Who would think that a comment by Winston Churchill in 1944 would have bearing on how we present and sell in 2016? Among many things, Churchill was celebrated for his wit and his brilliant ability with language to inspire others, particularly through the horrors of World War II. President Kennedy, upon granting Churchill honorary American …
What is more fun than watching the Presidential or Vice Presidential debates? Watching the lines move in real time on a Frank Luntz focus group dial session review graph during those debates. For those who may not know, Frank Luntz is a political pollster and commentator. He has combined technology with polling so that audiences can see instantly the …
If you were among the 100 million people who watched the first Presidential debate last night, then you saw in real time the power of preparation. Republican or Democrat, it was universally recognized that Clinton was far better prepared than Trump was for a sustained issue-based debate. The parallels to presenting are obvious. The question …
A James Joyce sentence can run the length of a page. Ernest Hemingway wrote short simple sentences. When it comes to literature, both are revered for their genius and dramatically different styles. However, when it comes to presenting or speaking, a Hemingway style is the safer bet for success. I was reminded of that this …
Malcolm Gladwell in his book Outliers studied many successful people from the Beatles and Bill Gates to concert violinists and concluded that it takes roughly ten thousand hours of practice to achieve mastery in a field. Whether that number is correct or not, the larger point is that there is definitely a correlation between practice and success. Yet I find …
As the summer winds down (all too short), I would like to recommend “Making Modern Toughness” to you, a short article by David Brooks in this week’s New York Times. Its serious intention is to provoke thoughts on what makes people resilient in life (it is not what you think). But, as I read it, …
Performance anxiety is a biological fact of life whether you are running track, diving from a 30 foot high board or presenting to a group. What you experience as nervousness is adrenaline running through your body. That rush is nature’s way of getting you ready to face the upcoming challenge. You can let those jitters …
Is there anything that beats the excitement and emotion of watching the Olympics? All that discipline, amazing performance, and athletic grace! Wow. What’s also fascinating are the infinitesimal differences in scores that separate gold, silver and bronze winners. In business, with products and services being very similar, small differences can make the difference between winning and …
Politics aside, from a strictly presentation point of view, it was hard to beat the visual and emotional impact of Khizr Kahn at the Democratic National Convention pulling out a copy of the United States Constitution from his breast jacket pocket to underscore his attack on what he sees as Donald Trump’s unconstitutional views on …
I watched a supposed communication pro deliver a webinar recently on successful presentations that was arguably one of the worst presentations I have ever seen. She rambled. She took forever to get to her key points. Her pacing was off. She didn’t seem to know her own slides. She peppered her remarks with “ums.” You …
One of my clients raised an interesting problem recently. What do you do if you tend to fill in people’s extended pauses between thoughts? You want to jump in to fill the gap—but you know that interrupting risks alienating the other person. Try any of these tips: When you realize you are with a slower …