Ive been in quite a few Zoom web meetings lately, and Ive seen a lot of BATS IN THE CAVE, if you know what I mean. If you dont know what I mean by BATS IN THE CAVE  its when someone is using the camera on their laptop and I can look straight up &

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Some people find networking awkward, but it doesnt have to be. Not if you get in the habit of looking at feet. Feet??? Yes, feet! Feet point toward interest. If youre talking to someone and your feet are pointing toward each other, cool. Youre both interested and engaged. But when someones feet start to stray, &

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A woman stands on stage. She’s got her head down as she reads from her index cards. She’s tugging at her scarf and hair with her left hand. Her voice trembles and shakes. Then, she crosses her legs as she stands. If you talk to many body language experts, they’ll tell you that crossing your &

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A client was rehearsing her presentation. She stood on stage with her arms crossed in front of her. I stopped her. “Try standing with your palms out,” I told her. She did, then stopped. “That feels weird,” she said. “Good,” I said. “Try it again.” She did. “Still feels weird,” she said. “Again.” “Still weird.” &

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Color choices on your slides are important. People react to color on both a physical and emotional level. Often, we see color on PowerPoint slides that dont seem to have a purpose. Or worse, the color undermines the emotional intent of the message. Sometimes, setting constraints or following basic rules on colors can help you &

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Let’s explore 5 common crisis communication response mistakes… and what to do instead. I’ve seen all five of these mistakes play out in the media recently. How about you? 1. Don’t ignore warning signs: conduct routine threat assessments. 2. Don’t cover up: take responsibility. 3. Don’t speculate: verify and confirm facts. 4. Don’t say “No &

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Are you creating or nurturing a culture of storytelling at your organization? In my storyfinding workshop, we talk about 4 areas to begin a story hunt: 1️⃣ Online reviews. Start mining online reviews. People will sometimes describe an experience they had with your company. How can you follow up to create a story? 2️⃣ Complaints &

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Lets UNMASK four near enemies. A near enemy is a WICKED emotion that comes disguised as a NOBLE emotion. Near enemies can be more dangerous than far enemies. Thats because far enemies are easy to spot. For example, hate is the far enemy of love. Or sadness can be a far enemy of joy. Since &

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Zhoosh. Its a word thats fun to say, but hard to spell. It has its roots in Polari, the slang language of low creative and underground subcultures. And yet, I used the word zhoosh in a client work email last month. Was I being professional? In the context I used it, it was a low &

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Maniactive/~3/C5bwvV7BJ4Y/1186

In an attempt to make live presentations more accessible, I first used Closed Captioning in Google Slides for a presentation I gave around a year ago. Closed Captioning in Google Slides is easy to use and does a terrific job. All you need is Google Slides, Google Chrome, a live internet connection, and a microphone. &

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Maniactive/~3/ECXcXOeqPAE/1184

Do you do “walk & talk” meetings at your organization? One of my favorite times for a “walk & talk” is when I’m presenting research findings. If it all possible — due to the weather and other constraints — I want to get my clients out of the office and into nature. My reasoning? Clients &

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Maniactive/~3/8jIjx1eMd9I/1180

Do you do “walk & talk” meetings at your organization? One of my favorite times for a “walk & talk” is when I’m presenting research findings. If it all possible — due to the weather and other constraints — I want to get my clients out of the office and into nature. My reasoning? Clients &

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Maniactive/~3/8jIjx1eMd9I/1180

How do you get a QR code of your LinkedIn profile? You can do it directly from within LinkedIn! I often put a QR code that leads to my LinkedIn profile on or near the last slide of my presentation. I sometimes will put one in a video. With a QR code that leads to &

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Maniactive/~3/BiNrq_af65E/1177

Heres a question about presentations and videos I started to get a lot last month. Ill paraphrase it: Hey Laura. How do you do those square, short, silent little videos that you share on LinkedIn and Twitter? The answer is: really easily! I use a tool called Canva. As a stand & deliver trainer, I &

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Maniactive/~3/Mp11xRdEau8/1168

You go to give a whiteboard presentation. You pick up a marker. But it’s dead. 💀 Happens all the time. You then go through 5 stages of grief. 1. Denial: Its not really dead. 2 . Bargaining: Shake it really hard, try to write with it. 3. Sadness: Pick up another. 4. Anger: Argh! This &

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Maniactive/~3/y7vJZ0CiqpU/1174

You go to give a whiteboard presentation. You pick up a marker. But it’s dead. 💀 Happens all the time. You then go through 5 stages of grief. 1. Denial: Its not really dead. 2 . Bargaining: Shake it really hard, try to write with it. 3. Sadness: Pick up another. 4. Anger: Argh! This &

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Maniactive/~3/y7vJZ0CiqpU/1174

We dont pay attention to boring things. John Medina, Brain Rules Sounds basic, right? But how do you NOT be boring when youre speaking or presenting? Medina tells us to be sure to introduce something emotionally relevant every 10 minutes. At least every 10 minutes! If we dont, we risk losing the attention and interest &

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Design your slides with accessibility in mind. (I was trying to read small black text on a gray-radiant background earlier this month. I gave up.) One accessibility violation I see in many slide designs involves the use of color. ❌ Red text on a green background? Yikes! ❌ Green text on a red background? Don’t! &

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Never end your presentation with a Q&A. Got that? Dont end your next presentation by saying, Any questions? Theres no need to announce that its time for questions and answers. You can do better. Always plan a strong closing. If youre planning a Q&A session, you can have it near the end, but not at &

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Maniactive/~3/-t9bvZb6vC4/1147

Never end your presentation with a Q&A. Got that? Dont end your next presentation by saying, Any questions? Theres no need to announce that its time for questions and answers. You can do better. Always plan a strong closing. If youre planning a Q&A session, you can have it near the end, but not at &

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Maniactive/~3/-t9bvZb6vC4/1147