Tips for Teleconferencing

Use emotion in your voice. Emphasize emotion so you don’t speak in a flat tone. Use metaphors and similes to create word pictures for others.

English Communication: Meetings- How to Succeed in the First Five Minutes

Everyone goes to meetings.  You could be there to persuade.  Or you could be there to take in or contribute information.  Whatever your purpose, the first five minutes are not about impressing other people.  The first five minutes are about putting people at ease.

The first five minutes are your first impression.  Standard advice is great: smile, make eye contact, and offer a firm handshake.

Here are some other etiquette tips for meetings.   The first one is so simple and very basic to the North American culture.  If someone asks you how you are, don’t just say, “Fine.”  Instead say, “Fine, thank you. How are you?”   It seems obvious, but people often forget to do this, and it is likely to be interpreted that you are concerned only with yourself.

The second tip is for introductions.  Use your last name when you are introducing yourself.  In the American culture, our information systems are organized around last or family names. So for future reference people love to know what your last name is.

The third tip is that if you are a visitor and someone asks if you’d like something to drink, request water and be sure to thank them when they hand it to you.  People want to do something nice for you. And this little gesture is not too much. This is a certain way to make them feel good about themselves without inconveniencing them.  So little, yet it builds connection.

Next time: Are you going to a meeting to persuade?  More tips for putting people at ease.

Click here: www.cleartalkmastery.com/scheduler to sign up for a Free Sample Lesson with us!

Be sure to watch our English Speech Tips videos and Accent Reduction Tip videos  for more English pronunciation and accent reduction exercises.

Practice Makes Confidence

Simulate the real conditions. The more closely you can imitate actual speaking conditions in your rehearsal, the more confident you will be for the actual presentation. Use your actual notes. Use the actual clothes. Will you use a handheld microphone? Most people don’t have a sound system in their home for rehearsal purposes. Comedy coach John Cantu told his people: When you practice at home, use a hairbrush to simulate the microphone. The average hairbrush is about the same length as the average microphone.

English Communication Skills:  Time of Day Tips for Presentations – Afternoon and Evening Presentations

Knowing  the  barriers associated with different times of the day can help you think of clever ways to maximize your impact in a presentation. Nice! What you are learning for presentations is, of course, also true with meetings.  Use the same clever solutions!

Afternoon             

• Listeners will need a coffee break.  Do make coffee available—or risk the likelihood that they’ll interrupt your message to seek out coffee and miss a chunk of what you have to say.
• People may be overwhelmed with data.  Rather than hit them with lots of hard data up front, consider a low-key opening so they can ease into your message. Also provide lots of handouts so they can review details later.
• Attendees may need to leave early to start the commute home.  Nothing is worse for listeners than you running overtime at the end of the day.  People want to head home–make that happen as promised.

Early evening

• Attendees may arrive late (and tired) from working all day.  Respect their situations.
• Parents with young children may need to go home early to put their children to bed.  Have a table at the back of the room so early departures can take the promotional material or info sheets without distracting the rest of the audience.

After-dinner speech

• Audiences may have been drinking alcohol at a cocktail or beer and/or wine reception.  Be prepared for loud chatter.
• People may simply want to socialize- and may resent a serious speech (especially one that runs too long).  Engage them with your topic, your enthusiasm, your stories, and your brevity!

Click here: www.cleartalkmastery.com/scheduler to sign up for a Free Sample Lesson with us! 

Be sure to watch our English Speech Tips videos and Accent Reduction Tip videos  for more English pronunciation and accent reduction exercises.

Tip: Sending a Message with Facial Expressions

Use your face to accentuate key points. Act what you are saying. Are you incredulous about a statistic you have just spoken? Raise your eyebrows in disbelief. Are you describing a strategy you disagree with? Frown.