Presenters: Are you making these 2 critical mistakes in your presentations?

Are you a presenter who is making these two critical errors when you give a talk?

I recently attended a presentation with a team of two eager speakers. They had carefully prepared for their talk, but were unaware of two major points.

The first speaker came up to the podium, stood away from the mike, and asked,"Can everyone hear me?" Most people with hearing loss will not admit to it. One brave person, however, said "no". Ironically, the speaker did not hear him.  The speaker spoke clearly, but the volume was soft because of the large size of the room and his distance from the microphone, which dissipated his speech's sound waves. To make matters worse, the microphone was a uni-directional mike, which worked only when a person spoke directly into it. The speaker, however, constantly turned his head and body to look at the PowerPoint behind him. At those times, he was almost inaudible.

The second speaker spoke more loudly, but also turned frequently to look at the PowerPoint. The PowerPoint had 14 lines of type in a small font on it. The room was large, and the words were very hard to read in the back of the room.

What could the speakers have done to prepare better?

First, they could have printed out their Power-Point slides and looked at them instead of turning to look behind them at the slides on the screen. Then, whether the mike was uni-directional or omni-directional, they would have been heard by the audience.

Second, they could have easily moved the microphone closer to their mouths.

Third, they could have used a maximum of seven lines of font in a large size per slide.

Ten thousand baby boomers per day are turning 65. Hearing loss is occurring in 33% of those age 65 and 50% of those aged 75 and older.  It is also now occurring more frequently in those in their 20's, for the first time in history. 

Presenters cannot afford to ignore possible hearing and vision impairments in their audiences.  Make sure you use a microphone, face forward so people can hear or lip-read you, repeat any questions or comments from the audience before answering them, and use large size font. These things are necessary to reach your audience!

For more practical and easy strategies to giving a professional speech, click here.

Leadership development: Effective Meeting Management

Your supervisor tells you to be at a meeting. It's a discussion, but several people in the group do all the talking.  The rest of the group is silent. The meeting leader does not appear to notice this.  What is the impact of this on the group, and on the bottom line?

First, some meetings are to share important news, not to discuss matters. That's fine - if it only happens rarely. (Sharing news can also be done by e-mail.)

Second, a leader who allows many people to sit silently during discussions may not know why there is so little participation, what the cost of this is, and strategies to change this.

People are quiet for various reasons. Among them is a lack of interest in the topic, a lack of new information to share because the topic is ancillary to their job (and they may not be appropriate attendees), a fear of speaking in public (and a group to these people is considered to be speaking in public), hearing loss and a lack of certainty as to what was just discussed, or other reasons.

The cost to the company of minimal participation is considerable.  There is a Cost of Meeting Clock, which determines the cost based on the number of attendees, average hourly pay rate, and length of the meeting. This determines the entire financial cost of the meeting. However, think about the amount of work that is not getting done because of the meeting, and the boredom factor of attendees who want to be anywhere but in that meeting. In addition, helpful information is not being shared among the attendees.

According to a new Gallup study, 50% of employees leave because of their supervisor. Often this has to do with poor leadership communication skills. Employee turnover is extremely expensive to a company, involving recruiting and training costs, as well.

What can a leader do to be more effective in eliciting participation at meetings? The solution depends on the problem's cause, of course.  To start, look at the reason for the meeting, and determine if the meeting needs to actually be held, or if an e-mail would be sufficient. Which participants really need to attend? Do they know in advance what to bring or prepare to talk about?

Does the leader know how to control participation by encouraging quiet people to talk, and talkative people to give others a chance to contribute? 

Techniques to resolve these issues  with meetings can be found on pages 10 - 11 of  the e-book, Executive Communication Strategies. On other pages, you'll  learn about Customer Services/Persuasion, Decision Making Paradigm, Questions Leaders Should Consider, Professional Listening Skills, Public Speaking Techniques for Leaders, and more! Get Executive Communication Strategies now and find out the practical, easy-to-use strategies to improve your communication skills!

Idiomatic expressions related to eggs

Many people who are learning English as a second language, as well as those who have moved to a different part of the USA, struggle with learning the meaning of certain idiomatic expressions.
 In honor of the upcoming Easter and Passover holidays this weekend, here are idioms related to
eggs, a common theme in both holidays.

"A good egg" means someone you like. "Put all your eggs in one basket" means that you are assuming a higher level of risk by putting all your money in one place, or depending on only one option.

