I’ve always enjoyed sharing stories when I speak. Unfortunately, when I started telling stories over 25 years ago, they weren’t nearly as engaging as they are today. I know I’ve still got plenty of room to improve, but you can trust me when I say, they’ve gotten much better! This is thanks to the generous […]
First of all, please hear me, I’m no saint and I know it. What you’re about to read in this article, I’m guilty of them all and I know it. But one thing I also know about me… I’m an observer. It’s what I do. It’s what I get paid to do! I’m a professional […]
“Hey, I’ve got a question for you… with all the travel you do, how do you and your wife keep your marriage strong?” The conversation just got real. I asked my good friend that question right after we finished talking about the Cowboys vs. Eagles game. My friend and his wife have a strong marriage […]
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 […]
Golf has always been a game of both simple and complex. Speaking persuasively to an audience can feel the same way sometimes. For an audience to commit to following a leader, influence will always play a role. Since I know many leaders love to hit the links… I’ll use golf as the metaphor to teach […]
Dan finished his presentation in my workshop and now he’s looking at me for feedback. My first suggestion is to limit his caged-lion pacing back and forth. His immediate response, “Oh, I know I do that. That’s just me. Everybody knows I do that. It helps me think when I’m moving.” For Dan, I could tell, […]
I recently finished Gallup’s Strengths-Based Leadership: Great leaders, teams, and why people follow, by Tom Rather. What I found most interesting in the book was not the 34 strengths applied to leadership, or even how these 34 strengths break down into 4 unique leadership categories. What I found most interesting were the results of the […]
There are two ways to get someone else to do something. You can tell them or you can persuade them. Telling can lead to compliance or conflict. Persuading can lead to commitment. I’ve found that gaining commitment through communication can be done in four steps. I call this method WiFi. It’s not what you think. […]
Isn’t it funny how there always seems to be that “one guy” in every audience that seems bound and determined to get the best of the speaker? I’m not going to oversimplify this by saying every tough question is asked for the same reasons, but we all know tough or even aggressive questions will eventually […]
My student finished presenting his persuasive case to the audience and then opened it up to questions. “Have you calculated the internal costs to our organization due to the downtime this project would cause?” When I saw my student’s face, I knew this hadn’t been part of his calculations. Every second the pause hung in […]
