Speed things up a bit

After some sickness putting us out of commission a bit, we’re back in business. Sickness makes the well times seem so much more weller.

Had a faithful reader give this tip, and I can’t believe I didn’t know it or discover it before. You should know by now I’m a HUGE fan of video [...]

February 26th, 2007 | Category: Content, Efficiency | Comments are closed

I’m sorry

I witnessed a great apology today.  At Toastmasters, we are frequently sarcastic and sometimes even caustic with one another (mostly the guys), and today was a light-hearted and enjoyable example of friends getting after one another.  It escalated quickly, with one member good-naturedly ribbing another with a direct comment that was laughed at, but probably [...]

February 15th, 2007 | Category: Communication skills, Content, Delivery, Toastmasters | 2 comments - (Comments are closed)

Wrong word

Had a guy last night offer up an English nugget to me. He was a very interesting guy — a true Renaissance man who was also a Toastmaster DTM (highest level possible). As we connected and talked, I used an incorrect word and he paused and said, “I’m going to correct you and [...]

February 7th, 2007 | Category: Communication skills, Toastmasters, public speaking | Comments are closed

Standing room only

Saw the importance first-hand last night of connecting with the audience via eye contact and any other way possible.  Presenting to an aviation crowd in a hotel ballroom.  202 chairs set up — brought in another 25 as we reached capacity.  Final tally was 291 and we ended with about 25 people sitting on the [...]

February 7th, 2007 | Category: Communication skills, Delivery, Flying, public speaking | Comments are closed

Why punctuation matters

Listened to a speaker introduce his topic with a summary statement directed to his audience:

“We are able to do that for you.  I hope you will feel free to chime in whenever…”

But there was one major problem.  He didn’t pause when he hit the period.  So it sounded more like “We are able to do [...]

February 3rd, 2007 | Category: Communication skills, Delivery, public speaking | Comments are closed