Archives for December 2014

There are Always Three Speeches + One

December 15, 2014 By Tom Mungavan Leave a Comment

“There are always three speeches for every one you actually gave. The one you practiced, the one you gave, and the one you wish you gave.”

– Dale Carnegie

Most of us can relate to Carnegie’s quote about three speeches. I would add a fourth category … the one you thought you gave.

When coaching clients on improving their presentation skills, we start by video recording the presentation they have prepared. When we review the video with them there are always surprises. There are always gaps between how the client thinks they came across and how they actually did. Some common gaps the video shows:

Less vocal variation than they perceived.
Gestures that are distracting and not supportive of the message.
Being hard for the audience to understand; i.e. talking too fast and/or not articulating words.
Not having a single unifying and memorable message.

Shorter messages are usually more memorable and sound smarter. Address what the audience needs/wants to know. Make PowerPoint (if used at all) a graphic support of your message and not center stage. The closer to a conversational delivery style you use, the more the audience will relate to what you are presenting. Make the speech you gave the same as the one you wish you gave.

Nov & Dec 2014 – Change Masters President’s Letter

December 1, 2014 By Tom Mungavan Leave a Comment

I am grateful. 2014 has been a challenging year personally and one for which I am very grateful. After recovering from a couple of back surgeries I feel better than I have in years. Even with my “downtime”, Change Masters continued to prosper and we continued to receive great feedback from customers for our individual coaching, Perception, Persuasion, and Executive Presence™ workshops, and Change Masters Academy®.

We are also frequently reminded about the opportunity we have to positively impact people’s lives. Recently we were given a strong reminder about gratitude by an exceptional 15 year-old. His video message is included in last blog post below.

Here are some of the recent blog entries ….

Good Meetings Start on Time

If people expect the first 10 minutes to be a waste of time waiting for everyone to arrive, it’s easy to also be 10 minutes late to the next meeting. Soon nobody shows up on time, which is the norm for many company cultures. I certainly have lived in a culture with [… more]

In Four Minutes – Can You Change the World?

Do you want to change the world … or your part of it? There is nothing like a strong persuasive message. In presentation coaching, we ask people to engage the audience, establish the need for action, provide compelling reasons for action, be concise, and finally call people to action. Did I mention keeping it short? I ran across a video that is a great example.
One more thing – MAKE IT INTERESTING! Take a look at this message and think of what you can apply to your next persuasive message [… more]

Find Your Lost iPhone, Even if the Battery is Dead

With IOS 8, you now have the ability to have your missing iPhone send its location to Apple just before the battery dies.
This is probably most useful when looking for a lost [… more]

Woman on Her Fourth Husband

The local news station was interviewing an 80-year-old lady because she had just gotten married for the fourth time.
The interviewer asked her questions about her life, about what it felt like to be marrying again at 80, and then about her new husband’s occupation. “He’s a funeral director,” she answered [… more]

No “Recall Email” Button Available

OK, so it still happens and now you regret it. Can you recover? Yes. You need to grovel; truly apologize with no qualifiers. Own your mistake 100%! If you can do it immediately and in person, that’s your best option. If not, the phone is the second best option. A short apology email followed by a promised phone call is the minimum. This WSJ article has several examples [… more]

Empathy is Not a Soft Skill

The measure of empathy scores for college students in the US shows a continual drop over the last 30 years from low (4.0) to lower (3.5). Companies have significantly increased the use of the word “empathy” in the job descriptions for roles paying over $100,000 per year. There is an increasing supply/demand gap! The article in Fortune Magazine (September 2014), Employers are looking for new hires with something extra: Empathy describes the need — particularly in technical fields [… more]

Gratitude – a Strong Reminder

There is plenty of evidence that gratitude is the key to happiness and a major contributor to health and longevity. Too often we forget and need to be reminded by brave souls who find that truth through adversity. [… more]

I hope you have many wonderful reasons for gratitude in your life. I wish you and your loved ones a wonderful holiday season.

I am looking forward to a very exciting 2015. We plan enhancements to most of our products and new additions that will meet needs that have been requested by a number of customers. I always want to hear your suggestions and comments.

I wish you a 2015 that holds promise and opportunity that you are grateful for in your life. I am very grateful for you!

Gratitude — a Strong Reminder

December 1, 2014 By Tom Mungavan Leave a Comment

There is plenty of evidence to show that gratitude is the key to happiness and a major contributor to health and longevity. Too often we forget and need to be reminded by brave souls who find that truth through adversity.

This video is a very good reminder to give thanks and also gives us perspective in this busy holiday season. Casey is an exceptional 15 year-old boy who shares his wisdom gained from overcoming challenges that most of us (fortunately) have not faced.

Carol Keers had the opportunity to help Casey and his father, Dan O’Brien, prepare for a presentation about surviving cancer. We are grateful for the opportunity to help others … to do something that matters.

We wish that you too will have a life filled with gratitude!