You can find Tom Mucciolo on Twitter @TMucci Want to speak with the poise and confidence of a Fortune 500 CEO? Even our corporate top dogs need help with their presentations, and they get it from Tom Mucciolo. Tom is a highly respected speaking expert who specializes in performance and visual presentation for high-level…
Here are some questions you need to ask yourself when working with an audience: Do you listen? I mean it – do you really listen to what your audience is telling you? Have you turned of the internal chatter? Are you taking in what they are telling you, or are you trying to think of…
Speaking is physically exhausting. This is something most people I work with find surprising. Some training sessions leave people breathless and hearts racing. “Why am I so tired afterwards?” they ask. I assure them that it isn’t because they are completely out of shape (most of them aren’t). It’s because speaking takes a…
The other day I was working with a client, and I gave him a section from a political commentary article to read aloud. He glanced over the article, which was about Justin Trudeau and the recent Liberal Party leadership race. We briefly chatted about Trudeau’s famous father and the current buzz around the newly elected Liberal…
Throw your audience a bone. Really. Give them a clue, a hint, an indication that you are opening yourself up to an intimate exchange. All the heartfelt intentions in the world won’t tell the audience you are open to them unless you give them some form of physical cue. Note what I said there: physical…
Layered meaning makes conversation so much more interesting. While plain-speak is generally the best way to conduct most business – after all, one’s goal should never be to stymie your clients or colleagues – there are opportunities where you can have some fun in a conversation and imply the Things that Cannot Be Said Aloud. Euphemisms and…
I’m frequently asked what the most important skill in speaking is. It’s pretty simple: listening. I’m not being trite or spouting cliches! To be a good speaker, you must be a good listener. You need to listen with your ears, eyes, and brain – and not always in that order. Really skilled communicators, really dynamic…
