I spoke at a conference for proposal managers last week and was reminded of how much business professionals rely on PowerPoint for delivering presentations. The following is an article I wrote forThe Houston Business Journal several years ago.  I have rewritten it to share with you….
Has PowerPoint gone from useful tool to emotional roadblock for [...]

I just read a great series of articles by Andrew Dlugan of Six Minutes Blog fame.  Andrew has reminded us that Aristotle wrote the definitive work on what it takes to be persuasive over 2300 years ago.
He defines the three aspects of persuasion, Ethos, Pathos and Logos. Then he writes an article about each of [...]

 
When I see a brilliant article, I have to shine some light on it.  Jessica Swanson of Shoestring Marketing has written a brilliant article called “Creating A Brilliant Marketing Message.” 
 
Her three step method for designing a marketing message that sizzles is excellent.  Check it out at http://www.jessicaswanson.com/creating-a-brilliant-marketing-message

 
When I am using the law of attraction to open myself to new clients, I look for people who sense that I am the right one to help them with their communication issues. In a meditative moment this morning, I had a thought about persuasion.  Persuasion happens when people sense that you are the ONE [...]

 
Impromptu speaking or thinking on your feet is synthesis thinking not new thought thinking.  You do have to prepare to think on your feet; but then you have to let go and flow.  So it uses structure and flow at the same time.
 
In impromptu speaking or thinking on your feet, you are most often sharing [...]

When you want to compel attention and help people change their thinking, use the element of mystery in your speaking.  Mystery is a story that takes your listeners on a journey to solve a problem or improve a situation.
 The clue to a mystery is  “Huh? Ahh!”  Try saying these two sounds aloud.  Make the sound “Huh?” go [...]

Thursday evening, I was almost asleep with the TV on when I awoke startled to hear Thomas Friedman speaking to Charli Rose on PBS.  Thomas was speaking about the importance of talking to people from a gut level. He mentioned Ronald Reagan, Barack Obama and Bill Clinton as speakers who impart more than information, as speakers [...]

Life presents opportunities – moments that can propel us into a future of expanded experience. When the moment comes to turn the tide of life, what prepares us to catch the opportunity?  It is the ability to speak, to say yes, to say just the right thing, tell the right story, make the right point [...]