The power of networking is common knowledge nowadays. What’s not so common is knowing how to consistently and effectively do it. Networking is simple, but far from easy.
Whenever I’m speaking to a group about networking at least one person asks, “But what do you say (or talk about) when you first meet someone?” And someone else will inevitably ask, “What do you say (or do) when there’s a lull in the conversation?”
My response to both questions is the same. First decide if the person is really in the mood to talk to you. If you feel like someone doesn’t really want to talk to you, it’s no big deal. Move on to someone else.
Today’s Top 10 Tips Tuesday comes from the world’s leader in the public speaking arena – Toastmaster International. Here are 10 common mistakes business people make when giving a presentation. Scan this list and make sure you are not guilty of these blunders.
Be Free! ****************************** How come intelligent, business-savvy people end up boring their audiences? They fail to recognize that public speaking is an acquired skill that improves with practice and honest feedback. Speaking for 20 minutes before the right group of people can do Read More...
In this video, stand-up comedian Don McMillan, demonstrates how NOT to use PowerPoint to effectively communicate your message. From words on the screens, bullets and graphs, he gives new meaning to “Death by PowerPoint.”
If you are a manager or supervisor, how are your communication skills? Poor communication with your employees is one of the key reasons people choose to leave their job. By following these communication tips from Glenn Ebersole, you can increase employee satisfaction and improve productivity.
Be Free! ************************** Recently I read about a study conducted in 2001, which included approximately 20,000 exit interviews. A major finding in the study was that poor communications skills of supervisors were a leading factor in poor supervisory behavior, which caused people to leave Read More...
Have you ever received an email message that you thought could have been communicated in a better way? I bet if you were one of the 400 Radio Shack employees who were laid off last fall via an email message, you have this thought. (In defense of the situation, executives at Radio Shack said “they (the employees) were warned that firings would be made via email. . . ). Does that justify it? I don’t think so.
This situation got me thinking about all the times that sending email is appropriate and more importantly, when it is NOT appropriate. Here are just a few situations at work I thought about:
If your boss has been away and you need to Read More...
When it comes to communication, the most powerful word is “you.” It doesn’t matter what language, the power of the word “you” is universal. When this word is used, you put the focus on the other person, not on yourself, and the results can be magical.
This is such a powerful concept that it can literally change your business for the better. In communicating your message most effectively, whether in advertising, in person or business writing, it is really about the other person or their needs, their interest, their desires. When people read or listen to a message and it has their name or “you” or “yours” in it, it automatically becomes about them and the benefits Read More...
To ensure the results you intend when you are communicating in writing, the key is to know your purpose from the very beginning of the process. Why are you writing? What is the point? What is the best way to get what you want? There are two things that come to my mind immediately.
First, it is essential that we actually know what we want. Both for us and what you want your reader to do. Too often we receive poor results from our efforts simply because we do not know what we want when we set out to write a letter or to write a request.
Without a clear target to shoot at or an end result in mind, it is difficult to lead others to see things your way and take action. Let us face it; writing Read More...
Thanks to everyone who contributed their Elevator Speech for our contest. We received over 20 entries. Apparently we have clients who sell glue, who pretend to be presidents, who work with special needs kids and who are reducing greenhouse gases. It’s great to know that we work with so many amazing people who are doing so many amazing things.
For those of you that didn’t win, there were two overriding factors for you to consider. First was the length of your speech – remember, 150 words Read More...
Annette was bright, smart, and enthusiastic. Even so, whenever she approached customers in the furniture store where we both worked, she seemed unable to strike up a conversation with them. They would invariably mumble something like, “We’re just looking” and head off to get lost among the labyrinth of bedrooms. Annette would make a few more half-hearted attempts to connect with them, usually getting a last glimpse of her customer as they walked out the door. In many cases, she never really even got to speak with them at all. She was frustrated, hurt, and a little worried about her sales performance. She should have been. Her inability to connect with her customers was killing her Read More...
The power of networking is common knowledge nowadays. What’s not so common is knowing how to consistently and effectively do it. Networking is simple, but far from easy.
