Hit me again! I can still hear Him!

Is Obama losing his confidence?

2011-08-29T07:25:00.000-07:00

Many of my friends and other observers have commented that Obama has lost his confidence. He certainly has not shown that strong, engaging style that seduced us all before his election. But has he lost his confidence?
No doubt there are lots of good reasons to expect him to have done that. But I can only comment on how his style reflects that.
The myriad speeches that he has to deliver, that are not of his own making, are normally delivered from the 'dreaded' tele-prompter. The problem here is that he is now too smooth. He delivers in complete sentences and does not have those engaging pauses that were so natural to him when he was committed to his own election speeches. The impression is that he is aloof; almost speaking down to us. Not wanting to engage.
One interesting example, that shows he can still do it right, was the White House Press dinner, in June, where he ripped into Donald Trump and was outstandingly funny. His style was back to his best. Huge pauses and lots of speaking in 'ideas' as opposed to full sentences. He looked as if he was talking 'with' his audience.
His other huge weakness is his handling of Questions, especially the press briefings. Someone has got to tell him to cut his answers to 30 seconds or less. The more he speaks the less we listen and therefore the less we are impressed.

Pussy-Footing North American Interviewers?

2011-07-29T13:20:00.000-07:00

I saw this clip the other day about Mike Lazaridis (RIM/Blackberry CEO) abruptly stopping a BBC interview. But it was the comment of the Young Turk reporter that shocked me. Do interviewers in the US really go softly with CEO's so that they do not lose their jobs?

www.youtube.com/watch?v=izUG8Zep02s

John

Japan's Government should be seriously censured over their handling of the nuclear reactor accident.

2011-04-06T07:38:00.000-07:00

Of course we must allow for every country to have its own culture on how it tells good and bad news, but in the 21st century it is stupid if governments of advanced countries do not take into account how many communication methods there are for people to be fed information. The Japanese government has a duty to deal with the terrible tsunami and earthquake disaster. A small part of that is the Fukishima reactor problem. The government must have proper experts who know how uranium fuel reacts (breaks down) to produce heat for generating power. They MUST not pander to the hysterical, ignorant people who have hijacked the media airwaves with daily, grossly inflated scenarios of disaster. What is the use of saying that there is nothing to worry about on one day and then saying that people should not drink the water, the next day? What can the poor ignorant masses think? The government must get the true facts and stick to them and keep them in the context of reality not fantasy and not keep reacting to every bit of hysteria flown up by the media and the other anti-nuclear fuel fanatics. By the way, it is official: a total of 35 people actually died as a result of Chernobyl. Rather less than the 15,000+ that are dead as a result of the tsunami!

It is how you say it ... as well

2011-03-16T06:47:00.000-07:00

I was interested in the comparison of the HSBC quarterly results and Standard Chartered's results a few days ago.

HSBC produced far higher profits that Standard Chartered and did better than expected. Standard Chartered did not exceed the expectations but did produce higher growth, yet again, as they have done for the last few years.

But the content of the SCB message was really upbeat and optimistic. HSBC was not and was peppered with caveats and caution. SCB's share price rose nicely. HSBC's fell.

Marvelous Quote - Winston Churchill

2011-02-16T20:19:00.000-08:00

Good quotes are wonders to liven up speeches. But only use them if they are relevant to the topic.

Here is one, attributed to WC, which was used in a speech congratulating someone on their 50th birthday.

"As you get older it is not so much that you tend to avoid temptations .... temptations tend to avoid you!"

Make Valentine's day last

2011-02-14T17:33:00.000-08:00

I hope you all had a romantic evening with the one you love. Remember do not try too hard, talking to impress. People love to talk. I was once told how interesting I was. On that occasion I had listened to her talk all evening and just asked questions.

You know you are truly in love with each other when you can spend hours with each other without saying a word, and you are totally comfortable and relaxed.

Mubarak's change in style

2011-02-10T23:29:00.000-08:00

Watching the enmbattled President speak well it is interesting to note how badly the crisis has affected his public speaking confidence. These two links show you how he communicated with great power and character in 2007 and how he was yesterday.

