Ever grappled with simplifying complex research to engage a non-expert audience? Witness how, Nancy Hardcastle, a remarkable expert in crafting compelling presentations, lends her unique strategies to social impact leaders. Our conversation explores the hurdles faced by researchers in creating accessible presentations and how Nancy's expertise helps distil these complexities. Drawing from her experiences at human trafficking conferences, she underlines the significance of clarity and comprehension in captivating diverse audiences.
On a journey to create powerful stories? Nancy's two-hour workshop provides a blueprint. Whether you're an advocate or a researcher, her meticulously designed packages can transform the way you communicate your work. She breaks down her offerings, and transparently discusses pricing, which opens a world of transformation for those striving to influence change. If you're in the field of human trafficking or any area that requires translating intricate information for varied audiences, this episode is an essential listen. Nancy's insights could revolutionize your presentations, making them unforgettable.
Ever grappled with simplifying complex research to engage a non-expert audience? Witness how, Nancy Hardcastle, a remarkable expert in crafting compelling presentations, lends her unique strategies to social impact leaders. Our conversation explores the hurdles faced by researchers in creating accessible presentations and how Nancy's expertise helps distil these complexities. Drawing from her experiences at human trafficking conferences, she underlines the significance of clarity and comprehension in captivating diverse audiences.
On a journey to create powerful stories? Nancy's two-hour workshop provides a blueprint. Whether you're an advocate or a researcher, her meticulously designed packages can transform the way you communicate your work. She breaks down her offerings, and transparently discusses pricing, which opens a world of transformation for those striving to influence change. If you're in the field of human trafficking or any area that requires translating intricate information for varied audiences, this episode is an essential listen. Nancy's insights could revolutionize your presentations, making them unforgettable.
You know the why human trafficking work is needed To fight for the freedom of modern day slaves. But love, passion, commitment isn't all you need to be an effective and successful anti-trafficking advocate. Learn the how. I'm Dr Celia Williamson, Director of the Human Trafficking and Social Justice Institute at the University of Toledo. Welcome to the Emancipation Nation podcast, where I'll provide you with the latest and best methods, policy and practice, discussed by experienced experts in the field, so that you can cut through the noise, save time and be about the work of saving lives.
Speaker 1:Welcome to the Emancipation Nation. I'm Dr Celia Williamson. This is episode 186. Today I have with me Nancy Hardcastle, and she's been on the podcast before. So what's wonderful about Nancy is she actually is sort of like the wind beneath your wings. She helps you to develop power points and to present and to get your message across, get your expertise across in a way that's clear and concise and compelling. So she really equips social impact leaders to deliver stunning presentations that really compel their audience to take action. So welcome back, Nancy. So happy to have you here.
Speaker 2:Hey, celia, thank you, I'm happy to be back.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and you are so amazing because one of the things that you did for me is you helped me get my message across in a PowerPoint and what I wanted to say and what was too much information. And you know, it's like we get so engrossed in what we're doing, we know so much about what we're doing, we forget how to make it simple, make it compelling, make it concise, and so that's what you do. So can you talk to us a little bit about the services that you offer and who you're targeting, and that sort of thing.
Speaker 2:Sure, and I just want to say the challenge that you just described is very common. Especially if you're an expert, if you've been doing any type of work for a long time, as you said, you're so steeped in that information that it's hard for you to take a step back and remember what it's like to not know anything or to really be a novice in the field. You forget that those words are actually jargon that are used commonly in your circles, but other people don't know them. So that is one of the things that I do is help people to step back and say now, wait a minute, let's start from the beginning. Let's imagine that your audience doesn't know anything. Or let's imagine that your audience knows some things, but they still need you to take them step by step and help them understand what it is that you know so well.
Speaker 1:And not even do it in a dry way, like I remember when you helped me, you were like, well, look, why don't you tell a story?
Speaker 1:Is there a person, is there a culmination of the person that you're trying to help? That you could go along and outline your steps, but doing it in a way that people can keep up with you because they're following a character, or something like that. I mean, that was one of the techniques that you helped me with and I just I thought what you helped me with was brilliant, and let me just say that I don't call on people very often to help me. I don't know if it's, I don't know what it, but I don't want to waste my time with people trying to tell me something I already know. So I'm a little bit skeptical, but I can say, when you helped me, you really it was really eye-opening for me, and so I'm just that's why I'm excited to have you on. So today we're just going to focus a little bit on researchers, and you know why is it important for you to help researchers get their point across. I mean, they've done the study, they know what they're talking about.
