you don’t have it, click the links below and give it a try…

ENGAGING
THE SENSES

WHY: Learning is a full-contact sport. Activating an audience’s senses helps them to digest, remember, and use what they learn.
HOW: Participants: learn why activating learner’s 5 senses aids in engagement and retention; 2. Practice with best-in-class sensory stimulation learning activities; 3. Create their own sensory-involving exercises/tools.

ACTIVITY: Instructor: Defines Sensory Engagement in the context of facilitation, and shows why it matters; 2. Illustrates examples of learning techniques that activate different senses; 3 Shares classic sensory involvement exercises as a jumping-off point for broader discussion.

CONTEXT:

Check this out: this slightly grotesque looking figure is a rendering of what the human body would look like if density of nerve endings were represented by physical size. Notice how big the hands are? And the lips and tongue? Translation: humans get a lot of information from the world besides just what they take in through their eyes and ears. So if you’re teaching a class and all you’re doing is talking at an audience while you show them slides, there’s a fairly good chance your audience is one thing: bored.

LEARN MORE:

Want to see the most innovative way we found to stimulate learner’s senses? We activated our online learners’ sense of touch in our posture lesson in EP 1.0 by challenging them to staple a post-it note into the shirt collar as a sensory reminder to be as tall as they are. Click here to watch (and maybe to embrace the challenge yourself!)

QUESTION AWARENESS
AND AGILITY

WHY: What makes a conversation a dialogue not a monologue? Questions.
HOW: Participants learn 5 essential types of questions — open-ended, close-ended, multiple choice, preamble, hypothetical — and how to use them effectively.

ACTIVITY: Instructor teaches GK Training’s Five types of effective questions and highlights their definitions, purpose, and common mistakes such as: asking in negative, failing to pause, asking multiple consecutive questions and more. Participants practice, using provided or self-created questions.

CONTEXT:

Here’s a video lesson detailing how Question Awareness and Agility work.

LEARN MORE:

Download the GK question cards here to practice on your own. Have fun! 

QUESTION AWARENESS
AND AGILITY

WHY: What makes a conversation a dialogue not a monologue? Questions.
HOW: Participants learn 5 essential types of questions — open-ended, close-ended, multiple choice, preamble, hypothetical — and how to use them effectively.
Instructor teaches GK Training’s Five types of effective questions and highlights their definitions, purpose, and common mistakes such as: asking in negative, failing to pause, asking multiple consecutive questions and more; Participants practice, using provided or self-created questions.how to ask questions with linguistics precision, free of non-fluencies; specific kinesthetic tool to tolerate relaxed silence at end of questions. Fostering group participation: – how to cold call deliberatly to increase or decrease intensity in session; how to set parameters for questions to create sense of comfort and safety; how to narrow the field of potential responses to; how to use time indicators, sub-groupings, or subject areas to tier responses and foster participation from other voices, including those less likely to typically participate or those voices who have historically been overlooked; how to request audience responses in multiple ways to create variety in flow, ie: a gestural indication (“thumbs up”, or “show of hands”), unison call outs for fill-in-the blank or either/or, more.

BREATHING TIME
TECHNIQUES

WHY: For your brain to work well, you need to two things: time and oxygen. These tools provide both.
HOW: Participants learn and practice 6 different phrases to gain “breathing time” before answering a question or addressing a topic.
ACTIVITY: Learners practice gaining thinking time using GK’s BTT flash cards, including pair and group exercises at various levels-of-difficulty including using individual phrases alternately, all 6 phrases consecutively and randomly, and more.

CONTEXT:

Here’s a video lesson from our Remote Training Course detailing how to use the GK Cards for BTT. 

LEARN MORE:

Download the cards here to practice on your own.

CREATING VISUALS

WHY: No one likes to read lots of text on slides. No one likes to read lots of text on slides. No one likes to read lots of text on slides. No one likes to read lots of text on slides. No one likes to read lots of text on slides. No one likes to read lots of text on slides. No one likes to read lots of text on slides.
HOW: Participants learn and practice 6 different phrases to gain “breathing time” before answering a question or addressing a topic.

ACTIVITY: Instructor leads group through examination of: text overload (how much is too much? how small is too small?), visual element cohesion, repetition of agenda slide and more.

