Professional Development

What’s the one thing people fear most?

Public speaking!!!!

It takes the No. 1 spot on my list! I’ll do just about anything to get out of doing a presentation.

So why are so many people afraid of public speaking?

Basically it comes down to: There’s safety in numbers – and vulnerability in standing alone.

Makes sense to me. When giving a presentation, my face turns red, I start to sweat, my mouth dries out and my mind goes blank. Yeah, I would say I’m feeling vulnerable!

But the good news is there’s hope.

Following this 19-step guide can help conquer your public speaking fears:

Click to continue »

You probably became a manager because you were good at your job and good with people. Right?

But you probably never said, “I should become a manager because I’m a great writer.”

Unfortunately, writing is a part of just about any job, especially if you’re a manager. You have to write emails, memos, reports, reviews and so on.

And while you don’t have to be Mark Twain or J.K. Rowling, knowing how to write a complete sentence that makes sense is important in the business world.

Reason: Bad writing makes it look as if you lack intelligence!

And while you might get away with using the wrong word in a conversation because once it’s spoken it’s gone, that’s not the way it works with the written word. It’s there for everyone to pick apart – forever.

Click to continue »

Know what all great leaders have in common?

They’re great communicators.

Notice I didn’t say great talkers. Just because someone can talk a good game doesn’t mean he or she is a great communicator (even though everyone pictured above are or were masters of both).

Often it’s the opposite!

I know a ton of great talkers, but virtually none of them are great leaders – heck, most aren’t even mediocre leaders.

But listen, I won’t bore you with the typical characteristics or qualities (great listener, personable, passionate, clear and concise, attentive to nonverbal cues, etc.) that make great leaders great communicators.

Instead let’s look at the not-so-obvious characteristics and qualities that make a difference.

Great leaders are great communicators because they:

Click to continue »

If you haven’t figured it out yet, then sear this into your brain:

There is no such thing as a private email.

Or a private text message either.

Don’t believe it?

Just ask the embarrassed folks at Sony Pictures whose email server got hacked, and juicy stuff about Angelina Jolie (minimally talented spoiled brat), Sylvester Stallone (Social Security number), Adam Sandler (mundane, formulaic) and others leaked out.

Not worried about getting hacked by some 16-year-old in his mom’s basement?

How about an old-fashioned subpoena issued by a judge?

Click to continue »

So you resisted your better judgment and went to that meeting after all.

And just as you feared, it ran off the rails in the first five minutes and rambled on for another 90.

It started with the usual awkward silence, but was soon filled by the guy from down the hall droning on and on about GAAP or something.

GAASbag was more like it.

You shouldn’t have been surprised. It happens way too often.

In fact, I just read an article which said bad meetings are usually the result of one of three things.

But when I did an unscientific poll with my colleagues and friends, we came up with 29 things.

And here they are, In no special order

Click to continue »

Leaders, supervisors, managers, etc., have been doling out information via slide presentations for eons.

And the majority of these presentations have been bad.

I’m talking “pull your hair out” bad!

I was always under the impression you want your audience to pay attention to your presentation and absorb the knowledge you’re imparting, but I’ve seen so many slide presentation mistakes that I guess I was wrong!

So if you want to join the masses and make your audiences wish they were deaf and blind, here’s exactly what you need to do.

Click to continue »

Everybody hates buzzwords. Or at least they say they do.

But virtually everyone uses them.

Even me. And I wrote “The Buzzword Dictionary” back in 2006 to poke fun at them.

People use them for a variety of reasons:

• convey a thought quickly
• be vague or oblique
• make others think they’re smart or hip
• because they’re lazy
• don’t possess an adequate vocabulary

The problem is, buzzwords or buzz phrases often don’t really mean what you think they do.

Here are 15 common buzzwords used in business today – and what they really mean when you dig beneath the surface:

Click to continue »

There’s one course that every company should make mandatory for all its employees: How not to be annoying in a meeting!

We’ve all been in meetings with annoying and obnoxious people who seem oblivious to the niceties of meeting etiquette.

In fact, as soon as you read that sentence, I’m sure a number of people popped into your head.

But in case you’re patient as a saint and have no idea what I’m talking about, let me point out some of my biggest pet peeves when it comes to annoying business meeting behaviors:

Click to continue »

Let’s get real, you can bet that even “Honest Abe” Lincoln told his fair share of little white lies.

Simply, no one is perfect.

Even the NFL believes the Patriots’ Tom Brady is lied about DeflateGate.

So are your employees, bosses, job applicants and customers always honest with you?

Not likely!

Their lies may not be as big as Richard Nixon’s, Bernie Madoff’s or Lance Armstrong’s, but more than likely you’re hearing a few tall tales.

“On any given day you may be lied to anywhere from 10 to 200 times,” says Pamela Meyer, author of “Liespotting: Proven Techniques to Detect Deception.”

“And strangers lie three times in the first 10 minutes of meeting each other – remember that the next time you’re interviewing potential employees.”

Click to continue »