February 10th, 2009
- Dave Imperiale
This has nothing to do with politics. That would be in poor form. This has to do with non-words, and more specifically, Obama’s “umming.” There is nothing that makes someone sound consistently less confident than umming.
You will notice this almost never happens during his prepared speeches or comments. Not surprising — he’s prepared, knows what he wants to say and has probably practiced a dozen times. It happens every single time he takes Q&A because he has to think off the cuff. So here we have arguably one of the most gifted presidential orators in our history sounding less composed than a well prepared kid on a high school debate team every time he gets a tough question.
What’s particularly maddening is that his communication people don’t force him to fix this. For most people it’s incredibly easy to correct. Three, simple steps:
1. Hear yourself: you can’t correct umming until you hear yourself doing it. Listen for it. If you can’t hear it, record yourself. Once you hear yourself be cognizant of it.
2. Shut up and think: this is the hard part – being comfortable with the silence. But go back and watch one of his answers from last night and imagine him being silent and thinking instead of the long, drawn out umming fits.
3. Speak: after you’ve thought for the 1-2 seconds that feel like a lifetime (only to you), then speak like an intelligent person.
I promise that Favreu, Moran and staff spent days word humping his ten minute address before the questions. While they should probably remove the phrase “ginned up” from his lexicon and vet moronic reporters from asking questions about Arod…for the love of God, coach this guy to keep his mouth shut when he’s thinking about his answers. Or give me two hours with him.
Filed under All, CommTips, Dave Imperiale.
December 8th, 2008
By Renn Vara
Good content, strong skills, and an understanding of what the audience needs to hear is the base of any good talk. But a number of other questions come up during our training sessions:
>> How do I maintain eye contact when I have to refer to my notes? The rule is only talk to eyes, but if you do need to refer to notes, always end your thought or idea looking up at a pair of eyes. Think in terms of punctuation and transitions. Look directly at someone as you come to a period, comma or transition.
>> How do I keep my volume up if I’m wearing a lapel mic or am forced to stand at a podium? First of all, do everything possible to get away from the podium. Secondly, keep your volume up because it keeps your energy up. Adjust the distance of the microphone or force the resident audio engineer to adjust it.
>> Can I walk around, and what do I do with my hands? Yes you can. But make sure you’re walking or moving your hands with a purpose. For example, draw visual ideas with your hands. But when there is no purpose, like when you’re listening to an audience question, balance your weight on your flat feet and put your hands by your side while holding good eye contact. And anytime you need to delivery a key idea or thought, stop walking and firmly direct it to a single audience member. (more…)
Filed under All, CommTips.
October 2nd, 2008
By Renn Vara
I realize saying shut up isn’t polite. If it makes you feel better, use the term “active listening.” Here’s the format we suggest for shutting up during a sales meeting:
- Once through the initial introductions and pleasantries, begin the substance of the meeting with a dialogue opener. This includes an agenda statement, a reference to time and ends with an open ended question. 30 seconds tops.
- Once you ask the question, actively listen to their answer. Tip: Think of their answer as a list of issues, concerns, or observations. If you can, write the list down.
- When they run out of air, repeat or restate the list back to them eliminating their emotion and agenda. Use common sense. You don’t need to repeat everything, just the top points. And don’t sound like a therapist for god’s sake.
- Always end with another question. Here you can probe on one of their points or create a separate open ended question to lead in a certain direction. But be careful. Don’t drive your agenda unless it ties back directly to their issues, concerns and observations. And whatever you do, fight the urge to pitch.
- Abide by the 55/5 rule. Your customer talks 55 minutes for every 5 minutes you talk.
- Keep your customer talking until given “professional status.” This means you don’t talk about your product or service until they directly ask you for your opinion or ideas.
- You can do this process – common sense prevails – a number of times. But be sure you’re really listening. Don’t pretend.
- Then end the meeting early with a summary, next steps and calendar date if appropriate for follow up and/or a next meeting.
Why do this? Because people value people who listen. Be a person of value. This active listening should result in giving you the type of information and insight you need to better serve your customer. Use it but don’t abuse it.
Filed under All, CommTips.
August 19th, 2008
By Renn Vara
Watching our Presidential candidates speak is driving me crazy. Do you mind if I go off a bit?
Content aside, I can’t believe their staffs aren’t emphasizing eye contact. This is presentation skills 101. So just in case someone knows someone who can do something about this, please pass on this advice: (more…)
Tags: election 2008,
presentation skills
Filed under All, CommTips.
January 12th, 2008
By SNP Staff
Things are changing on the work front. Employees expect more from work than good compensation, health benefits and a great retirement plan. In addition to the basics, they now expect fulfillment from their work. That means they need to be able to control their destiny and know they directly benefit from their job performance. This requires a different type of management. We call it entrepreneurial management.
Here’s how it works: (more…)
Tags: corporate communications,
human resources,
leadership training,
management,
snp communications,
social media,
web 3.0
Filed under All, CommTips.
April 20th, 2007
By Maureen Taylor
Trust is paramount in anything you do. On the flip side, a lack of trust in a work environment is especially problematic for both employees and management.
- What will happen when people don’t trust the information they receive?
- Motivation without trust is difficult – so how do you get your team to trust you?
One big problem is that distrust self perpetuates – when employees distrust management, management becomes less trusting of employees. (more…)
Filed under All, CommTips.
March 13th, 2007
By Maureen Taylor
So you’ve been asked to handle a blog or press interview, what do you do? Here are some very top-level ideas to consider:
- Remember that the person who is interviewing you is not the audience, but instead, the filter to your audience.
- Get your message to no more than three ideas and then stay on message
- Use the “Three ‘Bs” that help you to stay on message: bridging, blocking and breaking. (more…)
Filed under All, CommTips.
December 13th, 2006
By Maureen Taylor
As a communicator, you never know when you’ll be called upon to give an on-the-spot opinion, or asked to participate in an impromptu speaking engagement.
Giving an opinion on the spot leaves many of us rambling or frantically searching for how best to present our thoughts. Below is a simple format that can help you present a clear statement of your point of view even under pressure. (more…)
Filed under All, CommTips.
December 8th, 2006
By Maureen Taylor
Often in business conversations, we think we know all the information the other person needs to convey, but we find out later that there were important bits and pieces we didn’t capture. “Probes” are part of the Socratic Method of dialogue.
Probes are designed to gather the maximum amount of information and quickly move the dialogue forward. (more…)
Filed under All, CommTips.
December 8th, 2006
By Maureen Taylor
How do you know if someone’s listening to you? People often give visual cues to indicate they’re paying attention to what you’re saying – but these cues can be deceiving.
Unfortunately, many of us listen lightly, or passively. We give people the visual cues that we’re listening, but we might actually be thinking about something else – like what we’re going to say next. Not only do we miss important information, but the other person doesn’t truly feel heard. (more…)
Filed under All, CommTips.