There are many more such "egg"related idioms. For a great list of them, go to http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/egg. Have a wonderful holiday!

Learning idioms is only one piece of learning English (or another language).  Another piece of this is improving pronunciation skills. Business Speech Improvement offers intensive seminars and also hourly sessions on this. To learn more about this, click here..

How to improve your pronunciation - and why it matters

First impressions are made remarkably fast, and part of that impression is how well a person speaks. Is the person's speech easy to understand, and does he or she sound confident and caring?

People have difficulty speaking clearly for several reasons. Some are bilingual and have strong accents when speaking English. Others have strong regional accents. Some speak very fast and others have lisps or other issues.

Record yourself.

Here are three tips to improve your communication skills. First determine how clearly you currently speak. Record yourself reading for 30 seconds, speaking on the telephone (without having the other person's voice be recorded) for 30 seconds and then talking to someone for 30 seconds. Ask several native speakers of English to listen. Have them  tell you if they understood you some of the time, most of the time, or all of the time, in each of the 3 segments. For most people, reading aloud is the easiest to do clearly, because you do not need to think of the words to say. Write down the words they say are difficult to understand.

Practice

Second, practice those words and words that have similar sounds. If the sounds that are difficult to understand are at the front of the words, use a dictionary to find other words with the same sounds. Practice the words for several days, because they need to be spoken clearly in conversation later.

For faster progress

Do you need rapid progress so you can speak well at a conference or on the telephone, when giving a speech, when being interviewed for a job or by the media? If so,  professional speech coaching on pronunciation, non-verbal skills, small talk and  learning to speak slower can be invaluable. A corporate speech pathologist can do an assessment and then provide you with exercises and objective feedback on your progress.

How speech coaching is done

Speech coaching can be done intensively, in just 1 - 3 days of in-person coaching, with a follow-up plan. For those in the Raleigh-Durham, NC (USA) area, it can be done hourly. In some cases, communication coaching can be done online.

Many companies will pay for speech coaching as a career development expense. Some may suggest it if the person's speech affects his ability to work effectively. Others wait for a person to request this type of coaching.

Don't be self-conscious about your speech; if you can't improve it yourself, contact us today to get some help!

Secrets of "the gift of blarney"

Have you ever watched someone who is good at small talk "work a room", and wished you too could start conversations with strangers? Have you  wondered what he or she knew that you didn't about how to start a conversation?

Small talk, or "the gift of blarney", is the ability to try to find something in common with the person to whom you are speaking.  The first skill is figuring out what you and the other person might have in common, such as a friend, an employer, a neighborhood, an industry, or a hobby.  Plan your questions to ask the person. Start with a comment and then a general question. For example, "This is a wonderful convention! What part of it have you liked the most?" For a neighborhood barbeque, be more direct.

"Hi, I'm new here. My name is Bob. What's your name?"

The second skill is finding the right person to approach. Ideally, it's someone who is standing alone (and possibly wishing he could disappear). Make eye contact with the person, and then approach him or her with your questions. Look very interested in the person. If he  backs off or leans or turns slightly away, it's a nonverbal sign that he is not interested in talking to you.

There are many other "secrets" to giving yourself the "gift of blarney"! Learn about how to continue a conversation and also how to plant pre-planned, innocuous-sounding questions in it to see if the person would be a good prospect for your business or group. Where should you wear your name-tag to help others most easily? Find out how to end the conversation graciously, too.

 

 All these and more are in the concise e-book, Small Talk: Connecting with Others .  Get this inexpensive e-book here! For those want individual coaching in social skills, from eye contact to conversations and much more, contact Business Speech Improvement! How could your life be different with this knowledge?

Small talk: What do you say after "hello"?

It's that time of year when many soon-to-be graduates are interviewing for their first jobs. Even though they have terrific skills in technical areas, many of them from other countries still struggle with soft skills, such as making "small talk". The reason is that various countries have their own style of doing this, and these interviewees are uncertain of the American version.

In the United States, "small talk" is used at the start of interviews, or in pre-interview dinners and other social occasions, to help people find areas of commonality. It is also used to relax the nervous interviewees.

After the host says "hello", he or she usually asks a question, about a general topic. The guest responds, and then may ask a question to the other person.

For example, the host might say, "How was your trip?" The interviewee might respond, "It was great! I love the weather here. Is it usually this nice in spring?"

Think of small talk like a tennis game. Each side makes a statement and asks a question.

