Whenever you give yourself a compliment in front of an audience, you run the risk of being seen in a negative light. For instance, telling stories about how you won a big piece of business by being a super salesman… Read More »Don’t Boast
I’m getting tired of PowerPoint slides. So are a lot of people. Why? They are another tool that’s controlling us. They are excruciatingly predictable. We tend to use the slides as speaker prompts, not as aids to the audience. An… Read More »PowerPoint Fatigue
I just got off the phone with a client who is working on being more assertive and fluid when he speaks. He complains, and I agree with him, that he starts speaking without knowing where his sentences are heading. Soon… Read More »An Exercise That Can Make You a Spell-Binding Orator
First, when you look at your listeners (one at a time) you are paying attention to them. People love to have attention paid to them, and are more likely to pay you back with their attention. Second, when you watch… Read More »Three reasons to look at your listeners
Top performers practice what they’re bad at, even though it’s frustrating, and they do it to the point of mental and physical exhaustion. They go until they break down old habits and develop new ones. I believe in this approach–that… Read More »Success strategy: tie the outcome to the process
When it comes to sealing a deal or cementing a business relationship, schedule a meeting. Why? Because research reported in The New York Times by Matt Richtel shows that when you speak to people face to face, they are less… Read More »Make a Better Impression