Speaker 2:Right, and they are certainly the expert. So it's an interesting case, I think, with them. I started out focusing in the field of human trafficking when I first became a coach and so I started going to those trafficking conferences and this was my first exposure to since I was in college, which was way back. This was my most recent exposure to researchers and how they presented and of course, I had been reading research, but it's a whole different animal to see these researchers presenting and this was a real eye-opener for me because one I was very curious. I was new to the field and I wanted to learn as much as I could and I realized that they weren't really making it easy for me and I would sit there thinking, ok, I'm not dumb and this isn't rocket science, why am I having such a hard time understanding what they're telling me? And after it happened again and again and again, I realized oh, it's the way that they're presenting. They really don't know how to make it easy for me to quickly understand what they're saying, or even sitting and listening, and listening and listening. So even not necessarily being quickly, but just understand it all. And in their defense, most researchers have never been shown how to present to the average audience. They're used to probably presenting to their peers. They've seen their professors present and this generally means they take that research article and they start with the let review and they just work their way through the sections of the article and end with whatever the recommendations for further research are. So this works OK if you're presenting to your peers. I still don't think it's a great way to do it, but it's acceptable within, for example, within your university department.
Speaker 2:But when you're talking to, let's just say, a layperson or people who have expertise in other fields. So the classic example is a human trafficking conference, because we've got law enforcement professionals, legal professionals, healthcare professionals, social work professionals, that goes on and on, and then lay people, those wonderful lay people who are just there because they want to learn and do something good, right, they want to volunteer, they want to support the cause, but those people are not necessarily experts in whatever the researcher is presenting, whatever they're the expert in, and so they need to learn what I say. I use this word translate. They need to learn how to translate everything, their findings, the way. How do you say methodology without saying methodology? How do you stay a statistical analysis without saying that Because those words aren't going to make any sense to the average person.
Speaker 3:I want to break into the podcast to invite you to celebrate our 20th anniversary with us. Over the past two decades, the International Human Trafficking and Social Justice Conference has welcomed thousands of attendees from all 50 states and from 50 countries. We are the largest and oldest academic conference on human trafficking in the world. Our 20th annual conference will be hosted virtually this year, on September 20th through the 22nd. You'll have the opportunity to learn from and collaborate with thousands of advocates, researchers, providers and survivors from across the globe. This will be our largest conference to date, with over 115 breakout sessions featuring 200 expert presenters speaking about various topics related to human trafficking and social justice issues. You won't want to miss this special 20th anniversary conference. Make sure you are part of the conversation and don't miss out. Find out more and register today on our website traffickingconferencecom. Now on with the podcast.
Speaker 2:Even a lawyer who studied that, maybe back when he was in the university, isn't necessarily going to remember or connect with those terms. So I'm kind of a good example, because I had my master's degree and I even had to write some of those studies, but it's not my language. So recently I was working with a client exactly on this. I'm presenting her research and I said you want to think of it this way, that one of your languages let's say you're bilingual, you speak English and you speak research, and all your colleagues speak research too, and that's fine.
Speaker 2:But when you go in front of the average audience, they don't speak research, and so if you're up there speaking research and using all these terms, they're not going to understand what you're saying. So in my case, you know I knew those words, I knew methodology and I knew oh yeah, kaisa, but it didn't have a lot of meaning for me. It's more like my second or third language, and so I had to really struggle to say OK, what does all of this mean? And then there was kind of the common issue of their overloading the slides. They're not timing, so then they're cramming everything in.
Speaker 1:And let me say I wholeheartedly agree. I mean, even as a doctoral student, I would go to these research conferences, you know, and I would listen and I would look at the poster presentations and I would. I would be horribly intimidated and I would, oh my God, you know, they know so much, they are so smart, and and I would walk away not understanding what they were trying to convey to me. But I did understand that they were super smart. Now, that wasn't their point, but that's what I walked away with. And then, years later, I would go to these poster presentations or these live presentations and I would walk away sad. I would say, wow, you've done all of this work and you couldn't get your information across. That's sad. And so how do you write Like?
