Things got a little awkward when Florida Governor Rick Scott refused to answer a question regarding his “friend” Donald Trump’s statement about Muslims.

How do the MSNBC hosts respond? By cutting off the interview and going to commercial.

Ouch!

The post MSNBC Dumps Florida Governor When He Refuses to Answer Question on Trump first appeared on Spoken Word Communications.

Golfer Ernie Els was awarded the 2015 Payne Stewart Award for his charitable contributions outside the game of golf. When the award was given recently in Atlanta, Southern Company CEO Tom Fanning, who’s company sponsors the award, was asked to introduce Els. His remarks were outstanding. Instead of rambling on about Els he came in with a plan and more importantly, a message.

His remarks begin around the 4 minute mark in this video. They only last two minutes and it’s well worth the watch.

The post Excellent CEO Introduction first appeared on Spoken Word Communications.

Imagine the surprise when Bill Belichick took the podium this morning and gave a 7+ minute statement, mostly without reading and came across as credible and sincere. Who ever thought we would be using the words credible and sincere when discussing Bill Belichick?

Don’t get too excited though, when the questions started he was back to his old ways. Someone really needs to introduce Bill to the bridging technique.

Here’s the video for your viewing pleasure.

The post Who is this man posing as Bill Belichick? first appeared on Spoken Word Communications.

Like most of the country, I was watching live when St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Robert McCulloch read the grand jury’s decision on the Michael Brown shooting.

It was clear to me, that McCulloch spent a lot of time writing his statement and carefully crafting the words that went into it. For the most part, I thought the words he used were well crafted. However, his delivery left much to be desired. He came across with very little empathy and due to the fact he read the statement, his eye contact and speed at which he read made him seem heartless and uncaring.

The lesson in this is that if you choose to read a statement, which I think in this case was the right decision (it ensures you get the wording exactly right) you must still maintain some eye contact (by looking up occasionally) and also watch your speed (McCulloch was way too fast).

The post Ferguson District Attorney Misses On Grand Jury Decison Statement first appeared on Spoken Word Communications.

One of the many things we teach in both our Media Training and Presentation Training courses is how powerful the visual is versus the verbal.

Now in order to understand that, you must first know how each of those two areas are defined. Visual means the way a viewer or reader sees something. While verbal is the actual words on a page.

Perhaps this is best identified by a verbal example itself. Watch this clip from CBS Evening news and listen to how the guard from the Tower of London describes using poppies to signify the losses the British faced during World War I. It comes around the 2:10 mark.

The post Visual vs. Verbal first appeared on Spoken Word Communications.

Seeing Rikk Wilde struggle with the World Series MVP trophy presentation shows the need many individuals have to over some speech anxiety.

Mr. Wilde obviously didn’t get any Presentations Training prior to this very important presentation on a national stage. Shame on Chevy for not preparing their executive to deal with his moment in the spotlight. Because of it, this video (and similar ones) have received millions of hits on social media bringing negative attention to the company.

While there are many different strategies we teach to overcome problems like Mr. Wilde exemplified, perhaps the best one is simply practicing. If Mr. Wilde had done a few run-throughs of his remarks instead of simply relying on his notes, his presentation would have gone much better.

If you have speech anxiety, don’t fret, it can be overcome. Give us a call to find out how.

The post Speech Anxiety and How to Overcome It first appeared on Spoken Word Communications.

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper yesterday addressed the nation in wake of the terrible tragedy that took place in his nation’s capitol. His statement was extremely well written, one of the better in those types of situations I’ve ever heard, but the delivery lacked emotion.

Now, it’s important to consider that Mr. Harper probably didn’t have much time to practice reading the statement, thus committing it to his short term memory and increasing his chances of a successful delivery. However, even with limited time, especially in a situation such as this with so much riding on a good performance, that he know his script by heart. That would have allowed him to not come across so much as he’s reading, instead that he’s talking to his audience.

The post Canadian P.M. Teleprompters His Way Through Very Well Written Statement first appeared on Spoken Word Communications.

I have to admit, I didn’t know much about Jack Ma or his company Alibaba until this week’s 60 minutes report.  However, after watching the story I was very impressed with Mr. Ma and his business prowess.  I also have to say I thought he did a great job with his messaging as well.

Doing an interview in your second (or perhaps third or forth) language is always difficult.  Most world political and business leaders typically “opt out” by using a translator.  Translators are a much safer route, as many times things get lost in translation and translators can assure that doesn’t happen.  But doing an interview for American television in English definitely has its advantages.

Take Mr. Ma for example.  The fact he does the interview in English, even with several grammatical errors, allows the audience to connect with him.  There’s no waiting for the translation or wondering if that is “really what he said”.  It also helps because the vocal part of Mr. Ma’s message can be interpreted by the viewer.  If he would have chosen to use a translator, many of the stresses and accent points would have been lost.

Although sometimes hard to understand, I applaud Mr. Ma for “going it alone” while at the same time enhancing his credibility by connecting with the audience directly, instead of through a third party.

The post Alibaba’s Jack Ma on 60 Minutes first appeared on Spoken Word Communications.

The screen (of monitor in some cases) is for the audience.  The laptop on the table, or printed Power Point should be used by the presenter.  Why?  Two words:  Eye contact.  In order to connect with an audience, a presenter must maintain the highest level of eye contact possible.  That’s impossible to do if a presenters back is facing the audience because they are presenting to the screen.  Good presenters will glance down at the screen, using it as a prompt, then make eye contact with their audience.

Next time you find yourself in a presentation, watch to see if the person presenting is doing it the “right” way.  Odds are they won’t, but after reading this, you will.

The post The First Rule of Presenting first appeared on Spoken Word Communications.