Booher BanterBusiness Communication Consultant

In a recent story, CNN covered Larry King’s fiftieth anniversary in broadcast journalism. Known for his signature suspenders and an ability to get exclusive information out of people stingy with their details, Larry let escape some exclusive information of his own—specifically his secret for doing great interviews: "…I listen to the answers, I ask short questions. If you ask a question over two sentences to me, you’re showing off."  (See the full story here.)

He knows how to get the details that matter and his choice of the right question at the right time has paid off.

Likewise, when formulating your own presentations, contrary to what you may think, you’ll likely struggle more often with narrowing your information to a few good points than with generating enough ideas to support your key message. For most business occasions, your key points are fairly well defined by the purpose of the meeting.

Just remember that in this era of 30-second commercials, one-sentence newspaper updates, 8-line e-zines, 15-word cell-phone text messages, 200-word magazine articles, 15-minute oil changes, 20-minute pizza deliveries, and 1-hour photos, your audience appreciates brevity. And so do corporate pocketbooks. Figure the salaries of those gathered to hear you, and ask yourself if each of your points is worth $X per minute.

Larry King did, and he has earned a fabulous show, opportunities to meet and greet the famous, and the career of a lifetime…literally.

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Posted at 2:09pm in Communication—Oral | Permalink | Add Comment » |

A recent Wall Street Journal article proclaimed that "soft skills" for managers have become "a growing interest" in organizations today.  Since when did good people skills go out of style? (“Theory and Practice: M.B.A. Programs Hone ‘Soft Skills’”; Phred Dvorak; Feb. 12, 2007; B.3.)

Sure, a mention of the titles CEO, CFO, or EVP may produce mental pictures of hard-nosed men and women who’ve fought their way to the top. They don’t always get their multiple degrees, multiple promotions, and multiple cars by being nice. The "no guts, no glory” gang may play tough. But leadership and management success rarely results from just how intense people play the game and how fast they get to the top.  These executives also understand that their success is about the people, relationships, and character they collect along the way.

In fact, the new trend in curricula, spreading across some of the nation’s prestigious business schools—Dartmouth, MIT, and Stanford, to be specific—focuses on such soft skills.

When faced with problems ranging from deflated confidence to flawed speaking styles, students at these universities learn a variety of tools. Executive coaching, peer groups, self-styled "leadership development plans," and internships targeted to strengthen weaknesses are being included in M.B.A. programs that mold students into gifted decision-makers and individuals. It may seem off-topic to send America’s brilliant “CEO babies” to relationship classes, but this is exactly what MIT is doing. "’It isn’t just nice—these interpersonal skills…. It’s about stuff that’s necessary to lead a complex organization,’” according to USC’s Marshall School of Business professor, Warren Bennis.

So it seems that MBA students have realized that they can’t just be the CEO in a sterile office. The people they lead need to know that they are also a spouse, parent, friend. They, we, you—all of us—are human, a part of a team. Whether leading an organization, leading a project team, leading a sales team, or leading a basketball team—leading from the front lines means you must be present with your team "in the thick of things." Listening to what people are saying. Asking questions. Chitchatting daily. Finding out what’s on their minds. Getting their "take" on the situation. While it may be possible to control a group’s view from afar, it’s far easier to influence their thinking as you walk shoulder to shoulder than to shout commands from the sidelines. In short, soft skills.

Think of number-crunching, reasoning, and strategic planning—business hard skills—as a good suit. They’re classic, timeless.  But soft skills remain part of the classic skill set as well.  Leadership, persuasion, the ability to write and speak well, and the ability to relate to people—these qualities put the “power” into the power-suit of business skills. They never go out of style.

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Posted at 2:55pm in Uncategorized | Permalink | Add Comment » |

As we gear up here for our third "Get Your Book Published" workshop in Dallas, April 19-21, I’ve had several past attendees "check in" with me about their ongoing successes.  I thought it might be motivating to some of you considering writing a book to launch a new product or service or to showcase a new area of expertise to hear that past attendees have taken the techniques and tips and "worked the plan" with great success. 

For instance, Laura Stack, The Productivity Pro®, attended the March 2006 event.  Although she had already published two successful books with Random House (Leave the Office Earlier and Find More Time), the workshop section on "contract pitfalls" helped her negotiate a much better deal on her third book. You may want to take a look a Laura’s site for her forthcoming third book based on the proposal she wrote during our workshop.

Waldo Waldman, Your Wingman®, an alumni of the March event also, put the finishing touches on his proposal and circulated it directly to a top New York publishing house.  They’ve called him to make a deal this week.  If you’re looking for a great speaker, check out Waldo’s site.

Jessica Cox, an alumni of the December 2006 event, finished her proposal just in time to sign an agent, who’s trying to close a book deal quickly before her segment on Oprah airs during the ratings period in May.  That’s right. They’ve already taped the segment.  Jessica will be the first woman to fly a plane solo using only her feet. Read Jessica’s story here at her website.

Another success story:  Lorri Allen, a March 2006 alumni.   Lorri, a journalist and TV morning talk show host, worked hard on her proposal at the workshop, and quickly signed with an agent eager to represent her.  View Lorri’s site here.

Are you ready to invest the same time and effort in yourself?  If you have a book idea, a partial manuscript, or a fresh perspective on your area of expertise, I’ll walk you through the writing and proposing processes that I’ve spent the last quarter century developing—in only three days.  The workshop is structured so that discussions focus on YOUR book idea.  The goal is for every author to have a polished, attention-grabbing proposal by the close of the third day to submit to agents or editors.

How can a published book be a gold mine for you?  Just look at the others who are doing it, like The Rich and Famous: Donald Trump, Bill Gates, Michael Eisner, Jack Welch, Queen Noor, and Harvey Mackay have used publishing to extend their power structure far beyond any prior accomplishments.

Thought Leaders are publishing books to influence others and lead a life of significance by shaping how the world thinks, change how organizations do business, and improve people’s lives.

What about the Average Joe or Josephine?  I get calls every month from lawyers, doctors, and housewives who took a great book idea, got published, and are now using their new-found credibility to build their practices or launch new home-based businesses.

Competitive corporations are hungry to receive a positive mention in a published book because of the publicity it generates.  In fact, I’m doing an interview this afternoon for a story on entrepreneurs who’ve launched their businesses with a book or who use books as a primary marketing tool.

These categories cover almost everyone, so no more excuses.  Stop sitting on your bestseller; start writing it.

If you or your writer friends are interested, the next publishing event begins Thursday, April 19, at 8:00 sharp, sleeves rolled up, laptop open, and ready to roll.  For details or to register, call 1-800-342-6621 or see www.GetYourBookPublished2007.com.

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Posted at 12:23pm in Publishing Keys | Permalink | Add Comment » |