Booher BanterYour Resource for the best ideas to improve communications skills.

Early in my career, I asked a well-known motivational keynoter a question that had puzzled me for sometime:  “I’ve noticed that many on the speaker circuit promote themselves as professional business speakers, while others call themselves  motivational keynoters. How would you explain the difference?”

“Well, your first clue is the term ‘keynote,’ she responded. ”Notice that it’s singular. One keynote. The keynote speaker has one key message or theme—not three or ten points. The second distinction is mood. The keynoter’s mission is to set the tone and mood—it’s not about specifics. The business speaker, on the other hand, is an expert. He or she provides substantive content. And the third difference:  With a keynoter, there’s never a handout;  nobody ever takes a note.”

By her definition, I’d say the President gave a motivational keynote tonight. His theme seemed to be this:  “I feel your pain in this lousy economy. You want jobs now so I’m going to move that item to the top of my agenda, but I’m forging ahead with the rest of my plans.”

Tone and Mood

His tone and mood aimed to motivate by celebrating the American spirit.  He opened on a patriotic note, recounting all the times throughout history that Americans had found themselves in a tough spot as a nation—yet they struggled through to become stronger than before. Then he closed 70 minutes later again focused on the individual character and spirit of Americans as compassionate, generous, strong, decent, charitable—as evidenced in their volunteerism at home and in Haiti.

The opening and closing tugged at the emotions—with its references to “letters and emails he reads every night.” Those from children asking him to help them keep their home. Those from parents struggling to send their kids to college. Those from the elderly giving of their meager savings to those in less fortunate circumstances. It’s time that people “get a government that matches their decency.”

Who could argue with that kind of opening—or reasoning?

Theme/Structure

The body of his speech focused on his keynote theme—jobs. ”Jobs will be my number one focus for 2010.” He folded all his other agenda items under that theme:

• Strengthen financial systems—because that will stimulate small businesses, thus creating more jobs.
• Pass my energy plan—which will, by the way, produce more jobs.
• Export more of our goods—which will, of course, support keeping more jobs at home rather than transporting them overseas.
• Invest in skills and the education of our people—which will ensure that they can get and keep a job no matter what happens in the future. Education is the best insurance against poverty.
• Pass healthcare reform—which will lower costs for small businesses, thus providing more jobs and lower costs for all. 

So much for the keynote structure. 

So What About Delivery? 

Characteristically Obama, the candidate, without the happy face. 

 Strengths

— Confident

— Articulate

— Off-the-cuff humor

— Gestures for emphasis

— Vocal variety (pace, pausing, emphasis, intensity)

— Sincere tone

— Teleprompter use (much improved from earlier mishaps!)

Areas for Improvement

— Arrogant demeanor (uplifted chin, pointed finger, karate chops)

— Arrogant word choices (”Let me set the record straight.”  “I want a jobs bill on my desk without delay.”  “If I have to enforce this discipline [fiscal discipline] by veto, I will.”)

— Lecturing/parental tone:  Both his statements, phrasing, and tone positioned himself as a Washington outsider as he scolded others about their lack of transparency, earmarks, special deals to states/groups behind closed doors, and lack of bipartisanship. He ended with my-poll-numbers-may-be-sagging-but-I’m-up-to-the-task-of-doing-the-hard-job-that-is-good-for-the-country-and-I’m-not-a-quitter statement. At that, I could hear my dad saying to me as a child, “I don’t care whether you want to stop playing and go to bed now or not. You’ll be tired for school for tomorrow. Lights out!” 

All things considered, it was definitely a keynote. It will be up to voters and Congress to determine how motivational it was.

Posted at 1:03am in Communication—Oral, General Communication | Permalink | Add Comment » |

Have five minutes to spare in exchange for quick, useful communication tips? I just posted five new videos. 

They might not have you rolling in the floor laughing, but I hope you find them worth your while!

To view speech clips, media interviews, and other videos, visit my YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/diannabooher.

