September 2011 Newsletter
Learning from Your Dentist the Keys to Delivering Bad News.
Many of us have to deliver unwanted messages. For example, my dentist recently told me that some of my old fillings were deteriorating and needed to be replaced.
“They’ve served you well for many years,” she told me. “But those old fillings don’t last forever.”
That was an unwanted message. And yet I was in the dentist’s chair recently, my Novocain-numbed mouth pried open, undergoing extensive dental work.
As I was lying there, I settled on four keys to delivering unwanted messages.
CEOs Aren't the Only Ones That Like Brevity.
"When you’re presenting to our CEO, be sure to keep it tight. He has a very short attention span.”
We hear people say that about their CEOs all the time.
It’s like CEOs all somehow suffer from a horrible case of attention deficit disorder.
We don’t buy it. CEOs aren’t special.
How to Thank People at the Start of a Speech.
Several years ago, one of our coaches attended a speech by the president of a major industry association. This industry bigwig was speaking about the state of his business. After being introduced, he spent the first five minutes of his 20 minute speech thanking people for inviting him. That’s a quarter of his speech! And it went downhill from there.
It was a nightmare.
Keys to Engaging Conference Calls.
“When I’m leading a conference call, I know that there are people reading their email, working on memos and not paying attention. Are there any tricks to making people paying pay closer attention?”
We get that question a lot. Here's our answer. Yes. There is a trick to making people pay more attention. You need to be more engaging.
It’s not the listener’s fault that your calls feel like a waste of time.
When people ask how to make people pay attention on conference calls, they’re usually asking it with some sense of exasperation.
Public Speaking Tip from Abraham Lincoln.
“He can compress the most words into the smallest ideas of any man I ever met.”
Those are the words of Abraham Lincoln. His words are a nice reminder that economy in the use of language is important. During your presentations, we want to teach you to give as much value as possible in as little time as possible, not vice-versa.