Ever thought about the curse of knowledge? In case this term is unfamiliar, it means a cognitive bias that occurs when an individual communicating with other individuals, unknowingly assumes that the others have the background to understand. Sound familiar? I believe we’ve all had some experience with the curse of knowledge, as the sender or … Read More
Cover letters may seem unnecessary but reality is…they’re not. Clearly a cover letter is a necessity if the prospective employer requests that you include one. Now the dilemma is what do you write? Here are ten guidelines for your consideration: Your goals are to introduce yourself, sell your expertise, and motivate the receiver to read … Read More
Look at these faces. What do you see? More importantly, what do you feel? Our faces are more expressive than we may realize. You can capitalize on that to increase your impact. It’s also very telling about how others are reacting to or perceiving you. Last night while watching a comedy special, not only was … Read More
When it comes to contacting others or being contacted, we have several choices such as calling, speaking face-to-face, emailing, blogging, tweeting, etc. It’s all a form of communication. Even so, it’s important to recognize that writing is clearly distinct from speaking and therefore different guidelines apply. Since I’ve had Profitable Speech since 1994 one of … Read More
I know what you’re probably thinking…who has the time to proofread! Well I can tell you that proofreading clearly pays off. As you know, writing is one form of communication. That means that each time you email, submit hard copies of a proposal, send your resume, blog, produce a newsletter, write an article, or even … Read More
In an ideal world, we can plan all our details and know what’s coming up or is right around the corner. Sounds pretty good, right? But reality is that much of what happens in our lives is unknown and therefore unplanned. And that brings us to my favorite topic…public speaking. Recently, I assisted a person … Read More
Do you have magnetic communication and if not how does that happen anyway? Tough question but one worth contemplating, don’t you think? Today I read an article from The Muse titled: 7 Better Ways to Answer “What do you do?” Since I’ve had the privilege of assisting many clients with this challenging business communication task, … Read More
As tempting as it is to place less importance when communicating on the phone, I don’t ever recommend doing so. We often think because the visual element is gone (you can’t see your caller and your caller can’t see you), that the importance of how we come across is reduced. While the visual element may … Read More
Kristi Barlette, a reporter and blogger for the Albany Times Union, recently interviewed me about the value of having a well-honed elevator pitch or 30-second commercial. The article has just been published so I decided it would be the ideal post for this week. Remember that your elevator speech has multiple uses including: job seeking, … Read More
In a recent survey of recruiters from companies with more than 50,000 employees, communication skills were cited as the single most important decisive factor in choosing managers. The survey, conducted by the University of Pittsburgh’s Katz Business School, points out that communication skills, including written and oral presentations, as well as an ability to work … Read More