Archives for the 'Communications' Category
10 tips for successful public speaking [Ian's Messy Desk]
Posted in Communication Tuesday
Toastmasters International has put together a list of ten tips that will help improve your public speaking skills.
Know your material. Pick a topic you are interested in. Know more about it than you include in your speech.
Use personal stories and conversational language – that way you won’t easily forget what to say.
Practice. [...]
Finding clichés is as easy as pie [Ian's Messy Desk]
As luck would have it –just in the nick of time and at the eleventh hour– I’ve been burning the midnight oil to dig up a site that is sure to keep you as busy as a bee. Without beating around the bush any longer, I’m happy to announce that good things come to those [...]
7 deadly sins for speakers and presenters [Ian's Messy Desk]
Posted in Communication Tuesday
It takes a lot of preparation to craft the kind of speech or presentation that is going to grab your listener’s attention. Once the speech is crafted, you need to spend a lot of time practising, so as to make sure you keep their attention.
Listeners don’t give their attention lightly and it [...]
6 tricks to help you remember names [Ian's Messy Desk]
Posted in Communication Tuesday
I have a terrible time remembering people’s names. Let me rephrase that, I have a terrible time learning people’s names. I don’t know how often I’ve been embarrassed when someone greets my by name and I can’t remember who the person is.
I envy those people that remember your name from the first time [...]
For all intensive purposes this is an Eggcorn [Ian's Messy Desk]
Do you feel like you’re dancing the jive when things don’t seem to jibe? Perhaps someone has told you they are floundering when really they are foundering. Do you have problems honing in on the pronunciation of certain words and phrases, such as homing in. Could it be possible that you believe mighty oaks come from tiny eggcorns rather than [...]
7 ways to build strong relationships [Ian's Messy Desk]
Posted in Communication Tuesday
A strong, healthy relationship does not magically happen. Good relationships are built, one step at a time. Here are seven steps you can take to help you build stronger, authentic relationships.
Relax – If you are comfortable around others, they will feel comfortable around you. When you meet someone for the first time, pretend you’re rediscovering a [...]
7 steps to managing conflict [Ian's Messy Desk]
Posted in Communication Tuesday
Several years ago, when I first started my current job, I had a conflict with one of the employees. By the strict interpretation of our policies, I was right in my actions, but I managed it very poorly. Shortly after that, the other employee resigned. It was a lack of experience on [...]
Notes from hospital patient charts [Ian's Messy Desk]
Make sure you’re communicating clearly.
Patient has chest pain if she lies on her left side for over a year.
On the second day the knee was better, and on the third day it disappeared.
The patient is tearful and crying constantly. She also appears to be depressed.
The patient has been depressed since she [...]
Outline template for writing a speech [Ian's Messy Desk]
Communication Tuesdays
In comparison with giving a speech, writing a speech is a fairly simple process. I try and stick with a basic outline when preparing a speech. That way, I don’t have to worry about the structure, but can focus on content.
A couple of months ago I posted a template for a farewell speech. This outline below [...]
A Disciplined Way To Deal With Email [Ian's Messy Desk]
I’ve seen this posted a couple of places today.
The Problem
E-mail takes too long to respond to, resulting in continuous in box overflow for those who receive a lot of it.
The Solution
Treat all email responses like SMS text messages, using a set number of letters per response. Since it’s too hard to count letters, we [...]