by Alan | Jul 16, 2006 | Communication skills, Delivery, Don't!
Watched a butchery of handouts today. When handouts help make a point, give the listener a take-away or help keep them paying attention where they otherwise might be jotting stuff down, add things not covered in the talk, or provide context and organization to the...
by Alan | Jul 15, 2006 | Communication skills, Customer Service, Flying
Got a flyer/magazine/catalog today. One of those vendor rags that’s made to look like a magazine tailored to something I love (flying). I don’t know how I got on the maillst, and because it’s a topic I care about, I’m only partially miffed...
by Alan | Jul 13, 2006 | Communication skills, Delivery
One of the things I do with my classes on training and communication skills is to have folks focus on a particular skill while talking about just about anything. I beg, plead, joke, and remind that in this skill-building session, I’m not really concerned at all...
by Alan | Jul 13, 2006 | Communication skills, Delivery
Taught a class this week to technical folks who need to learn how to train/teach/convey. Training is such an interesting field. Very few folks set out to be trainers. Most folks learn some content or gain some experience, are asked to speak or train, like it (or...
by Alan | Jul 10, 2006 | Communication skills, Parenting, Sales, Toastmasters
How do you grade? Jeff Bailey blogs about Toastmaster evaluations and the slippery slope they create. Since one of Toastmasters major missions is to get folks who are not comfortable speaking in public to cross the divide into the world of perhaps even enjoying it,...
by Alan | Jul 9, 2006 | Communication skills, Delivery
One of my pet peeves is the constant referrals to time that speakers make. As a rule of thumb, I advocate that the only person in the room who should know about time is the speaker. I frequently hear things like, “Well, I’ve only got a few minutes...
