Create Apt Analogies for Brilliant Business Presentations (part 1 of 2)
There’s nothing worse than being stuck listening to a dead, dull, dry presentation on an important topic -— a topic that you need to learn about. It’s hard to say who it’s worse for: the presenter who sees audiences members’ eyes glazing over, or the audience members...
Want a Competitive Advantage in Business? Start With Attitude
I've blogged about the topic of accountability before. This time around, I want to delve deeper into how one's attitude relates to being personally accountable. A young friend of mine was excited to get a great new job. Discussing her problems with the job she was...
Personal Branding – What it Means and Why You Need it
You’re not an entrepreneur, a business owner or a freelancer — you’re a corporate employee. So, do you still need to build your own brand? That depends entirely on your professional objectives. What are your goals and ambitions? Are you content to simply just...
Acing Introductions and Networking — Four Tips for Remembering People’s Names
One of the most bothersome business blunders is forgetting someone’s name. Mispronouncing a name and getting it entirely wrong are equally cringe-worthy, if not worse, making you want to slink off with your tail between your legs. Forgetting business contacts’ and...
10 Tips to Demolish Stage Fright
Grammy winner Adele has it. So does operatic tenor Andrea Bocelli. Dame Helen Mirren also has it. Barbra Streisand was so disabled by it that she stopped performing live for 30 years! What are we talking about? Stage fright, of course. If you experience panic,...
Six Steps to Greater Accountability (Part 3 of 3)
This is the final part of my 3-part blog series on Accountability… Imagine your workplace if there was no more finger pointing, no more excuses, no more fudging and evasion. Imagine if teams pulled together, departments communicated, leaders led, managers gave candid...
What Project Runway Can Teach Us About Being Team Players
The 11th season of “Project Runway” (Lifetime TV) began the other night with a fascinating twist: all the contestants had to compete in teams, not as individuals. It was interesting to watch their reactions to this news -- even the ones who hated the idea had their...
Are Your Employees Secretly Planning to Leave? The Low Down on Employee Turnover
Is employee turnover biting into your company’s profits? You hire the best people you can find ... you train them ... you might even give them annual raises, if you can ... and yet they leave. Why? Is this just part and parcel of doing business in today’s world? After...
The Introduction: Make a Professional First Impression
Business etiquette, or having good manners as some would say, is not just a bunch of meaningless rules to remember; rather, it’s all about making others feel comfortable and respected. It relies on three basic tenets: logic, efficiency and kindness. While there are...
What Does Accountability Really Mean? (Part 2 of 3-part series)
Let’s take a closer look at the real meaning of “accountability,” and what the benefits can be for businesses, leaders, employees, and all those who choose to embrace this concept and put it into action. According to our friends at Merriam-Webster... Accountable...