Effective Communication » speaking skills

Hey, Mr Public Speaker! When Will You Get to the Point?

Azriel Winnett — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 12:52:37 +0000

When great communicators deliver a speech, how long do they speak? Very often, not for long at all. In case you find that difficult to believe, Dave Yewman of Dash Consulting Inc made this brief slide deck to drive home the point. See for yourself the precise duration of history’s greatest speeches – and send this link to corporate executives, keynote speakers and the like who ramble on and on. (Click the right arrow to advance to the next slide):

View more presentations from Dave Yewman.

Most Visited Articles on Hodu Com: September, October 2008

Azriel Winnett — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 21:10:12 +0000

Our periodic posts featuring the most popular articles on Hodu.com during the period under review have themselves proved to be very popular! Here, then, are links and “teasers” pertaining to the most visited articles on
Your Communication Skills Portal during September and October, 2008:

Management Communication: Three Basic Rules

Many leaders in the workplace choose to ignore these simple points. Fine. That’s their business and good luck to them. But then why do they seem so surprised when the productivity of their workers takes a nosedive?

How to Tell If Someone is a True Friend

It’s a lament one hears often:

“I’m so frustrated about the friends that I have. I trusted someone who I thought was a good friend of mine and I ended up getting used. I really can’t tell who is really a friend and who is just fake and trying to use me. I used to trust my own judgment, but now…I’m not so sure…”

Here are five simple rules that serve as a litmus test.

Working With Difficult People: Turning Tormentors into Teachers

When a confrontational employee or fellow worker with a chip on the shoulder begins to drive you up the wall, a simple switch in tactics could put a smile back on his face. And yours.

How to Leave Professional Phone Messages

Trying to reach a person who isn’t immediately available can be pretty frustrating at times, but take heart! A well planned message could be a fine opportunity to enhance your reputation and even help build relationships.

Voice to High? How to Safely Lower Your Pitch

Some common speaking problems:

“Even though I’m a mature female and a stockbroker, I am often mistaken for a child when I answer the phone or leave messages. I’m not sure what to do. Is my voice too high? Too hesitant? How can start to sound my age?”

“I am a small man and my voice is higher than I prefer. Are there any ways to lower my voice? I once heard that one movie star used to go into the mountains and scream for hours.”

Read what voice production expert Susan Berkley advises.

What to Do About Office Gossip

How an organization deals with habitual gossipers can be mean the difference between growing and thriving, or disintegrating from within

Please use the Comments area to let me know what you think of these articles, or to suggest topics you’d like to see covered in the future. If you prefer, you can also contact me privately at azriel AT hodu.com.

Most Popular Articles on Hodu.com in June 2008

Azriel Winnett — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 11:02:51 +0000

Following are titles and brief descriptions (with links, of course) of the most popular articles featured on Hodu.com – Your Gateway to Better Communication Skills during the month of June:

How to Stay Cool Under Fire

Have you ever felt your adrenalin rise and your temper flare
when someone you work with asks a touchy question or makes a
terse comment?

When emotions run rapid at the workplace, we tend to speak
without thinking. This causes communication breakdown.

In this kind of scenario, there’s really only one solution: we
have to empower ourselves to take control. Read these
instructive examples on how to nip potential conflict in the bud
and stay cool under fire. (As with many of our previous
presentations, these tactics can also be applied outside the
workplace to a variety of other situations in everyday life.)

Guidelines for Effective Gesturing

Tips for gesturing and using body language to maximum effect when delivering a speech – while feeling relaxed and without being self-conscious.

Gender Collisions in Conversation

The conversation styles of men and women differ a lot, and not just because of cultural shaping. Significant differences in biology also cause how men and women respond to stress and how they get their emotional needs met.

How to Detect Deception

April 1 is a day for practical jokes and light-hearted hoaxes. But having the wool pulled over your eyes at other times is no laughing matter, whether in the workplace or any place else. While there’s no single gesture that indicates beyond doubt that someone is trying to mislead you, you will increase your chances of spotting a falsehood if you watch out for these simple body language cues.

The Seven Rules of Upward Communication

As more and more organizations rely on their teams to manage themselves, so the need for upward communication becomes ever more crucial. Reporting upwards is a skill in itself; follow these golden rules to keep the people at the top in the picture.