Based on the information provided by the other person, the questions will naturally change. For example, if the host mentions that he saw a great exhibit at the local museum yesterday, the guest could follow-up with a question about the museum, such as "That sounds wonderful. What are some of the other exhibits the museum has had recently?" or "What other great museums are here in town?"

Once the interviewer starts asking interview questions, the interviewee naturally responds to those without asking questions. At the end of most interviews, the interviewer asks if the person has any questions about the position (or company). This is the time to ask for more details about the position, such as responsibilities, training, a typical day, or relocation to another community if this is expected.

For more tips on starting, maintaining or ending a conversation, get Business Speech Improvement's concise e-book, Small Talk: Connecting with Others. Learn the secrets of small talk, American-style!

Customer service and sales: how to correct a crucial communication error

The walked into an office to purchase a service. The department manager, who was behind the computer in the office,  gave her a business card and said, "Email me with the details and I'll get back to you."

What happened? The prospective customer, who had been ready to buy, took the card and did not send the e-mail.

The office manager, who had the power to act immediately, was not pro-active. She did not take the prospective customer's name,  contact information,  and details, or give her the desired information on the spot. She sounded disinterested in having a prospective new customer. (If the problem was that she was busy, she did not bother to explain this.)

Instead, she expected the prospective customer to put forth more effort (by sending an e-mail) to request the service. She did not consider the number of competitors for that service that the customer passed regularly, or the other distractions competing for the person's attention. In other words, her reaction was all about her (the manager's) needs. It should have been about the customer's needs. The customer, internal or external, is the reason for the business.

This scenario also happens in another, more common, way. When a customer calls into an office, if he reaches the wrong person, that employee can either switch him to the correct person or can ask the customer to call back. The first way is pro-active, and shows great customer service. The second (reactive) way can lose a customer, or get him frustrated. How is this handled in your organization? Do all employees know how to locate the correct employee's name and phone extension, and do they get training in how to switch callers to the correct extension?

Internal customers also count; the work each employee does affects all of them in completing the finished product. (This would be a great topic to discuss when orienting new employees, or when doing the yearly talk on how the company is meeting its' goals,  to show the relationships between the various departments.)

Every customer interaction counts, and communication is vital to all of them. Make the internal or external customer feel wanted through efficient, pro-active communication and sales techniques!
Business Speech Improvement provides communication coaching and concise e-books. Check out your options now!

H-4 visa holders, congratulations!

Congratulations, H-4 visa holders!

It was announced today that H-4 visa holders, who meet certain conditions, will be eligible to apply for work permits on May 26, 2015. H-4 visa holders are the spouses of the H-1B visa holders. Many H-4 visa holders are highly skilled as well, but by the terms of their visas, could not apply for work permits previously.

Details of this announcement are here.

H-4 visa holders, while waiting to apply for work permits, may wish to work on their American English pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary and idiomatic expressions so that communication during job interviews and at work will be easier.

Business Speech Improvement offers intensive coaching in 1 - 3 day seminars, hourly coaching in person for those in Raleigh-Durham, NC community, online coaching in selected cases, and concise, economical e-books. Visit us now to get started!

Sales Professionals: Are You Making This Crucial Communication Error?

The person walked into an office to purchase a service. The department manager, who was behind the computer in the office,  gave her a business card and said, "Email me with the details and I'll get back to you."

What happened? The prospective customer, who had been ready to buy, took the card and did not send the e-mail.

The office manager, who had the power to act immediately, was not pro-active. She did not take the prospective customer's name and contact information, or give her the desired information on the spot. She sounded disinterested in having a prospective new customer.
Instead, she expected the prospective customer to put forth more effort (by sending an e-mail) to request the service. She did not consider the number of competitors for that service that the customer passed regularly, or the other distractions competing for the person's attention.

This scenario also happens in another, more common, way. When a customer calls into an office, if he reaches the wrong person, that employee can either switch him to the correct person or can ask the customer to call back. The first way is pro-active, and shows great customer service. The second (reactive) way can lose a customer, or get him frustrated. How is this handled in your organization? Do all employees know how to locate the correct employee's name and phone extension, and do they get training in how to switch callers to the correct extension?

Every customer interaction counts, and communication is vital to all of them. Make the customer feel wanted through efficient, pro-active communication and sales techniques - by all of your employees who have internal or external customers!

Business Speech Improvement provides communication coaching and concise e-books. Check out your options now!

