Speakers, like executives, salespeople, managers, trainers, consultants, advisors, engineers – the whole information society, in fact – are terribly afraid of losing the attention that audiences seem to be increasingly unwilling to give them these days, and certainly not for long. Whether large or small, audiences are now objects of great fear for anyone who […]
You look at your opposite number on the negotiation team. He’s sitting across the big wooden conference room table from you, and you’re waiting for him to say something. Over the past four weeks, as the complicated negotiations have gone on, you’ve gotten to know him well. You know his ‘tells’, his nearly invisible body […]
One of the more awkward realities of the virtual age we live in is that you can’t lead a team effectively over the phone, or any other similar digital means. That’s because it’s harder to pay attention, make decisions, analyze meaning, recognize patterns, and have sudden, deep, insightful ‘ah-has’ virtually. All those things may happen […]
When you talk to someone face-to-face, your unconscious mind automatically absorbs the emotional state of the person in front of you. Especially if you know the person well, you know whether she is being serious when she says, “Your hair is on fire,” or just kidding. That knowledge enables you to decide how to hear […]
When humans communicate face-to-face, we do so with little conscious effort, most of the time. Even when language is a barrier, we can quickly get the gist of the idea through body language, facial expression, the emotion conveyed. When we communicate at a distance, virtually, the effort involved is considerable and the opportunities for miscommunication […]
Quick question: which is better for a public speaker – to be overconfident, or to underrate yourself? Understand that both are not getting reality exactly right – the first thinks she is better than she is, and the second thinks she is worse than she is. Which is the more optimal attitude for public speaking? […]
How important is it for audiences to like their speakers? Most speakers won’t admit it, but a big part of why they get into the business of professional public speaking, like acting, or politics, is that they want to be liked. But, as I’ve blogged before, if you want to change the world, and change […]
I’ve blogged a number of times about charisma, how it’s not something you’re born with, but rather a learned skill. And further, that it’s something we all possess naturally as children – that total absorption in an emotion that we then radiate physically with our entire beings. Charisma is focus, I’ve found, and we can […]
Some speeches don’t need extensive analysis, explanation, or commentary. They are best just experienced. The Most Reverend Michael Curry of North Carolina traveled to London to speak at the recent wedding of Prince Harry of England and Meghan Markle of America. It was a sermon for the ages at a wedding for the storybooks. OK, […]
This is the second of two posts on some of the problems that arise with virtual communications. Communicating in the virtual world creates some built-in hazards for us humans because we originally evolved to communicate face to face. The virtual world has enveloped us in a few rapid years — far too fast for us […]
