Many businesspeople have asked over the years how they can project more “executive presence” in their meetings and presentations. Mastering the three V’s will give them presence when they must be in front of people. The three V’s of executive presence are: Visual: How you look Vocal: How you sound Verbal: What you say When asked to lead a meeting or give a presentation, many people tend to focus most ...

Have you ever written an email, report, proposal, or business letter and felt it perfectly conveyed your message only to discover it was not received or interpreted the way you intended? Miscommunications mostly surface at the receiving end. That does not mean the reader is necessarily at fault. It means the communication process has broken down. The breakdown only becomes evident after the message has been received. Thus, it is ...

Have you ever counted the number of work emails you send or receive daily? Depending on your job or industry, your email tally can be anywhere from single to triple digits! Trying to prioritize, read, digest the content, then respond appropriately can be a huge burden while still dealing with your regular work responsibilities. What often makes dealing with emails even more challenging is when you read it, perhaps re-read ...

Just about everyone has numerous conversations daily, either with internal colleagues or with prospects or current clients. Typically, we conclude our conversation or meeting, and everyone goes on to the next item on their to-do list. Too often, we miss an opportunity to find out more or to explore other areas of interest because we did not ask the clean-up question: “What else would you like me to know?” There ...

Virtual meetings and presentations can be difficult. Knowing when and how to end it when there are no questions can also be a challenge. To illustrate this point, a colleague recently shared with me a story a friend shared with her. It seems the Vice President of the company her friend works for addressed some 80 employees through a virtual platform. When it came time for Q&A, no one had ...

There may be some debate around whether or not the term “elevator pitch” is still relevant, especially in light of current blended and remote work environments. Regardless of what you call it, if you are in business, you should have an elevator pitch, or an abbreviated version of what you and your company do, at your fingertips to utilize at a moment’s notice. You never know when an opportunity to ...

There comes a time in just about everyone’s life when you have to say “no” to a request or demand, whether it be to an internal request or an external/client request. How you say “no” can affect the relationship, either positively or negatively. For example, if your reason for no is, “it’s against company policy,” it will most probably affect the relationship in a negative way. The response to, “it’s ...

It comes as no surprise that one survey after another continue to show that one of our biggest fears is public speaking. The overarching fear of public speaking is made up of a number of components, or sub-fears, such as the fear of forgetting your content, making an embarrassing mistake, and handling difficult or tough questions. We at Communispond posted a polling question on our LinkedIn page asking: What is ...