What a contrast!

There is no doubt, When times are easy all you have to do is say the right things. When times are not good it is more important that you say the things right. That is when you have to really engage your listeners. This is something that Tony Blair really excelled at. When he was in trouble he would be at is most persuasive best.

Mubarak certainly is not going to win any waverers if he looks like he did yesterday.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYp4hCcfBc0 - In 2007 being interviewed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvslWJi0suc&feature=rec-LGOUT-exp_stronger_r2-2r-5-HM - Yesterday's speech.

November Newsletter

2010-11-10T23:00:00.000-08:00

The theme in the newsletter is handling questions well. So many people think they are good at Q&A because they know the answers and are quick with them. The last time it mattered that you knew the answer was the last time you took an exam.

Handling questions is importantly about trust, not expertise. Admitting "I don't know" can be a very powerful answer. It shows that you are honest, that you are confident enough to admit when you do not know. Audiences like that.

What is most important is that you keep the answers short. My suggestion is 35 seconds, maximum. Listeners just do not have the attention span for more. Besides if you keep the answer short you will get a second question, and a third and a fourth and so on. The audience wants more because they are still interested. In other words, they draw the information FROM you. That is where the word education comes from (in latin) to lead out..... not to cram in.

How Important is a Presentation?

2010-09-23T06:10:00.000-07:00

I was fascinated to see last week that the senior Apple manager gave a presentation, in Hong Kong, about the new features for I-Phone.

The presentation was so dull, no one could see the new features, there was no excitement. So all the reports were very negative. The new features are good. But no one noticed. In fact the putting on of that presentation had a negative reaction to Apple.

For those of you that think that the fact that you held a press conference will always have a positive effect that outweighs the negative effect of bad presenters, think again.

An interesting aspect that emerged from the Goldman inquiry

2010-04-28T19:19:00.000-07:00

Here is an extract from a Thomson-Reuters article.

'The Goldman emails provide evidence that there is a power shift at banks over the last decade. Voicemail was particularly favoured by the investment bankers who once held the upper hand. Former boss Hank Paulson never used e-mail. But today, in Goldman's giant trading businesses, email has become the dominant form of communication. Some traders have apparently never even activated their voicemail accounts.'

My solution is to use voicemail and email together. Leave a short cheery message on the phone and immediately follow that with a short email that refers to the VM and gives the same message. Keep both short. Many recipients read their emails on hand phones and they will only deal with short messages. Save the discussion for the meeting you will then get!

Keep it Short

2010-04-22T06:55:00.000-07:00

Here is an interesting piece from an article by Andy Lopata of newbusinessthinking.com on the candidates for the UK election that is looming.

He makes the point that most people want the message simply as a slogan and are not interested in details. That is the same for every message or speech.

My favourite saying is "The more you talk the more you dilute your message!'

Here is Andy:

"From a networking perspective, a big factor in deciding who wins the election will rest on a handful of words. The News Channels have been advertising the campaign slogans of the major political parties. The Liberal Democrats' 'Battle Bus', with their campaign slogan 'Change that works for you' proudly pasted across the vehicle and similar coaches and posters from the other major parties, with Labour campaigning under the slogan 'A future fair for all', while the Conservatives are urging the electorate to 'Vote for Change'.

In each case the Parties are attempting to get across in as few words as possible their core message. They know that a large part of the electorate won't listen to much of the detail of the debates, watch Election Broadcasts or read their manifestos. Their best chance of capturing swing votes is to make an impression with a strong phrase that reflects what they stand for."

Dumbing down? Yes, but that is reality.

A lovely story - So simple

2010-04-20T07:46:00.000-07:00

I was talking to a friend of mine, Bob Brown, the other day and he remembered when he was a young bank employee in a tiny town in the North of Saskatchewan. He had never been anywhere else. Somehow he had caught the attention of senior management and he was selected to go to Montreal to serve on the staff of the bank president.
In a panic, he rang up his old mentor, a senior banker in Regina, who had spotted him and advised him during his career, so far. "What should I do? How will I be know how to behave in the big city? What should I bring?"

"Just bring Bob Brown" the senior banker said. "That is all they are expecting."

