It’s Not as Complicated as You Think About a year ago, I decided to create an e-learning course (the kind that you buy, download, and then take at your own pace) on public speaking. [NOTE: I’m still working hard on the course, though I’ve given up trying to predict when it will be finished. :-))] Read More
communications
How To Master Business Communication: Learn the Unwritten Rules
Groups Always Enforce Unwritten Rules Funny thing about human beings: We like to organize ourselves into groups, and we like to tell each other how to act. This means that every group of people — from a single household to a country of billions — has unwritten rules for how each member should behave. (Think of the statement, “In Read More
Public Speaking Tip 44: Make Small Talk in Business Settings, Using the “Respond and Return” Technique
You’ll do more business, and better business, if you make small talk and connect with your clients, colleagues, higher-ups, and prospects — and it’s easy if you embrace a technique that I call respond and return. Before we look at how, though, let’s clear up a matter of protocol: How Do You Know Whether or Not to Make Small Read More
Public Speaking Tip 62: Talk About Inconsequential Things When You Make Small Talk
I’ve written about the value of talking about inconsequential things when you practice Instant Speeches or when you speak up in meetings, and that same value attaches to small talk. Hopefully, this will make participating in it easier and less daunting. And yes, I know that some of you already find small talk easy and non-daunting, but the rest of Read More
For Effective Public Speaking, Ask: Will This Key Message Get Me What I Want?
Just before Thanksgiving, I blogged about how you could save the day by using a Key Message to defuse family fights. The examples of Key Messages I gave in that post were: To Mom, who’s hassling your sister: “I’m just glad that we could all be together today.” To Uncle John, who loves Paul Ryan: “I’m Read More