Master the Pause to become a Powerful Communicator

Master the pause to be a powerful communicator

It might be the most difficult communication skill, the dramatic use of silence. Consider that the most effective technique is to say nothing. That means, that sometimes, you need to stop talking. The use of the dramatic pause might be the most powerful tool in your communication toolbox.

Why do Zoom presentations suck and what to do about that?

Why do Zoom presentation suck

It’s not your imagination. Zoom or virtual presentations do suck both figuratively and literally. They sap energy and magnify flaws. Presenting online is challenging. What might you do to improve? Understand the challenges, adapt your presentation delivery, and enhance your skills.

Your Intended Message Podcast

Your Intended Message podcast

Your Intended Message is the podcast about how we communicate – mistakes we can avoid and how we can communicate more effectively.

Think about the last time you had a message go wrong. You didn’t know why. The receiver of your message didn’t get it or they reacted weirdly and you had no idea what their problem was. That’s the challenges that this podcast will address. Every week, I’ll interview experts on different aspects of communication skills.

The Impact of Negative Trigger Words

Negative trigger words

What’s a negative trigger word? That’s a word or phrase that derails your message by sending your audience off on a tangent. That might be an intellectual tangent or an emotional tangent. It’s the emotional tangents that are most destructive because it’s almost impossible to get your audience back after you trigger their emotional tangent.

Why Should You Use the Chat in Zoom

Why and how to use Zoom Chat

The chat encourages people to think. What could be a higher form of engagement than that? The chat offers you as the meeting leader or presenter benefits that you can’t enjoy in a live presentation. You will tend to get a higher percentage of your audience actively contributing because there are those who prefer not to speak up but find it easier to write a short chat. It feels safer to chat then to speak.

Intended vs Unintended Messages: What did you mean?

Intended vs Unintended messages

You control the message you send, and you can make it more successful when you understand the filters and adapt your message to successfully pass through the filters unchanged.

These are the challenges you face with your intended message.

Use Rhetorical Questions in Your Presentation

use rhetorical questions in your presentation

Use rhetorical questions during your presentation to better engage your audience. This technique is simple and powerful. It’s surprising that more speakers don’t make better use of this technique.

This works especially well, when delivering detailed technical information. That means this is an effective technique for engineers, scientists, economists, IT experts, and other technical specialists.