Client Login
One of the more-effective speeches to be delivered in the UK recently – effective in the sense that it inspired protests shutting down central London and sparked a debate over whether to accelerate clean energy targets – was given to Parliament by Greta Thunberg, a 16-year-old Swedish girl. Intrigued? Here it is: My first reaction […]
Wisdom vs. Intelligence: Why My 12th level Sorcerer is Easily Fooled
As a professional communicator, I used to be surprised by how often smart people would miss an obvious point I was making. I imagine I am not alone in this. But I get it now – A core element of our effective communication training focuses on the idea that there is a difference between what people […]
Making Your Message Stick: Tim Pollard Article on Forbes.com
In addition to our informative (and humorous) blogs, we also want to share with our readers some of Tim Pollard’s other writings. Tim is a regular contributor to the Forbes Coaches Council, and recently wrote about the power of making messages and conversations “sticky” or memorable through the lens of the O.J. Simpson Trial. You can read […]
When is Tea like Sex?
OK…if you’re English, as I am, tea is the driving force behind everything – important before and after every major event, which answers the question in the title. But that’s not quite what I’m getting at here. As many of you know, whenever we teach the Oratium class, we stress the importance of engaging the […]
Killing Three Birds With One Stone
In our workshop, we teach that if you understand and align with how the human brain processes information, you can vastly improve the effectiveness of your communications and the engagement of your audience. Typically when I teach this, I offer 3 different ways to build audience engagement. But I read something recently that beautifully pulled together […]
How Easily is Your Audience Distracted?
We often hear that we live in an ‘age of distraction.’ And if you’re like me, it’s easy to think that it’s the OTHER person who has the problem…they’re the ones (often the younger ones) who can’t focus…right? But how easily are you distracted? And how easily do you think your AUDIENCE is distracted? While […]
Using Quotes in Your Presentation: Albert Einstein on Race Relations and Change Management
Einstein was a genius, almost beyond measuring. But if you study his writings you quickly realize that his genius extended SO far beyond mathematics. I find this amazing, since most brilliant mathematicians I’ve met can barely communicate with real people, let alone articulate exquisitely accurate social commentary. What I love about many of these ‘broader’ […]
The power of demonstration: Joe Smith’s “How to use one paper towel” [DeconstrucTED]
In our “DeconstrucTED” series, we look at some of our favorite TED and TED-style talks. We deconstruct them to demonstrate how we all can be more effective communicators in our own right. Joe Smith’s TED talk on “How to use one paper towel,” is one of Tamsen Webster’s favorites. In only 4-1/2 minutes, Joe forever […]
Adapt or Die: The Endurance [Swipe File]
[The Swipe File is a collection of images, stories, jokes, and other resources to use in your next presentation.] THE IDEA YOU WANT TO LAND: “ADAPT OR DIE” A lot of communications in business and sales are about “adaptation.” Often success — and even survival — depends on our ability adjust in the moment to new information […]
