What makes smart people dumb? Elizabeth Newton, a psychologist, conducted an experiment on the curse of knowledge while working on her doctorate at Stanford in 1990. She gave one set of people, called “tappers,” a list of commonly known songs… Read More »Communication Skills: Why Mr. Smarty Pants Has His Knickers in a Twist
I once had a colleague who said that everyone is in two businesses: their own, and show biz. He didn’t go far enough. Every business is show business. Business would be impossible without acting skills. Theater artists have the talent… Read More »Communication Training: The Show in Business
Like that moment in bowling, when your ball leaves two pins standing far apart, there are times when your audience is divided into two camps. One half is knowledgeable about your area of expertise, while the other half is green. … Read More »Public Speaking: Split Shot Audience
Derrick called and spoke a mile a minute. His boss, the founder of a new hedge fund and the primary money runner had to speak at a capital intro in a week. Could I come and help? I asked if… Read More »Business Presentations: Hedge Fund Capital Intro
We often think that the placebo effect comes from the belief that a sugar pill is actual medicine, which leads us to the conclusion that if we believe something is good for us, we get a positive physiological response. I… Read More »Interpersonal Skills: the Placebo Effect
Despite the extraordinary contributions the pharmaceutical industry has made to the quality and longevity of human life, it stands charged in the court of public opinion on a multiple-count indictment. Below, I have listed what I believe are the sentiments,… Read More »Pharmaceutical Presentations: Pharma on Trial