Dominic Walliman’s TEDx Talk Quantum Physics for Seven Year Olds is a great primer on communicating complex concepts. Here are a few of his suggestions that I love: Meet your audience where they are: “As a communicator, you must take into account … [Read more...] about Distill without destroying
Dance the dance
A media interview looks like a normal conversation, but it’s not a conversation at all. It’s a business transaction that takes the form of a careful, predictable Kabuki dance. Every participant in a media interview is filling a well-defined … [Read more...] about Dance the dance
Bullets or full script?
When you work at a company of any size, there are many people who participate in writing, editing, and approving any talk that you give. It would be so delightful if all of those people (including you) could nail down your content three weeks … [Read more...] about Bullets or full script?
Stay hydrated!
In April, I helped about fifty people at a few different companies prepare for talks at their annual user and developer conferences. At the end of almost every coaching conversation, I said, “Good luck! Stay hydrated!” This may seem like a dumb, … [Read more...] about Stay hydrated!
Panic doesn’t look good
If you don’t want to look freaked out by a question, don’t BE freaked out by the question. Almost no one has the capacity to manage their impulses so well that they can control their own micro-expressions! If you want to get better at managing … [Read more...] about Panic doesn’t look good
Curate your talk track
You’ve been in your industry for 20 years. You know SO MANY things. When you sit down with a reporter who asks an open-ended question, there’s a great temptation to turn into human Wikipedia. The impulse is: ‘Behold! Here is all of my knowledge! You … [Read more...] about Curate your talk track
Tell me more…
My genius friend has the best way of dealing with people who bring dumb, nonsensical or useless ideas to her. She just says, “Tell me more” and then watches them tie themselves into knots trying to add depth and justification to an idea when there’s … [Read more...] about Tell me more…
Don’t drown in the details
“Don't confuse me with the facts!” “The confused customer does not buy.” When you make your prospective customer feel stupid, when you drown them in details, they will find a way to make it YOUR fault that they don’t understand. And it IS your … [Read more...] about Don’t drown in the details
What should I do first?
You want to become a better communicator. But there are so many things to work on. Where should you start? With your audience. To be more specific: with how what you do/know really helps your audience. I have worked with people who are super … [Read more...] about What should I do first?
Politicians suck, but they are great repeaters
“Oh look at that shiny thing over there! Everyone’s talking about it! I’d much rather talk about that than our boring old messaging!” says the founder. “Please kill me now,” says the PR person (to herself only of course). Because the “boring old … [Read more...] about Politicians suck, but they are great repeaters
