Yes, this might sound like a pick-up line, but telling a story is also a great way to engage an audience for your next business presentation. People think and talk in stories all the time, but rarely realize it. For example, Why are you 5 hours late? (Were you at the bar again? Cheating on […]
If you are self-employed, you may have had the experience of contracting a consultant to develop a marketing plan for your business. In my earlier business days, it was frustrating to hear, “Well we never really know what’s going to work or when these efforts will bring in a client. Your plan needs many touches, […]
Of course, writers can become effective speakers! But it usually requires some brief training and a shift in perspective. I became a writer after being a speaker. Just as I had to find my written voice, writers need to find their spoken voice. You would think it would be easy and natural, but sometimes there […]
The Thanksgiving Holiday was the driver of the theme, “Gratitude in Business” at Speaking that Connects monthly business networking breakfast. Fifteen entrepreneurs mingled over coffee and tea, home-baked sweetbreads, quiche, yogurt and an assortment of dips and veggies to share business anecdotes of thanks. Unanimously, entrepreneurs were grateful for the ability to serve others. Attendees […]
Each month a select group of professionals from a wide range of small business disciplines get together to share their pearls of wisdom around a specific theme at the Speaking that Connects Business Breakfast Forum. I thought you might enjoy the ideas shared during October’s Forum where the theme was Mirrors and Masks in Business. […]
When most of us think of sales, we think of a formal pitch like the one Don Draper offers in this clip from Mad Men. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suRDUFpsHus] While Draper gives an excellent sales presentation, “selling” situations manifest in numerous ways outside of formal business. Leading sales expert Daniel Pink, author of To Sell Is Human: The […]
Isn’t it a wonder that we can communicate at all? First, we think about what we want to say. Then, we say something that is an echo of our thoughts. The receiver hears what they think we are communicating. Finally, laughingly, they interpret what they think they heard us say. All of this happens in […]
