Five Ways to Turbo Charge Your Career
Have you reached a point where you have felt your career is stagnating? There are some ways to move the needle, but they may involve moving you away from your comfort zone. Here are five solid suggestions. Speak Up A lot of people, depending on their position on the...
Handling the Boss from Hell
Bosses are all different. Some are very even-tempered. Nothing seems to throw them. Others lash out, are demeaning and downright hard to bear. If you are one of those people searching for ways to work with a boss from hell, here are some suggestions. First, examine if...
Are You Prepared?
The number one reason that presentations fail is a lack of preparation. Whether you are giving an update, making a proposal, suggesting a solution or speaking at a conference, it is critical that you do your homework and understand your listeners and what you want to...
Has Your Credibility Banana Turned Brown?
“To be persuasive, we must be believable; to be believable, we must be credible, to be credible, we must be truthful.” Edward R Murrow, journalist and news anchor Credibility is everything in the influence game. As a salesperson or someone who supports sales,...
Managing the Jitters
Presenting your ideas to the boss is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it’s an opportunity to show the boss you know your stuff and you are someone with real potential. On the other hand, if you don’t do a good job or your boss is disappointed with your message,...
What the Boss Wants You to Know about Asking for That Raise
Wouldn’t it be nice if your boss called you into his/her office and offered you a lovely raise? If only, right! In today’s unsettled business environment, the reality is raises aren’t automatic. So what should you do? What are your options? You can keep your fingers...
Rarely Make Presentations? It’s No Excuse!
Don’t think because you rarely make formal presentations, your boss or your peers will forgive you for doing a poor or mediocre job. They won’t! Their expectation is that if you asked them to listen, you will make it worthwhile. Their time is too valuable to be bored...
Who Needs Executive Presence? You Do!
Your boss tells you that you need to work on Executive Presence. However, you are swamped, doing the job of three people and attending one meeting after another. In theory, you agree that it would be great to develop Executive Presence, but yet, you don’t really know...
Why Your Career May Stagnate
Don’t think because you have an MBA or Advanced Certifications that you will automatically rise in an organization. We all know people who move up quickly without the credentials you have. When someone fails to move up, we notice the following problems. Small...
Breakthrough or Breakdown
Nobody wants to leave a meeting having a breakdown, wishing you would have done something differently. All of us want to be breakthrough communicators. Getting your message across doesn’t happen by accident. It depends on considering 5 key things: Preparation. First...
How to Sell Like a CEO, When You’re Not!
Carly Fiorina was CEO of the Hewlett Packard organization for over 5 years. Fiorina was a charismatic leader and was extremely successful in rallying the board around her ideas and her strategies. Despite several missed profit expectations and an 8% drop in stock...
Getting from Ordinary to Extraordinary – The When, Where, How and Why to Improving the Way You Communicate!
People who are extraordinary communicators don’t start out that way. They work at getting better. They take communicating effectively seriously. They practice. They learn the When, Where, How and Why to improving the way they communicate. When: People who are fabulous...
Eliminating Verbal Static: Tips for Curing Filler Words
Filler words, such as “um,” “ah,” “like” and “ok,” represent verbal static or noise that your listeners have to filter out. The more fillers you have, the more difficult it is for your listeners to hear your message. Minimizing these annoying irritants will boost your...
Practice Doesn’t Make Perfect
We’ve all heard the old adage, “Practice makes perfect.” Practice doesn’t make perfect; it makes permanent! It can reinforce bad or wrong habits. Getting to the next level in your communication skills depends on knowing what you are doing well and what you doing that...
Things We Forget That Affect Our Impact
Little things matter when it comes to influencing others. Overlooking these may be costly since they cause confusion and delay a decision. The wise communicator avoids the Big Seven Sins or missteps like the following: Leaving research and preparation to the last...
Corralling Your Nerves
Speaking publicly to a group can be traumatizing. In fact, Jerry Seinfeld, comedian extraordinaire, joked about preferring to be in the coffin than to be the person giving the eulogy. If you are one of those people that find themselves anxious, here are some tried and...
How You Sabotage Your Success as a Presenter
Have you ever left a meeting wishing you had a chance for a “do over?” The bad impression you left is often indelible, and it may leave senior leaders questioning your capabilities. When we queried managers, directors and VP’s from an assortment of industries as to...
The Grave Digger’s Shift – What to Consider When Presenting Later in the Day!
Is your presentation scheduled for 3 p.m or even later? If so, you’re in the Grave Digger’s Shift. In fact, any time you speak in the afternoon, you run the risk of digging your own grave unless you are interesting and engaging. People are tired and typically have a...
How Strong is Your Core?
Every athlete knows that if you want to perform well, you have to have a strong core. They also know that the time to strengthen their core is not while running a marathon or playing 18 holes of golf. It needs to happen long before and gradually over time. The same is...
Connection Matters
How you relate to others matters when making a face-to-face presentation. What creates a connection with any executive, manager or peer, first and foremost, is strong eye contact. Sustained eye contact should begin the minute you walk in the door. With solid eye...
Being as Good as the Big Guys
We have all heard speakers who are exceptional – their message is clear and it is delivered in a compelling manner. People like Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Computers, Steve Ballmer CEO of Microsoft and John Chambers, CEO of Cisco Systems fall into this category. However,...Pre-game Jitters When Presenting to the Boss
Presenting to the boss is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it is an opportunity to show what you know, to be the next MVP. On the other hand, if the boss thinks poorly of you or hates what you say, you may be forever sitting on the sidelines or worse yet, sent...
What It Takes to be a Master Speaker
Malcolm Gladwell in his book Outliers says 10,000 hours is the magic number for true expertise. He sites examples of composers, basketball players, skaters, concert pianists, chess players and fiction writers who achieved greatness after 10,000 hours of hard practice....If You Rest, You Rust!
Helen Hayes (1900-1993) was the quintessential actress of her day. When asked why she continued to act well into her seventies and eighties, she said, “If you rest, you rust.” As speakers, we can’t assume our communication skills are good enough. Miscommunication is...- Intentional Listening: A must for Salespeople
Strong listening skills are a must. Customers judge people who are trying to sell their ideas or services on the phone by how well they pay attention to them. They expect phone reps to find solutions to their business issues and to anticipate their ever- growing needs, and that is no small order. “Listen to […]
- Acknowledging the Inside Scoop
When a customer, whether internal or external, has an issue, the good listener acknowledges it. By empathizing, the person feels you understand him and becomes more receptive to hearing what you have to say. He or she becomes less hostile. You build rapport. Do not worry that this will lengthen the call. It will actually […]
- How Can I Lead Them If I Can’t See Them!
In the old days, managers saw their direct reports daily. They may even have eaten lunch with them or been on the same company bowling team. However, today, managers often oversee people around the globe, in places as far away as India, Kuwait or Korea. The days of interacting face-to-face with one’s direct reports are […]
- How to Say “NO” Effectively
Saying “No” to a customer is difficult. If it is done in the wrong manner, it can mean escalating a problem or even losing a customer. There are two things to consider before you do say “no” – why and how. Why Before “no” escapes from your lips, examine why saying “no” is actually merited. […]
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