imposter syndrome for emerging leaders

How Can Emerging Leaders Deal with Imposter Syndrome?

George Torok Communication skills, Executive presence, Executive speaking, Leadership communication Leave a Comment

Imposter syndrome is a psychological pattern in which a person doubts their accomplishments, skills, or abilities and has an internalized fear of being exposed as a fraud or impostor. People with imposter syndrome often feel like they don’t belong or that they have achieved their success due to luck rather than their own abilities.

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Confidence speaker

How to speak with more confidence

George Torok Executive presence, Leadership communication Leave a Comment

Speak with more confidence
When you are speaking, which do you believe Is more important? To feel confident or to appear confident? Think about that. You probably want both, but you can’t have both all the time. The question is which is more important? The answer is, it’s more important to appear confident.  Why? Because that is the perspective of your listeners. Once you recognize that it’s about the audience experience and not your experience three factors work in your favor.

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Start your presentation

How to open your presentation

George Torok Insights, Presentation Tips, Public Speaking Leave a Comment

Your first words are important because your audience is judging you. They are scrolling through questions in their mind:
Should I listen? How long will this take? Do I trust the person? How painful will this be? When will we get to the relevant part? What does this mean to me?

The purpose of your opening is to grab their attention, establish rapport and set the direction.

Most importantly – grab attention. How might you do that?

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speak to hostile audience

How to Tame a Hostile Audience: Lessons from Marc Antony

George Torok Communication skills, Insights, Leadership communication, Public Speaking Leave a Comment

What can you do when facing a hostile audience?  How can you speak so they listen? How might you connect with them so they see your side of the message? Those are difficult challenges that we can learn to face by learning from Shakespeare – in particular the speech that Marc Antony gave after the death of Julius Caesar.

Notice the shift in tone of the audience and the techniques used to persuade the audience to change their thinking. Let’s visit the scene and listen to the speech and the changing tide of the audience.

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Build rapport with burnt toast

How to Build Rapport and Connect with Your Audience

George Torok Communication skills, Insights, Presentation Tips, Public Speaking Leave a Comment

Do you want your message to resonate with your audience? The message is more likely to land well, be received and trusted if you have connected with your audience. They must know, like and trust you. How can you accomplish that? By building rapport rapidly near the beginning of your presentation.

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How to pitch to a podcast host

If you want to be a guest on a podcast…

George Torok Communication skills, Insights, Intended Message, Podcasting Leave a Comment

If you want to be a guest on my podcast the most important question you need to answer is, “What will you do for me?” It’s not about you. When I receive a pitch in which every sentence starts with “I, me or my” you’re not talking about me and my interests. You didn’t grab my attention. What would grab my attention?

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