Winter Storm Remus: Checklist of preparations (and why it matters)

For those in the South and the Southeast, today (or tonight ) is a time when we should be prepared for a potential power outage, according to the weather reports that emphasize the potential for heavy snow, downed tree limbs and more. With heavy snow, it may take a few days for stores to be accessible and resupplied with goods. Good leaders, whether of a business, a department, or a family, think ahead and do a risk assessment.  Are you prepared adequately for this severe storm? Do you have flashlights, and extra batteries of the right size? Have you checked the flashlights recently to make sure they still work? Do you have sufficient water on hand? Electricity is needed to power the water pumps. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) recommends 1 gallon per person per day. Many people recommend filling up buckets with water in advance of the storm to flush toilets. Is your laundry done ahead of time? Are your faucets dripping, so they don't freeze and burst? Are the under-sink cabinets also open (and any harmful chemicals that are normally stored there  put up high if there are children or pets)? Opening the cabinets warms the pipes. Do you have a way to stay warm if the power goes out? Do you have food prepared, extra canned goods and foods that do not need refrigeration (such as peanut butter, bread, fruit, cereal, and milk in aseptic containers), and a mechanical can opener available? Do you have a safe way to heat food inside, or if necessary, outside, if there is a power failure? Do you have a carbon monoxide alarm and does it work, in case you are attempting to use a dangerous way to stay warm inside a dwelling, and are not aware it is dangerous? Are your electronics, such as your computer, tablet and cell phone, charged up before the storm? Do you have a way to charge them if the power goes out? If you use electrical medical equipment such as a CPAP machine or other device, how do you plan to keep it working during a power outage? If you take medication, do you have sufficient on hand for the length of the storm and a few days' afterwards? If it needs to be kept cold, such as insulin, how will you do that? How will you get communications about the storm during the storm and afterwards? Do you have a battery-operated or crank-powered NOAA (weather) radio, and extra batteries if it is a battery-operated radio? If it is solar-powered, is it charged fully before the storm starts? If you have babies, do you have sufficient diapers and formula on hand for the length of the storm plus several more days? If you have pets, do you have enough pet food and pet supplies such as cat litter or pee pads on hand for the length of the storm and several more  days? If you have a car, is the gas tank full? Is there a car emergency kit in the trunk, with such items as extra water, emergency foods, blankets, extra hats, gloves and dry socks (as extremities freeze first)? Do you have a snow shovel and rock salt, if you may be responsible for clearing a path outside your home? Many Southerners do not normally have snow shovels, but they may make a big difference with the expected amount of snow. If you have renter's insurance, homeowner's insurance and/or car insurance, do you have your policy numbers and contact information written down on paper (in case electronics don't work), in case you need to contact these insurance companies because of damage?  Details on more preparations for an emergency kit can be found at www.ready.gov/kit  . Why do all this planning? Think what the implications could be for you or your family if you are not prepared! Great leaders  not only plan ahead, they also learn to communicate well. Business Speech Improvement offers Executive Communication Techniques, a concise e-book of 18 vital communication skills today's leaders need. Think like a leader; get this book now to know how to communicate better tomorrow. (Yes, you can read it with a flashlight if necessary!)

Better Business Communication Day: January 26, 2015

Better Business Communication Day: January 26, 2015

Think about the last time you did business with a company and thought "That was pretty negative!" (For me, it was as recent as today.) What kind of experience do your internal or external customers have?

Better Business Communication Day is a day to focus on better communication. Here are three actions you can implement, either for yourself, to improve your skills, or for your organization.

Start with non-verbal communication. Smile at two people today as you walk down the hall. Give someone your undivided attention, away from laptops, etc, making him or her feel valued and really heard.

Answer the telephone enthusiastically, each and every time. When you smile as you say "hello", the smile alters your mouth shape and the different resonance pattern can be heard. 

You can make a contest out of this. In Japan, this is a national event, the All-Japan Telephone Answering Contest

Thank someone, preferably in writing, for something specific he or she has recently done for you. When was the last time you received such a specific thank you?  Make the note more powerful by e-mailing it to the person's supervisor, with a bcc: to the person.

