As we stride into 2024, it’s crucial to recognize the impact of recency bias – the tendency to overemphasize recent experiences or the latest information when forecasting future events. This bias can skew our expectations, leading us to believe that the near past is a mirror of what’s to come. However, there’s an alternative viewpoint […]

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As a budding entrepreneur embarking on my journey with my upscale men’s hairstyling salon, I vividly remember attending my first management seminar. This was, of course, many moons ago, yet one statement from that day has stayed with me: ‘Your business is as good as your worst employee.’ Quite the alarming thought, isn’t it? Fast […]

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Watch your use of “Basically” and “Simply” Many of my clients offer complex solutions to solve their customers’ problems, streamline their businesses, and protect their valuable assets. They engage me to help their technology experts simplify the complexity of their offerings so that their buyers will understand why it is a good investment. I tell […]

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Twelve Years Later: Reliving the Unforgettable Presentation Experience In 2011, Salve Finance from Slovakia invited Darren LaCroix and me to deliver a presentation skills program in Las Vegas. The audience was their sales winners. Our challenge was… nobody spoke English. As their president, Peter explained, “Our generation grew up speaking Russian. We did not learn […]

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Every story has a “Once Upon a Time.”  Part Two. The place where the intricate weave of values, experiences, and influences begins to shape the fabric of our lives. When I was twelve, I knew I was more artistic than academic and enjoyed engaging with, and learning from, adults. It seemed a good idea to […]

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When we reminisce about Hollywood, it’s often the stories that movies tell that captivate us the most. Screenwriting teacher Robert McKee eloquently states, “Stories are the creative conversion of life itself into a more powerful, clearer, more meaningful experience. They are the currency of human contact.” Storytelling: The Cornerstone of Effective Leadership Many of us […]

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You may be sitting on a goldmine of untapped stories to use in your presentations, and you don’t even realize it. How? By paying close attention to your everyday conversations. Let’s explore two ideas that may seem at odds but can work in tandem: The merit of recounting stories you’ve heard from others, versus the […]

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Give a Speech! Every service club and community group is looking for a free speaker next Thursday at lunchtime. Okay, it could be Wednesday morning at breakfast or even in Zoom. You get the point! If that is you, do not overlook a magnificent marketing opportunity. Here is a roadmap of everything you need to […]

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You have 30 seconds to command the attention of your audience. Don’t waste it! Certain speech openings captivate, mystify, and create an emotional bond that keeps an audience in the palm of the speaker’s hand. What would you give to learn those essential opening moves? Those great ways to bond instantly with an audience so […]

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