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Category: Communication (Page 1 of 14)

Five tips to improve public speaking

15/03/2023 /

One of the common mistakes in public speaking is that we often underestimate the importance of the form in the message we try to convey.

Unlike written pages, oral communications are a bloom of conscious and unconscious signals coming out from our body, like voice tone and modulation, gesticulating, glances with the public, dialogue speed and so on.

Each of these signals carries a different value that can alter the substance of the message, even in an unsuccessful way.

As diplomacy is essentially communication, a good deal can be reached only after smart negotiations and persuasive talks.

Hence, creating the right empathy with our listeners could add further value on the outcome of our agreements.

In an article published on the popular magazine Mental Floss, the American journalist Cindy Fisher Crawford has tried to summarize 5 effective steps to becoming a better public speaker from “Toastmasters International” and other public speaking experts:

1. MAKE YOUR SPEECH CONVERSATIONAL

As tempting as it may be to type up a speech and read it word for word, refrain from doing so.

Audiences listen better when the speaker talks to them instead of reads to them.

2. PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE

A great way to ensure your speech goes smoothly is to rehearse what you’re going to say.

3. CONNECT WITH YOUR AUDIENCE

If they’re yawning, you need to infuse a spark in the conversation.

4. DELIVER YOUR SPEECH WITH PASSION

The best way to get your audience to care about what you’re saying is to show how much you care about the topic.

5. TAKE YOUR TIME

Your presentation is not a race. Take your time as you interact with the audience and slow down if you make a mistake.

https://i0.wp.com/c1.staticflickr.com/3/2456/3914858504_831952e460_z.jpg?resize=457%2C305&ssl=1

Image source: FLICKR – JohnDiew0107 –

(CC BY-NC 2.0)

 

22/02/2023 /

“All experience is local. All identity is experience. I’m not a national. I’m a local. I’m multi-local.”

In her TEDTalks Taiye Selasi says that people’s identity cannot be explained only  through a national identity. Although countries remain important in shaping our identity, in order to really know who someone is, we would better ask “where are you local?”. 

Top 10 digital photography tips

03/02/2023 /

In today’s communication, pictures and photographs are more and more crucial for an effective result, both on the web and on paper.

Whether you are a beginner or more experienced with photography, here are some tips that will help you improve your photography:

  1. Use the Rule of Thirds
  2. Avoid Camera Shake
  3. Learn to use the Exposure Triangle
  4. Use a Polarizing Filter
  5. Create a Sense of Depth
  6. Use Simple Backgrounds
  7. Don’t Use Flash Indoors
  8. Choose the Right ISO
  9. Pan to Create Motion
  10. Experiment with Shutter Speed

And, finally, remember that is always better to invest more in learning and less on gear. You can take stunning photos that you’ll be proud of, even with a modest digital camera fitted with its standard zoom lens. But you can’t take such great photos without understanding the basics.

Take your digital photography to the next level with the full article.

Image: Photography – Evan (CC BY-ND 2.0) 

6 useful tips to encourage dissenters

18/08/2021 /

Dealing with dissenters in the workplace can be scary. It forces you to get outside of your comfort zone and hear criticism about your ideas, your performance, or group dynamics that might sting at first.But dissent is actually a gif: it points out gaps that need to be filled, weaknesses that need to be strengthened. When you’re open to hearing dissent, you’ll continually improve your best ideas. Plus, open communication is key to building trust in the workplace.

Dealing with dissenters in your workplace will grow easier as voicing dissent becomes an accepted part of the culture. When it’s welcomed rather than feared, people will start to present it in a more positive way rather than feeling they have to be aggressive about it or stay silent. As people put it into practice, they’ll hone their ideas into stronger plans of action.

This article provides 6 useful tips to encourage dissenters and deal with them on the workplace:

1. Ask for critiques: Soliciting criticism is the only way to make your people feel comfortable voicing it. Don’t assume they feel comfortable stating it just because you respond well to it. Ask for it assertively; show real enthusiasm for hearing it, rather than making weak statements. Explain why dissent is so important to your organization to show you’re committed to hearing and using it. Trusting your people to provide input will make your whole team shine.

2. Ask follow-up questions: To really listen to what your dissenters have to say, prompt people to explain their rationale for their dissenting opinions. If in a group discussion, ask others what they think about the dissenting opinion. Dig deep into the issue, igniting conversation that helps people more fully understand how they feel about the issue. Dissent in the workforce needs to be explored, validated, and utilized by the group to be effective.

3. Make sure the comments are directed to the people who need to hear them: Communicating dissent is only empowering if the people voicing it know it will be heard by someone with the ability to use their feedback. Make sure people know who will hear their comments.

4. Ask for solutions: Challenge dissenters to present possible solutions, even far-fetched ones. When people start thinking creatively, solutions that higher-ups never imagined might take shape. However, people should feel free to voice dissent regardless of whether they’ve thought of a solution yet or not.

5. Rework the plan together: If critiques go to only one person who reformulates the plan singlehandedly, you’ll just see different problems arise. The plan needs to be reworked by a group who can see it from different vantage points and talk through concerns that arise in the moment.

6. Express gratitude for the dissent: When you share genuine gratitude in the workplace with someone for having the courage to voice their dissent, you’ll encourage more constructive dissent in the future. Thank the person in front of the group to send the message to everyone.

