Archives for the 'Communications' Category
How to Analyze Your Audience When Preparing for Public Speaking [Ian's Messy Desk]
Posted in Communication Tuesday
The boss e-mails and says you are going to be training employees on the features of the new software roll-out. What’s the first thing you do?
You don’t fire up PowerPoint and start creating slides. You don’t build an outline of your presentation. Before you can start considering what you’re going to say and how [...]
10 Tips for a Killer Presentation [Ian's Messy Desk]
It’s easy to compound our innate fear of public speaking by delivering a really bad presentation. There’s nothing worse than fighting the nervous butterflies in your stomach and seeing the glazed-eyes look of your audience as you slowly bore them to tears.
Neil Patel has posted 10 Tips for a Killer Presentation. My three favourites:
Don’t abuse [...]
How to Improve Your Public Speaking [Ian's Messy Desk]
Posted in Communication Tuesday
It has been many years since I was in high school and there has been much that was covered in class that I have forgotten. The one subject that has stuck with me all these years is public speaking.
Public speaking was a regular part of the English curriculum. In each grade, every [...]
6 Ways to Improve Your Listening Skills [Ian's Messy Desk]
Posted in Communication Tuesday
“We were given two ears but only one mouth, because listening is twice as hard as talking.“
It sounds so simple, but how many times are you part of a conversation and not really listening? Your mind is on your next meeting, client, project, dinner or the kids. Maybe you’re busy thinking about the next [...]
New York Times opens its entire site to readers… for free [Ian's Messy Desk]
In addition to opening the entire site to all readers, The Times will also make available its archives from 1987 to the present without charge, as well as those from 1851 to 1922, which are in the public domain. There will be charges for some material from the period 1923 to 1986, and some will [...]
Clean up the uncertain language in your communication [Ian's Messy Desk]
Posted in Communication Tuesday
What do these phrases mean to you?
A good chance
Almost certain
Better than even
Definite
Highly probable
Highly unlikely
Impossible
Improbable
Likely
Possible
Probable
Quite likely
Rare
Seldom
Unlikely
Very
And, do they mean the same thing to the people listen you use them or read what your write?
I am guilty of using all of these phrases when speaking and writing. I shouldn’t expect other people to adopt what I [...]
Reading and Understanding Body Language [Ian's Messy Desk]
One of the more popular posts at Ian’s Messy Desk is, Control your body language for effective communication. Recently, I came across a website specializing in the area of body language, Body Language Expert.
From their About page:
BodyLanguageExpert was formed to offer a unique reference point on reading and understanding body language.
Body language is an [...]
How to write an elevator speech [Ian's Messy Desk]
Posted in Communication Tuesday
Last week our public relations director came by my office with a prospective volunteer board member. As part of the introduction, the director asked me to outline my role, in 30 seconds or less. Well… I hemmed, hawed and took about 90 seconds to stammer out a rambling answer.
Time to write my elevator [...]
7 Tips for Effective Email Communication [Ian's Messy Desk]
Posted in Communication Tuesday
There is something about e-mail that fosters poor communication habits. Users see it as a form of instant communication and therefore, doesn’t require the same care and attention that a letter might.
For many organizations, e-mail has become the preferred means of communication, both formal and informal. Here are some tips to make your [...]
10 Things Plus to Write in Your Notebook [Ian's Messy Desk]
Allen Galbraith shares the different ways he uses his journal. He says,
“I have been a long time fan of using a notebook as a tool for self-improvement, as a journal or just as a place where I can do some brainstorming.”
He then goes on to list 10 ways he uses his notebook.
I have several [...]