If you want to become a better speaker, there is a wealth of information available. Today we have access to countless apps, blogs, video courses and scientific papers. Many of these resources are great. They have useful information and they help us understand how to improve our desired skillset. But when it comes to speaking … Read more
Concise Speaking in Professional Communication Concise communication is a frequent challenge we see with clients and students. Concision is hard because professionals have lots of information to convey in a very limited time. Important decision-makers are usually very short on time, and have a limited attention span. You have to get your point across quickly and … Read more
Introverts are notorious for hating small talk. I used to be one of them. I avoided small talk, and situations where I would need to partake in it. I preferred to focus on important discussions about things that mattered to me: philosophy and metaphysics, culture, psychology, business, economics, etc. In other words, heavy and fascinating … Read more
Jonathan and Thomas both have a great idea for their companies. Jonathan works at a multi-million dollar firm, and so does Thomas. They are equally qualified and talented. They both give their proposal to senior team members at the same time of the fiscal year. They both speak to the key decision-maker, who is equally … Read more
How to Interrupt in a Positive and Effective Way A client of mine is working on her networking skills. She recently mentioned she was having trouble with managing a conversation when the other person won’t stop talking. Understandably, she does not want to be impolite or rude. But at the same time, allowing the other … Read more
Asking open questions is a great technique for rapport-building and connection. An open question is a question that gives the recipient the opportunity to express themselves: for example “what’s your favorite thing about living here?” or “how did you get inspired to work on that project?” (One reason why so many conversations stall out in … Read more
Framing is everything. I’ve written before about the power of framing in persuasion. At minute 1:40 in this segment on Fox News, Dr Oz shows how it’s done, whether intentionally or not: Dr. Oz on how US can dramatically lower health care costsWatch this video on YouTube He briefly turns a conversation about healthcare spending … Read more
Yesterday we saw Dr. Marc Siegel’s weak, meandering, and unclear communication skills. Here we can see Dr. Oz in the same situation: a medical professional with three news anchors. But with a very different outcome. Whatever you think about Oz’s opinions on medicine, the point is he is an excellent communicator. He is crisp, sharp, articulate, … Read more
Dr. Marc Siegel, clearly a very intelligent and experienced physician, has trouble getting his message across. In this 3-minute segment with three goofball news anchors, he tries to communicate some points about salt, but quickly loses control of the discussion: Scientists: Everything we've been told about salt is wrongWatch this video on YouTube As the only one … Read more
Presentation Preparation with Limited Time To make your presentation as powerful and persuasive as possible, it takes an investment of time. But, especially in certain industries, you often don’t have the luxury of lots of time to memorize, edit, order and reorder slides, get feedback from friends, and rehearse over and over. So here are some presentation … Read more