More digs at Obama

2010-01-25T05:15:00.000-08:00

There are two sides to this and I am not sure that the photo was entirely genuine! First Obama probably has to speak at least a dozen times every day on topics that he has hardly had time to learn about. If we all had the luxury of sitting down for a few minutes and deciding what we were going to say in the next speech it would be different.

He does not have the time to do that. So, of course,some speeches are going to be totally prepared for him.

Second, I do believe that there is an organisation in the White House that feels it is the fount of all experience when it comes to advising the President what to say and how to say it. We have seen all the last few presidents hobbled by these advisers. They are set on teleprompters because it means that every word they craft will be in its right place. And, unfortunately they are very powerful and they have overcome Obama, who has lots of things to contend with besides giving rousing speeches.

He is not stupid. He is following advice in the early days of his office. When he does get away and be himself, the old Obama of the campaigning is still there.

Hi John!
Do you think the email below is true?!
Is Obama this reliant on teleprompters?

Bronwyn

A recent report showeed Obama speaking to 12 year olds using a full panapoly of teleprompters that surrounded him like a mini-fortress.

How utterly sad and pathetic. He's so devoid of substance that he can't even speak to 12 year-olds without a script

If only it were a parody. Afraid not... he his a pathetic embarrassment.

http://jammiewearingfool.blogspot.com/2010/01/pitiful-obama-needs-teleprompter-to.html

http://www.daylife.com/search?q=obama+Graham+falls+church

Imagine the howls from the libtard press if GW needed a teleprompter to speak to 6th graders. Yet all we consistently hear is that this stupid idiot is so brilliant.

Acronyms gone mad!

2009-10-28T18:43:00.000-07:00

Seen in the SCMP yesterday (Sorry; South China Morning Post)this Chinese professor has the following letters after his name: SCPM,HPON,LAS,PHD,DIBA,MBA(I know that one!),SNLP,NLPU,IANLP,ABNLP,INLPA,ABH,FAPN,DSA,PTSL,APG.

It makes you wonder how he has time to actually teach anyone.

Here is a good example of relaxed conversation

2009-10-27T18:04:00.000-07:00

John Mack talking at Wharton about leadership. The whole piece is good but start at minute 18.00 and watch how he grabs the imagination with great thoughtful pauses. The link is <"www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9sQtmPAYO0"> or go to Youtube and search for 'Saving Morgan Stanley, John Mack'.

Nice little quote

2009-10-15T11:06:00.000-07:00

Experience is what you get when you don't get what you want.

Please keep the answers short!

2009-10-13T01:51:00.000-07:00

If there is one flaw in the excellence of President Obama's speaking skills it is his tendency to go on and on when answering questions. The golden rule is 35 seconds; MAXIMUM! Once you pass that the audience starts to tune out. It is all to do with attention span. We don't mean to, we just do. Those who get the technique of answering questions well make sure that every answer is short (Not terse), but short enough so that the audience find themselves asking more and more questions. One long answer quickly kills the interest.

For some people being natural is boring

2009-09-18T19:27:00.000-07:00

Some friend stopped me in the street the other day. He said he had read the book and taken on board the bit about being yourself. But, he said, many people he knew were rather dull. Would it not be a good idea to try to make them more interesting when they present?
He is half right. Some people are quite boring. But do not measure them only on how they behave in the office. After a couple of drinks with their best friends they are often quite animated and interesting.
However, The most important thing is to realise that 'being natural' covers being angry, sad, excited, enthusiastic, etc. All those attitudes are part of being natural. So, yes, it is OK to say to a speaker "How about showing a bit more happiness or enthusiasm?" But do it your way.

Here is a new article about Power Point

2009-08-20T08:06:00.000-07:00

This BBC newsletter had the following article from Max Atkinson. Max has many good ideas and he and I agree on many aspects of speaking skills.

I would go even further than him. Saying that 'too many bullets on a slide can be improved by limiting them to one or two' is like saying that you should not fire lots of bullets from a gun at someone; but firing one is OK!

