Why are training videos so hard to watch? You know that after about 90 seconds, viewers are thinking of clicking on something else–football scores, goulash recipes, amusing cat videos–anything. Now in the pandemic world, many, many more videos and podcasts are being created. The amount of hard-to-watch stuff is expanding enormously. Think of video micro-lessons
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Master the arts of creating and performing talks
These images are from digital meetings I have “attended” in the last year: Questions Did you look past the speaker? What was your first impression when you noticed what was on camera with them? Did any background impress you? Distract you? Seem silly? Which people do you think put some thought into the background? Would
Photo by Samule Sun on Unsplash I was speaking with a restaurant owner in California recently. He was opening up a new restaurant and needed to hire 45 people. The interview process was taking quite a while, and he expressed his frustration to his son who offered an idea: have job seekers send in videos.
NO, YOUR PODCAST DOES NOT NEED MUSIC. We have all been misled. We have all seen examples of sound added to words: Sportscasters are sitting around a desk discussing today’s best players. One commentator says, “Let me show you why I think Arenado is the best defensive third baseman.” We cut from the desk to
You have heard the phrase before. Someone brings you some bad news, and, as you begin to get upset, he says, “Hey, don’t blame the messenger!” At a job I had years ago, our team leader said it often. He came back from meetings with reports of all the new things we had to do,
(You can see this post at TD Magazine by clicking here.) Fort Wayne, Indiana has a professional baseball team, the TinCaps. They are a Class A minor league team. Class A is where professional baseball careers begin, and successful players progress to AA, AAA, and then the big leagues. How do I know about the
Being the master of one skill may be making you one-dimensional blocking your paths to success. Read my article in TD Magazine to see why being multifaceted is the key to advancement.
Are you going to an Oscar party this year? At the last one I attended, as we came into the party, we were given an Oscar “ballot.” Each of us marked off our predicted winner for each of the many awards to be given. While this could be used as a wagering tool, we simply
I show people how to be more effective oral communicators. Part of that job is to make the complex simple. What does it take to deliver a talk well? What are the essential skills? How can they be condensed into an understandable, practical way? I developed and teach the six keys to performing any type
Why “Communication Skills Training” doesn’t work There is widespread agreement that soft skills are important. There is some disagreement about whether we have labeled them correctly. Some writers suggest renaming them and prefer the term “power skills.” If you want to be more powerful in social and professional situations, develop your soft skills! If you