CONTEXT:

Here’s a video lesson from our Remote Training Course detailing how to use the GK Cards for BTT. 

LEARN MORE:

Take a look at the well-known online resource “Steal this Presentation”

CREATING VISUALS

WHY: No one likes to read lots of text on slides. No one likes to read lots of text on slides. No one likes to read lots of text on slides. No one likes to read lots of text on slides. No one likes to read lots of text on slides. No one likes to read lots of text on slides. No one likes to read lots of text on slides.
HOW: Participants learn and practice 6 different phrases to gain “breathing time” before answering a question or addressing a topic.
ACTIVITY: Instructor leads group through examination of: text overload (how much is too much? how small is too small?), visual element cohesion, repetition of agenda slide and more. Participants learn design exercise featuring post-it notes to physically manipulate ideas and build deck slide by slide. Participants apply classical story-telling or top-down Pyramid to structure flow.

CONTEXT:

Here’s a video lesson from our Remote Training Course detailing how to use the GK Cards for BTT. 

LEARN MORE:

Take a look at the well-known online resource “Steal this Presentation”

PRESENTING FROM VISUALS

WHY: You are your presentation. Your visual aids are just there to support you.
HOW: Participants learn best practices for using visuals with ease and command.
ACTIVITY: Instructor teaches two primary GK skills for presenting with visuals — Traffic Copping and Narrating. Both named for what they mean, traffic copping is the act of orienting your audience unmistakably about where on a visual aid to look and why, and just as importantly where to ignore. Narrating is the act of telling your audience explicitly what you’re doing at any time if your focus of attention can’t be observed, ie. “I’m referencing my notes looking for that stat.”

CONTEXT:

Check out this lesson on Traffic Copping to get a better idea o how it works. NOTE THIS VIDEO NEEDS TO BE FOUND.

LEARN MORE:

Often these days we’re presenting visuals in multiple formats on multiple screens in remote and in-person and it’s important to remember “Technology is there to serve you. You are not there to serve the technology.”

PRESENTING FROM VISUALS

WHY: You are your presentation. Your visual aids are just there to support you.
HOW: Participants learn best practices for using visuals with ease and command.
ACTIVITY: Instructor teaches two primary GK skills for presenting with visuals — Traffic Copping and Narrating. Both named for what they mean, traffic copping is the act of orienting your audience unmistakably about where on a visual aid to look and why, and just as importantly where to ignore. Narrating is the act of telling your audience explicitly what you’re doing at any time if your focus of attention can’t be observed, ie. “I’m referencing my notes looking for that stat.” Participants practice both skills in duos, trios or full group.

CONTEXT:

Check out this lesson on Traffic Copping to get a better idea o how it works. NOTE THIS VIDEO NEEDS TO BE FOUND.

LEARN MORE:

Often these days we’re presenting visuals in multiple formats on multiple screens in remote and in-person and it’s important to remember “Technology is there to serve you. You are not there to serve the technology.”

INTERJECTING WITH INTENTION

WHY: In order for the world to benefit from an idea, that idea needs to make it into the conversation.
HOW: Participants learn a 3-step process for interjecting in varied communication situations, practice it, and aid retention by relating it to how two charismatic animals “break the ice” in the natural world
ACTIVITY: Instructor teaches the three stages of interjecting with intention: 1. Name it (“I’ll jump in on that topic…”); 2. Give context (“…because it’s relevant to last week’s meeting, too…”); 3. Make it positive (“Julie brings up a great point, and…”). Participants identify typical interjection language and map that language to the GK stages

CONTEXT:

Take a look at this drill on how we teach interjecting with intention. 

LEARN MORE:

There’s nothing to do here, nothing to click, no further reading. These two GIFs just help you remember how to Interject with Intention!

INTERJECTING WITH INTENTION

WHY: In order for the world to benefit from an idea, that idea needs to make it into the conversation.
HOW: Participants learn a 3-step process for interjecting in varied communication situations, practice it, and aid retention by relating it to how two charismatic animals “break the ice” in the natural world
ACTIVITY: Instructor teaches the three stages of interjecting with intention: 1. Name it (“I’ll jump in on that topic…”); 2. Give context (“…because it’s relevant to last week’s meeting, too…”); 3. Make it positive (“Julie brings up a great point, and…”). Participants identify typical interjection language and map that language to the GK stages

CONTEXT:

Take a look at this drill on how we teach interjecting with intention. 

LEARN MORE:

There’s nothing to do here, nothing to click, no further reading. These two GIFs just help you remember how to Interject with Intention!

PHYSICAL PRESENCE -
POSTURE & STANCE

WHY: We are walking, talking, living, breathing communication instruments. How we stand influences not only how we’re perceived, but even how we breathe and how we feel at the end of the day.
HOW: Participants learn what good posture looks like, why it matters, how to shift theirs.

ACTIVITY: Instructor teaches: 1. why posture matters beyond making a good visual impression: aligned posture allows healthful, correct vocal production and contributes to a speaker’s level of energy or fatigue; 2. what good posture actually looks like, grounding the discussion in the Methodology of the Alexander Technique, debunks typical postural misconceptions like, sit / stand “up straight” or “pull your shoulders back.” 3. guides the group in a visualization technique to adjust their posture positively. Participants have an opportunity to adjust their posture and physical surroundings to reinforce the lesson.

CONTEXT:

Take a look at this drill on how we teach interjecting with intention. 

LEARN MORE:

Want to learn more about the Alexander Technique? Read about its namesake pioneer, Mattihas Alexander, HERE.

PHYSICAL PRESENCE -
GESTURES

WHY: The most frequent question we get at GK Training is, “What should I do with my hands?” This apparently ubiquitous pain point is actually easier to address than most people think.
HOW: Participants learn the why, how, and when of making gestures.
ACTIVITY: Instructor: addresses first misconception: that expressive gestures are bad; reveals why Thought Suppression is especially paralyzing for a free and easy use of gestures (“Quick! Don’t make distracting hand gestures!”); debunks reductive coaching like “gesture zones” “home base”; teaches participants proprietary GK kinesthetic exercise “Silent Storytelling” to help participants release a free and fluid use of gestures and shift their focus away from “my gestures” and to “my audience.”

CONTEXT:

Get to know the GK drill “Silent Storytelling” from this webinar GK coach Shawn Fagan/Hilary Kole did

LEARN MORE:

Real Time Test: Don’t believe you use gestures more than you might think? Start a video call, move back so your whole torso is visible, look at yourself in the camera, now try to tell a memorable story from your childhood – bit with zero hand gestures. See how odd that looks? People use gestures for one reason: they need more than just their words and voice to communicate a message. If you think your message deserves to be remembered, remember your gestures!

BREATH

WHY: The most frequent question we get at GK Training is, “What should I do with my hands?” This apparently ubiquitous pain point is actually easier to address than most people think.
HOW: Participants learn the why, how, and when of making gestures.
ACTIVITY: Instructor: addresses first misconception: that expressive gestures are bad; reveals why Thought Suppression is especially paralyzing for a free and easy use of gestures (“Quick! Don’t make distracting hand gestures!”); debunks reductive coaching like “gesture zones” “home base”; teaches participants proprietary GK kinesthetic exercise “Silent Storytelling” to help participants release a free and fluid use of gestures and shift their focus away from “my gestures” and to “my audience.”

CONTEXT:

Want to see breath at work check out international recording artist and master GK Coach Hillary Kole.

LEARN MORE:

Breath is in the news a lot these days including THIS best seller.

And multiple articles focused on respiratory recovery from patients with Long COVID among other challenges. Here’s ONE. 

PRESENCE FOR PEOPLE

WHY: The most frequent question we get at GK Training is, “What should I do with my hands?” This apparently ubiquitous pain point is actually easier to address than most people think.
HOW: Participants learn the why, how, and when of making gestures.
ACTIVITY: Instructor: addresses first misconception: that expressive gestures are bad; reveals why Thought Suppression is especially paralyzing for a free and easy use of gestures (“Quick! Don’t make distracting hand gestures!”); debunks reductive coaching like “gesture zones” “home base”; teaches participants proprietary GK kinesthetic exercise “Silent Storytelling” to help participants release a free and fluid use of gestures and shift their focus away from “my gestures” and to “my audience.”

CONTEXT:

Check out this talk GK coach Hilary Kole presented to PDC on “Presence for People”