Sitting in meetings!

When I first started in business…I handled meetings just by going to them!  Someone was running the meeting, and the rest of us were listening.  I learned soon the power of persons who were sitting in the meeting!  So my advise is: don’t just go to meetings and sit there!  Here’s how to make yourself an excellent meeting attender - and contributor! ....continue to complete article

Two hours or two minutes....

How long should you talk?  Do you know the name Edward Everett?  He was a renowned politician and historian who lived at the time of the Civil War.  His claim to fame is that he was the speaker just before Abraham Lincoln delivered his Gettysburg Address.  Everett spoke for two hours, and Lincoln spoke for two MINUTES! ....continue to complete article

Don’t Read To Us: Talk To Us With Passion!

In the Church of Scotland, a church leader gave the following feedback to a young minster on his first sermon. “In the first place you read it.  In the second place, you didna read it well.  In the third place if you hadda read it well, it wouldn’t have been worth hearing!”  I’ve always thought that the sermon wasn’t worth hearing because he read it and didn’t read it well!
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Communication is never just 50/50

A friend of mine is a marriage counselor.  The first question he always asks a couple is about their communication.  If one or both of them says, "I do my 50 percent," he knows he’s going to have many sessions!  The point: communication is never just 50/50.  (A tug of war like the picture above!)  Sometimes it’s 60/40 or 90/10!  In business communication, it's 100 percent of getting the information across and having it understood - whether it’s face to face, on the phone, electronically, or even in writing.
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Every Day Is A Job Interview

Personal Job Interview - Have you had a job interview recently? Did you get the job.? We can have an outstanding resume, excellent recommendations, upbeat phone conversations or emails…But most of the time we get…or do not get…the job based on our interview. Many times the interview will be the most important presentation we will ever make. The bottom line…make certain that your interview is as good as your job performance will be!
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Are you sitting down??

Have you heard or said that recently?  We use those words to prepare someone for what’s coming - -good or bad!  Think about sitting.  Are we sitting too much?   Are you sitting down as you read this?  I offer you two ideas about Sitting: Health and posture and communication.
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A Tale of Two Restaurants
 
In the course of two days I ate in two restaurants. The first was the H&H Coffee Shop in El Paso, Texas, It’s a Mexican restaurant near downtown and is connected to a car wash. It’s been publicized as a great restaurant which is also a “dive.” ....continue to full article

How Long Should You Talk. . .?

Diogenes walked the streets of Athens looking for an honest man! I continue to look for someone whose attention span is getting LONGER. My 99 year old Mother-In-Law doesn’t get around as quickly as she once did, but her attention span is getting shorter. And that’s certainly true in the business world. And especially…with senior executives who spend a LOT of their time sitting in meetings or in conference calls…listening to people talk!
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The Moment of Truth - how you talk

In customer service a “moment of truth” is a point of contact that gives the customer an opportunity to form or change an impression about the company.

One of my long standing clients is Proctor & Gamble. They describe their products as having two “Moments of Truth.” The first moment of truth is which product you choose in the store. The second moment of truth is whether the product measures up to the standards you expect…does it work!
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Is There A Human Being There?

Representative. Representative! REPRESENTATIVE!

I hear that often coming from my office. That tells me that someone is on the phone, has followed the instructions, exhausted the number of options to press, and in desperation is asking the question, ”Is There A Human Being There?”
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What you have and how you talk about it.

What do these three situations have in common…a person who participates on a panel…a person who builds and installs cabinets in garages…an exterminator who removes bees from your house? They all have something - something of value - and they are able to talk about it in interesting and often fascinating ways.
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Conference Calls - Necessary Evils?

What is your greatest communication ”challenge?” When I ask that question in working with companies throughout the world, the answer is - overwhelmingly - conference Calls! Reasons…too many of them…too long…boring…lacking impact…waste of time!......continue to full article

Close with a BANG!

Remember the advice? Close with a bang, not a whimper.  Have you ever seen, heard, or delivered a presentation which closed with a whimper?  Let’s fix that!

In my last post I recommended the waltz principle (1, 2, 3).  To start a presentation the model is this: the most important idea is the ONE
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The Waltz Principle

Have you ever seen someone “lose” an audience? Have you ever lost one? Why did you “lose” the audience…? You probably did not “get” them at the beginning! Remember to “start with a ONE.”

Even if you are not a dancer, you know what a waltz is. And you likely know that you count the steps: one, two, three,..one two three…etc.
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POWERPOINT - FRIEND OR ENEMY

"I hate PowerPoint!" In recent months I have heard senior executives say that. One explained that he did not hate PowerPoint but hated what it did to his presenters. Another said that there were three things in communication that he hated: PowerPoint, podiums, and paper (notes). Both of these executives are saying that PowerPoint can hurt as well as help a presentation. It can be your enemy. ......continue to full article

Great Idea…Not so great a Delivery

That headline caught my eye. The story was about a new product, but it reminded me of communication in general. I deal with people who are very smart and are filled with great ideas. But their ideas are not understood, accepted, or turned into reality because they are delivered poorly.

