| I spent the month of January in South Africa, where 11 official languages are spoken.
Something I have tried to do each time I get into an Uber or pay for an item is ask how you say thank you in the language of the person I am interacting with. The look of sheer delight on the person’s face is always worth the effort, even if I butcher the pronunciation. |
So often, in an effort to respond to a situation immediately, we hastily send out an email, answer a question or make a call that lacks thought.
As a result, the recipient either misunderstands the communication, doesn’t get the full context, or is unnecessarily annoyed.
Had we just taken a couple of minutes to craft our message, think about our response, or plan the call, we could have been so much more effective and in the end,
In a recent workshop on Leadership Presence, one of the participants shared that her manager often asked her if something was upsetting her.
She was mystified, because as far as she was concerned she had been fully engaged and positive in the meetings. When she asked why he thought that, he said she often looked upset. That was when she realized that her look of concentration and thoughtfulness was in fact being interpreted as consternation.
When striving to make a more significant impact on your audience, whether you’re speaking in front of a large audience or simply speaking up in a meeting, either virtually or in person, having a solid grasp of presentation skills is extremely important.
Who is the audience?
Understanding your audience is critical to if you’re going to have the maximum impact and master your presentation skills. The first thing you determine is who you audience is —
I recently spoke to a group of entrepreneurs on how to get people to like you, trust you, and generate new business.
Everyone had to share the experience(s) that had most impacted their lives. The directive, however, was that while stories were being shared, the listeners were not allowed to relate the story back to themselves; they had to simply listen, and then ask qualifying questions such as, “In what way?” “Tell me more?”
We all need some advice around the holidays. Especially in the area of family, there is always room for improvement. Communication is key, but the holidays can be the best time to learn to share our lives better with friends, family and even co-workers. Here I’ve broken it all down into 5 simple steps.
I am writing this from Athens, Greece. I have been here for the week, training some of the worlds top fertility specialists to handle the media and give more powerful presentations. There are doctors from France, The Netherlands, Italy, Greece, Denmark, The UK, and the US.
What I am reminded of this week is that while people may come from different parts of the world, there are universal communication skills that still apply.
