Published Articles

Maybe the time has come to re-examine—if not kill—the traditional Close.

A Banker resigned today–very publicly–from his employer and published an Opinion piece in the New York Times (http://tinyurl.com/6ozlqmt). Some are claiming sour grapes as a result of a lower-than-expected bonus–but, regardless, the editorial is worth noting some key reminders for those that help steer the ships or tend the sails of organizations.

Boy, are we in trouble. Just when I thought I’d heard of every Politically Correct/nurturing/self-esteem building tactic around–I read a Twitter message from business author Marcus Buckingham (@mwbuckingham) last night:

“But then…something happens…and in that moment–awesome or lousy–you are living something you will never forget, something that jumps out of the toneless roar of day-to-day life.” Joe Posnanski, Sports Writer

Ask someone who’s just delivered a presentation how things went, and you often hear something like, “Um…I think it went pretty well.” Ask further, “What might be different for the audience as a result of the presentation?”–and you may see shrugged shoulders and a quizzical expression on his/her face.

My brother, Cliff, recently forwarded an article from the Wall Street Journal titled, “Friendly Fight: A Smarter Way to Say ‘I’m Sorry’” (April 19, 2011). The article shared five steps for when you’re angry with someone else:

I recently spent 3-days working with 80+ High School juniors, and a few dozen fellow members of the San Diego Rotary Club, teaching the students about business and the free enterprise system (program named, “Camp Enterprise”).

One of the prominent themes in Public Speaking courses is the idea of “know your audience.” It is typically shared as a means to help you connect with–and identity with–your audience.

The Today Show on NBC the other morning had a segment on “What do you Say?”—or something similar. They interviewed people in the street to ask what they would say—or have had others say to them—in response to challenging situations: