Book Review: How to Say It for Women

Holy information, Batman!
A friend mentioned that the How to Say It books seemed like something right up my alley. One that focused on women seemed even better. The back of How to Say It For Women: Communicating with Confidence and Power Using the Language of Success says it will give you the tools to:

project a [...]

First Impressions: How to Introduce Yourself

It’s estimated that it takes people all of three seconds to make assumptions about you.

We use a person’s facial expression, clothing, grooming, hairstyle – pretty much anything we can physically see – to make snap judgments on everything from age to socio-economic status (whether we like or not!).

How to Rock Your Résumé

Whether you’re looking for a job or not, you should keep your résumé up to date.

As a Rockstar, you may be needing it more than you think (board appointments, awards, etc.). You can find the basics to writing a great résumé in the links below, but first let’s explore ways to rock it:

The anatomy of the perfect speech

Before you can deliver the perfect speech, you must write it. Now, before we go any further, let me share with you my philosophy on speech writing: They must be written first in order to be delivered well. Some may argue with this. And, I may agree that there are a few natural speakers who can skip this step. However, the vast majority of us must write it out first. Here’s how:

How to bomb a speech

Albert’s Bad Word.
That was the name of my first speech. I was in 4th grade, and I practiced that speech a million times before presenting the day of the competition. I can still remember certain lines from that speech: “The word floated by like tiny cloud in the sky. It was dark and covered with [...]

The secret to good writing isn’t commas; it’s simplicity

When I taught English to college freshman with below average writing skills, I quickly realized that the problem wasn’t that my students were lazy or dumb or not trying. The problem was their writing had become too complicated. Way too complicated. (Yes, I know that’s a fragment.)
They had been trying so hard to add clauses [...]

How to be Unforgettable

You’re in a meeting and you suddenly get a great problem-solving idea. You immediately state your idea, which you think is pretty darn good, but the conversation keeps talking and eventually turns in a different direction. Then, someone else chimes in with the exact same idea you just provided five minutes ago. Everyone agrees that [...]

How to effectively provide criticism

“I didn’t like your report.”
“You should work on your professionalism.”
“Nobody understands your presentation.”
As much as you might want to improve, you probably won’t gain anything from criticisms like those above. But, all too often that’s exactly how criticisms are presented – vague and utterly unhelpful.
If presented with criticisms or suggestions like these, it’s best to [...]

Are your words holding you back?

 
The way you communicate says a lot about you. Every word you choose sends your audience, whether it’s your best friend or your boss, a message about who you are and where you want to be.
 
I’m not talking about using big, fancy words or some kind of industry jargon. That kind of language doesn’t impress [...]

Check your résumé with these 10 questions

Before you send it out, ask yourself the following questions about your résumé:

Did you include your contact information? Address? Email? Phone? Cell?
Seems like a no-brainer, but it does happen. Even if you have your contact information is on your email or your cover letter, there’s no guarantee this information [...]