by Alan | Aug 1, 2006 | Communication skills, Content, Delivery, Don't!
Watched a chief address the troops. After a rather one-sided soliloquy and a tame/easy Q&A (planted?), Head Honcho ended with the statement, “I hope I hit some of the high points that you wanted to hear…” There are lots of things to hope for:...
by Alan | Jul 23, 2006 | Communication skills, Content, Delivery
Watched an introduction today where the speaker being introduced was not only an accomplished author but had his own radio show. And the introducer got up and made mention of these points, but bungled them by not being prepared. First, he apparently made up the...
by Alan | Jul 17, 2006 | Communication skills, Content, Delivery
Watched a speaker open a few days ago with the phrase, “Let me tell you about my life…” Short of opening with, “I’d like to show some pictures from my vacation…” there are few things that could be more self-centered or more...
by Alan | Jul 17, 2006 | Communication skills, Content, Delivery, Don't!
Probably the most common and annoying thing I witness is a speaker making references to how much time he has left to speak. It just isn’t something that needs to come up. If we’re running short on time, chances are good that we’re presenting...
by Alan | Jul 7, 2006 | Communication skills, Content, Delivery, Don't!, Leadership
Heard a business leader end a a bi-weeklly charge to the troops with “I have some important news that’s related to our strategy. But I’m not ready to tell you yet, so until we talk again, enjoy your weekend and have a productive two weeks.” ...
by Alan | May 22, 2006 | Communication skills, Content, Delivery, Leadership
Had a faithful reader send on the link to an interview with a guy on live TV who turned out to not be the person the anchor thought she was interviewing. The expression on the poor guy’s face when they introduce him is priceless (he turns out to be a cab driver...
