tic (noun) 2. a persistent or recurrent behavioral trait; personal quirk: his distinctive verbal tics I suspect this is a widely shared experience: you’re listening to a speaker, taking in the message, when suddenly you find yourself counting the times the speaker repeats the same useless word. You’ve just been distracted by a verbal tic. By…
DetailsHow well I remember my first public presentation! It was at a national convention of broadcast engineers, circa 1990. Big meeting room, sparsely populated. Lights dimmed to favor the projection screen, leaving little light on the presenter. I did little more than narrate my slides. If there was a story in there anywhere, I can’t…
DetailsCongratulations: you’ve sufficiently overcome your fear of public speaking to get up in front of an audience and give that presentation you’ve been practicing. But wait! Now there is a whole new source of anxiety awaiting you: the dreaded question-and-answer (Q&A) session, where many a train of thought has completely derailed. The very nature of…
DetailsEvery speaker wants to connect with the audience. Without connection, no transformation takes place. Information alone is not enough to engage the listener and forge the emotional connection that will change the audience’s condition. For that, you need stories. Stories, and the oxytocin that results from experiencing them, are how we forge bonds of empathy with…
DetailsWhy seek to improve the way we write and speak? One reason that is often cited is to make a good first impression. But what does that mean, exactly? What are first impressions based on? It turns out, we have a research-based answer to that question. Harvard social psychologist Amy Cuddy, in her book, Presence, says…
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