Some Resolutions Executives Wish You Would Make
It’s the New Year. A lot of us make resolutions. “Go to the gym.” “Eliminate sweets.” Have a real lunch, instead of a latte.” Most resolutions that I hear are about people’s waistline — rarely any about one’s professional life. This prompted me to ask executives I...
How to Influence Decision Makers Right from the Start
When proposing to C level executives, those CEO’s, CIO’s CTO’s, or CFO’s, it is necessary to remember, they are only interested in solving their company’s problems. Obviously, their bonus depends on it. They are not interested in a salesperson who seems to be pushing...
Team Presentations are Not a Series of Solo Acts
High-level customer presentations often involve several people. While teams vary in makeup, typically, they include people who are subject matter experts, as well as the sales executive and the sales manager. The most senior person assumes the role of the team leader....
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...
Tips from the Experts on How to Open
The hardest part of any presentation is the opening. Obviously, gaining people’s attention is critical. If you don’t captivate them as you begin, it’s not likely you will get them to listen as you move forward. Plus, seeing people looking at their phones, instead of...
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...
When Problems Arise with Virtual Teams
With companies spread around the world, virtual teams are now the norm. Obviously, everyone would like these teams to run smoothly and utilize the strengths of their diversity. However, often a group in one location is used to doing things in a particular way, while a...
Trust Isn’t a Given So How Do You Get It
Trust is vital in any lasting business relationship. In fact, the level of trust you establish determines how successful you will be in selling a product or proposing a solution. If the level of trust is strong, managers will feel you are the right person for the...
Making Updates Award Winning
Have you ever rolled your eyes at the thought of making another quarterly business review? They take a lot of time to adequately prepare, time you may not have due to other pressing deadlines. Although annoying, these business reviews are essential to providing...
How to Be Unique and Irreplaceable in the Buyer’s Eyes?
“If you want to stand out, don’t be different; be outstanding” —Meredith West, designer Imagine that a potential buyer needs a particular solution, maybe in healthcare or one in Security. However, when the customer does his research, he finds that all the solutions...
Is Unconscious Bias Affecting Your Communication?
Bias — the uncomfortable truth is that everyone biased. Stereotypes about groups of people are ubiquitous. Some of these preconceived ideas or feelings operate at a level below consciousness, and these are called implicit or unconscious biases. They are not limited 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,...
Influence Shouldn’t Be a Crapshoot!
As a child, many of us crossed our fingers in the hopes that we could persuade our mothers to allow us to do something, maybe go to a movie, stay up late or come in after curfew. As business people, we can’t afford to go into that all-important meeting “hoping” our...
For Women to Swim with the Sharks
It shouldn’t be this way, but in many organizations, women are not seen as key players. Study after study shows that women with the same credentials do not get promoted as quickly, nor are they remunerated in the same manner. So the question is what can women do to...
Five Mistakes Sales People Routinely Make
It’s the end of the year. If you’re a salesperson, it’s a good time to reflect on how well you did in 2017. Did you make your quota? Could you have done better? While you can’t win them all, perhaps, it’s important to consider whether you made any missteps that cost...
How to Keep the Multitasking Listener Attentive
Business people have short attention spans. They are used to multi-tasking and they are often preoccupied with things in their personal and business lives. Some researchers believe that the average attention span of an adult, versus a preschooler is seven seconds. In...
There Ought to Be a Law: Communication Competencies
For years, scholars have written about communication skills being the key to your business success. Almost every job lists strong communication skills as a requirement, but exactly what does that mean in the whole scheme of things. Companies need to develop...
Tips from the Top — What One CEO Practices
What do people remember? As a coach, you hope people embrace your suggestions and remember the issues they found challenging after the engagement ends. Periodically, I like to touch base with these business leaders as a double check. I had the pleasure of reconnecting...
What Do You Do If You Speak Too Fast
Do you speak too fast? Does everyone tell you to slow down? Do you also have a lot of “filler” or “crutch” words? Inevitably, if you speak quickly, there will be lots of “ums, ahs and you knows.” If this is you, don’t ignore this issue. It is not okay to speak...
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,...
How to Standout on the Job
Standing out on the job can seem daunting. Obviously, the message you want to send to your boss is: I’m a leader. I am someone to watch. I am likable. I am trustworthy. I deserve a promotion. I belong on your team. Ensuring that you are conveying these things to your...
Don’t Get Stuck on the Opening
Where most people get hung up is the opening. However, that’s actually the most important part of a conversation. If those first few minutes aren’t rock solid, it is unlikely the audience will listen all the way to the end. People make instantaneous decisions about...
Do You Care Enough
“Doing the best at this moment puts you in the best place for the next moment.” — Oprah Winfrey “I was busy” is an excuse many of us use when we don’t do our best. When you carelessly prepare or deliver ideas, your listeners may end up confused, and consequently,...
