In my last post, I used Chief Brody’s character from Jaws fame as an example of how our fight or flight system is triggered. Its manifestations run from sudden dry mouth, sweaty palms, flushed neck, butterflies in our stomach, and a brain that sputters like an old Fiat rather than performing like the Porsche 911 […]
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Category: Public Speaking Skills
It’s a common occurrence in the business world. You prepare a meeting, presentation, or speech for a certain length of time, only to find out that you have a lot less time than you planned for. Sometimes we even learn our fate as we are walking into the presentation. We’ve spoken a lot lately about […]
Chief Brody’s hands may have started to sweat and shake as he instinctively backs up away from the mortal threat, his mouth goes dry, his neck flushes and his voice wavers. He’s seen the shark, and he thinks that he and Quint and Hooper need a bigger boat to catch the shark. The Chief’s autonomic […]
Being a great communicator is about so much more than the sales call you’re about to make, the meeting you’re about to join, or the conversation you’re about to have… Beyond the immediate benefits of closing a sale, or contributing to a meeting, great communication skills create several significant realities that will benefit you in […]
Have you ever sat through a meeting, or a conference call, or a presentation, and thought to yourself, “Oh my god… I wish this person would get to the point…“? Yeah. Me too. Many, many times. We all know what it feels like to have our time wasted by someone who just won’t, or can’t, get to the […]
Communication clarity is really hard in the 21st century… a mantra I have recited over and over in this space. It’s hard because of the noise, the competition for mind share, and shrinking attentions spans. But often the best way to combat difficulty and noise is to focus on the most simple, basic elements of […]
The question I’m asked most often in workshops and coaching sessions is, “I get really nervous when speaking; can you help me eliminate my anxiety?” And my answer is that having at least some anxiety is actually a good sign. It means that, at that moment, you’re engaged. You are plugged into your audience and […]
Originally published with the Forbes Coaches Council, February 2019 Think about the best leader you’ve ever seen. What made her compelling? Many of us would say, “She just had ‘it.’ Her charisma was off the charts.” It may be hard to believe, but “it” — that combination of confidence, authority and personality that makes an executive engaging and inspiring — isn’t necessarily an […]
The first car stolen or “captured” in the movie “Gone in 60 Seconds” was a 1999 Aston Martin DB7. While Nicholas Cage had an entire minute to capture the car in the movie, in the corporate world, you have just ten seconds to capture your audience’s attention. In my last post, we showed you why capturing attention […]
On February 10, 2019 the Grammy Awards opened with an introduction by women describing the importance of music in our lives. As I listened to Michelle Obama’s message, I thought of the relevance of her words to the work we do every day. “Music helps us share ourselves…It allows us to hear one another, to […]