Life in the Cubicle: Etiquette in the Open Office

Building and maintaining strong business relationships is the key to success. While keys are designed to unlock doors, in the modern workplace, doors are about as scarce as good manners.

It is estimated that over 40 million North Americans work in open office environments. That is, of course, a nice way of saying cubicles.

And while cubicles may not have doors, they can act as barriers to strong working relationships.

The Root of Miscommunication in the Boardroom: Four Fatal Assumptions

Azriel Winnett — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 11:00:41 +0000

It’s a common enough occurrence in any organization in the minutes immediately following a high-level meeting.

Two of the participants leave the boardroom together and as they travel down the hallway they begin discussing that report by the CEO, the sales managers forecast, a fellow executive’s proposal and the ensuing discussion, or anything else they happened to hear at the meeting.

After a minute or two of comparing notes, the two colleagues suddenly stop in their tracks, turn towards each and sigh. It’s clear from their identical, somewhat pained, expressions that they’re both thinking the same thing: “Were you in the same meeting I was?”

Australian consultant Ron Crossland writes that whenever he addresses a group of managers he always asks them if they have experienced this scenario, and every time he gets unanimous assent. He stresses that he’s not talking here of the more understandable occurrence where one executive’s opinion of what the speaker had been saying differs from that of his colleagues. This is another case. What one participant at the meeting actually hears the speaker say, is different from what his or her colleague hears.

This kind of experience, laments Crossland, is the inevitable outcome of four mistakes – “common, ordinary and understandable things”, as he call them – that people in the echelons of power make when they are leading and communicating. These errors, are at the “root of most miscommunication, most continuing disagreement, and most inaction or alternative action, some of which may cause considerable rework”.

These mistakes, which are so frequent that they’re often made without any conscious thought, take the form of four fatal assumptions that leaders automatically make after they have communicated something, or at the end of a meeting. These leaders honestly believe that:

Constituents understand what has been communicated
Constituents agree with what has been communicated.
Constituents care about what has been communicated.
Constituents know how to act against what has been communicated.

Fortunately and interestingly, once these same leaders become conscious of what they are doing and begin to realize the big mess that their faulty assumptions have created, they are easily enough able to work out appropriate solutions. Crossland’s own analysis and suggestions are well worth reading in full.

One thing is for certain: there’s no greater enemy to effective communication than the human tendency to take things for granted. Who says that the intended act of communication has taken place at all?

Ten Basic Rules For Good Conversations

Azriel Winnett — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 11:15:00 +0000

Regular visitors to Hodu.com know that we have a wide selection of top-rate tutorials designed to help you sharpen your conversation skills in all kinds of situations, whether routine or unusual. The time you take in reading them will be well repaid.

But if you’re really in a hurry, here’s an excellent ten-point summary that will give you the basics of enjoying productive, tension-free discussions while standing on one leg. ( I mean, you can read this list while standing on one leg, not conduct a good conversation in that time – unless you’re exceptionally fit! I purposely constructed that sentence that way to make a point. Ambiguity is another enemy og good communication.)

I found this list at several places, without attribution. If you happen to know its author, please let me know so I can give due credit. Here goes…

1. Begin with something positive to create a friendly atmosphere.

2. Appreciate the human being you are talking with. S/he is not the enemy.

3. Respect the other person’s desire to do the right thing. When possible, give positive feedback.

4. Desire peace. If the other person makes offensive mistakes, don’t retaliate, rather help him/her recover.

5. Be open-minded. If the other person makes a good objection, admit to it (and enjoy your new clarity).

6. Don’t interrupt. Treat others as you would like to be treated. In the long term, you will save time.

7. Don’t provoke the other person by hitting his/her hot buttons.

8. “Show me, don’t shout at me.” Keep the discussion intellectual. Don’t force your opinion by shouting.

9. Lead by example. Don’t expect the other person to keep these rules. Teach them by example.

10. End by summarizing what you have in common with the other person, a good start for next time.

So that’s it in a nutshell. Here’s wishing you a lifetime of fruitful, really enjoyable conversations, free of any hint of stress, rancor or one-upmanship.