MindComet Pearls...of Wisdom

I had an interesting lunch with Paul Lewis and Scott Allen last week and something that was said stuck in my mind all weekend. We were discussing strategy and success metrics for a client and Paul's mantra for project development came up.

While most of us open a Word doc to develop an idea, Paul opens Keynote (or PowerPoint for an equivalent). He always thinks of how his ideas will play out in a presentation. Great strategy, though I am not sure if I can abandon my Word outline quite yet. The concept is not new-- think of the end goal and figure out how to get there. However, thinking in terms of the "presentation wow factor" is often forgotten. This strategy can be implemented not only for clients, but employee programs as well. Try it out with your communication strategies and hopefully you can kick the Word doc habit quicker than I.

What Does Your Body Say About You?

Do you really think the only thing that matters is what comes out of your mouth? Ever since the caveman days body language played a prominent role in getting your message across. In the business world, your personal life, things you write online, and simply just walking down the street one afternoon can really affect the way others feel about you.

Carmine Gallo wrote in Business Week Online that communication involves only 7% words, while the remainder, 55% and 38%, represent visual body language and vocals respectively. Business communication is conspicuously dominated by these means of communication. Getting your message across highly depends on your overall confidence and your ability to use eye contact, gestures, and a stronger tone.

Learning new ways to communicate will greatly benefit you and is easily acquired by making simple adjustments such as:

Make eye contact
Better your posture
Speaking at a louder tone
Speaking clearly
Being animated by using gestures

Even online posts are affected by tone and sentiment. Be sure to use language in online posts that conveys cocnfidence and assurance in the message.