Posted at 3:28pm in Communication—Interpersonal, Communication—Oral, Communication—Sales, Communication—Written, General Communication, Personal Productivity, Social Media Communication | Permalink | Add Comment » |

In nearly every business writing workshop we teach, we hear stories—some humorous, some deadly, and many costly—about mistakes caused by unclear communication.

On Friday, engineering blogger Jon Ostrower posted “Page One of the Engineering to English Dictionary” proving that aerospace engineers share the general population’s tendency to convolute messages with buzzwords and industry-specific jargon.

Here are the top five from his list:

1. A number of different approaches are being tried.
   We are still guessing at this point.
   
2. Close project coordination.
   We sat down and had coffee together.
   
3. An extensive report is being prepared on a fresh approach.
   We just hired three punk kids out of school.
   
4. Major technological breakthrough!
   It works OK, but looks very hi-tech!
   
5. Customer satisfaction is believed assured.
   We are so far behind schedule that the customer will take anything.

Read the complete list. (Click here for our own list of bureaucratic buzzwords that muddy messages, first mentioned in The Voice of Authority.)

Does your industry—or maybe even your office—have its own brand of muddied messages?

Posted at 5:51pm in Communication—Interpersonal, General Communication | Permalink | Add Comment » |

By Kari Gates, Marketing Director at Booher Consultants, Inc.

Are you looking for a cutting-edge tool to communicate your message to clients, colleagues, or staff? We think we found one.

It’s not often that we do product reviews, but we’ve recently examined Brainshark and like it so much we thought we’d share the insight with you.

Benefits

Usability: When I sat down to create our first presentation in the Brainshark platform, a company overview, I was struck by the ease of use—especially considering the breadth of possibilities available in the platform.

Creativity: Brainshark converts your presentation slides into Flash videos for viewing by end users anywhere at any time. You can even incorporate audio recordings, live web pages, surveys, and much, much more. Simply post, embed, or email the presentations, reaching wider audiences with your key messages.

Functionality: Brainshark even allows you to enable viewer guest books for follow-up communication after your presentation has been viewed. Translated for a non-tech audience, what that means is that anyone who wants to view your presentation enters their name and email address, letting you know they’ve viewed it.

Drawbacks

Before you can start creating presentations, Brainshark offers several training educational presentations you’ll want to complete before you’re up and running…a few hours worth, in fact. Also, it can be a little overwhelming to decide which options to use to make the most of your message. But then that’s where your creativity shines!

It’s exciting to discover a communication tool that allows us to incorporate Booher’s key communication concepts with the technology to deliver our message in a memorable way. We’d love to hear your experience with Brainshark or any similar platform. How are you using the tools?

By the way, check out my first Brainshark project and let me know what you think!

NOTE: In the interest of full-disclosure, Brainshark asked us to try out their platform, but it’s only because we found it really useful that we’re sharing our experience with you.

Posted at 10:35am in General Communication, Social Media Communication | Permalink | Add Comment » |

Don’t Let It Be a Calamity

During the four years I’ve been writing this blog, readers email me with questions from time to time about their specific problems in writing, presentations, or interpersonal skills issues. And I love offering practical tips or insights with those really tough challenges. But here’s an easy one that a reader asks today.

Cara writes:

Dianna,

I have been a fan of yours since our group attended a session at your Grapevine location many years ago.  My question is, how do I control a horrible (and embarrassing) “cotton mouth” feeling that I get when I start talking? It happens when I present and when I speak seriously one-on-one. It just derails me because I get all preoccupied about the impression I’m making.  I have to stop talking, take a breath, and swallow every time. 

What can I do to prevent it from happening, especially now that I’m returning to the job-seeking market.

Thank you.

 Cara

 My response?

Cara,

Cotton mouth is noticeable to you–but probably NOT to those around you. The best solution is just to sip water. Keep it with you and sip along unobtrusively as needed.  I don’t mean to sound like a bumper sticker here,… but politicians do it, speakers do it, entertainers do it, and singers do it. That’s natural. Simply build pauses into a presentation so you can take a sip. During a one-on-one conversation, sipping from a bottle of water is quite natural these days; people carry bottles with them all the time for health reasons.

