Author Marc Compeau recently wrote an article on Forbes entitled, Cost-Cutting Won’t Get You There.  In it he touches on many points that seem to be recurring lately. First, the idea that cutting costs are the ticket to solving financial woes.  Yes, of course, fiscal discipline is important and if your business is bleeding money [...]

Much thanks to Sherry Lowry from Bridging Futures for this picture. As with all items of this type, it’s eerily familiar enough to be both hysterical and cringe-worthy for those of us who make a career out of this. (Click on the image to see the details.)

I often find myself frustrated dealing with people who sell themselves as “high level strategists.” I am not talking about consultants who are hired to help hone and build out a strategic vision for an organization; nor am I talking about internal specialists who are dedicated to researching and advising on strategic direction. What I [...]

Much thanks to Sherry Lowry from Bridging Futures for this picture. As with all items of this type, it’s eerily familiar enough to be both hysterical and cringe-worthy for those of us who make a career out of this. (Click on the image to see the details.)

Otherwise known as “How NOT to lead people, teams or projects.” Alternately, “What you should never say to anyone you care about.” the boss won’t go for that. the lawyers won’t go for that. the accountants won’t go for that. the client won’t go for that. the salespeople won’t go for that. the investors won’t [...]

I had an interesting conversation yesterday after I gave a presentation. I was talking about the necessary functions — particularly when it comes to communications, documentation, change management and entry/exit criteria — of project management in an Agile development process. The “interesting” conversation I had afterward was because one of the attendees (in a private [...]

The last speaking quality I want to cover in my series on what makes a quality public speaker is the ability of a speaker to connect with their audience. There are thousands of ways to do this, and how a speaker goes about it will often be dictated by a combination of their content (as [...]

In my original blog post on this topic, the second quality I listed as being necessary in a great speaker is authenticity. Authenticity is difficult to quantify, but we know it when we see it. And when it comes to a speaker, it makes a huge difference in how we view what they say. A [...]

As noted in my previous blog post on this topic, the first quality I believe is necessary in a great speaker is for them to be educational in some way. In my recent bout of conferences, I have seen speakers who fall all over the quality spectrum, but the ones that were truly good ensured [...]

I admit it: I am “an oratorical snob.” I have very high standards when it comes to what I like to hear and see from a speaker at an event or show. Having grown up in a small business-centric environment, public speaking is in my blood and I cut my teeth on motivational and business [...]