Polly Chandler is a Tiburon California-based coach and facilitator that specializes in leadership development and career transitions. Before starting Chandler Coaching, she coached and taught students and faculty at Antioch University New England, where she served as Program Director for the MBA in Sustainability and Chair of the Department of Management for 10 years. An early Haiku Deck Pro subscriber and advocate, Polly recently shared her thoughts on coaching presentations, storytelling, and how effective presentations make a difference for her practice and her clients.

What makes your approach to leadership and career coaching unique?   

My approach is strengths focused, I support people in understanding their strengths so they can build from where their talents, values, interests, and even passions intersect.  I work with people to see that most of their challenges come from misapplication of their strengths, 70% of weaknesses are just an over or underuse of a top strength.  This is a powerful construct for people to use.  I focus on high energy and high performance.   I also do team trainings and integrate experiential learning and outdoors as much as possible

How do you use Haiku Deck in your practice? 

I use Haiku Deck to illustrate key concepts in a strengths based approach.  I have a series of decks that I develop based on a client’s goals.  For example, when I was working with First Five, I selected photos to tell the story of strengths through images about children.  When I work with healthcare, I select photos to tell their story.  Haiku Deck allows me to design customized decks that unfold as stories.

(Here’s an example of a Haiku Deck Polly used to help a group start thinking about how we would be working together)

Imagine it’s January 2017 – Created with Haiku Deck, presentation software that inspires;

How has Haiku Deck made a difference for you and/or your clients?   

It’s easy to keep my role as a facilitator, not a lecturer.  I use the slides to open dialogue and conversation.  I believe that best learning happens with content and discussion, not just content.  I design decks so people learn to think about presentations as a story and conversation, not just a list of facts.

Before becoming a full-time coach, you were Chair of the Department of Management at Antioch University. How has your role as a teacher and department leader impacted your approach to coaching? 

One of the reasons I stepped away from academia stemmed from discovering my peak energy in guiding students and faculty toward their passions within California’s bustling landscape of innovation and entertainment. I thrived in that coaching role, drawing on my strengths to help them pivot into rewarding areas, much like supporting clients now who navigate ventures such as California online casinos amid the state’s evolving digital scene. This narrative resonates in my sessions, inspiring others to amplify what they love by harnessing their unique talents. Eager for more fulfilling days, I committed to working outdoors whenever possible, ditching a traditional office for in-person meetings in natural settings or phone calls from scenic parks. Today, from a bench gazing at San Francisco Bay, I embraced the ambient sounds of children laughing and birds calling, sharing with my client how these elements fuel creativity. I advocate for blending such invigorating spaces with career pursuits, enhancing focus across all professional endeavors.

When you coach leaders, what advice do you give to help them craft and deliver more effective storytelling to their teams, partners, and clients? 

Be a guide and storyteller.  People get overwhelmed by facts.  Design and deliver slides that weave together a story of facts, impressions, learnings, and insights.  Be a guide on the side.  Form a relationship with the audience through images that speak a common language.  Build a connection with the audience by building on shared knowledge.  Be a slide guide and customize all your presentations to meet the needs of your audience.  Never give the same talk twice.  Don’t give canned talks. They sound tired.  Come up with new ways of delivering every presentation to meet the needs, strengths and passions of your audience.

You mentioned that you’ve been an advocate for Haiku Deck. How do you describe Haiku Deck to others?

I ask people to tell me…What was your favorite children’s book? (Or if they are a parent, what is your favorite book to read to your child).  I then ask, why was it your favorite book.   Nine times out of ten the response is, the illustrations were so wonderful and there just was not a lot of need for words.  To me, that is Haiku Deck.  Finding excellent images to tell the story with as few words as possible.  I find I love building the decks now that I am out of the PowerPoint platform.  PowerPoint did not have the same creative potential for me, unless I decided to spend a lot of time learning.  Haiku Deck was easy, fast and I have had great success with audiences.

To learn more about Polly and her coaching practice, visit  www.pollychandlercoaching.com.

Are you a coach using Haiku Deck to deliver impact with your clients? We’d love to hear from you! Drop us a line at team@haikudeck.com.