Speaker 1:A great example is somebody who says I did a longitudinal dichotomous study, like you did a what? Oh? You did a study for a long time, right, and you asked, yes, no questions. Why not just say that to a person so that they can speak that you can speak the same language, yes, so yeah, I totally. And the fact that people jam a lot of information on their slides and then I'm still thinking about slide one, because one I have to translate what you just said in slide one. That's going to take me a minute, and now you're on slide four, so I don't even know what you're talking about at this point.
Speaker 2:Yes, yes.
Speaker 1:So yeah, so I relate to that for sure.
Speaker 2:And I want to go back to what you said about how you eventually came to the conclusion of wow, that's sad that you've done all this work, and I felt exactly that way, but perhaps multiplied. Well, it may have been in your case too, because you studied social work, where people were, for example, they were interviewing survivors of human trafficking, and maybe they did 200 interviews Like. I remember very, very clearly this one particular study where they had interviewed hundreds and hundreds of survivors and they were. So there was the toll on those researchers right Of hearing those difficult stories. There was the toll on the survivors of telling those stories but hoping that it would, it was going to make a difference.
Speaker 2:So there was not just mental energy and time, but there was emotional energy and time and then and then hardly anybody could understand what they were saying and I thought that is such a shame. This should not be happening. People are putting in so much work and then all those survivors in good faith are participating because they're hoping that it's going to change somebody's life, it's going to make a difference. Maybe somebody else doesn't have to go through this horrible thing and and that's all good. Right, the that study is a good thing and they got valuable information from it, but then they couldn't present it and, like you said it's. It just seems really sad and I thought I got I've got to do something to try and change this, because this is my field, I can help these people. I know I can help them. I'm going to try.
Speaker 1:Yeah, oh, that that is. I think that is what we need as researchers, and so so your services. I mean, when somebody invests in your services, that's what it is. It's an investment, right, because they need, they have all the skills to do the work, but now they've lost themselves in terms of how do I convey my information very clearly, very strategically, because I have a lot of information, but what is it that you need to know and what is it that maybe you don't need to know until a later date or something? But I only have one hour or only have 30 minutes what? How do I get this information across? So, when people connect with you, they are making an investment in getting their information across. What we do as researchers. Our last leg is dissemination. How do we disseminate very clearly? So can you talk about the ways that you help and you have different programs that people can get involved in?
Speaker 2:Sure, and I want to just say one thing before I say that, and that is because you said it's the last leg, and I think what happens is that researchers are so tired by that point and they're just like, oh my gosh, I'm so glad I got this done.
Speaker 2:I remember I felt like that when my thesis was finally done and and you think it's done and it feels done, but it's a little bit like making this amazing cake and like a wedding cake and it's delicious and the feeling is awesome, but you don't frost it. It's like no, the cake is done, and so what people see is not a good representation of the work that you've done, because you didn't take that final step, and so I understand that you just want to be done already. But if you do make this investment, it's so. It's so worth it because you're investing not only in ensuring that people are going to understand the findings of this particular research that you did, but you're investing in yourself so that in the future, whatever you do in the future now, you're going to know how to do it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and my sort of investment in this whole conversation is and the whole reason we have the podcast is to increase the knowledge and the skills of people who want to be advocates, who want to do the best job that they can. So it's so important that we translate the effective work, the best practice work, in a way that's clearly understandable. If you are a researcher, you don't need to go in and use confusing language so that people are impressed. Like, if you want people to be impressed, go somewhere else, go to your family and use a bunch of $5 words or whatever. But what we're doing here is you are really hopefully trying to get information across the people so that they can use it, so that they can have that knowledge, so they move forward and do the best job that they can do. So people that are interested in this, they can connect with you in various ways. Like, you have different options for them, right? So what are those options?
Speaker 2:Right. So the first one is I offer a two-hour workshop, and so this is a group workshop. It would be for eight people max, because I want to make sure that everybody has an opportunity to talk to me to get their questions answered. The first part is I teach them this process and, of all right, you have your research done. What do you do now in order to go from I have my article to all right, I have a presentation that's really going to land well with my audience. So it's a five-step process. I teach in the process and then we have time in between and also at the end, or in between steps and also at the end, for them to ask questions and say okay, for example, I have this particular point, but I don't know how to translate it, I don't know how to get it across. Or I want to tell the story, but I don't know if I can, or I don't know what story to tell here. So that's the workshop, and that is 135 US dollars.