All bullets on slides are useless. They are just the speaker's notes.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/8207849.stm

Engaging with youth and 'troublesome' teenagers

2009-08-08T05:40:00.000-07:00

You should check out this website: www.confidentgirlsguys.com Monique Howat has the creativity and a gift to bring out the best in students snd schoolchildren .. in fact, anyone! Her workshops have the kids mesmerised and they leave with all the positive attitudes that are so often ignored by most 'motivational' speakers. She is able to see the positive in even the most rebellious teenager.
Monique also teaches adults how to communicate with youth. A very valuable lesson.

Here is a collection of Interesting Mangement video clips

2009-08-03T07:02:00.000-07:00

This is a superb collection of clips, good and bad. The main sin is that the editors insist in cutting as much silence from the clips as possible, so even those whom you can see would have enjoyed engaging us at the end of a great idea have that pause clipped off! I particluarly enjoyed Sanjiv Ahuja and Gerry Robinson.

http://www.europeanceo.tv/highest-rated/

Sex before speaking?

2009-08-02T18:07:00.000-07:00

See?! I promised you that you would enjoy public speaking.

LONDON (Reuters) - Forget pretending you are talking to one person or concentrating on a single point in the audience -- having sex is good way to calm nerves before giving a speech or presentation.
But Stuart Brody, a psychologist at the University of Paisley in Scotland, said it has to be full sexual intercourse to get the best results.
He studied nearly 50 men and women who recorded their sexual activities for two weeks and analyzed its impact on their blood pressure levels when under acute stress, such as when giving a speech.
Brody discovered that the volunteers who had sexual intercourse were the least stressed and had blood pressure levels that returned to normal more quickly than people who engaged in other types of sex.
But people who had abstained from sex had the highest blood pressure response to stress.
Even after taking into account stress due to work or other factors, the range of responses to stress were best explained by sexual behavior.
"The effects are not attributable simply to the short-term relief afforded by orgasm but rather, endure for at least a week," Brody told New Scientist magazine said on Wednesday.
He believes that the release of the so-called "pair bonding" hormone oxytocin might explain the calming effect.

Good laughs and bad

2009-07-19T06:13:00.000-07:00

Good Laughs and Bad, reproduced from our news letter.
Wise communicators realize there are good laughs and bad laughs. A "good laugh" for top communicators is when they are laughing at themselves and using self-effacing humor.

Top salespeople, managers and executives spend considerable time teaching people an abundance of new information. Laughing at yourself fills our need for laughter and diminishes the probability of coming across as too preachy. When you laugh at yourself, people like you that much more and, all things being equal, are more likely to buy from you.

A simple example: Let's say you are struggling to add up a customer's order. You say, "Allow me a moment to double-check my numbers. Being a math major fortunately was not part of the job requirements."

Many managers may worry that using self-effacing humor will reduce their credibility. This couldn't be further from the truth. Humility is truly a virtue.

Laughing at yourself has many benefits. Besides physically and emotionally making you feel better, sharing funny foibles on your road to success only humanizes you.

You will forget the customer at your peril.

2009-07-16T18:45:00.000-07:00

I enjoyed this article from Luke Johnson of the Financial Times. In our challenge helping people manage their sales and business development this makes a lot of sense.
www.ft.com/comment/columnists/luke Johnson. See the article "Forget the customer at your peril".

Giving your Offspring a Headstart?

2009-07-04T02:17:00.000-07:00

http://www.scmp.com/portal/site/SCMP/menuitem.2c913216495213d5df646910cba0a0a0/?vgnextoid=0ba00467f5b32210VgnVCM100000360a0a0aRCRD&vgnextfmt=teaser&ss=Education&s=News

The above does seem to be a huge link! On the chance that it does not work go to www.scmp.com and search for Mildred Law. She wrote an article called Parent's Say on the 3rd July.

I love her argument. She so sensibly dismisses the mad rush of many parents to try to give everything to their children. Great sensible logic.

