Speaking tips blog
Communication matters. What are you saying?
Start strong
Worked with a presenter yesterday on polishing his presentation. His self-proclaimed weakness was "openings and closings". We started with openings.We moved from "Good morning. I'm A and I'm the B of C and I'm happy to tell you about D today" to a more engaging story,...
The eyes have it
Had a one-on-one meeting today with someone who refused to look at me. Must have been something on the wall behind me of great interest. I wasn't necessarily offended, but it did make the conversation seem rather unimportant to them (it was very important to me). I...
Contesting results
I was again blessed to win the Toastmasters humorous speech contest (now at the division level) tonite. I'm continually amazed at the different talents in this organization -- everyone brings something a little different to the table, and there is always a good...
Fairly distracting
Took in the 2005 N.C. State Fair today. Everything I abhor (except the food) all in one place. It's an amazing place to watch people, waste a lot of money, make a 4-year-old boy very happy, and get exhausted all in a very short amount of time.Carny's are an...
Tick tock…
Back to our class from last week.To review: great presenter, good material. But logistics needed a slight improvement.Today's topic: Time. Time management for the class was loose, at best. Most breaks ran over 10-15 minutes (and a maximum of 24 minutes) due to side...
Hey, look at that, will ya?
Sat in on three days of class this past week. Liked the instructor; reminded me of me in style and presentation -- what's not to like? 🙂 Great sense of humor, command of the material, comfortable, helpful. But...Couple of logistical issues really detracted from the...
More on sales…
Back to our friend's sales call earlier in the week...This person had clearly not analyzed the audience. He didn't know even how to pronouce the company's name, had no idea what sort of activity the people in the room actually did, and proceeded to present with...
Here’s a tip…
Got an email a few days ago from someone I didn't know. Included a themed stationary (generally regarded as a no-no in email land -- you're not doing that, are you? 🙂 Also had 2MB of attachments that were supposed to "help me" and the entire email was not signed (I...
A real snoozer
Sat in on a large meeting (~200) today. Based on feedback, folks apparently were bored stiff.At one point, a presenter made the comment "As I talk to this slide...". Things were a little less than interactive. The scheduled 90-minute program lasted 120, and it seemed...
Sales call, ugh…
Sat in on a sales presentation today. Don't know that I could more highly recommend Jeffrey Gitomer's book(s) for folks that do this for a living. The audience was convinced in 90 seconds of what they needed to know -- this was not the product or vendor they wanted to...
Eulogies and other pick-me-ups
Just back from a funeral. I was there to support a friend; I never even met the deceased. Since the last few funerals I've attended have required an intense emotional involvement -- my own grandmother, a friend's wife and dear friend -- this one allowed me to see the...
I don’t want to be changed!
A few days ago, I told my three-year-old daughter that it was time for a change (wet diaper). As she tearfully ascended the stairs, she whined in her most convincing voice, "But Daddy, I don't want to be changed."I couldn't help but laugh at her drama, but when it hit...
