Business Communication, Communication |
Entertainment value IS valuable. There’s a lesson for all of us in the early presidential campaign machinations. You might not be paying much attention yet to who wants to be president and what they’re doing as they try to make it happen. For me, maybe it’s a remnant of my days in the news business; I’m still fascinated by the way candidates campaign … and especially the way they communicate. So, I was struck by the assessment from The Daily Beast’s Matt Lewis that Chris Christie is running the best campaign against Donald Trump. Really. Chris Christie. The guy with a tiny percentage of support in the polls so far. No, it’s not the positions the former New Jersey governor is taking, or the promises he’s making. It’s really about his style. Christie is combative, blunt, and most important, entertaining.
Business Communication, Networking |
How Will You Answer the Question? We’re going to be doing a lot of socializing in the next week, aren’t we? With the 4th of July on Tuesday, people are already planning a loooong weekend. What do we talk about at those gatherings? “What do you do?” is very often the first question you get in social situations. No matter where you’re celebrating, it’s likely someone will wonder about your work. You want to talk about what you do in a way that piques their interest. And gives them a clue why somebody might engage you or hire you or donate to your cause. The same thing comes up at structured networking meetings in what’s often called the “elevator speech.” I’ve gotten away from that language, myself. Think about it. When you meet someone, wherever you are, do you want to hear a speech? No. You want to have a conversation. So, I encourage my clients to play with what they want people to know about them and their work. To keep it light. And to vary what they say, depending on who’s listening.
Business Communication, Speaking |
You’re speaking. Something goes wrong…
What do you do when you’re in front of an audience and suddenly the unexpected happens? You wouldn’t be the first, that’s for sure. You do enough speaking, and sooner or later you’ll run into a SITUATION. Like this… I had just begun my talk at a professional association meeting. It was a late night; those folks had been in that room for hours. They’d listened to a bunch of updates and award-giving and plans for the coming year. The energy in the room was low. That put some pressure on me to liven things up. Interaction almost always helps…so I invited questions and comments from the get-go.
Mindset, Speaking |
This, too shall pass. It was such a good reminder in an email from a friend. “It came to pass,” she wrote. “It did not come to stay.” Exactly right! Whatever “it” is in our lives right now, one thing we can be sure of is that it came to pass. And our experience tells us it definitely didn’t come to stay. It’s so easy to get into a spiral of doom when things go badly in our personal or professional lives. I don’t know about you, but I find myself imagining that life will remain exactly as it is today—forever. Maybe you lost a job you loved and thought, “I’ll never find another position as perfect for me.” “I’m going to miss those wonderful colleagues I won’t see anymore.” Or even, “I’ll never work again.” (Yes, I have more than a passing familiarity with unemployment.)
Business Communication, Speaking |
Another take on taking turns: Have you been taking turns? Last week’s letter to you left me particularly aware of creating space in conversations. On the phone with family, at lunch with a long-time friend, sitting at the rehab center with Frank…I’ve tried to be sensitive to turn exchange and turn duration. Handing over the conversational ball and not snatching it back immediately. Who knows if any of them noticed? Still, it seems that putting some attention on taking turns has to have a positive impact on the quality of communication. It also brings up another question. What if you’re the only one speaking? If communication is always two-way (and it is) what happens when we’re at the front of the room, on a stage, or giving our presentation at a team meeting?
Business Communication, Communication |
The question to ask. You know someone who grabs the conversational ball and runs with it every time you get together, don’t you? You two get together and before much talk-time passes, you know exactly what has happened in their life, and how they feel about it, and what they plan to do about it. And on and on and on. Now, this person might be interesting, intelligent, even insightful. And yet … you walk away from that interaction feeling vaguely (or maybe very) unsatisfied. It feels like something was missing in the conversation. That something was you, wasn’t it? We learned as kids, most of us, to take turns when we played. That same turn-taking happens now, or it should anyway, as we adults engage in the activity of conversation. And it’s clear that some people haven’t quite absorbed that childhood lesson. Over-talking, monologuing, monopolizing the conversation … it’s common. And it’s especially a problem when it comes to business. Conversational turn-taking is a system.
Business Communication, Communication, Networking |
Loneliness is dangerous. Maybe you’ve made the same mistake. Dr. Vivek Murthy had been the U.S. Surgeon General during the Obama and Trump administrations. When his tenure ended in 2017, he found himself in a pickle. Dr. Murthy had been working long hours, spending most of his time with government colleagues, neglecting other friends and even family. When his gig caved in, those work connections ended right along with it. The newly unemployed Dr. Murthy found himself alone. And lonely. He blamed himself for having failed to nurture friendships in favor of focusing on his work and professional relationships.
Business Communication, Women in Business |
Set the stage for a little laughter. There’s a reason radio stations still tout their “morning man.” The main players in morning drive radio are, in fact, still men. There’s a reason for that too. Everybody knows women are not funny. I’m not kidding. The broadcasting bigwigs will tell you that, to your face. And they’ll use it as an excuse to hire women for the later time slots with smaller audiences, or for morning sidekick roles doing the news or the traffic. This assumption that humor is exclusively a male purview has implications way beyond broadcasting though. It influences how women are perceived when we’re speaking at conferences, board meetings, and even on webinars. Here’s what turned up in research for a piece in Harvard Business Review:
Business Communication, Speaking |
Sitting and speaking. You know those high-top tables you see in hip restaurants and bars? The chairs that go with them are a problem for a person who wants to stay grounded. Especially when we need to speak while perched on one of them. The high chairs seem to be typical for panel programs. And in a way they make sense—that extra bit of elevation makes it easier for everyone in the room to see the people speaking. The downside, as I discovered while participating in one panel recently and facilitating another one, is having our feet floating off the floor. I found myself violating my own advice to those who need to speak while seated.
Business Communication, Speaking |
You and I were focused on the fear of speaking just recently. Why so many of us dread delivering a talk or a toast, and what we can do to feel more comfortable standing up in front of a group and sharing our thoughts. This week’s New York Times profile of their city’s new fire commissioner gave me a wry chuckle. The knives are out for this woman in a big way. Laura Kavanagh is wrestling with an entrenched (and overwhelmingly male) hierarchy. Grappling with resistance to her decisions, to her resume, and, it seems, to her, herself. The guys need to adjust to how she “looks and seems” is the way Kavanagh puts it.
