Author: Jeff Turner

23 Aug How to Choose a Speech Coach

Posted at 5:54 pm in by Jeff Turner

 

When you are charged with finding and selecting a vendor to help you or your employees strengthen their communication skills, you are taking on a crucial task. Whether it’s helping a colleague prepare for a major presentation, learning to navigate difficult conversations yourself, or developing an organization’s leadership team, you need to closely match the learning needs to the training skills. (more…)

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24 Mar Zoom, the Pope, and a Lesson Learned

Posted at 1:35 pm in by Jeff Turner

I read an interesting article in The Atlantic based on a recent speech by the Pope. He reflected on the importance of face-to-face communication in a world that has gone online.  He said: 

“Text mediums deprive us of cues like facial expressions, posture, and vocal inflections. As a result, they are especially ill-suited to figuring out what people who aren’t adept at writing believe or intend to express….To interact with people in person is to see how complicated most of us are.” 

While the article’s author analyzes this through the lens of what makes a good journalist, the lesson is important for all of us who are on Zoom a lot. 

Read the article here. 

8 Nov Managing Body Language in Difficult Communication Settings

Posted at 4:53 pm in by Jeff Turner

It is important to observe your listeners’ body language as a first step. Whether in the room with you or on video conference, your listeners may exhibit signs of stress because of a lack of clarity or contentious information. What does this look like? The listeners may engage in side conversations. There may be a rumbling in the audience.  This tells you, the speaker, that you’ve done something to trigger this reaction and produce negative reactions. (more…)

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6 Jul Paraprosdokians

Posted at 8:47 am in by Jeff Turner

We love paraprosdokians, figures of speech in which the latter part of a sentence or phrase is surprising or unexpected.

  1. Where there’s a will, I want to be in it.
  2. The last thing I want to do is hurt you, but it’s still on my list.
  3. Since light travels faster than sound, some people appear bright until you hear them speak.
  4. If I agreed with you, we’d both be wrong.
  5. War does not determine who is right – only who is left.
  6. Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
  7. They begin the evening news with ‘Good Evening,’ then proceed to tell you why it isn’t.
  8. To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism. To steal from many is research.
  9. I thought I wanted a career. Turns out, I just wanted pay checks.
  10. In filling out an application, where it says, ‘In case of emergency, notify:’ I put “DOCTOR.”
  11. I didn’t say it was your fault, I said I was blaming you.
  12. Women will never be equal to men until they can walk down the street…with a bald head and a beer gut, and still think they are sexy.
  13. Behind every successful man is his woman. Behind the fall of a successful man is usually another woman.
  14. A clear conscience is the sign of a fuzzy memory.
  15. You do not need a parachute to skydive. You only need a parachute to skydive twice.
  16. Money can’t buy happiness, but it sure makes misery easier to live with.
  17. There’s a fine line between cuddling and…holding someone down so they can’t get away.
  18. I used to be indecisive. Now I’m not so sure.
  19. You’re never too old to learn something stupid.
  20. To be sure of hitting the target, shoot first and call whatever you hit the target.
  21. Nostalgia isn’t what it used to be.
  22. Change is inevitable, except from a vending machine.
  23. Going to church doesn’t make you a Christian any more than standing in a garage makes you a car.
  24. I’m supposed to respect my elders, but now it’s getting harder and harder for me to find one.