Happy holidays!
Read More
A lot has been said about vulnerability in business recently…especially as a growing competency in leaders. But a vulnerable leader is different than vulnerable leadership…and that is due to the fact that words and actions need to be combined to reach peak power.
Read More
The phrasal verb "deal with" drips with negative connotation. It sounds as if the subject is a nuisance -- it may be a day-to-day element or a unique, high priority component. It provides no nuance to your skills. You've got a great #vocabulary! Use it, and let synonyms showcase your credentials.
Read More
Hearing is the practical, and listening is strategic. And as with most things strategic, there's more than one way to listen. But really listening, can lead back to really hearing – and understanding. It requires, strategic, discriminative listening – looking past the words you hear to look to body language, tone changes, and volume to determine what the speaker really thinks and feels.
Read More
There is a better approach to thinking about audience first -- being audience CENTRIC. Let your MESSAGE lead the way, but use your audience's lens for the context that makes your message stick. #ThinkStrategically
Read More
“Zoom fatigue” is a ubiquitous malady and hampers engagement even during short meetings. Subsequently, every organization needs to re-think how it will provide leadership development opportunities when staff is consistently scattered. However, organizations still need to invest the time in activity-focused development programs to get outcomes that stick.
Read More
What to do with your anxiety when speaking? You may find yourself in front of 100 people. Or it might be 10. Or it may be one – one very…important…person. And on the spectrum of anxious moments, your body’s response can impact your effectiveness. How to overcome anxiety when front and center is a common question I get.
Read More
No matter the situation, knowing what you want to communicate is vital. I often encounter would be communicators who are quick to determine they need a message to deliver – in an email, on a conference call, during a panel discussion, at a town hall meeting, or as a keynote speaker. But often, these communicators don’t have a real handle on what it looks or sounds like. More difficult is coming up with a message that is complete sentence.
I will offer you this: the science of message delivery is perfected by targeting 11 words. (11 words.)
Read More
We must leverage the second-most powerful tool we have to connect: eye contact. We all are aware that good eye contact signals confidence, competence and credibility. We are not all aware of the physiological changes eye contact makes. And, as important as it is when face-to-face, it becomes amplified in the indirect world of remote meetings. To be more effective, maintain strong eye contact, and that means speaking into a camera.
Read More
Frankly, most people don’t use them enough. Now with most every meeting being over video, hands have basically disappeared from the communications signals available to us. But even when Zooming, your hands are your most visual communications tool – use them!
Read MoreWhile the actual stats may still be pretty fuzzy, research and experience tells us people don’t remember everything from their engagements and rarely do they recall most things – especially word for word. That memory blind spot means for us to get our message to stick, we need to get comfortable with repeating the message. Varying contextual storytelling allows us to do that without being redundant.
Read MoreAlmost two years ago, a financial tech/data client decided it was time to take a long look at its crisis response capabilities. They reset their operational response, putting together a comprehensive binder of specific action steps. They called in SJConnects to help develop messaging, provide communications structure, and train staff for various forms of response. The framework was set to be successful for the “if” turning into “when.”
What they are experiencing now is that although plans are critical, practice is an absolute must. The operations and communications functions need to work together, and they need to be practiced together – out loud and in real time. If your organization doesn’t build the muscle memory for crisis response, your plan is just words on a page.
Read More
Thanks, David J.P. Fisher, for the opportunity to preach my #comms vision. #Empathy...always empathy!
Read MoreThe forced experience of the COVID 19 nationwide quarantine is clearly getting organizations to re-think what “going to work” means. You’ve probably already had some visceral reaction to the fact that working remotely is going to feel more regular than ever.
“Zoom fatigue” already is a ubiquitous malady and hampers engagement even during short meetings. Subsequently, every organization needs to re-think how it will provide leadership development opportunities when staff is consistently scattered.
However, organizations still need to invest the time in activity-focused development programs to get outcomes that stick.
Read MoreFor so many of us, our business world has mutated to a Zoom Economy at breakneck speed. Everyone is now familiar with video conferencing on a daily basis. You’ve probably even played with the customizable backgrounds. You've also likely thought about what you are telling people about yourself through your visual and vocal presentation.
Everything I counsel to points back to the “net impression.” That is the collective of signals delivered during any engagement – visual, vocal and verbal. The verbal is the message – that actual content delivered. The visual and the vocal are the messenger – who you are as a communicator. The new world of persistent video conferencing has brought the latter to the foreground.
No matter your message, to deliver a strong net impression, present a strong "messenger" to your audience.
Read MoreYour inbox got a beating these last couple of weeks from any company or organization that happens to have your email address. Everyone is getting letters about COVID-19 response plans and recommendations as the pandemic sweeps across the U.S. None of us can honestly say we’ve seen a single crisis with such blanketing impact that compels most every organization to communicate with key stakeholders.
A strategically penned letter is critical in setting an effective first impression in crisis response.
Read More
It’s been six years since the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign retired Chief Illiniwek as a symbol of the school. A few days ago the school settled a six-year trademark dispute with Chief fans who have continued the tradition “underground.” In that settlement, the university protected misappropriation of the name and visuals associated with Chief Illiniwek, but it missed a huge opportunity to advance better understanding of why Chief was retired in the first place. In effect, the perception is that without being a part of the bigger solution of championing diversity & inclusion, the U of I continues to be part of the bigger problem of insensitivity toward Native Americans.
Read More