“How many hours did you spend making these slides?” I asked my client Anika, a pharmaceuticals marketing director, two days before her big presentation. Her eyes glazed over as she took a sip of her (third) cup of coffee: “Too many to count,” she replied. “And how many times have you run through the delivery?”
As a professional speaker and facilitator for over 20 years, I’ve been introduced more than a thousand times, by countless meeting planners, conference organizers, and team leaders. Nevertheless, most of the introductions have fallen into one of four categories: Read the rest of the article
Aristotle once wrote: “The least deviation from the truth is multiplied later a thousandfold.” When it comes to presenting to an audience, he’s right - you never want to lie to your listeners. Where I beg to differ with one of the greatest philosophers of all time is that when it comes to managing your
I’ve just returned from a two-week vacation in Israel, Jordan and Spain – and I am writing this email saddled with incredible jet lag, some squishy new love handles made from gelato, falafel and Manchego cheese, and many beautiful memories to last a lifetime.Deb_Jacob_Camels What made this trip so special for me? My sole travel
Planning your next big presentation can be as simple as A. B. C. D. E. What do I mean by that? In this video, I explain the five things that you need to keep in mind (scroll down for the transcript): Planning your next big presentation can be as simple as A. B. C. D. E. What
Anyone who has ever seen the movie "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" will remember that, while Matthew Broderick played the lead, the show was (almost) stolen by Ben Stein's portrayal of a boring, monotonous, soul-sucking Economics teacher. He delivered his lines ("Bueller? Bueller? Bueller?") as if he had been lobotomized, and his students sat there suffering
When I was a sophomore at the University of Michigan (Go Blue!), my friends Wendy, Dave, Tom, Matt, Mike and I founded the school’s first improvisational comedy troupe. We had performed sketch and stand-up comedy before this – where everything was scripted – so changing our approach from a prepared routine to extemporaneous, fly-by-the-seat-of-our-pants, created
Author and presidential speechwriter James Humes once commented, "Every time you have to speak, you are auditioning for leadership." Talk about pressure! Let’s face it: if every single time you get ready to share your proposal, pitch, or project with your colleagues, clients or boss you think to yourself, “This is an audition for my
Noticing requires us to slow down, take a moment, and stay with a feeling rather that write it off or run away from it. Noticing asks that we dig in rather than dismiss. Noticing wants us to really live rather than let the moments pass us by. If I were to look around my office
“I think it’s very important to have a feedback loop, where you’re constantly thinking about what you’ve done and how you could be doing it better.” Elon Musk “All that is valuable in human society depends upon the opportunity for development accorded the individual.” Albert Einstein Question to Sheryl Sandberg: “What’s the number one thing
“Introducing…Another Boring Speaker” In the next two weeks, I will be a keynote speaker at the American Heart Association’s annual conference, as well as a breakout session speaker at the Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association conference. In both cases, I’ve sent my speaker introduction ahead of time as requested – and in both cases, I’m praying for
I realize that among the many choices I have is choosing what I focus on and what perspective will serve me best. So instead of focusing on the burden of a fifth business trip to China, I will focus on the blessing of having paid work that makes a positive impact on others and makes
“Why don’t people just speak to each other anymore? Why do you have to text when you can talk? What happened to having a regular conversation?” I’m not surprised that these sentiments exist. I’m also not surprised that these sentiments were expressed to me, about me. But you might be surprised to learn that these
“All organizations are perfectly designed to get the results they are now getting. If we want different results, we must change the way we do things.” — Management expert Tom Northup Whether you have a manager, are a manager, or both, you know that on many days, you barely have time to eat lunch —
One of my favorite cartoons from the New Yorker shows a speaker at a podium with the caption, “I will now fend off questions from the audience.” Why does that make me chuckle? Because most of us, when making a presentation, regard the Q&A portion as a war zone. We want to make our presentation (and I
