There are some circumstances in which we can tell an audience what to do, some where we must sell them (or convince) them to do something, and then there are those times when we do not have the authority (or… Read More »Presentation Skills: Tell, Sell, Solve
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 may… Read More »Good speakers don’t boast
Last September, the malevolent toadstool you see in the picture on the left thrust its slimy head out of the familiar soil of my front yard. It got my attention. I have rarely had mushrooms in my garden, and never… Read More »Presentation skill #65: Getting attention for the right reasons
A few years back The New York Giants won the Super Bowl with two running backs nicknamed Thunder and Lightning. Thunder was Brandon Jacobs and Lightning was Ahmad Bradshaw. In the first half, Jacobs (aka Thunder, 6’ 4” ; 264)… Read More »Communication Skills: Consider your voice the thunder
Just sat through a talk with a long and useless introduction concerning what the speaker had considered saying but decided against, how he stumbled upon his approach to the topic, and finally, the five elements of it he planned to… Read More »Public speaking error # 17
You know the saying in the telecom biz. You can have the greatest fiber optic network in the world, but if you don’t have the fiber running from the main pipe to every house on the block, you ain’t got… Read More »The last mile in high stakes presentations