Tips for Creating Powerful Messages
Regardless of our job, most of us have updates or presentations to give. This can take a big chunk out of our work week. Obviously, we want these presentations to “knock the socks” off our listeners. While that’s the goal, most business professionals spend 22 hours a...
Deconstructing What Charismatic Speakers Do
A lot of speakers wish they could be seen as charismatic. Martin Luther King, John Kennedy, Ronald Reagan and Steve Jobs come to mind as people who were magnetic speakers. When they spoke, people listened and remembered. Obviously, no one is born charismatic, but how...
Listen like your job depends on it because it just might!
Listening is the number one skill for success in business today. Poor listening skills make people angry and make them feel you don’t value them. They affect all relationships, especially business relationships. Most people think they are good listeners. In reality,...
Speaking to Direct Reports Requires Forethought
So often when leaders speak downwardly to their direct reports, they don’t think about it. They just do it without much thought. To the person on the other side of the table or on the other side of the globe, the meeting may mean a lot. Speaking to one’s direct...
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...
What Executives Wish You Would Do When Using PowerPoint
Executives tolerate slide shows. No Executive goes into a meeting hoping that you will open your laptop and begin showing slides. They prefer to have a conversation about an issue and utilize slides only when it is necessary to aid comprehension. In querying Decisions...
See Yourself as Tour Guide of Your Ideas
I just returned from a month-long tour of the Asian Pacific rim, visiting Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam. In each country, I had a different tour guide. What struck me as impressive were their extraordinary communication skills. It occurs to me that we need to...
The Five Things Intentional Listeners Must Master
If you think you are a good listener, think again. Study after study confirms that most people listen effectively only 25% of the time. Instead of listening, they are focused on responding. What is often overlooked is that there are three levels of listening. At the...
Trust Is a Leader’s X Factor
Trust is a leader’s X-factor to accomplishing things faster, better and with fewer resources. However, trust must be earned. It cannot be taken for granted. A lot of leaders give lip service to wanting to build a trusting environment, but yet they do very little to...
How to Win People’s Cooperation: The Art of Influencing Others
The key to successful leadership is influence, not authority — Ken Blanchard Regardless of your role in an organization, you need to persuade others to your point of view. Being able to win people’s cooperation is a critical skill for any business professional. In...
What’s Your Intention?
Communication ranges from building a relationship or gaining consensus to controlling an outcome. According to Susan Campbell, author of Saying What’s Real, almost 90% of all communication comes from the intent to control. She cautions that the more we aim to control,...
The Big 5: Why Executives Table an Issue
Most people get what they deserve! If they do a good job of presenting their idea, they get what they deserve. If they do a poor job, they also get what they deserve. This is what one COO I coached said at a recent lunch. My question to you is did you get what you...
Check Your Brand
I always buy the same toothpaste, yogurt, and mayonnaise because I like the brand. Maybe you also have favorite brands. My friend is on her third Honda. My husband only drinks Miller Lite. People are loyal to particular brands because of things like their...
Is Anybody Really Listening Out There?
How many times have you wondered if anybody was really listening or cared about what you were saying when giving a presentation? Obviously, the goal is to be heard by your listeners, yet, are there ways you can be sure? Yes and here is how and what the experts do!...
How to Get C Level Executives Interested
When making a proposal to C level Executives, those CEO’s, CIO’s, CTO’s or CFO’s, it is necessary to remember their focus is on solving problems and making the company successful. They are not interested in how an issue was resolved, but that it is no longer a...
What Influential Speakers Routinely Do
Everyone wants to be influential when in front of a client, a boss or even peers. For many of us, being persuasive is a crap shoot, where sometimes things go great, but, at other times, we wish for a “do-over.” Those who are known as powerful, motivating...
Captivate, Motivate, Educate
Creating a “knock your socks off” business presentation can seem overwhelming. Regardless of whether you’re making a formal presentation at a conference or sitting across the table with a client or your boss, there are three key things to remember. Captivate Motivate...
Be Heard — a Non-Fail Recipe
We all know that a speaker needs to be heard, whether it is in giving an update on a project, advising a client on an investment opportunity or explaining the functionality of a new product. Yet so often, business professionals are not heard. They do not connect with...
How to Wow in One-on-Ones
One-on-one meetings can often be intense. Obviously, it is important to showcase your best self – a person who is confident and committed to his or her ideas. Your body language says it all. To deliver your message and wow, consider the following suggestions. Lean in....
Applause Winning One On One Meetings
If your approach to being successful in a one on one meeting is to keep your fingers crossed and “hope” it turns out well, you risk disappointment. Applause winning meetings take thoughtful preparation and flawless execution. The following tips may turn the tide for...
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...
Seven Reasons Why “C” Suite Executives Are Terrific Communicators
Rarely, does anyone make it into the senior ranks of a company without being a terrific communicator. It just doesn’t happen. However, it is a mistake to think that the “C” Suite Executive is someone who, by nature, is good at communicating. No one is born a great...