Image source: Pixabay – mohamed_hassan

Web 2.0 and Social Media

25/11/2020 /

Web 2.0 applications and social media have provided new venues for businesses to inform, understand and connect with their customers. This free book provides a general understanding of using blogs, podcasts, live streaming, wikis, social buzz, social media, and more to enable businesses to rethink their approach and leverage new digital media’s advantages.

Theoretical concepts such as RSS feeds and practical examples such as constructing a WordPress blog are covered in detail. Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Reddit, Tumblr, Pinterest, Klout, and others are examined from a business perspective.

Social MediaImage source: Flickr – mkhmarketing  (CC BY 2.0)

The hidden power of smiling

11/11/2020 /

In this TED Talk, Ron Gutman reviews a raft of studies about smiling, and reveals some surprising results. Did you know your smile can be a predictor of how long you’ll live, and that a simple smile has a measurable effect on your overall well-being?

So whenever you want to look great and competent, reduce your stress or improve your marriage, or feel as if you just had a whole stack of high-quality chocolate without incurring the caloric cost, or whenever you want to tap into a superpower that will help you and everyone around you live a longer, healthier, happier life, smile.

Image: Smile – Kristo (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0) 

5 tips for novice public speakers

30/09/2020 /

Dananjaya Hettiarachchi, the winner of the World Championship of Public Speaking 2014 organized by Toastmaster International, interviewed by Richard Feloni for The Business Insider Australia, suggests 5 tips for novice public speakers.

Tip 1
Always start with a message. A common mistake is to start with a topic, instead a speech should begin with a message, as concise as possible. This message is whatever you want your audience to be thinking about when your presentations concludes.

Tip 2
Be confident enough to yourself. You need to sell yourself before to sell your message, the way to do that is to be genuine. A speech should be conversational, not theatrical. The only way to go in front of an audience and to present in a way that isn’t simply miming is to practice again and again, pretending that you’re talking to your closest friends.

Tip 3
See yourself through your audience’s eyes. Speakers tend to become wrapped up in themselves, maybe because they’re afraid to acknowledge a room full of listeners. But if you’re going to speak, you need to realize that you’re doing it for the benefit of others, not yourself.

Tip 4
Have a forum to practice. 80% of the path to becoming a great speaker is trial and error and the only way to learn is by speaking in front of an audience that will give honest feedback.

Tip 5
Find the right coach or mentor. You should find someone willing to help you grow as a public speaker. This does not need to be someone who can teach you advanced speaking techniques; they just need to be someone who gives you permission to explore possibilities, who gives you permission to fail.

Read here the full article

Speech

Image: flickr – Brian Talbot – (CC BY – NC 2.0)

Personal branding and job interviews

18/12/2019 /

Who am I?

This existential question that we have probably all asked ourselves at least once in our lives is part of the process of building our personality. Not only. It is part of building our personal brand.

Just like companies sell products and services, we in some way sell ourselves. We sell our skills, our values, our purpose when we engage in new relationships, both private and professional. Which means that we must know what we are bringing to the plate and what we expect from others.

Building a brand takes time, vision and most of all clarity. It requires profound introspection to identify what are our unique features and skills, as well as acceptance of what we see in ourselves.
The brand not only has to be built, it also has to be presented; which, in the case of personal branding, means we have to learn how to introduce ourselves to potential employers (or partners!) showcasing our strengths, but also acknowledging our weaknesses; in general, when it comes to presentations, honesty and authenticity are often the winning solutions.

You can read more about how to best showcase your personal brand during job interviews in this Forbes article!

job interview

Image from Pexels (CC0 – Creative Commons)

Six tips to write effective email

06/11/2019 /

Emails are the most common way of today professional communication. The average office worker receives around 80 emails each day.

To write effective emails, first ask yourself if you should be using email at all. Sometimes, it might be better to pick up the phone. Make your emails concise and to the point. Only send them to the people who really need to see them, and be clear about what you would like the recipient to do next.

In this article you will find 6 operative and essential tips in order to write effective emails:

  1. Don’t overcommunicate: before you begin writing an email, ask yourself: “Is this really necessary?”;
  2. Make good use of the subject line: it should grab the reader attention and summarize the email content;
  3. Keep message clear and brief: keep your sentences short and to the point. The body of the email should be direct and informative, and it should contain all pertinent information;
  4. Be polite:  the messages you send are a reflection of your own professionalism so be always polite;
  5. Check the tone: Think about how your email “feels” emotionally. If your intentions or emotions could be misunderstood, find a less ambiguous way to phrase your words;
  6. Proofreading: before you sending, take a moment to review your email for spelling, grammar, and punctuation mistakes.

Image: Pixabay – Geralt (CC Creative Commons)

15 Best Books to improve your leadership

23/10/2019 /

In an article  published on Lifehack, Joe Vennare identifies some 15 best books especially would-be leaders need to read to define leadership and how to apply it, to communicate and motivate teamwork, and to keep going on.

According to John Coleman, ‘broad reading habits are often a defining characteristic of our greatest leaders’. Reading has shown to lead many benefits in leadership development.  It improves communication, emotional intelligence and organizational effectiveness and reduces stress.

Nowadays business people seems to be reading less. Sometimes because they are not sufficiently convinced of the importance of reading. In other cases because they don’t know what they should read or  they think they don’t have the time.

 

Image source: Pixabay (CC0)

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