It never ceases to amaze us how many people think that telling jokes is the best way to add humor to a presentation. Where they get this idea from, we don’t know, but we have seen quite a few people try to be the Jimmy Fallon of presenters, only to find themselves using the podium […]
Why the Most Successful Leaders Don’t Care About Being Liked
There’s nothing wrong with wanting to be liked at work. According to Tim Sanders, author of The Likeability Factor: How to Boost Your L-Factor and Achieve Your Life’s Dreams when your colleagues, direct reports and bosses like you, you have a better chance of getting promoted, being assigned special projects that interest you, having people go above and beyond for […]
Staying Calm All the Time Can Actually Hurt Your Career. Here’s Why
When we think about effective leaders, many of us picture someone who is calm, cool, and collected under stressful conditions. We envision someone who is reliably even-keeled in the best of times and the worst of times, who can assuage anxiety with a placid demeanor during change and transition and is unruffled when others are in a frenzy. But […]
In a Sales Slump? Here’s 1 Simple Mindset Shift to Get You Out of It
When it comes to evaluating success for salespeople, it’s often focused on one thing: the win. Asking for the customer’s business and getting a quick and enthusiastic “yes!” seems, at times, to be the only thing that counts. This mindset, and the aggressive behavior that it drives, comes at a cost. According to HubSpot research, only 17 percent of salespeople consider themselves “pushy” […]
How Anyone Can Tell a Story like J.K. Rowling
Top business schools ranging from Columbia to Wharton teach storytelling as a way to prepare leaders to deliver compelling, persuasive messages that appeal to both heads and hearts. Firms ranging from KMPG to Deloitte now couple candidate recruitment with storytelling, and companies like Nike and Disney include “storytelling skills” among other qualifications for open jobs. […]
10 Workplace Behaviors You’ll Regret (and How to Avoid Them)
Work is hard — which is why it’s called “work.” Every day, we face challenges that range from solving difficult technical problems and making hard choices between competing priorities, to deciding what to delegate and generating new solutions to old problems. And we’re expected to do all of that while staying calm, cool, and collected. For many of us, maintaining a […]
How to Get a Standing Ovation
First let us ask, have you ever actually gotten one? We’ll bet it was a memorable moment in your life if you did. (And we’d love to hear about it.) But we’re thinking that most people have only seen others getting one: actors in a theatrical performance, concert performers, State of the Union address givers […]
Your, Um, Filler Words Are, Like, Killing Your Credibility. Here’s How to, Uh, Fix This in 4 Weeks
It doesn’t matter how elegantly your PowerPoint presentation flows, how artfully you can field difficult questions, or how perfectly balanced your mix of statistics and stories is. If you’re filling your delivery with filler words like “um”, “uh”, “like”, “right”, “so” or “you know”, you’re wasting valuable air time, undermining your professional credibility, and giving your listeners multiple opportunities to tune […]
The Biggest Mistake You’re Making When Generating Ideas
When you hear the word “innovation“, you probably picture thought leaders like Elon Musk (Tesla), Steve Jobs (Apple), or Sheryl Sandberg (Facebook/The “Lean In” movement.) You also likely think about the ability to generate big, bold, brilliant ideas–not just once, but as a regular practice. You may also be comparing yourself to your colleagues who seem […]
How to Grab Your Audience’s Attention, Immediately
Steve Jobs once commented, “People who know what they’re talking about don’t need PowerPoint.” Whether that’s a slight exaggeration or a big one, it is true that most of our sales pitches and presentations rely heavily on visual aids and collateral. These can be a crutch for those of us who might not know our […]
The Presenter as Storyteller (Part 2)
In our last article (“Can a Good Story Save a Boring Presentation?”), we suggested that you try to add stories to enliven otherwise dull, data-driven technical and financial presentations (the kind where the audience wants “Just the facts, ma’am”). Individual stories about the folks who actually produced the data you’re reporting on can be a […]
Can a Good Story Save a Boring Presentation?
If you have read any of our books or articles about public speaking, or if you have taken one of our presentation skills classes, then you already know that we believe the answer to this question is a resounding YES! Which leads us to another question: Can EVERY presentation benefit from the inclusion of a […]