If you have difficulty being clearly understood due to a strong accent, try speaking slower. Also write down the words that are hard for others to understand. See if you can use synonyms for them, if needed. An online dictionary with a pronunciation button could help you say the words.
Consider getting a "mystery shopper" to act as a prospective customer, and rate his or her experience with your company's communication. He would start by rating how positive the first telephone greeting of "hello" sounded, through dealing with any phone trees,  enthusiasm and listening skills of the sales staff to answer questions and take an order, to the final good-bye. Another option is to send a pretend order through the system, to see where the bottlenecks are in the process. Often these are due in part to poor communication. The results of this mystery shopping could be ear-opening!

Business Speech Improvement offers intensive, customized speech coaching for individuals and small groups. Use Better Business Communication Day to jump-start your communication improvement!

The State of the Union (SOTU) Address: Tips for You as a Public Speaker

Regardless of how you feel about the current political situation in the USA, the State of the Union (SOTU) address is a wonderful learning opportunity that shouldn't be missed. Think of it as an educational or political experience, as theater, or whatever- but think of it!

President Obama's speaking skills are widely regarded as excellent. What should you look for in tonight's address? If it follows the same pattern as previous ones, here's what to expect.

 1. Excellent body language: great posture, gestures that seem natural, and eye contact to all sides of the audience. His facial expressions will show sincerity, enthusiasm and caring about what he is saying.

2. Stories about real people: President Obama is a master at having real people and their stories illustrate his talks. The stories are short but powerful.

3. Metaphors and alliteration are usually included in his powerful presentations. Awesome alliterations and magnificent metaphors help make his speeches memorable.

4. Powerful wording: The speeches usually have some words that are powerful enough to make people take notice. The words are not necessarily long words, but rather are words that are not used often enough to be taken for granted. (Such words can often be found in synonym dictionaries online.)

5. Precise timing: President Obama knows how long to allow people to clap, to laugh, or to think about an idea he has just presented. The more complex the idea, the longer people need to consider it and its' implications. (Congressional representatives most likely consider the ideas in terms of their committee responsibilities and the impacts they will have on their constituencies. Ordinary citizens consider the ideas by how they will affect them.)

6. Expert knowledge of the speech so he does not need to look at notes.

Yes, there is probably a tele-prompter somewhere out of sight of the cameras, but President Obama does not seem to need to use it. He knows his speeches!

(We don't see the many, many hours of preparation that go into writing and practicing those speeches, to  make them so good.)

Tonight, as you settle on the couch to watch the State of the Union address, take this list and see how many of these techniques you can spot! Tomorrow, you can add them to your speech-giving strategies!

3 Ways to Improve Your Communication Skills in 2015

Have you ever heard of a business encounter without some form of communication, whether written, verbal or even sign language?

Neither have I.

Clear communication is vital for business. Studies show that soft skills are highly valued by employers!  Here are three tips to help you improve your communication. Write them down and post them where you will see them, to improve your chances of carrying them out.

First, listen carefully to both the message and to the speaker's emotions.

It is especially easy to do this when listening to someone answer the telephone, in what I call "the hello test". Does the speaker sound friendly, brusque, tired or something else? If it's a business transaction and the speaker does not sound friendly, the rest of the transaction is not likely to go well; see if there is a better time for you to call.

Second, when calling a stranger on the telephone, speak a little slower and more clearly. The person could be in a noisy place, have a hearing loss, be distracted or speak English as a second language, and need a little help understanding you. This is especially true when leaving your telephone number and spelling your name on a voice mail; say them twice.

Third, when speaking, watch the listener's face to see if you are understood clearly, or if the other person is puzzled. If you are not being understood, you can repeat yourself, more slowly, use other words, or ask what part of the message was unclear. Maybe you are using technical jargon the other person does not understand, you have used an idiomatic expression (such as "get over it"), a regional expression (such as "mash the light"), you have a strong regional or foreign accent, a speech impairment, or the listener has a hearing loss. It is your responsibility as a speaker to make the message clear.

If you are making a presentation, make sure to look at the faces in the audience. This is one reason why you want to avoid reading your presentation. Looking at the audience helps establish a bond between you and them.  The audience wants you to do well; who wants to listen to a boring speech? They are usually very supportive; looking at them should not be scary.

If any of these skills above are difficult, get speech coaching! Business Speech Improvement offers intensive coaching, and hourly coaching (including online in some cases). Inexpensive concise e-books on communciation improvement are available as well,  for people who need help immediately and prefer to be "do-it-yourselfers".

In the USA, many companies will pay for speech coaching, especially if the employee requests it. Requesting this help indicates self-motivation to improve.

Try out these tips now, and if necessary, get the help you deserve. 2015 can be a better year for you!