Making the Executive Connection
Connecting with Executives doesn’t happen automatically. It takes understanding what is important to them and learning how they think. In the years that IMPACT Communication has worked with those at the top, here are some of their comments on what makes a difference....
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...
Shore Up Your Relationships – They’ll Keep You in Business
High performing companies know the value of building relationships with their customers and vendors. Relationships drive growth and revenue. They carry you through the tough times and may even give you an edge if there are shared intimacies. However, while we know...
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...
What’s Your Objective?
Just as competitive athletes visualize the outcome of their performance before the game begins, it makes a lot of sense for you to do the same thing. Never go into a meeting with only a vague idea of what you want to accomplish. Know ahead what you want people to...
Great Presentations are a Conversation
Picture yourself attending a staff meeting. How happy are you when the host of the meeting drones on about the numbers or the specifications of a product. Most of us hate lectures. What we do like and appreciate is a great conversation. So how do you as a speaker turn...
Tell a Story and You’ll Connect
Most managers or executives begrudging attend meetings with vendors or salespeople. They look upon them as an interruption. The last thing they want when they are busy is more information about a product or service thrown at them. When they actually do meet with you,...
What Marv White Says about Making an Executive Level Presentation
An executive’s time is valuable. These individuals go from meeting to meeting. It is not unusual for them to have as many as 10–15 meetings a day. For Marv White, Chief Technologist for Innovation at ESPN, an entertainment sports programming network and formerly CTO...
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...
Need Influence? Read Below!
How often have you heard someone say to you, “You need to be more influential?” When we hear that request, often we don’t know how to address the issue. From a communication standpoint, three issues are critical to making a powerful impression on others. People need...
Promise Never to Commit these Presentation Crimes
They say there are three presentations we give: The one we planned to give, the one we actually gave, and the one we wished we would have given. A lot of us leave a presentation wishing for a “do-over.” What can destroy a good outcome are the following “Presentation...
Why I Simply Can’t Trust You
The aim of any presenter is to be trusted. Yet, time after time, listeners aren’t sold. Many even comment, “You know, there is something about that guy that I just can’t trust.” What you say and how you say it is critical to establishing trust. Albert Mehrabian,...
The Storyteller’s Checklist
People are moved by their heads and their hearts. Data alone won’t convince people. Knowing this, many companies have adopted a storytelling approach with their customers. An engaging story helps to deepen the human connection and increase the likelihood of ideas...
Giving an Update? Tell Me What’s New and What’s to Do
Are you one of those people that has to give periodic updates? If so, you had better make it worth your listeners’ time because nobody relishes a meeting that’s “just an update.” In fact, in many people’s eyes, an “update” meeting is the one to miss when your schedule...
Reach, Teach and Touch – 3 Requirements for Any Presenter
Selling your ideas isn’t easy, especially in today’s dynamic business climate. Listeners go from meeting to meeting. They are on information overload. Without Reaching, Teaching and Touching your listeners, it is likely your content will be overlooked. The question is...Establish Credibility by Being a Trusted Advisor
What business person wouldn’t covet being thought of as a trusted advisor! Obviously, customers would act on your recommendations and refer you to other business acquaintances. They would turn to you first to improve the quality of their business and sign contract...Connection is Everything
How you relate to the audience affects the outcome of the meeting. People more readily accept information and close business with those they like and trust. So how do you build a relationship and still get your points across? What creates a connection, first and...My Face—Your Face. Is Face to Face Communication Necessary Today?
Social media, e-mail and other advancements in technology seem to suggest that face-to-face communication in the business world is “old school,” that people do not miss or desire in person communiqués. One businessman, I called recently had this recorded message on...Three Cardinal Sins That Will Derail an Executive Conversation
Most business people make presentations to executives, whether it is internally to senior managers for status updates or externally to clients or customers for purchase approval. Often, these are one-time golden opportunities. They require careful planning and...- 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 networks. “Stuck” professionals are not well known. They may have developed some […]
- Winning at Hiring
Call centers are the heart and soul of an organization. Customers form an impression of you and your organization within seconds based on the person on the other end of the line. If the first impression of a call center representative is positive, customers will be pleased and continue to do business with you. Their […]
- How to Understand Your Customer
Customers today are a lot more demanding and a lot savvier than they used to be. They know they have many choices. They are often in a hurry, confused, multi-tasking or have English as a second language. When they get you on the phone, their expectation is that you will: Fix the problem quickly. Make […]
- Quick Tips for Handling Loose Cannons!
Individuals who seem attacking can disarm even the most experienced speakers. When statements start with an accusation or an acerbic tone of voice, it is hard to keep your composure, especially if others are witnessing this attack. Difficult individuals or ‘loose cannons’ need to be contained. The wise speaker remembers some quick tips. Never interrupt. […]
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