Yes! 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to be Persuasive

2009-07-02T17:20:00.000-07:00

I have just scrolled throught the precis of this interesting book. In fact my colleague, Case Everaert, wrote an interesting comment or two.
I was startled by one of the 'ways'which stated that "abstract names allow customers to come up with reasoning." It then used, as an example, crayola calling its crayons cornflower blue and kermit green.
It is precisely because cornflower and kermit are NOT abstract that the tactic worked so well. They make us instantly imagine a picture of a blue cornflower or a green kermit.

Abstract means no imagination, no mental pictures. Rather the opposite of what the authors are implying.

Seminar at the Canadian Chamber of Commerce

2009-06-10T01:52:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I delivered a talk at the Hong Kong Canadian Chamber of Commerce. The theme was SILENCE. We measured the ammount of talking compared to silence in a normal two way conversation. There is a very excellent tool to do this. It is called Dexster. It measures noise as spikes and silence is 'flat lines'. The audience was amazed that, in a normal two way conversation, there is about 30% silence. We then measured a very good speech. There was almost 60% silence!

The evidence is conclusive. When we get it right we allow the listener one third of the time to speak and between us there is a further one third of silence while we think about what each of us has said.

Interview on Radio three, RTHK in Hong Kong

2009-06-09T20:50:00.000-07:00

I had a fun interview on the radio yesterday, primarily promoting the book but also trying to raise awareness of the nonsense we are told about speaking skills.

The link is: http://www.rthk.org.hk/rthk/radio3/morning_brew/20090608.html.

Women as public speakers

2009-05-31T03:53:00.000-07:00

My company, Black Isle, is embarking on a training programme with the women managing directors of a very large investment bank. We are asked to help them become better business speakers. The interesting challenge is to convince the women that the worst thing they can do is try to be like or be 'better' than the men.
Women are brilliant communicators and listeners. They deserve the reputation of being able to sense what sort of person they are dealing with from the very outset. Men are usually hopeless at spotting a fraud, until it is too late.
But, hisorically, I can hardly think of any great women public speakers.
Much of the problem is that they have traditionaly tried to be 'like' good men speakers.
By the end of July we will have much data on how our advice worked. Watch this space.

I would welcome any advice from any source that will help us structure the workshop. Also, if anyone can point out good examples of women speakers, I would be most grateful.

Hit Me Again!... I can Still Hear Him! - NOW ON SALE

2009-04-29T11:36:00.000-07:00

I am pleased to report that my book, twenty years in the writing, is now on sale. It can be bought via the website at:

www.hitmeagain.com.hk

We have tried to make the buying process as simple as possible - a few clicks and a copy will be on its way to you.

The book dispels most of the conventional wisdom on public speaking and is an ideal tool for anyone who needs to communicate to large or small groups on a regular basis. I have done all possible to keep it jargon free and make it a fun, accessable, and informative read for all.

Stocks are limited so please go online and order your copy now - only US$18.99 plus postage.

You Tube Link! - Obama at Notre Dame

2009-04-27T18:23:00.000-07:00

OK, I have been critical of Obama recently as I believe that a lot of his White House speeches have been too smooth, and even rushed. I compared him to his original speeches where he was so natural and relaxed.

But look at this clip of his recent talk at Notre Dame university. Hi is back to his best. Everyone was won over because he came across as so believable and honest, whilst talking about what is a very delicate and controversial issue.

Great control of silence. He does not try to talk when they are cheering, He enjoys it and welcomes it.

By way of contrast, see here how Michael Martin, speaker of the House of Commons in the UK, delivers a key statement to the House. The contrast could not be starker - the lack of eye contact, the defensive body language, and the "dead" delivery only serve to emphasise the distance between the speaker and his audience.

Here is an interesting article about charisma.

2009-04-15T12:07:00.000-07:00

A lot of this article makes sense but it is a cop out to say that some people can mesmerise audiences and others can't. Just like anyone who has some form of hand/eye co-ordination can be coached to do a really successful golf shot, so most humans can be 'taught' some of the principles of mesmerising an audience.

The first concept that has to be accepted is that 'smooth' and 'polished' are disasters. Humans listen because the person talking displays, with confidence, all the human frailties that endear us to a real person talking. It is a weakness to learn to follow rules as laid down by some committee so that you avoid being different but look like everyone else.

More soon.