Client LoginHow Not To Sound “Wooden” When You Present Catching up on our podcasts we came across a fantastic answer to one of the most-common delivery questions we field: how can I not sound wooden or forced when I present? The answer came from Angela Ahrendts, Apple’s SVP of Retail (and before that the CEO of […]
Making Your Message Stick: Tim Pollard Article on Forbes.com
In addition to our informative (and humorous) blogs, we also want to share with our readers some of Tim Pollard’s other writings. Tim is a regular contributor to the Forbes Coaches Council, and recently wrote about the power of making messages and conversations “sticky” or memorable through the lens of the O.J. Simpson Trial. You can read […]
Avoiding the Trap that Can Kill Your Communication
As I write, it’s January 2nd, and I have a shipping box full of Christmas presents sitting in my living room in Washington, D.C. They are not mine. They are for my nieces and nephews in Oregon. I spent a lot of time getting them right – the perfect gift for each person, lovingly […]
What I Learned Learning to Tie My Shoes at 41
A couple years ago I saw an article about a 3-minute TED talk, “How to tie your shoes.” I was pretty sure I knew how to tie my shoes. Nope. You’ll want to check out the talk to see what we are all doing wrong. Here’s what happened when I did, and I’ll bet you’ll […]
Distracted Loving and Sticky Language
Saturday morning in the hammock, in the breeze…I was reading the most recent Psychology Today and came across an article titled “Love Interruptus” – about how devices like your smartphone are damaging the quality of your relationships, particularly close, deeply personal partnerships. I found it broadly fascinating because I was already aware of how poorly human […]
“How did he come up with that?” The Key to Creativity
Recently I was building a sales pitch for a corporate client where one of the important concepts was “Visibility is critical to your business.” The team brainstormed a bit on how to convince audiences of this idea through a powerful illustration. It was fun, and we came up with various possible analogies involving magnifying glasses or foggy days […]
Be More Interesting Than Your Refrigerator
We’ve all been there. You’re in a meeting, maybe an important one, but the speaker is speaking in a monotone. And your mind drifts off to an unrelated topic…and after an indeterminate amount of time, you suddenly realize that the speaker has stopped talking…and is looking right at you – clearly expecting a response to […]
Where Cute meets Incomprehensible – The Hidden Perils of Insider Language
I just landed in the U.S., flying back from Edinburgh, Scotland. There’s not a whole lot to do in the baggage claim area at the Newark airport, and maybe that’s why a sign caught my eye. It was a poster reminding visitors not to use unlicensed cabs. Quite an important message, delivered simply via a […]
20 Questions to Answer Before You Craft Any Message
We think we know everything we need to start crafting a message or pitch. But the obvious questions — who are you talking to, what’s the topic, etc. — aren’t the only ones. To really connect with a customer or audience, we need to know much more about them, what they already know, and what […]
Killing Three Birds With One Stone
In our workshop, we teach that if you understand and align with how the human brain processes information, you can vastly improve the effectiveness of your communications and the engagement of your audience. Typically when I teach this, I offer 3 different ways to build audience engagement. But I read something recently that beautifully pulled together […]
