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Leveraging slides in a presentation, pitch, or meeting can help your audience better understand and remember your points, but too often our slides distract our audience. Rather than creating useful slides that reveal just what is needed by our audience in the moment, we create a document with too many…
When attempting to change a behavior or attitude, you must consider the action forces that promote and inhibit the change you are pursuing. Most persuasion efforts focus on promoting forces by explaining why you should make the change being suggested: Eat this broccoli because it will make you strong. Invest…
Hybrid meetings and conversations are here to stay. Learn some tips and tricks to make sure everyone involved — bother "roomies" and "zoomies" — feels connected and engaged. Here are some quick suggestions: -Use your meeting invite to remind everyone to include those not physically in their space. -Have the…
Give Good Ground Rules. Like bumper guards placed in the gutters of a bowling lane, you can lead your meetings and interpersonal communications to success. Ground rules help set expectations and guide your audience along. At the beginning or prior to your interactions, establish clear boundaries and expectations. You can…
Leveraging open questions -- questions that invite responses beyond "you/mp" or a number -- can help you get conversations going, show interest, and allow for deeper discovery. Have a few questions at the ready when you go into a small talk situation or meeting. My favorites include: -What more can…
Leveraging open questions -- questions that invite responses beyond "you/mp" or a number -- can help you get conversations going, show interest, and allow for deeper discovery. Have a few questions at the ready when you go into a small talk situation or meeting. My favorites include: -What more can…
To often, we see constructive feedback as one-way communication where we share what we think someone should or should not do. This often makes the recipient defensive and feel like they have less agency. If we approach giving feedback as we do when we look to engage others in solving…
To often, we see constructive feedback as one-way communication where we share what we think someone should or should not do. This often makes the recipient defensive and feel like they have less agency. If we approach giving feedback as we do when we look to engage others in solving…
Attention is the most precious commodity in the world today. One way to get your audience's focus is to use inclusive language. Using people's names and the words "you," "us," and "we" invites your audience's attention. This works not just in presentations and pitches, but also meetings and panels. Try…
Attention is the most precious commodity in the world today. One way to get your audience's focus is to use inclusive language. Using people's names and the words "you," "us," and "we" invites your audience's attention. This works not just in presentations and pitches, but also meetings and panels. Try…
How you physically show up matters a lot in terms of demonstrating your confidence, competence, and credibility. In this video, you will learn how to be big, balanced, and still to command attention and respect. Be sure to practice your posture prior to presenting. You can record yourself on your…
How you physically show up matters a lot in terms of demonstrating your confidence, competence, and credibility. In this video, you will learn how to be big, balanced, and still to command attention and respect. Be sure to practice your posture prior to presenting. You can record yourself on your…
Most of us say awful things to ourselves prior to speaking: For those who are not as confident as they would like to be in our communication, these negative thoughts increase stress, resulting in a worse outcomes. By virtue of your negative self-talk, you all but ensure a bad communication..…
Start your meetings off better by setting expectations early. The most underutilized expectation setting tool out there is the meeting invite. With some forethought and just a few tweaks, you can help your meeting participants and yourself be better prepared and more engaged with your meetings. Tips for meeting invites…
Slides are often an important part of formal presentations and meetings, but who among us hasn't been confused by slides that look like eye charts or numbed by too many numbers and bullet points. In this Quick Tip video, I provide specific best practices to help your slides help your…
Many of us by choice or by circumstance currently find ourselves interviewing for a new job or different position. In this Quick Tip video, I provide specific tips to help prepare and practice for your next interview. I highlight several best practices for interviewing including: (1) Identify key themes that…
Paraphrasing is an incredibly useful tool to help you interact with and guide others. Paraphrasing affords you 5 key communication benefits: -Validates that you heard what was said -Validates the contributor so they feel good -Ensures everyone heard what was said -Gives you time to think and collect your thoughts…
Help yourself stand out and convey confidence when you introduce yourself to others. Start with an intriguing first line to get people's attention and make yourself memorable. Want more quick tips? Want to learn about Matt's new book Think Faster, Talk Smarter? Please visit: https://mattabrahams.com/tfts-resources/
One way we attract and keep people's attention is through our vocal variation. Learn ways to make your voice more varied and how to practice changes your volume and rate. Want more quick tips? Want to learn about Matt's new book Think Faster, Talk Smarter? Please visit: https://mattabrahams.com/tfts-resources/
A great way to manage difficult communication situations like blanking out and buying yourself time is to leverage questions your stock pile in advance.
Effective communication is critical to success in our personal and professional lives. Please listen in to Think Fast Talk Smart The Podcast to hone and develop communication skills designed to help you in your career. Check out our episodes on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=think+fast+talk+smart+the+podcast
Many of us are uneasy about speaking in public, especially when we are asked to speak in an impromptu, “off the cuff” manner. However, much of our personal and professional lives requires this exact type of speaking. In this video, you will learn specific improv techniques and approaches that can…
We can improve and hone our communication in many ways. The Transactional Model of Communication (first articulated by Dean Barnlund*) helps us understand where to focus our efforts: Sender, Receiver, Message and/or Feedback. In this video, you will learn specific ways to increase Fidelity (the accuracy and clarity of your…