Tag: Leadership
Tips to Develop Your Public Speaking Ability
Conversation by Rishi Menon, Creative Commons
Fellow business owners and I met a few weeks ago to celebrate 2010. And social media came up – Twitter, Facebook, Posterous and other platforms. We kept reveling in how easy it is to ‘just be human’ when conversing online and agreed it helps build trust with customers.
Then someone said, “I wish I was more myself when speaking in public onstage as I am when on the Web.” This resonated with many of us and we all paused to let his comment sink in.
Then the challenge to ourselves became: how can we better assert our development as public speakers? Some ideas:
1. Observe your voice in relaxed environments when an audience doesn’t exist. Social media tools used in certain ways can be great for this. Consider creating unpublished content to improve speaking skill. Use a smart phone’s audio or video device and regularly record two or three minutes of just talking to yourself (or to a willing peer). Then often review these recordings. If you want to make these informal casts public and online (like on Posterous) great! But going online isn’t the end game with these informal casts. It’s to help you recognize (and emulate) your voice when it’s relaxed and fearless.
2. Seek accountability partners and chances to speak in public. Whether it’s through Ignite events, Toastmasters, or a small group of your trusted colleagues – commit to giving public speeches on a regular basis and receiving critique (this is separate from demos or client pitches, etc).
3. Include public speaking in your marketing strategy and developmental goals. I suggest committing to quantity here i.e., “Present five speeches in Q1.” Designate early in the year the conferences and meetups you/your team would like to present at to help pre-plan topic proposals. Here’s a diverse and per-month conference list from Susan Mernit that includes a collection of conferences dedicated to women in business – including the Women’s Leadership Forum, Blogher, NAWBO Women’s Business Conference plus those in entrepreneurship, social technology and her interests in social cause marketing. Warning! It’s 80+ conferences that haven’t been updated yet on this post to 2010. BUT all citations link directly to conference sites that will have respective event updates as they are published (with great upcoming events announced at SCORE regularly too).
How we present ourselves in conversation–online and off–is critical. The level of authenticity and skill we bring to both environments hugely influences how others respond to us (and the brand we represent).
It’s fascinating and I can’t wait to talk more about it through February with SCORE’s blog readers! How about you? What has helped develop your public speaking ability?
Jill Foster, SCORE Guest Blogger
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February 5, 2010
The New Rules of Doing Business for Women Entrepreneurs
The summit will help women entrepreneurs thrive in the new economy with real advice, biz coaching and networking opportunities. More info and register today.
Join us at the American Express OPEN Women’s Business Summit.
Date: Wednesday, February 17 – Thursday, February 18, 2010
Place: JW Marriott Houston, Houston, Texas
NEW! Pre-Conference Workshop, Wednesday, February 17, 10:00am – 1:30pm
Give Me 5% Special Training Program: Navigating the Federal Market Place
Learn how to navigate the federal market place from women who have succeeded in Federal Contracting.
This multi-track summit offers:
- Critical advice for growth in today’s changing economy
- One-on-one small business counseling from SCORE professionals
- New business ideas for opportunity-rich markets like government contracting
- Tips on leveraging social media to grow your bottom line
- Contacts with an inspiring community of successful women business owners
- Inspiration and expert advice from the Make Mine a Million $ Business Competition
- Speakers and resources from our partnering women’s organizations
- This multi-track Summit offers:
Don’t miss this special opportunity! Register today.
Christine Banning, SCORE
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February 3, 2010
Get Inspired
Business today is more challenging than ever before. Inspiration is what we need to be better at what we do. I just attended a business expo in NYC and was able to listen to some inspiring business authors.
Frances Cole Jones was a dynamic speaker who wrote “The Wow Factor.” Her focus is on developing effective communication skills. The things that she spoke about may also be helpful to you.
An audience will assess you when you speak: verbally, vocally and visually. We all know this when we hear any speaker, we judge them and have our first impressions. Here are a few interesting facts that Frances mentions:
- 7% is verbal, what you say and how you say it.
- 38% is vocal, tone, quality and enthusiasm.
- 55% is visual, what your body is doing.
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Three Tips
- Never use a podium as your body is much more interesting and memorable for an audience. Keep your hands open and visible, never fold your arms or fold your hands. Studies have shown that people trust you more when they can see your hands.
- Include stories when speaking as stories are more compelling and memorable when a point is being made.
- Remember the rule of three. People can only remember three things, so when making a point use only three examples.
I would recommend this book as it has so many more things that will help you in today’s business world, www.thewowfactor-thebook.com.
Julie Brander, New Haven SCORE
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October 29, 2009
What Does the Future Hold for Your Business?
Times have changed. We can look back at the last year and learn.
