“Now, without further ado…” Does that trite introduction make your eyes glaze over if you aren’t already half asleep from listening to a preview of the speaker’s obituary? On and on and on. The host endlessly reads every word of a biography submitted by the speaker or his PR Department. Or, the introducer has done
Every industry has its own jargon and acronyms. Jargon is a form of slang, or shorthand, that conveys a specific meaning to the insiders who use it. Jargon common to all industries such as “think outside the box” or a “win-win situation” are well known, although they don’t show much originality when used by someone
You’ve worked hard at making your presentation convincing with key messages and pictures. Let’s be honest, however. Even the most interested audience will wander off mentally at least once during your presentation. Many won’t be able to fight the compulsion to take a look at their smart phones. So how should you keep your audience
One of the lessons learned from our many coaching sessions is this: don’t allow yourself to get complacent and think you can do the same old, same old as you plan your speaking engagements and media interviews. Analyzing Your Audience Speakers often go wrong by not doing a thorough audience analysis.
Sometimes it’s just easier to give in and say “yes,” even when you believe you should be saying “no.” That’s certainly the case when your child is pestering you for another piece of candy in a quiet movie theater — or, when everyone in a group is ready to move on except you.
The other day I sat by the phone waiting for the call about a potential coaching assignment. The phone never rang. The person who booked the session never bothered to call or write to explain why she didn’t follow through. Was she sick? Did she have to go out of town suddenly? I’ll never know,
If you wonder why so few women are running Fortune 500 companies, it’s because they lack “executive presence.” That’s not our opinion, but the results of a revealing study that’s summarized in a special @WORK supplement in Marie Claire magazine. Looking and Acting the Part In the view of Sylvia Ann Hewlett, founder of Center
The first presentation by me I’ll always remember. You would never use the passive tense to say, “I’ll always remember my first presentation.” Would you? Yet speakers too often use passive tenses in their presentations. As Strunk and White state in their classic The Elements of Style: “Avoid tame, colorless, hesitating, noncommittal language.” This gem
You’re not a politician, you say. You don’t give stump speeches. But think about it. If you’re on a company’s new business team, or a member of their speaker’s bureau, you’re giving stump speeches all the time. They’re just called media interviews or presentations. And today, quite a few of them are virtual. Aren’t they
The preparation for any successful meeting or presentation starts the moment the date gets marked on the calendar. That’s when the real work begins. Determine Your Goal First, establish your goal for the presentation. What are you trying to achieve? You are most likely making a presentation to persuade your audience to take some sort
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The Newman Group is a recognized leader in guiding business professionals, celebrities and authors to improve their communications skills in presentations and media interviews.
Our highly skilled and experienced professionals have the expertise in media and presentation training to meet any business situation — from helping an executive to prepare for the challenge of talking to a reporter during a business crisis to presenting a group of investors during an IPO or keeping a celebrity spokesperson on point.