I knew it wasn’t going to be your normal conference kickoff keynote when I entered the ballroom and found a bongo at every audience seat. I was in the audience that day with about 400 other attendees. We couldn’t help but pick up the bongo, inspect it and experiment with tapping on it. Then one […]
“How is leader presence any different from normal presence?” My student asked this question immediately after I defined the two elements that make up a first impression; your perceived confidence and your approachability. My student persisted with a follow up question before I could even respond, “I mean, isn’t your presence just these two things, […]
The conference call went silent for only a second while she was thinking. Then my boss said, “Russ can be there. Set up the meeting.” Well, it looks like I was about to book a flight to Boston from Houston. Without any thought to my personal schedule, my pregnant wife, or my 2-year-old son. I’m […]
When I begin a communication workshop the topic of first impressions always comes up. We start by defining the three areas of impression your audience will have of you. One student will usually say, “So I just need to make sure that when I start speaking I’m demonstrating all three of these, right?” Well, the answer […]
It’s Wednesday and I’m in St. Louis getting some work done in my hotel room before I speak this afternoon for my customer. When I opened my Blogging Dashboard I noticed something… this is my 100th weekly blog post. That’s two years, almost 100,000 words, and the equivalent of two published books. I paused for […]
I’ve noticed a trend in our customers’ professional development requests. This trend began about 4 years ago. What I found interesting was that each customer was working on the same specific need. This specific need was actually created by an entire generation. That generation is the Baby Boomer Generation. The Coming Storm Baby Boomers are retiring […]
I’ve had my struggles with relationships and I’m definitely no saint. Maybe that’s what led me to Dr. John Gottman’s research in the first place. Relationships aren’t easy, but that’s also what makes them so rewarding when they’re working well! What I appreciated most from Dr. Gottman’s research are the four predictors he found for […]
It was a conversation for the ages! My family and our dear friends from Dublin were all seated around their dining table in Ireland. The conversation was full of laughter, questions, tears, intrigue, and dreams. We were swimming in deep waters and we loved it. But what was it exactly that made this 3-hour conversation […]
I asked my class, “What are the two most valuable pieces of property on the Monopoly board?” Someone usually responds with “Park Place and Boardwalk!” If you own those two pieces of property, what would you put on them? I’m guessing hotels! When you have prime property, you always think carefully about what you want […]
“I didn’t get the promotion.” Not the words I’d want to hear from him. When you’re coaching others on their communication, word choice can play a huge role in how other people perceive them. One of the areas I focus on when coaching others in communication are what I call the gray words. Do you […]
