by Alan | Aug 21, 2008 | Communication skills, public speaking
Got a bad haircut yesterday. It looks pretty weird. But in my world, the difference between a bad haircut and a good haircut is about 2 weeks. It’ll be fine.But I hate it. It bothers me. I want so much to make sure everyone knows I hate it. That way I can make...
by Alan | Aug 20, 2008 | Communication skills, public speaking
With the folks I coach, it seems that many believe looking at notes is a bad thing for a speaker to do. People try all sorts of sly ways to get around pausing to look at their notes: from furtive glances to drive bys to strategic placement of cue cards.I’ve...
by Alan | Aug 18, 2008 | Communication skills, Leadership, public speaking
I heard a speaker the other day open his talk with a joke. Jokes aren’t inherently bad, but I definitely counsel my clients to avoid them when natural humor or stories are available. But here it came. The punchline of the joke involved a disgraced public figure....
by Alan | Aug 16, 2008 | Communication skills
Talking with a friend yesterday and he made the comment, “Comfort is the kiss of death.”While this might overstate the point a bit too much for my tastes, it underscores an important point — in ANYTHING we want to improve.When we are comfortable:we...
by Alan | Aug 14, 2008 | Communication skills
I attended a local Business Networking International meeting today as a guest of a new friend. Part of the meeting is giving everyone a chance to speak for 45 seconds about what they do. It’s a chance to practice the elevator speech among friends. Members repeat...