Other solutions:  Suck on candy or a mint.

As you relax and realize that nobody notices the hydration issue but you, the problem will go away.

Dianna

Maybe you have secret that I haven’t heard of and that you’d like to pass it on to this reader as well. Feel free to leave her a comment here. 

Posted at 6:26pm in Communication—Interpersonal, Communication—Oral | Permalink | Add Comment » |

During times of underwear bombers, unemployment, and universal healthcare debates, ask employees what they think their executives need more coaching on, and you’d expect to hear answers like these:  strategic planning, visionary thinking, innovation.

But in response to a survey by ClearRock, a Boston-based outplacement and executive coaching firm, here’s what employees actually said when asked which skills their top leaders most needed to improve:

• 67% leadership skills
• 53% communications
• 53% strategic thinking
• 47% building teamwork
• 47% vision
• 46% motivating people
• 42% engaging others
• 38% managing others
• 33% decisiveness
• 32% interpersonal abilities
• 24% creativity
• 18% managing their own expectations

Take a second glance at the list.  Doesn’t teamwork, motivating people, engaging others, managing others, and interpersonal skills all encompass communication skills? 

With change happening almost as fast as tweets, the leader with ineffective communication skills—or the one who chooses, for whatever reason, not to communicate at all with staff—puts his or her team at odds with both the mission and management.

How do the senior leaders at your organization stack up?

Posted at 2:17pm in Communication—Interpersonal, General Communication | Permalink | Add Comment » |

Santa can slide down that chimney any time he chooses, and he’ll typically receive a warm welcome no matter what’s happening at the moment. But when mere humans interrupt, it’s no laughing matter.  In fact, it can be downright annoying.  

Here’s a recent email I received from Carole:

Hello…. I always enjoy your newsletters and find them very helpful. I just read your newsletter on choosing to listen, and it is great. Hopefully, in another newsletter you can address the “interrupter,” the person who always interrupts the speaker in the conversation with their own comments before the speaker can finish their comment/thought/sentence.

The “interrupter” always extends the length of what could have been a good conversation and usually confuses the final key points of a conversation so that oftentimes both/all parties to the conversation leave with no clear understanding of what was said.

Carole

Sounds as though Carole and I have been to some of the same parties and meetings.  So how do you hold the floor if someone tries to interrupt you and what do you do if you see this rudeness happen to a coworker or friend?

Set yourself up to hold the floor: Example:  “I’d like to mention three reasons I think we should schedule the fundraiser in the fall rather than in the spring.  First,….”  

Then if the interrupter breaks in, use a stronger voice and body language:  Continue with, “Just a moment, let me finish with my other two reasons, and then I’d like to hear your feedback.”

Call attention to the interruption:  Here are some useful statements:

• “Pardon me, Julie, but I’d like to finish my thought on that issue.  I was saying that blah, blah, blah.”
• “No, Tom, that’s not exactly where I was going with my comment. What I was explaining was that blah, blah, blah…”
• “Please, Vejay, I’d like to finish this story because I think it illustrates a key point.”
• “Let me go back to what I was saying a moment ago before we got off on another issue….”

Redirect a hijacked conversation:  Likewise, if you’re a participant in a conversation or meeting when you observe an interrupter hijack a thread of conversation, here are some saver lines to redirect the conversation to the original speaker:

• “Excuse me, Juan, but I’d like to hear the end of Maria’s story.  Maria, what happened after you told your boss about the headhunter calling?”
• “It seems we’ve gotten off the topic. Mike, can we go back to what you were saying before you were interrupted?”
• “Tracy, is that what you meant?  Frank has restated your point somewhat.  Is that exactly what you meant, or would you like to finish where you were going with that illustration?”

