When you mention meetings, most employees roll their eyes at the sheer waste of time of these far-too-often scheduled get-togethers.
So why do organizations continue this ritual and what can we do differently?
Here are three keys to making the most of your meetings in person and virtually.
Maintain Momentum
No meeting should ever go over the allotted time.
I recently had the wonderful opportunity to speak at TEDxEmory. The overall theme was: What makes your heart beat? And my topic was Owning Your Confidence: How to Overcome Nervousness and Exude Confidence in High-Stakes Situations. I discussed several practical techniques to help you excel in even the most stressful of situations. They are practices I’ve developed over many years of being on television and speaking professionally around the world.
While neuroscience describes what happens when we get stressed and nervous as fight,
In an age of information overload where we are constantly having to compete for attention, the ability to tell stories that have an emotional and intellectual impact is a critical skill.
Think about the last meeting or presentation you attended or Ted talk you watched, what did you remember, what did you repeat?
The story! Especially if the story related to you or triggered you to reflect on your own similar experience.
Understanding your unique personality style is critical to mastering your communication skills. Equally important is your ability to assess others.
With this in mind, here are some key observational tools you can use in making your assessments.
Are you fundamentally fast-paced and outspoken, or do you tend towards being more thoughtful and observant? If you are confused by this question, then think about the last meeting you sat in.
“If you don’t ask, you don’t get. If you ask, you may not always get what you want, but if you don’t ask, you won’t get”
You’ve probably heard it said that you won’t get what you truly desire if you’re not prepared to ask for it. But for many of us, knowing how to ask for what we want in a way that makes a positive impression – and ultimately gets us the response we’re hoping for – can be challenging.
I have been delivering keynotes and workshops on communication skills mastery for over 30 years, and I have never come across an audience member or participant who didn’t see the benefits of being a more skilled communicator.
The first step on the road to becoming a skilled communicator is to become more aware of your specific communication style. According to Mike Bechtle, the author of Confident Conversation, all of us fit into one of two broad categories:
-Those who have trouble talking,
How to OWN it to Persuade and Influence? We’re often told not to judge a book by its cover. But the truth is, that’s precisely what most of us do a lot of the time. We make judgments about the people we encounter very quickly. Therefore, it’s important to make a strong first impression. And to do that, you need to learn to own your physical space.
Own Your Style
While we may wish we could go to the office in yoga pants,
I recently had the pleasure of working with a group of salespeople for a large retailer. Each participant had been a winner in their particular store for selling the most warranties.
What did they all have in common? What differentiated them from their less successful colleagues?
The one thing they all had in common was PERSUASIVE PRESENCE. Each of them had the ability to persuade and influence their target audience,
