At a recent Toastmasters meeting, a speaker gave a fabulous presentation on a difficult topic. She spoke from the heart and provided solid information to support her topic. She made one tiny mistake at the beginning of her speech. She started by apologizing for not being prepared. ACK! None of…
To be a better public speaker, you must practice. Most books on improving presentation skills list practice as the number one technique to get better. The best way to practice is to give speeches in a positive setting and receive immediate feedback from skilled evaluators. Practice with Skilled Evaluators I…
We've been trained to think that the more syllables we use per word, the smarter we sound. When I was writing term papers in high school and college, I would right click on 'boring' words and find synonyms to replace them with. Use turned into utilize, help turned into assist,…
About a year ago, I was on travel for work. I was at dinner with a coworker and his wife. I'll never forget how his wife made me feel. Up to that point, I had met her once in passing. At our dinner, she asked so many follow-up questions that…
What's the Problem & Why Is It Important? We've all done it. We said something and immediately regretted it. This happens especially as we get more comfortable in relationships. When we're first dating, we are very careful not to offend our partners. First, we think about their feelings and opinions…
What's the Problem & Why Is It Important? Several years ago, the company I work for was interviewing a candidate for an electrical engineering position. I'm NOT an electrical engineer. The engineering department liked to involve me in the interview process because I tend to be a little different than…