What can learning to speak do for your career

Here’s a short video of someone talking to my favorite speaker, Patricia Fripp. She is right on. You don’t have to be a keynote speaker. You just need to be able to learn how to speak in front of a group of people. Learning how to create a speech and give it will be the tipping point for your career. She mentions Toastmasters as a great first step. I couldn’t agree more. Don’t wait until the new year…start creating a tipping point today!

Taking this simple step will help YOU engage with business people, coworkers, executives, family, and friends.

Taking this simple step will help YOU write better.

Taking this simple step will help YOU lead your teams.

Taking this simple step NOW will prepare you for success in 2010!

Leadership Video

Imagine Leadership by XPLANE & Nitin Nohria

This video presentation below is a result of XPLANE teaming up with Nitin Nohria and Amanda Pepper of Harvard Business School’s Leadership Initiative to stimulate a discussion of the value and importance of leadership. I found the video from the PresentationZen blog. It is worth watching…more than once.

SBDi Tips Q&A: Fear of Public Speaking

From the SBDi Tips bi-weekly ezine (issue #41). Click here to review the Rules of Engagement Article Archive.

Pat:
I’m comfortable in talking with the business community on a one-to-one basis. I’m VERY uncomfortable speaking in front of a group as a facilitator. I’m too nervous to think on my feet. Any advice?
Signed, Dorothy

Dorothy:
Many people fear public speaking more than anything else. In your case, it’s more than presenting your findings; it’s impromptu speaking in front of more than one individual. First recommendation is to remind yourself that you are adding value to the business community. You are listening to their wants. Second recommendation is to come prepared. If you know the subject of the meeting, prepare by knowing a bit more about who is coming and why they have interest in participating. Thirdly, find a Toastmasters Club near you. This is one of the best kept secrets. One of the routine exercises in which you can choose to participate is called Table Topics. You are asked a question on the spot as a way to improve your impromptu thinking and speaking.
Cheers, Pat 

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Tips Q&A: Selling ideas to the Sales Department

From the SBDi Tips bi-weekly ezine (issue #41). Click here to review the Rules of Engagement Article Archive.

Pat:
I have an idea that I believe will be very useful to the sales teams. It will require time and the purchase of some software to implement. How should I approach the sales manager?
Thanks, Joe

Joe:
Before you go and “sell” your idea, let me ask a few questions to see if you did your homework. What value will this add to making sales? Can you place a monetary price to that value? How much will it cost? How much time will it take you to plan, design, code, test, implement and distribute? Add that time in dollars to your cost estimate. If the total cost is less than 1/5th of the potential increase in revenue, then you are ready to “sell” your idea. If you have a good relationship with the manager, you can begin by validating if your perceived value is of importance to him. Start with an email, then phone call, then a formal meeting if the value list sparks interest to the sales manager.
Cheers, Pat

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Civility

Why has that gone out of style?

Why has shouting at one another taken over for peaceful exchange of ideas?

Why has everyone made everything so personal with attacks?

If you want to stand out in a positive way…leave the name calling out of your options. Civil discussions are being rare. Yet…it is priceless.

If you want to become better known with executives…

If you want to be heard over the crowds by executives…

If you want to obtain an audience with executives…

…try being civil.

BTW, the definition of civility is:

1. courtesy; politeness.
2. a polite action or expression: an exchange of civilities.
3. Archaic. civilization; culture; good breeding.

Is your advice really wanted?

When someone comes and asks you for help…what do you do?

1. Do you give advice?
2. Do you give a literal answer?
3. Do you ask more questions?
4. Do you ask what type of help/advice do they want?

Number 4 should always be the first response. So many times you are asked for help and offer help that the person does not want. Most people want to figure out and make their own mistakes. It is the way all of us learns best…from mistakes.

So, if you are asked for help, the first question you should ask?

Sure, how would you like me to help?

It is from that point where you begin…even if you know the person asking is about to make a mistake.

Questions…are they for you or them?

To build business architectures, I need to ask a lot of questions to obtain a better understanding.

To help executives understand the problem and make decisions, I need to ask a lot of questions for them to obtain a better understanding.

When you ask questions…are you asking for you or them? The top people in business ask more questions to help others to come to their own conclusions…some of them even question why they need you afterwards. The really smart executives know…that the best consultants are NOT the ones that tell you what to do but to help you think.

Engage executives by asking thought-provoking questions to help them come to answers.

It’s Attitude!

This whole blog is about improving your attitude! I quote so many people who talk and instruct on the topic. People like Jeffrey Gitomer, Napoleon Hill, Earl Nightingale.

In a recent post by Seth Godin (on how to make you and your product remarkable), puts attitude in the place to have the most impact on your success!

Here is his heirarchy of success:

Attitude

Approach

Goals

Strategy

Tactics

Execution

I bet you have been putting tactics and execution first! If you are not as successful as you want to be…try the reverse order.

A Holistic View of Enterprise Architecture

So many camps exist on defining Enterprise Architecture (EA). Some people define EA with an IT Centric view that includes a specific technology. Others purely a business view. I prefer a holistic definition. One in which Technical and Business Architectures are a subset along with many other subsets of EA.

That is why I added Tom Graves blog to the SBDi Tips blogroll. Tom Graves has written many books (one I reviewed on this blog) on the topic and has instigated some extensive discussions on LinkedIn. I am a regular reader of his posts (both on his blog, tweets, linkedin posts). That includes his information as well as the remarks of others. It helps me to see the different point of views and adjust mine.

If you are at all interested in Enterprise Architecture….read Tom’s blog on a regular basis. You can find it on the SBDi Blogroll to your right. Careful, he will make you think!

First Thing Reading…every morning.

Seth's Blog Image

With all the blogging, it is hard to keep up on the latest chatter about important topics. Every morning, the first blog I read is Seth Godin’s Blog that talks about marketing and improving oneself. Seth Godin is brilliant. His blog helps me learn more about what is important to a large segment of business people and executives that I support…namely executives, marketers, product development, and sales. By reading his blog every morning, I come up with ideas that help me to connect with the business community.

What are you reading daily that helps you to connect with the business community?