Ideas are heard and acted on when they are delivered well. Have you ever seen someone else get credit for one of your ideas? ......continue to full article

Help Your Audience Invest in You!

Someone told me recently that he invested in a company after hearing a speech by the Chairman. Have you ever heard this or expressed it yourself? "I heard about something, bought some of it, and liked it so much I invested in the company." Let's apply this to the medium of spoken communication, Your goal should be to help your audience invest in your idea, plan, or product.......continue to full article

I AM THE CEO

No matter where you are in the chain of command, the ladder of success or the organization chart of your company…you are the CEO of your part of the business!......continue to full article

A GREAT SANDWICH AND A MEAT LESSON!

• Who's your favorite communicator?
• Is it someone in your company?
• Someone who you heard speak at a seminar?
• Someone who you see on television?  
  

I ask this question in my seminars.  Often people mention famous individuals or prominent business or political leaders…Bill Clinton, Bill Gates, Oprah
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Two Hundred and Forty One Parts

I bought a new cabinet for my work area.  I assumed it was assembled; it was not!  No problem.  I opened the carton and removed the packet of fastener and parts.  There were two hundred and forty one (241) pieces.  I began with the 16 fasteners for the shelves. I then proceeded to the 8 clips which secured the back…HAVE YOU HAD ENOUGH?  Don't you really want to know if I assembled it and filled it with tools and equipment…?......continue to full article

Eye Contact - Good For the Audience…and You!

I met someone on the golf course recently. We connected quickly and became friendly. This lasted for the entire round of golf, but all this happened because of the first impression and contact. We looked at one another, shook hands, and began our conversation. My new friend is a TV sports anchor. He is accustomed to communicating with people directly - in person and through the camera. We connected first with our eyes!......continue to full article

Tell us who you are…not just what you want to sell us!

Every seminar I teach, speech that I make, or individual coaching session that I conduct…I always come back to the same conclusion. Communication is never just about what we have to sell or the facts that we know. It's also ALWAYS about who we are!......continue to full article

Smartest Person in the room...

Do you know people who always seem to be the smartest person in the room?  They usually have something to say, and it's always "on point."  We all know persons who always have something to say, but it's not always that valuable.  What happens to persons who say valuable things…?  They are recognized, remembered, and valued.  The question is, "How do you get others to say that about you?"......continue to full article

Present With a Smooth Takeoff and a Clean Landing

Ask a pilot, “Are there specific times during a flight when you must pay special attention and stay carefully focussed?” The answer is always: takeoff and landing. The same is true with a speech, presentation, or virtually ANY communication. You must place careful emphasis on your beginning and ending – the takeoff and landing. Most of us feel our greatest pressure or nervousness at the opening and the closing of a presentation. At the same time, the audience is dramatically affected by how we begin and how we end.......continue to full article

How Many Uh's Are Okay?

What’s an “UH?” If you say UH yourself, you may call it a filler. When someone else says UH, you likely call it a Junk word! It’s both. We use uhs, uhms, you knows to fill the silence. And the more often we say these, the more they become JUNK!........continue to full article

Who is Tim Berners-Lee?

I don’t remember ever hearing that name until the opening ceremony of the London Summer Olympics in 2012. Tim Berners-Lee invented the world wide web! Years from now historians will rank this invention according to its effect and lasting importance. .......continue to full article

Nothing to Say? No Way.

When I was a relatively young child, a friend of mine got the very first
recording device in the neighborhood. We were invited over to see this new
invention and to test the recording of our voices. We all said something, but
when my friend Jim held the mic he said, “Jim ain’t got nothing to say.”.....continue to full article

Are You Listening Enough?

If you are married or planning to get married, did you ask your "intended" to open their laptop, so they could take notes on what you are about to say?  Highly unlikely!  Yet every day in meetings everywhere laptops are open, and people are taking notes.  They tell you that they are listening and taking notes…Are they?.......continue to full article

Communicate Like It’s Opening Night!

You should treat every presentation, speech, or meeting as if it were an extremely important event in your career and your life. How does an actor keep up the enthusiasm, vitality, and energy in a performance when they’ve done it hundreds of times? When it’s a matinee in the middle of the heat of August? When they’re tired or nursing a bad cold? When they know the play is closing next week… or that night!........continue to full article

Get To The Point!

A presentation is not like a mystery story. We read hundreds of pages and thousands of words to reach the last page and found out that the butler did it! A presentation is not like a long joke or story where we finally get to the
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Do You Present Like a Turtle or Superman?

When you make a speech or presentation are you a turtle or superman? The issue in communication is how we handle PRESSURE. When a turtle senses pressure (Danger or surprise) the turtle goes back inside his shell. His head and feet disappear! ......continue to full article