Speaker 1:And then I think to me, that is I would so invest in that. That would be a no-brainer for me, just because it takes me a few hours to figure out how I want to say something and sometimes I don't have the feedback from somebody. So I think that is that's awesome. And then being, you know, in the space with other people and look as they're talking about their project, I mean I think that's very cool, I think it's very reasonable, and what else do you have?
Speaker 2:So then I have a three-session package and this is kind of the quick and dirty approach. So I also teach you that process and I get you, I let you have a, or I give you a recording of the workshop, because I have a separate recording where there's it's just me talking and it doesn't have the Q&A. So it's kind of like a de-identified workshop so that you, you learn the basics of what I taught in there and then I apply your specific research to the process. So I blend the two. How can you you with your particular research go through these five steps?
Speaker 1:I like that. Now do I go to the session with eight people and then the three session course with you, or is this just a three session private course with you and me?
Speaker 2:So you have a couple options. This was something I did recently. I had that event and there was a doctor from a university and some of her team members and she came to that and then she said you know what I want? More help. And so then I did the three session package with her and helped her specifically apply her research. So in this one I'll make sample slides for you and I'll give you ideas of you could tell this story or you could explain this this way. So I am more involved in your specific research as opposed to in the workshop. It's more general.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's awesome. And then for people who want a little bit more, do you have?
Speaker 2:something for them. I do. I have a higher touch succession package and this. I take you through that same process, but I'm also adding on delivery, because those other two there wasn't really a chance to talk about delivery. So, for people who don't have a lot of experience or who are particularly anxious, I talk about delivery and then I give you some chances to practice and some chances to record and I give you feedback on those recordings and also I'm giving you more examples of your slides, more so it's just like more of the same. If you feel like man, I really I really need more, I'm really lost or I just would like that help.
Speaker 1:Yeah, because some people, okay, they got the slides, they're looking gorgeous, but then their delivery, maybe they ramble on, maybe they don't have good inflection. Sure, you know that kind of delivery. Yeah, I could see people getting nervous. I've seen people who presented or even talked to the news and then got finished with it and then turned to me and say I hope that was good. I don't even remember what I said. I was so nervous, sure, sure, yeah. So a number of people have that issue. So if people so, the workshop is 135. And then what's the three session and six session?
Speaker 2:Right, the three session is 600 and the six session I'm wanting to say it's 1250. I'm just like changing what, I'm changing my notes on the fly, so we'll say 1250 for now, but I do add that we have I have a sliding scale if you're working in the field of human trafficking. So, although that's not my niche anymore, I'll say that I have a soft spot for those of you working in that field. I know it's really tough and I just want to offer that to you if you're interested in working with me.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think that's very generous and, as of August, at least August 2023, those are the prices today. So I wouldn't I would probably jump on it because that's not probably not going to stay that low of a price forever. But I think an investment like that is something. It's a skill. It's not like they have to run back every time. Okay, now I have this one. Okay, now I have to do this. Right. It's a skill that they learn, that they take forward and then use it, you know. So I mean, I would think that's a great investment.
Speaker 2:Thank you, and that's really the idea of this process, is that now you know the process and so you can apply it to your next article. And, of course, if you want, if you have questions or whatever, I'm open to that. Or if you wanted to say, nancy, can you just listen to what I haven't given me feedback, you know, can you give me an hour? Sure, I'll figure out something. Because really the end goal for me is just to support speakers and to support people who are doing good work. So I never say no, it's not the package, I don't want to work with you. You know, try to.
Speaker 1:So you'll come up with some package where it can be effective and with this are you open not only to researchers, but to people who run programs, people who maybe I don't know researchers, those types of things.
Speaker 2:Sure. So pretty much open to any type of speaking that you're doing. It doesn't matter if you're. If you're heading up an organization and you need to go talk to your board or you need to go talk to the community about what you're doing. If you're so, I can help you with that. If you're a survivor and you want to tell your story, I can also help you with that. If you're just doing a keynote for a special event, definitely. I think keynotes are really fun. They don't have quite the same requirements as something like presenting research, so definitely can support people doing that.
Speaker 1:Awesome, and if people are interested, how do they get in touch with you?