As a solo entrepreneur, home office biz pro, a two-person company or a firm adding staff to meet new demands, you and everyone around you is looking for the answer to this question, “Where will we be in the future?”
Your leadership, vision and dream provide the answer. However, in the flurry of day to day activity, it’s sometimes difficult to take the time to plan ahead. This is where a SCORE mentor can really help.
Mentoring & Brainstorming Help Answer Big Questions
Add a SCORE mentor to your team as a free and confidential advisor. 1) Meet for a brainstorming session to talk about your dreams for the business. 2)Then, meet a second time to talk about the dreams that have the best chance for market success. 3) Finally, meet with your mentor to put those ideas down in a one page plan of where your business is heading next. Tomorrow planning is doable.
A mentor can guide you through the process, so you can define your big success horizon.
Make an appointment to meet in person. Find a SCORE office.
Ask SCORE for advice online.
Christine Banning, SCORE
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October 14, 2009
Do You Ask Your Network for Help?
Networking. Conjures images of business card exchanges. But, what’s really powerful is building bridges. Then, asking your network, “would you help me with…” When your network answers with a resounding yes, then you are well-connected.
I don’t have the source, but love this quote, “It’s not Who You Know. It’s who knows you.” Your network knows you and your business. You have trust. You can ask and it will yield advice, introductions and sometimes sales.
This week, I will be traveling to Dallas to speak at the eWomen Network Conference. Thousands of women entrepreneurs will be there to listen, learn and network. A team of SCORE mentors will be hosting two sessions for mentoring on everything from start-up tips, to cash for business to search engine optimization. The power of building networks in action.
Can’t attend the conference? Try these resources:
Download PDF: Making the Most of Your Network
SCORE Mentoring: Free, Confidential Online or In Person
Quiz: How Well Do You Network?
Christine Banning, SCORE
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August 5, 2009
Turn Risk into Opportunity
Close your eyes and picture a risk. Is the picture in your mind’s eye a danger or an opportunity? Few of us realize that risk is not necessarily something bad, and in fact can lead to something wonderful. Another common misconception about risk is that it is all or nothing. Either you can control all of the outcomes of a decision or you can control none of them.
For budding entrepreneurs or early-stage enterprise leaders, this misconception can be paralyzing. Yet the most effective leaders are those that embrace risk and manage it towards the most positive outcome.
In truth, the knowledge and control you have over the factors included in risk are always on a spectrum. Especially in these times of economic upheaval, the degree to which you can know and control all that is knowable and controllable depends on the tools you have available at the time of decision making. And the knowledge you have will never be complete because no one, you included:
- Knows the future except in hindsight.
- Can ever know everything because everything and anything is subject to change without notice.
- Has enough time to identify and evaluate all options and choices.
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(more…)
July 31, 2009
Successful Business Growth in Tough Times
The business world can learn a lot from gardeners. Gardeners are masters at nurturing growth. They know when to plant a seed to ensure the external environment is ripe for new opportunity. They know how to care for the emerging organism so it begins to grow and withstand challenging conditions. They know when to prune, often cutting out the strongest branches to enable sunlight in to foster more growth that better fits the environment. And they know that they must step back at times, assess their progress, and identify things that inhibit the organism from reaching its full growth potential.
CEOs also need to periodically take stock of their employees to ensure that growth is possible. Times of turbulence offer companies the opportunity to look at their talent pool and identify what the company needs to achieve its future goals. If your future goal is to become the leading supplier of the latest technology widgit, for example, ask yourself if your current employees have the right technical skills to achieve new innovations in widgitry? Does your management team have the strategic vision to both identify and pursue new widget markets as well as to help expand the current ones?
If the answer is yes, then the question you now need to ask is what can I do to help my employees continue to be their best? The reason that continued investment in your people is so critical is that the talent wars continue to survive and thrive. If you don’t invest in keeping your human assets and building upon their strengths, you can be sure your competitors will invest in recruiting them.
If your answer is no–you don’t have the right employees to help you grow into the future. Now is the time for you to make adjustments to your bench.
Even the strongest performers can’t help you achieve your company’s goals if their strengths are not in the areas your future organization needs. Often, this is a very difficult decision for leaders. Most emerging organizations tend to hire for the skills needed at this very moment. And many founders develop strong loyalties to those who were there “from the beginning.” When the organization moves forward or in a different direction, leaders may fail to make the needed talent changes. This can be detrimental to your organization. And it may be a disservice to those valued employees whose skills were right at one point in time, but who may not reach their full potential because they’re no longer a fit at your company.
If your strong performers can help drive the company into the future, be sure to invest in them. If they cannot, or their expertise lies in an area your future organization doesn’t need, take a cue from the gardeners. Prune systematically and fully with a vision of the future. Help your root-bound talent replant in an environment that will nurture their growth. And provide the necessary nutrients to foster the growth in your own organization to achieve its full growth potential.
