I recently heard the Japanese proverb that says, "The nail that sticks out will be hammered down". It's typically interpreted as a metaphor for corporate culture: if you do anything to stand out, you will somehow be punished. Punished with criticism, shame and ostracism. This proverb didn't sit right with me. After all, my purpose is to help people stand up and give … [Read more...]
What’s Your Humour Style?
What's your humour style? To find out, take this questionnaire. A friend of mine shared it with me and got me thinking about humour. Is there a way to codify what makes us laugh? According to Rod Martin et al. (2003), there are 4 humour styles: Affiliative Self-enhancing Aggressive Self-defeating Having completed the questionnaire, you should know which … [Read more...]
Kill Impromptu Speeches
If you've ever been to a Toastmasters meeting, you'll know what a Table Topics session is. But in case you don't, it works like this: the facilitator gives you a prompt (usually a question, but it could be a statement or even a single word) and you, without a moment's delay, have to give a 1-2 minute response. This exercise is intended to sharpen your impromptu speaking skills, … [Read more...]
What Should I Do With My Hands?
If you get annoyed every time you hear the standard advice to "gesture naturally", keep reading. I mean, sure, gesture naturally! But what about when there is no gesture to accompany your words? There are plenty of brief moments during a speech or presentation when you have nothing to do with your hands. So what should be your "default" hand position? Many speakers … [Read more...]
How to Cover the Boring Stuff
The typical presentation in an internal meeting almost always includes some kind of report. Sometimes it's nothing but a report. If you're like me, your eyes glaze over as soon as a speaker starts talking about numbers that hardly seem to matter. So what do you do when you have the unfortunate task of "stating the bloody obvious" to an unengaged audience? Don't state the … [Read more...]