by Alan | Aug 24, 2006 | Communication skills, Delivery, Flying
In my training classes, I teach a lot of people whose native language is not English. Save for a few years of High School German (nur ein bisschen!), I only speak English, however. While I LOVE listening to the accents I am exposed to, it does pose a problem in...
by Alan | Aug 22, 2006 | Communication skills, Delivery, Leadership
People say crazy things. Some are just odd; some are marginally offensive. Especially if there is no reason to assume ill will, a pause and a gracious response is always in order. Helps to avoid those ‘I wish I hand’t said that’ moments, since one...
by Alan | Aug 20, 2006 | Communication skills, Content, Delivery, PowerPoint
Watched a marketing rah-rah session the other day. Of course, the ubiquitous PowerPoint was front and center, running the show. When it becomes obvious that the content will be driven entirely by what’s on the screen, the presenter loses the ability to connect...
by Alan | Aug 17, 2006 | Communication skills, Delivery, Toastmasters
Seen several speeches (the latest in Toastmasters today) where a previous speaker had PowerPoint slides that ended with the ubiquitous end/summary/any questions slide. No problems (well, only minor ones) with that. But the next speaker spoke without PowerPoint...
by Alan | Aug 17, 2006 | Communication skills, Content, Delivery
Watched a mid-level manager open a speech to the troops the other day with an attempt at a related story which was clearly formulated as a grabber (no problems so far), followed with the requisite transition into business-ese (still no problem), followed by a posture...
by Alan | Aug 14, 2006 | Communication skills, Delivery, Don't!
Would be better than a piece of paper. Watch a C-level executive today saunter on stage and announce he had taken notes during the division’s meeting and had a few points to make. He accentuated the point by showing the piece of paper he had purportedly taken...
