Some people feel scared or nervous before they deliver a speech. To gain confidence, they might go somewhere private right before they speak and strike what’s called a power pose. This is a broad, expansive gesture like putting your arms over your head and looking up. It’s a classic pose of someone who just won! …
I got a special offer in the mail on Saturday. It was marked “Urgent”. I felt puzzled. After all, the mail isn’t an urgent medium. The postal service takes its time. But I skimmed the letter, anyway. It offered me 20 bucks if I would do a thing. I don’t even want to know what …
You’re a bit psychic. You may not know this. But you can forecast the near future pretty well. For example, you can look at a stranger’s face as she walks toward you in a crowded airport. With one wordless glance, you know where she’s going next. In a split second, you’ve analyzed her facial expressions …
Consider these four questions. You’ve seen headlines like these in your social media feeds: Who suffers more: Alzheimer’s patients or Alzheimer’s caregivers? What’s more important: presentation content or presentation delivery? Office work or remote work: which is better for productivity? Why would anyone need to go to college when they could just take online classes? …
Three years ago, I organized an online web conference. At the request of an organization, I interviewed three of their Subject Matter Experts to get background information for a presentation. The following photo is a re-creation of what I saw in this online meeting: Uh-huh. That’s right. For almost the entire interview, I stared at …
In the 1990’s, I worked for a company that changed its dress code. We went from business formal to business casual. Employees accepted this change readily. I felt like I got a raise, because my dry cleaning expenses almost disappeared. And the comfort of ditching a suit for the dark jeans, tee-shirt, and blazer combo? …
On a personal note, friends have texted me the octopus emoji over the past year. Same deal with the fire emoji. These are inside jokes. They make me smile. The red hot octopus emoji? They help me bond with my friends. 🐙🔥 But what about using emoji in business? How well are businesses using emoji …
Authenticity isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. To show our care and compassion for others, we often need to put aside our feelings. There are higher truths that need to be served. Ask a mother whose child has fallen off a swing set. The child is bleeding and crying. Does the mother give in …
I love meetings. But I understand why you might not. A friend recently shared a workplace anecdote. One day, she and her colleagues gathered together for a meeting. For the first few minutes, they shuffled papers and fumbled with their phones. Then they stared at each other. Finally, someone said it. “Hey, what’s this meeting about?” …
I often act patient, even when I don’t feel it. I’ll bet you have, too. We’ve been conditioned. Let’s say you been on hold with customer service for what seems like forever. One of the first things the phone rep might say is “thank you for your patience.” They’ve been trained to say it. But …