Elaine Eisenman, Guest Blogger
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July 24, 2009
Be Proactive, Find Business Oppurtunities
I’ve always wondered why anyone would want to “keep their nose to the grindstone.” Taken either literally or figuratively, it’s a dangerous thing to do.
While the literal danger is easy enough to figure out, the figurative may need some explaining.
In times of challenges, companies are often guided to go back to the basics; “keep their heads down” and focus on the here and now. While doing the one thing you do best, and doing it better than anyone else, seems to make sense, it’s also a great way to miss out on both opportunities and new competitors.
That’s because the phrase “turbulent times” doesn’t translate into “everything is standing still.” Your savvy competitors are probably very busy. They’re looking for opportunities being driven by the changes happening in the marketplace. They’re looking for ways to innovate, leap frog, if not eliminate, the industry leaders, and perhaps even change the industry all together.
One great example of not standing still is Ray Anderson, the founder and former CEO of Interface Carpets. Preparing for a motivational speech on the company’s approach to the environment, Ray realized the most he could say for what his carpet company was doing was “following the law.”
Instead of accepting that as acceptable, he started to look for different ways of doing things. What he found was his own passion to change how things were done, a passion that ultimately led to becoming a pioneer in the industry. A pioneer that created the industry of the green office, streamlined its costs, increased customer loyalty, and jump-started employee morale.
Well ahead of regulations and his competitors, Ray implemented strategies for waste reduction, recycling, and energy efficiency. And in the process his sales went up 49 percent and he created a new benchmark for his competitors.
I recommend companies continually scan their environment for opportunities. Turbulent times bring unique challenges that can become industry-changing innovations if you remember to keep your head up and constantly look and think about what is not only in front of you, but also on either side and coming up behind! After all, keeping your nose to the grindstone, simply results in a disfigured nose…
Elaine Eisenman, Guest Blogger
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July 17, 2009
Adjust for Changing Times
One of the most difficult aspects of leadership in times of uncertainty is to not only adjust to new realities yourself, but to get your entire organization to as well.
Uncertainty comes about because of change. And the world is going through tremendous change right now. What happens next is anyone’s guess, but it is widely accepted that we will not be going back to business as we knew it. Capital markets are clamping shut. Regulations on industries and companies are becoming stricter. And companies that don’t adjust, won’t survive. That’s reality.
But it is also an opportunity. Companies and their CEOs need to be realistic about the changes they need to make today to play in the business world of tomorrow. No matter how hard you wish for things to fall into place, that wish will not come true. The only possibility for success is for you to take control of all that you can control. If access to capital was part of your short-term strategy, what changes can you make to be less dependent on external funding? What product changes will you need to make to adhere to future, stricter environmental regulations?
Being realistic now will allow you to be proactive, which in turn will make it that much easier to emerge stronger from the current turbulence and ready to face the future…successfully.
Elaine Eisenman, Guest Blogger
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July 10, 2009
Motivation Tips for CEOs
While Helen of Troy’s face launched a thousand ships, it’s your face, as CEO, that’s capable of launching a thousand anxieties. Especially in times like these, your employees are looking to you for clues. In the absence of direction from you, they will piece together theories and those theories will always tend toward the negative.
I’m often asked about the advice I give to CEOs for leading in times of uncertainty. Whether the organization is large or just emerging, the advice I give is the same:
- Communicate: Early and often
- Motivate: Be the organization’s cheerleader
- Deal: Be realistic and honest
Communicate: In the Absence of Information, Theories & Conspiracies Abound
During times of uncertainty or turbulence, the CEO’s role is to minimize that uncertainty as much as possible. This means being as open and honest as possible about what you know and don’t know. And being equally transparent about what you can say and what you can’t. Nothing fuels anxiety as much as a multitude of closed door meetings and sudden changes in the ways things are done. But veiled information as well as information shared prematurely, damages trust. Once shaken, trust is not something a CEO can regain quickly or even completely.
Motivate: Make C-E-O Stand for Chief Energizing Officer
Have you noticed that the first word your employees think after you say “cost containment” is “layoffs?” Even the mere thought of layoffs kills morale and halts productivity to a point where layoffs may become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Instead, encourage and motivate your team to find ways to make your organization stronger right now. Engage them in problem-solving on how best to insure your company’s ongoing competitive strength. Ask for good ideas to identify unnecessary costs and new ways to delight customers. Being an active part of the solution is a double win for you—you’ll strengthen the organization and keep employees thinking in a positive direction.
Don’t forget about your own motivation and demeanor as well. Our bodies are remarkable conduits of stress. If tension, anxiety, or angst emanate from you, it will be absorbed by your employees.
Elaine Eisenman, Guest Blogger
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July 3, 2009
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