My colleague and friend Cynthia Oelkers is an absolute rock star with communication, so it didn’t surprise me when she published an amazing blog post titled, “How to Rock a Panel.” I was delivering a workshop on Leader Presence this week for a corporate customer and one student asked me, “Do you have any tips […]
He paused for a moment and then answered my question. “I want to learn how to be more influential today.” I was in Seoul, Korea for a week of leadership communication training. I had asked all four of the leaders what they wanted to discuss during our time together. This leader’s request was not so […]
I was asked to coach the CFO for a company in downtown Houston. I asked her more about why we were meeting. She said, “I told them (her audience) they complain too much and they should like this new HR plan. Later my boss (CEO) said I came across harsh and abrasive.” Wow… you think so? As […]
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, […]
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 […]
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 […]
“No, seriously… what am I supposed to do with my hands?” My student asked this cliche question I’ve heard numerous times. Each time I hear it I can’t help but think of Will Ferrell in the Talladega Nights Movie. I had only one answer for my student. “Move them with purpose.” Then he said, “How […]
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 […]
