19 Nov Is Conversation Dead?
By no means is it shocking to say that teenagers live on their cell phones. As a GenXer, I grew up as a teen that spent hours talking on the telephone. (The thing attached to the wall that had a cord.) I can still hear my mother yelling, “GET OFF THE PHONE NOW! Someone may be trying to call.” Yes, I used a phone to talk. That is no longer the case today. I find my teens watching videos and movies, playing video games, checking the weather, checking social media, and texting. I am the ONLY one that actually calls them to talk. As a parent and a communications coach, I have asked myself, “What has happened to the art of conversation?”
18 Dec Why do I have such anxiety with public speaking?
This is a question, I have been asked by almost every speech coaching client that I have assisted in gaining control over their anxiety. In my past 25 years as communications coach, I have found that fear of speaking stems from a few places. Now that is not to say that every person has had a uniquely unpleasant situation that helped to create the anxiety. What I am suggesting is that while situations are unique to that person, I find that the three places that the anxiety stems from are:
1. Having little to no experience with speaking publicly. You may be someone who has been creating the magic behind the scenes and have grown accustomed to that but now you are asked to be in the spotlight sharing what you know. (more…)
5 Feb How do you help someone who suffers from fear of speaking?
Nervousness associated with public speaking is extremely debilitating for so many people. It is a real fear and needs to be addressed. It’s easy for colleagues, friends and family to say, “You’ll be great. Stop worrying.” or “You need to get over it.” But many times these well-intentioned words of encouragement do more harm than good. (more…)3 Jan A Performance Gone Wrong
I am sure you have either seen or heard about Mariah Carey’s disasterous New Year’s Eve performance on Dick Clark’s New Year’s Eve with Ryan Seacrest. Moments after it happened, social media had labeled it a train wreck, an end of her career, a lip syncing gone horribly wrong, etc.
How did Mariah Carey and her folks handle the situation? Well, I guess it depends on who you ask.
Mariah Carey’s tweet showed us acceptance of what happened and a desire to move on. A statement from Mariah Carey’ s manager came out two days after the performance explaining exactly what had occurred. Unfortunately, social media had already made and communicated their assumptions.
Whatever the reasons for Mariah Carey’s disappointing performance, waiting more than 24 hours to give an explanation of her side is way too late. We would have recommended that a statement of explanation be made immediately. Ten years ago, two or three days seemed acceptable. Today with the presences of social media, two days is more like two weeks. FaceBook, Twitter, Instragram and other forms of social media make news relevant at the exact time the news is occurring.
Remember, “Everything Communicates!” So not giving an explanation or statement, communicates a message. Don’t let social media decide your fate, get an explanation/statement out as soon as possible.
Kristen Curran-Faller is an Executive Communication Coach and COO for The Speech Improvement Company.
2 Jan A Winning Strategy
I came across an interesting Business Insider article entitled, The 10 best retail companies to work for in 2017, according to employees. It cited Glassdoor’s Employees’ Choice Awards. I expected that pay, benefits and advancement opportunities were the tops reasons why these companies were selected. I was happy to see other, key reasons that were common threads between these companies, most notably great management teams; positive and friendly work environments; and holiday and social gatherings. It’s interesting to note three of the reasons involve communication. Communication from management and between co-workers both help create a winning, positive work environment. We tell clients “Everything Communicates!” and we teach how managers need to consistently communicate sincerity with their tone, non-verbals, and word choices.
While things such as money and benefits will always be important to employees, it is a breath of fresh air to see other reasons why companies such as Apple, Wegman’s Food Markets, Bain, Trader Joe’s and Forrester made the Employees’ Choice Awards.
Kristen Curran-Faller is an Executive Communication Coach and COO for The Speech Improvement Company.