We want to invite you to join us on BOSI, a breakthrough networking platform for entrepreneurs where you can connect, collaborate, and learn with like-minded individuals from around the world. Think of BOSI as the “LinkedIn for entrepreneurs”. In addition to building your Rolodex and accessing great insight, you get your own personal profile page where you can highlight yourself and your business to the bigger entrepreneurial eco-system.
Joining BOSI is absolutely free so make sure to create your profile there today! Prior to creating your profile, you’ll be asked to take the free BOSI Test – a fun way to discover your unique entrepreneurial DNA. It takes less than 5 Minutes. As soon as 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.
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.
If you watch nature, there are many events that take place that involve a high degree of power such as storms, earthquakes, tornados, floods, and all of them cause dramatic changes to whatever they come in contact with at the moment. And all of this happens without the storm, tornado, or flood caring about the results.
Many times we try to force a result, when if we just did our job to the best of our ability then the results would take care of themselves.
How we can use this to our advantage?
It starts with faith, and it is the faith that you will be taken care of no matter what the results. Faith that you are going to be OK and that everything happens for a reason, and even if pain is the result that Read More...
Thanks for all of the great entries! It was tough to pick a winner this month. There were many good questions and some of them were technical in nature and others were a revelation of the fear that many people possess. Our two winners seemed to really have some serious fear when in front of large groups so I had to award the prizes to them because of their honesty. Perhaps winning a contest will give them a reason to smile the next time they are about to present in front of a group and that will help loosen them up a bit. I think some of the answers that all of those with questions had can be found in the advice Read More...
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...
When it comes to public speaking, there are two extremes of the speaking spectrum – those who are terrified of presenting to a group and those who always jump at the chance to be in front of an audience. Most people fall somewhere between these two points depending on the size and make up of the audience. Where are you on the speaking spectrum?
In the business world, it is often our job to lead meetings, give presentations to clients and talk in front of rooms full of people. Being an effective communicator, both one-on-one and in front of a group, is necessary to inform, educate and persuade. The better you are able to express your ideas, the more success you will experience.
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.”
Being a good listener is one of the most important communication skills you can develop. Here are 10 easy tips, which if practiced regularly, will make you a better communicator.
Be Free! ************************ Listening seems like a simple process and yet so many of us are more eager to talk than to listen. Someone once said we were given two ears and one mouth for a reason. What better gift could you give to your family, friends, peers and bosses than to listen to them so that they feel really heard? Here are some tips:
1. Stay present – Don’t let your mind wander. Many are composing a response before the speaker has Read More...
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...
