My son had his eyes set on the biggest stuffed animal, but throwing the balls into the basket was not going to be as easy as it appeared. After three failed attempts at tossing the balls he looked up at me and said, “I want to try again.” I could see where this was going. […]
I coach my students to remove “hedging” phrases when speaking, and I get asked, “Why is that so important?” Hedging phrases are non-committal to the audience. These phrases show hesitancy in your thoughts and actions. Your audience will subconsciously interpret these phrases as a lack of confidence on your part. Your audience may even see you […]
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 […]
My friend Jenny lowered her voice and leaned in to deliver the line of dialogue Bill had spoken to her just an hour earlier, “Get your feet off of MY DESK!” Bill was our new Regional VP and in just a few short weeks, he’d already gained a reputation of ruling with an iron fist. […]
We were presenting our quarterly sales updates to our executives and most of us were not looking forward to it. No matter how well your quarterly numbers were, it always seemed like an interrogation. Afterwards I felt like one salesperson got off easy because he didn’t get any tough questions. Later I found out from […]
I love the modern superhero films from Marvel and DC because they seem to take us deeper into the character development and motives that made the heroes who they are today. Superman always fought for “truth, justice, and the American Way.” But I have one problem with that… Where did Superman get his definition of […]
The three of us sat there in anxious silence as we considered the two options. We either file for bankruptcy or we double-down on our investment. Our 5-year old company was out of money. Every business I’ve started has a moment. It’s that punch-in-the-gut moment when you’ve got to make a big decision. There will […]
Everyone looked at him and waited to hear his response. All nine people in the conference room had their attention fixed on one person. After a brief but dramatic pause, he began to speak with a calm voice and a solid solution. The rest of the group seemed transfixed as they listened. It was hard […]
I was listening to two managers in my workshop when he said it. They were doing a role-play exercise and focusing on coaching style questions but it was obvious to me now, this manager didn’t quite get it yet. I heard him ask, “Did you ask Jenna from Marketing to help with this?” The response […]