These saver lines may seem natural to more assertive individuals and less so to those who are shy.  But sometimes even assertive individuals become stunned by the rudeness of interrupters and welcome those who intercede on their behalf to return a conversation to civility.  After all, not everyone wants to participate in a shouting match that resembles the debates on TV talk shows.

So as your family and friends gather during the holidays, you may want to make sure that you listen with care, …interrupt less often, …forgive those who interrupt you, …and practice those interpersonal skills with people you love.

Merry Christmas!

Posted at 1:02pm in Communication—Interpersonal, General Communication | Permalink | Add Comment » |

After my comments about Morgan Freeman ran in the New York Post article last week, we’ve had a flurry of response. But the most intriguing call was from an interviewer yesterday morning, Kathleen Kurke, who posed this question:  “How do you exude that same executive presence when you’re talking to a client on the phone or in writing?”

(If you missed my earlier blog post answering New York Post reporter Reed Tucker’s question about why Morgan Freeman is always cast in god-like, well-respected roles, I identified six primary characteristics—five of them having to do with the visual.)

So how do you pull off presence on the phone?

Recall a recent phone conversation with someone who has a deep voice, perfect diction, and a slow speaking rate—someone you’ve never met personally. Do you visualize them as tall or short? Slightly built or muscular? Do they command attention when walking into a room?

On the other hand, recall a recent phone conversation with someone who is soft spoken, who uses tentative words, whose voice cracks and quivers. Do you visualize that person with poor posture? Limp gestures? Weak eye contact? At a party, would he or she stand in the center of the room or against the wall?

Chances are that you attach a visual image to vocal qualities. Likewise, personality traits become associated with physical presence and voice. Soft-spoken people are often thought to be shy. Loud people are often assumed confident and even aggressive or obnoxious. These labels may or may not be accurate, but they develop nevertheless.

In the absence of visual clues, people judge your executive presence by your voice.

When you write, others judge executive presence by the way in which you think on the page or screen. Many people think as they write—or, at least they appear to do so. They write in a stream-of-consciousness mode:  disorganized thoughts, inappropriate detail, convoluted sentences.

Those with executive presence think well on their feet or on the screen. That is, they make their bottom line their opening line. They summarize well. They select appropriate detail to make their point to the proper audience. They are precise and concise.

To sum up about your documents:  Your writing is your face on the page.

Whether you’re concerned about your voice or your writing, your executive presence is prominent even when others aren’t present.

Posted at 10:38am in Communication—Interpersonal, Communication—Oral, Communication—Written | Permalink | Add Comment » |

“So why does Morgan Freeman always get cast as the authority figure, the well-respected guy, the voice of God,” or as in his next blockbuster Invictus, the former South African leader Nelson Mandela? That was the question feature-writer Reed Tucker of the New York Post posed to me last week.  I outlined 6 good reasons why the actor “has what it takes,” and many of these attributes surface in client discussion regarding executive presence:

• Voice:  the quality, the pitch, the cadence
• Demeanor:  poised, calm, reassuring, collected
• Height:  leaves the perception of “large and in charge”
• Facial expression:  penetrating eyes, character lines in face imply experience and wisdom
• Hair:  graying, short (connotes age, experience, wisdom, control)
• Movement and walk:  purposeful (implies a goal)

Read the complete article here.

Posted at 10:27am in General Communication | Permalink | 1 Comment |

If someone asked you to guess the most used word or phrase of 2009 what would you say?

Healthcare?

Economy?

H1N1?

According to The Global Language Monitor, it’s Twitter.

“In a year dominated by world-shaking political events, a pandemic, the after-effects of a financial tsunami and the death of a revered pop icon, the word Twitter stands above all the other words,” said Paul JJ Payack, President of The Global Language Monitor. 

Surprised? We weren’t. Mentions of the popular microblogging site crop up at every turn. (Follow me.) But you might be surprised by some of the other words that made this year’s list.

Check out the full list of the most popular words of 2009 here.

Posted at 12:15pm in Communication—Oral, Communication—Written, General Communication, Potpourri, Social Media Communication | Permalink | Add Comment » |