Speaker 2:So you can go to my website, it's standupbegreatcom. Or you can email me at Nancy Hardcastle at gmailcom.
Speaker 1:I love that Standup be great. You notice it's not standup be average. I love that People can come in and learn.
Speaker 1:Even the most nervous person can come and learn to be a great speaker, and I think the prices are very reasonable for what you get. I mean, and people say you know if you pay for something, that means you will pay attention. So I think it's important that you know the service you're providing. That was a quality service and I think the price for what you get is very reasonable. So are there any maybe a tip you can give us before we end here, about people who present or people who write?
Speaker 2:Sure, Actually, I have a few tips. I'm so glad you asked. So one of the things I suggest as part of this process is that, as a researcher I'm going back to that focus is that you curate your findings. And what I mean by curate is you look at who your audience is and then you decide what you're going to focus on, because they might not be interested in those statistical analysis, they might not be interested in the recommendations, but probably, if they're a broader audience, they're going to be really interested in what you found and what you think they should do with what you found. So take some time, investigate your audience and then decide what you should focus on. A second recommendation is create a separate document. The best thing would be a PDF where you're going to put your sources if you have any resources, A lot of those details that I often say take these out of the slide deck, it's too much information.
Speaker 2:But speakers often tell me but I want my audience to have this. A lot of times they ask me for the PowerPoint because they want these details. So I say, fine, but put that in a separate doc, make it a PDF. Now you can make all those links clickable in the PDF, because when you're displaying all that information it's often too small or they can't do anything with the link on a screen anyway. But you get to have all the links that you want. Just put it in a separate doc and then you can either house it on your or host it on your website. Or if you don't have a website, you can say, hey, email me, I'll send you the PDF. Happy to send you the PDF.
Speaker 2:Oh, that's a good one. So right, because I know not everybody has a place to host it, but you can easily just have your PDF and if people email you you send it off to them. And I know that's an extra step but it's going to make your presentation so much better because you're not going to have those overloaded slides. And also, I want to mention that on Celia's network, Emancipation Nation Network, you can watch a free class that I did called Public Speaking Jumpstart for surefire ways to improve your presentation. So you can go to Emancipation Nation Network, you can maybe you can tell them, Celia, how to find the courses and then watch that.
Speaker 2:And so in that I'll give you general tips. So, for example, if you're not doing research or you want general tips on your slide or general tips on how to practice, you can watch. That that's for free. And if you still want more, you can go to my website, which is, once again, standupbegreatcom, and I have a free call to action guide. So the call to action is another thing that I really encourage speakers to do of all types, and they often forget or they often don't know how to create a call to action. So the guide shows you, step by step, exactly how to do it. You come out with your call to action, there it is, and then also you'll be. If you choose to say subscribe, you get to be on my mailing list. I do send out a lot of things, but I do send out tips for you and if I'm going to have an event or something you might be interested in as a speaker. So there you have it.
Speaker 1:Wow, that's a power pack that's very generous. I mean. I think that's a lot of. Those are a lot of quality items and tips. And yes, you go to Emancipation Nation Network. You just simply Google those three words. You can become a member for free. Once you go in there, just click on the start here, you know link that's very prominently displayed and then you will see phases and you know the free content is in phase one and phase two and you'll find Nancy Hardcastle's information there. So it's always a pleasure talking to you, nancy, and you've been so helpful. Like I said to me, you've been helpful to people that come to our conference and of course we have a commercial. You know we had a commercial in there about our conference during this podcast, but you've been helpful to people that present at the conference and so just always a pleasure talking to you.
Speaker 2:Thanks so much, celia. I appreciate all your kind words and I'm so happy that you found so much value working with me. It makes me happy, absolutely.
Speaker 1:That was Nancy Hardcastle of Stand Up, be Great. Look, if you're doing a presentation and you've done all of this work, or perhaps you have lived experience and you survived through that experience to thrive, but can't get your point across clearly, this is not a given, this is a skill. And so the final leg to let people know what they need to know, to share your expertise, and do that in the clearest way, the most concise way possible, the most impactful way. And so, just like me, if you need the service, reach out, become clear on what you need to say so that your audience receives exactly what you intended for them to receive. Until next time, the fight continues, let's not just do something, let's do the best thing. If you liked this episode of Emancipation Nation, please subscribe and I'll send you the weekly podcast. Until then, the fight continues.